The inclusion of Munster’s Chris Farrell on Saturday was the biggest question mark heading into this weekend’s visit of Wales.
Farrell came into the Irish side for the injured Robbie Henshaw and there were big questions over his ability to step up to Six Nations rugby after previously impressing in the November internationals. In fact, it was the final question posed to Shane Horgan before TV3 went from their studio pre-match show to their match commentators Dave McIntyre and Alan Quinlan.
Any questions fans and pundits may have had over Farrell were answered within minutes of kick-off as the Belfast native seamlessly fit into the Irish side with his consistent ball carrying making a huge dent into the Welsh defence.
The 24-year-old racked up 21 metres off eight carries by the end of the first-half, but his direct running and size caused Wales problems all afternoon and played pivotal roles in the build up to both Jacob Stockdale and Bundee Aki’s first-half scores.
Each time Farrell took the ball to the line, he had an ability to attract multiple defenders and fight his way over the gainline to lay a better platform for his teammates.
When he wasn’t barrelling his way into the Welsh defensive line, he was thriving as a second receiver alongside Johnny Sexton, and in some cases, even as a first receiver on the short side, as evidenced by a slick pass he gave to Rory Best in the first-half.
Defensively, he formed a great understanding with Bundee Aki and the two combined well to force the Welsh behind the gainline on a number of occasions.
Two tackles on Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny in particular stood out. The first, a crunching hit to the mid-section as Halfpenny looked for a gap in the Irish line, the second, a cover tackle after the Scarlets full-back had rounded him on the outside.
Halfpenny is by no means a speedster, especially at this stage of his career with the amount of injuries he’s suffered, but at 6 ft 3 and 17 stone, Farrell showed great determination to haul Halfpenny down, make the tackle and immediately return to his feet to play the ball.
He made a similar play on winger Steff Evans with just over five minutes to play.
The question with Farrell now is do you keep him in the Irish side for the visit of Scotland and the St. Patrick’s Day trip to England? Or do you welcome back Garry Ringrose back into the fold after the centre returned from ankle surgery on Friday to play just under an hour in Leinster’s 64-7 demolition of the Southern Kings at the RDS.
Ringrose played every minute of last year’s championship but has endured an injury plagued season thus far that has included three surgeries since June.
At his best, Ringrose is delightfully skillful and a brilliantly agile runner that can bend the defensive line like few others in Irish Rugby, but on the basis of Saturday’s win over Wales, it’s hard to see Farrell being displaced from the starting XV, especially given the light that Schmidt views him in.
“He kind of found his feet a bit against Fiji, he was really good against Argentina and I think he showed there’s a bit more to Chris Farrell than a bludgeon – nice soft skills and a tight pass, he’s got a good length in his pass,” Schmidt told the media last week.
“He’s actually got pretty good kicking skills and I thought his defensive acumen on the day against Argentina… he closed the space down really well.
“They’d be probably some of the things that we’d volunteer as the strengths we see with Chris.”
Those skills were on full display against Wales and it’s encouraging to see that Ireland looked so comfortable with what was perceived as their third choice centre starting in his first Six Nations game.
Third choice could now be second choice, and the incumbent option in the absence of Robbie Henshaw, and while Ringrose will always pose a threat given his immense talent, it will be hard for him to get back into this Irish side on the strength of Farrell’s tournament debut.
Good problems to have at a great time for Irish Rugby. Roll on Scotland.
