Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread

Tox56

irishbucsfan wrote: »

In what way, at all, was it day and night?! :pac:

Ireland didn't even start playing well until Kidney pulled out his patented ROG/Sexton party trick with 30 minutes to go, by taking D'Arcy off.

I'm speaking in terms of defence, using the NZ Herald player ratings as a rather crude form of measurement, SBW went from an 8 to a 6 between the first and second test. That gives a sense of how well D'Arcy managed to close him down. For what it's worth, he got a 9 in the 3rd test.

jacothelad

irishbucsfan wrote: »

BOD and Earls worked well. Not sure exactly why people think they didnt. Don't know why people work so hard to come up with reasons to keep Earls off the Irish team tbh. They looked dangerous at times.

Their defense was very strong. The only issue either had was Earls over-pursuing that kick. It was the McFadden horror show and that big mistake from Darren Cave (just after he'd come on) that had us leaking tries, or rather gave Savea the opportunity to punish us.

I think D'Arcy/BOD will make a return in the AIs though. The IRFU love ranking points!

Interesting points. Cave's especially. All 7 minutes of his game must have been shocking. I didn't realise N.Z. only scored once he came on the field. In fact they had scored 4 tries before Cave was thrown in to the Lions Den for 7 minutes. I would suspect that those guys who were on the field from the start were more culpable. Now who were the centres that day? Let me think....Oh yes, BOD and Earls. So their defence was very strong only conceding the 4 tries and they 'worked' well as opposed to the appallingly weak attempts by Cave who blew the game just when we were so close. :rolleyes:

Grimebox wrote: »

Could you imagine a 20 year old starting for Ireland at outhalf on his third test

Swiwi wrote: »

I'm going to disagree with you on this one, Fishooks12. Aside from his goalkicking, Goosen has looked much better than Steyn.

But that aside, here is a few other examples.

Andrew Mehrtens 22
Richie McCaw 20
Dan Carter 21
Jonah Lomu 19 (ok his first test was a shocker)

They all turned out OK...

As we say in NZ, if you're good enough, you're old enough.

Mike Gibson did o.k. too.

irishbucsfan

totallegend wrote: »

I'd be very much in favour of Earls playing on the wing or at FB if Kearney is out injured.

The problem is that our best 13 is O'Driscoll; he is still a far better 13 than Earls. So if Earls can play at 12, great, but I don't think he can.

The difference between BODs ability and Earls' ability is not enough to miss the opportunity of giving Earls the chance to play outside our best center of all time.

BOD will be gone soon. His attacking game is not what it was, at least in terms of attacking 13 play. By moving him in, we keep his moments of magic, his moments of defensive genius, and we gain Earls' now unquestionable ability as an attacking 13.

In my opinion, that is a better option than playing D'Arcy or McFadden, neither of which is desirable. If Luke Marshall becomes a genuine option then I'd have him at 12 and BOD at 13 with Earls and Bowe on the wings.

danthefan

irishbucsfan wrote: »

The difference between BODs ability and Earls' ability is not enough to miss the opportunity of giving Earls the chance to play outside our best center of all time.

BOD will be gone soon. His attacking game is not what it was, at least in terms of attacking 13 play. By moving him in, we keep his moments of magic, his moments of defensive genius, and we gain Earls' now unquestionable ability as an attacking 13.

In my opinion, that is a better option than playing D'Arcy or McFadden, neither of which is desirable. If Luke Marshall becomes a genuine option then I'd have him at 12 and BOD at 13 with Earls and Bowe on the wings.

Who'd you play at 15? Kearney is injured.

irishbucsfan

Jaco, all I said was that Cave made a big mistake, which he did, and I said he had only just come on as an excuse for him, not to blame him further! Never said he played poorly apart from that!

irishbucsfan

danthefan wrote: »

Who'd you play at 15? Kearney is injured.

I'm just talking generalities, if Kearney is definitely out for the AIs then I'd say Earls may end up being our only option at 15. Niall Morris is the only Irish natural 15 who I can think of, he's starting for Leicester but I'd doubt he'd be up to it.

jacothelad

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I'm just talking generalities, if Kearney is definitely out for the AIs then I'd say Earls may end up being our only option at 15. Niall Morris is the only Irish natural 15 who I can think of, he's starting for Leicester but I'd doubt he'd be up to it.

