Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I dunno how Lowry hasn't gotten more of a look-in at 15, especially in a relatively pedestrian backline like we often put out and have been putting in wingers and centres out of position when Keenan was out.

If Leinster win on Saturday against the Stormers, the first test in Sydney against Australia is 2 weeks after the URC Grand Final.

When you consider a sizable chunk of the squad were playing last August for the Lions, and most then played a very season in Europe, URC and internationally for Ireland, it's definitely a huge amount of rugby to be putting on the players.

It can't be as intense, it's still just three games, and it's done and dusted by July 18th.

The URC season doesn't begin until the end of September.

The Lions tour by contrast was 5 weeks in total (plus more time in camp before that), and was a 10-game tour altogether (although granted no one played that many games).

I definitely agree though that it's likely been a big factor this year. It's just a huge amount of big games, different tournaments etc to keep trying to get yourself up for.

Right, I misunderstood the format and thought there were more games. Basically the same as a Summer/Autumn series, but with a league table.

Accurate , well stated

I think a fit Ryan Baird is a level above any other blindside flanker Ireland can field, bar Beirne. Unfortunately, he's been hampered by two leg fractures this season. Hopefully he recovers fully and is ready for the start of next season.

I hope he starts a couple of the games at 6, his form has been class and I think we could see him push on from here and estasbish himself as a real option.

I think it's going to be an interesting summer selection-wise given some of the injuries etc. and off the back of a 6 Nations where we had some more newer faces getting opportunities. Certainly more so than previous seasons.

By my count, it's 23 - so essentially a full match-day squad.

… which hasn't appeared to impact Leinster getting to the knock-out stages of those tournaments when said international players come back into the team.

Look, I agree with you that there needs to be a better balance of representation in the Ireland team, for many reasons. (Imo, the introduction of the 40% will help this in the long-term).

But arguing "the other provinces don't know how lucky they have it by….. not having all these international calibre players" just comes across more than a little tone deaf.

The obvious problem here is that of the five Connacht players you named, only one is actually from Connacht. The pool of granny-rule players (Bealham, Hansen) is always limited, project players (Aki) are going to be a serious rarity in the future and the over-supply of Leinster schools' players (Prendergast) won't last forever.