Great effort and Ireland's best world cup performance wise
What a game for the casual viewers!
Ireland needed the set piece to work well and it didn't. Well targeted by Nz. Congrats to them
Don't know if we can read much into what Leinster are doing at the moment. Obviously Keenan will absolutely lock down the 15 position once he's back.
Wouldn't be the worst move if JOB will be deployed more on the wing.
Frawley will be a 15 based on Leinster so far
Oh I know you can !! 😂
(You'd struggle to keep it under 1500 words!)
I can do that!
I won't lie, Dubinusa, I'm a little disappointed this wasn't a 1500-word thesis on the emerging props!
Cathal Forde could be our 12. Superb looking prospect. Osborne also, although he could take the 13 jumper.
I'd like to think that one of Niall Murray or Ahern can make a case to get into the squad. Edogbo looks a beast as does Joe McCarthy. I doubt Henderson will be around come 27. A lot of mileage and his injury profile. Beirne could also be gone. James Ryan could still be around, depending on his concussion problems.
Blindside is loaded. Baird, Quinn, Deegan, Coombes, Sheridan to a lesser degree and Cian Prendergast. Not forgetting Soroka.
8 will be either Doris or Gleeson, imo. Conan won't be involved. Imo. Kendellen could be an option also, or Culhane.
9. Is a problem. I think it will be Casey or Blade. Maybe Doak?
Wings are fairly strong. Hanson; Stocker, JOB, TOB, Larmour, Kilgallen, Nash and Balacoune. Outside prospects, Aitzol King, Josh O Connor.
I reckon we'll be stronger in 4 years time.
Leaving Sexton, Earls and Healy out, here are the age profiles (in 2027) of the remaining 31 players from the squad:
Starting with the areas we look the strongest. We should be fine at fullback and at hooker.
Funny how time moves on too; we were always worried about producing locks. But I think this is an area of relative comfort for us. Ryan and McCarthy will still be around. Baird might also develop to be an option there. Munster have very high hopes for Edogbo and Ahern. Leinster also have Deeny coming through. One of Henderson and/or Beirne might also be around, though I'd be more skeptical about the latter, given how much punishment he takes in games. Four years to get the lineout sorted too.
Again, funny about time. Not so long ago it seemed as though Irish rugby had so many backrow forwards we didn't know what to do with them. But you can imagine POM, vdF and Conan will each struggle to make 2027. That's a heck of a lot of leadership and workrate that will need replacing. That said, Munster have very high hopes for Quinn and Gleeson. Kendellen, Hodnett and Coombes will also be looking to step up to international level. Less sure about what Leinster have coming through here? Connors, Deegan, Penny and Soroka all have the right age profile. Connors was certainly in the conversation once upon a time. You can imagine Cian Prendergast will also be a key player for us going forward. We should be OKish here?
Wings will look completely different in 2027, as I'd say Lowe will almost certainly be gone. But we could see JOB being deployed more there, and you'd hope that someone out of Daly, Nash or Baloucoune can step up. Shay McCarthly looks electric. One or two newbies together with Hansen and I think we should be fine. Would be great if someone develops into a legit kicking option (outside of JOB).
Between Crowley, the Byrnes and Prendergast, we should have decent competition at outhalf. The key here will be to resist temptations to compare players to Sexton, though I fear this might be inevitable.
Loosehead might be OK, if Paddy McCarthy comes along in time. Loughman will also be peaking as a prop in the coming four years. If Porter is still near his current level it's more likely that we'll be OK here. But there is risk.
Tighthead seems more of a lottery. We could theoretically still have both Furlong and Bealham, but just as likely have neither. Furlong's declining form is a worry in any case.
Midfield is become an area of greater concern. I think we'll be lucky if we still have two of those four centres playing at the highest level in 2027. In all likelihood only Ringrose will still be around and we'll see a good bit of overhaul here. Leinster seem high on Osbourne and Frawley might also be someone who can step up. Frisch will hopefully get some international minutes soon. Much is made about replacing Sexton, but if both Henshaw and Aki need replacing, they are comparably sized shoes to fill.
Scrum-half is also a worry. Murray will almost certainly be retired and JGP's game is so reliant on his pace that at 35 he may not be around either. Blade will be 33, possibly an option. Otherwise... all eyes on PFP?
tl:dr
Grand: Fullback, hooker, locks, backrow (probably)
Meeeh: Outhalf, loosehead, tighthead, wings
AAARRGH: Midfield, scrumhalf
(Usual caveats about it being hard to predict things four years out, there are always bolters out of the blue, etc. etc.)
