Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

It'll be interesting to see what locks make the Ireland squad for the summer tour if Ryan and/or Henderson don't/doesn't make it back in time. I'd imagine four second rows will be taken, so there would be two places up for grabs behind Beirne and Joe McCarthy.

Baird could travel as a lock, which would open up another blindside slot for Prendergast or McCann.

Treadwell and Ahern would probably be next in line, but I wonder where the Connacht starters, Niall Murray and Joe Joyce, sit in Farrell's thinking. Joyce seems like an effective player from what I've seen, but I haven't watched him week in, week out. What limitations/flaws does he have?

Izuchukwu and Deeny featured for 'Emerging Ireland', but they are probably well down the pecking order currently.

Where are those lists available out of interest?

Loving the cheeky ninja edit after full time :P

Ah fair play. It was the schools list that I was wondering about.

As someone who went to RBAI, it was a massive part of the culture, but not seen as a career. Now that a huge number of kids go to university, the assumption was that you'd go elsewhere, across the water,probably, and play for a club somewhere. When RBAI were big, very,very few teenagers went to university.

I'd say the significant majority of lads from Inst go across the water to university in Britain. Few sub-Academy players (i.e. those leaving school) would see enough to suggest they'll make a better living playing rugby than doing something else and playing as an amateur.

Maybe Ulster Rugby Branch (IRFU) should set up a university up North to keep folk here?

jordanstown, QUB, TCD, are traditional destinations for Northern folk, and is the migration/career thing any different for Leinster, Connacht, Munster? Granted there’s a much stronger tradition of studying in England/Scotland than anywhere else in Ireland.

Nowadays if someone is good enough to play for Ulster/Ireland, irrespective of their school, they'll go to Queens or the University of Ulster and hang about, certainly in 95% of cases anyway. But yes pre Academy structures very good players were lost. I think it's the next level down where good players are still lost and this affects club rugby, which affects the Academy as well because our club scene isn't as strong as the other provinces with just 2 1A clubs and 1 1B club. Do while all the best Leinster Academy prospects are playing 1A, that definitely isn't the case in Ulster with some Academy players even playing 2B in the past. Although as you point out this has now changed with the new arrangement with Queens.

As for Inst there were about 15 years where they didn't produce Ulster players never mind Ireland players. But that's changing with 5 ex Inst in the current squad, two in the Academy and there are definitely more in the works. Whether they kick on to play for Ireland (same for Ballymena Acad, Methody, Campbell, Wallace etc) depends on what happens after school in my opinion and that's where I think Ulster are being left behind at the minute.

Our equivalent of Nick Timoney is in Edinburgh or some such. Or Eric O'Sullivan, who came from playing club rugby at uni in Dublin.

Which is what Awec was saying.

You know who you won't find on an Ulster age grade teams? Stuart McCloskey. Completely unknown at schools level, but went to QUB and continued to play for Dungannon. His Dungannon performances got him into the Academy, and the rest is history. So the question is, how many other Stuart McCloskeys are out there, have we missed out on, because they went to Edinburgh, Manchester or London?

And I don't think any province could turn their nose up at McCloskey-level players.

Pickarooney is right as well.

But are there lads in the schools and Ireland U18 who are being overlooked or not encouraged to pursue an academy route if they have the ability/potential?