LONG READ Byrne at 10? Stockdale at 15? How Ireland's backline might look for Six Nations opener

Two weeks out from the start of another Six Nations campaign and we have another player-turned-pundit in our ranks. Former Munster, Ireland and Lions scrum-half Conor Murray is sitting in the Virgin Media studios, in Dublin, decked out in a grey suit and getting a test run before the camera lights go red, on 5 February, and he is broadcast to the nation.

Murray is the latest addition to the Virgin Media team for what will be their eighth championship as broadcaster. He sits alongside former Ireland team-mates, Rob Kearney and Andrew Trimble, with a small but enthusiastic studio audience listening closely. Host Joe Molloy veers from anything resembling an easy start for Murray.

“I want you to nail your colours to the mast,” Molloy cajoles. “You’ve trained and played with Sam Prendergast, you’ve played with Jack Crowley. Harry Byrne is coming to the fore, now. Who do you see as the likely starting No.10 for the next four or five years, and why? Not who do you think Andy Farrell would pick. Who would you pick?”

Murray, wisely, avoids making any long-term predictions and settles, instead, on the upcoming championship. “From being in the room, and the environment,” he answers, “I think Andy prefers Sam. You could see how well Jack started the season, especially in that Croke Park game (Munster beat Leinster) when everyone seemed to flip and say, ‘Jack is the man’. When November came around – and you’ve got to trust Andy as he knows what he is doing – he still went with Sam, for the Australia and South Africa games.

Sam has these great skills and can produce magic but the way he sees the game is, in my opinion, the closest to the way Andy sees it.

“It may just be a feeling Andy has – maybe the team clicks a bit better with Sam in there. At the moment, I do agree with that. We would always have a meeting on a Monday with Andy, all the 9s and 10s. We’d chat about the game that just went, and how the upcoming week will go. Being in that room, the way Sam talks, you can tell that he really does understand the game. He has these great skills and can produce magic but the way he sees the game is, in my opinion, the closest to the way Andy sees it.”

When it comes back to who he would start as fly-half in Ireland’s Six Nations opener against France, Murray talks around the qualities of Prendergast and Crowley. “You didn’t answer the question,” Molloy playfully chides. “Is that not the whole point?” Murray remarks. “I said Sam.”

Interestingly, Kearney and Trimble opt for Harry Byrne, who last played for Ireland in March 2024 and has never started for his country. “I remember being in this room, 12 months ago,” Kearney reflects, “talking about Sam and Jack, and saying we’ll be talking about their rivalry for the next five, 10 years. Now, a year later, it looks like neither of them may be in the 10 jersey for that opening game.”

The case for Byrne has been massively strengthened since he stepped up to nail a last-minute penalty in Leinster’s thrilling Champions Cup pool stage victory over La Rochelle.

The panel chat wraps up, 30 minutes later, and none of the pundits are backing Ireland to win the Six Nations. The consensus – although the trio hope to be proved wrong – is that Ireland will win their three home games, but lose on away trips to Paris and London.

Shortly after, Trimble gingerly walks in my direction and takes a seat. He injured his ankle in a rare foray back onto the rugby field, last month, and is still at the hobbling stage. When I was putting my book, The New Breed, together, back in 2014, I spoke with Trimble for a chapter and was struck by his insights, honesty and sense of perspective, on rugby. Years later, we worked together on a podcast and my admiration for him strengthened. We catch up on life, and family, before I set him a challenge: ‘Name me the Ireland backline you would start against France’.

“Jamison Gibson-Park at scrum-half,” Trimble begins. “At 10, I’m going to go Harry Byrne. It would be nice to find out, and a tough place to try and find out, for him. Based on his behaviour last weekend – ‘Give me the ball, I’ve got this’ – that is the mindset you need to go and win in Paris.”

Tommy O’Brien is the first name on my team-sheet. I think he is outrageous. Unbelievable. He’s got everything.

“There will be one or two changes,” the former Ulster and Ireland winger adds. “If Farrell goes with Harry and with the prop (fitness) situation, you may have two or three changes already. So Andy may then tone down what he might have done elsewhere. You can’t have too many changes. You need experience going to Paris. It’s good to have that spark and enthusiasm of youth, but you’ve got to have experience.

“For the left wing, James Lowe. Maybe. If Hugo Keenan had been fit or Mack Hansen was fit to play 15, you could have gone with Jacob Stockdale on the left. But I think Jacob might play 15, so Lowe on the left. There is a bit of competition there from Zac Ward and Joshua Kenny. I’m inclined to think they are not quite ready and Lowe, whenever he is under pressure, often produces a big one. Right now, he is under pressure.

“Tommy O’Brien on the right wing. Tommy is the first name on my team-sheet. I think he is outrageous. Unbelievable. He’s got everything. I would then have Jacob at full-back. I don’t think Hugo is back and ready, yet, Mack is injured and Jamie Osborne is unavailable. Jimmy O’Brien is the only other potential at 15.

“Jacob has big moments in him. He just needs to maintain the same levels and show that consistency. International rugby needs that reliability and consistency, and he’s going in that direction. Farrell has kept Jacob in the environment for a long time, even when he wasn’t really flying. That, to me, says he likes the ceiling Jacob can get to.

“For my centres, I’m going Stuart McCloskey and Garry Ringrose. McCloskey is the best centre in Ireland, at the minute, and there’s something very unique about what Ringrose offers. With Stu, there is a calmness to him. Maybe, as you get older, you accept things a little better and are less anxious about things. He has never looked panicky on the ball but he looks calmer than ever. He just surges through contact, effortlessly, and keeps pumping his legs, waits for an opportunity. There is so much creativity to his offload game. That is his point of difference from loads of centres out there, particularly Irish centres.”

Trimble’s backline to start against France:

9. Jamison Gibson-Park, 10. Harry Byrne, 11. James Lowe, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 13. Garry Ringrose, 14. Tommy O’Brien, 15. Jacob Stockdale

Trimble’s greatest Six Nations moment arrived in Paris, back in March 2014, in what was Joe Schmidt’s first Championship title as Ireland head coach – the first of three in five years – and Brian O’Driscoll’s final Test match.

“France were going through a difficult period back then, but they really turned it on that day,” Trimble recalls of Ireland’s 22-20 victory, in which he scored their second of three tries to help seal the title on points difference ahead of England.

“We had to play really, really well to beat them. Getting a try in that game was great, but that was the first Championship win I was really involved in. What made it extra special was that we were able to send Drico off with a win, and another title.”