We'll never know about how he will measure up unless we try guys like him out in the Wolfhounds. What about Kearney Junior? Is he one on Deccie's radar. I would think, given his track record, we'll see Hurley or Keatley at 15.

Fireball07

jacothelad wrote: »

We'll never know about how he will measure up unless we try guys like him out in the Wolfhounds. What about Kearney Junior? Is he one on Deccie's radar. I would think, given his track record, we'll see Hurley or Keatley at 15.

Both Kearneys are injured. In fairness to Kidney, Kearney was in the squad for the 6N.

I think if you weren't going to put Earls there, then Hurley is the best option of those fit. But I'd prefer putting someone like Cave in the centre and Earls at full-back than Earls in the centre and Hurley at full-back. I like Hurley but I'm not sure he's international class.

danthefan

jacothelad wrote: »

We'll never know about how he will measure up unless we try guys like him out in the Wolfhounds. What about Kearney Junior? Is he one on Deccie's radar. I would think, given his track record, we'll see Hurley or Keatley at 15.

Wolfhounds is completely meaningless. Scratch sides with no time to prepare.

TheKeenMachine

jacothelad wrote: »

We'll never know about how he will measure up unless we try guys like him out in the Wolfhounds. What about Kearney Junior? Is he one on Deccie's radar. I would think, given his track record, we'll see Hurley or Keatley at 15.

Dave is injured, unfortunately, although he does seem to be on Kidney's radar: he was in a match day 22 during the 6N .

Tox56

Dave K was in the Wolfhounds last time they played and had a great game, so Kidney knows who he is

jacothelad

danthefan wrote: »

Wolfhounds is completely meaningless. Scratch sides with no time to prepare.

I think they get a bit of time given the huge numbers who get trailed in to the greater Ireland squad. If they are only tackle bag fodder then that is a waste of everyone's time.

snow mad

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I'm just talking generalities, if Kearney is definitely out for the AIs then I'd say Earls may end up being our only option at 15. Niall Morris is the only Irish natural 15 who I can think of, he's starting for Leicester but I'd doubt he'd be up to it.

when is felix jones due back

totallegend

I might be totally off the pace here and this was possibly discussed before, but Greg Feek was quoted in yesterday's Sunday Times as saying that he was not going to helping the national team out as scrum coach any more.

That, combined with the IRFU's continued inability to find a permanent successor, is a bit worrying considering we have the Boks and Argentina coming next month.

CatFromHue

snow mad wrote: »

when is felix jones due back

He's meant to be back in November as far as I know.

totallegend wrote: »

I might be totally off the pace here and this was possibly discussed before, but Greg Feek was quoted in yesterday's Sunday Times as saying that he was not going to helping the national team out as scrum coach any more.

That, combined with the IRFU's continued inability to find a permanent successor, is a bit worrying considering we have the Boks and Argentina coming next month.

I think Mike Ross's fitness levels would be more important to be honest. I don't think the Welsh have a scrum coach (though Robin McBrydie is the forwards coach), not sure about the Scots or the English (though Graham Rowntree is the forwards coach i think).

Swan Curry

CatFromHue wrote: »

I think Mike Ross's fitness levels would be more important to be honest. I don't think the Welsh have a scrum coach (though Robin McBrydie is the forwards coach), not sure about the Scots or the English (though Graham Rowntree is the forwards coach i think).

The Welsh don't seem to have one,the Scottish have former Italian international Massimo Cuttita,England don't have one but Graham Rowntree was a scrum coach.

ray jay

totallegend wrote: »

I might be totally off the pace here and this was possibly discussed before, but Greg Feek was quoted in yesterday's Sunday Times as saying that he was not going to helping the national team out as scrum coach any more.

That, combined with the IRFU's continued inability to find a permanent successor, is a bit worrying considering we have the Boks and Argentina coming next month.

I can only hope whoever succeeds Kidney is allowed to put together a full set of coaches with well-defined roles. At this point it's like the IRFU is letting the whole operation wind down before a fresh start.

bilston

ray jay wrote: »

At this point it's like the IRFU is letting the whole operation wind down before a fresh start.

