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.
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.’
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.
Mod Edit
Warning issued.
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.
South Africa are current RWC and RC champions, they're justified in keeping the old band together.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
I'd actually agree with this. McCarthy x 2 and the extra panelists would be better off playing an extra club game followed by the Spain game rather than hanging around in case of an emergency for the NZ game. Bring them into the squad for the final two games, there's a reasonable chance of injuries by then anyway.
Autumn Nations Series 2025:
Forwards (21): LHP: Porter, J Boyle, P McCarthy HKR: Sheehan, Kelleher, G McCarthy THP: Furlong, Bealham, Clarkson LHL: Beirne, Ahern THL: Ryan, Henderson, Edogbo BSF: Baird, Prendergast OSF: Van der Flier, Timoney NO8: Doris, Conan, Gleeson
Forwards (21):
Backs (16): SHF: Gibson-Park, Casey, Blade OHF: S Prendergast, Crowley, Frawley LWG: Lowe, Stockdale, Bolton ICE: Aki, McCloskey OCE: Ringrose, Henshaw RWG: Hansen, T O’Brien FBK: Osborne
Backs (16):
It will be interesting who covers fullback after Osborne, could be Frawley, Stockdale or Hansen. Possibly Crowley.
If picking the 23 from the above: Porter, Sheehan, Furlong Beirne, Ryan Baird, Doris, Van der Flier Gibson-Park, S Prendergast Lowe, Aki, Ringrose, Hansen Osborne.
Kelleher, J Boyle, Bealham, Henderson, Conan, Casey, Crowley, Henshaw.
Based off the Blade and Gleeson selections there may be doubts about Casey and Doris. I think Stockdale might be first cover at fullback after Osborne, which makes sense then to include Bolton.
If Casey can’t play then Blade on the bench, and if Doris can’t play then Conan starts with Timoney on the bench.
If any injury to one of the locks I think Baird may cover lock from blind side and Prendergast or Ahern could bench then.
I can’t see a scenario arising where either Gleeson or Edogbo get a cap, and Bolton probably would need three back three injuries.
I’d imagine P McCarthy won’t have a chance to get a cap either, could nearly see Bealham on the bench covering loosehead with Clarkson on the bench covering tighthead before they’d use P McCarthy as a replacement.
It will be interesting if they choose Frawley over Crowley for the 22 shirt for arguably better versatility in more positions, particularly at 13 and could allow Stockdale as 23 to cover the back three.
There’s an outside bet that T O’Brien could start on the right wing, with either Lowe or Hansen on the left wing.
I wouldn't have thought Gus McCarthy had the slightest hope of a cap last year and look where that ended up - and P McCarthy is in the full squad not as a training panellist. I would imagine he is going to get capped against Japan.
Frawley over Crowley would be utterly mental.
Who is coaching the A team? Feel it's a mistake to have them separate from the main squad, kind of a pointless exercise. Every lad playing as an individual trying to impress. Only good A performance in recent memory was the win over the Maoris in 22.
Happy enough, glad he's looking at Aherne. All the talk is Baird but I think Aherne is the better player, just hasn't had a chance to show it yet at this level. Might end up being slotted in at second row where I'm not sure he's as effective but I've no doubt he'll do a job.
As I posted yesterday I think he missed a trick not having a look at Farrell, who can't have done much more to put his hand up. Ringrose isn't one to distribute in my opinion (and Henshaw looks like he's on the wane), Farrell offers something different. Ulster have a few young centres too I'd have loved to have seen involved in some capacity even… their time will come maybe. I've made my feelings known on Coombes before.
Nash's injury makes more sense about TOB's inclusion. He has a chance to stake a claim now, don't see him getting ahead of Hansen if he's on form, mind.
Milne can feel hard done by, he's been a brilliant signing. Not sure Paddy McCarthy has shown enough to be there ahead of him. Best of luck to him I guess.
Glad for Edogbo, nice reward for all his hard work, out for 2 years. If he can stay fit the sky's the limit for him.
It looks like we're going to try a winger who blows hot and cold at fullback (unless he's going to get some game-time over Lowe?) when Mr Consistency Mike Haley can't get a look-in. One sub's appearance in a 2019 WC warm-up seems absolutely mad for a player of his quality. 31 now so maybe, like Farrell, they thing he's the wrong age or the fact he's a one-position player.
All in all, it's a bit underwhelming of a squad but there's a few green shoots with young/untried players being brought along. I'd like to have seen a bit more experimentation but will wait until I see teamsheets.
I imagine they didn't have a lot of control over the scheduling but it is also a damn shame it is taking place the same weekend as the Japan game, just after Chicago. That will already be a weaker matchday 23.
It looks like we're going to try a winger who blows hot and cold at fullback
Who? They are almost certainly going to go with Osborne at fullback.
I wonder if Crowley could be in line to start, and I’d imagine there would have been a lot of analysis done on his performances against South Africa and New Zealand last year, he got dropped after that, this could be a good test to see if he has gotten better at controlling the play.
S Prendergast offers a huge target for New Zealand to attack, but at the same time, it would be a great test for him to see if he could do well.
I think we might see very little change in the 23 over the 4 weeks. Will be interesting to see if they choose to rotate a bit for Japan or flog them for four weeks and only make changes as injuries arise. It’d be a good comparison to a World Cup run from the round of 16 to the final.
I expect SP to start, but I wouldn't be overly surprised to see JC get the nod. I thought he was better at controlling phase play in the opening couple rounds of the URC then he was last season and SP had a ropey start (albeit with a very underperforming pack in game 1). I guess, as always, a lot will come down to this weekend's game.
You're the only person I've seen on here that repeatedly says JC can't/didn't control phase play or didn't until now. Genuinely don't see it in his game before (and now). I don't think club/country wins trophies unless their 10 can do that, he's well able.
Was there not talk of Stockdale playing 15? If he's on the wing only it's a different story (but my point about Haley not getting a bit more of a look-in over the last 6 years still stands though!)
Milne is the same player he was at Leinster. That wasn't enough to get him into regular Ireland consideration when he was with us either. He's decent so he'll probably be along the fringes of Ireland selection for the time being. But unless he improves at set piece I don't think he'll ever be a regular.
Boyle is our second choice loose head so I imagine we won't see McCarthy get much time anyway.
He gets on the ball far less than other 10s (or at least did last season, I genuinely think last season was just an aberration of a poor season for him). I don't think any reasonable discussion of the 10 position can elide the point that Crowley had a poor 24/25 season and I think the reason for that was that he just wasn't getting as involved in play as he should.
There might have been but I think it is quite unlikely - I'd be shocked is Stockdale is anywhere near the 23 to be honest. I personally would have rather seen JOB at 15 and Osborne at 12 but that isn't going to happen.
