Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Bench? My guess:

McCarthy, Kelleher, Clarkson, Conan, Timoney, Casey, Crowley, Farrell

I'd rather Prendergast ahead of Timoney though

Indeed, we can conclude Crowley was absolutely rubbish against NZ and significantly worse than SP against Japan and Aus.

To be fair to Farrell, I think we're seeing more change in this set of AI's than we did this time last year, and that's a positive thing (where last year I thought he was far too conservative).

Springbok team to face Ireland in Dublin:

15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 47 caps, 66 pts (6t, 9c, 4p, 2dg)
14 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 20 caps, 40 pts (8t)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 86 caps, 100 pts (20t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 95 caps, 55 pts (11t)
11 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) – 48 caps, 126 pts (21t, 3c, 5p)
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 17 caps, 137 pts (6t, 34c, 13p)
9 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 48 caps, 90 pts (18t)

8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 41 caps, 10 pts (2t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 94 caps, 70 pts (14t)
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 101 caps, 70 pts (14t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 16 caps, 0 pts
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 139 caps, 35 pts (7t)
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 31 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 86 caps, 135 pts (27t)
1 Boan Venter (Edinburgh) – 7 caps, 5 pts (1t)

Replacements:

16 Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls) – 6 caps, 0 pts
17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 14 caps, 5 pts (1t)
18 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 27 caps, 5 pts (1t)
19 RG Snyman (Leinster) – 49 caps, 15 points (3t)
20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 61 caps, 55 pts (11t)
21 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 27 caps, 20 pts (4t)
22 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 27 caps, 35 pts (7t)
23 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 27 caps, 145 pts (2t, 48c, 13p)

Mad that 9 of their 23 are based in Japan. You'd think it would affect their game, not playing to the higher standard of the URC on a consistent basis.

It suits them very well - the Japanese season only starts in December and ends in June, so even guys like Malcolm Marx, who played a relatively full season last year domestically, hasn't had any club games since June.

Pieter Steph du Toit hasn't played a domestic game since 5th May 2024 (566 days by the time the game kicks off on Saturday).

TBF most of the others played relatively full schedules in Japan, but it almost certainly isn't taking as much of a toll on their bodies as playing Top14 or URC would.

Yeah, this is it really.

I really dislike Rassie and the way he operates, but it's impossible not to respect just how good he is at his job. He is world class at connecting with his players, getting the best out of them and generally motivating them. Their mental strength is off the charts.

In the event of Aki getting injured, I wonder who'd cover 12; you'd presumably have an option of Farrell, Ringrose or Crowley. I wonder if we could see the latter there.

I don't get Tom Farrell on the bench at all, other than the fact we know Farrell likes a centre in the 23 jersey. Jimmy O'Brien or Jacob Stockdale make more sense. Who is covering Full Back? Crowley? Who is covering the wing? Ringrose? Either O'Brien or Stockdale would have made a lot more sense.

is Henshaw injured?

He had a poor beginning to the Club season so really he can't complain.

Farrell has made no bones about it in recent weeks, that lads who aren't stepping up in camp and training are in peril, and he showed undisguised irritation about errors and slack performance in the first two fixtures, so it's evident that a very high bar has been set for them across their contributions.

Aki can count himself lucky that he happens to be the third of three options and the other two are hurt. He needs to get his head on straight in a massive way and sort out his discipline on both sides of the ball, because he's been making rookie mistakes.

Would have preferred Clarkson on the bench. Probably would have went with Henshaw at 12 but Aki still has a big game in him. Happy to see Farrell at 23. Prendergasts boot will be important in this game. Worried about him in defence, no doubt Rassie will have as many ball carriers as possible running at him but needs to play these games if he is to keep progressing.