ANDY FARRELL’S BENCH selection was analysed by James Tracy and Murray Kinsella on the latest episode of Rugby Weekly Extra, the podcast for subscribers to The 42.

“How do you lads feel about some of the bench players not necessarily being impact players?” Tracy asked.

“It is different coming off the bench. Obviously, there’s a merit in experience, don’t get me wrong. But having players that are usually starters on the bench… I’m not saying that they can’t do it but there’s guys who have done that job really effectively for the last season or two who are going to miss out,” Tracy continued.

Kinsella added: “Andy Farrell seems to see the bench a little bit differently, especially depending on the opposition. Like, there are different ways to impact a game.”

“Personally, I would have gone with Craig Casey, and I probably would have had Ryan Baird in there as a personal preference, just as that explosive bench player that you’re talking about. 

“But Farrell seems to understand or see it as a case of the calmer player can play an impact role. In fairness, Conor Murray is a good example of a player who has done that.

“When things are kind of frenetic and you’re heading into the last quarter and there’s been loads of changes, it can be a disrupted time. Murray’s quite a calm presence and astute decision maker [in those scenarios], so that’s my sense of it.

“Cian Healy continues to close in on that record that Brian O’Driscoll has. He’ll go to 132 tonight and just one behind BOD, which is phenomenal. Nobody has really challenged his spot enough to push past him, I don’t think.

“So overall, I’m not greatly surprised by this. I think Farrell has selected benches like this in the past and I definitely think the eye-catching athleticism of a Baird, or the speed of Casey’s passes are probably something which we see as the classic form of the bench player impact role. But Farrell views it differently,” Kinsella said.