Since the defeat last week in Paris, the amount of talk about the decline of the current Irish set up has increased. Has the product line dried up, is the school system fit for purpose etc, all acceptable questions of course but why now to ask those questions.

Ireland have struggled at International level over the past while losing a number of games but also bar New Zealand and France last week they were still in with some sort of shout towards the 80^th minute.

They will look to get back to winning ways on home ground on Saturday in the early kick off at 2.10pm against Italy who themselves will be buoyed by the win in Rome over Scotland. Italy have only once beaten Ireland in the 6 Nations back in 2013. A day that neither country will forget but it will be a memory that will be spoken of this week for contrasting reasons in each camp.

As for the supposed drying up of Irish talent, I think while in some respects there is merit in the statement overall, the sweeping of the brush might be a bit premature. This weekend gives some new faces the chance to stake a claim for ongoing inclusion. It also gives squad members a timely reminder to buck up your ideas.

Ireland are stuck between two stools and will need to shore up their defence in the coming weeks and Simon Easterby will know he will need those players to start making the right calls in defence because not alone Italy, England, Scotland and Wales will find opportunities in the last few weeks of the competition.

The system Ireland have used over the past few years has had it success in bringing players through and also when they sweep the globe to see who might be eligible to pull on a green jersey they have done a good job too, men like CJ Stander, Justin Bishop, Justin Fitzpatrick to name 3 men.

Of course this way of operating is not without fault, Peter Borlase was brought in by Munster with an eye to winning an Irish cap but on that occasion it didn’t work out. He spent a season with Munster then time on loan in Connacht before heading back to New Zealand.

Like every system, it does have its faults and people make errors. The title ambitions for the current campaign are probably gone so Ireland will hopefully look to give other players a chance to shine. The soundings from the Irish camp are suggesting that a number of changes will be seen in the 23 announced at 2pm this afternoon to take Italy on in the Aviva Stadium.

Time will tell of course and no matter what changes are made you can be sure it won’t suit everybody. Andy Farrell as well as his players are under pressure to come up with a performance and result to get things started back on an upward curve.

The talk of decline and the reasons that may be behind it are warranted but we may just need to leave it until the campaign ends when people can look clearly at the games and see where changes may be needed.

Italy come to Dublin with a real chance of winning and that alone should sharpen the minds of the Irish squad. All roads now lead to Lansdowe Road and to the Aviva for a 2pm kick off…..

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 2^nd 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

–

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….

France have won the 6 Nations opener for 2026 comfortably 36-14 having led 22-0 at the break. Ireland will know the opening”40” was not acceptable but France were in flying form and played rugby from another planet on occasion with the likes of Dupont, Bielle Biarrey in smashing form.

Shaun Edwards will be pleased to see all the hard yards he and his players but in come to fruition in defence as well as attack. They hounded Ireland through the game and never allowed Ireland settle. Ireland will know some of the decision making in the game left a lot to be desired and will need to be better at many aspects going into to the home game in Dublin against Italy.

Coaches and players alike will need to shoulder reasonability for the manner of the performance and they will know as a group they have so much to work on. They can’t rest on their laurels now as Italy are in town next Saturday before heading to play England in London in week 3.

It might be time for Farrell to begin to pick on form with Nick Timoney showing his quality after coming on as did a share of players who came off the bench admittedly in a team that was beaten by half time. Both scrum and line out worked well and gave some platform in the 2^nd half that allowed Ireland create pressure for short bursts in the game late on in particular.

France for their part showed the rest what is required to wrestle the trophy from French hands. Not that the whole game will please Galthie but he knew his side had the job as good as done by half time.

France played front foot rugby mixed with Gallic flair which is so hard to stop, it’s like trying to stop a leak with a handkerchief, it will only do so much to stem the flow… They picked an in form 23 and that helped push them to greater heights with 3 older heads left out on week 1 with those players now likely to face a battle to get a look in barring a number of injuries.

For Ireland, they have little time to circle the wagons and will need to look ahead to the challenge of Italy on Saturday week. A number of changes might be called for but given the margin of the defeat Farrell may be tempted to make minimal change but guys like Micheal Milne and Nick Timoney certainly gave Farrell food for thought.

