David Corkery: How Farrell picked an Irish side with 12 Leinster players in it, leaves me very worried

One swallow a summer does not make, but after Saturday's loss to a below par New Zealand side, is it too early to suggest that Andy Farrell's loyalty and strategy are starting to show signs of fatigue, or was this just a bad day in the office for Ireland?

Or should I say Leinster.

When you select 12 players from a Leinster side that were completely obliterated by a fledgling Munster side less than two weeks ago, and ask them to go toe to toe with the All Blacks, the risk you are taking is pretty large.

Yes, on this occasion, Andy Farrell rolled the dice and the numbers he was hoping for fell well short of the total the cubes gave him. 

He was very fortunate to return home with a 2-1 test series victory on the British and Irish lions tour to Australia during the summer and I just wonder is his luck starting to reach the end of the barrel.

If international teams are picked on form as they rightfully should be, then there is no way in hell that Leinster should have had 12 of the starting 15 players that took to the field in Chicago on Saturday evening.

Maybe it was just a bit of rust that had gathered on the customarily fluent tracks that Farrell's train normally runs on, but whatever it was that made Ireland looked sloppy against an average All Black team on this occasion, it is imperative that the normal service is quickly returned.

Numerous turn overs, zero line brakes, a very poor line-out and a kicking game that lacked accuracy and purpose were just some of the facets of Irelands play that will need to be scrutinised before South Africa roll into town in three weeks’ time.

Yes’ Farrell and co will lock horns with Japan and Australia before then, but if Irish rugby is serious about becoming a consistent occupier at the top of the world ranking table, winning games like the ones that took place on Saturday must become their bread and butter.

I realise this game was a bit of a novelty and that World Rugby is trying to enhance their footprint in countries where the game is not growing as fast as they would like, but on this occasion all they did was confuse the American public even more. 

If that was ever possible!

As a spectacle and at very best this particular game between two sides that pride themselves on accuracy and fluency can only be viewed as average and with all the stoppages, injuries and poor executions in accuracy I don’t think the Yanks will be rushing out to join their local rugby clubs.

In the hours before a ball was kicked in the windy city of Chicago, Scotland were busy in Edinburgh racking up 85 unanswered points against the USA national side that looked as if they just assembled in the car park of Murrayfield a few hours before kick-off.

So, if I was World Rugby what I would be doing is taking a very long hard look at the grass roots of the sport in the land of the free and start investing my time and money there.

New Zealand might not be the force they once were, albeit on this occasion they just about did enough to overcome an Irish side that will look back at this game and hopefully understand that if they can’t even execute the most basic of the principles that the game demands, their fall from grace will be fast and harsh.

For me, the most disappointing aspect of Ireland's performance was their inability to turn territory into points.

Dominating possession and terrain for vast periods of the game and huff and puff as they did Ireland found it nigh on impossible to penetrate the All Blacks first line of defence which is exactly how Munster out smarted Leinster a few weeks ago.

In the modern game that we see played today teams are spending more time on their defensive then they are on their attacking strategies and as long as the players are physically big and strong enough to withstand the gigantic collisions that are now happening at the point of impact, it is very easy to curtail a team that bank on building multiple phases in order to accumulate points.

Jack Crowley had a solid enough game however, he will not be happy with his kicking game. 

On a few occasion his exactness was below the required level, but when most of the ball you are receiving as a fly half is taken in a static position, the time you have to think is greatly reduced, thus causing rushed decisions.

I was really impressed with Ulster’s Stuart McCloskey in the centre, but thought that his partner Gary Ringrose looked tired and lacked his normal penetrating decisiveness.

Next week Ireland play a Japanese side that were crushed by 61 points to 7 by South Africa and I really believe that there should be a minimum of 13 changes to the Irish starting 15 for this game.

If we can’t put at least 50 points on Japan in Dublin, we should really start worrying.