Winds of change
Farrell mixes it up for England clash, with plenty of fresh faces to be tested
YESTERDAY’S team announcement felt like a changing of the guard, in many ways. A starting line-up without Conor Murray and/or Johnny Sexton has been something of a rarity across the past decade. Yet a new half-back partnership of Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne will take to the field at Twickenham on Saturday.
Ireland will have a new captain in James Ryan while there are youthful selections at full-back, hooker and No8, with Hugo Keenan, Ronan Kelleher and Caelan Doris sharing just 12 Test caps between them.
The presence of five project players, a third of the starting line-up, is a sign of the times as well. The autobiographies in years to come should be interesting.
Sexton’s dodgy hamstring is the main reason why Andy Farrell has been forced to select a new out-half and captain this week — two major decisions which he has chosen to avoid during the first quarter of his four-year term as Ireland head coach.
He was going to have to bite the bullet and move ahead without Sexton at some stage during this World Cup cycle and this weekend’s clash with England will provide a glimpse into the future.
The likes of Craig Casey, Harry Byrne,
‘Johnny and Conor had to get their experience somewhere’
Ciarán Frawley, Ben Healy and Jack Crowley will all come into the selection equation at half-back in the coming years but, for now, Gibson-Park and Byrne have been given first dibs on the No9 and No10 shirts.
For so long, Murray looked untouchable at scrum-half and for good reason. He was arguably the best in the world from 2016 to 2018 when his form was spectacular. That tour de force against the All Blacks in Soldier Field was backed up with three excellent displays for the Lions in New Zealand the following summer.
The Munster man was key to the Grand Slam campaign of 2018 but a neck injury later in the year has proved a hindrance ever since.
Murray remains an experienced and intelligent operator around the field but his running game has been virtually non-existent over the past two years.
For the second weekend in a row, he will take up residence on the bench. Murray is still only 31 and this may light a fire under him. Witness Peter O’Mahony’s display against Wales last weekend, arguably his best for Ireland in two years.
A bit of healthy competition is no harm — something which Joe Schmidt failed to grasp during his last year in charge.
Is this the end of Murray and Sexton? Maybe not yet, but it has been clear that this Ireland team needs to evolve for quite some time. Saturday is the first phase of that rebuild.
Gibson- Park and Byrne are being thrown in at the deep end here. This is only Byrne’s second start for his country. Ditto, his Leinster teammate. But as Farrell observed yesterday, that’s the only way you can find out if they have the right stuff for this level.
‘I suppose experience plays a part. You l ook at Conor and Johnny, they had to get that experience somewhere, they had to be trusted to play in big games like this,’ said Farrell.
‘When they started running the show and owning the show on the big occasion like this game is, it stands them in good stead for the f uture. That’s how you gain experience and get experience.
‘The two lads are at the other end of their journey but they’re more than capable of pulling it out of the bag.’
The r est of t he backline selections looked pretty straight forward. When Robbie Henshaw joined Garry Ringrose on the casualty list earlier this week, Bundee Aki slotting back in alongside Chris Farrell was a no-brainer.
James Lowe had to be retained after his brilliant debut against Wales while Hugo Keenan is a proper full-back. Keith Earls –— who has struggled with a back injury in recent months — is back on the right wing to add some guidance to a callow back three.
Of course, none of the above matters unless the pack fronts up in London.
Ireland have been second-best
in the past three encounters. On each occasion, they were beaten comprehensively at the set piece and the collisions.
Farrell has looked to fix that problem by rolling out a powerful, dynamic pack across the board.
Kelleher — despite some lineout throwing concerns — is retained because he has the size and attitude to mix i t with Maro Itoje & Co.
Quinn Roux has never set pulses raising as an international prospect but at 30 years of age, he finally looks to be proving why Schmidt lured him to Leinster from the Stormers in 2012. Apparently, he brings a lot of power to the scrum, which could be crucial.
Saracens squeezed seven penalties out of Andrew Porter and the Leinster scrum in that ill-fated European Cup quarter-final in September. Many of the same protagonists, including Mako Vunipola, are back on duty this week. Roux’s first job will be to help avoid any repeats of that scrummaging shambles again.
Injuries have played their part but the fact that Farrell has made nine changes to the side which was battered on their last trip to Twickenham in February is telling.
It has taken a while, but the national team is finally moving in the right direction. They will know how far they have left to travel by 5pm on Saturday evening.