Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Sexton retired a year and a half ago and people still hate him.

time to move on lads

A very mediocre 6N?

This just isn't true, unless I'm watching a completely different match to you.

He's been outplayed by his opposite number in all games bar Scotland. Tom Curry, Jac Morgan and Paul Boudehent all made hay against us. I'd argue that Fraser McReight did a number on him in the AI too.

VdF hasn't been bad but he's been well below his WPOTY form.

100% this. People are moaning about Healy, Herring and Murray.

VdF, McCarthy, Beirne, JGP (third best 9 to take the pitch) are all more culpable. To say nothing of Prendergast, Osbourne etc. I thought only Doris and Keenan were good. Sheehan was quite good.

Do I think we should move on from the old guard? Absolutely. I do think we have an issue with reverence and sentiment clouding out selections.

Did yesterday prove that? No, actually - not as much as it proved there are other issues.

We were told by some poster on here that it's like for like, comparing him to Hansen 😂

Being 'outplayed' by your opposite number does not mean he played badly.

He was one of our better forwards against Wales, him and Morgan were very closely aligned on the stat sheets.

Ben Curry played 7 against us and VdF absolutely outplayed him, so you can stop lying right there.

As I've pointed out before, fans from every top tier nation in World Rugby see Van Der Flier for the class act he is except for fans in Ireland - who for some bizarre reason (see also: Ringrose) try to make up things to make him come across as a worse player than he actually is.

Overall view coming away from that game is that France were unbelievable for a 25-30 minute period after we went ahead early in the second half. It was difficult for us to match them physically, which is ultimately what rugby comes down to at any level.

A lot of discourse around the 10 situation. Sam was poor yesterday but I don't really see any problem playing him for every game in this championship. He will benefit from the experience and the longer term hope would be that we will have two 10s capable of playing to a high level in international rugby.

What I do think is a deeper issue however is the depth of our squad. France could roll off all their subs with immediate impact. Yesterday we basically couldn't bring on Herring, Healy or Murray until the game ended. This has been the case with LHP and 9 for some time now. A part of it is selection policy where the coaches just haven't gone with Boyle. Another part of it is that we don't really have many players knocking the door down for selection with their performances for their provinces. A lot has been made of the Leinster bias which I don't think exists from a coaching perspective. How many Ireland players have come through in the last 10-15 years from Munster or Ulster? Connacht in fairness probably punch above their weight in that respect. I think the state of the provinces is the real issue here and maybe is beginning to manifest itself on the pitch now.

So what's the solution?

Milne and Barron are heading south next season. Loughman, Salanoa, Illo, Aungier, Jack Mcgrath, Moore, Dooley, Ed Byrne and Lasisi have all came through in the Leinster academy. Some have moved to another province, Moore via a few years at wasps. Ed Byrne is gone to Cardiff.

If the other provinces aren't producing guys good enough to bench for Ireland then the solution is??

But you know right well that if he was fit and on form he still wouldn't be selected plus like Ahern he's a natural big athlete, that's something you can't train.