Ireland boss Andy Farrell discusses his team selection options for Fiji and Australia games
While Andy Farrell is expected to make changes for next Saturday's Aviva Stadium clash with Fiji, he is keen to stress the need to keep a balance with experienced players needed to play alongside young guns
Andy Farrell insists team selection against Fiji on Saturday is not as simple as giving youth a fling.
The third game in the Autumn Series was regarded by many as a chance for Farrell to start Sam Prendergast and to give other emerging and fringe players a chance after the All Blacks and Argentina games and ahead of the final fixture against Australia.
The head coach was full of praise for the way 21-year-old out-half Prendergast managed the last 20-plus minutes and for how fellow debutant Thomas Clarkson, 24, dealt with being thrown into the front row.
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Farrell must decide whether to start with Prendergast and involve Ciarán Frawley after he was left out completely last Friday.
Ryan Baird is likely to miss out after he was forced off with a head injury just moments after coming on, while Tadhg Furlong could make his first appearance of the series after injury and fellow tighthead Tom O'Toole could also return.
Jamie Osborne is poised to start after backing up his excellent displays in South Africa in the summer with an impressive cameo off the bench.
"Ryan Baird obviously injured," said Farrell. "I thought Jamie Osborne was immense when he came on. He has really stepped up, certainly this season for Leinster in the games we've seen. All in all, I thought the bench did a really good job."
But Farrell said with two final games to play in the space of seven days, he has to be careful how he balances team selection. "We'll see how the bodies fare up but we do need to have a think about how we roll on because Fiji are unbelievably dangerous, as we saw last week against Wales," he commented.
"At the same time, so are Australia. Four games on the bounce, we've got to manage that realistically. We need to pick a side that's going to perform - and what you don't just do is give everyone a game that's been unfortunate not to play so far.
"If you're trying to work out how lads are going to cope at international level, you need to put good people around them to be able to judge them in the right manner, so there's a balance there."
Farrell must address the fact that Ireland again went so long without scoring - in Friday night's case it was 43 minutes in their 22-19 victory over the Pumas.
Caught by the TV camera holding his head in frustration on a couple of occasions, Farrell smiled: "A few times they caught me doing that. They should have caught me a few more times doing that!
"Look at the field position they had, probably through lack of discipline giving them access. And to be fair to Argentina, the access that they've had over the last six months in the opposition 22, their conversion rate has been outstanding, one of the best in world rugby.
"So how we kept them out is testament to us to be able to win that game."
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