Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread V

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

The problem with the Dave K tackle was I don't think he was expecting it. All the footage looks like he's adjusting himself to take contact, or avoid contact, with Bezy. Guirado appears out of nowhere and clatters him. It was still a ferocious hit and you can debate how high it was but I think the fact he wasn't expecting it at all made it worse.

Just my ten cents.

vienne86

The injury which worries me most is Mike McCarthy's. He was really playing well and we're in a bad way for locks right no.

vienne86

vienne86 wrote: »

The injury which worries me most is Mike McCarthy's. He was really playing well and we're in a bad way for locks right no.

Bad head knock but two weeks may be enough to recover. Can't remember any recent knocks to the head he's had.

CatFromHue

fitz wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp-u7-gMX5o

Watch from 30 seconds into that video, and keep an eye on Tadhg Furlong, and how he's taken out of the ball. That to me is another cynical, off the ball incident that happened because Peyper hadn't stamped his authority on the game to cut it out. For me, that's a penalty Ireland, reversing the 5 meter scrum that resulted from there being no grounding. That was ignored, and we know what happened from the resulting scrums.

I noticed the Furlong thing at the time but couldn't see what exactly happened to him.

There's an argument for the French lock leading with the knee there too. It's not something that a TMO or ref would likely pick up on but you know when you play yourself when someone is crossing the line between a clear out and trying to just hurt someone.

aimee1

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Bad head knock but two weeks may be enough to recover. Can't remember any recent knocks to the head he's had.

Wasps at home on november, was he one of three who took head knocks?

former total

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Bad head knock but two weeks may be enough to recover. Can't remember any recent knocks to the head he's had.

He has definite history. Got concussed against Georgia in 2014 and missed the Oz game, then took a heavy knock for the Wolfhounds in Jan 15 and was gone for a while too IIRC. Hazy memories of a few others too.

former total

former total wrote: »

He has definite history. Got concussed against Georgia in 2014 and missed the Oz game, then took a heavy knock for the Wolfhounds in Jan 15 and was gone for a while too IIRC. Hazy memories of a few others too.

CatFromHue

CatFromHue wrote: »

I noticed the Furlong thing at the time but couldn't see what exactly happened to him.

There's an argument for the French lock leading with the knee there too. It's not something that a TMO or ref would likely pick up on but you know when you play yourself when someone is crossing the line between a clear out and trying to just hurt someone.

It would be amazing what you'd see if you watched a match only looking for stuff off the ball. Just in that short clip, you can see Murray pulling a French guy back when he doesn't have the ball, and Madigan (I think) does the same thing when the French score.

vienne86

McCarthy was out for a few weeks with a fairly bad head injury he got when Ian Evans did a dance on his head in the RDS - Evans was sidelined for three months, but it messed up Mike's availability for Ireland for the rest of the season. In fact I don't think he managed to play for Ireland again until his latest call up.

fitz

Basil3 wrote: »

It would be amazing what you'd see if you watched a match only looking for stuff off the ball. Just in that short clip, you can see Murray pulling a French guy back when he doesn't have the ball, and Madigan (I think) does the same thing when the French score.

Come off it, you think a tug of a jersey is the same as what the French lock did there? He spotted Furlong pull Medard out of the way and then ran straight at him, tackling him as he stood off the side of the ruck, with the ball not even in play. I wouldn't complain about the little "dark arts" stuff, everyone gets away with a bit of that, but there's degrees of scale here. Deliberate off the ball hits have no place in the game, and shouldn't be ignored. That was just another example that illustrates a pattern of foul play that was not dealt with by the officials.

fitz

fitz wrote: »

Come off it, you think a tug of a jersey is the same as what the French lock did there? He spotted Furlong pull Medard out of the way and then ran straight at him, tackling him as he stood off the side of the ruck, with the ball not even in play. I wouldn't complain about the little "dark arts" stuff, everyone gets away with a bit of that, but there's degrees of scale here. Deliberate off the ball hits have no place in the game, and shouldn't be ignored. That was just another example that illustrates a pattern of foul play that not dealt with by the officials.

I'm talking about general off the ball stuff. A sneaky jersey tug can have a bigger influence on a scoreline than giving sexton a nudge miles from the play.

Ireland have a lot of injuries, which probably makes irish supporters more sensitive to some off the ball stuff, even if there is no correlation between the off the ball incidents and the injuries.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Basil3 wrote: »

I'm talking about general off the ball stuff. A sneaky jersey tug can have a bigger influence on a scoreline than giving sexton a nudge miles from the play.

