Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I don't think Farrell, or Cullen, care too much about the old-fasioned stereotypes of openside, blindside and even no. 8.

France has never made any distinction and it has never really harmed them.

It's just about getting your best players there and finding a balance. If your 6 or your prop or hooker or lock can jackal, your 7 can tackle anything that moves, your 8 can pass of both hands... as long as you have fit, talented players with all the bases of pack play covered it's not important which numbers they all wear.

You'd probably get slaughtered for suggesting we drop Furlong for the same reason!

Osborne played two full games at 12 against Ulster, before Ngatai injured his hamstring.

If we want to compare players, I think we need to do so in good faith and compare the same things.

Frisch was playing in ProD2 while Osborne was playing U20s. Kind of pointless to compare. Frisch was several years older at that point and had never been considered for national selection at underage level nor had be made it in the Top14, being cast adrift from SF without an appearance. He's very much an example of a late bloomer.

Whatever your views on the English premiership, his potential was recognised and he got regular playing time at Bristol where his potential was again recognised by Munster. He's had a very good first season there and it would not be a huge surprise if he earned a call-up to an extended squad (probablmy a surprise to his former coaches in France, that said). He did make the Emerging Ireland squad before he'd even established himself at Munster so his potential has again been recognised by the Irish coaches.

In his brief appearances, Jamie Osborne has turned heads. He's attracted attention and huge praise from players, pundits and coaches. There's little doubt that he's a serious talent. He first got luck with injuries to other players giving him a shot, then unlucky with his own injuries. He does not, at this point, have a body of work from which to ascertain if he is an international-level player. It takes not just a huge level of talent but also consistent performances to make that level, and a lot of players just will not get there. There are examples within and without this Ireland squad (Larmour, McCarthy and Baloucoune have the talent but are just missing the consistency or the versatility, Kleyn and Daly have the consistency but perhaps not the level of talent the coaches require).

Osborne, Stockdale and a few others have been selected presumably based entirely on promise and Ross Byrne and Kieran Treadwell for example seem to be there primarily for their consistency, at least where the national team is concerned. Some players seem to just fit the Ireland system better and that's a perfectly fine criterion for selection as well.

I think it's fair to debate the merits of players and the reasons for their selection without all this tiresome accusation of bias, accusing posters of hysteria or blindness or ignorance for having an opposing viewpoint. It's the Ireland squad, after all. We're supposed to be fans.