Farrell wants to win the game. Blade has proven he can come on against top opposition while under serious pressure and make a big contribution towards getting a win. I'd say practically all top coaches would have made the same call.
The scenarios for going for Murphy or whoever are end up getting completely thrown in the deep end or hanging around and not getting any gametime. As I said, they would be better getting guaranteed game time against Spain and then moving into the full squad.
Balls? Honestly...
Personally, I think they should have selected more older players. Milne would bring more oomph than Boyle. I'd be more confident with Herring or Tom Stewart benching against the All Blacks than Gus McCarthy if one of Sheehan or Kelleher broke down and had to cry off. Thomas Farrell is a better 13 option than Henshaw now, I would say, despite being… I was going to say marginally older, but, looking it up, I see Farrell is actually 4 months younger. Anyway, I think the plan for 13 long-term is probably to have Osborne as Ringrose's back-up once Keenan returns.
Blade is a good selection, to my mind. Was he not good in Connacht's first round game? Better than Murphy against Cardiff anyway. Murphy and Doak and Gunne could make the 'A' squad.
I'm a bit surised at Jimmy O'Brien's omission. Stockdale at fullback was tried early on in Farrell's tenure at 15 and I he was a bit loose defensively. But I still think I'd prefer him over Frawley and his lack of pace if Osborne had to pull out at the last moment.
Gerry Thornley was close:
P McCarthy instead of Milne Edogbo for J McCarthy Ahern for Izuchukwu Gleeson as extra back row cover Blade instead of B Murphy Bolton instead of J O’Brien
Nash injured but T O’Brien may have edged him out anyway.
Munster fans should be happy. Hopefully it means Casey is nearly fully recovered, Ahern must have recovered from his recent concussion, Edogbo must be showing good signs of ability in training, and Gleeson is getting looked at in the senior environment so he must have impressed lately.
Plus Farrell is very likely to leave JGP on for 70+ minutes anyways. I disagreed with you in the past, TRC, but I’m coming around to your line of thinking with regards recent selection.
There is a reasonable chance that Casey won't be ready or has a setback before the NZ game, so doesn't want the potential for a complete Newbie on the bench
Why not? It’s a friendly. Who cares? There’s literally nothing to be gained selecting Blade over Murphy. Connacht have the balls to back the younger player. Why doesn’t Farrell?
I think Farrell's considerations on the third scrum half come down to two things;
I don't think the selections at scrum half are that big an issue. The guys you mention just aren't ready to be thrown in against the top international teams. Presumably the starter against Spain will be first in if one of the three selected SHs gets injured. Playing against Spain is good preparation for them if they end up in the squad ahead of the Aus or SA games.
Of course 6N's are not insignificant and I would never say they are.
Nor am I saying we should go full boar, discarding everyone 30+, and start afresh.
But I think there's a balance that can be struck here, and I think Farrell is erring on the wrong side of it.
I think that's a perfectly reasonable position, even if you disagree it. My worry is it will catch up with us. Bearing in mind I am previously someone who defended Farrell with regards the age-profile of the squad, over 2 years ago.
Add to that the Emerging Ireland tours and you could make an argument that Farrell and his coaches are doing a great job of looking at as many players as they possibly can.
The argument seems to be that you can only judge a player by giving them starts against Tier 1 countries, I wouldn’t agree with that at all.
Plenty of guys get call-ups, some of them take their chances, others don’t. This seems to be regarded as a failure of the coach. Again, I wouldn’t agree with that either.
I only drop in here occasionally but I see the same old rubbish about preparation for the next WC continues. Before that there are two Grand Slams and Six Nation championships to be played for. These are not insignificant - they are major prizes we historically have not won too often. Lets concentrate on next year at this point.
Touch a nerve, did I? I'm not trolling, just giving my opinion. I'm entitled to one just like everyone else. Some people are content with little short term victories and being perennial quarter final losers I guess. I'd rather we aim higher.
South Africa are current RWC and RC champions, they're justified in keeping the old band together.
for sure, I'm not calling for revolution. It's not just backing the younger guy for the sake of it,.id argue that in a lot of cases, they're simply playing better ball at the moment. It's the right pragmatic decision if nothing else.