Ireland have a lot of injuries, which probably makes irish supporters more sensitive to some off the ball stuff, even if there is no correlation between the off the ball incidents and the injuries.

I think people are "sensitive" about the Sexton stuff because every time we play France they specify that they're going to target Sexton and then they take every opportunity to clatter him.

Billysays no

Ended up tonight streaming the Will Smith film 'Concussion'. Its really disturbing stuff. If there is one good thing rugby union has done in recent times is the less abrasive impact in the scrums. What 'Concussion' put out there was the mental health issues developed years after the player had hung up his boots. What I found most interesting in the film is the level of g-force a brain can take on impact without damage. As I get a little older I dislike the conor mcgregor stuff and the physical hit mentality of rugby union. Look at france and ireland yesterday. They just battered themselves. It wasnt pretty, it was just two teams slogging weight (equivalent of punches). You will never see a front row player walk off the field without blood on their shirt. It seems to be a status reminder

The Rape of Lucretia

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

France they specify that they're going to target Sexton and then they take every opportunity to clatter him.

As you would. He is a critical player to us, and seems increasingly brittle and take-outable. Its a valid aim, without actually intending to damage him with late, dangerous, shoeing on the wrong side of a ruck etc plays. So teams will and are correct to push it to the limit with him make things rough for him. I'd be disappointed if our guys didnt do the same in the same circumstance. C'est le rugby.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

As you would. He is a critical player to us, and seems increasingly brittle and take-outable. Its a valid aim, without actually intending to damage him with late, dangerous, shoeing on the wrong side of a ruck etc plays. So teams will and are correct to push it to the limit with him make things rough for him. I'd be disappointed if our guys didnt do the same in the same circumstance. C'est le rugby.

Yeah but there's a fine line between targeting a player for extra attention and setting out to hurt him. I think France skirt the line a bit too much.

I wouldn't be applauding an Irish player if they took out Plisson or Biggar off the ball like that. Maybe others would.

Even the tackle on Sexton at the same time Dave K was hit was a bit iffy. The ball was in Kearney's hands before Sexton got taken out. Maybe the guy had committed himself, maybe he could have avoided pinning Sexton to the ground after the ball had left his hands.

1eg0a3xv7b82of

The below is only my opinion.
Ireland got what they deserved on Sat. Our attacking play is bordering on disgraceful.
France are a poor team and we had enough ball on Sat to beat them out the gate.
The draw against Wales and the loss to France are all down To Schmidt, he is to blame because he picks the tactics and the team. And he has got both wrong.
As the championship is gone for us, now is the time to develop.
One change I would like to see - Offloads. Schmidt obviously has banned them, Ireland needs to offload, we are too small a team to not offload. The sad thing is Ireland could easily have the won the slam this year, but Schmidts game plan is no negative and conservative it plays into the hands of weak teams like France on Sat.
If we had tried to go around them and not through them we would have won handy.
my prediction was 4th in the table, I will now predict we will get the wooden spoon this year unless Schmidt stops treating the players like robots.

1eg0a3xv7b82of

The below is only my opinion.
Ireland got what they deserved on Sat. Our attacking play is bordering on disgraceful.
France are a poor team and we had enough ball on Sat to beat them out the gate.
The draw against Wales and the loss to France are all down To Schmidt, he is to blame because he picks the tactics and the team. And he has got both wrong.
As the championship is gone for us, now is the time to develop.
One change I would like to see - Offloads. Schmidt obviously has banned them, Ireland needs to offload, we are too small a team to not offload. The sad thing is Ireland could easily have the won the slam this year, but Schmidts game plan is no negative and conservative it plays into the hands of weak teams like France on Sat.
If we had tried to go around them and not through them we would have won handy.
my prediction was 4th in the table, I will now predict we will get the wooden spoon this year unless Schmidt stops treating the players like robots.

mfceiling

Basil3 wrote: »

I'm talking about general off the ball stuff. A sneaky jersey tug can have a bigger influence on a scoreline than giving sexton a nudge miles from the play.

Ireland have a lot of injuries, which probably makes irish supporters more sensitive to some off the ball stuff, even if there is no correlation between the off the ball incidents and the injuries.

So sexton got a "nudge"?

Fair enough...