Sam Prendergast will know he was poor on occasion this evening certainly in the opening half where some of his nervous play led to French scores. He wasn’t alone, some of Ireland’s first up tackling was very poor and Simon Easterby will also need to look into some of the “system failures” that dogged Ireland this evening.

Some of the flowery language used again over the past few weeks by pundits would drive the ordinary punter mad, a mistake and errors are just that and please stop dressing it up to make it sound more acceptable. A mistake is still a mistake no matter how you say it.

France head off into the sun set with a healthy win over Ireland and they can now really set course for a tilt at the Championship and Grand Slam, others like England and Scotland might still have a say but France certainly laid down a strong marker on home soil.

As for Ireland, the Championship hopes as slim as they may have been given current form are extinguished so Farrell has the chance to be brave in selection over the next few weeks. 3 games to come in Dublin as well as England in Twickenham will test the mettle and resolve of the whole squad as the other 4 sides will think they sense blood in the water after the manner of the loss.

Time now for Ireland to stand up and be counted as well as Farrell and his coaches being brave with selection and a different attacking approach…. Let’s see how things unfold….

The 2026 6 Nation starts on Thursday evening in Paris with Ireland facing France, the strange kick off time is because the Winter Olympics from Milano Cortina begins over the next couple of days and the 6 Nations didn’t want to face a clash and so it’s still Paris in spring time but on a Thursday evening rather than Saturday afternoon or evening.

Ireland have selected there 23 to battle France with Jeremy Loughman facing his biggest challenge in green along with Cian Prendergast starting at blindside with Sam Prendergast at 10. Stuart Mc Closkey starting alongside Garry Ringrose with Jacob Stockdale getting in on the left wing a first 6 Nations start since 2021 for Stockdale.

Injury has forced Farrell into changes aplenty and that is a strange thing to write but Farrell has resisted changes over his time as Ireland Head Coach and would most likely stuck with the tried and trusted yet again only for injury to make him change tack.

At loosehead, Ireland have two inexperienced men but they have scrummaged against French sides at club level and will draw on that experience in the white hot atmosphere of the Stade De France on opening night.

Ireland had a mixed 2025 although they only lost 1 game in last season’s 6 Nations on the final day at home to France, it was more the manner of the loss rather than the defeat itself that annoyed Irish supporters.

Ireland have had to make changes but that is no bad thing and we will see certain players get the chance to stick up there hand for continued selection over the coming months. Andy Farrell resists change but he also needs to start to make the move away from the tried and trusted players with 1 eye on 2027 in Australia.

There is still a real core of experience in the 23, so those players with only single figures in terms of caps will lean on those few experienced heads for guidance when the pressure comes on Thursday.

France have had plenty of disruption themselves with Unini Antonio having to announce his retirement due to a heart attack at training, Thibault Flaminent won’t be involved due to personal reasons but could be back for round 2 or 3. Form or lack thereof sees the trio of Aldritt, Penaud and Fickou all left out but some really exciting players will be there in their place.

Since the RWC semi-final loss to South Africa, Fabien Galthie has tried to bring through plenty of young players and has toured New Zealand with a much changed squad in summer 2025.

What he has done is try to build strength in depth but in certain places that has been lacking with tighthead being a position if concern so while Ireland wondered who would wear the number 1 jersey, France have wondered who might be wearing the number 3 shirt in the long term.

France will still feel they have the match for Ireland on opening night and with Ireland’s ongoing issues as to who is the first choice 10, France will look to pounce on that type of uncertainty and play an attacking brand of rugby coupled with a strong showing upfront.

Antoine Dupont will be back at 9 and “Le Petite General” will want to hit the ground running and pick up his good form in a French shirt that he has shown while playing for Toulouse this season. He has signed a long term deal with Toulouse to stay with them until 2031, a deal of that length is normally unheard of in rugby with the best you can normally hope for in Ireland would be a 3 year deal. It shows how much faith Toulouse have in him and they hope he will lead them to more trophies in the next 5 years.

The smart money is a France win but I sat here 2 years ago following on from the heart breaking defeat to New Zealand in the 2023 RWC quarter final and said similar only for Ireland to come out and give one of the finest performances of the Andy Farrell era and blow France away on the way to winning the title in 2024.

