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Andy Farrell posed the one question that all Irish fans want answered

John Cooney and Conor Murray (Photos by Getty Images)

Andy Farrell gave away few if any clues when answering the question most Ireland fans want answered ahead of their Six Nations opening versus Scotland – just who will wear the No9 jersey on February 1?

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Conor Murray had been the long-term first-choice scrum-half under former Irish boss Joe Schmidt. 

However, while a campaign has built steadily over the winter for the inclusion of in-form Ulster player John Cooney, new boss Andy Farrell kept his cards close to his chest at the Six Nations launch in London before flying out for a week’s warm-weather camp in Portugal ahead of his team’s tournament opener in Dublin.

“We’re in a great place, not just in scrum-half but in many positions,” he said. “I believe all 36 are in good form. Yeah, competition for places at scrum-half is obviously at a premium as well. 

“There is a lot of people being asked a lot of questions about John Cooney today and he is playing really well. He is really confident and he is loving his rugby at this moment of time. 

(Continue reading below…)

New Ireland captain Johnny Sexton speaks about the 2020 Six Nations

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“But we picked five scrum-halves in the camp just before Christmas and Caolin Blade and Jamison (Gibson-Park) were very unlucky to miss out on this squad because they were playing good rugby as well. 

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“At the same time Luke McGrath got man of the match at the weekend, Conor Murray got man of the match at the weekend and as I said, a big thing for us driving forward has got to be competition for places – and that is certainly one of those positions.” 

WATCH: Andy Goode and Brendan Venter didn’t hold back on this week’s The Rugby Pod as they discussed Saracens and the ongoing salary cap scandal that has gripped English rugby. 

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J
JW 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson explains the new halves pairing for the All Blacks ahead of France

More indecision and excuses from Razor.


You've given a spot at 6 to Finau whom you haven't even had the courage to use off the bench in the last two games. Now the young enforcer is going into a big much with no rugby, we should expect a similar result to how Aumua struggled to impact a game after he'd hardly been given any chances of the bench either.


Weve now dropped a back three player who also wasn't even given any game time off the bench for someone coming in cold when they really need to have been playing constantly to perform at their best. There are just so many better pictures that should have been present rather than this mickey mouse selection.


I really hope Finau can overcome this, it won't be the first time he's had to. How is the bench even made up? Could you not just have included these changes in the article as well? I actually like BB coming back in, it highlights how courageous he is after sitting out through another concussion that could just as easily sent him back into months of symptoms again.


Dmac was also off his game last week, as was Ratima, with the poor platform Razor and his team have been setting the players up with. He needs to freedom to clear his mind from the clutter that saw him make so many bad decisions last week. It will still probably be a net loss for the team performance not having him on from the start but it should be better for them in the long run if he's allowed to just come on late and play his game trying to claw things back for the team.


With Roigard starting that might prove an outlet for the team to actually get on top first however. Along with Ardie busting a gut in his new role and emptying the tank by halftime, and being replaced by another new star, might mean that Dmac is just icing on the cake at the end.

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