Farrell names his XV to face Scotland 2020 Six Nations

Andy Farrell this afternoon named his first XV after plenty of shadow boxing in recent days with many trying to put their own sides together to see could they put a team together similar to the side that Andy Farrell named today.

He has given Caelan Doris his first cap after playing with Leinster over the past 2 seasons. He was part of the 2018 under 20 Irish side and was the captain of that side. He has taken his chance along with Max Deegan since Sean O Brien left Leinster to join London Irish and the injury that Jack Conan suffered at the World Cup.

What this team does suggest is that they will be very mobile at the breakdown and around the field with Josh Van Der Flier and CJ Stander teaming up with Doris in a back row that has plenty of experience.

At half back Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton will combine and John Cooney will have to wait his turn from the bench with Luke Mc Grath also having to wait at least another week for a chance to impress.

As has been pointed out 10 players who played New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup quarter final will be involved this weekend.

Players like Billy Burns, Luke Mc Grath and Stuart Mc Closkey should get the opportunity to play in this campaign and the early sound bites from the Farrell camp is that if your inform you will be given the chance to shine and although the fact John Cooney hasn’t ousted Conor Murray from the 9 jersey will be questioned, the inclusion of Ross Byrne does suggest that Farrell will give players a chance to come off the bench.

The hope is that the replacements will get more time than a token of 5 or 10 minutes toward the end of a game. We will have to wait and see what way this team will play with Mike Catt brought onboard as attack coach. The style of play can’t be second guessed until Saturday evening.

Andy Farrell will be thankful to how the fixtures have fallen in this campaign with two homes fixtures against Scotland and then Wales in Dublin before facing England in the 3rd game after the first break in the 6 Nations. If Ireland can win those first 2 games then everything is possible going into that game with England at Twickenham.

The focus will now hone in on Scotland and starting this 6 Nations with a morale boosting win. Scotland were beaten in the opening game of the 2019 World Cup by Saturday’s opposition and you can be sure Gregor Townsend will use that loss as a motivating tool to help his squad.

The decision to drop Finn Russell for a breach in team protocol would have stung but Adam Hastings will most likely benefit from the decision to leave Russell out of the opening weekend’s game with Ireland.

All roads will now lead to the Aviva Stadium for the start of the Andy Farrell era….

 

Ireland 2020 Six Nations Squad

The squad for the 2020 Six Nations has been announced in the last 24 hours with 5 new faces included and in a new departure under Andy Farrell 4 development players will travel to Portugal for the pre Six Nations training camp.

Although Joe Schmidt did similar he did so quietly but Andy Farrell has nailed his colours to the mast early by naming 4 young players who will be able to learn from the more experienced players within the group. He has also named Jonathan Sexton as the new Ireland skipper to succeed Rory Best.

Men like Ultan Dillane and Dave Kearney have to chance to kick start international careers that looked to have stalled in recent seasons due to loss of form and injury but these two men will see their inclusion as a real positive start to 2020 and the Andy Farrell era.

Men like Stuart Mc Closkey, Niall Scannell and Sean Cronin will be disappointed not to be included but strong performances this weekend in Europe or maybe an injury in the Ireland squad will re open the door back to the National side. The initial disappointment will sting but some good strong performances will put all those players back in the shop window.

Looking at the squad as a whole it is defiantly one that has a strong Leinster contingent and rightly so but that does not mean that the first 23 named by Andy Farrell will be all Leinster, players from the other three provinces will feel that some good training will stand to them when his opening 23 in named in just under 2 weeks time.

Here is my 23 to face Scotland in Dublin on Saturday fortnight….

15 Jordan Larmour

14 Andrew Conway

13 Gary Ringrose

12 Bundee Aki

11 Jacob Stockdale

10 Ross Byrne

9 John Cooney

8 Caelan Doris

7 Josh Van Der Flier

6 Peter O Mahony

5 James Ryan

4 Iain Henderson

3 Tadgh Furlong

2 Ronan Kelleher

1 Cian Healy

16 Dave Heffernan

17 Dave Kilcoyne

18 Andrew Porter

19 Devin Toner

20 Max Deegan

21 Conor Murray

22 Jonathan Sexton

23 Will Addison

Amy O Connor Cork Camogie

Amy O Connor Cork Camogie

Hi Amy, It’s great to get the chance to speak with you.

 

Take me back to the start, how did you start playing camogie ?

It was pure chance really that I started playing camogie. My cousin had joined and his Mam bought him all the gear and he quit after a couple of weeks. So instead of the gear being thrown out, my aunt asked my mam would I give it a go and I did. And I’ve loved it ever since.

Having won 4 All Ireland’s to date, what else do you hope to achieve with Cork ?

I hope to be the best I can be and help bring Cork Camogie back to the top. It looks as though it might take us awhile to get there at the moment as we have had to bring in a lot of new faces and young players. But it is a challenge that we are looking forward to over the next few years.

Away from sport, what do you like to do ?

I like to go out for dinner, go to the cinema, and go for long spins, weekends away and holidays

What sort of improvements would you make to camogie to speed the game up ?

I think the new rule changes will help this. More flow to the games instead of a stop-start nature.

If the opportunity ever came up to play sport professionally, would you like to give it a go ?

It would all depend on a lot of factors. For me, i enjoy sport and if it became my job then i don’t think it would be as enjoyable for me to play. I enjoy having a job that has nothing at all to do with sport and having different things going on in my life.

Who are your biggest inspiration’s ?

My boyfriend, My family, the people in my club and some of the people I have been lucky enough to play with – Orla Cotter, Gemma O’Connor, Jenny O’Leary and Rena Buckley to name a few.

Does the fact your just finished in College, did it help to keep you focused over the last few years ?

It did, It allowed me to switch off from sport as it was something that I needed to give my full attention to. But then when I played sport – it was great to switch off from college and enjoy the freedom of playing and training.

What was it like for you to do college work and train as well  ?

It was good – I feel that they complimented each other and I was never overly focused on one because I also had the other.

Having played International Football at underage level for Ireland, how did it feel to get your international cap ?

It was great, a very proud moment for myself and my family.

When did you chose to concentrate on camogie and was it a tough decision to make ?

I chose to concentrate on camogie before the All Ireland semi final in 2014. At the time I thought it was the hardest decsion in the world to make but looking back, it was an easy one because I always knew I would go down the camogie route as it was the one I enjoyed and loved most.

Lastly Amy, what are the plans for 2020 and beyond ?

To continue enjoying playing camogie and to have a happy and healthy 2020 with my family.

Thank you for taking the time out to chat to me Amy..