Ireland vs Italy: 5 talking points as Andy Farrell's selection rigidity questioned
Ireland continue their pursuit of the Guinness Six Nations title by taking on Italy in Rome. Andy Farrell’s men head to Stadio Olimpico on the back of convincing bonus-point wins over Wales and France.
Here, the PA news agency picks out some of the main talking points ahead of Saturday afternoon’s round-three clash.
Maintaining momentum
The world’s top-ranked team justified recent hype by propelling themselves into pole position for a first championship title since 2018 by impressively toppling reigning champions France last time out. Head coach Farrell has made six personnel changes to his starting XV from that game, only two of which were enforced. The Englishman insisted he has not tinkered for the sake of it. He expects a seamless transition and for the incoming players to help ensure the in-form Irish remain as tournament frontrunners.
Big opportunities for Byrne and Casey
In the space of a fortnight, Ireland have swapped two British and Irish Lions with 227 Test caps combined for a half-back duo each making maiden starts in the Six Nations. More than four years on from his debut, fly-half Ross Byrne can finally pull on the number 10 jersey in the championship due to an injury to Leinster team-mate Johnny Sexton. The 27-year-old only returned from the international wilderness in the autumn and will be partnered by scrum-half Craig Casey, who has been preferred to fellow Munster man Conor Murray. Farrell has urged the rookie pairing to take the game to Italy.
Azzurri out for an upset
Perennial wooden spoon winners Italy have beaten Ireland just once in 23 previous Six Nations clashes. That landmark 22-15 success came a decade ago and ultimately spelled the end of Declan Kidney’s reign. The resurgent Azzurri, buoyed by eye-catching wins over Wales and Australia in 2022, have developed into a far tougher proposition in recent times and, with home advantage, may well fancy another upset. Fly-half Paolo Garbisi is back from injury to add to the mercurial talents of full-back Ange Capuozzo, with Mack Hansen this week admitting the Italians now possess “genuine superstars”.
Leadership contest
With Sexton, who relentlessly drives standards in the Irish camp, sidelined, James Ryan has been given the responsibility of captaining his country. The 26-year-old will perform the role for the seventh time, two weeks on from reaching a half-century of Test appearances. Farrell believes he is fortunate to have a squad packed with leadership potential. While Munster’s Peter O’Mahony and Ulster’s Iain Henderson are obvious candidates due to captaining their respective clubs, the head coach also touted Leinster centre Garry Ringrose as a future Ireland skipper ahead of his 50th cap.
Farrell keen on Hugo
Despite Italy’s upward trajectory, this fixture is arguably one of Farrell’s final opportunities to experiment before the World Cup. He may have done so at nine and 10 but full-back Hugo Keenan will start for the 28th game out of 30 dating back to his debut against the Italians in October 2020. Although the former sevens player, who last week signed a three-year central contract, has been virtually ever-present for the Irish, Farrell insists his squad is well-stocked at 15, citing Jimmy O’Brien, Hansen, Jack Crowley and Joey Carbery as able deputies.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments