Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread V

Bazzo

I think some of the responses to people making reasonable posts saying they would have preferred to see Gilroy or Healy in the squad ahead of McFadden are just as over the top as lunatics on the other side... okay maybe not QUITE as over the top.

There's nothing wrong with preferring x fringe player over y fringe player, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I think to be fair there has been an awful lot of finger wagging and tutting going on against people who disagree with one or two squad selections.

stephen_n

MattD wrote: »

Some would be arguing Healy or O'Halloran deserved a call up more. McCloskey or Marshall are also better options to come off the bench in my mind in the first place. And that's as a Leinster fan.

Healy and TOH are not at that level yet, they maybe in the future time will tell. Every time their names come up I just think Fionn Carr. Marshal and McCloskey are centers, Ferg is there to cover the wings. He has never let Ireland down when called upon and apart from injury last season would have been well there in the shake up for the squad. I would vastly prefer to have him come on the wing against France than Marshal, McCloskey, Healy or TOH only one of whom is a winger.

sullivlo

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Boards Bingo anyone?

here's some ideas...

drink if...

The Lost Sheep posts something in defence of the UBL
jm08 says something outrageous and then spends 23 posts explaining how Leinster did it worse
.ak likes your post
Vaughn Happy Ramp and irishbucsfan have a 'who's the bigger know-all' competition, neither of them likely to give up
Mahatma Geansai goes out of his way to post a disparaging remark about 'Joe'
awec complains about the referee, or the weather, or anything really in general
former total gets a new username
jacothelad mentions a player you've never even heard of
Billysays no has a good oul fashioned (post midnight) rant

PTH2009 says how doomed we are.

vetinari

kilns wrote: »

No way Kearney should be "punished" for that quarter final. If so alot more should have too.

With the amount of players missing against Wales, would we have seen a result like that 5 -10 years ago? No way. Because we have a better squad depth and it is because all the players know what is expected of them and how the system works, firstly you need to earn a call up to the squad and then learn and adapt. Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors but I am sure each player gets a fair chance but they must adapt to the way the coach wants to play, no exceptions and the coach's results speak for themselves so I would bow to whatever he wants

It's this kind of loyalty that is a concern.
A kind of once you're in you're in mentality.
If Gilroy had a similar defensive performance for Ulster in a big european game he probably would ruin his Ireland chances.

There's nothing wrong with saying that there's consequences for underperforming in a big game. Dave Kearney being put straight back into the team gives off an image of favorites. It seems more of an Irish thing, this "you can't put someone not familiar with the setup into the team"

.ak

Leandro Round Billboard wrote: »

I am not sure about that LEINSTER and friends team being sent out against France, they got walloped by Wasps twice, how will they fare against the combined player power of all the French clubs.
Just hope the friends can make the difference.

Meh, you've already been warned. Take the weekend off as a break.

Everyone else remember we're in zero tolerance policy time. No trolling, provincial bs or anything against the charter will be tolerated.

stephen_n

vetinari wrote: »

It's this kind of loyalty that is a concern.
A kind of once you're in you're in mentality.
If Gilroy had a similar defensive performance for Ulster in a big european game he probably would ruin his Ireland chances.

There's nothing wrong with saying that there's consequences for underperforming in a big game. Dave Kearney being put straight back into the team gives off an image of favorites. It seems more of an Irish thing, this "you can't put someone not familiar with the setup into the team"

Or maybe just maybe the coaches can look at the Argentina game and realise that there was a complete systemic failure in the defense that day, badly exposing the wings. So rather than come up with a knee jerk reaction like some fans, they would prefer to make their selections on facts.

jacothelad

awec wrote: »

I resent the fact you think I complain about the weather or anything else!

Lacey......

CMOTDibbler

vetinari wrote: »

It's this kind of loyalty that is a concern.
A kind of once you're in you're in mentality.
If Gilroy had a similar defensive performance for Ulster in a big european game he probably would ruin his Ireland chances.

