Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread

thomond2006

danthefan wrote: »

Have you been under a rock all week? ROG and Murray starting by all accounts, POC doubtful, as you were otherwise.

Hmm interesting.

Quint2010

thomond2006 wrote: »

Hmm interesting.

That he thinks you might have been under a rock?..:D

Pudsy33

What is supposed to be wrong with POC?

danthefan

Pudsy33 wrote: »

What is supposed to be wrong with POC?

Hamstring. Hopefully it's just a bit of messing.

thomond2006

Earls at 12 and Buckley on the bench according to a poster on the PR forum. Surely a joke?

thomond2006

“@MichaelC_RTE: irl team v It, RK, TB, BOD, GD, KE, ROG, CM, CH, RB, MR, DOC, POC, SF, SOB, JH. Reps SC, TC, DR, DL, ER, JS, AT. #rterugby #rwc #rugby”

So ROG and Murray exchange places with Sexton and Reddan. O'Connell is fit.

onlyrocknroll

thomond2006 wrote: »

Earls at 12 and Buckley on the bench according to a poster on the PR forum. Surely a joke?

Phew, cancel the defibrillator.

durkadurka

So as predicted then . I don't agree with Murray but certainly understand the ROG selection.

TheHighRoad

Well, thats the world cup done.

thomond2006

durkadurka wrote: »

So as predicted then . I don't agree with Murray but certainly understand the ROG selection.

Kidney expecting a big physical battle and Murray being a big strong lad comes to mind.

Well, thats the world cup done.

That's nice.

B0X

TheHighRoad wrote: »

Well, thats the world cup done.

For Italy?

TheHighRoad

thomond2006 wrote: »

Kidney expecting a big physical battle and Murray being a big strong lad comes to mind.



That's nice.

Reddan is bigger than Murray and Murray has missed tackles already

irishbucsfan

Starting team is exactly as I would have it, apart from Murray which I don't understand.

Murray has the skills to be great but has shown inexperience so far. At least when they make the halfback switch during the game we'll see Sexton and Reddan together, which perhaps was part of the reasoning behind starting Murray.

We should win. Kidney has made the right call here.

Typh

I'm not sure you're correct on the whole Murray being smaller than Reddan, but it's difficult to interpret tone so you might be saying it in jest. I thought it obvious that Murray is both heavier and taller.
I would have thought that they're opting for the half-back combinations as they are due to, possibly Murray being something of an unknown and adding something different, or just for the sake of keeping the provincial pairings together at some stage in the game, notwithstanding possible substitutions. So long as Murray doesn't get caught like a fawn in headlights behind the scrum I think he'll play well.

The only disappointment worth voicing about that team for me is the absence of Trimble. The guy was gagging for it. Also, very happy that POC is fit. For the more important games it's nice to see the talismanic figures steadying the ship.

ALH-06

TheHighRoad wrote: »

Reddan is bigger than Murray and Murray has missed tackles already

According to Irishrugby.ie, Murray is 6'0 and 86kg. Reddan is 5'9 and 86kg. Not much in it! Though Murray does seem to have a reputation for being physical. Haven't seen enough of him to comment. Munster fans?

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Murray has the skills to be great but has shown inexperience so far.

Yeah, I'm particularly nervous about his hesitance to get the ball out when the scrum comes under any kind of difficulty, as shown against USA.

phog

TheHighRoad wrote: »

Reddan is bigger than Murray and Murray has missed tackles already

Same weight and Murray is taller.

Murray has made 5 tackles and missed ONE
Reddan has made 5 tackles and missed TWO

JustinDee

ALH-06 wrote: »

According to Irishrugby.ie, Murray is 6'0 and 86kg. Reddan is 5'9 and 86kg. Not much in it! Though Murray does seem to have a reputation for being physical

Thanks for that. This will be corrected so.
Conor Murray is in fact 6"3.

davegrohl48

To be honest it does be hard to believe alot of the stats you read about players weights sometimes. Eat 2 large meals and drink 2 litres o water and you can come in near 2kg heavier than matchday. (no one in any sport takes to the pitch without a trip to the jacks first I realise they drink lots before games but not to an uncomfortable level.
Like NFL it's in smaller players interest to list as heavy as possible when they step on a scales. Eg. foreign clubs/team coaches believe you are 90 as opposed to 88kg. 90 appears much more impressive than 88kg to us. Definitely know that Murray is not 6'3", he is noticeably shorter than Ferris n Heaslip who are credited in a range of 6'3'' - 6'4".
Someone once tried to convince a group of us while watching Australia Ireland in 2003 that George Gregan was 6' 2'' till he came into screen right beside some of our players. That was the end of that debate.

