Bernard Jackman has reacted to Andy Farrell’s selections for Ireland’s 2026 Six Nations campaign.
The former hooker ran through some of the ‘interesting calls’ that the head coach has made, many of which have been injury-enforced, but the respected pundit does see some evolution taking place.
Farrell has been accused of sticking with the same old faces when selecting his team, but Jackman sees signs of change.
Ahead of the squad announcement, there were also concerns over several front-rowers and whether they’d be fit for the tournament; some of which have since been cleared and included in the squad.
Ireland side step ‘crisis’
He provided his reaction to the team on the RTE Rugby podcast.
“From a positive point of view, it’s really pleasing to see Finlay Bealham and Tadhg Furlong named fit to play, with Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy being injured,” Jackman said.
“There was a real crisis there; it was great to see Jack Boyle come back against Bayonne and play really well.
“But you wouldn’t want to be having problems on both sides of the scrum because they may end up having to ask Tom O’Toole to cover loosehead in Paris if he’s not needed on the other side – if something were to happen to Finlay or Tadhg Furlong.”
Furlong is the most experienced Irish international in the squad, boasting 82 Test caps for his country, a fact that caught Jackman’s eye with the team no longer benefiting from a player who has hit triple digits at the highest level.
Still, Ireland aren’t exactly lacking Test-level experience as Bealham (54), Jack Conan (55), Caelan Doris (55), James Ryan (76), Josh van der Flier (75), Bundee Aki (68), and Garry Ringrose (69) have all surpassed the 50 Test cap mark for the side.
“The thing that stood out to me looking at this squad is, and people will be saying, ‘Oh, it’s the same old faces’, but just that we’ve no centurion, no one near,” he continued.
“The nearest to 100 caps is Furlong, and when you think of the Irish squad over the last three or four years, with the likes of Cian Healy, Conor Murray, Johnny Sexton, Keith Earls, Peter O’Mahony, etc. We’ve had plenty of fellas with over 100 caps, and they’ve all gone now.
“So there is a nice bit of experience like Jack Conan at 55 caps, but it’s evolving, maybe not as fast as some people might want it to, but other choices are really interesting.”
Team selection prediction
Munster forward Edwin Edogbo and Ulster back Nathan Doak are the two uncapped players included in the squad, and Jackman predicts that the former will make his debut in Ireland’s opening Six Nations match against defending champions France.
“Nathan Doak seems to have pushed out Caolin Blade, Tom Stewart has pushed out Gus McCarthy, and Robert Baloucoune is getting rewarded for his form,” he said.
“Harry Byrne has come in now officially as the third choice 10, even though Andy Farrell spent most of November talking about him; he wasn’t in the squad.
“Then Edwin Edogbo comes in, and I don’t think he’s just a guy in there for development. He’ll be the 23 against France, and they potentially go with two big locks in him and Joe McCarthy against France – that’d be horses for courses.
“That would be reward for the form he’s shown since he came back from injury. Let’s not forget, he was picked for November but got injured.
“Tom Farrell, who’s been outstanding for Munster, is still in. Frawley despite being injured is there; he warmed up against Bayonne but wasn’t part of the matchday 23 – he’s fit, and it’d be interesting to see if he gets game time now that he’s officially moved to Connacht next year. Stockdale gets rewarded as well.”
The unlucky one
While Jackman admits that a lot of the changes were enforced, many of the players who were called up to the squad were deserving of their opportunity, considering their form for their provinces.
However, he is concerned about the lack of form, particularly when it comes to many of the Leinster players, while he singled out two Ulster players who he feels were unfortunate to miss out.
“So, it’s a nice squad. Zac Ward is probably the unlucky one. I thought maybe he’d sneak in,” he said.
“Cormac Izuchukwu is someone who hasn’t got a huge amount of caps, but is very interesting in terms of the impact he could make, particularly with Baird out, but he misses out on this initial squad as well.
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“The biggest issue is whether Farrell can get these players into form. The Leinster players are winning, but I still think, bar Joe McCarthy and maybe Dan Sheehan in little bits, a lot of them aren’t at their very best, and that’s a challenge.
“They are going to Portugal next week. They had a good build-up to the All Blacks game in Chicago, went over early, but we just didn’t really see it come together on the pitch. Fascinating to see what Farrell can do with this group and if we are going to be contenders for the Six Nations.”