Sack o' Sullivan and The Goons that extended his Contract

Trotter

Clearly we are going to tear Argentina a new one at the weekend and go on to lift the cup via mincing the All Blacks...

But..

If we dont, and Eddie calls it a day (which he probably wont anyway!).. who would you like to see take over as team boss?

Gatland again?
Declan Kidney?
Mick Galwey (Pride and Passion in buckets)
Graham Henry if he became available before signing for Cardiff?

Your thoughts?

Huggles

There is only really ONE MAN for the Job!

Seriously though, Eddie is going nowhere.

Tim Robbins

TheGooner wrote:

There is only really ONE MAN for the Job!

Seriously though, Eddie is going nowhere.

Kidney was a disaster up at Leinster so that's a no-no.
I'd like Pat Howard, Eddie Jones or if there has to be a Munster connection, Alan Gaffney.

Turnip2000

kvN-Paris wrote:

I hope that we'll win !
We must have the bonus point and win by a gap of 50 points ! :eek:
So, Georgians must do a result vs France !

GO ON IRELAND !

no no no

France must beat Georgia and get a bonus.

If we have the same points as Argentina we go through as its HEAD to HEAD that matters.

But if France only get 4pts v Georgia we are definately out.

toomevara

Eddie Jones, no question...but the role must be changed from the dictatorship, 'il duce' style currently employed by the bould EOS...i'd like to see an assistant coach grounded in the politics of Irish rugby and with selectorial input...

webbie

kvN-Paris wrote:

I hope that we'll win !
We must have the bonus point and win by a gap of 50 points ! :eek:
So, Georgians must do a result vs France !

GO ON IRELAND !

If Ireland do by some miracle finish level with Argentina then points difference dosn't matter because first criteria is results between teams tied so Ireland would qualify, unless they are also level with France (i.e. France do not get bonus against Georgia) in which case since each team will have won one lost one in games between the 3 then it does go to points difference so only in that scenario would we have to beat Argentina by 50 points.

So we actually want France to get bonus against Georgians (or loose/draw but that's not going to happen) so we should be cheering for France.

jayteecork

Let's not forget that we in an exact situation at the end of the 6 nations.
We had to go to Italy and beat them by a hell of a lot of points The media and probably this generally negative board said we couldn't do ti, yet we went out and hammered the Italians - led by some scyntilating back play.
It goes to show that this team has it in it. We need Hickie back and Geordan Murphy in at Full Back. We need to run from every angle. Just look at the Tongans yesterday - they were brilliant and should have beaten the South Africans. I also think that they'll beat England and get through.

Jilm

toomevara wrote:

Eddie Jones, no question...but the role must be changed from the dictatorship, 'il duce' style currently employed by the bould EOS...i'd like to see an assistant coach grounded in the politics of Irish rugby and with selectorial input...

...and before long the Irish assistant coach decides he wants the head coach job for himself ...he employs the aid of some of the Irish players, maybe the captain, to get the head coach fired and him installed as 'il duce' ...and so the cycle continues.

Stev_o

RugBeir wrote:

Alot of people seem to singling out the novice Trimble as a scapegoat for a dreadful all round Irish display. Aggree Murhpy,Hickey or Dempsey on wing would have been better, but not his fault the 'special one' EOS picked him? What was he supposed to do - offer his jersey back to the older guys?

IMO he didnt do any worse than average on a very below average night.

But more importantly, Suppafly, can you tell me where was Dempsey for the first try - hes the guy with no 15 on his back, our best player in the world cup by all accounts.

I did see him bottling the catch for the second try, but I cannot see where he was hiding for the first one? Anyone ideas ?

Dempsey the right man for the job for 40 minutes and only 40 minutes was standing under the post's when suddenly he's notices the ball go a direction he didnt expect maybe trimble should have given him the heads up of a HUGE HUGE GAP on the left wing.

Dempsey also needs to learn some physics standing still against any player at full tilt is always going to mean him going backwards and them going forwards.

In fairness Dempsey is probably the only player to have at least played decently over the past 3 matches but really when we are loosing or at a deadlock he's not the man for the job. He isnt a player who can change the outcome of the match granted he is a player to make sure the floodgates dont open. Murphy IF he was there should have come on after 40 minutes we needed flair and we desperately needed someone to change the match for us.


Im still on the hunt to find ANY footage of a backline move used by the backs so far in the tournament. Anyone else remember Eddie saying during the warm up's he didnt want to use his ultra try for sure backline moves? And so far hasnt even done any of these moves???

