No one is ovrinflating, the ranking reflect reality of where Ireland are.
Im not saying play him instead of Sexton, If Sexton is fit he starts, but if he's out I'd rather us take a punt on Crowley rather than the safe option and back a 10 who will never be any more than just adequate.
You do realise im talking about 2019 Ntamack not 2022? In 2019 they were picking Zack Holmes and even Thomas Ramos ahead of him at 10 at Toulouse...
Scan yesterday, update today.
I'd like to see us try other players for kicking duties. If the biggest knock against an OH is his poor kicking percentage, then have someone else kick, and focus on the positives they bring.
Winning a knockout in the WC is definitely required for Ireland to belong in the top 4 or 5 in the world. We need to win more than we have historically across the board. 3 grand slams is a poor return, the likes of England and France will rarely go more than a decade without one and their best teams win a few. At this stage not progressing in the WC is evidence of a deeper issue.
Joe’s legacy was consistent high performance and genuinely competing at the top, building on that means slams, championships, triple crowns and WC knockouts as expectations rather than hopes.
Yawn!!! Irelands next hope is .....an ex Leinster player. 37 caps! And still..... he's behind an elderly out half. Carberry has taken Munster to such great heights. Get real.
Sexton is on his last season. We need him, whether you like him or not. Today, Sexton is still our out half. Carberry wouldn't get a look if he was playing elsewhere.
TRC is right. We’ve won nothing under Farrell. The RWC draw and schedule absolutely f*cos us too. We can’t manage our squad as easily as the others on our side of the QFs. We’re up against it to win the RWC too. Ultimately a tenure is defined by what was won in the period. If we win nothing at all then that’s a massive failing. NZ, France, England and Wales have all won something in this cycle. SA can at least say they are the reigning World Cup Champions. We have nothing. We need to win something. And we’ve a better shot at winning this 6Ns than the upcoming RWC.
Is there a definitive update on SeXtons injury? I am seeing a lot of meaninglessness here
What mistake is that?
If Sexton doesn't start Carbery is going to and the man has 37 caps ffs. Burns and Carty have a bucketful of caps between them but have been deemed not good enough. At this stage the only possibility who could maybe take advantage from the gametime is Crowley but even he has a start against Aus already. And frankly we're almost definitely not beating the ABs or France with him at 10 anyway.
There is no upside to missing Sexton. We just get a glimpse into the dropoff we'll experience when he retires.
K.
Ireland need to win the Grand Slam this year. We've made huge strides over the last 18 months, but ultimately, we've won nothing this cycle. Winning a Grand Slam is imperative to Ireland's development going into the World Cup (which is the most important event in rugby).
The idea that Sexton's loss is a "blessing" is utter rubbish. He's the best 10 in Ireland by a country mile, and losing him just massively hinders our chances of winning the 6N. There is zero evidence that sacrificing a 6N in a world cup year in order to "build depth" leads to winning a world cup.
I feel like people have an overinflated sense of just how good we are right now. The gap between us and the Waleses, Englands and Australias of this world isn't as big as we'd like to think. Ireland aren't so far ahead of the rest that we can sacrifice a whole 6N playing a mish mash of players and then just turn it on again in September and win a world cup. We need to keep up our momentum, keep improving and keep winning.
And besides, Carbery has started loads of starts for Ireland since he returned from his injury. (Japan, USA, Argentina, France, Italy, NZ* and Fiji). The fact that people still trot out the incredibly lazy and inaccurate "he hasn't gotten enough games" argument, is mind blowing.
*didn't start but played 60 minutes
Again, not-Sexton started two games in last year's 6N and two of the November tests just gone.
Lack of game time for the alternatives is not the problem. It just isn't, and it never has been.
Tbh, I could see some latent benefit to having non-Sexton 10’s starting this 6 Nations and beyond.
But I’d agree that I don’t think it’d benefit us more towards a the RWC than if we had Sexton starting and happened to win the 6 Nations. No disagreement there
Andy Farrell has done brilliantly for Ireland, but you’d imagine a 6 Nations victory is still high up on his list of goals.
