Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Honestly it's his reliability that we could potentially use at the moment. Everyone after Keenan at this stage is playing their 2nd or 3rd choice position.

It's a fairly straightforward decision. We've lost our talisman and captain in Sexton. POM is the defacto leader of the pack and naming him captain keeps an element of leadership continuity for the 6N. It's up to the other 22 players to step up to the leadership plate and take over from POM. He's unlikely to be captain for next year's 6N so this is a transition plan. Someone needs to take the bull by the horns and show they're ready to take over.

I can't see POM playing much more than 50 mins in any game and not at all v Italy. Ryan Baird will get plenty of scope to prove he's the future at no. 6. If he doesn't take his chance that's on him, not POM.

POM has already 'ticked the box' of being Ireland captain. 10 times if I'm not mistaken. Plus he captained the Lions in 2 test matches. His leadership credentials are as good as any out there. What will catch him eventually is his aging body and ability to operate at the highest level. Lots of competition for the 6 jersey but POMs captaincy is the right decision for this 6N.

Pretty sure POM and/or Sexton had the Netflix crew thrown out of the changing room last year.

Even if it wasn't; can you think of anyone else in the squad who would dare to do that?

If you can, he'll be the captain when POM retires.

Problem is, I can't think of anyone who comes close.... maybe Ryan.... maybe some day Crowley....

I don't see the downside to including Zebo. I'd prefer him filling in for Keenan than Larmour or Frawley.

Captaincy is earned, not given out for trials. POM is hardly past his prime. First game back for Munster last weekend, away in Toulon. Leads the team to a vital BP victory. If we had more on field leadership v Bayonne and Exeter we may have won both of those too. Snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as we looked leaderless in the last quarter of both games. POM isn't going to tear it up for the 6N. But if he can glue the team together, be workmanlike in his performances and shore up our disastrous linout post WC he'll have earned the captaincy.

Who would you have picked as captain? Not many obvious choices in my mind.

Ringrose, Sheehan, Doris, Keenan

Maybe one of them could bring something fresh/different rather than staying with the past in a short term role

Giving them a chance could have even led them to being a favorite for the Lions captain as looking at the other captains it is only Jamie George who is an option for that

Could that bring them to another level?

We might never find out now

Congrats to POM, very well deserved, and happy for him as a person. Hopefully it goes better for him than his Lions run in the role.

To me it is the wrong choice and another example of AF falling for sentimentality and probably fear to the detriment of the team. I don't see the value to the team in giving him the role.

From a PR perspective, what I noted as a concern a few months ago is already happening on Twitter - the captaincy is being weaponised as a stick to beat the IRFU. The captaincy will be even more of a poisoned chalice post POM if all parties can't come to an agreement and POM end up playing abroad and loses the captaincy.

Calling him "past his prime" is daft. The year running up to the World Cup has been one of his best veins of form in his career, and at the tournament he was one of our best performers. He's played two games since, due to getting injured in one, and in the other he played well and lead the team to a badly needed and impressive win.

I'd agree he's on the last couple of years of his career, but I haven't seen anything to say that he doesn't deserve his place in the team. If anything I think VDF might need to hit some of his higher levels again to keep Baird out of the back row.

Love how Baird is the "generational talent" and the fella that has captained the Lions isn't.

POM is the generational talent, Baird is all potential. Looks to have bags of it mind.

Hodnett and especially Prendergast unlucky to miss out

Could say the same about VDF

This has been the argument against him for years. He's repeatedly proven it wrong.

VDF is there for the taking. No talk of him becoming Leinster or Ireland captain, which is telling. He seems to lack a strong mentality.

Take nothing from POM's career and he's been written off for 3 years by plenty of people but each season he has come in and made massive contributions for Ireland. I've no problem with him in the team and Baird will come out of this 6N with plenty more caps but making Peter captain is missing a trick here. For me Sexton was never a great captain, he didn't need the arm band to be an inspiration and drive standards in the dressing room but his temperament was never effective on the filed as captain for me. Now Peter is in as a stop gap as he is highly unlikely to be a fixture for the next 3 seasons. I'd much prefer if Farrell had used this season to at least establish a new long term captain even while he went for continuity in the squad.

The idea of a long term captain is a terrible one.

You pick a captain for a campaign, like the 6 nations and then you pick again for the summer tour and again for the Autumn.

They may well be the same person and they may not, but you dont pick a captain now and tell him he is in charge for the world cup.

James Ryan could be dropped for Beirne and Mccarthy, Ringrose could be dropped for Henshaw & Aki. POM might be gone to France by the Summer.

Its not a long term job, you just might be lucky to do it for a long term.

We will find out, one of those players is likely to be captain in the next year or 2. They need to show that they have the leadership skills first before the honour will be bestowed upon them.