Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

That would be the Welsh game this time. With the break week and all.

What are we going to learn from Crowley starting now?

This would have been a good game for Prendergast to finish off the 6N with a flourish.

What are we going to learn from Crowley starting now?


What would we have learned from playing him against Wales? Why do we need to learn anything?

I presume your joking!! Prendegast has had enough chances, enough is ENOUGH!

Would have started Aki over Henshaw, and not to be contrary but Aki offered a lot off bench v Wales . Agree with you about POM.

That’s my point. We don’t need to learn from every single selection.

We’re (apparently) rotating our centres, no one will ask what we’re going to learn from playing Henshaw at 12.

And that was my point…we don’t gain anything from Crowley selection. Sticking with Prendergast is just logical at this stage.

I agree with you on Osborne's strengths as a centre. He's also an excellent offloader which imo is a rare thing in Irish born players.

I think Farrell and his staff have seen the lack of options at fullback and are pointing Osborne's development in that direction for the moment. Keenan aside there's no other established 15 in the country that we can rely upon. Makes sense that Osborne is given a crack. Can still use his footballing skills, but we also then get the chance to use his kicking game. He has a bigger boot than Lowe.

Lowry? Haley? Shane Daly? None of them worth a shot?

I don't think so, no.

Lowry maybe had the chance to establish himself as a counterattacking threat unlike any other fullback we had. But he seems to have plateaued in recent seasons.

It was me who used the term “preordained”, but what I meant was that it’s not all this talk about Crowley’s contract that has spurred the change as was suggested and I don’t think it’s a reaction to anyone’s performance against France.

I don’t think it’s any harm to freshen the team especially after a loss. The only guys (apparently) coming in are those who are very close to the first XV anyway; Ryan, Conan, Crowley, Ringrose. There’s no left field selection that shows we’re cleaning house after last week. I think McCarthy definitely deserves a day on the naughty step for his stupidity but POM and Aki didn’t do anything last week to deserve to be dropped.

I am glad we’re picking Boyle though, hopefully he gets a decent run.

IRFU & Irish management team have handled this situation really poorly and in full glare, it wouldn’t even be an issue if the mismanagement of Crowley hadn’t been so apparent, Leicester being very opportunistic. I’m a huge fan of Andy Farrell and he gets most things right, but this has been a low point and unfair to put everything on Easterby

3 wins out of 4 and a triple crown is a disaster now?

Its from views like this that the perception of arrogant irish rugby fans is growing