Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Aki is one of our best ever centers and a Lions test starter 8 or 9 months ago. Farrell less so

It's the Wales game so there were always going to be changes to give platers a chance. I wouldn't call anyone not included a "dropping". VDF Isn't necessarily dropped either. It's just rotation.

Plus it's GT. He might have had a contact who leaked the team to him reliably in the past, but it's much more 'finger in the air' predictions these days.

Italy are capable of upsetting us, even in Dublin, but I'm still disappointed that they're not starting someone else at 13, though I assume Farrell will come on. Ringrose was better than he's been against England (even a couple passes off his left) but its a position I want to see more options at. Rough on TOB but I'm glad to see Stockdale get a chance to redeem himself, he was very poor in Paris so hopefully he can show something serious on Friday. TOB left out altogether is brutal but I'd still see it as rotation rather than him being dropped. And hopefully Timoney will show us again how he is a viable test 7. It's fantastic to see someone else come along to compete with Josh.

lol, good point. I guess I want a replay./

Glad to see Timoney get the start, he has earned it.

Rory O’Connor says Farrell & co want Edogbo to get fitter.

folks, can we take a second to remember that it’s centre not center. The game’s gone.

When I read this type of stuff about Keenan I do thank the god stars that Boards posters like myself are not selectors or coaches as we would crush the national squad & performance between us. Common thread is murdering a young players performance whilst they learn valuable learning lessons before they even get going or prematurely putting a great talent out to pasture prematurely. Same repetitive craziness!! Always sounds credible in the moment but over time looks stupid at best

The worry would be that the scrum and lineout give Wales access into the game and we get sucked into a frustrating dogfight like we did last year, especially if our scrum is as bad as it’s been last 2 games. O’Toole at LH won’t help.

If Ireland are serious about moving O’Toole to LH, they need to get him playing there week in-week out, for whatever province that may be for

Kelleher's lineout is fine. It's not at Sheahan's level but it's more than good enough.

People talk about the props being a weak link at scrum time, but Sheahan has been just as poor as them. Kelleher's a much better scrummager.

I like the look of that Ireland side. Some experimentation throughout the 23, rewarding players for good form. There's also a lot of impact to come off the bench, especially up front.

I do think Stockdale needs a big game though. He's clearly a player the coaches want to platform and come good, but he hasn't taken many of his recent opportunities.

Delighted Nathan Doaks on the bench, from a Munster man.