Give him a game then. What's the point in playing Healy in these games?
Maybe he will get a game. If he performs in training, then he's got a pretty clear run at a jersey.
Farrell can't magic props out of thin air. If we had someone good enough to displace Healy, they'd be picked.
You said Farrell wasn’t trying to address the LH problem, he’s trying to convert TOT and he’s called a young player up, which we’ve established you didn’t even know. I literally don’t know what else he could do.
Exactly
I can't understand why people don't get this
It's always the go to "he's 33, won't be there for the nxt WC" approach by some.
I'm a big beliver in you've to be consistently excelling for your club to get international cap.
I look at it this way, if you continue to pick the same squad, the squad will crumble. This block is a good time to look at other options.
No clue? Probably due to Marty retirement.
FFF, I doubt any lad would look the busines, unless thrown in the deep end. As far as Gus McCarthy goes, he could be capped relatively soon. He is deserving in my opinion.
Marty Moore??
I have yet to see any games or squad announced by Ireland that someone doesn't proclaim its a time to experiment.
It's not up to Farrell to address shortage of players, thats up to the provinces to provide players to the international team.
Plenty of LH have come and gone, none have managed to step up to replace Healy. That's not Healy fault
And tutoring Doris on how to get on the wrong side of refs.
This is the big one over the next couple of seasons. The team needs to be rebuilt, rough estimate is that 20 of the 35 are 30+.
There's a pretty clear path from the development player list to the senior squad. You'd imagine those five will be a part of squad turnover next season. You'd think a 9 should be there though
Cullen needs to move on from Healy IMO, he's been an incredible player for Leinster and Ireland but he struggles around the pitch and he's a solid scrummager but he's not winning penalties. He's a comfort blanket for Leinster and Ireland that needs to be ripped off IMO.
Yea. He retired a while back
Because he's only started 6 professional games in his career and has 0 CC appearances…the point of this squad is for players like Boyle to get a taste of what an Irish squad is like, what the standards are & what is required for him to reach that level. He can then take what he's learnt and apply it to his performances at Leinster and then when the 6N comes around he might be in with a chance of being selected. Throwing him in now with only 6 starts to his name for Leinster is going to do more harm than good, especially for a specialised position like LHP.
Just to be clear, you want to play either Tom O’Toole or Jack Boyle at loose head prop, against the all Blacks
Is that correct?
Its a good squad, but there are definite issues at 2 and 6. Which then have a knock on affect for the second row.
POM probably won't start against New Zealand and since Conan is injured we don't really have a blindside with much top end experience. I'd drop Beirne in there for a repeat of the second row and backrow which started the second test against South Africa. But Joe McCarthy has an ankle injury and has missed the last few games. I'm guessing he'll be fine, but I'd much rather he had a run of games going into the New Zealand test.
Cullen has had no issue with dumping players when he felt he had better options or alternatives. Most recently Sexton who offered to play for another year and it wasn't offered
Healy is still a great player, he is winning penalties and Im sure I remember 1 or 2 already this season. If Ireland or Leinster had better alternatives they would be playing them. Not selecting the best player becuase of age is a bit idiotic
Issues at 2 due to injury but either of Kelleher or Herring come back and we are ok
I don't see the concern at 6, you have Beirne, IZzy, Predergast, Doris, Baird, hendo who can all play at 6 and do a perfectly good job. I think it will come to Baird at 6 as he seems to be the long term replacement
I don't ever again see Beirne at 6 tbh bar an injury crisis mid match
I still expect him to lineout at lock, but I think Beirne as 6 still is possible, tbh. There's a decent argument for it as a means of getting Ryan, McCarthy and Beirne all on the pitch.
I will say tho, going back to the OP's post, I think it's leagues more likely than Henderson ever playing at 6 for Ireland again.
Im not sure there's a rotation issue.
Locks and props continue into their prime at mid 30's. So I'm not too bothered by their age. Both Byrnes, loughman, Jager and Conan are out for now and young Osbourne looks like he will oust at least 1 of our 4 centres for match days at least.
Form wise I'd have left Henderson and Pom out as we have plenty of cover. But this is a 4 game block why decide now when you get to cut the squad weekly for 4 weeks.
No. I'd prefer Loughman
sexton being added to the management team is for me bizarre. It makes zero sense to me and there is no way Frawley and Crowley want him there watching over their shoulders. Add in the book and war of words with New Zealand and it makes even less sense
A very bad decision by Farrell
An injury to Porter or Healy would mean one of them makes the XXIII (unless Bealham switches across), so it's not that big a jump.
Could not disagree more on every point
I know (literally said so five posts up)
My point is that it’s easy to sh1t all over Farrell and moan about everything but when it comes to saying what he should actually be doing differently, tumbleweeds.
In this case, the tumbleweeds were replaced by a suggestion that we should have picked a guy who a) has never looked test quality and b) is injured.
Ok.....let me get this straight, Moore's retirement ( who last played for Ireland in 2015) is having an impact on Cian Healy's continued selection in Ireland squads?
That's unhinged enough without even considering they play different positions.
Yeah its quite a dull squad but at the same time its hard to have any complaints about it
I think its a good idea. Just not now. Still too soon.
Moore's retirement has meant that Tom O'Toole has had to stay playing at tighthead and not move over to loosehead, as had been rumoured. His lack of playing time at LH means he's not a viable option at international level there. This, along with injuries to Loughman and Kilcoyne leads to Cian Healy continuing to play there.
If you absolutely have to act the prick with other posters at least think things all the way through first.
The extent to which Dubinusa has "sh1t all over Farrell" is suggesting things like:
It's an old squad. There needs to be an injection of youth
This block is a good time to look at other options.
We might have T'O'T packing down at loose head. That would be great if he can perform there.
Withering…
Funny you quoted "This block is a good time to look at other options" which sounds very reasonable but neglected to quote the sentence which immediately preceded it, "if you continue to pick the same squad, the squad will crumble", which is a very different tone, no?
Or in relation to the 5 of the uncapped lads? "Bagmen? They'll be in the environment and that's about it". Is that something you agree with? We can only assume so since you didn't jump down his throat, but maybe you just missed that one too.
If I didn't know better, I'd say you were being extremely selective and disingenuous in order to paint me in a particular light, as per usual.
But look, you and other posters have an intense dislike of Farrell, that's just what we have to live with. There's no realistic squad that he could have picked that would not have generated a load of complaints.
I just think people would actually enjoy these matches if you were open to it, but each to his own.
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