There's nothing wrong with saying that there's consequences for underperforming in a big game. Dave Kearney being put straight back into the team gives off an image of favorites. It seems more of an Irish thing, this "you can't put someone not familiar with the setup into the team"

If you watched the Welsh game, you'd have seen Ireland defended pretty much exactly as we did against Argentina. Just as narrow yet this time Wales weren't able to run around us. This wasn't because the wingers (Trimble and Earls) were superior defenders; Trimble missed four tackles. It was because our defence worked better as a unit and did not concede the wide channels to the Welsh runners as easily as we did to Argentina.

Dave Kearney missed tackles in two on one and three on two situations. It's not good, but it's not a hanging offence. The issues that led to overlaps were the main cause of us shipping those points.

Thelomen Toblackai

vetinari wrote: »

It's this kind of loyalty that is a concern.
A kind of once you're in you're in mentality.
If Gilroy had a similar defensive performance for Ulster in a big european game he probably would ruin his Ireland chances.

There's nothing wrong with saying that there's consequences for underperforming in a big game. Dave Kearney being put straight back into the team gives off an image of favorites. It seems more of an Irish thing, this "you can't put someone not familiar with the setup into the team"

Kearney's performances for Ireland have been good though. The game against Argentina wasn't the norm by any means. I don't see any benefit in punishing him for a mistake rather than a weakness in his game or a dip in form. He was very impressive for Leinster on his return so form isn't an issue and we know what he can do at this level.

I genuinely don't understand why people are annoyed to see him in the team.

If it happened to Gilroy people would probably see it as indicative of his defensive issues more so than just a bad game. It would be unfair but when a player has a history of bad defence like Gilroy you're going to get that. Kearney's defence is anything but suspect so one bad performance imo isn't as big an issue.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

If you watched the Welsh game, you'd have seen Ireland defended pretty much exactly as we did against Argentina. Just as narrow yet this time Wales weren't able to run around us. This wasn't because the wingers (Trimble and Earls) were superior defenders; Trimble missed four tackles. It was because our defence worked better as a unit and did not concede the wide channels to the Welsh runners as easily as we did to Argentina.

They talked about this on Against The Head, I think it was, this week. We did start off like we did against Argentina but we corrected that as the game went on. They had diagrams and everything to show it

irishbucsfan

vetinari wrote: »

It's this kind of loyalty that is a concern.
A kind of once you're in you're in mentality.
If Gilroy had a similar defensive performance for Ulster in a big european game he probably would ruin his Ireland chances.

There's nothing wrong with saying that there's consequences for underperforming in a big game. Dave Kearney being put straight back into the team gives off an image of favorites. It seems more of an Irish thing, this "you can't put someone not familiar with the setup into the team"

Well firstly, Dave Kearney wasn't put straight back in the team. Keith Earls/Andrew Trimble took his place.

And secondly, it's obviously not an Irish thing when the coach isn't Irish!

Similarly, last week Eddie Jones opted not to hand out too many new caps because England were playing away from home in Murrayfield and they felt it's not the best environment to be making a debut. Starting Gilroy wouldn't be a debut for Ireland but it would be a first start under these systems. People act as if we're so much more conservative than the rest of the world but in reality we're quite similar.

CMOTDibbler

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

They talked about this on Against The Head, I think it was, this week. We did start off like we did against Argentina but we corrected that as the game went on. They had diagrams and everything to show it

We continued to defend narrow though. The diagrams just showed how we drifted aggressively and at times pushed up and cut off the pass. Keith Earls did it in one of the clips.

Exactly what we didn't do against Argentina.

mansize

Hello from Paris! Can't wait for Sunday's match!

The Rape of Lucretia

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

They talked about this on Against The Head, I think it was, this week. We did start off like we did against Argentina but we corrected that as the game went on. They had diagrams and everything to show it

Well that's it then if there were diagrams. Cant argue with them !

A key difference was Payne at 13 instead of Earlsie.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

A key difference was Payne at 13 instead of Earlsie.

Never a truer word.

