Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I have wondered for a while if the departure of Lancaster and the loss of his influence on the skills and thought processes of Leinster players has a carry-over to how they perform for Ireland. It seems to be true that what is coached in to players loses potency over time.

I have been observing rugby in Ireland since the mid 1950s. It always makes me chuckle when a player now is anointed as the best ever Irish player in his position. Recency factor at play. We'll never know because it doesn't matter and it has no value. JGP has been crowned by someone on here as the best ever………..well, he might be but I have seen quite a few great 9s playing in green. Johnny Moloney, Colin Patterson, Roger Young for example were all great players in the amateur days. With full-time training and coaching they would have been even better. I don't think there would be much difference from greats of yesteryear and current players. Sexton was a great player but so were guys like Jack Kyle, Tony ward, Ollie Campbell and they usually had to play with not so great teammates around them.

The one thing I have garnered from almost 70 years of playing and other involvement in the game is that historically, Ireland teams that blossom and do well tend to hit the buffers rather than declining slowly. Hopefully, and it looks like it, that our current set-up leads to positive evolution. Long may it continue.

The big dilemma really is how to make best use of the current huge numbers of young players - mostly from Leinster - while being fair to them and Leinster. I'd rather someone who doesn't make the Leinster Academy is made welcome elsewhere in Ireland rather than in England or is lost to the game. Leinster can't possibly be expected to accommodate all the riches that are flowing at the moment. It's a tricky situation…..

Happy Easter

Please explain…..

This is mad stuff. If Jean Kleyn and Stephen Archer, two big culprits of having tits for hands, can improve their handling to where they are now being latches in attack, throwing offloads out of the tackle and off the floor and pop passes… all within a season or two under their coaches Munster… then I'd dare say our greatest ever second row could manage it too. Pat Lam transformed Connacht into the best passing team in the country.

Strings was a very intelligent 9, I'd say he'd have found a way to 'survive' in today's game or the coaches would have. As for being one-tone, like you said he was very good at it and that tone is the most important facet of his position. Look at Luke McGrath, one of the biggest criticisms of his game is his passing. He has almost every other facet going for him, great break particularly, but I'd argue that's why he got 19 caps and Stringer got 98.

Casey is making inroads into the 23… he's got 14 Irish caps. He's still only 24. Sexton got his first cap Irish at… 24. Casey's up against arguably our greatest ever 9 in Conor Murray and JGP who has the jersey currently. Murray's time is coming to a close, Casey is the next cab off the rank unless someone else steps up. I think his progress has been steadily upwards since he made his debut for Munster, he wasn't rushed or, dare I say it, overhyped. As an aside, he has a bullet of a long-range pass that reminds me of Stringer!

1 post. OK.

Finn Russell at 10 ????

Was that a public vote?

True, but Hogg contributed more.

Scots supporters I know are not all fans of Russell.

Too many Welsh @sydthebeat

VdM is a joke selection. He's so one dimensional

Penaud is an infinitely better winger. Any team of the year without him in it is irrelevant.