Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Why people think minutes against Currie cup teams is good prep for test rugby is beyond me.

Do you question the purpose of the Irish team playing the under 20’s as prep for the 6N too?

I wonder if any other options were considered.

Would Farrell get similar benefits from hosting a couple of out of window tests against tier 2 opposition.

Extend the Autumn Internationals. Send out the emerging players against Samoa on 29 October and Japan on 26 November.

Wales and South Africa are playing out of competition tests and no one is accusing them of crapping on the league.

In fairness Wales crap on the league by being in it.

Honestly people are looking for downsides here when there really aren't any.

I think the potential for injury is another downside. If someone like, say, Cian Prendergast arrived back with a long-term injury, I think Connacht fans would have reason to feel aggrieved.

Ultimately, it's additional game-time, outside a Test window, in an already stretched calendar.

But if Prendergast (or whoever) didn't travel, he'd be training and playing in Ireland the whole time anyway. There's no extra gametime and they're as likely to get injured in the URC as they are on tour.

There is extra game time tho; there’s an extra 80 mins x 15 x 3 = an extra 3,600 minutes that we didn’t have in previous seasons.

That will have to be managed in terms of player welfare.

I’m not saying it’s jeopardous but it is a consideration.

The net effect for the players on tour is zero. But the net effect for the provincial squads isn’t.

It doesn’t line up exactly but by way of example, take the URC game following the tour; the remaining squad will have played the previous 3 URC games PLUS the re-joining tour members will have played their tour minutes they’ve played in parallel. That’ll have to be managed.

Unless I’m missing something?

That’s exactly the point tho; some fringe players for the Ireland squad are core players for the provinces.

We’ll wait and see what the squad is tho, but I take the point. Jack Crowley for example was released to play for Shannon last season. This tour could be great for someone like him.

But it’s also likely to take away a cohort of guys that are closer to Ireland inclusion and key to their province.

Indeed I do.

Considering the current state of Irish rugby and what the IRFU have managed to achieve with such a small pool of players, I'll trust that the people involved and paying for this tour see merit in it.

I'll go with that.

I think I would go with something like:

Loosehead: Jeremy Loughman, Michael Milne, Jack Boyle

Hooker: Diarmuid Barron, John McKee, Tom Stewart

Tighthead: Martin Moore, Thomas Clarkson, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Keynan Knox

Lock: Joe McCarthy, Thomas Ahern, Cormac Izuchukwu, Brian Deeny

Blindside: Ryan Baird, David McCann

Openside: Will Connors, Scott Penny

No. 8: Max Deegan, James Culhane

Scrumhalf: Nathan Doak, Cormac Foley, Paddy Patterson

Outhalf: Ciarán Frawley, Harry Byrne, Ben Healy

Left Wing: Jordan Larmour, Aaron Sexton

Inside Centre: Chris Farrell, Ben Brownlee

Outside Centre: James Hume, Jamie Osborne

Right Wing: Robert Baloucoune

Fullback: Jimmy O'Brien, Jack Kelly

I think it's important to have a look at some tighthead options behind the main three, in case there's an injury come RWC time. Patterson's playing style reminds me of JGP, so I think he might suit Farrell's gameplan. I'd like to see them being open-minded about Jack Kelly having a future in 15s. It'd be very interesting to see what he could do, and the 7s World Series doesn't start till later in the year. Aaron Sexton has killer pace and a bit of a playmaking game. I'd like to see him involved.

Some Connacht players, like Dooley, Thornbury and Murphy, would be worth spots; Dooley's more likely to make RWC 2023 than Milne, I'd say. But these players are probable starters for Connacht, and they have a run of important games, so it might be better if they weren't selected.

I don't think playing in this would really change how well Edward Byrne, Scannell and McCloskey could perform for Ireland in future. Scannell showed in NZ he could slot in and play well. I don't think they need this involvement.

I'd guess the November squad will look broadly like the following:

Loosehead: Andrew Porter, Cian Healy, Jeremy Loughman

Hooker: Ronan Kelleher, Dan Sheehan, Rob Herring

Tighthead: Tadhg Furlong, Finlay Bealham, Tom O'Toole

Lock: James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne, Iain Henderson, Kieran Treadwell, Joe McCarthy

Blindside: Peter O'Mahony, Cian Prendergast, Ryan Baird

Openside: Josh van der Flier, Nick Timoney

No. 8: Caelan Doris, Jack Conan, Gavin Coombes

Scrumhalf: Jamison Gibson-Park, Conor Murray, Craig Casey

Outhalf: Jonathan Sexton, Joey Carbery, Ciarán Frawley, Harry Byrne

Left Wing: James Lowe, Jacob Stockdale

Inside Centre: Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki

Outside Centre: Garry Ringrose, James Hume

Right Wing: Mack Hansen, Robert Baloucoune, Andrew Conway

Fullback: Hugo Keenan, Jimmy O'Brien

Niall Murray or Thornbury over treadwell who’s been in camp recently. Would 100% bring Crowley. Cathal Forde over Tom Daly. Would look at Shane Jennings too.