Stev_o

Stev_o wrote:

Im still on the hunt to find ANY footage of a backline move used by the backs so far in the tournament. Anyone else remember Eddie saying during the warm up's he didnt want to use his ultra try for sure backline moves? And so far hasnt even done any of these moves???

Eddie was the backs coach for the Lions and the backs were shocking and unimaginative then. His moves dont seem to cut it at the top level, it seems most of the playsare improvised at the time

LuckyLloyd

You are stuck with EOS for another two years at least.


Obviously, I wish that wasn't the case. Why the **** would you extend someones contract before being able to assess his performance and end result in the one thing he has been building to for his entire tenure?

Irish sport = :mad:

DaMooseDog

I'm going to be optimistic on this one...

we have scored 4 tries against argentina before, and beaten them by 8 points in the same game, in 1999 at Lansdowne - we were 32-3 up early in second half and scored 4 tries in the first 53 minutes, game ended 32-24

http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1999/08/30/shead_294.htm

Admittedly we all remember what happened in Lens shortly after that game but that was a different day....

it will take HUGE improvement from an irish side who are hugely out of form but at least it's been achieved before and I still believe this side has not lost its ability for good, whether the can regain it in 8 days is a huge ask but it's not impossible....

I sometimes get so pissed off at the unrealistic expectations and negativity of the Irish media and public, particularly towards our most successful products in any arena...while we're all entitled to our opinions, I don't believe that whining about how ****e the team is isn't going to achieve anything positive at this stage!

raven136

why do alot of people suddenly think we can beat argentina,they are a better team than france,bullied them all around the park and their backs are playing great stuff and more importantly they play like a team.

Is it true that both their starting wingers are actually injured and those playing presently are reserves?

JC 2K3

Well they only just got the bonus point against Georgia....

Personally, though I'd consider them a better team than Ireland, I think they're a bit overrated after beating what was a poorly selected French team having a bad day.

Diamondmaker

The only way through is for France to get a BP, Irl to score 4 tries and keep the Argies more than 7 away AND without 4 tries also.

This will be impossible because the Argies have no need to come out and play rugby...........

They can play a patient and controlled game and let us take the risks. They only need a losing BP to go through top. They will then pick us off on the breaks as our risks get higher towards the end game. They have aome class backs that will kill us on the intercept and turnover.

If the argies had to win the game to top the group I would give us some hope but they have the luxery of progressing with even with a loss.
Not that they will go out to lose by any means, but is does mean they will have to take zero risks, play a very slow patient game game and wait for us to make errors.
This will kill us as we will never get the ball out to our backs quick enough to score 4 and when we do, we are open to the counters.

Mission Impossible!!

awsomeO

negative attitude ! rather than saying...
''The only way through is for France to get a BP, Irl to score 4 tries and keep the Argies more than 7 away AND without 4 tries also''
lets just get the four tries against them..... this will def mean we will have beaten them and def mean that they will lose by the 7.
France will def get bounus pt. they certainly dont want to meet NZ.
so basically,


COME ON IRELAND!!!!!!!

funky penguin

awsomeO wrote:

negative attitude ! rather than saying...
''The only way through is for France to get a BP, Irl to score 4 tries and keep the Argies more than 7 away AND without 4 tries also''
lets just get the four tries against them..... this will def mean we will have beaten them and def mean that they will lose by the 7.
France will def get bounus pt. they certainly dont want to meet NZ.
so basically,


COME ON IRELAND!!!!!!!

Argentina beat us 34-23 in 2000.....we scored 4 tries they scored 3.

kvN-Paris

funky penguin wrote:

Argentina beat us 34-23 in 2000.....we scored 4 tries they scored 3.

We are now in 2007 !

We must believe in a miracle !

GO ON IRELAND !

Diamondmaker

awsomeO wrote:

negative attitude ! rather than saying...
''The only way through is for France to get a BP, Irl to score 4 tries and keep the Argies more than 7 away AND without 4 tries also''
lets just get the four tries against them..... this will def mean we will have beaten them and def mean that they will lose by the 7.
France will def get bounus pt. they certainly dont want to meet NZ.
so basically,


COME ON IRELAND!!!!!!!

