Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Thread is abotu Ireland and I was posting about Ireland, Hansen was playing well for Ireland

Apologies. Didn't realize we weren't allowed to post about the club form of Irish players in the Ireland Team thread.

Anyway as I said, he started the season poorly. He was only in the AI squad because he had credit in the bank. Did nothing much against NZ, Australia or Argentina but got a couple of tries against Fiji if I remember correctly. He improved as the season went on for both club and country. But people were 100% justifiably questioning his place in the team for the AIs.

well called out ! Serious problem. Lots of little men behind big keyboards syndrome

That was just the fans/media across the water having a cry that Ireland dominated the lions at the expense of their players. Lowe and Hansen were the easiest targets.

That’s because most Irish journalists are more interested in sensationalism than actually doing their research, if they did that they’d know exactly why Hansen was picked. On the right wing Farrell wants his winger to contribute to the attack off the wing. That’s what Hansen does better than any winger available to the Lions which stems back to his days as a FH which helps contribute to the teams attack, the likes of Graham,Freeman, etc the only thing they think of or play for when they get the ball is themselves, not the team…that’s why Hansen would likely have been the test Lions XV if it wasn’t for injury, it was noticeable how limp the Lions attack was when Freeman was there contributing nothing.

If a player offers clear USP that contributes positively to the overall team then they’ll likely get the benefit of the doubt from the coaches, that’s why Hansen was picked…if the journalists did their job instead of searching for clicks they’d know this.

It’s not just any winger WE have, it’s any other winger England, Scotland, Wales have also. I don’t blame fans for being surprised about Hansens inclusion, they were misled by the media who weren’t interested in doing actual analysis but would much rather double down on how wrong they are and just come with conspiracies such as Farrell being biased.

They can go through periods but the reality is, Hansen while not at his absolute best was still playing more than good enough to justify selection.

You're clearly not reading what I'm writing and what others are writing. We are saying that Hansen was in poor form for the first part of last season. The 2024 months of the 2024/25 season. By the time the Lions squad was selected (April 2025 I think) no one was surprised he was picked because he was playing well again.

You'd have to think unless there's a big change in form that James Lowe shouldn't be in an Ireland 23 come the 6N. Despite Leinster winning tonight he was woeful. Tommy O'Brien conversely was decent. With Stockdale playing well also it's time to see if Andeh has the conjonhes to drop a former star who's playing like a drain.

There is nothing the Lowe brings to the game at the minute that Stockdale couldn’t bring other than possibly a strong left boot.

Continuing backing players like Aki & Lowe who are NOT delivering is one of the big things hurting Ireland right now.

the likes of Graham,Freeman, etc the only thing they think of or play for when they get the ball is themselves, not the team

Sorry but this is nonsense and a great example of someone only seeing what they’re told to see by pundits who harp on about how Hansen “comes off his wing” as if he’s the only winger in the history of rugby to do this. Freeman and Graham are both class players who contribute just as much if not more to their teams as Hansen does.

It’s always worrying in transition until new generation takes their stride. Never different on that front, always a similar story. 9 & 10 will be fine once the new generation gets game time for confidence

I think it is less effective. There’s a reason why teams are kicking so much and why both Leinster and Munster looked more comfortable without the ball last night-it’s very difficult to go through phases. It’s a lot easier to put a kick up and try to reclaim the bouncing ball. Even Leo Cullen suggested as much in the post match interview saying going through 20 phases regularly isn’t really possible under current law interpretations.