LONG READ 'Ireland are consumed by chaos, but Andy Farrell's choice of 10 is becoming clear'

One of Andy Farrell’s key coaching philosophies revolves around getting his players comfortable in the chaos. It has served Ireland well in recent years, with scrum-halves covering wing, flankers throwing in to lineouts or players being summoned from the stands to fill a bench spot. In Ross Byrne’s case, against Australia in November 2022, he went from spectator to sub to match-winning hero, all in a mad few hours. “Never in doubt,” Farrell would later remark.

Heading into this year’s Six Nations, Ireland are consumed by chaos.

It all began with the foolish notion of facing New Zealand in Chicago in what was the first start of the 2025/26 season for some key players – Caelan Doris, Dan Sheehan and Jack Conan. It was a cash-grab that backfired. The All Blacks have wrested the psychological edge back from many of the men who beat them in a punishing 2022 Test series.

The November Test window concluded with South Africa annihilating Ireland at the scrum. The implosion of Ireland’s set-piece forced them into scramble mode and left the hosts, at one stage, with only 12 men on the pitch. There was the bizarre sight of Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley sitting side-by-side in the sin bin as the battle raged on.

The worries of Irish supporters are exacerbated by each of the four provinces huffing, puffing or wheezing this season. They have a combined record of 22 wins and 16 losses in the URC, and Munster have been dumped into the Challenge Cup, joining Ulster and Connacht for that competition’s round of 16. Leinster are back tying together wins but without that merciless panache of previous seasons.

Add to that a full-blown injury crisis, concerns over veteran players and Bundee Aki serving a suspension. What could go wrong is going wrong, as much as Farrell may try spin this as “exciting” opportunities for the fresh bodies being called in.

These are the sorest headaches:

• Frontline looseheads Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle are all injured
• Tightheads Tadhg Furlong and Finlay Bealham have played a combined 68 minutes this year
• Mack Hansen and Ryan Baird are out for the season
• Hugo Keenan broke his hand in Ireland’s Portugal training camp. Jamie Osborne, who could cover full-back against France, has not played since November
• Aki was replaced by Jude Postlethwaite in the squad after berating match officials during, and after, Connacht’s defeat by Leinster

Farrell, then, may go with what he knows to give Ireland a relatively settled look in their Six Nations opener. There is a big selection due at loosehead – Bealham, Michael Milne, Jeremy Loughman and 20-year-old Billy Bohan are the options – while the full-back berth is set to be contested by Osborne, Jacob Stockdale and Ciaran Frawley.

Farrell will have been tempted to take a good look at Harry Byrne in the 10 jersey, but may now wait until later in the championship to do so.

Back in November, when Farrell was asked about the fly-half tug of war between Prendergast and Crowley, he was quick to include Byrne in his answer. It may have felt like an act of politeness but a conversation with Johnny Sexton in early December backed up the head coach.

Sexton, who took up a full-time coaching role with the IRFU last August, knows more than most about the burden that weighs on 10s. “They’re a pleasure to work with, Sam and Jack,” he said. “Both insanely talented and both have a really good mentality. They want to get better, want to play for Ireland – fighting for the same thing. It will be a great battle over the years. My job is to be impartial and help them both the same. We’re very lucky to have both of them.”

“I know it’s harder with social media, and media,” he added, “but I hope we can get behind whoever is picked, rather than one half of the country thinking the other guy should be playing and only supporting them when that person is starting. We need to get behind both of them because we’re going to need both, and probably more, for the next World Cup. We’re going to need three or four lads fighting for it.”

Two weeks later, Frawley’s move from Leinster to Connacht was confirmed. Around that time, Byrne was building his case to be Ireland’s starting fly-half. His big starts, and performances, for Leinster have all come in away wins – Leicester, Munster, Bayonne and Connacht. He came on as a replacement in the Champions Cup thriller against La Rochelle and – with Farrell up in the stands – stepped forward to slot over the late, match-winning penalty.

I like the fact Harry is showing, not just with how he’s playing, but within his body language, that he’s here to compete.

At the Six Nations launch in Edinburgh on Tuesday, Farrell praised Byrne for shoving himself back into the international picture. The 26-year-old was loaned to Bristol Bears for the second half of last season, and took a lot of confidence from his time with Pat Lam’s side. Farrell had previously wanted Byrne to join Connacht and get his minutes at 10 there. The Dubliner had other ideas and is back out of the dog-house after backing himself at Leinster, despite the fast-tracking of Prendergast.

“I like the fact Harry is showing, not just with how he’s playing, but within his body language, that he’s here to compete and he’s here to be taken notice of,” Farrell told reporters in Edinburgh. “I think he’s playing with a lot of confidence, he’s that type of guy anyway. I suppose he’s able to be a little bit more confident when his body’s good, he’s fit and healthy and he’s playing regular and we’ve seen that.

“He’s obviously in a good spot and he’ll be so proud of himself, I would have thought, for getting back in the room, into camp, from what would have been a difficult enough year from the start of last year, but fair play to him for doing what he’s done.”

The reemergence of Byrne and Frawley’s bold move to head west next season means there are four contenders for that 10 shirt. Former Ireland stars Rob Kearney and Andrew Trimble believe Byrne should start in Paris. Conor Murray, the only man from that trio to have shared the pitch with Ireland’s quartet of fly-halves, feels Prendergast will start against the French.

“It may just be a feeling Andy has,” Murray explained. “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 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.”

Murray’s case is compelling. Farrell has invested a lot in Prendergast. The 23-year-old was outstanding in November’s record win over Australia, and has been in decent form for Leinster. There are still defensive lapses but not as pronounced in the previous two seasons.

With so much changing all around him, Farrell will be leaning towards Prendergast starting beside Jamison Gibson-Park. He has heavily backed him to this point. The other 10s are knocking at the door, but not yet banging it down.

Crowley’s goal-kicking from tough spots and in big moments has been ropey. Byrne is looked upon as the more reliable option but perhaps lacking the X-factor needed when facing big, bruising sides such as France. The only clue we have so far is that neither Prendergast nor Crowley started for their provinces last weekend.

Then we have Frawley, who played full-back against Connacht. Now Keenan is out, he may be drafted in at 15 for the curtain-raiser. His versatility remains a gift Farrell may yet be tempted to use.