Billysays no

Deleted User wrote: »

Reid hasn't played for Ireland under Joe. McFadden Played throughout our 2014 winning six nations campaign so that comparison is wholly inaccurate.

And with 4 and a bit days turnaround you may not go for the best option, but the safest one.

Against the Head was particularly good yesterday. Jackman went into detail about how well drilled Ireland are compared to any other team in Europe. He also went into some detail about how are defensive alignment was much better with Payne at 13 and how it improved throughout the game as people got more comfortable with the guys inside and outside doing the right thing.

That's what "Knowing your role" does and knowing the system. Fundamental and critical to how Ireland have been playing.

Sometimes having everyone on the same page, is better than having 14 guys on the same page and one guy (though very talented) completely at sea.

Thankfully zebo not involved. Now for dk to be discounted. Eventually team will get there. No gilroy? Simply out there

swiwi_

irishbucsfan wrote: »

And secondly, it's obviously not an Irish thing when the coach isn't Irish!

I suppose I'm also obliged to find a way to mention [Tox56]Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud, Down Under, Godzone[/Tox56]

irishbucsfan

swiwi_ wrote: »

I suppose I'm also obliged to find a way to mention [Tox56]Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud, Down Under, Godzone[/Tox56]

His rugby brain is Irish, his racist tendencies are entirely Kiwi

swiwi_

irishbucsfan wrote: »

His rugby brain is Irish, his racist tendencies are entirely Kiwi

Nah, you're thinking of Australia

See I can do this.

irishbucsfan

Canto is back

http://www.the42.ie/lynne-cantwell-column-six-nations-ireland-france-2597401-Feb2016/

Last year, Irish rugby media seemed transfixed on, ‘why don’t Ireland offload?’ This question caught on and as is often the case, arguments and truisms tend to grow momentum. Before long, everyone believes this to be the key reason when Ireland don’t play well.

It’s not just the offload, it’s the players’ intent to win the fight to get behind the defender by using their feet, then getting their hands free to look for support options.

In last week’s column, I wrote about hoping that Ireland show more invention and creation in their attack, that there would be evidence of more of an awareness from Schmidt’s backs as to one-on-one possibilities and what that can lead to.

Again, it’s worth stressing that this is not about Ireland dramatically altering or changing the way they attack, merely an important tweak in mindset.

Ireland under Schmidt define strict roles, with strict parametres, but I think a bit of flexibility of those roles, as we saw glimpses of against Wales, is hugely encouraging. The unpredictability of an attack makes it more difficult to defend against.

Take for example that Payne offload. Off an initial lineout platform, Keith Earls puts his hand up as first receiver in what is an unstructured situation. He lures Jamie Roberts towards him, with Payne reading it brilliantly and taking a lovely inside pass to make the half break.

Last season, Ireland might have died there in that tackle as Scott Baldwin scragged Payne. Instead, we saw Heaslip running a brilliant trail line off Payne to accept the offload.

Earlier in the game, in the ninth minute, Ireland counter-attacked out of their own 22 after Jack McGrath forced Gareth Davies to spill the ball. One quick ruck and Johnny Sexton moved the ball to Henshaw, who shifted it again to Simon Zebo.

Zebo was dragged down by a great Taulupe Faletau tackle, but there was Sexton on his inside shoulder, screaming for an offload. It didn’t happen, but I think moments like these are positive signs.

Pink Fairy

Yeah, we all remember what happened the last time Sexton was screaming at Zebo for an offload

kilns

vetinari wrote: »

It's this kind of loyalty that is a concern.
A kind of once you're in you're in mentality.
If Gilroy had a similar defensive performance for Ulster in a big european game he probably would ruin his Ireland chances.

There's nothing wrong with saying that there's consequences for underperforming in a big game. Dave Kearney being put straight back into the team gives off an image of favorites. It seems more of an Irish thing, this "you can't put someone not familiar with the setup into the team"

It is the reason why JS is the best coach Ireland has ever had that he has earned the right to pick the team as he chooses and more times than most it wins

Pink Fairy

Pink Fairy wrote: »

Yeah, we all remember what happened the last time Sexton was screaming at Zebo for an offload

Was that when we conceded against Australia?

awec

jacothelad wrote: »

Lacey......

