You’re on a roll the last few days, Richie. Munster fans have been raving about Farrell for the last 12 months or more.
At the risk of being a broken record I still can't understand why Gavin Coombes continues to be overlooked by Farrell. He was outstanding tonight, he had 18 tackles in the game having come on in the 1st half. His maul D is outstanding and he forced turnovers by holding up Leinster players. His carrying was top notch as usual too. The only thing maybe is the discipline at the end, not so much the tug of VdFs arm but maybe the cheeky fist pump to the crowd on his way off. I feel Farrell has an issue with his personality that way. Hard to see why otherwise.
Watching Leinster there tonight unfortunately reminded me of watching Ireland in the 6N just gone. Getting held up over the line, making heroes of the opposition's defence and running down blind alleys into huge hits. It's worrying that it isn't changing and I fear a chastening AI series is coming up.
Leinster tonight had the lion's share of territory and possession, a dominant scrum, took their own lineout without much fuss and yet lost by 17 pts at home conceding a BP and registering no points themselves. Also went 74 mins without scoring before getting a late consolation try when the game was up.
If the alarm bells aren't ringing now when will they ever be? And yet the likes of Henshaw and Aki are picked for Ireland when wildly off form and the form player in the country with the past 12 monts, Tom Farrell, is left at home. This could get ugly quick.
Not to be too glib about it, but I suspect for the same reason Gleeson started over him today. I think he lacks an extra gear/element of dynamism at international level. His carrying is a bit one-note (I appreciate the irony of this when the entire Leinster forward pack tonight could be described thusly). e
I agree with you, he's not as athletic or dynamic as the modern day prototype backrow. But he's incredibly effective. I reckon Leinster would have liked to have had his skill set there tonight when they were camped 5m out on several occasions and came away with nothing.
He's the perfect squad player for Ireland, can play 4, 6 and 8 and yet is constantly overlooked. In fact the perfect WC player as he can slot into those positions to cover for injury, rest etc.
Also, have a look back at his carrying just before when JOD fumbled at a ruck 2m from the Leinster line. He just powers through a couple of guys twice in that phase. It's just something that so many can't do and such a weapon.
He's also blown it previously when given the opportunity. There's obviously things that he just hasn't delivered on for the Ireland coaches in camp and during the caps he's had.
But Andy Farrell doesn't care about provincial pecking orders… right?
Whatever you think about Coombes, there's an obvious argument that with his form over the last 2 and a half seasons or so, he should have an awful lot more than the 3 solitary caps he has to his name…
I don't think he cares about provincial pecking orders, but I do think McMillan has seen the same thing as Farrell.
I think he probably "should" have had more than 3 caps - he has been unlucky that Doris and Conan have basically been bulletproof for much of that time.
Do think you'd have to question Farrell naming the squad before this weekend's games. There's a number of players who would be better shouts than some of the guys called up. Thought Lowry looked excellent for Ulster, Farrell for Munster, Soroka for Leinster.
They're meeting up Monday so maybe that was the reasoning but yeah, the whole thing is a mess. They picked the squad before half the players even played a game.
McMillan, much like Lancaster at Connacht is on record as saying he was keen to give everyone in the building a far opportunity. They both have 2 starts and 2 sub appearances. And I'd go as far as saying Gleeson is one of the most exciting young prospects in the country right now, not just at back-row.
That's all part of the context too. So ya, glib indeed, I'd agree with you there at least.
I'm sure he is giving everyone an opportunity, and I'm also sure he picked what he thought was his best team for that rather excellent performance.
I agree Gleeson is a terrific talent and it is a shame to see him injured. But I also think there is a reason he leapfrogged Coombes relatively quickly.
The whole point of post was that it's too premature to assume that he has leapfrogged Coombes….
I know, I disagree. I think he selected what he thinks is his best team for this match and he absolutely wasn't just giving people a chance/rotating.
Alas, I suspect we won't find out who is right as it looks like Gleeson might have broken his arm.
Which would include Wycherley ahead of Kleyn and Dan Kelly,ahead of Nankivell. Na, I don't buy it tbh. I think the best you could say is he picked on form. (And even then, I'd dispute Kelly ahead of Nankivell).
But it is a real shame Gleeson has broken his arm.
