I can see why Murray would start, has a more physical presence then JGP and has minutes in his legs, you put on JGP with 25 mins to go speed up our game.
im absolutely buzzing for this on Saturday! Hopefully the atmosphere is good! 5.30 kick off should help!
That isn't even a little bit true. The props and sexton and keenan are about the only set positions on the team.
A year out from a world cup and the team is picked for it
How is that a good thing, what does it say to the rest of the squad
All the games are being shown on Amazon Prime. You can also get it free for a month and then cancel it. I use it anyway but it's basically a free month.
I really like thornbury. It definitely wouldn’t be crazy if that happened.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Thornbury shoots up to fourth choice lock now he’s in camp. A really good player at at 6’8 one of the tallest locks in the country.
Before his last big injury he was probably the most in form lock at the time. That season he was a real jackaling threat. He’s also a brilliant line out option both offensively and defensively.
Right now, probably nothing much. Before the world cup, there are probably things you could explore.
We have been handicapped imo by a big drop off in quality from our top 3 locks to our 4th lock…. so we cant really play our best 4,5,6 in Ryan, Henderson, Beirne on the field at the same time.
We need to develop 1/2 tighthead lock options that will free up Beirne to play 6. McCarthy and/or Edogbo, or even possibly someone like Kleyn returning. Develop Baird aggressively at 6 as well. He has the athletic profile and size there.
Play Coombes in the back row or in 23. Get Marty Moore back in (that’s happening).
There are things that can be done. It would necessitate experimenting some.
Pack seems light to me.
Not sure what we can do about that. It's not like we have a stock of 130 kg behemoths just hanging around Carton House
If they are starting Murray, it probably indicates that they don't want to kick long. Pack seems light to me.
And captaining? Mad...
Edit: maybe the captain issue was an error - seems not to be mentioned in the article now, though it was earlier
Murray starts, and also Beirne? I didn't think he was available.
Our A side looks pretty strong. I am disappointed the Casey won't get a run against SA. NZ look to have a young squad. I know little about them. Delighted for Deegan! I hope he gets in and tears it up. I wasn't aware thar Molony was selected? I think he should be starting.
This team means that Murray and Healy will play Saturday. They are both on fumes, imo. We'll probably lose if Murray starts. But, it's not the end of the world. I reckon Friday's match will be a really good encounter.
Apparently, he's worked on his ball-carrying
Massive game for Frawley. He’s started 4 games at 10 in two seasons including the NZ tour. If he is mostly playing 10 for ireland, then he needs to be really solid in each game.
Play well and it's only an A game
I think that's definitely an attitude among fans, but Farrell really seems to value them. Between the Maori, Emerging Ireland and now this game, we've probably had more 'A' games in the last six months than we had in the previous five years and they've definitely meant something. Ciaran Frawley is the perfect example, he's skipped a long queue of out-halves based on very little apart from the Maori games and what he's shown the coaches in training camp. Likewise, Easterby was very open that Baloucoune went to South Africa because they wanted to take a closer look at a few things, and now here he is (apparently) about to start against the Boks.
This NZA team is very decent and should definitely provide opportunities for guys to impress, and it looks like Farrell will reward those who do.
Seriously strong side, a lot better than the Maori sides we faced in the summer. Whole backline looks extremely dangerous, but some real talent in the pack too. Looking forward to seeing Roger Tuivasa Sheck and Damian McKenzie in the flesh.
The same can be said for players coming into games against Italy and Argentina, for the senior setup. These games are creating more opportunities for the players to show what they can do within the systems. It’s clear that the IRFU want the senior team to win as many games as possible and play full strength sides doing so. So having A games could be the best chance for players in the wider squads to impress.
On the Ireland A as a positive or negative...taken alongside the EI tour I think it's a very positive departure. Ireland's squad depth has been our Achilles heel more often than not. 2 or 3 injuries and we get into trouble at the best of times, and more than that we just can't stay at our level. So developing opportunities for peripheral and younger players to get exposure to training camps and competitive international matches can help expand the pool of viable players.