Dont give me negative "attitude" I made the trip over for last 2 weeks, even slept on the cold hard floor after the Paris game in the airport after travelling
5 hours by car and 3 by TGV to get there! Still went but accepting the facts for this game its even tougher. Id go if I could but just cant make it to all 4 matches!

moe_sizlak

this one is for the mathematicians
is it possible for ireland should they win to top the pool and avoid new zealand

Diamondmaker

Current:

ARG 14
FRA 10
IRL 9

Possible outcomes are:

IRL 14 +5 ( BP win over Arg )
ARG 14 + 0( 0 Pt loss V Irl )
FRA 14 + 4( No BP win over Geo )

Yes it is possible

In the above unlikely scnario we go ouyt based on point scored as the winner of the head to head cannot determine the 3 way tie above.

Unless we get a truckload of points on Argnetina, in the order that which we could NOT score against even NAmibia!!

SO mathematically yes it is possible!!

kvN-Paris

webbie wrote:

If Ireland do by some miracle finish level with Argentina then points difference dosn't matter because first criteria is results between teams tied so Ireland would qualify, unless they are also level with France (i.e. France do not get bonus against Georgia) in which case since each team will have won one lost one in games between the 3 then it does go to points difference so only in that scenario would we have to beat Argentina by 50 points.

So we actually want France to get bonus against Georgians (or loose/draw but that's not going to happen) so we should be cheering for France.

In France there is a locution which says : We all live in hope !
So, I hope that Georgian will do a good result against France !

After that, Ireland must do a big match against Argentina !

We'll see ...

kvN-Paris

Diamondmaker wrote:

Current:

ARG 14
FRA 10
IRL 9

Possible outcomes are:

IRL 14 +5 ( BP win over Arg )
ARG 14 + 0( 0 Pt loss V Irl )
FRA 13 + 4( No BP win over Geo )

So yes mathematically we can top the group, liley we will not even go thro.

Fr need to only win sans BP v Geo and we need to do what we need to do Vs the Argies.

Maths dont win the RWC though !

IRL 14 +5 ( BP win over Arg ) :eek:
Don't understand ? We have just 9 points actually ...
And 14 points if we win, no ? :eek:

Diamondmaker

kvN-Paris wrote:

IRL 14 +5 ( BP win over Arg ) :eek:
Don't understand ? We have just 9 points actually ...
And 14 points if we win, no ? :eek:

Yes I corrected that see above. M<athematically if we score enogh points we can do it.

BUT as I said if we cant score enopugh Vs Namibia can we do it Vs Arg? ( Rhetorical to the MAX )

bacon&cabbage

crosstownk wrote:

Here's my 2 cents.

Ireland's RWC is over. Over. We just don't have the form to do what is required against the Argies. It's really as simple as that. And even if we do make it to the second round by some jammy twist of fate, we'll be annihilated by NZ.

Like any Irish supporter, I'm hoping for a jammy twist of fate - but hope springs eternal. I've tickets for the next game, and while last nights defeat took the edge off, I'll still get stuck in behind the team - why wouldn't I? But I don't, for one second, expect the 4 tries*



*Please God, prove me wrong.

Well said !

I wore the irish shirt here in france today and I was pretty much a laughing stock, smart remarks all day long

So to all those so called "supporters" back home: shut up unless you have something positive and constructive to say

To the irish Team : STAND UP AND FIGHT

Diamondmaker

bacon&cabbage wrote:

Well said !

I wore the irish shirt here in france today and I was pretty much a laughing stock, smart remarks all day long

So to all those so called "supporters" back home: shut up unless you have something positive and constructive to say

To the irish Team : STAND UP AND FIGHT

My god I know the feeling, on Metro on the way after the match once I had gone out of the main Match crowd I was being sniggered and jeered.

Nothing bad or malicious, just deserved gloating I guess, but it really hurts when we thought we had come somewhere in World terms. My mate in Oz at the minute too, is the laughing stock in the office. Despite Eng getting thumped they will likely go thro and this world cup will not be remebered for the Champs getting knocked out in the QFs, nor the hosts not winning it - but Ireland being pathetic and going out in a whimper on the world stage after talking such a great talk.

Yes Ireland stand up and fight and at leat go out with a good victory, give us a glimmer of hope too for a while that it may happen also!

kvN-Paris

Diamondmaker wrote:

Yes I corrected that see above. M<athematically if we score enogh points we can do it.

BUT as I said if we cant score enopugh Vs Namibia can we do it Vs Arg? ( Rhetorical to the MAX )

Perhaps, Ireland is fallen in the readiness against Namibia !

IRELAND - ARGENTINA : 54/3 with 5 tries !

funky penguin

I honestly hate it when you're the target of sniggering etc, when its in no way your fault. All you're doing is supporting your country...

