Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

redlough · 05-02-2023 9:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206221#Comment_120206221

Nobody, especially me, is trying to downplay the NZ tour win

but to be in the discussion as the greatest ever Irish coach’s he needs to win more trophies.

gameoverdude · 05-02-2023 9:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206348#Comment_120206348

True, but in my opinion, that was a huge achievement. Australia and sa in the autumn too. Load of new players brought in, different, exciting style of play...he's doing grand.

Plus we won at a canter yesterday.

aloooof · 05-02-2023 9:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120205250#Comment_120205250

The point is, the mitigation, 50/50's, over-the-long-run applies to those players too, and I can't remember them (or any other player) conceding 6+ penalties under Farrell.

When is the last time any Irish player conceded 6 penalties in a game? I wouldn't be surprised if it was pre-Schmidt, given our discipline under him. That's worthy of discussion and, imo, amounts to more than "getting it slightly wrong".

Any player who concedes 6 penalties in a game (and 4 within ~10 mins) is probably lucky to avoid a yellow card. It's ok to acknowledge that without trying to reason it away.

leakyboots · 05-02-2023 9:55pm

Some concerns about Porter's scrummaging being mentioned elsewhere. As in, his setup, and it being poor technique. I won't profess to know much about front row antics but I wonder about it. I think the French will target him.

Big test for lots of reasons

phog · 05-02-2023 9:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206348#Comment_120206348

I was looking forward to what he can achieve, you're just looking back. I acknowledged he hasn't the same number of trophies (yet) as Joe has but I think he can get us winning trophies again and there's very few rugby people that would discount our wins down in NZ and our autumn wins against SA & Australia.

redlough · 05-02-2023 10:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206401#Comment_120206401

I didn't discount the win's. I am just saying to be the best coach ever he needs to win a 6 nations and in reality a Grand Slam. Multiple to pass Joe

phog · 05-02-2023 10:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206448#Comment_120206448

Well you did say he won nothing

Look I'm not trying to convince anyone of what I think about Farrell nor am I trying to take away from Joe's achievements but I think Farrell will take us further in a RWC than we've ever been before.

redlough · 05-02-2023 11:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206601#Comment_120206601

I said he won nothing in regards to trophies, which I then back tracked and said he won a triple crown which I had forgot.

If Farrell gets further in WC that will be great, better if he wins it and gets another trophy

cson · 06-02-2023 2:08am

So hold on, if he somehow won the RWC with us there'd still be a question in your mind? Going by the last sentance, thats how it seems.

bilston · 06-02-2023 2:16am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206448#Comment_120206448

You're not wrong (TC aside which you've subsequently acknowledged).

One thing Farrell has to contend with that Joe didn't have to, and that's an exceptional French team. That makes winning a 6Ns and silverware that bit harder.

redlough · 06-02-2023 8:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120207069#Comment_120207069

To win a Grand Slam or a 6 nations is incredibly hard. I don't see why we should say winning in one season might be better than another.

You could argue, which I am not, that Joe Grand Slam was better because he won against England and France away.

I am a huge fan of Farrells and even when a lot of people called for his head I wanted him to stay on, I will admit I did question Catt and felt he wasn't up to it but I was wrong. Let's hope he goes on to be so good it's not a question who is the best Irish coach ever

AbusesToilets · 06-02-2023 10:43am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120206393#Comment_120206393

His technique was was poor last year, and he seemed to struggle to counter the opposition going in at him. Hoping he's come on this season, he did well against what was a good front row at club level.

sydthebeat · 06-02-2023 10:46am

He needs his flanker to keep his hips pushed in and square, but very difficult to do with porter cos he had a huge hoop

06-02-2023 11:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120207198#Comment_120207198

No, there are ways to compare the difficulty across seasons. World Rankings is an easy way. I know it can sometimes reflect if the southern hemisphere nations are in a bit of a lull at the moment, but comparing the last four Irish 6 Nations Championship victories, the average world ranking is highest (lowest) in this season's championship than any other, so, relatively, it's a harder tournament to win this season:

Akrasia · 06-02-2023 11:35am

Porter should have given away multiple penalties in the scrum on top of the one he gave away. On the 66th minute he got absolutely folded.

If you see the aerial shots before the scrums set, (when they're shown) he's never bound straight.