Billysays no

mfceiling wrote: »

So sexton got a "nudge"?

Fair enough...

in the scale of rugby that was a nudge. he just isnt able for it anymore. we spend each game wondering when he is going to physically collapse. but thats modern rugby. he needs to get a terminal hit before coaching staff will finally say enough. as an observer it is simply disturbing to see a player to take hit after hit after hit, be obviously in distress, and its all part of the game

Blackclaret

Lads you can say what you like about the French press, they afterall are in the buissnes of selling pappers, every 10, in every game is targeted, with or without the ball. The issue with Johnny aint the opposition tactics its the step down in abbility at the bench- Sat atleast- I have up to now given Madigan a lot of rope as he's undoubtedly a talent, that restart was the final nail for me. Jackson to start the next day with Sexton to come in on the sixty if fit to do so.

1eg0a3xv7b82of

The championship is over, finished.
From now on lets rotate our squad, Sexton, Heaslip, OBrien, Murray, McCarthy should be stood down for the rest of the championship. They need the rest.
I want to see at least 30 different players used over the next 3 games.
both Cronins, furlong, dillane, jackson, olding, mccloskey, scholes, madigan, flier, healy, gilroy, marshall, payne at full back, Ruddock at lock etc etc.
its time to experiment with our team and how we play. If we continue with Schmidtball we are doomed.

1eg0a3xv7b82of

The championship is over, finished.
From now on lets rotate our squad, Sexton, Heaslip, OBrien, Murray, McCarthy should be stood down for the rest of the championship. They need the rest.
I want to see at least 30 different players used over the next 3 games.
both Cronins, furlong, dillane, jackson, olding, mccloskey, scholes, madigan, flier, healy, gilroy, marshall, payne at full back, Ruddock at lock etc etc.
its time to experiment with our team and how we play. If we continue with Schmidtball we are doomed.

Leandro Round Billboard

Leandro Round Billboard wrote: »

The championship is over, finished.
From now on lets rotate our squad, Sexton, Heaslip, OBrien, Murray, McCarthy should be stood down for the rest of the championship. They need the rest.
I want to see at least 30 different players used over the next 3 games.
both Cronins, furlong, dillane, jackson, olding, mccloskey, scholes, madigan, flier, healy, gilroy, marshall, payne at full back, Ruddock at lock etc etc.
its time to experiment with our team and how we play. If we continue with Schmidtball we are doomed.

We lost by a tiny margin by using Schmidtball

1eg0a3xv7b82of

to a very poor team, no spin will change the fact that my posts about Schmidt have been proven 100% correct.
That game on Sat was of the lowest standard, one offload, zero line breaks.
Schmidt is on borrowed time and I predict he could resign after this championship. Since the world cup to now there is something not right with Schmidt.
I think his heart gone out of it.

DGRulz

Leandro Round Billboard wrote: »

The championship is over, finished.
From now on lets rotate our squad, Sexton, Heaslip, OBrien, Murray, McCarthy should be stood down for the rest of the championship. They need the rest.
I want to see at least 30 different players used over the next 3 games.
both Cronins, furlong, dillane, jackson, olding, mccloskey, scholes, madigan, flier, healy, gilroy, marshall, payne at full back, Ruddock at lock etc etc.
its time to experiment with our team and how we play. If we continue with Schmidtball we are doomed.

What do you hope to learn from striping out the leadership and experienced heads and playing a bunch of guys with little to no experience, most of whom will never have played together at this level? They'll be thrashed and all we'll learn is what a lot of us already know: You introduce youth gradually and surround it with experienced heads.

former total

I expect this to be a common theme in the next two weeks. It won't happen and there isn't any particular point in wholesale changes.

We've two weeks until a trip to Twickenham with a serious injury list to manage. Making further unnecessary changes out of blind panic would be suicide.

former total

Also, we have now slipped to eighth in the world rankings. Any further and we are in serious trouble.

1eg0a3xv7b82of

DGRulz wrote: »

What do you hope to learn from striping out the leadership and experienced heads and playing a bunch of guys with little to no experience, most of whom will never have played together at this level? They'll be thrashed and all we'll learn is what a lot of us already know: You introduce youth gradually and surround it with experienced heads.