Ah well. Such is sport I suppose.

kvN-Paris

Diamondmaker wrote:

My god I know the feeling, on Metro on the way after the match once I had gone out of the main Match crowd I was being sniggered and jeered.

Skip it !

Unfortunately, there is brainless in France !

That's why I prefere support Ireland, people are more respectful !

But be careful, all french are not like that !

Diamondmaker

kvN-Paris wrote:

Skip it !

Unfortunately, there is brainless in France !

That's why I prefere support Ireland, people are more respectful !

But be careful, all french are not like that !

Oh I know all French not like that. Had a great time, I really liked the French, spent mopre time tlaking rugby to French randomers practcing my French than I rish. I like to get in local culture whan abroad and not get stuck into an Irish bar. The whole Basque area, Bordeaux and Nantes were lvely and met great people over the 2 weeks
My only experience of Paris was apres les Crunch!!

Not a fair measure, love the place have to say

Endurance Man

kvN-Paris wrote:

Skip it !

Unfortunately, there is brainless in France !

That's why I prefere support Ireland, people are more respectful !

But be careful, all french are not like that !

Watch who you call brainless ;o.

kvN-Paris

Endurance Man wrote:

Watch who you call brainless ;o.

Of course !

kvN-Paris

Diamondmaker wrote:

Oh I know all French not like that. Had a great time, I really liked the French, spent mopre time tlaking rugby to French randomers practcing my French than I rish. I like to get in local culture whan abroad and not get stuck into an Irish bar. The whole Basque area, Bordeaux and Nantes were lvely and met great people over the 2 weeks
My only experience of Paris was apres les Crunch!!

Not a fair measure, love the place have to say

Great !

For the moment, I only go in Irish pub in Paris !
But I'll go in Ireland to enjoy Six nations in 2008 ! Hurry Hurry !
All my friends who went to Ireland was fulfilled !

At least, you visited few cities and not just Paris, because mentalities change according where you are in France !

Diamondmaker

Thats funny.

On way into Bordeaux - lost looking for hotel - a car pulled up beside me.
( I was driving my own car, so right hand drive and you can tell by the plates ) and a guy pulls up beside to tell me how much he loves Ireland, he lived in Carlow for a few years. As we were so close to each other with LH drive and RH drive we chatted for quite a while as we drove, I met him later again as he was going into the Irish pub, the Connemara, for the "Craic" the night before the Namibia game.

Met a few other great guys and girls too,

one guy was so confused that we were pissed off after the Georgia game:

" But you Irish dont care?! you still like to have a party"

Gas I guess our expectations have changed over the last few years !!

Im gonna start a thread on the trip to France later actually see what other people thought, frankly I loved it and will deffo holiday there again as I speak the language and there are no visa worries it becomes a real alternative in the futire, how I could settle into the Basque life style:)

kvN-Paris

Diamondmaker wrote:

Thats funny.

On way into Bordeaux - lost looking for hotel - a car pulled up beside me.
( I was driving my own car, so right hand drive and you can tell by the plates ) and a guy pulls up beside to tell me how much he loves Ireland, he lived in Carlow for a few years. As we were so close to each other with LH drive and RH drive we chatted for quite a while as we drove, I met him later again as he was going into the Irish pub, the Connemara, for the "Craic" the night before the Namibia game.

Met a few other great guys and girls too,

one guy was so confused that we were pissed off after the Georgia game:

" But you Irish dont care?! you still like to have a party"

Gas I guess our expectations have changed over the last few years !!

Im gonna start a thread on the trip to France later actually see what other people thought, frankly I loved it and will deffo holiday there again as I speak the language and there are no visa worries it becomes a real alternative in the futire, how I could settle into the Basque life style:)

The advantage in Bordeaux, not far there is beaches !
In Paris it's more complicated !
That's nice that you enjoyed your stay in France !

Me, I'm waiting the Six nations to go to Ireland !

Ireland / Scotland or Ireland / Wales

I'll see !

So now, I'm going to bed ! :cool:

See you perhaps tomorrows !

Have a nice night !

curiosity

Here's my uninformed viewpoint....

The France game.....comparing Friday to our last few performances away to France it was markedly poorer, while we lost in 2004 and 2006 we at least showed some sembleance of good play. France were no great shakes on Friday, but all they had to do is hold us at arms length and take their penalties. They only gave us one shot at goal all night, I think I'm right in saying.