It's not costing us games as the refs seem to be letting it go, but it's a vulnerability

realhorrorshow · 06-02-2023 12:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120207509#Comment_120207509

I think you need to weight this somehow. We all know that the relative strength of Italy from year to year is almost irrelevant.

Clegg · 06-02-2023 1:38pm

James Ryan has been in excellent form for a while now. His work in the tight and at the lineout has been excellent. One area that he has clearly worked on is his carrying. He's powering through tackles again.

https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/status/1622562500167213057?t=GJwn1Nx7uyL0v3nr0_4N6w&s=09

Dubinusa · 06-02-2023 2:10pm

I'd say Farrell has done well. The jury is still out. Schmidt did well in his time. Comparing them is difficult. Farrell inherited a broken squad that was mentally weak after a woeful world cup. I'll always remember the last world cup and how shockingly crap we were. At the time Schmidt was receiving plaudits from everyone and imo, the world cup showed his weaknesses as a coach.

phily2002 · 06-02-2023 2:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120207956#Comment_120207956

His weakness was showing all year before the world Cup and then resulted in the mess at the world Cup. Joe was brilliant and got Ireland where he wanted them, problem was others reacted and we stopped evolving and teams had us worked out

theVersatile · 06-02-2023 3:14pm

https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella/status/1622596267049197570?t=RvUjc3rKDq4wHDISmrG2aA&s=19

Blade (not Doak), Milne (not Whycherly or O'Sullivan), and Salanoa officially added to squad - Stewart kept on.

durthacht · 06-02-2023 3:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208146#Comment_120208146

Surprised by these choices, but I guess the positions so far down the depth chart are not set. Thought Wycherley would be called up ahead of Milne, although both are unproven yet. Dubinusa must be excited being a big fan of Milne.

Big blows ahead of next week.

pickarooney · 06-02-2023 3:34pm

Milne is absolutely nowhere near international level at the scrum.EOS has at least been in the group before. Has he not been playing regularly or well?

I presume Jack McGrath has retired but I didn't see any official confirmation anywhere.

CIARAN_BOYLE · 06-02-2023 3:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208199#Comment_120208199

He was let go last summer by Ulster needing another major hip operation.

He is independently doing rehabilitation with the aim of returning to rugby. There's been some videos of gym sessions on his instagram but nothing substantive since then.

All_in_Flynn · 06-02-2023 3:51pm

Watched the game again last night. Jaypers Ryan had a massive game. Doris is a freak though. He never seemed to be off the screen. Was involved in everything.

I thought McCloskey did ok but I think he's going to have to show more than that to keep the jersey. I actually think he's going to find himself out of the 23 this week but maybe that would be harsh.

oisinog · 06-02-2023 3:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208199#Comment_120208199

Jack McGrath was released by Ulster and is recovering from Injury before looking for a new club

rodge123 · 06-02-2023 4:22pm

It feels like a never ending cycle of furlong been close to back to fitness each week but then not making it due to the calf issue, hopefully it’s nothing more serious and will come right soon. I’d imagine his calf’s would need to be right before throwing him back in to support that frame!

OneLungDavy · 06-02-2023 5:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208255#Comment_120208255

I thought McCloskey had a fine game. He had some nice moments in attack, one nice break and few looping wide passes. His passing is better than Akis imo. I'd leave Aki on the bench, his burst of energy can be crucial late in the game.

All_in_Flynn · 06-02-2023 5:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208469#Comment_120208469

Ye look I think he went ok. I just don't think he was excellent either. I do think dropping him would be harsh but I just get the feeling the way Farrell was speaking about Aki in the press conference after the game, that he is going to come back in on Saturday.

06-02-2023 5:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120208199#Comment_120208199

I don't even think O'Sullivan would have realistically been in the conversation, I think he's been especially poor this season for big chunks of the year.

Both Milne and Wycherley seem to struggle scrummaging, but it's a real sign of our lack of depth at LHP that either are in the discussion here. Milne is definitely a more powerful carrier than Wycherley (who statistically might be the worst ball carrier in Irish rugby this season - he's carried for 7m this season from 25 carries - that's 0.3m per carry). Both have been on the bench for the last two rounds in Europe (getting similarish gametime in those games), and both went on the Emerging Ireland tour to SA, where you have to assume Milne showed the coaches more.

Dubinusa · 06-02-2023 8:38pm

Milne is not close to a call up, neither is Wycherly. They could be for the next cycle.

Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

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