Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

I'm in the middle. I want Sam to do well and develop (he's still only 23) and fulfill the potential. He was very good last night and got his backline moving really nicely. He made some defensive errors but as I remember them, they were more poor execution than lack of commitment. That's a big improvement on his career so far where he often looked like he lacked commitment to tackle.

And he made the eye-catching chase back to gather the ball which showed commitment and saved a try. I think the praise is overblown somewhat because we're relieved to see him do well again. Particularly relieved that he showed defensive commitment which is a huge problem for a player, no matter how good his passing is.

I was certainly relieved to see him back on good form. He did it at a great time for Leinster and could be great for Ireland if he continues to play like that over the summer.

Yeah, I think Zac has a lot to work on. 4 weeks in Ireland camp will help, but he has struggled in some big games, notably the Challenge Cup final and Ireland A matches, that said he can definitely be a game breaker, but as others have said a fit Shayne Bolton would likely be ahead of him, and we're already missing TOB and Hansen.

Bryn is class, but part of me wasn't that disappointed that he had missed out on the Ireland squad as a summer off may not have hurt. His form probably marginally dipped towards the end of the season. But same as Zac 4 weeks working with Farrell at co will help him develop, and he may not get any actual game time anyway.

Prendergast is our first choice ten now ❤️

not sure about that characterisation, honestly. Quite a few Leinster fans have real reservations about Sam’s defence, I’m not sure there’s anyone here who trusts him defensively against a top team where Leinster’s scrum is in trouble. Not much has changed this season on that question. He’s had some fantastic attacking performances like Friday, but he’s shat the bed too often as a defender to ignore that. That’s shared across the board here no matter who you support, I wouldn’t trust him against France in the 6 nations for example. I’d pick Frawley ahead of him, nevermind Crowley, same goes for NZ and SA. One thing we’ve learned about him this year is that he’s a tough customer, like Crowley, so no matter how much criticism he has to eat he gets on with it and doesn’t let it affect his game.

Conan and Jansen, yes. Behind Ward is debatable. I'd see that as more of a 50/50 call.

There's a bigger picture at play too. Jack Conan is 34 shortly, played all test in the Lions tour last summer and appeared heavily for Leinster and Ireland all season. This nations championship is a makey uppey tournament and we should be using it as such. Not for flogging the likes of Conan, Beirne etc. just over a year out from a WC.

I don't know how you read my post and got the impression Sam's defensive problems are finished. It was a relief to see him show willing to tackle, even if execution wasn't always good.

The chase back for the loose ball was a sliding-doors moment. Imagine if he had chased back and not committed to diving on that ball. You'd have said he has no place on a rugby pitch. I also think if Keenan had done the same move as Sam, it wouldn't have gotten so much attention.

The fact that Sam did something courageous is remarkable. But you know what they say about swallows and summer. So it's up to him to back it up and make that level of physical commitment his new standard.

this is a nothing tournament 

I presume it has significant prize money and so it’s in Ireland’s interests to do well

YeYeah I'd say they'll take the same approach to the same teams as they always take. Any games agaisnt NZand SA will play the strongest possible Ireland team. Some room to experiment or give experience to players agaisnt Australia and maybe Argentina and more scope agaisnt then other teams like Japan.

The fact that its a tournament raise the stakes a bit, but won't change Ireland's approach.

100%. Irish rugby fans and media are fickle. You have to win or be very competitive. Lose a few games and they’ll be calling for Farrell’s head and the narrative will be ‘has the magic worn off and why did he get a new contract’ etc we saw it after l the first few rounds of the 6N where it felt a bit toxic

Imagine how sweet it would be to be the team who broke their Eden Park record too?

This is **** ridic.

We play Australia in Oz, then fly to Japan to play them, then fly to NZ, all the space of 2 weeks.

That's seriously long haul and it isn't feasible to have the team perform doing that schedule.

my bad.

The word on the street was they were going to have a separate squad stay at home for the Fiji game. Would make a whole lot of sense to be honest. Not sure if that’s what’s happening though.

It’s ridiculous scheduling though. This whole nations league thing is all a bit of a joke to be honest and I’m not sure who actually wanted it. Nobody is going to be taking it seriously.