I think that's exactly it. Barring winning 7 out of 7 this season (SA/Arg/Wal/Fra/Sco/Ita/Eng) I can't see his contract being renewed so why appoint back room staff that a new coach may not want in 9 months time.

molloyjh

bilston wrote: »

ray jay wrote: »

At this point it's like the IRFU is letting the whole operation wind down before a fresh start.

I think that's exactly it. Barring winning 7 out of 7 this season (SA/Arg/Wal/Fra/Sco/Ita/Eng) I can't see his contract being renewed so why appoint back room staff that a new coach may not want in 9 months time.

I hope they aren't letting it wind down. That would mean they are willing to throw away an entire season....

Lelantos

bilston wrote: »

ray jay wrote: »

At this point it's like the IRFU is letting the whole operation wind down before a fresh start.

I think that's exactly it. Barring winning 7 out of 7 this season (SA/Arg/Wal/Fra/Sco/Ita/Eng) I can't see his contract being renewed so why appoint back room staff that a new coach may not want in 9 months time.

Dangerous assumption there "new coach" we could all get a very nasty shock.

Podge_irl

Ah sure its alright. We have Gert "Tony Buckley could be the best tighthead in the world" Smal. We'll be grand.

GerM

Swan Curry wrote: »

The Welsh don't seem to have one,the Scottish have former Italian international Massimo Cuttita,England don't have one but Graham Rowntree was a scrum coach.

Pretty sure McBride and Gatland take the scrum on themselves. Plenty of experience there between two front row internationals.

leftleg

Always helps when you have a great scrum to work with already as both Wales and England have.

ray jay

molloyjh wrote: »

I hope they aren't letting it wind down. That would mean they are willing to throw away an entire season....

Exactly. No reason they can't hire people on short term contracts to see us through to the end of the season.

bilston

So how are we with regards to injuries as we move towards to November games.

Fitzgerald is definitely out unfortunately. I think SOB is more or less confirmed out but the Leinster lads here may know different? What about Kearney and O'Connell, I haven't really heard one way or other about their expected returns. POC in particular seems a bit of a mystery. To be missing O'Brien, O'Connell and Kearney would be quite a blow, particularly Kearney as I don't see anyone remotely close to him at FB and irrespective of the great debate surrounding POC's carrying his lineout presence is immense.

danthefan

molloyjh wrote: »

I hope they aren't letting it wind down. That would mean they are willing to throw away an entire season....

They threw away the season when they didn't sack Kidney after the Summer tour.

part time punk

danthefan wrote: »

They threw away the season when they didn't sack Kidney after the Summer tour.

They threw away 2 seasons when they renewed his contract before the world cup.

totallegend

bilston wrote: »

So how are we with regards to injuries as we move towards to November games.

Fitzgerald is definitely out unfortunately. I think SOB is more or less confirmed out but the Leinster lads here may know different? What about Kearney and O'Connell, I haven't really heard one way or other about their expected returns. POC in particular seems a bit of a mystery. To be missing O'Brien, O'Connell and Kearney would be quite a blow, particularly Kearney as I don't see anyone remotely close to him at FB and irrespective of the great debate surrounding POC's carrying his lineout presence is immense.

O'Brien will be out, Kearney should be grand (but Dave Kearney is out, maybe that's the confusion).

O'Connell is very worrying, it's nearly going down the Flannery road of very vague descriptions of injuries, even vaguer estimated dates for return and I just have a bad feeling about it.

Teferi

totallegend wrote: »

O'Connell is very worrying, it's nearly going down the Flannery road of very vague descriptions of injuries, even vaguer estimated dates for return and I just have a bad feeling about it.

That would be the absolute worst way for POC to go and I would be disgusted to see it happen. A man like POC ought to choose when he retires not have it thrust upon him.

Let's hope your feelings are wrong.

danthefan

Teferi wrote: »

That would be the absolute worst way for POC to go and I would be disgusted to see it happen. A man like POC ought to choose when he retires not have it thrust upon him.

Let's hope your feelings are wrong.

I would think that applies to absolutely any player.