No1J

Murray would be carrying a bit more weight as well around 90-92Kg, very similar to Sexton.

JustinDee

davegrohl48 wrote: »

To be honest it does be hard to believe alot of the stats you read about players weights sometimes. Eat 2 large meals and drink 2 litres o water and you can come in near 2kg heavier than matchday. (no one in any sport takes to the pitch without a trip to the jacks first I realise they drink lots before games but not to an uncomfortable level.
Like NFL it's in smaller players interest to list as heavy as possible when they step on a scales. Eg. foreign clubs/team coaches believe you are 90 as opposed to 88kg. 90 appears much more impressive than 88kg to us. Definitely know that Murray is not 6'3", he is noticeably shorter than Ferris n Heaslip who are credited in a range of 6'3'' - 6'4"

The stats on the IRFU website are taken directly from each player's medical records. Conor Murray's was just incorrectly entered.

davegrohl48

Extra strong brylcreem on that haircut would add at least two inches of height
Sexton is the one that blows my mind as people mention that he is muscular and well built. But then you see the training ground photos on irishrugby.ie and he looks slim all over and you wonder where the bulk is? Rog does look heavier in the legs than him when you see the photos just after kicking penalties (I know ROG is not that tall though).
90-92 may well be right for a taller Murray/Sexton but I just find it hard to see where they have this bulk as that is up around Darcys weight who has legs like a bullock and a barrell of a torso.

BERBA

Good man Kidney , and 'at a boy ROG' , well and truly deserved.

JustinDee

davegrohl48 wrote: »

Extra strong brylcreem on that haircut would add at least two inches of height
Sexton is the one that blows my mind as people mention that he is muscular and well built. But then you see the training ground photos on irishrugby.ie and he looks slim all over and you wonder where the bulk is? Rog does look heavier in the legs than him when you see the photos just after kicking penalties (I know ROG is not that tall though).
90-92 may well be right for a taller Murray/Sexton but I just find it hard to see where they have this bulk as that is up around Darcys weight who has legs like a bullock and a barrell of a torso.

I'm 5"9 in height. Still fittish from my playing days in both codes. 41 yrs old, 34" waist and 16" neck.
Know what I weigh? 90kg.
Not always easy to guess a weight from sight alone.

davegrohl48

Plus muscle is heavier than fat so a player with lower body fat % will look slim yet weigh in heavy. Also taller players always end up looking slim.
One big stat that stood out for me on the squad profiles on irishrugby.ie when I checked just there is that Reddan has only one try in 35 appearances (some were as sub).
Most important role of a scrumhalf is to work well with his outhalf but the stats show he is one of the lowest scoring scrum halfs in the tournament.
Murray has no tries but he has already showed an ability to score against Australia and it was disallowed. Given that our centres try scoring rate has collapsed in the last two years and our full back is just back from injury and likes to play deep. It could be something that is counting against Reddan. Just a thought.
(I admit Murray has made some mistakes)

Cpt_Blackbeard

Murray is listed as 91kg in the official RWC site while Reddan's stats claim he is only 84kg.

The stats on rugby players vary greatly but, its ridiculous for anyone to think that Murray isn't significantly larger than Reddan.

CiaranMT

The rugby site stats on both Irish and Munster players (haven't looked at other sites) are gas to read sometimes.

Danny Barnes was listed as 5"4' for most of last season, for example.

Look at the players on the pitch and try to say that Reddan and Murray are similar in size.

Hagz

The combination of Ferris, Sean O'Brien and Jamie Heaslip has impressed all and sundry during the World Cup and they are perhaps the form back row at present.

The Ulster flanker admits that the trio have developed a great understanding and fear no opposition.

"We fancy ourselves against any back row at the World Cup. Given the way we're playing we'd rate ourselves against anyone," said Ferris.

"It's great being a part of this unit. Sean has been fantastic. The Italy game was only the second time I've started with him.

"Every time he carries the ball you're looking to run off his shoulder because you know he'll break the first tackle.

"Against Italy he showed the world what he's made of.

"Sean thinks the same of me and we both think the same of Jamie.

"We seem to be clicking very well and sharing the workload. The balance is good - it's worked well so far."

phog

The stats are taken from Scrum.com, DOBs from Irishrugby.ie and Minutes on the field from the timeline from the actua games.

phog

The stats from all our W/C pool games and the 1/4 final

so weird to see ages in decimals!

I'm 22.9096 years old

that above table is a damning indication of POC's ability with ball in hand. Took the ball 36 times for 37, compare to any of our actual ball carriers. I really wish he'd stop showing up in midfield.