Not even close. It is not even a bad back 3…
One of the more exciting back 3s we've put out in years imo.
Farrell picks on form and this is the reaction…
23 from Ireland
Yes, he was fine against LAR. No he wasn't caught out for two tries - he was caught for pace on one of them (nothing he can do about that long term) and the other was far more TOB's fault.
He also saved at least one sure try with a last ditch tackle so evens out really. But his defence will never be good - it only needs to get to "acceptable". If someone with his attacking skills comes along who is a better defender they will certainly overtake him.
Crowley can't even control a game at home against Castres at the moment. He is in pretty poor form.
So Farrell has done his best to pick on form. As we had hoped. I doubt the naysayers on here will eat that humble pie, instead find something else to bitch about. Two big calls are VDF and Lowe not even in the matchday squad.
Very excited to see Prendergast and Stockdale in the team and also to Timoney for making the bench.
I would have thought Byrne ahead of Crowley on form but Crowley has some credit in the bank v France away. I've never really been convinced by Caseys temperament. Milne tends to struggle in the scrum but France have a hugely inexperienced front row. If we can keep their backline quiet we could easily do this.
I would lean towards Crowley over Byrne regardless (I'm not as sold on him at 10 as others), but he just doesn't provide enough cover on a 6-2 bench.
No reaction to the Stockdale selection, after all your gnashing of teeth anytime someone suggested Lowe should be dropped over the last few weeks?
It’s all down to if Ireland can stay in the game up until around the 60th minute. The last 20 is traditionally when France are at their most exposed, the hope is it’s not like last year when the game is essentially over at that point.
During the autumn France led by 4, 6 and 1 point in all 3 games at this point in the game so it’s certainly doable, then it’s up to the bench to provide impact.
Terrible bait, ill bite:
If you are going for place if birth
1 from Connacht - 1 starter - captain
Crowley can't even control a game at home against Castres at the moment.
Whatever about his form, this is way over-stating it (and smacks of punching-down, tbh).
Crowley had some good moments during phase play; his biggest issue that day by far was his kicking from the tee.
I'm happy with that squad selection overall. Would loved to have seen Edogbo bench over Timoney, he would have brought a bit of raw power in the final 20mins. But that's nit picking.
Farrell has selected on form here anyway, can be no complaints on that front. Lowe dropped, Stockdale starting is evidence of this. Scrum is going to be huge, a lot rests on that front row. It's likely we would want less kicking in the game with this selection, more ball in hand time. Less set pieces etc. Let's see if that will work out.
How can I punch down on an international rugby player from my desk?
His biggest issue was kicking from the tee, but his kicking from hand is also quite poor at the moment and his good moments in phase play are generally individual moments - I just do not think he is good at imposing structure on an attack. Interestingly, ROG called him a "12 playing 10" on the Rugby Pod this week and I think it captures his play quite well. I think he is a great rugby player still.
Any idea when the French team is due to be announced?
10am
I'd be concerned about Furlong's future, he would still have a role to play in the next RWC but i have a gut feeling he might have to retire before then.
Perhaps they plan to sub Beirne and want to avoid having Edogbo and McCarthy in the second row together. If there's an injury, I think Beirne/Ryan is better balanced than Edogbo/McCarthy.
Stockdale's try scoring record is so impressive, 19 in 40 internationals. I really hope he has a good game and can establish himself as first choice.
it has the record try scorer and former player of the tournament in it.
O’Brien is in form also.
so no.
I heard that quote yesterday, and thought it was an excellent summary of what a lot of people have been saying about Jack Crowley's flaws for a very long time.
The most concerning thing is this part of his game just hasn't improved at all. He should really be pushing on now - he played 1,200+ mins for Munster back in 22/23, and has a clear grip on the jersey. He's 26 now - but it feels like he's still good at the things he was good at 4 years ago and just hasn't improved at running an attack.
"Can't even control a game at home against Castres at the moment" as if any old 10 with an ounce of ability should be able to do it without thinking…
It's way over-stating it.
VDF is starting but agree no Lowe is a big call.
6-2 split for the French too
FRANCE:
Thomas Ramos; Théo Attissogbe, Nicolas Depoortere, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont (capt); Jean-Baptiste Gros, Julien Marchand, Dorian Aldegheri; Charles Ollivon, Michael Guillard, Francois Cros, Oscar Jegou, Anthony Jelonch
Replacements:
Peato Mauvaka, Rodrigue Neti, Régis Montagne, Hugo Auradou, Emmanuel Meafou, Lenni Nouchi, Baptiste Serin, Kalvin Gourgues.
Really spicy backline with lots of quality and pace. Jalibert has been the best 10 in the world this season IMO, and Dupont back is probably worth 10+ points to them on his own.
Would hope we can drag them into a dogfight up front though. They've picked three tacklers and jacklers in the back row in Cros, Jegou and Jelonch, so obviously hoping the two locks (each of whom are very comfortable in the back row too) will do the bulk of the tight carrying.
It only seems like a big call if you ignore how he's been playing.
Lowe has been pretty average for quite some time now and being dropped entirely is not undeserved.
That's a beatable French team.
Are we really pretending that picking Stockdale on the wing, who turns 30 in a couple of months, is some ballsy selection? For all the chat about his form, he's only scored in one game this season. He's also failed to score in his last 5 Ireland caps, all of which were against tier 2 nations. He's only there because he can boot the leather off the ball, same as Osborne. If we were really looking to attack, we'd have put Stockdale at 15 (where he's actually been playing this season) and Ward or Kenny on the wing. Osborne offers zero counter-attacking threat or playmaking ability from 15. And Farrell is still doing nothing about our aging midfield. We're probably looking at JGP playing 80.
We'd be less f*cked at LH had Farrell not insisted on playing Porter for 70+ minutes every game for the last 4 years. Cian Prendergast starting at 6 I actually do rate, but I feel we've missed out on the one-two punch of having McCarthy play 50 minutes before unleashing Edogbo.
Our current LH issue has absolutely nothing to do with Porters minutes.
He is the same guy that if you look at our top ten all time try scorers - has the best scoring average per game.
He hasnt had a decent run of games in years, he deserves a shot.
Like I stated earlier, it’s not the biggest French pack we’ve seen, the biggest forward they have is Mikkel Guillard.
Like someone else stated, they have a lot of jacklers and guys who can tackle in that back five, maybe that signals their approach this this game.
The big aim for Ireland is to stay in the contest for as long as possible, Ireland definitely have an overall edge on the bench compared to France who have a very young and inexperienced one, it’s unlikely to go the way last year did where their bench murdered Ireland between minute 48 and minute 60.
Its hard to feel optimistic going into this game given all the chatter but ultimately I think there is an element of unknown going into it as both teams had so-so autumns & CC campaigns so far.
