Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Comparing anyone to Dupont is a little silly don't you think?

Yeah, to be honest, I don’t have an issue with any of that. I think McCloskey is the best 12 in the country now, and I’d welcome seeing Postlethwaite getting a crack.

I rate Zac Ward highly but don’t see him getting into a 6N squad right now.

I hate when Ringrose gets lumped in with Aki/ Henshaw/Lowe as being past it.
He was the form 13 on the Lions tour until the HIA.

Huw Jones would disagree.

Gary Ringrose seems incapable of making a linebreak or creating space for others unless his pack has pummelled the opposition into submission and the defence is left short & very stressed.

His missed tackle stats can be brutal.

Both of these are perfectly valid criticisms of Ringrose

I don’t doubted have started. Almost everyone outside of Leinster would view Jones as the superior 13.

Let’s be honest, Farrell has been heavily criticised for his biased selection calls, especially starting Lowe and Aki, ahead of the likes of Tuipiloto, selecting an out of form Mack Hanson ahead of Darcy Graham and calling up Clarkson and Osbourne ahead of more deserving players.

When Henshaw started at 13 for Ireland over the last decade, he had no problem making his tackles.

”a few years ago”.

Is that not exactly the point?

Criticising Ringrose’s inability to pass and then using Huw Jones as a comparison is an interesting one. It’s not a strong part of his game either and evidenced during the Lions tests where he selfishly refused to give the ball on a few notable occasions.

Do you remember Lowe tackle on stewart. Horrendous stuff from the new Zealander. Only imagine the abuse if stockdale did that.

First half, Ulster held their own up front and their backs actually caused problems, 3 tries to 1 proves that.Second half, Leinster smashed them. Total dominance in the scrum, all the territory, and 3 unanswered tries.

So I genuinely don’t get the comparison. Leinster’s pack bullied Ulster after halftime, and yet you are talking about the backfield as if that decided anything. It’s a nonsense argument.

Leinster had 62% pocession and could only muster to score 1 additional try.

Neverthe less I do think Zak Ward and Stockdale make the Six Nations squad. Baloucoune is class, but he’s made of glass at this stage.

Darcy Graham is being talked about here like he’s some absolute mug. The guy has scored 31 tries in 48 tests for Scotland. Literally everyone outside Ireland felt he should have been there ahead of Hansen.

Stockdale did poorly to try and tackle Tracey - a flapping arm that was rubbish. He made a poor tackle attempt at his opposite number who was tearing down the sideline.

Lowe got stepped, then fended, then trampled by Tom Stewart. From a standing start.

Was Stockdale's effort poor? Oh yes. Was it similar to Lowe's howler? No. Were there immediate posts admonishing him? Yes. Within about ten seconds on multiple threads. Is there someone bringing it up three days later? Also yes.

I applaud your consistency. But surely then VDF is in decline, if he was once WPOTY and is now not as good as Tom Curry? Or has Tom Curry always been better?

Why will the 6 be a more complete measure? The Lions was two players, going for exactly the same position, being deliberated between by one coach, where are all other factors are the same, rather than different issues and factors behind the scenes at two different rugby unions/teams.

I suspect you're marking the 6N as a better indicator as there's a chance VdF might come out ahead this time.