Bernard Jackman has reacted to Andy Farrell\u2019s selections for Ireland\u2019s 2026 Six Nations campaign.<\/p>\n
The former hooker ran through some of the \u2018interesting calls\u2019 that the head coach has made, many of which have been injury-enforced, but the respected pundit does see some evolution taking place.<\/p>\n
Farrell has been accused of sticking with the same old faces when selecting his team, but Jackman sees signs of change.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the squad announcement, there were also concerns over several front-rowers and whether they\u2019d be fit for the tournament<\/a>; some of which have since been cleared and included in the squad.<\/p>\n Ireland side step \u2018crisis\u2019<\/p>\n He provided his reaction to the team on the RTE Rugby<\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom a positive point of view, it\u2019s really pleasing to see Finlay Bealham and Tadhg Furlong named fit to play, with Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy being injured,\u201d Jackman<\/a> said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a real crisis there; it was great to see Jack Boyle come back against Bayonne and play really well.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you wouldn\u2019t want to be having problems on both sides of the scrum because they may end up having to ask Tom O\u2019Toole to cover loosehead in Paris if he\u2019s not needed on the other side \u2013 if something were to happen to Finlay or Tadhg Furlong.\u201d<\/p>\n Furlong is the most experienced Irish international in the squad, boasting 82 Test caps for his country, a fact that caught Jackman\u2019s eye with the team no longer benefiting from a player who has hit triple digits at the highest level.<\/p>\n Still, Ireland<\/a> aren\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing that stood out to me looking at this squad is, and people will be saying, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s the same old faces\u2019, but just that we\u2019ve no centurion, no one near,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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\u2019Mahony, etc. We\u2019ve had plenty of fellas with over 100 caps, and they\u2019ve all gone now.<\/p>\n \u201cSo there is a nice bit of experience like Jack Conan at 55 caps, but it\u2019s evolving, maybe not as fast as some people might want it to, but other choices are really interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n Ireland: Andy Farrell risks the wrath of the fans as in-form youngsters miss out with another experienced squad named<\/a><\/p>\n Team selection prediction<\/p>\n Munster forward Edwin Edogbo\u00a0and 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\u2019s opening Six Nations match against defending champions France.<\/p>\n \u201cNathan Doak seems to have pushed out Caolin Blade, Tom Stewart has pushed out Gus McCarthy, and Robert Baloucoune is getting rewarded for his form,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHarry Byrne has come in now officially as the third choice 10, even though Andy Farrell spent most of November talking about him; he wasn\u2019t in the squad.<\/p>\n \u201cThen Edwin Edogbo comes in, and I don\u2019t think he\u2019s just a guy in there for development. He\u2019ll be the 23 against France, and they potentially go with two big locks in him and Joe McCarthy against France \u2013 that\u2019d be horses for courses.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would be reward for the form he\u2019s shown since he came back from injury. Let\u2019s not forget, he was picked for November but got injured.<\/p>\n \u201cTom Farrell, who\u2019s been outstanding for Munster, is still in. Frawley despite being injured is there; he warmed up against Bayonne but wasn\u2019t part of the matchday 23 \u2013 he\u2019s fit, and it\u2019d be interesting to see if he gets game time now that he\u2019s officially moved to Connacht next year. Stockdale gets rewarded as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Ireland squad: Winners and losers as prop trio handed \u2018golden opportunity\u2019 while Andy Farrell \u2018resists temptation\u2019 amid injury plague<\/a><\/p>\n The unlucky one<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it\u2019s a nice squad. Zac Ward is probably the unlucky one. I thought maybe he\u2019d sneak in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cCormac Izuchukwu is someone who hasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n