MOD - Please avoid accusations of provincial bias
You say he was mediocre, without offering any examples of how. He was key to us fighting our way back into the game, where we were Jordie Barrett's thigh away from taking the lead. You're looking for a stick to beat Farrell with, regardless of the evidence.
Did they have a 38yo playing for them? Did they win the match?
And NZ only used 21...
Aside from the rugby...I think one thing is clear once again and that is Ireland were the best fans of the tournament. I have talked to some French fiends and they could not get over the numbers of Irish fans who travelled. Not sure if there is an actual award handed out but think that's one we would win hands down
If there was a spare 2nd row on the bench and Beirne was left on despite being exhausted I'd have been just as critical of that decision.
Sexton was mediocre all game and got worse as the game went on, his kicking and overall distribution was poor, he was too predictable in attack. If it was anyone else, you'd agree he had a 3 star game at best. It's not like he was holding the team together all on his own and Farrell couldn't bring him off because he was delivering so much..
we keep been told it's a 23 man game subs are there to come on and have an impact.
yet in a QF which we lost we only used 22.
that doesn't sit well with me. no one has subs just for injuries any more. just seemed that there coastal loss of judgement at a crucial moment.
Well never know because that dice wasn't rolled.
This ^. We were still going forward when Whitelock didn't release and got the judgement. Young and inexperienced McCarthy's lack of a decisive clearout factored into that...but but Sexton.
Tired old record at this stage.
I'll repeat, there was only one sub unused, the sub was a replacement outhalf, the outhalf was a 38yo who at that time in the game was not up to his own standards. What's outrageous in suggesting he should have been subbed.
If Joe McCarthy was on the bench, I'd be saying why leave him on the bench when a lock was out on their feet.
If John Cooney was on the bench I'd be saying why not sub a tired scrumhalf.
And how does that compare to the other players on the field? You want to hold him in isolation from the game being played. Every player on the pitch was shattered. I would dispute he was playing far below his standard. He helped orchestrate us moving the ball down the field at the death.
and making a claim that Sexton was playing badly to justify it.
Really, I have previously highlighted areas in the last 10-15 minutes of Sexton's game where he was well below his own standard, he was well below the standard you'd want from an outhalf playing for their country in knockout rugby. If you can't see that then that's on you.
Which you have no knowledge as to whether that would've done anything. The team marched down the field just fine with Sexton. We had an overlap out wide that Ringrose blew. A fresh McCarthy failed to clear out a ruck and that's all she wrote.
You and Akrasia are presuming everything positive for Crowley coming on and making a claim that Sexton was playing badly to justify it. Nothing to do with red tinted perspectivea I'm sure
It's not rocket science, we had one sub left on the bench, the obvious replacement was a like for like swap, sub Sexton for the fresh Crowley
Funny how you keep harping on this, "dead on his feet" etc, yet nothing about all the other players who were shagged. Beirne caught a ball and gently laid down for a nap in the last sequence.
Can you throw out some analysis of how Sexton was bad exactly?
Has 'asking' worked for you? Why don't you 'ask' again in 4 years time, sure if you ask you get eh?
Pay attention to this part of your post...'for one of the top rugby nations'
That's what we were and are. Just 'one' of the top nations and we came up against another of the top nations and it didn't go our way this time.
And it is condescending to suggest that it was anything other than a decision based on his info, experience and the demands of the situation.
To state that Sexton was fatigued and he 'should' have seen that or that he was afraid of Sexton's status etc, is to put yourself above him.
He took all the factors into consideration, made his in -game decision and it didn't work out. That's part of the job and par for the course.
You're right, for one of the top rugby nations in the world, winning just one knockout game in 10 World Cups is far too much to ask for. How entitled of me to expect the team to get past the first hurdle just once.
Carberry was getting the minutes when he was healthy. Healy was also eating up minutes. Crowley was 3rd choice at Munster! Ireland's problem was that Carberry is not a good out half. Yet he was Sextons back up.
That's the crux of the matter. No adapting to the kiwis closing the gap and the inability to fix whatever problems Porter has.
For those like me who respect Farrell, does that mean from now on we can't question his team selection, the timing of substitutions, etc?
We may as well close down the rugby forum if that is what people want.
… offering their opinion.
And those second guessing a coach's in-game decision from the pub/sofa or side line on the basis that he overlooked or ignored Sexton's fatigue are being what exactly?