Can we win against Argentina, getting the four tries and preventing them getting the bonus point? It's possible. Nine days gives all concerned in the Irish camp to cop on and produce one performance in this tournament to be proud of. Will it happen though?............No way. We built our reputation on beating Scotland, Italy, Wales and England regularly over the last few years. France have always had our number, and we only beat weak South Afican and Australian sides in the autumn. Too many players walked onto the team with no-one to dispute the jersey with them.

There's been lots of polarised talk about the Argies, "Argentina aren't that great, they caught France on the hop, we'll turn it on against them", contrasted with "Flipping 'eck Argentina are brill, they'll beat us off the park and might be a good bet for the final". Then people wonder about their mental approach for the Ireland game.

Well I think these Argentina lads are on a mission. They feel they have had to contend with being the black sheep of rugby's top table. They got a brute of a draw getting the hosts and us, the two top teams in Europe. But they got on with it, stood up to France and got the win. They did what they had to against Namibia and Georgia. They know us plenty well enough by now. Remember how we were against them in 2003 RWC? All fired up for revenge for Lens 1999? You can bet Argentina will want revenge for 2003. Doctor Contepomi will mark their cards about our backline.

They most likely won't faff about thinking "ah, as long as we get the bonus point for losing by les than 7 we're grand". They will probably front up to us from kick off, draw any sting we have in the first 20 minutes, wrap up the game early in the 2nd half and unload the bench, thus resting a few starters for the quarter final. If they go out and do a professional job on Ireland they're looking at playing Scotland (likely) or Italy (unlikely, given their form so far) for a place in the semi-final. Mess about, and they'll be going home (short trip back to their French clubs!) or playing the All-Blacks sooner than they'd hoped.

To summarise, we're coming home on Monday week. Though if we manage to dig it out and get the result required, fair dues, we'd deserve a shot at the All Blacks (though that prospect puts "the fear of God" into me.:eek: )

Quarters will then most likely be a North vs South match-up (if England and Wales can keep it together) with a good chance of all four 6N sides being dumped out. Though it may not happen, it would be great to see Argentina go all the way (or the saffies, or the Ozzies, anyone except those insufferable All Blacks!!)

As a little tangent, are there any chances of some of our players who may not be around for the next four years taking the foreign shilling and going to France/England? The likes of O'Driscoll and a few others in their late 20's might feel it's not worth spending their last few years at the top being contracted to the IRFU.

jimd2

Is Wallace a viable alternative to O'Gara. Was it not reasonable to have expected EOS to have identified and suitably prepared an alternative at one of the most pivotal positions on a rugby pitch?

marco_polo

jimd2 wrote:

Is Wallace a viable alternative to O'Gara. Was it not reasonable to have expected EOS to have identified and suitably prepared an alternative at one of the most pivotal positions on a rugby pitch?

Of all the multitude of valid reasons that are out there to critize O'Sullivan you picked this one? I won't defend him on too many points but, exactly where are all these magnificent young outhalves that he has been neglecting in recent years?

dub_skav

Of all the multitude of valid reasons that are out there to critize O'Sullivan you picked this one? I won't defend him on too many points but, exactly where are all these magnificent young outhalves that he has been neglecting in recent years?

They don't have to be young. I'm sure I'll be laughed at for this.

Eddie could have tried harder to convince Humphreys to go 1 more time. Paul Burke, Barry Everitt - not pleasant alternatives, but alternatives nonetheless.

Truth is Paddy Wallace is there purely for injury purposes, he was never given a chance to settle in at the position, neither were those mentined above.
RO'G has for a long time been the 1st choice, but when he's not playing well, you need an alternative, if only to give him a rest.
Paul Burke looked pretty good for Leicester last week.

redmca

jimd2 wrote:

Is Wallace a viable alternative to O'Gara. Was it not reasonable to have expected EOS to have identified and suitably prepared an alternative at one of the most pivotal positions on a rugby pitch?

That question is a valid one, but about a year too late. Once Humphries opted out, its been obvious that PW was going to be the back-up out half. I would have thought that the IRFU and EOS would have had sufficient clout to insist that Ulster play PW at out half all throughout last season.

If I am wrong then its simply a pity, if I'm right then they want shooting for not doing so.

marco_polo

redmca wrote:

I would have thought that the IRFU and EOS would have had sufficient clout to insist that Ulster play PW at out half all throughout last season.

If I am wrong then its simply a pity, if I'm right then they want shooting for not doing so.

