Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Rugbyf565 · 04-03-2026 06:33PM

Cruel on Tommy O’Brien.

Casey needed to be dropped though.

ionadnapóca · 04-03-2026 06:42PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124284930#Comment_124284930

Anything is possible!!

Ireland are currently on a record run against Wales in the Championship with 4 consecutive wins.

Wales have beaten Ireland 5 consecutive times on 4 occasions. 1907-1911, 1913-22, 1957-61, 1975-1979.

Even if I cant see Ireland racking up anything like 50 with the side picked, Doak might get still get those 30mins!

Last time Ireland scored 50 points v Wales was in 2002 (54-10) - Think its biggest win between the sides.

Podge_irl · 04-03-2026 06:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124284952#Comment_124284952

Stockdale can't cover 15 - there is no other back 3.

I find it difficult to believe Farrell was planning Byrne/TOB on the bench but changed it to Frawley/Farrell because of Byrne's injury. It wouldn't make any sense given Frawley also covers centre (and better than Byrne).

The most obvious answer seems the likliest - Byrne is the 4th choice 10 and was never in contention for the squad.

bigmac86 · 04-03-2026 07:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285074#Comment_124285074

Ringrose moves to wing like he has done before, farrell to 13, stockdale to 15

bigmac86 · 04-03-2026 07:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285074#Comment_124285074

Ringrose moves to wing like he has done before, farrell to 13, stockdale to 15

standardg60 · 04-03-2026 07:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285074#Comment_124285074

This is what flummoxes me re TOB. Who's our wing cover?

Frawley? Ringrose? JGP??

Murphy's law says one of the wingers gets injured..

Glad to see Doak getting a run.

longjohn200 · 04-03-2026 07:03PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285074#Comment_124285074

Stockdale excelled at 15 for Ulster

Why can't he?

Podge_irl · 04-03-2026 07:16PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285104#Comment_124285104

Cause he is already on the pitch and there is no other back 3 cover.

longjohn200 · 04-03-2026 07:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285133#Comment_124285133

Ok, that's fair

inbloom427 · 04-03-2026 07:38PM

Some of the narrative around Stockdale is bizarre, but typical. The team were absolutely awful against France as a collective, and TOB was marginally worse than Stockdale. Coming back and having a good game against a very poor England team does not justify the narrative that there is some sort of travesty with this selection.

leakyboots · 04-03-2026 07:42PM

TOB had a very good performance the other day but it's been the exception rather than the norm so I'm not too shocked he's been dropped again.

longjohn200 · 04-03-2026 07:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285188#Comment_124285188

As a Ulster Supporter delighted to have stockdale back in. But bombing TOB out of the 23 after his performance last week is equally bizarre.

lawrencesummers · 04-03-2026 07:56PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124284641#Comment_124284641

Another way of saying that is you think a worse player should be picked over a better one because the team we are playing is crap.

Rugbyf565 · 04-03-2026 08:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285188#Comment_124285188

it absolutely does, against England he showed up all around the park, came off his wing, won the high ball a few times, made important tackles and good reads, he’s been in brilliant form for leinster for the last two seasons and is a better defender than stockdale

inbloom427 · 04-03-2026 08:40PM

@Rugbyf565 - after he was given a chance against England, despite arguably playing worse against France. Stockdale has been playing well for Ulster. You'll see on Friday sure, we'll leave it at that and you can come back to me after.

AbusesToilets · 04-03-2026 08:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285074#Comment_124285074

Bryne got injured before the last week of camp training even started, so that could've completely upended his plans there, we just don't know. I struggle to believe that Farrell really believes Frawley is his 3rd or even 2nd best option for OH.

You have Osborne, Stockdale and Crowley as options to cover FB if needed

Rugbyf565 · 04-03-2026 09:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285356#Comment_124285356

Fair enough

KaneToad · 04-03-2026 09:17PM

Delighted to see Timoney get a start. All the noise this campaign has been about McCloskey but, for me, Timoney has been the most impressive Irish player.

Former Former Former · 04-03-2026 09:19PM

We won’t really know what any of these selections mean until next week when (presumably) we pick what we regard as our strongest 23. It looks to me like Farrell thinks Wales are the new Italy and we can take a look at a few guys.

