Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Is the roof open or closed?

Edit- forecast is for dry day

Interesting selection if it materialises. I'd rather see Beirne bench than Ryan, he has a lot of minutes on the clock this season. Could do with just playing the final 20.

The Obsorne selection at 15, if true, would be very interesting. Keenan hasn't put a foot wrong and would offer stability but if this Osborne selection materialises it shows that the management are keen to develop him. I'm not a Leinster fan and don't watch many of their games. Is this Osborne's best position? Or just a way to get him experience in a big away game? He's clearly going to force his way into the 23 soon but what is his position? Or is he likely to be the 23rd man as a utility back? Jack Crowley offers that 10/12/15 option so we can afford to be more specialised in our 23 jersey. Hence Aki probably being no.23 this weekend.

Also didn't expect Boyle to be picked but this is a good opportunity to give someone other than Cian Healy a go and start that succession planning. I don't disagree with that selection. There's no clear alternative to Healy so time to throw a guy in at the deep end and see if he has it. Worked for Clarkson.

Presume this means POM is captain? That's another reason I'd rather see Ryan start ahead of Beirne, is he not 2nd choice for captain? Or is Ringrose 2nd choice? Not that it makes much difference this weekend but it's good for the 2nd choice to get experience of the captaincy, Doris isn't immune to injury.

Also, does anyone have odds on POM being selected for the Lions tour? I'm tempted to place a bet on it. None of the 6s bar Tom Curry (who's a 7) have been going well so far in the tournament. He could get picked for leadership and as an experienced squad player. It's not beyond the realms of possibility.

Another contentious opinion coming up by me now. Jac Morgan is ahead of JvDF for the 7 shirt in my eyes so far. That may change after this game. Morgan has been outstanding in a diabolical Welsh side. JvDF has been efficient as always and playing well without being stand out. Think Saturday could be a shootout for the Lions 7 shirt. Especially seeing as none of the 6s have excelled and Tom Curry looks nailed on for that.

If this is the 23 picked then I'm happy, nice mix of stability and getting experience for the next generation. We need to target a 4+ try win with a minimum of a 20 point margin. But Wales will be fired up and may make it far closer than that.

Good choice if true, will always be a starter when fit. Interested to see how he interacts with the referee.

Agree that it would be great to see Izzy push on and get into the match day squad, but none of the Ulster players did themselves any favours at the weekend and no-one is pushing their way in on the back of poor performances, not that Izzy played poorly but the whole team were bad.

And yet McCloskey, Stockdale and Timoney were called up into the main squad. So while it's irrelevant, as Izzy is injured, I don't think the awful team performance against Benetton means anything. And they're not all tried and tested Farrell favourites - Timoney is hardly a squad mainstay, and earned a yellow card in Italy.

I don't think there's an easy solution, but saying because results now are good then everything is ok is a bit short sighted.

Don’t think anyone said that. The point was that we have gone from occasional giant-killing team and thinking a Triple Crown is an achievement to expecting to win pretty much every game, regardless of opposition, and we’ve maintained that for a few years now.

Picking anyone for the Ireland team on any basis other than being the best man for the job is a terrible idea. Picking a guy just to placate “fans” is about as crazy as it gets.

Back in the amateur days and right into the Gatland era, the coach was the coach but the team was picked by a “selection committee” who ensured a good spread among the three provinces. Coincidentally or not, we were absolutely fncking rubbish for the entire duration.

It would be great if the provinces could develop more players but national selection is the end result, the problem is much further up the chain.

Trying some sort of affirmative action to give each province a leg up is basically saying, these golden eggs are great and all but let's see what's inside the goose.

Great to see Cian Prendergast in the 23, Baird has been OK and no more so good to freshen it up.

Picking Clarkson is a great call too, Bealham has been fantastic but you can never have too many tight-heads.

Hopefully Boyle gets 20 minutes at least and can show us what he can do.

good team happy also. Although I wish it was announced from IRFU v Irish Times . Which is strange to say as it comes out earlier from Irish Times so logically I should be happy with that ! Happy for Cian P & Jack B in also, and of course Gus & Sam who are excelling at a very young age. Hard not to feel bad for Jack but I’m sure his day will come to show his wears.

Zero complaints with that to be honest.