Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I'd be playing Doris at 8 and Timoney at 7, personally.

And I've no problem looking at players who are in form for their club, but it's clear to anyone who has eyes and actually watches rugby - that Gavin Coombes is not at the same level as Doris and Conan as a rugby player.

You can rattle off all the stats from how Coombes plays against Zebre all you want, but both Doris and Conan are consistent performers at the highest level of the game.

"But Conan will be 35 at the next WC" - and yet he was still one of the better performers in the pack at the weekend. If Conan was showing signs of waning, absolutely there is a conversation to be had about whether he is the best depth option for the back row.

However, he's not. He's very much still at the top of his game - which is better than Coombes.

There's trying out players who are possibly better than the incumbants, but when the players ahead of him are the Ireland captain and one of the best in the world, as well as someone who literally just started every test in the last two Lions tours, then honestly it's a conversation about playing someone just to please a certain cohort.

Grand, so how do you propose using Coombes against England or France?

And, who are you dropping out of the squad to do so?

Thirdly, what use will this use of Coombes be when he's possibly not even the starting 8 for his province come the next World Cup?

The management see who the next up from Munster is, and it's Brian Gleeson.

Yes, he's played 7 for Ireland and Leinster a number of times. He started at 7 in a couple of games against Italy and I think one against Fiji and maybe 2 or 3 games for Leinster too but mostly he's been used at 6 if not at 8.

Yes, Nick Timoney. The same Nick Timoney who:

• Is a specialist 7
• Has maintained his place in squads throughout that time
• Is still in the squad and Coombes is not

And I keep referring to Conan as the two-time Lion because that's what he is. It is representative of the vast gulf in quality between Jack Conan and Gavin Coombes, which doesn't appear to be clicking with you.

One of the excus- sorry, themes of this conversation is to build depth to the next World Cup.

The coaching staff clearly have that in mind - Brian Gleeson.

You speak about the 10 position - we were all having the same conversation about Sexton before he retired. We need to build depth. We need to look to the future. Blah blah blah.

Sexton would still start in the Ireland team today. Crowley, Prendergast, Frawley etc aren't fit to lace his boots, if we're being very honest about it.

Same rule applies to Coombes and Doris/Conan. Fair play to Coombes for playing well for his province, but for all of us who watch rugby with our eyes and not with numbers, we know how far away he really is from the top level and how his own provincial position is nowhere near safe.

Probably because it was his first game of the season…this whole “he’ll be 35” schtick and blaming every single time an older players underperforms on their age is getting REALLY tiresome. You do know he can just have a bad day at the office right? The same way Sheehan can, or Doris can… without is being because of his age?

And we're talking about the man who only a few months ago was the starting 8 for the Lions.

POM captained the Lions in 2017 and retired in 2025.

What has that got to do with anything here?

Sexton would still start for the Ireland team now, because no matter who the current golden boy is, they're not fit to lace his boots and they're not even anywhere near the level he was at when he retired.

And have we not been discussing viable alternatives at 8, where we currently have two top class players?

Correct, but that's not what the post I was replying to said, is it?

If 35 year old Conan isn't fit in 2 years we won't have 2 top class 8s. An awful lot of rugby players don't make it to 35, assuming anyone will is naive. The fiasco w Sexton should have made it obvious that not developing the players we have is a mistake, regardless of whether they are as good as or better than the incumbent. Ringrose is not as good as BOD, why is he playing 13? That's not a very useful question.

And it is up to the younger lads to take the jerseys off the older lads.

Conan is still very much at the top of his game. It is up to Coombes to grab any opportunity he gets with both hands to prove he is up to that level

It is clear from the fact he's not even in the squad this time around, and Brian Gleeson was supposed to be, that he hasn't so far.

Coombes will be 29 at the next World Cup. He's not exactly a young buck anymore either.