Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

But... eh... bringing a really old starting out half and backup prop is okay… or a starting hooker for the World Cup before that? It's hard to keep up with the goalposts on here sometimes! 🤣

but FFF dismisses Haley being 30 'wouldn't be a planning for the future selection'.

Well, to be clear, I don't think Haley will be omitted because of his age, I think he'll be omitted because these Ireland coaches have never shown any interest in him. His age just makes it even less likely they'll take a punt on him.

Henshaw

Henshaw has never played FB under Andy Farrell.

I do like Haley. Good fb. I prefer him to Frawley/Larmour. O'Brien does good work at 15 and is also a good wing. Haley would do the job for us.

He's not onethe same page as JoB in any facet of his game & more importantly Farrell clearly thinks he's a stick

He started ahead of Ryan at the RWC on form.

No. He was on the bench for the Scotland game, Farrell said Henderson was starting because he deserved it. If Ryan was carrying a knock, McCarthy could absolutely have played.

Why would Ryan have been risked against a team like Scotland if he was carrying a knock?

He's simply not as vital as some fans think he is. I remember the confident posts "well, Ryan obviously starts, the question is who starts with him, McCarthy or Beirne?" before the French game in the Six Nations. And lo and behold, McCarthy and Bernie started, with Ryan on the bench.

I know he's immensely important to Leinster and if he doesn't go off you don't lose that final yadda yadda yah. He's simply not nearly as crucial to Ireland.

Looking at Aldritt last weekend I saw a guy who really needed a break. He 's being flogged to death.

He really hasn't. He has about 1,000 minutes of rugby since returning from his post-RWC sabbatical which is a significant amount in approximately 5 months but not really flogged to death territory. For context, Doris has roughly the same number of minutes in the same timeframe and is performing well.

It was also his choice to come back from his sabbatical early; he was due to be absence until late/end of January but returned for their game against Toulouse at the end of December.

Alldritt still made more carries and metres than any forward on the field at the weekend. The issues there seem to be more a matter of focus and motivation across the board as opposed to any particular issues with game time with the possible exception of Botia who is playing a lot given he's 35 years old.