ANDY FARRELL SAYS Ross Byrne and Craig Casey have “earned the right to start” after naming the pair in his Ireland team to take on Italy this weekend.
The Ireland head coach has made six changes to his starting team for the trip to Rome, with Byrne and Casey both set to start a Six Nations fixture for the first time.
The other changes see Bundee Aki, Jack Conan, Iain Henderson and Rónan Kelleher all come into the team.
And Farrell has backed Byrne and Casey to deliver at the Stadio Olimpico, with both players impressing off the bench in the wins against Wales and France.
“They have earned the right to start and from what we have seen so far, it’s only a few days to the game I know, but from what we have seen so far, it’s been a good start to the week,” Farrell said.
“Preparation has been great and yeah, they seem ready for it.
People wouldn’t have been selected if they weren’t in the right place. So, we’re not just turning things around for the sake of it, we are turning things around because we think it’s a strong side for us going forward, for this game and for the future as well.”
Byrne has had to be patient for his first Six Nations start, having debuted for Ireland back in 2018. His promotion to the starting team sees Jack Crowley named on the bench, with two other out-halves also travelling – Johnny Sexton is with the group despite being injured while Joey Carbery, recalled to the squad this week due to Sexton’s injury, also has a seat on the plane.
Farrell added that he’s been impressed with how Carbery has settled back into camp having being omitted from his original Six Nations squad.
“He’s been great. He’s a tremendous professional anyway, which is exactly what you’d expect of Joey when he came in. Get across his stuff straight away, making sure he’s across his own job and then fitting into the team stuff with us travelling to Italy as well.
“We think he’s a great player. Ross and Jack we wanted to have a look at and keep developing. Ross had earned the right and there is a bit of feedback to Joey. Him coming back into camp, we get to have the chat again about his reflection about the feedback etc and where is he now with all that. He gets to back that up with the conversations and him back into the environment and lets everyone know that the competition keeps rolling on.”
The game also sees James Ryan captain Ireland for the seventh time. Farrell noted how Ryan has shown leadership off the pitch recently while also highlighting how pleased he has been to see other players take on more leadership within the group.
“I’ve seen him grow massively as a leader because of the leaders he’s got around him,” Farrell said of Ryan.
“I’ve seen all of them grow in a huge way over the last couple of years and James just happens to be one of those leaders who will put his hand up week-in, week-out, and lead from the front in how he performs on the field. He’s got massive respect in that regard but his leadership off the field has been pretty impressive as well.
“I think we’re very lucky. It’s well documented as far as our leadership group and the growth of them. I feel we’re in a great place in that we would be more than happy for a handful of players to captain the side.
James is the lucky one this weekend who is able to do that, but Garry Ringrose is an exceptional leader. I’m sure that he’ll be captain of Ireland one day. Peter O’Mahony, Iain Henderson, and more and more of those type of players.
“You look at the development of somebody like Caelan Doris of Hugo Keenan or Garry, there’s a reason why they’re playing so well, it’s because of how they don’t just lead themselves off the field, they lead others as well, and it’s probably a rhythm to those types of players we’re talking about. They tend to work unbelievably hard off the field and try and give as much as they possibly can to their teammates so in that regard I feel we’re pretty lucky.”
Saturday is also set to be a memorable occasion for Ringrose, who is in line to win his 50th Test cap.
“It’s a special moment. It was special for us all to be involved with three lads (James Ryan, Andrew Porter and Dave Kilcoyne) a few weeks ago and it was a great occasion for them so there’s no-one more deserving than Garry.
“He’s had a few injuries in the last few years that have probably taken a few caps away from him but to be able to do it at the age he has as well as losing those games says a lot about the type of player that he is. He’s in top form right now and he’s only going to get better.”
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