Will wounded Ireland shuffle pack for Italy game?

ByJonathan Bradley

BBC Sport NI senior journalist

When Andy Farrell took charge of Ireland after the 2019 World Cup, Joe Schmidt's erstwhile defensive specialist faced calls to radically overhaul a team that had clearly dropped from a considerable peak.

In 2018, Ireland had won a Six Nations Grand Slam and beaten New Zealand in Dublin as part of an autumn clean sweep.

By the time Farrell took over, England had punctured a Manu Tuilagi-shaped hole in their best laid World Cup plans before they got to the tournament and were shocked by Japan in the pool stages before the All Blacks exacted revenge in the quarter-final.

Then, having been the head coach in waiting for a year, there was a feeling that Farrell's association with the previous ticket saw his tenure start on the backfoot.

Yet, by the time of his first game in charge in February 2020, Farrell resisted any temptation to enforce a major break from the Schmidt regime, his biggest selection calls revolving around replacing retired veterans Rob Kearney and Rory Best.

While handing an international debut to Caelan Doris was a nod to the future, the naming of the then 34-year-old Johnny Sexton as his captain was a clear indication of a focus on the here and now.

As Ireland muddled through a pair of third-place Six Nations campaigns disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Farrell remained steadfast in his approach of evolution rather than revolution and was rewarded for his faith with a historic series win in New Zealand in 2022 and a Six Nations Grand Slam the next year.

In the wake of Thursday's humbling defeat by France in Paris to start the 2026 Six Nations however, Farrell has faced the strongest calls since those earliest days of his tenure to dramatically overhaul the team.

With Italy in Dublin on Saturday afternoon, will the head coach stick or twist?

2026 Six Nations

Saturday, 14 February, 14:10 GMT

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

While Farrell was accurate when judging his 2020/21 squad as one in transition rather than terminal decline, the mood music around the panel feels even more sombre this time around.

It may only be two years ago that Ireland were chasing the history of back-to-back Grand Slams, but Thursday's loss saw them drop to fifth in the world rankings and they have lost seven of their past nine against the teams above them.

With the four most recent of those reverses coming by double-digits, Thursday was no isolated incident. It is undeniable that a gap to the world's best has emerged and now widened.

Farrell has always shown himself not to be one to throw the baby out with the bathwater but, whether it be seeking an injection of fresh blood, the heralding of a new direction or simply to prompt a reaction to their Parisian lack of "intent", it is clear he has some big selection calls to make before Thursday's team announcement to face the Azzurri.

To an extent, Farrell had already shaken up his team coming into this championship even when already without Andrew Porter, Tadhg Furlong, Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan and Robbie Henshaw through injury, while Bundee Aki was suspended.

Jacob Stockdale was preferred to James Lowe while, with Tadhg Beirne selected in the second row, the selection of Cian Prendergast ostensibly came at the expense of the benched James Ryan.

Leaving two British and Irish Lions out of the side would once have been viewed as a dramatic shift but the events of Thursday night mean that even some once seemingly cemented places in the side are up for fresh debate.

Despite only playing half an hour at the Stade de France, back row Nick Timoney was arguably Ireland's most impactful player in Paris.

The Ulster back row's international career is perhaps indicative of how settled Ireland's team has become.

He made his debut against USA in the summer of 2021 but, before his subsequent role off the bench against France, his next five caps were spread across four and half years and came against Argentina, as a match-day morning inclusion, Fiji, Georgia, Japan and Australia.

All through that period, he was consistently among the best and most consistent performers for his province and on Thursday gave the impression of a man who had been impatiently waiting for his first crack at the Six Nations and top-level international opposition.

While capable of playing across the back row, it will be Josh van der Flier feeling the pressure at number seven.

Already 30, Timoney is only two years younger than the 2022 World Player of the Year, but with Van der Flier struggling for his best form this season, it would certainly be a selection for the here and now.

There is little doubt that Joe McCarthy has a long future in the Ireland engine room.

Just 24 years old, he has a physical profile that is rare in Irish rugby, providing a real combination of physicality and athleticism in the second row. Indeed, having established himself as a starter only after the 2023 World Cup, he is among the most recent additions to Farrell's starting XV.

However, as a penalty concession for coming in at the side both straight in front of the posts and right in front of the referee on Thursday show, his decision-making and discipline remain a major work-on.

It was only last year, after the reverse fixture in the Six Nations, that the Ireland camp were publicly talking about how the Leinster player would learn from his costly yellow card for pulling back Thomas Ramos.

When Ireland were at their best, such transgressions were simply not tolerated.

In Munster's uncapped Edwin Edogbo, Farrell now has an alternative who could bring similar physical presence to the side and the 23-year-old has shown good form for his province since returning for injury too.

Pairing the two together feels like Ireland's future in the position, but Edogbo over McCarthy for Saturday would give the side's most exciting prospect an international bow and offer a reminder of the required standards in a side who have struggled with discipline this season.

Like Van der Flier, Garry Ringrose is a player who has not found his best form after returning from the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia without a Test cap.

The Leinster centre was arguably the most unfortunate to miss out on facing the Wallabies, admirably self-reporting symptoms of concussion when he had been selected for the second Test.

So long a key defensive cog for Ireland, despite being at the centre of a debate on the value of missed tackles statistics, the 31-year-old was hardly alone in looking off the pace in Paris but midfield is definitely an area where the side would benefit from experimenting with younger options.

Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Henshaw, Aki and even the side's most recent debutant Tom Farrell, are all the wrong side of 30 with the next World Cup still one year and eight months away.

Jude Postlethwaite was not even in the senior squad until news broke of Aki's impending suspension but he certainly impressed earlier this season for Ulster.

A run against Italy, alongside his provincial colleague McCloskey in midfield, would be an interesting test of his international credentials.