The Ireland team to face Italy this Saturday is out, and as was thought beforehand, it's as experimental as we have seen from Andy Farrell.
Three men - Ciarán Frawley, Tom Stewart, and Calvin Nash - are in line to make their debuts off the bench, while the trio of Caolin Blade, Cian Prendergast, and Joe McCarthy only have one cap each.
Stephen Ferris sat down with us - in association with Ladbrokes - to discuss the selection, and he had a lot to say about the out-half options:
So a few guys get to experience what international rugby is all about.
Frawley for me is maybe a bit lucky in getting in ahead of some of the other guys.
He's been out injured for large parts of his early career.
But we all know he's got a lot of pedigree and a lot of talent, and hopefully he stays fit and gets a couple of opportunities before that rugby World Cup squad is announced.
Stephen Ferris Casts His Eye Over Ireland's Out-Half Options
20 July 2023; Ciaran Frawley during an Ireland rugby squad training session in the IRFU High Performance Centre at the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
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In case we weren't already sure of it, Ferris believes that Farrell's selection of Jack Crowley at 10 has solidified the out-half standings in the squad, with Ross Byrne still the the back-up to Johnny Sexton.
"Yeah, that's an interesting selection for me," continued Ferris.
"I think it's more because of Casey playing at nine, you know, that partnership. They know each other so well and obviously had been playing brilliantly in the last couple of games of last season in the URC, lifting the URC trophy.
"It also sort of gives me the indication that Andy Farrell still thinks that Ross Burn is his number two.
"You know, not wrapping him up in cotton wool, of course, he's going to get game time over the next couple of weeks, but it just feels, with bigger tests to come, especially with England coming back, they'll want to settle the score after the red card that they received in last year's Six Nations."
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