On this occasion, it will be backs against the wall job and while it looks unlikely Ireland will repeat the win of 2 years ago, It is still the first game and both sides will sense they can steal a march on the others by winning. My heart says Ireland but I just think France might have too much in the pack for Ireland to handle and win by between 7 and 10 points….

Ireland could be without both Bundee Aki and Hugo Keenan for Ireland Six Nations opener on Thursday week. Aki has been cited following Connacht’s game with Leinster and Keenan has potentially picked up a hand injury training in Portugal ahead of next week’s game.

From Bundee Aki’s point of view he only has himself to blame after a number of verbals with last Saturday’s official Eoghan Cross in the game in Galway. He has been cited and will find out over the coming days his punishment. Jude Postlewaite has been drafted into the squad as his replacement.

From Hugo Keenan’s perspective, the suspected injury comes at a horrible time and could open the door for Ciaran Frawley, Jacob Stockdale or Jack Crowley potentially to fill in at full back in the Stade De France.

What these injuries do is they open the door for others to stick the hand up and remind Mr Farrell he can look outside the tried and trusted for a solution. He has a number of injuries to look after but as I previously stated, this may be a blessing in disguise although I may regret saying that if France find there grove from the off next week.

Irish players have had a number of issues with match officials over the past year in particular with Caelan Doris and Tadgh Beirne struggling to get there point across between the tone of voice and just plain bad timing in terms of an interaction with the referee in charge.

This citing should be a timely reminder to the Irish squad to leave the talking to the captain and to simply zip it during a game. Certain players have struggled to keep quiet over recent times and It has become quite noticeable during games the amount chirping back and forth.

Munster have fallen foul of it as have Leinster so this citing should focus minds and remind those players looking to have interactions, maybe think better of it and leave the speaking to be done by the captain on the day.

Given those issues for Farrell, it will be interesting to see what sort of 23 he will pick to take on defending champions France on French soil…..

Here is my revised 23 to play France :

15 Ciaran Frawley

14 Tommy O Brien

13 Garry Ringrose

12 Stuart Mc Closkey

11 Robert Balcounne

10 Harry Byrne

9 Jamison Gibson Park

8 Caelan Doris

7 Nick Timoney

6 Jack Conan

5 Tadgh Beirne

4 Joe Mc Carthy

3 Tadgh Furlong

2 Dan Sheehan

1 Michael Milne

–

16 Ronan Kelleher

17 Billy Bohan

18 Thomas Clarkeson

19 Josh Van Der Flier

20 James Ryan

21 Craig Casey

22 Jack Crowley

23 Jamie Osborne

Here is my A side to face England in Thomond Park on Friday week :

15 Shane Daly

14 Joshua Kenny

13 Dan Kelly

12 Cathal Forde

11 Zac Ward

10 Jack Murphy

9 Ben Murphy

8 Bryan Ward

7 Paul Boyle

6 Sean Jansen

5 Charlie Irving

4 Darragh Murray

3 Oli Jager

2 Gus Mc Carthy

1 Sam Crean

–

16 Stephen Smyth

17 Sam Illo

18 Sam Wilson

19 Diarmuid Mangan

20 Brian Gleeson

21 Fintan Gunne

22 Mathew Devine

23 James Hume

Andy Farrell has picked the squad that will face into the opening 2 6 Nations games away on a Thursday evening in Paris, romantic it certainly isn’t but the organisers of one of rugby’s premium competitions seem hell bent on driving what interest there is by the casual supporter into the ground by this mad cap idea of playing the opening game of the Championship on a Thursday.

Rugby does not enjoy the global appeal of other sports and yes while the reasons for the move are simple and that is because of the start of the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina and they simply wanted to avoid a clash, admirable it may be but does nothing to try and gain the attention of the casual fan which rugby has long failed to do.

Andy Farrell has yet again gone for safety in terms of overall selection with only 2 uncapped players involved Edwin Edogbo of Munster and Nathan Doak of Ulster. Both players deserving of selection but a number of other players will truly wonder what they really need to do to get a look with the Irish coaching team.