Well it's not hard to see why I complain about him! :pac:

galwaylad14

Tries for Tiernan O'Halloran and Matt Healy last night again. What unbelievable seasons those two are having. Definitely right up there as two of the best back 3 players in Ireland based on this seasons form.

No idea why I posted that in here to be honest as it doesn't seem like it's ever going to make any difference on an Ireland scale how well those guys play but just nice to see that a few Irish back three players are playing well and scoring tries.

Of course since they don't "know the systems" they have no realistic chance of Irish recognition. Fergus McFadden and Dave Kearney though, they knows the system and thank God they do because if they didn't we might have to pick some back three players that are actually playing well and capable of scoring tries.

For all the bitchiness I managed to fit into that post I should also point out that in a way I'm pleased Joe has ignored those two lads as we may not have won and gone back top of the table last night without them.

galwaylad14

Tries for Tiernan O'Halloran and Matt Healy last night again. What unbelievable seasons those two are having. Definitely right up there as two of the best back 3 players in Ireland based on this seasons form.

No idea why I posted that in here to be honest as it doesn't seem like it's ever going to make any difference on an Ireland scale how well those guys play but just nice to see that a few Irish back three players are playing well and scoring tries.

Of course since they don't "know the systems" they have no realistic chance of Irish recognition. Fergus McFadden and Dave Kearney though, they knows the system and thank God they do because if they didn't we might have to pick some back three players that are actually playing well and capable of scoring tries.

For all the bitchiness I managed to fit into that post I should also point out that in a way I'm pleased Joe has ignored those two lads as we may not have won and gone back top of the table last night without them.

galwaylad14

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

Defensively, Healy and O'Halloran need to improve before they could get near an international start. McCloskey and Marshall are not wingers.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with those two lads defending. What are you basing that on?

former total

galwaylad14 wrote: »

Tries for Tiernan O'Halloran and Matt Healy last night again. What unbelievable seasons those two are having. Definitely right up there as two of the best back 3 players in Ireland based on this seasons form.

No idea why I posted that in here to be honest as it doesn't seem like it's ever going to make any difference on an Ireland scale how well those guys play but just nice to see that a few Irish back three players are playing well and scoring tries.

Of course since they don't "know the systems" they have no realistic chance of Irish recognition. Fergus McFadden and Dave Kearney though, they knows the system and thank God they do because if they didn't we might have to pick some back three players that are actually playing well and capable of scoring tries.

For all the bitchiness I managed to fit into that post I should also point out that in a way I'm pleased Joe has ignored those two lads as we may not have won and gone back top of the table last night without them.

OK, just for a second, take a step back and think. Let's assume for the purposes of the argument that Healy is a better player than McFadden.

McFadden was added to the Ireland squad on Tuesday. That means he's had 90 minutes of training with the squad this week, plus a little captain's run today.
Now, would you or anyone else be happy parachuting Healy into that situation when he has never played for or even trained with Ireland before? How could he possibly get up to speed by Saturday? No, it would be a disaster.

But you'll say, "well, he should have been in the squad from the start". Maybe, but let's think about it again. You can't name a massive squad and still expect to have a productive training session, you have to keep it within reason. So Joe named Trimble, Earls, Dave Kearney, Zebo and Fitzgerald in his initial squad. Five wingers*; it's loads. Does Healy deserve to be ahead of any them? No. And then we lost three of those five in the space of ten days. It's an emergency situation.

So you're arguing that Healy should have been dropped into the squad to play in Stade de France with basically no time to prepare and no previous experience, ahead of a guy with 30-odd caps and who (and this is the important bit) has shown he can perform at international level and in this team?

No coach in the world would have done that.


*maybe 4.5 wingers if you consider Zebo as wing/full-back.

leakyboots

Bazzo wrote: »

I think some of the responses to people making reasonable posts saying they would have preferred to see Gilroy or Healy in the squad ahead of McFadden are just as over the top as lunatics on the other side... okay maybe not QUITE as over the top.

