Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

 Just like I'm entitled to think it's just another example of Tuilagi's career-long habit of being more interested in putting a massive hit on someone (even if it was uncontrolled/high), than he was in making the right play.

Putting big shots on people (legally) is a part of rugby. You’re trying to dominate your opposition physically, as well as out think and out skill them. It’s part of what makes rugby great. Enough of the teary eyed nonsense. It was a great tackle, which had a very unfortunate outcome. You’re far more likely to do your knee in while going for a jackal, than from being tackled. Just very unlucky for Wallace.

Bunder Aki has more red cards across his career than Tuilagi. I don’t hear anyone calling him a thug

No , thankfully, that debate is finally done and dusted.

but for me it's like someone smashing into a dead ruck or something.

Expect it was nothing like that. Wallace had the ball, in the field of play. He wasn’t running into touch. He was completely fair game to be tackled. You’re argument essentially boils down to “Tuilagi shouldn’t have tackled him so hard”.

Yeah, agree with all of this, and it does seem likely to be agent-led, but also not beyond the realms of possibility that the IRFU have given some consideration to it if there was an approach.

He was almost certainly already on the IRFU radar given he was IQ since birth anyway, so nothing would shock me here.

TBH - it's not that dissimilar from Leinster grabbing Josh Neill this offseason from SA. De Lutiis is further along a bit, but Neill was an equally bright prospect in SA rugby.

I get it these guys are qualified to play for Ireland from birth, so in one sense it's nothing different to what's been happening here for a long time (and to a certain extent the IQ Rugby guys wouldn't be doing their jobs if they didn't at least ask the question), but would agree with you, it just doesn't really feel right.

The online outrage over the De Luttis saga is gas. Australian Rugby seem to have unlimited funds to throw at NRL players. Yet the prospect of a 22 year old injury prone prop moving abroad to take a better offer has their fanbase in meltdown, playing the paupers having their players "poached" by big, bad Ireland.

The whole "poaching" thing is hilarious. This isn't some 14 year old scoolboy from a poor Fijian village being enticed leave with a scholarship and the prospect of representing their new country and the money that comes with it (as NZ, France and Australia themselves have previous for). He's a 22 year old professional athlete getting an offer to work abroad. He's Irish eligible since birth, so very different to a project player scenario. If Australian rugby allow him to leave, it's because they think he's worth less than what the IRFU are offering him and aren't willing to match it.

If there's a tough kick that we need to make, Doak takes it. Doak is a much better kicker than Murphy.