Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

We have had players older than 34 at World Cups and I was under the impression he was younger than both Henshaw and Aki.

Why not? For example, if Casey is fit in time, he’s shown much better form this season than JGP.

Or, for example, TOB’s inclusion if fit.

But my point is a broader one anyways than just the NZ game.

I wasn't arguing Farrell should be called up. I was responding to the strawman argument that anyone who thinks Andy should be a bit less conservative in his selections, thinks that the squad should be picked purely on form (which is of course nonsense).

So we had Forde and Cooney in as development players, and capped Gavin in an utterly pointless 100 point win vs Portugal. Great. Let's have a look at them in actual games against tier 1 teams and see how they go. Or Kelly, or Postlethwaite. That's what our competitors do. They give guys a go. We'll keep picking the same 3 guys until they get injured or retire.

At the last World Cup we had three players 34 and older. The least experienced of these had 53 caps and had been an international for ten years. Do you see the difference?

Again, Henshaw and Aki are irrelevant here, Farrell is not competing with them.

Mod Edit

Warning issued.

Ha, don't, neither are near the top of their games e.g. Henshaw has been playing below the required level for well over a year now, & Aki ain't looking great this season so far either.... so tbh, they're both ripe for international squad rotation (I.e. being replaced), which would give a guy like a Tom Farrell a well earned opportunity to impress at international level, & might give them a wake up call, to up their game.

But this ain't happening, cos we're stuck in the mud with selection....

Very good, everybody wins.

Jesus but if Edogbo didn't have bad luck he'd have no luck.

Fairly puts this into perspective…

Aki and Henshaw aren’t keeping Tom Farrell out of the national squad. That’s a common misconception here; if the first two got hit by a bus tomorrow, Farrell still wouldn’t be going to Chicago on Tuesday.

Absolutely delighted for Farrell, but gutted for Edogbo, Gleeson and Hansen.

Start of 2023 6 Nations, where we beat both Wales and France. McCloskey was very good, especially defensively, iirc.

The issue for any Irish 13 looking to break into the squad is Ringrose. He's been one of the best outside centres in the world for a long time now. He's simply better than the other options.

He's generally been available for most of Farrell's tenure and if he's been injured/suspended mid-series Farrell has preferred selecting a centre within the current squad.

Was Gleeson going on this tour as a development type player? I.e. tackle bag holder and getting used of the international setup?

If not, why haven't we added another no.8 to the squad? Conan and Doris currently are both not fit for selection I believe. Doris hasn't played since May and has had shoulder surgery. And Conan was withdrawn late before the Munster game with a knee injury and hasn't played since the Lions tour. Surely be to God we are not going to have them both in the match day 23 vs NZ? With neither of them having had played any rugby yet this season in their first games back from injury.

My Gavin Coombes conspiracy theories are growing by the day.