I will now try and select my own 23 to face Italy in the round 2 fixture in Dublin after last Thursday’s 36-14 defeat to France in Paris. Andy Farrell and his coaches have had plenty to mull over following the loss. Italy for their part were full value for their 18-15 win Scotland in Rome.
Italy will have seen the game on Thursday and will know they have a chance to create a small piece of history by being the first Italian team to beat Ireland in Dublin since their introduction to the 6 Nations back in 2000.
There set piece worked well and they manged to take a few chances to score tries as well which will please Gonzalo Quesada who has got Italy moving in a positive fashion and off the back of the win over Scotland they will only grow in confidence.
They along with other teams will sniff blood in the water and they might just sense that Ireland may be vulnerable and see this as a big chance to make it 2 from 2 for this campaign. The chance is there and the manner of Ireland’s performance will only help them gain confidence that they can cause a 2nd straight shock.
For Ireland, there is room for people to get an opportunity without going overboard in terms of selection. Ireland need to be shaken up in a number of ways in terms of defence, attacking game plan and team selection.
The next few weeks have been now tagged as the biggest of the Andy Farrell regime since he took the job in 2020. He still has credit in the bank of course having won the Grand Slam in 2023 and Championship in 2024. But he will need to alter his policies around selection and start to give others a real chance to show what they can do.
The players will also need to take advantage of any chance given and play above themselves to stay in contention for a regular spot in the 23. Here is my attempt at picking a 23 to face Italy.
15 Jamie Osbourne
14 Garry Ringrose
13 Tom Farrell
12 Stuart Mc Closkey
11 Robert Balcounne
10 Jack Crowley
9 Craig Casey
8 Jack Conan
7 Nick Timoney
6 Caelan Doris
5 Tadgh Beirne
4 Edwin Edogbo
3 Thomas Clarkson
2 Dan Sheehan
1 Michael Milne
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16 Ronan Kelleher
17 Billy Bohan
18 Tadgh Furlong
19 James Ryan
20 Joe Mc Carthy
21 Cian Prendergast
22 Jamison Gibson Park
23 Jacob Stockdale
Here is my 23 to face Italy. I know it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I feel they would be well placed to face Italy with this side….