'Fiji are unbelievably dangerous' - Farrell considers Ireland changes

THE THIRD GAME of their Autumn Nations Series pits Ireland against their lowest-ranked opponents but it’s not like Fiji are minnows.

They’re at number nine in the official World Rugby rankings with their win over Wales in Cardiff two weekends ago nudging them a place up the list.

Mick Byrne’s men played Spain yesterday and were trailing 19-7 to the Spaniards with less than half an hour left but finished strongly to secure a 33-19 win as the likes of skipper Waisea Nayacalevu stood up.

They had a tough start to this autumn campaign as Scotland hammered them 57-17 but Fiji were without their star players based in England and France for that clash, so what was basically the Fijian Drua team from Super Rugby had to step up.

The Fijians won the Pacific Nations Cup back in September, beating Japan 41-17 in the final after overcoming the US, Tonga, and Samoa en route, while they had a good win over Georgia in July.

Throw in the fact that they were World Cup quarter-finalists last year, beating Australia in the pool stages and then giving England a battle in that knock-out tie, and this Fiji set-up deserve respect.

And yet, this coming Saturday’s clash in Dublin feels like Andy Farrell’s best chance to mix his team up in this November window, given that Ireland will aim to end their campaign with a complete performance against Australia on 30 November.

Out-half Sam Prendergast and tighthead prop Thomas Clarkson made their Ireland debuts off the bench against Argentina on Friday night and Farrell must now decide whether he uses this Fiji fixture to continue building depth.

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Ulster blindside/lock Cormac Izuchukwu is the only other uncapped player in Ireland’s 35-man squad for this Autumn Nations Series, although the fact that Clarkson featured against the Pumas shows that his fellow “training panellists” Jack Boyle, Alex Kendellen, Shayne Bolton, and Gus McCarthy could be in the mix.

It seems unlikely that Farrell will launch a completely fresh matchday 23 at the Fijians, given how good Byrne’s side are and how that is generally a recipe for disaster for individual players as an incohesive selection can struggle to click.

“We need to pick a side that’s going to perform and what you don’t just do is give everyone a game that’s been unfortunate not to play so far,” said Farrell.

“If you’re trying to work out how lads are going to cope at international level, you need to put good people around them to be able to judge them in the right manner, so there’s a balance there.”

After two good impacts off the bench so far this autumn, Jamie Osborne deserves a start on Saturday, whether at fullback or in midfield. The Leinster man, who turned 23 yesterday, earned a glowing review from Farrell on Friday night.

“I thought Jamie Osborne was immense when he came on,” said Farrell as he praised the entire Irish bench.

“He has really stepped up, certainly this season for Leinster in the games we’ve seen.”

Farrell said Prendergast and Clarkson “both did really well” so they’ll also be hoping for further exposure next weekend.

It will be interesting to see what Farrell does with Ireland’s number 10 jersey. This Fiji game appeared to be the most likely chance for Prendergast to get a first start for Ireland but Ciarán Frawley would dearly love a chance to run the team and Jack Crowley would never willingly give up his starting slot.

The unused main squad members so far this autumn are hooker Dave Heffernan, Izuchukwu, Connacht back row Cian Prendergast, Ulster wing Jacob Stockdale, Munster wing Calvin Nash, Ulster back row Nick Timoney, Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey, 

Ryan Baird got an appearance off the bench on Friday but was swiftly forced off with a head injury.

As Farrell suggested, those unused squad players might not all get a chance but he will consider giving a few first-choice starters a chance to freshen up after tough games against New Zealand and Argentina.

“We’ll see how the bodies fare up but we do need to have a think about how we roll on because Fiji are unbelievably dangerous as we saw last week against Wales,” said Farrell on Friday.

“At the same time, so are Australia.

“Four games on the bounce, we’ve got to manage that realistically.”