Pete_Cavan · 04-03-2026 09:28PM

The only issue I'd have with the selection is Conan at 6. He's an out and out 8 and only really emergency cover for 6. Better suited to bench impact these days anyway. I think this really unbalances the back row, particularly as Timoney is more like an 8 than your typical 7. Although Ireland has the better individual players in the back row, it's a area where Wales could be better as a unit.

I'd rather see Prendergast or Izzy at 6 as I think both are better in that role with the added bonus of being another good line out option. I think both would benefit more from the game time too and, depending on how the next 18 months go, could be better options for the WC squad.

visatorro · 04-03-2026 09:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124284709#Comment_124284709

Normally dont agree with Eddie osullivan but he said on indo podcast that this was make or break for stockdale. If things didn't go well for him it would make up farrells mind

sydthebeat · 04-03-2026 09:53PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124285540#Comment_124285540

I wouldn't be too worried about the Welsh back row. They are essentially playing 3 blindsides, and a hybrid on the bench.

Ireland will have then for both pace and power. Conan will take up his customery role out in the blindsides wing when in attack. In defense his job will simply be to tackle his heart out until he's replaced by JVDF, when Ireland will finish the game with 3 open sides on the pitch.

eagle eye · 05-03-2026 04:36AM

If prefer to see Conan on the bench. He's a fantastic player but he's getting on. As long as he can stand up I'd have him in the squad.

johnh6767 · 05-03-2026 02:45PM

Better for Ireland, and as a Leinster fan, better for Leinster to have a more balanced team. Very healthy pivot

TRC10 · 05-03-2026 02:46PM

I actually think there’s a lot riding on this game. Not in terms of the result, but in terms of the performance. Hence why he’s not taken many risks with his selection (I know the narrative is that it’s an experimental team, but I don’t agree with that)

If we play poorly and limp over the line like against Italy, the England games looks like a one-off against a pretty poor team, and a lot of the negativity will come back. However, if we play well again and blow Wales away (and I think we can put 50 on Wales, if we play well), it starts to look like we’ve come out the other side of a bad run and are a team on the up again.

sydthebeat · 05-03-2026 04:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124287566#Comment_124287566

we havent put 50 on wales since 2002, and our largest winning margin in the last 10 years has been 24 points.

the spread tomorrow is currently 25 points and i think we will do well to surpass that. Wales will be buoyed by their performance against Scotland so they wont be coming with the heads down, already beaten.

Personally im looking for a cohesive performance, where we front up physically…… get at least parity at the scrum and get 90% on lineouts.

Something similar to 2 years ago id be happy with.

predicting something like 37 - 13

Quin_Dub · 05-03-2026 05:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124288054#Comment_124288054

To be fair to Wales , they haven't wanted for effort over the last while.

They have been appalling in a lot of games , but you'd never really accuse them of throwing in the towel , they've kept throwing themselves about in all the games , but they simply aren't very good at all at the moment.

They'll scrap and fight , but I don't think Ireland will give them anything like the time/space that Scotland did to get a few scores early on.

The Irish 23 is stronger across the board and I would expect Ireland to open up a gap in the last quarter. The difference in the bench strength is massive and Ireland will likely have a 2+ score buffer already at that stage.

sydthebeat · 05-03-2026 05:44PM

i think its absolutely crazy to consider that wales are coming with 18 completely different players out of the 23 that faced Ireland only last year in Cardiff.

Only Tomos Williams, Ellis Mee and Dafydd Jenkins are retained in the starting team, and Wainwright moves from the bench. Smith moves to the bench

revth1990 · 05-03-2026 06:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124281047#Comment_124281047

Was that the La rochelle game where a 19 year old 12 ran rings around him the entire game and henshaw was flapping at air half the time trying to tackle him, youre rating of henshaws perfromaces over the last few months is incredibly optomistic.

Last years 6 nations Henshaw with space and time couldnt get round Frances 140kg second row Taofafenua to score in the corner… time to start looking at other options at 13 with a wc in under 2 years time.

Stanley 1 · 05-03-2026 06:03PM

Last year we were in bother with Porter conceding 3 scrum penos in the 1st half, the game was in doubt and we got out of Dodge by 9 points in the end but like the look of a 25 point spread as it is fairly obvious Ireland will look to bulldoze Wales in the pack and pull away in 2nd half.

Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

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