Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

1 his performances were such that he lost his spot AND

…. that can have been a mistake by Farrell.

Happy to help.

So noting all of the above, it is not at all possible that maybe he didn't do himself justice?

I think it's entirely possible he didn't do himself justice and also that he didn't deserve to be dropped.

Now, that might get me pigeon-holed in the "lambasting the coach" bucket, but the reality is that was a perfectly reasonable opinion to have.

And it was entirely reasonable to have that opinion AND also think Farrell was too conservative. Because - as I've previously mentioned:

It's not difficult. It's because him being less conservative in a few cases does not mean he's not more conservative more broadly across the whole squad. There's no contradiction here.

I think that was absolutely a fair criticism of him for last season. Things have improved on that front this season, and it has been very necessary, imo.

from the photos it looks like Ringrose was as involved as anyone in training albeit with his right knee strapped

im all for wanting a change but being disappointed that a player on your team isnt injured is a bit ridiculous

I’d love to see the offloading of Tom Farrell outside the offloading of McCloskey vs Wales.

sexton needs to go back making glass or whatever. He’s totally unsuited to coaching/management. V like Roy Keane

There is no way that Sam starts this weekend, in fact I think he will be left out of the 23 completely.

Big picture we are getting gametime into all of our 10s which hopefully benefits us for the 27 world cup. South Africa and France get lauded for changing teams, so I don't really see an issue with chopping and changing 10s for this campaign and the rest of the year. It is all about building experience.

With that being said, I am worried about the 21 jersey along with the centres. As good as Stu has been, I do worry that we are in a position where we can only possibly pick a player to play in the centre over the age of 30 (if not well into their 30s). We need to give some game time to other alternatives - be that Osbourne or Postlewaithe. As for 21, I just don't think Casey is really at the level to play an important role for Ireland. I think as a third choice he's fine, but I just don't rate him to be the 21 in a team contending for a world cup.

yeah, Irelands performance that day was atrocious. A lot of blather subsequently about how terrible soldier field organisation was, all true, and it being Irelands first game. Not so much about how all of the pathologies were on full display, sloppy kicking, meh defence, no attack and poor discipline. Wasn’t lost on NZ how abysmal they were even if the squealed a win. We haven’t improved since.

A view of Sam's development by someone who hasn't a clue would be a better title.

Incorrect. Harry Byrne and Prendergast have shared 2 starts each this season, Byrne starting away from home, Prendergast the home fixtures.

Byrne has 168 minutes. Prendergast 196, but some of those coming when moved to 15.

Whatever about anything else, there's no credible argument that Prendergast is "indisputably the Leinster European starting 10" this season.

Sexton needs to go and learn his trade.

He needs to see the coaching world outside of Leinster and Ireland.

He needs to serve his time, learn the ropes and work his way up.

He needs to move outside the bubble he has operated in for over a decade now.

The apprenticeship that ROG served him well and prepared him for success as a head coach. That’s the template recently retired players need to work off.

Tbh there's a conversation to be had there too; I don't think it'd be a massive shock if, for example, Kelleher was selected ahead of him for the England game given Sheehan's recent performances.