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Six Ireland players that didn't make Farrell's final cut

Ireland's Jacob Stockdale watches on as fly-half Jack Crowley (R) passes the ball during the pre-World Cup rugby union test match between Ireland and Samoa on August 26, 2023 at Jean-Dauger stadium in Bayonne. (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU / AFP) (Photo by ROMAIN PERROCHEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

With one of the most settled squads in world rugby currently, Andy Farrell Ireland’s weren’t necessarily left with too many hugely contentious World Cup calls to make when he named his 33-man roster yesterday.

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While Farrell’s chosen 33 players are set to represent Ireland on the global stage, there were at least six notable omissions that will be feeling the pain of missing a World Cup.

Below is a closer look at some of the players who narrowly missed out on a spot in the squad.

1. Cian Healy – injury strikes
Although playing second fiddle to Andrew Porter, Healy’s absence is a bitter pill to swallow for both the player and fans of the veteran loosehead. A stalwart of the Irish front row, Healy’s unfortunate injury against Samoa in Bayonne over the weekend has dashed his World Cup dreams. The early prognosis is that he might be available for the end of the tournament, should Ireland need to call up a prop.

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2. Jacob Stockdale – defensive troubles
One missed tackle can alter the course of a career, as Jacob Stockdale discovered. If you had to pin the tail on the donkey of when the Ulsterman’s World Cup selection goose was cooked, it was his glaring missed tackle on Italy’s Lorenzo Pani in their first warm-up in Dublin. He showed flashes of the attacking flair of old, but clearly not enough to beat the super-consistent Keith Earls to the plane.

3. Ciaran Frawley – McCloskey’s moment
Many people – this writer included – fancied that Farrell might opt for the positional versatility and kicking ability of Leinster’s Ciaran Frawley over the physicality of Stuart McCloskey, but the solid Ulsterman won the battle for fourth centre berth. Any injury in the back division and you fancy Frawley is the next cab off the rank.

4. Cian Prendergast – back row battle
The competition for back row places in this Ireland squad is particularly fierce, and Cian Prendergast found himself edged out of the squad despite an impressive late run. He brought huge energy to the table but he was always long odds to break into Ireland’s settled back row. Prendergast could yet get a late call if Jack Conan falls to recover.

5. Tom Stewart – Sheehan’s understudy
Tom Stewart’s hopes were dashed as Farrell confirmed that he will bring his first-choice hooker to France despite concerns surrounding the fitness of superstar front row Dan Sheehan, who’s timeline for recovery remains unclear.

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6. Jordan Larmour – A struggle for game time
Despite being a dynamic attacking threat, Jordan Larmour faced an uphill battle after recovering from injury earlier this season. His inability to recapture his early career form in the limited time available to him likely influenced Farrell’s decision, and he didn’t feature across the Rugby World Cup warm-ups despite being part of the wider squad.

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JW 2 hours ago
'I feel for the players': Jamie Joseph's reflection on falling short again

Some great leadership quality from Big Jim, he facilitated for large parts then put the responsibility on himself at the end drive the team forward in the last desperate minutes. He also filled in for Withy extremely well, adding real strength to the maul.


The Force have been playing very well this year indeed, and their stars did make a couple of key players, the main factor though is definitely what I reported in the previous article “

Gotta say I’m really enjoying the Highlanders desperation in the last 10 minutes of games, maybe it’s just because theyre having to throw the kitchen sink at it again. Another massive effort to hold the opposition out just like in the Blues game. I’m sure the coach’s will be wanting a little more composure though as the play seems to far more hap hazard (really just the type of footy I like watching) than the picture they bring at the beggining of games.

Again though they don’t have the refs to thank for anything, being down a man twenty more minutes than they should have been. Most importantly they were without one of they best attackers (not counting Tangitau’s early change) for the final push, with Nareki’s bin.

Again, I can see where this team is trying to go, I hope they can get their this year as they certainly have the game to be a top four team if they click. They are munch of misfits when you look at it objectively though, they probably have the worst cohesion score of any SRP team. A few more wins, maybe a come from behind upset may be the best theey can hope to acheive this year.

“. Like Jim I thought the defence stood up strongly for large parts, but they may just have some structural issues, where it’s just not paying off. They had Lawaqa on the wing all day, allowed the Force to make a dozen linebreaks, why? Both there attack and defence look a bit too fancy for me, why? Common Joseph, the youngest team with the least cohesion/most new guys, it look overly complicated.


I hope it clicks. Manson in particular looked to be trying far too hard when he came on, what’s been said in his ear? Stick to you lane son and don’t make any mistakes, don’t lose the game for your team. Should be a comfortable win next week against Drua if they keep there heads up and come back stronger. Lasaqa might be best to come off the bench, would keep Jim at 12 but I’d like Tele’a to come back to the side, though TUJ hasn’t been bad and style might suit Drua more. Hopefully Renton or someone with some size is at 8 or 6, Lasaqa appears to be more an 8 actually, similar to Sititi and I wouldn’t mind if he was groomed behind him and Sotutu. Lennox I thought could make a good halfback but isn’t ready, I’d hope Arscott, Fakatava, or Pledger could return to the side. Other than Drua theyve got Cheifs twice, though the home game is the last of the round/season so potentially a gimme if the Chiefs repeat previous years tactics. The Crusaders and Moana at home are also very doable. Those four wins could see them crash into the top 6 still.

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