Mod Edit
Warning issued.
In the South Africa squad for the Rugby Championship they had only 4 players that will be under 30 at the next RWC. They also have 11 players that will be over 34 at the next RWC, Kolisi, Etzebeth, Du Toit, Koch, Mostert, Mbonambi, Smith, De Klerk, Reinach, De Allende and Mapimpi. The following players will be 33 at the RWC - Marx, Louw, Pollard, Esterhuizen, Kriel and Kolbe. RG Snyman will be 32.
I think the only squads that really are comfortable age wise is New Zealand and France. The rest have an age problem.
And clearly building depth through the A fixtures
‘Whether it has been taking on the Maori All Blacks on the 2022 summer tour to New Zealand, playing the All Blacks XV that same year or England last February, Farrell has been keen to add more ‘A’ fixtures to the calendar in a bid to further strengthen his options.
Spain are currently ranked 14th in the world, and Los Leones (The Lions) qualified for the 2027 World Cup earlier this year. Spain's qualification marked their second appearance at a (men’s) World Cup and their first since 1999.
It is understood that Ireland ‘A’ could play their English counterparts again during next year’s Six Nations.’
I don't think he is injured at present, he just hasn't played particularly well on his last few outings (he was poor enough v Bulls, and lucky to get away with a yellow for a high hit). Defensively he is as good a player as there is in Irish rugby, but the attacking side of his game isn't where it needs to be IMO.
I think Gavin would be a better 12 and Osbourne 13.
it’s not up to Farrell to give the younger players game time, he will take them on once they have had sufficient time at club proving themselves, and then the integration will be fast trekked. Look at what was achieved in a relatively short period in Lyon’s and many said it was their best coaching performance they had experienced. I agree with the couple of situations which seem odd due to age or an importance to choose the 2nd or 3rd for WC27 but even there the club performance will be crucial to estimate the next wave of talent. 6N will be an easier time to rotate accurately after the URC & EPCR campaigns are well underway
You're probably 1-2 players away from what is going to be selected. I'll have Henderson all day every day ahead of Ahern or Murray in a game against NZ myself. Keenan being out probably makes it harder to pick Osborne at 12. But you've picked a team that is extremely close to what Farrell will pick.
The seedings are set after these games but it's top 6 who are first seeds not top 4 so we would have to lose 3 of the 4 games and by more than 15 points in each game in order for us to drop out of top 6. It's madness not to experiment more with squad
I’d agree but the problem with Connor’s isn’t that he’s injured for the time being. It’s that he’s perennially injured.
Granted Connors in injured for the time being but I'd have thought on form he is an able replacement for VDF, and he's 3 years younger.
world cup seedings are set after the autumn internationals.
nothing about that squad is worth arguing over.
Another underwhelming squad which seems to be prioritizing short term gain for long term pain. We have no chance to win the next world cup, and if it keeps going like this we'll be even further behind once the prep to 2031 begins. Farrell has done a lot of good things but should be moved on.
"outlandish".
I didn't suggest it was….. let's leave it...
Right, except this week's injury update said absolutely nothing about injured players at all, just launches into an irrelevant blurb about players playing AIL:
And, the previous one, had Casey out for a period of 1-3 weeks. The upper end of that would only have him returning the actual week of the NZ game.
The suggestion there are injury doubts about Craig Casey for the NZ game hardly seems outlandish.
Tthe injury updates Munster are giving out now are probably the most detailed in terms of return schedule I've come across from any club in recent seasons tbh….. we just look at things very differently, FTD.
50 min against Scotland was his only game in 20 days. I dont think playing against Romania or tonga was the winning and losing of that NZ match. The biggest mistake by far in that sequence was from the fresh McCarthy. Though McCarthy himself belies the idea you need significant experience to be trusted.
(Im still not remotely a fan of the squad)
No arguments, and I like Blade a lot, he should've gotten a lot more caps over the years imo. JGP's age profile is a concern. I have doubts that he's going to maintain his standard of play through to the WC.
Remains to be seen - but I fully believe the inclusion of Blade is down to injury concerns around Casey more than anything else. The statements around Casey's injuries have been pretty vague so far tbf.
