If your choice was Cullen or continuing with Farrell? I really think Farrell is hopeless, the team will go nowhere with him bar plod along as they are going. Selection decisions consistently show him up.
Ireland forwards actually look pretty good. The backs look old and slow though. Gibson Park, 29, Sexton 36, Aki 31, Conway 30, Lowe 29. Only Ringrose and Keenan are in their mid 20’s. By international standards that backline is ancient.
That said Sexton is sadly still the best option at 10. Even at 36.
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Lowe adds a lot going forward but obviously has been caught out in defence. I’d see him as part of a World Cup squad but possibly not first 15. That being said, it’s not like some of the other contenders have been that much better.
Gibson isn’t bad as a bench option but not as a starter. The real issue in scrum-half is Murray I suppose and what sort of game you want to play. You’d think Craig Casey should be getting more time but to be honest he needs to be pushing Murray out at Munster too.
Your man Doris must be insane to be going back playing rugby.
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Leo Cullens trophy haul speaks for itself.
I’d stick with Farrell until after world cup in that case. Leo being brought in would unsettle things id imagine
Doak up north looks like he’ll be pushing for a look before Craig.
Murray on form is far better than Gibson park no matter what game you want to play. He’s well capable of not fonging it up in the air the time if the game plan could move on from that.
Has Mark McCall of Saracens ever been linked with the role? He’s Irish as far as I know. I’d say the swashbuckling win over England has ensured Andy Farrell is safe for another while but this is inevitably going to end in a world-cup quarter defeat if we even make it out of the pool.
I’d love to see ROG as head coach but I’d say he’ll bide his time for another few years yet. Not a huge plethora of viable options right now. We were fortunate to be able to handpick the recent Heineken Cup winning coaches in 2008 and 2013.
ROG has that self confidence that rubs up a lot of insecure folks the wrong way. He’s earning his stripes in the right way, working his way up through the ranks abroad.
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Agree with all that. O’Gara will be careful not to take it until he thinks the time is right and he’s ready for it. They’ll be begging him to take it after another world cup flop.
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Officer Class
Chicken and egg
There was a very mean spirited Twitter thread about ROG the other day.
What was that?
When was Murray last on form? You may as well be pushing for Stringer on the basis of his performance on hell week. And rorys stories doing the jackaling in the back row…
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The big question cc @myboyblue as always, is whether it will be the scrambled D or the dogleg D.
From this all else follows.
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That guy would be a strong debater on here you’d imagine.
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