There's nothing wrong with preferring x fringe player over y fringe player, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I think to be fair there has been an awful lot of finger wagging and tutting going on against people who disagree with one or two squad selections.

This is a mainly Leinsterfan-populated board I find, it's not surprising that the general consensus leans that way.

Just on the 'not used to the systems' argument put forward... while I see the merit in what he's saying... surely bringing in McFadden on that basis ('he was here before') just puts off bringing in players like Gilroy even further. How is Gilroy to learn the system if he's not brought in? When is Gilroy to be brought in? What do Gilroy/Healy/Conway/Scholes, who have all had better seasons than Ferg, have to do to get ahead of him?

I don't think Ferg will let the side down (nor dance by Teddy Thomas in a tight space to steal a try)... nor Reddan... but what exactly will we learn that we don't already know, even in victory?

As an aside, Guy Noves is blooding a prop and 6 in his first start in the match, a tighthead in his 2nd start, keeping the faith with a young pairing of half backs.

“In modern rugby, there is no starter or replacements,” said Noves. “It’s more of a relay. It’s not a sanction. Of course the players are evaluated but we also want to see players in the squad play.”

JPNelsforearm

former total wrote: »

And then we lost three of those five in the space of ten days. It's an emergency situation.

So you're arguing that Healy should have been dropped into the squad to play in Stade de France with basically no time to prepare and no previous experience, ahead of a guy with 30-odd caps and who (and this is the important bit) has shown he can perform at international level and in this team?

No coach in the world would have done that.

Utterly conservative thinking, McFaddens legs have gone, you have to give players a chance, McFadden vs Healy or Gilroy will never be the losing of the game, but it could mean the difference between winning it. You have an outside break, who will finish it? It wont be McFadden.

Podge_irl

leakyboots wrote: »

As an aside, Guy Noves is blooding a prop and 6 in his first start in the match, a tighthead in his 2nd start, keeping the faith with a young pairing of half backs.

Sure, but until such time as the French stop being a basketcase it's a little counterproductive to use things they do as an example to follow.

Gilroy has been in camp plenty of times. Schmidt clearly just doesn't rate him.

Podge_irl

JPNelsforearm wrote: »

Utterly conservative thinking, McFaddens legs have gone, you have to give players a chance, McFadden vs Healy or Gilroy will never be the losing of the game, but it could mean the difference between winning it. You have an outside break, who will finish it? It wont be McFadden.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with McFadden's pace. He's quite possibly the fastest outside back in the squad selected.

He has many limitations, but speed isn't one of them.

molloyjh

JPNelsforearm wrote: »

Utterly conservative thinking, McFaddens legs have gone, you have to give players a chance, McFadden vs Healy or Gilroy will never be the losing of the game, but it could mean the difference between winning it. You have an outside break, who will finish it? It wont be McFadden.

You're going to need to explain this post to me a bit. The selection won't be the losing of the game but could be the winning of it. So does that mean that McFaddens selection will be the drawing of the game?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

If you were to believe this thread every single one of our backs is too slow and can't tackle or pass. It's a wonder we won two Six Nations at all. It was obviously the forwards got it done alone.

WeleaseWoderick

leakyboots wrote: »

As an aside, Guy Noves is blooding a prop and 6 in his first start in the match, a tighthead in his 2nd start, keeping the faith with a young pairing of half backs.

“In modern rugby, there is no starter or replacements,” said Noves. “It’s more of a relay. It’s not a sanction. Of course the players are evaluated but we also want to see players in the squad play.”

Until such time as Guy Noves has won 2 Six Nations in a row with his French squad, I wouldn't be taking his views as better than Joe Schmidt's.

This isn't Championship Manager where you just throw together a team of what you think are the form players and hope they win. Competitions are won by settled teams with established gameplans not by switching players around for the sake of not being called conservative.

former total

JPNelsforearm wrote: »

Utterly conservative thinking, McFaddens legs have gone, you have to give players a chance, McFadden vs Healy or Gilroy will never be the losing of the game, but it could mean the difference between winning it. You have an outside break, who will finish it? It wont be McFadden.

