Ireland V Australia. Saturday 15th Nov. Build up thread

Ah jeez, is that the same SP who threw 2 intercepts in his woeful 10-15 minute cameo versus NZ the week before!? He was awful versus NZ & also versus Munster 2 weeks earlier , where JC totally outplayed him the same day, yet a 20 minute cameo versus a tiring Japan with Irish fresh legs off the bench appears to justify his selection as Ireland's starting 10 for some LFs!?

We are on 88.85 and Australia in 7th place are on 81.69. There's no scenario where they can bridge a 7 point gap in only two games.

Henshaw at 13 would be a disaster, might as well have Cian Healy out there.

There's no scenario where they can bridge a 7 point gap in only two games

There is when their next game is against us. Any form of Australian win is an instant 4 point swing. If they manage a >15 point win, that'd be a 6 point swing - not likely, but certainly possible if some of the team "improvements" suggested here were put into practice.

Australia would still need something from the French game (and us to lose to SA), but neither of those things are beyond the realms of possibility

No, It's just that he has offered very little impact off the bench with quite some time and we'd be better off using the 19 jersey to develop an alternative like Tom Aherne or Darragh Murray. I'm also fine with using the 19 shirt to develop Prendergast senior. He doesn't play 2nd row but Ryan Baird moves there when he's brought in.

It doesn't matter if Australia overtake us. Argentina, England and France would all have to do so as well.

If Australia overtake us, England and France will almost certainly overtake us, and Argentina will be very close.

A fairly basic set of results that doesn't require any major surprises (bar Australia beating us by >15): link. If those results happened, we'd be relying on England to beat Argentina in the last game, or else we'd finish 7th

i agree to both. Other 7 options need to be explored - Hodnett, Stewart, Timoney

Picking Henshaw boggles my mind. His pace and any inkling of attacking dynamism has left the building at 12 whatever about 13.

I'd also have Farrell over him every day of the week. He (Farrell) has far, far fewer miles on the clock - circa 100 professional games vs. Henshaw. I'm not convinced Henshaw will be playing in 2yrs.

As it relates to Saturday, I know Farrell's defence has been cited as a weakness, and Henshaw is a good defender (at 12) but I'd be concerned that Ikitau and JAS could really expose Henshaw's lack of pace.

The (alleged) Doris selection could be a stroke of genius, a possible long-term solution to a long-term problem. It's apparent that Timoney isn't seen as anything more than cover and there isn't a strong candidate to replace VDF coming through. Or it might be a case of taking a player who's world-class in one position and making him decent-ish in another… if he's playing against McReight and Valetini, we should find out something either way.

The Henshaw selection is what it is. It's not very exciting or forward-looking but he's not nearly as bad as is always made out on here.

Cooney isn't ready yet, and hasn't shown enough IMO.

Gavin looks a good raw prospect, with a good skillset, but the jury is out as to whether he's the right option still for the Connacht #13 shirt right now.

Postlethwaite is to me a different category - he's a bit older (23, Cooney is 22, Gavin 21), quite a bit more experienced (34 games versus 9 and 12 respectively), and has starts in Europe under his belt. He's shown up well for the A side when given the chance, and he has the kind of unique physical dimensions (he's listed as 6ft 4, 106kgs, seems to have a good skillset and a good turn of pace).

TBC - Gavin has the physical attributes too, but he's a more raw prospect generally.

I think the only viable one of the three to have been involved in the senior squad this November was Postlethwaite, but he's only played 152 mins this season for Ulster (had injury issues earlier this year).

I would have loved to see him added to the wider training squad following his good performance in Spain, but it was unlikely to see him jump from that to straight into the team this week.