Reputation seems to be the key word when selection meetings happen and the experienced head will win the day over the young tyro every time. The only way you’ll get in is if an injury happens and Farrell is forced to look elsewhere.

If Ireland do manage to win in Paris which at this current moment is unlikely then I’ll be the first to put the hand up and pat Andy Farrell on the back. Will we see a repeat of the game in 2023 when Ireland went to Paris and dismantled a fancied French side on that evening. It will take that type of showing to win in 2 week’s time

I will now put on my selector hat and pick a 23 from the squad that Farrell has picked…

15 Jamie Osbourne

14 Tommy O Brien

13 Garry Ringrose

12 Stuart Mc Closkey

11 Robert Baloucoune

10 Harry Byrne

9 Jamison Gibson Park

8 Caelan Doris

7 Nick Timoney

6 Jack Conan

5 Tadgh Beirne

4 Joe Mc Carthy

3 Tadgh Furlong

2 Dan Sheehan

1 Jack Boyle

–

16 Ronan Kelleher

17 Michael Milne

18 Thomas Clarkson

19 Edwin Edogbo

20 Josh Van Der Flier

21 Craig Casey

22 Jack Crowley

23 Hugo Keenan

Here is the 23 I would select to face France on Thursday 5^th of February before a home game the following week against Italy….

Rugby often goes on about how the referee is widely respected and listened to by all. That particular fact seems to be slowly slipping away over the past few years. I was at Munster vs Castres on Saturday evening and yet another Munster penalty was given up and moved forward for Munster back chat.

Irish players have fallen foul of this over the past few months, both Tagh Beirne and Caelan Doris have struggled on occasion whether it was in the blue of Leinster, red of Munster or with Ireland and as has been spoken of in recent days. It might just be time for certain Irish players to zip it and leave the talking to the captain on the day.

This is not exclusive to Irish players, the constant badgering of match officials has been a real problem across a number of League, Europe and International games.

For that matter match officials also need to stick to their job and we don’t need to see the sort of intervention that Karl Dickson saw need to do by pulling a player by the shirt and telling him to “use the ball”. That in itself is step too far.

We often hear referees saying to players in particular at the scrum, I am not your coach, you do your job and I’ll do mine. It really is time for certain officials to take note of that and just get on with refereeing the game and not looking to get involved unnecessarily from time to time.

The running joke of seen and not heard would sum up the situation beautifully at the minute. Both players and officials need to get back to their job and leave the coaching and playing to the people charged with doing them.

It has been pointed out that Irish players could do well to try and repair the relationship with certain people before the 6 Nations kicks off. There are the correct channels to go through and is constant feedback between coaches and officials on a weekly basis.

For so many years, rugby was held up as this great bastion of respect between player and referee but sadly over recent years that aspect has been eroded but with reflection there is still time to get back to the strong level of respect on the field.

That works both ways, referees will also need to up there game as well and then we might just be able to see a change in attitude over the next few months.

Not for 1 moment am I suggesting that Rugby holds the moral high ground in this aspect of sport, but we have been heading down that aforementioned slope for a while and there is still time to stop that slide.  

Let’s hope over the next few months, we will get back to talking of tries and wonderful moments of skill, wishful thinking of course but it does no harm to dream and think what could be…..

Here is my attempt at picking a Munster team to face Dragons on Friday evening in the URC. They will play each other in Virgin Media Park. I will try and select a 23 minus the players who could be involved with Ireland.

15 Shane Daly

14 Diarmuid Kilgallen

13 Fionn Gibbons

12 Alex Nankivell

11 Thakkir Abrahams

10 Tony Butler

9 Ethan Coughlan

8 Gavin Coombes

7 Michael Foy

6 Sean Edogbo

5 Evan O Connell

4 Conor Ryan

3 Oli Jager

2 Lee Barron

1 Josh Wycherley

–

16 Danny Sheehan

17 Jeremy Loughman

18 John Ryan

19 Edwin Edogbo

20 Luke Murphy

21 Jake O Riordan

22 JJ Hanrahan

23 Shay Mc Carthy

Here is my go at selecting a 23 to face Dragons on Friday night. I used the whole Munster squad while selecting my 23. They face Glasgow away at the end of January and will be pulling from a similar pool of players and Ireland A will also be preparing to play England A in Limerick on Friday February 6^th so they may be without one or two other players due to that game.