It's not conservative, it's living in the real world.

leakyboots

WeleaseWoderick wrote: »

Until such time as Guy Noves has won 2 Six Nations in a row with his French squad, I wouldn't be taking his views as better than Joe Schmidt's.

This isn't Championship Manager where you just throw together a team of what you think are the form players and hope they win. Competitions are won by settled teams with established gameplans not by switching players around for the sake of not being called conservative.

Surely 10 French leagues and 4 Heineken Cups is worthy of listening to what a man says?

Anyway I think you're missing my point. Yes, we might (and hopefully will) win with Ferg involved. I doubt he'll be the winning or losing of the game either way. What will we learn that we don't know? How will it help us going forward?

To be honest, I'm more curious of the selection v England in Twickers

Podge_irl

Since when is the 6N some great learning experience?

It will help us going forward by giving us 2 points in the 6N table.

A lot of people here think Ireland selection is done similar to the Barbarians selection

WeleaseWoderick

leakyboots wrote: »

Surely 10 French leagues and 4 Heineken Cups is worthy of listening to what a man says?

Anyway I think you're missing my point. Yes, we might (and hopefully will) win with Ferg involved. I doubt he'll be the winning or losing of the game either way. What will we learn that we don't know? How will it help us going forward?

To be honest, I'm more curious of the selection v England in Twickers

Not doubting the man's club record but Schmidt's club record is outstanding as well and he also has 2 from 2 in terms of Six Nations trophies.

Just saying that an international coach with 1 game under his belt might not be the best judge of what is required for success at that level.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Deleted User wrote: »

A lot of people here think Ireland selection is done similar to the Barbarians selection

I would like to see an Ireland B squad selected to play The Barbarians, defence and systems thrown out the window. Just for the craic, like.

Being honest though if our current team were told to just go out and do whatever they liked I'm sure they'd do quite nicely.

rsh118

Fair enough to go with what works for the 6N a contest where we are chasing 3 in a row, a decent World Cup seeding, and a large amount of the money the IRFU relies on.

Experiment on SA. I'd rather take a test series 2-1 or even lose it 1-2 and let Joe run through as many combinations as he wishes.

former total

leakyboots wrote: »

Surely 10 French leagues and 4 Heineken Cups is worthy of listening to what a man says?

Anyway I think you're missing my point. Yes, we might (and hopefully will) win with Ferg involved. I doubt he'll be the winning or losing of the game either way. What will we learn that we don't know? How will it help us going forward?

To be honest, I'm more curious of the selection v England in Twickers

Well, Healy, Ross, Earls and Zebo will be back in the mix so the only selection debate will be which of Zebo or DK gets the 23 jersey.

And it will consume the board in an inferno of hate, despite it being very, very obvious that really these players are roughly equivalent in ability.

CMOTDibbler

galwaylad14 wrote: »

There is absolutely nothing wrong with those two lads defending. What are you basing that on?

Their stats and watching Connacht play.

In the last four games, (Dragons match stats aren't up yet), these are their cumulative defensive stats.
Player|Tackles|Missed|Turnovers
O'Halloran|8|2|5
Healy|10|2|6
McFadden|19|5|1


That's turnovers conceded btw.

On the other side of the balance sheet, these lads make plenty of breaks and beat defenders for fun, but at international level, you just can't concede that many turnovers and win matches. Defences at that level are so good that it's virtually only turnover ball that can generate opportunities for scores.

wp_rathead

former total wrote: »

OK, just for a second, take a step back and think. Let's assume for the purposes of the argument that Healy is a better player than McFadden.

McFadden was added to the Ireland squad on Tuesday. That means he's had 90 minutes of training with the squad this week, plus a little captain's run today.
Now, would you or anyone else be happy parachuting Healy into that situation when he has never played for or even trained with Ireland before? How could he possibly get up to speed by Saturday? No, it would be a disaster.

