France v England

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 N@than wrote:

 GPR - Rochester wrote:

 N@than wrote:

At the end of the day when you look at England we have to remember
Genge 31 
LCD 33
George 36
Davidson 34
Itoje 32
Spencer 34
Ford 33
Slade 33
Daly 34

That’s a lot of older players for a side that only managed to finish 5th in the 6N.

They need to start bringing through younger players if they want to get anywhere close to the big boys Ireland/France. You’d worry at this stage that it might turn into a two tier competition as if anything the gap between the two juggernauts and the rest is only widening.

Great effort that nathan - fair play. I won't bother listing the ages of most of the star Irish players at this 6 nations like Gibson-Park, Beirne, McCloskey & in addition Conan, van der Flier Ringrose, Lowe, Furlong, Bealham, Aki. You may have found a suitable replacement going forward for one of those Lowe but thats about it as far as I can see. One thing I will concede though is that my faith in Farrell to keep the fall off as low as possible is more than I have in Borthwick despite his enormous talent pool. 

Key difference, Ireland finished 2nd in the 6N and have had 5 6N in a row of winning at least 4 games out of 5. Ireland don’t need to find replacements right now as they are still performing at a high level. 

England on the other hand…1 win out of 5. There is much more urgency to bring in younger players and transition these older guys out. Worth noting with England is not to confuse quantity with quality, they may have a deep pool of players but the reality is most of these young players wouldn’t get near the Ireland/France teams. Looking great against Newcastle in the prem is one thing, doing it at test level is another.

Nobody, least of all myself, will decry Ireland's performances since before the last World Cup when again, of course, they failed to fulfil their potential. England are strange - beating NZ who beat Ireland of course comfortably. I would not decry the Prem as proven by Northampton in Dublin last season. They have teams - Northampton, Bath, Leicester, Sale, Bristol who would finish in or very close to the top 8 in the URC. 

As you know yourself my worry for Ireland stems from the gulf in level of the 10 players I named above & the ones below nowhere is that more clear than at 9. Add in the loss of Sexton whose replacement Crowley would struggle to get into any other 6 nations starting 15 & you get my drift. I will be the first to eat my words if Farrell manages the change seamlessly. 