Who is ireland scrum half

You don't want to give too much away. Numbers are usually a good guide, but even that can be changed. Comment posted by Ruggerman, at 8 Oct Ruggerman. Yet again foreign born players displacing native born players, residency should be doubled to 10 years for ALL countries.

Reply posted by mpwapwaman, at 8 Oct mpwapwaman. More replies 3 down. As a Scottish supporter i'm really suprised. I was really looking forward to seeing Cooney in International action. He's exciting, creative and therefore a tremendous threat. Coaches are risk averse and we end up with everyone playing the same.

Ireland are better than that you have wonderful talent and jewels in players like Cooney and Zebo and the best coaches would find a way to play them. Comment posted by Route1, at 8 Oct Route1. Shame for Cooney. He was the best 9 pre lockdown, but hasn't sparked since, nor have Ulster. Glad to see Lowe not included, but Stockdale needs to find form, otherwise his place will be in jeopardy.

At his best he is a huge asset to Ireland, but too often seems like his mind isn't on the game, and makes elementary errors. Henderson really the only Ulster player who has found form post lockdown. I had thought the whole point of switching Stockdale to full-back for Ulster , where he has completely lost form ,was to facilitate Lowe. Stockdale is not an international full back and yes I know he played there for Ireland at under 20 level but why bother with Larmour in good form?

Cooney should be there as most dynamic scrum half in Ireland. Should be more Ulster players in squad. Reply posted by al, at 8 Oct al In attack yes, defence no. Needs to work on that. Comment posted by dirtyflanker, at 8 Oct dirtyflanker. Big call, Cooney has been outstanding, yes a little loss of form but i guess his face doesnt fit.

Murray and Sexton have had a loss of form for 2 years now!!!!!!!!!! Reply posted by Love my sport, at 8 Oct Love my sport.

Love my sport replied: Nah, they think he should be playing for Scotland. Comment posted by Gurner, at 8 Oct Gurner. Zebo or D. Shocking selection from Farrell. Expect the same old, same old, unimaginative crash ball rugby by numbers as we got from St. Joe of Schmidt, the irish media darling. This 2nd try was a peach! Gibson-Park recently became eligible for Ireland and his break in the buildup to Rhys Ruddock's try last week was impressive. However, the year-old has little exposure to the Irish camp and faces a tough battle for the starting spot at Leinster.

Toggle navigation. Rugby Dec 14, By Maurice Brosnan. John Cooney If Andy Farrell was to select his team on form today, there is no doubt the Ulster man would be picked.

Conor Murray. Thank you for subscribing to 'The Immersion' newsletter! Making sense of the wild world of sport, one email at a time. Related Articles. One of the big questions was, who would hit the ground running. One month in and now looking ahead to the new season, it is hard to say if any one player has done enough to push themselves to the top of the line. Murray - the man currently in possession - has been solid but the emergence of Craig Casey has some fans questioning the senior partner's lack of fizz.

If anything, the uncapped Jamison Gibson-Park's case has been strengthened the most. To me, Cooney still merits the start against Italy. Putting him in alongside Sexton - still our best outhalf option - and letting him have a real crack off the Azzurri would change things up for an Ireland side that need to get off to a fast start.

Looked in good nick for Munster and had that fizz back in his pass. Had three starts and acquitted himself well in the opening games against Leinster and Connacht. Steady rather than spectacular, he then followed the Munster game-plan of box-kicking heavily in the semi-final to a tee.

He is the best in the business at it, but that sometimes overshadows the rest of what he can bring to teams. Not how he would have envisioned his rugby start. Found himself subbed at half-time in the loss to Connacht and semi-final win over Edinburgh, only to be dropped for the Guinness PRO14 final.

The starting side for Sunday's match shows three changes from the Rome game. James Lowe retains his wing berth as Ulster's fit-again Jacob Stockdale does not make the match day squad.

Murray's inclusion in the squad is the sole personnel change to Andy Farrell's 23 with his Munster team-mate Craig Casey, who made his debut from the bench in Rome, missing out.