Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Absolutely zero chance Aki misses out, for me. I could see Earls missing out tho, just given the depth we have on the wing and his age profile.

Doak's a good shout for a bolter tho. And, adding a regular to miss out, it could be at the expense of Murray.

With my Munster hat on, someone like Knox might be an outside shot for bolter, just by dint of the fact it's a problem position for us and he's likely to see a lot of gametime this season. He'd need a pretty breakout season tho.

Kendellen might be a possibility too, but out backrow depth is pretty good also.

What's wrong with Jack Kelly? He struggled with the step up from underage rugby when he played with Leinster, but he's really found his feet with the 7s. He's physical, good at breaking the line, and he's got good pace. I'd be fascinated to see him back playing high-level 15s.

I think he possibly was hampered by doing things in the wrong order. He didn't really play 7s while he was in the academy, unlike Keenan, JOB, and currently Smith and Comerford. He focused on 15s, but there wasn't much gametime for him, and he wasn't honing his skills playing 7s, and then he got cut. I'd wager he's far more composed in 15s now.

I think I'd have Kendellen behind van der Flier, Timoney, Connors, O'Mahony and Penny at openside, and behind Doris, Conan, Coombes, Deegan, Timoney and maybe Boyle at no. 8.

Aki is so underrated by Irish fans it's insane

He should be one of the first names on the team sheet. Aki/Henshaw is by far Ireland's best centre pairing.

A don't give me the "it lacks creativity" nonsense, because it's BS.

Besides the fact that he's so far down the pecking order.......

Yeah, true. Seems bonkers to have so many great back row options. But we grow them in Ireland. Need to start breeding big more props and second rows.

it does a bit though, so its not BS. aki has improved alot in that sense recently though in fairness to him

could even argue its aki/ringrose too tbh since theyve started some of the most important wins of the last few years (england 2018, NZ 2018, NZ 2021, probably forgetting some others)

henshaw/ringrose seems to be the preferred pairing for farrell but its rare theyre all fit at the same time anyway tbh

I thought Aki was very poor towards the end of the domestic club season last year.. especially in both games v Leinster before being shifted to 13 for a game and then not in the squad for the last 2 connacht matches.

The fact that he was playing v the Maori is a sign he is slipping down the pecking order.

If Hume and then Ringrose hadn't gotten injured he may have been restricted to Moari tests only..

In 12 months time his lack of versatility may count against him if all other options are fit and Frawley travels as 3rd choice 10 and 2nd choice 12...

The squads will be smaller come the world cup and hard decisions have to be made

i think the fact that the RWC will be so close to home would go in aki's favour in that case though potentially, depending on how much gametime frawley gets at 10 between now and then (not much at all would be my guess im afraid). if it were further away i think they might have included a third 10 or a hybrid 10/12 like frawley, but seeing as a 10 could be brought into the squad in very little time if needed, i think they'll go with 3 9s, 2 10s and 4 centres. versatility is probably going to be less of a factor in this squad compared to 2019 i think

Hugo Keenan, Jimmy O'Brien, Michael Lowry, Simon Zebo, Shane Daly, Stewart Moore, Mike Haley, Patrick Campbell, Oran McNulty, Max O'Reilly, Chris Cosgrave

Am I missing anyone? (Munster sure do have a lot of fullbacks given they don't lose any of them to Ireland)

True, Kelly would fit in towards the bottom of that pecking order.

I'm not as sold on Lowry as some. He strikes me as a bit of a highlights reel player; does he do the boring stuff to a high enough standard? And anyway, the squad I suggested included three Ulster starters (versus one each from Munster and Leinster and none from Connacht). I figure it's better not to take away too many starters from one province.

Zebo and Haley, is this the type of tour for them? They're already experienced, and it's looking as if they're not going to be involved at international level much in the future. Essentially it would be wasted invested gametime if it's given to players without much Ireland future.

The last time Daly was included for Ireland him being away was damaging for his positioning in the Munster pecking order. He still hasn't really got his mojo back. Especially under a new coaching régime, I figure he might be better off trying to re-establish himself at Munster.

I really like Stewart Moore, but it would be a heavy burden on Ulster to remove him and Hume.

Campbell looks excellent. He looks like a very complete, rounded player already. He will probably go.

So, yeah. Kelly would be a bit of a punt. But I'd like to see it. It would be a useful barometer to have of how good the 7s is at improving players. I suspect Kelly might still be at Leinster now if he had put 15s on hold and focused on 7s at the same stage of his development as Keenan and JOB did.

(Munster sure do have a lot of fullbacks given they don't lose any of them to Ireland)

This isn't exactly accurate. Zebo and Daly have started 1 game at FB between them out of 36 starts across the last 2 seasons; they're being used as wingers. Of which, Conway and Earls are away with Ireland. So that balance seems completely fine to me.

I'd agree with your assesment of Zebo tho, personally can't see him going on this tour. And while I do rate Haley, I also think it's unlikely as, with a view to the RWC, it'd be atypical to bring a dedicated FB that isn't your starter in your 33.

in that absolute worst case scenario then yeah having frawley in the squad could potentially be helpful if he gets more time at 10 for leinster in the meantime. if he doesnt get much (or any, which is still a real possibility tbh) time before then i dont think it would go particularly well unfortunately

obviously things like form etc, can change massively between now and then, but if i werent picking a squad id have the three obvious ones and either hume or farrell as my fourth. going on current exposure at 10 id have murray as my emergency back up in your situation

i should say i hope 3 10s are picked but 3 actual 10s playing week in week out for their province in the position. whether that will happen with frawley between now and then remains to be seen but if he stays at 12 then he should be seen as one - madigan should be a warning against trying to fit talented players into important positions

I agree, but he was excellent for Ireland in the summer (much better than Ringrose). That counts for a lot more in terms of picking Ireland's best team. In fact he's always been incredibly consistent and reliable ever since his debut. I can't remember a big win Ireland have had since 2017, that didn't have Aki at 12.

Is it? He played the first Mäori game when he was literally one of two 12s available. H.Byrne was injured so Frawley was playing 10. Aki and Henshaw were the only options at 12. If H.Byrne hadn't been injured, it would have been Frawley at 12.

Leaving out one of your two best centres doesn't sound like a particularly smart decision.