Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

He’s a great player but Osbourne isn’t a fullback. Don’t get not sticking Stockdale there where he has actually played well all season. Stockdale hasn’t taken any chance he has had for a few years so maybe he is out of them but would be putting him at 15.

The 6/2 potentially kills it as Osbourne can cover the full backline if needed outside the half backs if a reshuffle is needed during the game.

Not sure what Milne did to deserve being dropped either from Thornleys team, if he is correct.

Bryn Ward was being bigged-up on the TV news as a bolter for the 23, yet seemingly not.

To my mind Tadhg Beirne should get this week completely off.

Any player thats finished at U20 level and has 4/5 people ahead of them in their club position should really seriously consider taking or seeking an opportunity in England or France and accelerating their development into first team Rugby.

The way things are they will always be begged to come back to one of the provinces if they can make it

We don't know how he's been training, he may have found a vein again. And if any of the opposition sides will allow him to perform well, its Italy.

But you're correct, he must shoot the lights out.

good to see the Prendergast police out and about counting posts

On what basis do you think Balacoune can't tackle?

Joe McCarthy is a very lucky boy if that team transpires tomorrow. Needs a big game in the tight and a disciplined performance. He was in competition for the worst player in a green jersey last week.

Not a fan of Doris at 7. Not sure what Timoney needs to do to get a start, he was one of the few who performed last week.

Would loved to have seen Stewart in the 16 jersey, not sure what Kelleher offers at this level any more.

Mikey Milne also one of the few guys who showed up last week too and he's replaced by a guy playing out of position? When did TOT last play LH at this level?

On a positive note, delighted to see Casey get the start. He can bring a bit of zip to the service from the ruck which may help Sam get the backline motoring.

And am super excited to see EdEd get his Ireland debut, he is something that we just don't produce normally. This bench role suits him perfectly at the moment. 20-30mins of blowing holes in a tired Italian defence.

The changes on both wings are interesting too. Just shows that nobody is going well there, everything up for grabs.

since when could Baloucoune not tackle?

When we've seen him this season he's definitely been popping up in midfield more, McFarland might have been the reason for him hugging the touchline.

It doesn’t require much counting. For the past week this has read more like a Prendergast Forum where very occasionally some rugby gets discussed.

I would think AF needs to either start this game, or finish this game with the team that is going to play the majority of the England match.

There are a lot of players not performing at their highest level, some partnerships that need game time together and a lot of players not at the level required for International rugby and while you might get away with that in Dublin vs Italy you won’t get away with it in Twickenham.

Ring the changes all you want, but experimenting and handing out token caps to people because it’s Italy is not the way to prepare for a game in Twickenham.

Oh the irony indeed.