Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Bizarre.

Thanks for engaging in good faith, Podge. I don't know that we are more guilty of it than anyone else, but we do love a good hype hurricane. I think, as well, that Sexton was so good and key to Ireland's success that we now think that a ten has to be that immensely talented. Puts pressure on the way we look at youngsters. We forget we don't need our next ten to be as good as Sexton, just good enough.

This post sums up Boards in a nutshell. No ideas to engage with, no analysis, nothing of value added whatsoever. Just more of the same glib slop that pervades this site.

Yes, some players do not reach their perceived potential. With Irish rugby players, this tends to be due to injury, as the pathway will usually weed out players with personality issues long before they progress far enough to become a "prospect".

Injury is a fundamental part of rugby. There is no need to append every post complimenting a young player with a disclaimer stating that their career might be derailed by injury. It is a truism that is implicitly understood by anyone with a passing knowledge of the game.

Yeah - I'd agree with that 100%. When we're desperate for a young player to be good because our current options aren't great, we put a pressure on their talent and their persona.

You're not mixing Beirne up with McCarthy, are you? Many were hailing his performance in the France 6N game.

This New Zealand side is very beatable. Their discipline is poor and Ireland can definitely eke out penalties by bringing the ball to the line before releasing. The All Blacks are biting in and hitting the wrong man.

We don't defend up fast like England so we won't put New Zealand under the same sort of pressure. But I think we can put them in situations where their ball handling is tested and so far it looks like they don't have the same accuracy as previous New Zealand teams.

England's attacking patterns aren't great. They're built upon huge physicality, forcing you backwards and building possession through winning back kicking duels. Ireland have a far more coordinated and inclusive attacking structure and I think we can hurt New Zealand through phase play possession rather than in the scrap like England.

Jesus! No Furlong.

FFS.

The next sentence out of Kearney's mouth was “Of course, they will always point to the last two quarter-finals of the World Cup which is what matters"

Relax.

Thornley's "possible" team

Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Finlay Bealham, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt). 

Replacements:

Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Tom O’Toole, Ryan Baird, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray/Craig Casey, Ciarán Frawley, Jamie Osborne.

Not much to get excited or upset about really. We might have looked at moving Aki and POM along based on age, but plenty of other games to look at other players.

Big challenge/opportunity for Bealham and TOT given NZ's scrum dominance against England last week.

Ireland v New Zealand: Tadhg Furlong ruled out as Andy Farrell is set to name strong side – The Irish Times

Has furlong struggled against de Groot in the past ? Some people were saying de Groot was rested against England for the Ireland game which nz are targeting. Also Gerry thornley said the game is not sold out yet only the Australian game sold out is that true ?