Ciaran Frawley

ON A NASTY night in Wellington, Andy Farrell wanted his halfbacks to be solid. And that's exactly what Craig Casey and Ciarán Frawley delivered in an ...

Defenders have to respect the possibility of a dart with ball in hand rather than just reading off the 10 early. Frawley was born in Sydney and it’s understood that Rugby Australia have expressed an interest in him but he extended his contract with Leinster into next season. Frawley’s kick leaves opposite number Josh Ioane in a very tough spot in the corner. His first outing was a tricky one as Ireland came off a clear second-best to the Māori in a tough defeat two weeks ago. It’s always hugely beneficial to a team when their out-half is a threat to the defence himself. Take this example from the first half. And so Frawley moved from probable starts at number 12 into the hot seat at out-half. Frawley had a busy evening defensively, making 13 tackles. Farrell will have been encouraged by Frawley’s composed management of the game alongside Casey. His second outing was much more assured. This wasn’t originally the plan. It was a frustrating learning experience.