I agree

former total wrote: »

But you'll say, "well, he should have been in the squad from the start". Maybe, but let's think about it again. You can't name a massive squad and still expect to have a productive training session, you have to keep it within reason. So Joe named Trimble, Earls, Dave Kearney, Zebo and Fitzgerald in his initial squad. Five wingers*; it's loads. Does Healy deserve to be ahead of any them? No. And then we lost three of those five in the space of ten days. It's an emergency situation.

Gotta assume if all were fit Trimble and either Earl's or Fitzgerald would be starters
That leaves Zebo and Dave Kearney
Zebo included due to his ability to slot into FB
So between Healy and Dave Kearney for that spot in squad
Dave Kearney knows the system BUT will only be in 23 if injuries permit
A calculated risk on including Healy from the start would have been beneficial imo - allows Healy know the system and if an injury crisis like has happened occurred atleast Dave Kearney can be called into squad

former total wrote: »

So you're arguing that Healy should have been dropped into the squad to play in Stade de France with basically no time to prepare and no previous experience, ahead of a guy with 30-odd caps and who (and this is the important bit) has shown he can perform at international level and in this team?]


No coach in the world would have done that.

I agree - although just because he "has shown he can perform at international" his form at present doesn't indicate he will

NiallBoo

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

If you were to believe this thread every single one of our backs is too slow and can't tackle or pass. It's a wonder we won two Six Nations at all. It was obviously the forwards got it done alone.

The formula is "I don't watch the other guy play, but I like my guy. Therefore the other guy is a bad defender"

shuffol

It's worth noting that despite peoples issues with the back 3 and no.23 selected it's the exact same one we had the last time we went to France and won.

leakyboots

former total wrote: »

Well, Healy, Ross, Earls and Zebo will be back in the mix so the only selection debate will be which of Zebo or DK gets the 23 jersey.

And it will consume the board in an inferno of hate, despite it being very, very obvious that really these players are roughly equivalent in ability.

Hmm... I'd argue Healy doesn't belong in the squad at the moment and Ross should be out to pasture.

Look, I'm not advocating wholesale changes to the team at all, but at this stage, when possible, we should be looking to the future. Now is the time to use the broom, that's why I brought up France (they're obviously in a completely different cycle to us) - Reddan/Ross should be thanked for all they've done and let the next generation find their feet. McFadden is a well-known entity at this stage and his current form is no tries this season, getting banned for stamping and getting carded on his return from said ban.

galwaylad14

NiallBoo wrote: »

The formula is "I don't watch the other guy play, but I like my guy. Therefore the other guy is a bad defender"

Exactly, guys don't like the fact that Healy and Tiernan are better attackers than their favoured guys so they've just decided to fabricate that the two lads are bad positionally or defensively or something like that.

Although I'm as much a Connacht fan as an Ireland fan so things are actually looking good at the moment, Ireland are going well and Connacht are sitting proudly on top of the table with our team of guys that aren't good enough for the international team.

JPNelsforearm

Podge_irl wrote: »

There is absolutely nothing wrong with McFadden's pace. He's quite possibly the fastest outside back in the squad selected.

He has many limitations, but speed isn't one of them.

In what, a 30 meter foot race? Rugby speed and speed are different things entirely. I dont know if you've been watching him for Leinster for the past two years(when he hasnt been injured), he has zero burst or power compared to the player he was before his myriad of injuries. He's half the player he was. I say that as a Leinster fan who loved his running style, he was a poor mans Rene Ranger before he got crocked, now? He hasnt shown he is international quality.

INB4 he goes out and has a stormer on the weekend.

molloyjh wrote: »

You're going to need to explain this post to me a bit. The selection won't be the losing of the game but could be the winning of it. So does that mean that McFaddens selection will be the drawing of the game?

McFadden wont let you down defensively, he wont lose you the game but he is anemic on attack, he wont win it either. I'd put money on Gilroy, Healy pulling something out of the bag, be it pace, a line, footwork, beating defenders to score a try, I wouldnt put your money on McFadden doing the same.