Frawley will not be starting.
I rate him and I'm glad he's got into the extended squad and clearly Farrell wants to look at him but he's got a way to go before he's in contention for a starting shirt.
He's currently 4th choice 12.
Yeah I get the momentum argument. In all honesty I’m not wedded to any particular approach particularly. If that’s the team that’s named then fine. But for me we still have issues with depth and I’d like to see us put some work into that now.
Argentina aren’t great. They are very physical but they’ve also played 2 in a row themselves with basically the same team. It’s the end of a long season for them so we should be able to beat them without going all out.
Going forward centre is a really interesting situation. Henshaw was unreal last season but his injury this season has given Aki and Ringrose both an opportunity to nail down the 12 and 13 jersey. And both have performed really, really well. Neither should be dropped but Henshaw has to play. How does Farrell make that call!?
I suspect he won’t have to most of the time. Rarely have all 3 fit.
You're right we shouldn't go "all out".
I'd advocate for 3 or 4 changes, because we have the players to do that without weakening the team. I definitely wouldn't make anymore than 5. That's enough to build depth like you said (which is important) but also keep enough cohesion and familiarity that we can play well and win handily enough.
What I disagree with are those who suggest we essentially field a new XV, which I think is ludicrous for a couple of reasons.
A. Argentina aren't mugs, they may be in poor form but on their day they can do anyone over.
B. You learn very little from essentially playing a Wolfhounds team. The Fiji game in 2017 comes to mind, we won but we were utter crap and learnt next to nothing.
But we can make a lot of changes without fielding a Wolfhounds team as well. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. All of my pack were in the 23 this week. Another 3 of the back line were too. And of the 4 who weren’t there was Henshaw and Zebo. The bench had a good few changes but when they are coming on Argentina should be tiring and they can all bring real impact.
Beyond that there was logic to a number of my selections. The front row were the bench options the last 2 weeks so are a familiar unit. The locks have both played well the last 2 weeks. The back row is effectively just giving Doris a rest. He was very active in close quarters and probably needs the rest.
In the back line the Murray-Carbery partnership is the one we’ve seen close out games the last 2 weeks and are a familiar pairing. Henshaw-Hume is a similar centre partnership to Aki-Ringrose. Zebo is the most similar to Lowe. Can play make and has the canon left foot. In reality the only players we’re really looking at there are Hume and Balacoune. Both have loads of talent and plenty of experience around them.
On the bench I’m looking to give guys game time to develop depth as much as possible. Killer is plenty experienced. Sheehan looks very capable. O’Toole is probably the most dynamic TH option outside of Furlong and I’m hoping the plan is to bring him along on that basis. Baird and Timoney can bring impact, especially against a tiring defence. Casey and Byrne are both guys who can bring real pace to the final quarter which, again based on the assumption that Argentina will tire, could be very effective. Larmour has plenty of experience and can bring real impact if things open up.
So it’s a selection with an eye on development and an eye on winning the game, which I think is how we should be using this game.
They arent mugs, therefore its the perfect chance to really test some of our young players amongst experienced players. I mean, how else will they learn at this level, playing the USA certainly doesnt do that.
I think you're missing my point.
I want us to give 3 or 4 other guys a run this week.
But not 15 all at once.
I want Carbery to start with experienced players inside and outside him.
I want Baloucoune to start in a settled back 3.
I'd like to see Sheehan start in an experienced front row.
I don't want us to throw all the youngsters in at once because it's pointless. It leads to poor disjointed performances and nothing gained.
You have to be smart and balance it.
Definitely some players should be brought in. Those saying we need to put 2 performances back to back like a World Cup, as someone else said that’s basically the 6 Nations. Also the last few world cups injuries have hit us so let’s beat them with a few key players not playing. I think everyone agrees Carbery has to start and Byrne on the bench. Murray rather than Casey with Byrne is a good point. I think Coombes deserves a start in the back row. Likewise Baloucoune on the wing. For me the more international experience Lowe gets to improve his defence the better. Whoever Farrell and Co rates as the better prospect out of Frawley and Hume should get a start in the centre, whoever starts out of those would decide who starts from Aki and Ringrose with Hume matching better with Aki and Frawley with Ringrose. It is a good idea to freshen up the front row but I would prefer to see Sheehan and O’Toole come in rather than Healy and Bealham. Kilcoyne is another one so I’d intertwine those 3 with the 3 starters when it comes to starting/bench. Baird should be on the bench.
That would leave something like
Kilcoyne Kelleher Furlong
Henderson Beirne
Coombes VDF Doris
GibsonPark Carbery
Frawley/Aki Hume/Ringrose
Baloucoune Keenan Lowe
Porter
Sheehan
O’Toole
Baird
O’Mahony
Murray
Byrne
Larmour
That team should beat Argentina. 6 changes which I think is perfect.
