Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Let them go they are on their asses must of the time anyway. Irfu need to stop trying to make Leinster a super power and make Ireland one that's who bring in the money. If the Irfu can stop Irish men playing for Ireland because they work abroad they should have no problems telling a worker he will be working in another area where his skills are needed.

I wouldn't worry about the loss as much as just how bad so many players were. Losing to NZ is not the end of the world even in the WC, but first game up when they are coming off a win in Twickenham is not a sky falling in result. Most of the team looking like they haven't played the game in a year is a bit more worrying.

Anyone care to comment on our lineout woes, we have gone from having it as a weapon to hit strike plays and pilfering opposition ball on their throw to basically hoping we secure easy ball at two as anything to middle or back gets stolen or mistimed jumps etc, is this o connells fault or players?? I remember james ryan being brilliant at stealing opposition ball when he first came on the scene, now we don't even contest opposition lineouts, we were brutal at world cup and last Friday night was atrocious, is big joe a good exponent or is he basically too big to launch, I'm honestly not convinced by o connell, he was shoe horned in with very little experience and gets off scot free as his a legend crap. We have gone to watching our put ins with bated breath hoping we might secure it, it's said our opponents close the gap then why the hell don't we do the same on their throw

The team on Friday night did not look remotely close to a team that would beat SA.

What bothered me last Friday was the short term approach to the squad. While I understand that a win is important it’s more critical that we develop the squad. POM, Henderson, Healy, Murray and Herring were all pointless selections if the purpose is to move the squad on. Deegan, Penney, Thomas Aherne, Cian Prendergast, Coombs, Doak, Haley and others are available and ready to be included in Irish squads. A few of them will probably get in for the Fiji game but that isn’t much of a vote of confidence. Not sure what Ryan Baird was doing in the stand either. Did they think POM would offer the kind of pace and athleticism that Baird can?

I also think James Lowe is too slow, a showboater, too quick to kick and seriously overrated. He’s not entirely the problem but it’s obvious our back line doesn’t scare anyone and he’s a big part of the reason.

I think this group is probaly past its peak and to be honest I expected as much after the WC. The 6Ns maybe lulled us into a false sense of security, but we effectively won the tournament by beating France first up, but while it was a good performance it is worth pointing out that it was a French team not playing in Paris and without arguably its two most important players and inarguably its most important.

3 defeats in 5 is a statistic that highlights our potential decline, on paper I'd have expected us to beat England and NZ and I think the 2022 and 2023 team would have beaten England in Twickenham and NZ in the Aviva. The 2024 has lost those games which suggests we are either on the way down or those teams are on the way up.

Given where we are in the world cup cycle I'm a little surprised there weren't a few more uncapped or inexperienced selections in the wider squad, perhaps the plan is to throw a load of lads in in the summer. That said I don't think any coach would have chucked a bunch of kids in against NZ, especially given the team's previous outing was a win in SA.

IMO the team needs a bit of fresh injection of talent, but I'm talking about a couple of players here. Personally I'd like to see Osborne and Izuchwuku start against Argentina and maybe a younger front rower on the bench alongside Sam Prendergast. It sounds at least like Clarkson may get a go. Whether it is this week or not I'm sure these guys will get a go over the next few weeks.

I think we are declining a bit, but it's natural having been at a top level for 2-3 years and knowing how strong we've been at U20s level over the last 4 or 5 years I'd expect the players to be there to ensure that any decline is short and not overly impactful. Come 2026 I'd expect us to be on an upward trajectory again, we just need patience...maybe we'll time it perfectly this time come the WC.

100% agree with this ersatz tbh; it's not so much the loss as the manner of the performance. Even in those defeats to NZ in the RWC and the 1st Test that FFF mentions, there was enough evidence there of us playing well. I don't think we can say the same of this performance.

Out of interest, I had a quick look to compare the team in the last Test who won that NZ tour vs the team last Friday. We had 10 of the same starters. It would've been 13 but for injuries. We also had 15 of the same 23.

Compare that to NZ who I think had 6 of the same starters and only 7 of the same 23.

Now, NZ clearly have more depth than us. But it's hard not to feel like we could be doing more.

Stockdale has probably been the standout Irish winger so far this season, and has proved he can perform against the best on the big days. And Nash is in the 35-man AI squad too. They've also included Shayne Bolton as a training panellist. What is it you want to happen instead?

 when they are setting fixtures for 8.10 on a friday night, which basically means people outside Dublin are not welcome

I would imagine this is driven by the TV coverage rather than the IRFU wanting to do it.

Would think television contracts and Dublin Friday evening traffic via the Gardai have a very big say in 8.10 timing.

When is team announced ?