WITH THE INTRODUCTION of Oli Jager to Test rugby last weekend against Wales, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has now used 31 players in this year’s Six Nations.
That matches the number of players he used in the 2023 Grand Slam campaign and it’s expected that there will be at least one more man involved in the current championship given that Garry Ringrose is due back from his shoulder injury.
It has been interesting to note the turnover in personnel from last year. Johnny Sexton, Mack Hansen, Ross Byrne, Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, and Kieran Treadwell were all involved in the 2023 campaign but Sexton has retired, with the others ruled out due to injury.
The past month has seen Calvin Nash, Joe McCarthy, Ciarán Frawley, Harry Byrne, Jeremy Loughman, and Jager making their Six Nations debuts, so Farrell can be pleased with a degree of squad development in that sense.
So far, James Lowe, Jack Crowley, and Caelan Doris have played all 240 minutes of Ireland’s campaign. Nash [225 minutes] and Robbie Henshaw [223] aren’t far behind that ever-present trio.
Lowe also played every minute of the 400 in Ireland’s championship last year, along with Josh van der Flier, Hansen, and James Ryan, underlining just how important the left wing has become to Farrell’s side.
The run of fixtures has been interesting for Ireland this year, starting with what looked like the toughest challenge of the lot with the visit to Marseille to take on France. That went wonderfully for Farrell’s side, who then hammered Italy at home after making six changes to their starting XV.
A weekend off was followed by a third bonus-point win against Wales last Saturday and there’s another rest weekend ahead before the final block of two games. Ireland’s focus is now on a visit to Twickenham to face England, who Farrell’s men have beaten the last four times they’ve played.
A 32-18 win over the English on the last weekend of the 2021 Six Nations was arguably the day when the Farrell era really took off. Tries from Keith Earls and Jack Conan were key as the Irish attack started to click and they took a notable step forward after an up-and-down first year under Farrell.
There was an early red card for England lock Charlie Ewels when the sides met at Twickenham in 2022 but the home team made life extremely difficult for Ireland, particularly at scrum time. It took late tries from Conan and Finlay Bealham to put gloss on a 32-15 scoreline as Ireland secured the bonus point.
Last year’s Grand Slam clincher in Dublin also featured a sending off for England, with fullback Freddie Steward shown a red card that was later rescinded. Ireland’s performance had been nervy and they led only 10-6 when Steward was sent off, but they ran out 29-16 winners after a stronger second half against the 14 men.
England were a bit of a shambles when they came to Dublin last summer for a World Cup warm-up game that saw Ireland score five tries and win 29-10, so it has been a bad run for the English against this impressive Irish team.
The expectation is that Farrell’s men will continue their fine run against Steve Borthwick’s side next weekend. Ireland are 11-point favourites as things stand and the seemingly positive injury status of Farrell’s squad feeds into that.
While Ireland had to manage serious injury issues during last year’s championship – who could forget Cian Healy at hooker and Josh van der Flier throwing into the lineouts against Scotland – things have been smoother this time around.
They appeared to come through the Wales game last weekend unscathed and are now looking forward to welcoming fullback Hugo Keenan and centre Garry Ringrose back from injury for the England game. Experienced second row Iain Henderson could also return to the selection mix.
Keenan suffered a knee injury against Italy in round two, while Ringrose hasn’t featured yet in this Six Nations due to his shoulder issue. A dislocated toe kept Henderson out of the game against Wales.
If Keenan is confirmed as fit for the England game, he will be restored to the number 15 shirt. Ciarán Frawley had a happy first Test start at fullback against Wales, adding some welcome depth, but Keenan is vital to this Ireland team and probably the best in his position in the game.
Ringrose has been a superb performer for Ireland in recent seasons but it will be difficult for Farrell to break up the midfield combination of Bundee Aki and Henshaw, who have worked superbly together in the wins over France and Wales.
Henshaw has been outstanding at number 13 and it would be harsh to drop him given his physical sharpness, intelligent decision-making, decisiveness, and handling skill. Farrell is not one to forget a player’s historic body of work but Henshaw is hot right now.
Stuart McCloskey had yet another good game for Ireland at number 12 against Italy, while showing flexibility by coming off the bench on the right wing last weekend. Still, given that Ringrose has actually played on the wing during his career, he would seem a good fit for the number 23 shirt if he is back next weekend.
Picking the bench will be tough for Farrell. He has used a 6/2 split against both France and Wales. There was serious impact from the group of six forwards on both occasions, but the risk was mitigated by the fact that Frawley was involved both times, providing cover for out-half Jack Crowley as well as the midfield and fullback.
Were Ireland to go 6/2 against England with Ringrose at number 23, it would leave them without a recognised out-half to cover for Crowley. Perhaps Conor Murray could fill that role or someone else has been getting training minutes at out-half, but it would be a risk.
It could be that Farrell reverts to the traditional 5/3 split that he had always used up until this Six Nations and against Italy in round two. Of course, while that would allow Frawley or Harry Byrne to be part of the matchday 23 to cover Crowley, it would also mean leaving out the impact of Ryan Baird or Jack Conan in the back five of the scrum.
Otherwise, it seems as though Farrell’s selection will be straightforward. The starting lock pairing of McCarthy and the peerless Tadhg Beirne won’t be broken up, while James Ryan has been strong off the bench, so Henderson seems likely to be offering support from outside the matchday 23.
It will also be interesting to see if Bealham returns to the bench in place of Jager, who Farrell is a big fan of. Connacht man Bealham has made big strides of improvement over the last two years as the second-in-line to Furlong but Ireland might be keen to continue fast-tracking Jager’s development.
Overall, it’s likely to be a settled, confident, cohesive Ireland selection that travels to England as they look to move a step closer to the thrilling prospect of back-to-back Grand Slams.
