Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

stockdale wont be picked when mack / keenan are back from injury. JJ Kenny is a better winger than him in the long term anyway.

JJ Kenny with next to no European rugby and zero international experience?

Jesus lads you'd want to ease back on the hype a small bit. Can't be anointing every single player who has a couple of decent URC games.

I'm not sure anyone is arguing Stockdale didn't 'play well' the last day, but that he didn't do anything to threaten O Brien after O Brien's performance against england and in the autumn. O B was got established in the team in the autumn and Stockdale earned his shot against france but O B had more credit in the bank at that stage when both were terrible.

Stockdale did fine last week, I wouldn't look on this as being "dropped", just like TOB losing out after his display against England was not being dropped, it was rotation. Stockdale and Timoney probably did need to show a bit more against Wales to keep their spots but neither played badly.

I don't know if either Stockdale or TOB have done enough in the last six months that they'd be involved if Lowe was fit, and definitely not if Keenan and Hansen were available.

Scotland have named their side. As expected, they're pretty light in the second row. You'd think this would be prime opportunity for Ireland to really grind away at them with pick and goes and tight phase play.

The media seem to think we're going 5-3 off the bench, but it might be a day for a 6-2 split to ram home our advantage up front.

If its on the bench then I could accept that, he has been such an effective member of Farrells teams for a while now, he has rarely let us down.

He did all he can do. Scored a try….first since 2021. Offload for another.

He cant catch a ball in the air. Main reason Ireland didnt kick as much……Paris LEARNINGS

He managed to regather this..

TOB was always coming back in for this game. That bit better in the air……Paris LEARNINGS & far quicker than Stockdale.

Baloucoune & TOB are the fastest duo Ireland has started in years & years.

Stockdale will be 31 in the next World Cup. JJ Kenny has good acceleration, is abrasive in contact, can win high balls and is a good defender. We all need to follow Frances approach of promoting our younger wingers to the senior squad, mobility is everything nowadays. Stockdale looks really sluggish at times.

We are not France. Attissogbe and and Bielle-Biarrey have 55 and 86 top class club games under their belt respectively, Kenny has 10. That game time means their decision making in particular is much more robust than an equivalent Irish player. I have seen Kenny made some really poor reads in defence and get put into touch more than he should while in possession. That's the kind of fundamental error that I expect will be eliminated from his game by the time he has equivalent experience to the French pair, but could be extremely costly in a 6 Nations game.

To my mind, the best performers on the wing for the 5 other teams have been the more experienced ones; Steyn (32), Ioane (31), Lynagh (25), and Baloucoune (28). For England, Arundell has been a disaster, with the older and less "exciting" Roebuck being far more effective.

He definitely doesn't have the same acceleration off the mark as TOB or Balacoune. He can shift once he gets into his stride and I think thats why he has been so effective for Ulster at fullback this season, more time to get up a head of steam and pick cutting lines in field, rather than operating in narrow channels where speed is everything. Shame we didn't see him get a run at 15. He had a decent game against Wales and maybe would have thrived against England, but TOB/Balacoune deserve the start based on their form this six nations.

James Ryan out with his calf, Darragh Murray on the bench

Edit: wrong Murray brother

James Ryan is a huge loss - he's had a strong tournament to date, and I feel when he's playing well he's absolutely central to Ireland (and Leinster) generating quick ruck ball.

I wish him the absolute very best, but haven't seen anything up to now to suggest Darragh Murray is at the level required here, though I very much hope I'm wrong here. It's interesting he's got the nod ahead of Edogbo here, and it also explains why Henderson was training with the squad this week too. The rumours about the Irish coaching staff's concerns on Edogbo's fitness and ability to play big minutes at this level seem to be credible.

A big part of me would rather have Iain Henderson sitting on that bench this weekend.

Given the perceived weakness in the Scottish side was them losing Brown and Cummings, this gives back some of that advantage I feel. We need a big game from Joe McCarthy now (I'm confident Beirne will deliver).

The only players on our bench I have a lot of confidence in to come in and make a big impact are Ronan Kelleher and Nick Timoney. I can't understand the Aki inclusion, he can only play one position, and it's the position where our best player in this championship plays, a guy we'd be really hoping doesn't come off the field. It would be scary thinking of those pacy Scottish backs running at a McCloskey-Aki centre combo.

I'd rather have Prendergast there instead of Frawley too.

Has Murray been training with the Ireland squad since the start of the 6nations?