It doesn't guarantee us anything, you're right.
But Sexton missing a few Six Nations games doesn't give us any sort of benefit further down the road either. It's not a blessing in disguise which is the original point made.
We have an excellent chance of winning this particular Six Nations considering how the home fixtures fall. I would much rather we have a Sexton led Ireland for this tournament and give ourselves the best chance possible of a victory.
I think it has to. If you want to think Ireland are as good as people have said they are then they have to show it at a world cup. we have never won a knock out game, the number of decent performances for ireland across all world cups can barely be counted on 1 hand.
a world cup is bloody important. It may be a recent invention but its the only chance to really say you are best in the world.
Tests are important and the wins over NZ are top class and nothing diminishes them but beating the All Blacks in a world cup would be something else. We have had four 6 nations titles in just over a decade and we only have 14 titles since start of competition.
I just don't think the World Cup is that important.
I think you’re in a small minority so, tbh, Clegg.
If the choice in this context is between a Six Nations victory with Sexton playing most games, or losing him for a few games, playing a different 10 and risking a tournament victory I'm picking the former every time.
But that’s not the choice; playing Sexton gives us the best chance of a tournament victory, but it doesn’t guarantee us anything.
Sexton not playing in the six nations has absolutely no guarantee of a better impact on how we will do in a world cup.
Will playing Ross Byrne / carbery / Crowley at home against France in March make it more likely that we can beat France away in there following October?
Would shipping a loss at home in that game actual hinder our chances away in October?
Or, if given the choice, would sexton starting both games increase our chances in both games?
If sexton is out for either or both, then you deal with it. However in both cases we are lesser for it.
I just don't think the World Cup is that important. It's a recent invention and doesn't hold the same cultural importance to me the soccer tournament does.
I just can't see Sexton being absent as a blessing in disguise.
But surely doing something in a world cup which we havent done before is surely far more important than not performing at a world cup yet again would be far better for irish rugby?
We've done everything in world rugby bar perform in a world cup knock out game. surely if we want to be as good as we like to think we are then that has to change. Sexton not involved at all against Italy and not starting against someone else shouldnt be the end of the world.
I don't see the World Cup as the be all and end all like some seem to. I want Sexton to be fit for every Six Nations game as I think we've an excellent chance of winning the tournament if he starts at least 4 of the 5 games.
If that means we've some undercooked 10's going into the WC so be it.
Where
I hope farrell won't make the same mistakes as schmidt.
Then they’ll have earned enough XP to afford the relevant upgrades to their crucial stats. If they’re lucky they might also unlock some new special abilities too.
France were a **** show for years leading up to that. We'd be dropping one of the best and most in form Outhalf in the game to do that.
And that's ignoring the fact that we recently started munster's third choice Outhalf against Australia.
Ntamack is a good player though
France started Ntamack at 10 in 2019 despite only having 4 starts from a possible 27 games at 10 for Toulouse.
I'm really annoyed at Sexton, honestly. How many of his head injuries have been from this same crappy tackle technique? A guy playing some of the best out half rugby on earth still hasn't learned how to tackle safely, it's a real failure.
Anyway, it makes the Ireland situation interesting. Joey is the presumptive starter, followed by Crowley and Frawley/RB, I'd say. When is the squad announced?
We’ve seen them.
Childish post.
I think Sexton is one of the best 10's (and maybe the best) in the World and far better than any other 10 in Ireland. People can decide whether that makes me a fanatic or not but nothing would make me happier than if we won the six nations or grand slam without him, in particular because he's about to retire.
You're confusing a genuine acknowledgment of his talent with the petty grievances you project onto others.
Exactly and that is why it is so important to see all viable options before the world cup
Sexton furlong porter van der flier and Gibson Park are all crucial to Ireland and the drop off from them to their back ups is massive , nothing can change that but as many minutes as possible of the genuine pressure of 6 nations rugby
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