Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

11 to 15 were also generally leinster players then too, maybe with one of andrew trimble or geordan murphy coming in somewhere in the back three. there would generally only be one or two munster players on the bench, so yes it was a munster dominated 22 for the bigger games but it wasnt to the same proportion that it is now. the only wider squad i can find from 2006 is from the tour to nz and again, while that is munster dominant, it is not to the same level as leinster are dominating recent squads

Not in favour of SP starting, I'd have started Crowley every day of the week.

Henderson owes us a big game off the bench (I'd have liked to have seen Izzy or Ahern there ahead of him and McCarthy), likes of Lowe and Hansen too. Nash unlucky not to be involved. Aki is the right call at 12 and Beirne definitely better in the row than at 6. Maybe should have been Osbourne ahead of Henshaw on the bench, I love Henshaw but he either starts or not involved for me.

Baird is a funny one, only 266 minutes played this season but is handed the 6 jersey. There's others I'd have had ahead of him.

Kelleher and co. need to get that line-out humming from the off. Hope the backplay clicks better than it did in the Autumn.

Lots of questions to be answered, I dunno, I feel this has banana skin written all over it.

Absolutely love the Six Nations, by far the best rugby tournament out there. Brightens up a crap enough time of year too. I think we'd be the first to win 3-in-a-row if we do it?

A lot of talk about the English BR selection.

I think the players that will have the biggest say in this game could actually be the Fullbacks and back 3.

The Packs will ultimately balance each other out, it’s probably the area on the field that’s most even. The English scrum could be on top with furlong out, the Irish lineout could be on top with better BR options. The breakdown then is a back and forth battle.

So it comes down to back play and both teams just love kicking so the ability and accuracy of the 15’s is crucial, that and also the inevitable YC or Red card the English love to pick up should sway the game.

Yeah, but there was also the RWCs in that period

Like, Farrell gets a lot of flak for beating SA and losing to NZ by one score in 2023, but compare that to any of the RWCs from 1999 through to 2011 and it's night and day. We never really travelled on any SH summer tour with any sort of expectation, we were always hoping to cling on and maybe sneak an upset.

Edit: it didn't get much rosier in 2015 and 2019, obviously.

England definitely have enough quality to win tomorrow. Their defence is so fast up that it kills attacks far before they reach the gain line.

During the November tests they weren't able to keep that intensity for longer than 30 minutes and you could see teams identify gaps in the line where a defender should have been. Ireland have the passing game to exploit those gaps should they appear.

I wonder will England hold back on the line speed a bit? It hasn't worked right for most games and now their new defence coach has been given more time he might change things slightly.