Be interested to know what games you thought he was average to poor in. On occasion maybe average by his standards but even at that still one of the best 10s in the world and by far the best 10 in Ireland.
But while we have many good backups, they're not that good that we can lose more than 4 or 5 of the first XV and not see a drop in performance.
id argue that Keenan has actually become very important as well. Even though we have plenty of players who can step into the 15 shirt quite readily, i dont think we've any player who can replicate the consistency of his performances. To call them error free does him a bit of a disservice.
Carbery and Crawley may have the talent but they won't bring what Sexton does and without JS we are majorly disadvantaged. Far more than losing players in other positions. At tigthead many of theose you name would do a job bit bring nowhere near what furlong does and to do what we haven't in a world cup it needs the two fo these fully fit.
& Porter
& JGP
Lowe is vital/integral in the sense that he is the only left footed winger Ireland have who can do all of the following to a very high level: smash the ball downfield, come in at first receiver, make gain line, offload, play what's in front of him.
Plus he is surrounded by other Leinster players. In particular, JGP, Keenan and of course Sexton. I think that is a significant and he regularly swaps positions with Keenan when in their own half and also links up really well with JGP.
He was badly missed against France last year in attack and also kicking for territory. France regularly kicked long to Hansen/Conway, Keenan and JGP and Ireland lost field position and didn't even look to counter attack.
Correct, Sexton is our only vital player.
Everyone else can be replaced without too much issue.
so I would be astounded if he hasn't devised a strategy that we will see come more and more into our play where the 10 is less essential to the game plan.
we've already seen that.
the development of our attack since 2020 is to take less pressure off our 10 always being the playmaker, and we are bringing in our wings and full back to step in as playmaker or pivots in midfield. its the main reason Lowe and Hansen are the incumbent 6 nations wingers, with keenan at 15
as far as there not being a wide gap from sexton to the next best 10, you must be the only irish fan to see this. we've tried all our provincial out halves at test level and none come anywhere near sextons current level of performances.
eventually sextons performances will drop, that is inevitable... but its a damning indictment on the quality of the other established 10s that none have come anywhere close to dislodging a 37 year old. on the likes of crowley, and H Byrne to a degree, they have loads of promise which i hope they continue to develop into, and then become the long term irish 10. so far though, that only wishful thinking.
Sexton is by some distance our most important player and the gap to the next guys is a chasm.
I'm very reassured by Bealham lately so it may well be Porter who's next most important.
After that, I think we have viable backups in every position.
I appreciate Sexton is a great player when he is on song, but he has a lot of games where is is average to poor, so the gap isn't that huge really, and in fact I could see the likes of Carbery or Crowley, or Harry Byrne, stepping in and actually being better than Sexton.
This is utter nonsense. He was largely excellent this year, which obviously culminated in a World Player of the Year nomination.
Carbery has never, ever shown a capability step in for Sexton for Ireland and not see Ireland's team performance decline.
It is way too early to hope that either Crowley or Byrne could even come close to filling that shirt, and you're putting utterly unrealistic ambitions on both in this current timeframe.
With regards 9, I'm hopeful Casey will be Munster's defacto starting 9 in the big games this season. We know about his pass quality and tempo, but I feel he has significantly improved his exit and box-kicking in the last year also.
Murray showed his quality against SA, but if Casey goes well against the likes of Toulouse, I could see him pushing himself into 2nd spot for Ireland.
Andy Farrell knew all along that Sexton would be 38 coming into the World Cup, so I would be astounded if he hasn't devised a strategy that we will see come more and more into our play where the 10 is less essential to the game plan.
If Sexton gets to the World Cup in good nick and is performing at his best, then great, if he's not then the next player in should take his place. There should be no place for anyone that is underperforming, the team is stronger than that in every position.
The gap between first choice and second choice is pretty narrow in most positions. I'd have no real fear Bealham stepping in for Furlong.
The exception is 10. There is a gulf there and its an unavoidable risk at this point.
I'd say the second biggest gap is probably 9 which is also a concern. JGP had a so so November but his second half against the Saffers was the best bit of rugby from a scrumhalf this year by a margin.
Our pack is in great shape overall and that gives me confidence going into a world cup year. Mid field and back three also building good depth. Really just the half backs situation that is a concern generally.
Without Sexton, we won't go far. Carberry isn't good enough! Crowley is a work in progress.
Strongly disagree that we depend on Furlong and Sexton for success.
Carbery and Crowley have the talent to play 10, and Bealham and O’Toole are good enough, with Marty Moore and John Ryan as backups.
This idea that we need everyone available to have any chance is a bad mentality. We have plenty of options in every position, and it’s too easy to say we have no chance in the 6N without X player etc, when it will then be proven otherwise and said poster will then admit they were wrong, so what at that point, it’s such a common line it’s become a cliché at this point.
Exactly.
The only absolutely vital players are Furlong & Sexton.
I think it would be Conway + Lowe, all healthy. But, no one guaranteed.
I dont think any of our wingers are good enough to be number 1 by a clear margin
He's vital in that I don't think Ireland can implement their sweeping plays without him. Sexton is obviously the most important component, but a lot of emphasis is placed on other players stepping in at first receiver. As stated earlier, Lowe adds so much variation to Ireland's attack that we just aren't as threatening without him.
Ireland has an excellent starting 15, but for it to come together we rely on our back three to act as auxiliary playmakers. Lowe is by far the best in that regard.
Lowe is a very good player but vital?
Ireland just won 3 on the spin without him including beating the current World Champions. Let's not over state his importance.
If Lowe and Hansen are first choice, I definitely think Conway will be closest to getting back in. Quality player and Farrell seems to be a fan.