TJ Perenara and Damian McKenzie at 9&10 for New Zealand A.
Also, that's just a very strong 23. Will be a tough ask for Ireland to win.
That's a really exciting A team.
Not sure how I fell about these games though, I've often thought in the past that one off A games can do more damage to players than good though. Play well and it's only an A game, play badly in a team that has just come together and you get written off for life.
That said this Irish management group is doing a lot to expand its playing options and is investing a lot of time in Irish teams below the senior side, so the players are getting good opportunities.
Next question is how do I watch this in Northern Ireland? I assume the IRFU haven't signed a TV deal that has excluded fans in Northern Ireland as that would be beyond outrageous if they have. But as I say I doubt they would ever consider doing that.
Delighted to see Craig Casey get the captains's armband, fwiw. Despite Munster's issue this season, he's probably been our best player, and seems to have a brilliant attitude. He can be a bit spiky so interested to see how he gets on with the ref.
Yes that makes sense. It would be better if they were starting those games though! They have the greater ceiling/ability to really push for senior squad. O'Toole and Frawley? With respect they aren't and haven't been the guys that are pushing Beahlam or Carbery for the backup slot.
The Frawley at 10 is a particular head scratcher to me. I think he's a really good player but he's simply not going to get enough minutes at 10 with Leinster to make this a worthwhile venture.
When something happens to Sexton its going to fall to the Byrnes at Leinster. And Carbery for Ireland.
If something happens to Carbery at Munster it's going to fall to Crowley at Munster. And thus Crowley for Ireland.
and also involved temporarily screwing up Larmour's trajectory...
Larmour was actually Farrell's starting 15 in his first 6 Nations, so he had an opportunity under Farrell. (During which Keenan started to appear on the wing. By the time the ANC came round, Keenan was moved to FB and hasn't looked back since).
Had a quick look; he's selected a winger 16 times, a centre 11 times (tho wasn't entirely sure what bucket to put Will Addison in. Maybe the "injured" one at this stage...).
Interesting to see the distrubution more evenly spread for centres than wingers, but that could be down as much to injuries as anything.
Taking out Tier 2 games (Georgia and USA), it's 11:14, so a fairly even spread.
Henshaw started at 15 against England in the 6N 2019. It was part of the pre-Keenan hunt to replace RK, and also involved temporarily screwing up Larmour's trajectory...
(edited to add... i seem to have missed some sarcasm...)
Yeah, you're right. He's predominantly gone that way. The only non-centres to be picked there are Earls & Larmour under him I think.
Well the very best thing Moore and Crowley can do is to take their chance in a very hard challenge of playing New Zealand A.
if they can impress in this game, they certainly are doing all they can for RWC 23 which happens in 10 months time.
Unusual choice for the 23 shirt given his lack of versatility
It doesn't seem to be something that's puts Farrell off his selections for the 23 jersey. I think all of Chris Farrell, Henshaw, Hume and Aki have been named in the 23 shirt during his tenure.
(I'd be interested to see a breakdown of his 23 jersey selections tbh, but a material % have been centres).
EDIT:
If Hugo pulls up lame early on, we're going to have quite the rejig (presumably Joey to 15?)
And ya, Joey to 15 is exactly what I would guess would happen to limit the re-jigging as much as possible.
We saw as much in the Sharks game; with Larmour's injury, Leinster could've put Ngatai to FB, JOB to wing and Ringrose to centre, but instead chose to put Ringrose to the wing for a single change.
that true i suppose. I would have had Doak in the full squad....if/as he should have been in the squad that went to NZ.
Doak, Moore and Crowley are three players i felt that should have been given scope to impress with the full squad this Nov. They all might be needed for WC squad if there are injuries at SH,TH and FH.
Maybe we'll see them for Fiji and Aus games.
I would have had Doak in there (and Casey in the full squad), but it's not surprising not to see him given he wasn't in this squad originally.
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