Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Meh, people take this all far too personally.

The squad that won the six nations is proven and quite settled at this point. We had tough games but won all of them fairly convincingly in the end. The continuity from that is quite significant and making changes would be difficult as it trades the certain for the slightly uncertain. There may be instances where those trade offs are seen as worth it but it's not really all that surprising a 42. Do I think it's the best 42 players available? No. Is it the best squad to create a winning environment for the Rugby World Cup? Andy Farrell thinks so.

I'm fairly convinced there are players in that 42 that are there more for the benefit of the 33 that will go to France than because they are likely to get there themselves but that's speculation on my part. I see nothing so contentious as to generate any kind of heated debate, but make no mistake I am taking notes for the next interpro build up thread. 👀

The squad will have forced and unforced changes - I'm not suggesting otherwise. I think the first choice 15 all but picks itself, I think the first choice bench all but picks itself. From a time investment point of view - that's where the coaches are going to sink the bulk of their efforts.

The wider squad simply has to offer a certain degree of flexibility / utility or have to add sufficiently to the overall group to be included.

Yes, and that raises an important point - probably the best thing Farrell has done with this Irish team and what really sets him apart from Schmidt is that we're incredibly aggressive in imposing our gameplan, whoever the opposition. We can play cagey, counter punching rugby, but we can also play world class attacking rugby to compliment our impressive defence.

Aside from this, the core squad toppled South Africa and won a tour to NZ in the last year and players not around for any of that are in the unfortunate position of either having to offer up a myriad of reasons for inclusion - either through performance or the offer of utility.

The problem with your thinking above is that it's based on the assumption that leaving them out to date has been a mistake. I highly rate both players but don't think either are best in position in Ireland. I think Kleyn is the more hard done by of the two by far for several reasons. He doesn't need the versatility required of a 'not first choice' back three. He has been one of the most consistent performers at club level for two seasons in the second row. He's incredibly hardy and has a good injury record. There are players in the squad who have higher ceilings than him, but are either consistently injured or are quite inexperienced and I would not have been entirely surprised had he been ahead of them but for one important factor. Kleyn has been good enough for long enough to be included and still hasn't gotten a look so even under C) above, should probably have happened before now, there was nothing stopping the coaches, other than whatever reason they've had to date. And Kleyn's game hasn't evolved so whatever that reason is must still be the deciding factor.

As for Haley, he's a fine player but every other back that isn't a guaranteed starter can and has played in more than one position. He's lost out to Stockdale, JOB, Earls and Nash.