I think they will make minimal changes to keep the continuity. I think Gibson Park should start with Carbery to give him the best possible chance of slotting into the same game plan. If 10 is the big question, we should change little else to test it.
Have to say, I really wouldn't see the point in starting Murray.
Yeah I agree with that, its not just to test the players against tier 1 nations but you want to test them playing alongside Irish frontline players. For instance can Balacoune work in tandem with Keenan and Lowe in the Irish back three, can James Hume work with Aki or Henshaw in the centre etc, come the 6N we might be in an injury crisis and might have to throw Hume in there for instance, great young talent but inexperienced at test level, this would be his opportunity to show he can step up to this level. same goes for Sheehan, O'Toole, Baird, Casey etc.
Porter is an utter freak. Made the very difficult transition from loose head to tight head when he was 21. By 22 he was starting and excelling at tight head for Ireland in the 6 Nations.
He filled in at 3 for an entire season when Furlong was out for year and performed excellently. Was selected for the Lions at tight head. Then transitioned back to loosehead, immediately took over as starter for Leinster and Ireland, and excelled against New Zealand.
I think he's world class.
I'm in the fcuk that give it a lash team for this week! Argentina are a good opponent to get fringe lads into tough international rugby!
I'd go with
1. Kilcoyne
2 Herring
3 Bealham
4. Henderson
5. Dillane
6. Beirne
7. POM
8. Coombes
9. Casey
10 . Zoolander
11. Larmour
12. McCloskey
13. Ringrose
14. Balacoune
15. Zeeb
16. Sheehan
17. Porter
18. O'Toole
19. Baird
20. Timoney
21. Murray
22. HB
23. Hume/ Frawley.
Not a young side! Plenty of experience!
Well, he didn't disappoint
Imagine being a so called "Irishman" and being bitter about Ireland winning a game
The man needs help
What’s with your man McKenna? Does he not like rugby or sport or what?
...
I would like to use this game to give players who look good at provincial and international level against tier 2 nations as a way of seeing how they function in a first team Irish squad and if they can step up. I would like to see Hume, Balacoune, Casey, Baird (although we did see him in the 6N and he did well), O'Toole get a decent run and ofcourse Sheehan.
What an absolute tool. Himself and Paddy Cosgrave should be put in a rocket and fired into space
MacKenna is not worth listening to on any subject these days. Used to be a good sports writer, but has fallen down the anti everything rabbit hole over the last 18 months.
Why? Why the hell would you post that muppet. People have him blocked for their sanity.
He doesn't like Ireland, full stop.
He's an attention seeking mouth breather. Not worth even discussing
This. We all knew what he’d be saying, we don’t need to be giving it oxygen.
What's more likely...
52'000 people and another 23 are deluded idiots and he knows better than all of them and when they can be happy...
Or he's a bit ignorant of the history and traditions of rugby?
He’s an absolute irrelevance and we shouldn’t be wasting time, bandwidth or boards real estate discussing him.
Ah he knows exactly what he’s at, but there’s little point discussing Sports Gemma (which, as a moniker, is genius).
MacKenna is a troll.
This individual is not worth the time of day. Let’s move on.
Wow, genuinely didn't think we had a performance like that in us. Even at half-time I thought we had blown it by not putting the dominance into enough points.
Arguably one of our greatest ever performances. Thought the whole 23 were great. Keenan is a joy, brilliant to have a 15 who can attack, defend and distribute. And we could have played better, there were some errors along the way.
I wonder will time tell this was a poor ABs side (compared to their usual standard) or were we really that good.
If we can keep that level of performance up in the Six Nations it'll be time to get excited about the World Cup! That tour to NZ just got a lot more interesting, they'll be out for us in a big way.
I'd hope for a few changes for Argentina - if Coombes is fit let him loose, Timoney too. Some of the front row need a rest. Halfback maybe, some of back three.
It really was one of the great days :)
If we can keep that level of performance up in the Six Nations it'll be time to get excited about the World Cup!
Please can we not do this again.
We had a good win, we're still the 4th best team in the NH. We'd do well to win 4 games in the 6N. Any talk of getting excited for world cups is ridiculous at this stage. We're probably 8th favorites.
This is how we're doing it this time 😉
what a performance. the taste of egg never felt so sweet. i was so utterly wrong.
I thought it was make or break for Af in terms of getting people onside.
He's only gone and done it. Like Kenny in the soccer, it seems people have finally accepted there is change. thats all people like me wanted. He's given caps, and now he's clearly evolved how we play.
i do think he needs to start Joey. I think Murray will get a run as he can't be bombed out of the side. I'd have Casey on the bench. POM will start as well. There won't be many changes. I took umbrage with this in Japan game but now i can see the bigger picture and see that AF has been true to his word about having a vision.
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