Unfortunatly I don't think that IRFU have the power to command this of Ulster. I do seem to remember Wales making the Osperys play Henson at full back once the week before a six nations game. But this was for one game. It would also be very unfair on Ulster to do this over the course of a half a season, as HEC qualification depends on their ML position.

I would not drop O'Gara for PW. Nothing against PW is is a decent footballer but the simple fact is thay nobody even knows if he can really play outhalf or not, he has had such little game time there for Ulster.

nacho libre

So no matter how crap O'Gara has been so far he still gets to play. A great state of affairs for team morale.

marco_polo

nacho libre wrote:

So no matter how crap O'Gara has been so far he still gets to play. A great state of affairs for team morale.

Unfortunately that just about sums it up .

Anyone know if P. Wallace has ever even played a HEC match at outhalf for Ulster?

SpAcEd OuT

My somewhat crazy team selection,

1. Young/Best
2. Flannery
3. Hayes
4. Quinlan
5. MOK
6. Best
7. Wallace
8. Leamy
9. Redden
10. Murphy
11. Hickie
12. Wallace
13. BOD
14.Horgan
15. Dempsey

Subs. D'Arcy, carney, boss, Easterby, Horan, POC, O'Callaghan

Flame away

aidan24326

DaMooseDog wrote:

I sometimes get so pissed off at the unrealistic expectations and negativity of the Irish media and public, particularly towards our most successful products in any arena...while we're all entitled to our opinions, I don't believe that whining about how ****e the team is isn't going to achieve anything positive at this stage!

So what should we do, clap them on the back and tell them they're great? This Irish team has been well hyped and considered themselves contenders to actually win the thing. Bottom line is they're not good enough. Like others have said this Irish team built it's reputation on beating poor Scotland and Wales teams, England aswell. Couldn't even win a sub-standard 6 nations.

There is no chance of Ireland beating the Argies with 4 tries. Not a hope. We'd nearly be as well off, as NZ would destroy us. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in dreamland.

EOS has been exposed as a spoofer. Listen to his interviews, the guy is in cuckoo land. Stan the second. The team currently lacks any direction and the buck stops with O'Sullivan. He's an arrogant man (I used to know him personally) and would be the first to congratulate himself if it all went well.

He should be turfed out after this fiasco, but the geniuses in the IRFU have put themselves in the awkward situation where they'd have to pay him a large sum to get rid. Not gonna happen.

marco_polo

SpAcEd OuT wrote:

My somewhat crazy team selection,

1. Young/Best
2. Flannery
3. Hayes
4. Quinlan
5. MOK
6. Best
7. Wallace
8. Leamy
9. Redden
10. Murphy
11. Hickie
12. Wallace
13. BOD
14.Horgan
15. Dempsey

Subs. D'Arcy, carney, boss, Easterby, Horan, POC, O'Callaghan

Flame away

I was thinking about it, but I don't care enough anymore to flame . I would have a substitute hooker on the bench mind .

the_syco

obl wrote:

I'm gonna go with: 1 miracle

I don't think so. I say the 2nd coming may just abou help, but nothing less.

marco_polo

the_syco wrote:

I don't think so. I say the 2nd coming may just abou help, but nothing less.

Maybe if EOS offered to cook the Argies a nice Lasagne a lá Spurs on Saturday night as a sign of friendship.

Also didn't the South Africans win the 1995 RWC with similar tactics? (*cough* allegedly)

SpAcEd OuT

marco_polo wrote:

I was thinking about it, but I don't care enough anymore to flame . I would have a substitute hooker on the bench mind .

the way I see it on the current form of the Irish 15 MOK, Quinlan, Best, Wallace, Murphy all deserve a run out. We are going out anyways EOS might as well mix things up a bit, personally I'd like to see Wallace play for Ireland in his normal position I would be interested to see how he does and Murphy at 10 would be interesting to the say the least it could either be an absolute disaster [likely] or an a stroke of genius either way O'Gara doesn't deserve his spot.

Scrummaging against Argentina would be a great experience for Young our future prop.

Like I said it probably wouldn't win the game but it would be adventurous might let us exit the WC with a bit of flair and style.

dixiefly

I still think that Eddie has not shown the necessary bravery in today's selection to give confidence that he is the person to lead the team in the years forward.
He had to make some changes and Hickie in for Trimble was almost guaranteed. We will never know if he would have picked Murphy ahead of Dempsey or given him a starting position elsewhere had Dempsey been fit.

He should have given the lineout a bit of a shakeup.

All in alll, I still hope he is given the boot after this tournament.