Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I wouldn't say there's much difference in size between Casey and Park. A couple of inches? I'm at work and concave time to look up the bios! They're similar players. Casey has a bright future, imo.

JGP is 5'9" and 83kg vs 5'5" and 75kg. Not night and day but one of them stands out as very small even in comparison to other outhalves.

I think Casey can still be a little headless in his play and his kicking continues to need work but he's a really good player. I don't think there's much doubt over who will be starting in the 6N but time is going to catch up with JGP in the next 1-2 seasons and maybe sooner. But his fitness is still superb. On the Larmour try last weekend, he clears the ball from the ruck on the far side of the field in his own half and three passes later, he's being taken down on the sideline on the opposite inside the 22. He's ahead of any other option in terms of how he reads the game and supports play.

Casey's kicking game has come along hugely from a few years ago but is still inconsistent also which is going to be a factor in test selection. I think if he made the 23 it would be a good step for him and then potentially get a start at home against Italy and/or Wales.

Yeah Blade is unfortunate in that Casey is a similar player who came on the scene at the same time as Blade was really stepping up a few gears.

Imo it's only this year that Casey has actually become a the better player of the two. I'd have thought Blade was a few percent better, and had more experience. Casey had the benefit of being almost as good and looking like he has room to grow considering his age. Farrell was only going to have a few game to put mins into either of them before the WC so Blade loses out completely.

If Farrell had taken over a few years earlier I really think Marmion or Blade would be fairly well established in the Irish setup.

Agreed, always felt Marmion was very unlucky not to make it into the RWC 2019 squad.

And Casey is the obvious replacement for JGP. Given the type of game we play, I think it makes sense to have Casey there ahead of Doak. He could have included Doak too, but there comes a point of diminishing returns with including players.