Munster’s Champions Cup last 16 hopes went up in flames last evening with Castres coming to Thomond Park and inflicting a 31-29 defeat on the men in red. This performance was very syntagmatic of Munster over recent times and again showed up the issues in particular at the line out and poor place kicking as well as some questionable kicking out of hand….

In defence also Munster were out foxed and the blitz style defence just didn’t cut the mustard. This type of defence was first employed under Rassie Erasmus when he and Jacques Nienber were involved with Munster almost 9 years ago now. Denis Leamy now looks after the defence and he will look back today at how easily they were broken through on several occasions.

This has been an issue along with poor execution at line out time and scrum trouble that seemed to stabilise last night but just as one element seemed to be coming right then another part of the game plan malfunctions, it like a dripping tap that you can’t seem to find the solution to fix.

A first win for Castres in Limerick came at the best time for them and the worst time from a Munster point of view. This win has put Castres into the last 16 of the Champions Cup and it relegated Munster to a place in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup which won’t be much consolation at this moment in time.

Unfortunately whatever way you slice it, 1 win from 4 isn’t good enough in any competition and the manner of the loss last night coupled with last weekend will sting of course but it is imperative for Munster to find a way to solve the issues as they are back in URC action next weekend and will be without a number of players who will be in with Ireland preparing for the upcoming 6 Nations campaign that will begin on Thursday February 5^th.

Jack Crowley will look back on some of his place kicking and know that it simply wasn’t good enough and the two missed conversions were so costly when you do up the maths at full time. He will know himself that it isn’t acceptable to miss crucial kicks when the pressure is on. Those two missed chances were contributing factors to the defeat but not the only reasons.

Of course, the problems at the line out also cost Munster and it again cracked when you need it to stand up and when it came to the crunch, the line out just crumbled. Some of the calling and movement was so predictable that it was easy for Castres to pick off a number of line outs as well as put real pressure on the rest of them that they didn’t pick off.

The trouble in the line out has being an ongoing issue over an extended period of time and will need serious surgery to solve the issues that have dogged them since last season.

Some of the attacking play was great from Munster and showed yet again that if they can get the trouble up front and in defence sorted they certainly have the firepower to hurt teams. As I say they have secured European rugby for April by squeezing into the last 16 of the Challenge Cup and will be on their travels in that game. They will find out who they will face this evening (Sunday).

That fact they have a place in the last 16 of the Challenge Cup will be scant consolation today but certainly offers redemption to Munster who will know that 1 win from 4 in unacceptable in the Champions Cup Pool phase.

Like 2011 the last time Munster were in the Challenge Cup where they were away to Brive and won on that day in a high scoring contest. They welcomed Harlequins to Limerick in the Semi Final and were beaten in another exciting contest.

The loss will be hard to stomach for the Munster faithful and the early season momentum has evaporated but what the place in the Challenge Cup does offer is a road to redemption for this group and they are still in the URC shake up so it is time to dust themselves off and go into the Dragons game and Glasgow game with renewed focus and hunger to right the wrongs of recent weeks…

15 Mike Haley

14 Diarmuid Kilgallen

13 Tom Farrell

12 Alex Nankivell

11 Thakir Abrahams

10 Jack Crowley

9 Ethan Coughlan

8 Gavin Coombes

7 Brian Gleeson

6 Tadgh Beirne

5 Edwin Edogbo

4 Jean Kleyn

3 Oli Jager

2 Lee Barron

1 Michael Milne

–

16 Diarmuid Barron

17 Josh Wycherley

18 Michael Alalatoa

19 Tom Ahern

20 Jack O Donoghue

21 Jake O Riordan

22 Tony Butler

23 Dan Kelly

Here is the 23 I would select to face Castres on Saturday evening in the Champions Cup. Yet again Munster find themselves in need of a big victory and other results to go their way to be sure of a last 16 spot in the Champions Cup.

A big weekend of action is ahead and for certain teams they will need to calculator for the 3 days of action…..