Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

He was playing with a first choice backline v Fiji, bar O'Brien

Fair enough. Personally, I think the coaches have earned the benefit of the doubt.

Sexton shouldn't start against Oz, or even be involved in the squad. We'll learn nothing.

I don't care if it's Burns/Carty/Crowley/Ben Healy/Joey/Eric Elwood... we should use this as a chance for an incumbent to try their hand against Tier 1 opposition.

This is a completely redundant point. Frawley was ahead of Crowley because he played 10 in NZ in an emergency and did okay. Crowley wasn’t a live option at that point. Let’s not forget that Munster had dropped him from their match day squads entirely once the internationals were back after the 6Ns. So going to NZ was never on the cards for Crowley.

The EI tour was then seen as a chance to give one of the few remaining live options at 10 (Frawley) some time to see if he was a runner. He got injured and Crowley got his shot. He played okay in SA. But Frawley had played okay against better opposition and you can’t just go chasing the latest shiney thing as a coach. You’ve got to give players at least some time before discarding them. So Frawley remained ahead of Crowley. That will almost certainly change now as Crowley gets more exposure and Frawley is injured.

So what had Frawley done to deserve being ahead of Crowley? Been lucky enough to be in NZ when he became the only option at 10 for the Maori games. And then stepped up when he had that chance. Crowley has only gotten a look in because Frawley got injured. And nobody was complaining that Crowley wasn’t in NZ so it’s not like there was some big injustice there at all. Now that Crowley is getting his chance (also due to injury) he will likely leapfrog Frawley.

Presume Mack to the right wing then. Some rise for JOB

Lions in 10 years.

If it turns out to be true, I wouldn't be shocked tbh. Probably a reflection of what different coaches want from their players.

Lowe and Hansen get involved all over the park, always popping up and making plays, whereas Balocoune seems to be more of a "classic" winger. JOB seems to have really impressed Farrell and might be more in the mould of what Ireland want.

The other point is that the gaps in defence and wide open spaces that Baloucoune is so good at exploiting simply don't arise as much at test level, so he won't get the chance to show what he can do with ball in hand as much as he does with Ulster.

I've been underwhelmed by Baloucoune as well. It's notable that Lowe and Hansen both come off their wing a lot to act as first receiver to spread the play or as a lone breaker. Baloucoune didn't seem to come off his wing that often to offer the same threat.

It could be that the coaches want Baloucoune to stay on his wing and act as more if a finisher. But the ball just doesn't come his way often enough. In those circumstances he needs to make himself more. If JOB is selected selected ahead if him, I don't think he can really complain.

Sexton should start if fit and Crowley should get the last 20 mins at least, irrespective of how the game is going. That's my opinion. If Crowley is good enough he should be able to steer the ship home if we're ahead. If we're behind, there's no point persisting with Sexton in the hope of rescuing a win in a somewhat meaningless game. We need to know if Crowley can manage the team in a pressure situation now, not go and find out for the 1st time next September. If Crowley does well when he comes off the bench that should be the impetus for him to go back to Munster and take the no.10 jersey with two hands. If he sinks, then it's back to the drawing board for the next 9-10 months. There is a big chance that Sexton won't make it through all the games in the WC, especially if we need him to play 75+ mins in the big games to secure a win. All we need to find is a guy who can do the job for 20-30mins per game so that Sexton is only needed for 50-60 mins. The heir to the throne stuff can come after the WC when Sexton hangs up his boots.

You can see the impact of this on boards.ie every day. More and more posters are far more invested in their province and a smaller minority actively want Ireland as selected to lose so players from their province will get a chance.

Not sure what you do about it though. Go back to the quotas of the 80s and 90s and play inferior players just to balance it up?