Ireland Team Talk X: The Long Hard Road to a Semi. MOD WARNING POSTS #1, #1474, #5707

Sexton has said he wants to make it until the 2021 Lions tour. I don't doubt that he will either. He has the drive to do it and he's still by far the best 10 we have. He seems to be getting better with age.

I don't think it's a good decision by Sexton to try and extend his contract to make the Lions.

He'll be very lucky to get there intact and he might not even be selected.

By 2021 I expect Farrell and Carbery to be duking it out as best flyhalves in the world. Sexton might be doing well to get Leinster game time by that point.

bilston wrote: »

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Sexton has that target in his head a long time now and he will make it, come hell or high water


Will he be starting 10 for Ireland? Maybe not if Farrell wants to go into a 4 year cycle

I don't think there will be massive changes come the 2020 6Ns. It will be the June tour in 2020 and then the 2020 Autumn games where we might see a bit of change.

There is a fair chance Carbery will be starting 10 by the time the 2021 6Ns comes round.

Carbery will definitely by the starting 10.

I can see 2020 being the year where Farrell wants to win early and lay down his own mark. He needs Sexton do that. But behind the scenes the wheels will be in motion to get Carbery more and more game time. It'll probably be like ROG and Sexton near the end.

Or hopefully, more like Carter and Barrett.

It's hard to know what players are going to leave after Japan because like I said, Farrell will be so keen to keep the winning ways. He'll twist a lot of arms to get another year out of players so he can keep the band together.

But guys I expect to be gone by the end of Japan would be Best, Kearney and O'Brien as said already. Healy's contract is up at the end of the world cup but I can see him potentially staying.

Toner will leave after his contract expires in June 2020. Earls has a contract until 2021 but I reckon he'll retire early. I think Lowe/Stockdale will be the future partnership and Earls will be pushed out. He'll choose retirement over irrelevance.

jm08 wrote: »

troyzer wrote: »

Toner will leave after his contract expires in June 2020. Earls has a contract until 2021 but I reckon he'll retire early. I think Lowe/Stockdale will be the future partnership and Earls will be pushed out. He'll choose retirement over irrelevance.

So you think these guys would tear up a 400-500K a year contract because they might feel irrelevant?

Either they will be included in international squads or they won't be. Neither would be irrelevant for their province.

Lots of players hang up their boots when they can't get a game.

salmocab wrote: »

There’s no reason to think Toner and Earls will be finished in 2020. Earls in fairness by then may be losing his pace but I’d say he’ll still have a bit to give but Toner could still do a full WC cycle after this. Not suggesting he’ll definitely keep his place but he could still be around and a viable option in 4 years time. 2nd rows tend to have decent longevity.

Yeah but he's not exactly 100% cemented as the starting second row. If James Ryan becomes a world class lineout operator do you really think he's going to be started ahead of Henderson or Beirne?

troyzer wrote: »

Lots of players hang up their boots when they can't get a game.

Like who? Both Peter Stringer and Donnacha O'Callaghan went elsewhere for games when they couldn't get them in Ireland.

troyzer wrote: »

Yeah but he's not exactly 100% cemented as the starting second row. If James Ryan becomes a world class lineout operator do you really think he's going to be started ahead of Henderson or Beirne?

No and I made that clear in my post. He could still be a quality option. As we can see right now it doesn’t take much for us to be looking down the depth chart. Toner has a few more years in him I don’t get why you think he’ll finish up in just over a years time. He’s playing great and has a decent injury record.

Dubinusa wrote: »

Lads!! Hold onto yer horses!! Let's have a gander at Carty before anointing Joey as the heir.
Carty has been the best oh these past few months. I think he's worth a look.
Ross Byrne is also in the mix. Farrell may opt for a Sexton type player. Byrne could step in and we wouldn't lose cohesion.
Anyway, Harry Byrne is looking superb atm. He could stake a claim also in 4 yrs time.
Frawley has potential and has shown some good form and then there's Lowry and Johnson.
Joey may well be in pole position, but there's lads right up his arse.

I can't see it to be honest. The next step in Ireland's evolution towards the All Greens is to exploit the outrageous skill of the young backs coming through. As it stands, they are comically underused.

If we could marry our current system which makes our forwards excellent with a backline which includes a red hot Carbery, Larmour, Ringrose, Stockdale etc. then we'd be unbeatable.

Imagine those backs playing Fijian style heads up rugby. They definitely have the skills and when Carbery bursts onto the scene in two or three years as the definitive 10, I think Irish rugby will go up another level.

aloooof wrote: »

It makes a difference in that it's the exact opposite of what you were saying i.e. retiring early implies mid-contract.

I thought they had retired mid contract. Hands up on that one.

Either way, I can see Lowe pushing Earls out so he's effectively retired when it comes to Ireland.

aloooof wrote: »

Fair enough, but I don't see why you would use the word 'retired'. It's not likely to be a Joe Marler situation. And he'll still likely be playing for Munster.

Well like I said. I thought Bowe and Trimble had already retired under contract. I was looking at their situation and thought Earls might be similar.

But they were out of contract so I was wrong to see that as a precedent.

Dubinusa wrote: »

Ross Byrne is also in the mix. Farrell may opt for a Sexton type player. Byrne could step in and we wouldn't lose cohesion.

Here's this notion again the Byrne is a 'Sexton type player' that gets thrown around on here which I've never really got.

Johnny plays very flat, attacks the gain line, makes half breaks....all things that Byrne well doesn't really do at all.

Maybe I'm missing sonething