He has 3 caps, last one being in 2022. Not much of a chance really. URC winner since...
And to add to this, we also know that being camped on 5m line, and being held up over the line is something that Ireland have struggled with.
Add to this a change in style last season, where we kicked the ball more frequently, had fewer phases, fewer rucks, and suddenly he looks a far better fit than with the attacking shape we had under Mike Catt, for example.
I posted this back in April and my opinion hasn't changed substantially tbh:
The argument against Coombes for Ireland was that he wasn't quick enough or linked the play well enough to play Ireland's high-tempo, high number of ruck, possession-based game.Ireland are now transitioning to a game, with fewer rucks, fewer phases, fewer passes per phases, where we kick earlier and more frequently. We've also looked under-powered at times culminating in being held up over the line a high number of times during the 6N. Couple this with POM retiring and Baird not really taking his chances, and Coombes has to start seeing more game time for Ireland, imo.It'd be a mistake to continue to overlook him.
The argument against Coombes for Ireland was that he wasn't quick enough or linked the play well enough to play Ireland's high-tempo, high number of ruck, possession-based game.
Ireland are now transitioning to a game, with fewer rucks, fewer phases, fewer passes per phases, where we kick earlier and more frequently. We've also looked under-powered at times culminating in being held up over the line a high number of times during the 6N. Couple this with POM retiring and Baird not really taking his chances, and Coombes has to start seeing more game time for Ireland, imo.
It'd be a mistake to continue to overlook him.
Aki is still a superb player and rescued us against Wales and had some great performances for the Lions this year, he's just not an 80 minute player anymore. We don't have another power athlete in the centre like him so I suspect he'll still be around for this RWC cycle.
I don't necessarily think Henshaw (or McCloskey) should be retired but there isn't anything about their game that's especially different to other centres and don't think they should be constant selections when others are playing better. Dan Kelly especially is the type of age profile we badly need so I hope team Ireland don't do an Antoine Frisch on it.
I thought Soroka played well in a struggling team. He was very strong in the tackle and in the set piece. Hoping he can maintain that, good option for Ireland in the future
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Antoine Frisch is not that good and Ireland were completely correct to not cap him. The fact that Kelly has come in and been better should make that clear.
I think Coombes potentially is just very unlucky with who is currently in the squad. Does he get ahead of McCarthy/Beirne at 4, Beirne/Baird at 6 or Doris/Conan at 8, in my opinion, no to all. The caveat being Baird hasn’t taken his chances as you said but I don’t think 6 is Coombes best position either. Should he be in the wider squad and given another shot for Ireland though, yes he probably should.
With Gleesons injury, Conan being pulled from the game tonight and Doris still injured, he could very well see himself at 8 against New Zealand in two weeks.
Farrell is a brilliant coach and motivator so we're hoping he can coax the best out of this squad again. Selection has always been one of his strong points too. He'll have them ready for Chicago.
But on the face of it, things aren't as good as they could be. A lot of Leinster players look quite unprepared for the start of the new season. Going into a test window off the back of one club game isn't ideal. Especially one where you were firmly second best technically and in the collisions.
Agree he was exceptional for much of the game. The foul for a YC on VDF was brain dead tho, really not acceptable from a coaching point of view. Then his teammate had Josh lined up perfectly for a big hit that was wasted.
Although it seems that the ref/TMO got the wrong player.
don’t think so, but I might be wrong.
There is a thread on Reddit and a few not sure A I thought it was JOD. Whatever happened was cynical - whether Coombes or JOD but Ryan should have been (at least) penalized for a croc roll.
Now do Tom Farrell.
With the scoreline being the way it was I wouldn't call it brain dead at all. Only for the TMO that's missed and Leinster miss out on a consolation try at the end.
One thing I will say JGP put more effort into trying to get penalties from the ref than playing the ball, JvdF wasn't far behind him, though he rightly called his hand been played in that ruck. The ref has enough of them in the first half not to mind by the end of the game. Is this something that's coached into them to milk penalties to get field position? If you took away their scrum penalties last night they didn't offer much punch going forward with ball in hand.
Coombes is down for 18 tackles, that's off the bench and he got under JvdF to prevent him scoring a try. I don't know how others can't see that effort from him.