I’d argue it’s a position of strength in that we don’t have a massive drop off from the first choice guys. We don’t have any wingers who would threaten a world 15, but we’ve about 5-6 or more I’d be pretty comfortable with starting.
We could easily end up in a situation where none of Larmour, Stockdale, Baloucoune or Earls make the RWC squad, for example. That said, I think we probably need one of Hansen or Lowe to start.
I like the balance of one traditional, strike running winger (Conway, Earls, Baloucoune) and one auxiliary playmaking winger (Lowe, Hansen, O'Brien).
Lowe IMO is the best at the latter by a distance and if he's fit, he'll start. For some reason Hansen performs much better on the left wing. So for me it's him or Lowe, not both.
Conway would be my preference at 14, but he's been out injured for a long time and he's getting on a bit now. So whether he'll get back to the level he was at last season is a big unknown. I really like Baloucoune and would like to see him given the amount time Lowe got, as I think he has a huge upside. But he's quite injury prone and has had a worryingly high number of hamstring injuries. Earls is a legend but there's obvious question marks over him, being the age that he is for a winger. If he's playing well I'd have no qualms with his inclusion.
It's not an area of strength for us. We've not produced a world class winger since Tommy Bowe. Our wingers tend to be functional rather than outstanding game breakers. I know it's a very unpopular opinion but I'd still like to see Ringrose given a go there, given how stacked we are with quality in the centres. He tore the Sharks to pieces there a few weeks ago. I know he's an outstanding 13 but sometimes you need to look at your resources and cut your cloth accordingly. Because we don't have any wingers who'd frighten any tier 1 defense.
Lowe for me is our number 1 winger by a fairly clear margin. He is very important to how we play. He is such a clever player with ball in hand and is an animal in contact. He might not have top end pace over 50-100 yards but he's explosive over 20-30.
Him and Hansen have the wings fairly locked down I reckon barring injury.
Lowe is vital to how Ireland play I think. Farrell wants his wings to come infield and acting as auxiliary playmakers. Lowe has an excellent offloading game and is very adept at drawing the man and passing. Suits Farrell's tactics well.
He's also a brute of a carrier and is more than capable of getting over the gainline as a crash ball option.
Hopefully he hasn’t piled on the chub when he’s been out injured. He’s a demon for the Eddie Rockets by some accounts.
i think lowe is going to be a very interesting one when he comes back. he was fantastic last season and so many have him as a nailed on starter, but he also had a pretty poor season previous to last so i dont know should he necessarily be a guaranteed starter yet
if his form is anywhere near where it was then he most likely will be starting every big game. if it isnt then there are others who can fill that role (apart from left-foot kicking maybe, but that can be worked around), should be pretty straightforward
Big left boot for clearances is. He has a vital tool
Is James Lowe really 'vital'? I wouldn't have thought so
Casey is looking sharper and I would say, like most, he is glad that Munster are embracing Prendergast's style and he can play a bit of rugby again.
Calvin Nash in todays IT mentioning that the attack coach suits his play 'a bit more'.
His comments also highlighting what Ireland are looking for in their wingers.
Ireland's use of Lowe really clicked into gear last Nov behind those forward pods (1-3-2-2). Hansen filled that role this Nov and I felt that Baloucoune and JOB were the winger's used to hold width.
Lowe is vital for Ireland. I wonder will Hansen hold on to that 14 jersey as another playmaker or will they go back to Baloucoune (or Conway, or Nash... or Earls!) as a more traditional winger.
-------------------------------------
“I think Prendy coming in, the game suits me a bit more and I feel like I’m a bit more involved, and I feel like that’s kind of the way Ireland are going as well, they want their wingers more involved.
“That’s kind of been a focus for me, being involved more, whether it’s showing up as an option off 10 or nine, just trying to be in different positions all the time.”
------------------------------------
“I’m happy that my form is along the same as the teams I’ve been in, and I feel I’ve learned a lot; from Emerging Ireland through to getting the call-up to the main squad with Ireland, and coming back here, I’m trying to put everything I learned into practice.
“It was all positive really, but Faz’s (Farrell’s) main thing for me was what am I going to do with the experience, now that I’ve games coming back into Munster and how am I going to use my knowledge, and is he going to see that on the pitch, is it going to be reflected there and in some of Munster’s performances am I going to affect what way the games go?
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/2022/11/30/calvin-nash-hopes-landmark-try-is-a-sign-of-even-better-things-to-come/
JGP and Keenan just returned after long lay offs. I do think JGP is better alongside Sexton but, Oz really put it to us in the rucks. We tried running McCloskey up the 10 channel with not enough support. Oz were all over us at the breakdown. Oz also did well under the highball. It's usually a good strategy for us and we generally kick chase very well. Was our kicking game poor? Would Murray have done better?
We won all 3 matches so there's that. I still think we have some things to work on. The revolving door of Sextons back up continues. For such a big event. Crowley did fairly well. JGP was poor and our wings didn't play very well. Farrell has really got quite a good look at several different lads under different types of matches. While we can point at lads missing etc, we really benefited from the other boys stepping in.
Craig Casey did really well when he came on. He's a real talent and he will be vital for us going forward. Ross Byrne is decent and cool under pressure. I doubt he's in the plans barring injuries. He would be a break glass option.
Overall, we did ok. Some lads bedded in and we were under stress. We managed to get over the finish line and physicality wise, we did well. I do think that Oz will be happy also! Their backline has quality and the pack was good. They are building a little. Who knows, the grouping that they are in and the pathway to the semis, Oz could be there this world cup.
I suppose he did. It was hard for him and Ireland to build that multi-phase against the Boks blitz. He was the one of course who made that break inside the blitz to set up the Hansen try.
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