Team for england
cronin
best
White
toner
ryan
ruddock
odonnell
stander
murray
jackson
gilroy
mccloskey
henshaw
trimble
payne

mcgrath
cronin
furlong
dillane
vdf
marrimon
madigan
scholes

Be brave and lets stop provincialism.

vienne86

former total wrote: »

Also, we have now slipped to eighth in the world rankings. Any further and we are in serious trouble.

Does that matter that much right now?

Didn't they say the seedings for the next RWC will be much closer to the tournament this time?

The Lost Sheep

vienne86 wrote: »

Does that matter that much right now?

Pool draw is made in December so yes it completely matters. If we lose any more weve more of a chance of getting a ****ty world cup draw in 2019

Leandro Round Billboard

Leandro Round Billboard wrote: »

Be brave and lets stop provincialism.

What good would it be sending that team to Twickenham to get beaten by 60+ points?

flangemeistro

How much more credit does Schmidt have left in the bank after the back to back 6 nations,

How long more can he blame injuries while he refuses to play on form talent like McCloskey, Ringrose, Healy, O'Halloran and Gilroy.

How long more do we need to hear about this "system" that players have to be familiar with, a broken, Conservative, predictable and found out system?

How many more times are they going to deny the seriousness of Sextons head injuries because they don't trust his replacements.

How long more is Schmidt going to field players out of their natural positions, Henshaw, Payne, Zebo, Earls, Stander, Madigan (Mr Versatility) .

How many more players are going to be rushed back from injury only to see them get more seriously injured all because Schmidt hasn't developed strength in depth.

You can call me negative, you can call me pessimistic but I could see this coming after the Argentina game when neither Schmidt or any of the coaching team took responsibility for the loss but instead took the easy option and blamed injuries.

Schmidts mantra used to be that he had no time for sentiment, well I think it's time all Irish fans took a leaf out of his book and judged Schmidt on a game to game basis and stopped constantly referring to the back to back 6 nations that might I add neither of we won comfortably or convincingly.
In my eyes he's used up all that credit and we need to start demanding more and stop taking the lazy "In Joe we trust" stance.

I've no doubt we'll see a shake up against England including a McCloskey start and a few more caps called into camp but that's too little too late and it's purely because Schmidts 3 in a row along with his ego has been left in tatters now so instead of being afraid to lose like the last two games he'll dare to win.

I'm disappointed, I'm frustrated, I'm angry but most of all I'm realistic.
I just wish the Schmidtlings would take the blinkers off.

DGRulz

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Pool draw is made in December so yes it completely matters. If we lose any more weve more of a chance of getting a ****ty world cup draw in 2019

Given the difficultly of 6 of the 7 games we have after the 6 Nations, we could end up like that anyway.

former total

DGRulz wrote: »

Given the difficultly of 6 of the 7 games we have after the 6 Nations, we could end up like that anyway.

All the more reason to try to ensure we get as many points from our remaining matches in the Six Nations.

DGRulz

former total wrote: »

All the more reason to try to ensure we get as many points from our remaining matches in the Six Nations.

Totally agree need as much of a buffer as possible, just in case. Never mind the extra money that will be handy for keeping guys at home.

Ronan O'Gara

An appeal to authority of course

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/six-nations/2016/0214/768005-ronan-ogara-england-ireland-twickenham/

Ronan O'Gara wrote:

“Players have to earn the jersey,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“You can’t wreck their heads, as in ‘I’m giving this fellow a go' – you don’t give a fellow a ‘go’ in Twickenham. Life doesn’t work like that.
“There’s a battle between the 30 players that go to Carton House [to train] and you earn the right to be picked

freedominacup

DGRulz wrote: »

What do you hope to learn from striping out the leadership and experienced heads and playing a bunch of guys with little to no experience, most of whom will never have played together at this level? They'll be thrashed and all we'll learn is what a lot of us already know: You introduce youth gradually and surround it with experienced heads.

That post looks to be around sixteen years old. Give or take a week or two.

Teferi

Leandro Round Billboard wrote: »

The below is only my opinion.
Ireland got what they deserved on Sat. Our attacking play is bordering on disgraceful.
France are a poor team and we had enough ball on Sat to beat them out the gate.
The draw against Wales and the loss to France are all down To Schmidt, he is to blame because he picks the tactics and the team. And he has got both wrong.
As the championship is gone for us, now is the time to develop.
One change I would like to see - Offloads. Schmidt obviously has banned them, Ireland needs to offload, we are too small a team to not offload. The sad thing is Ireland could easily have the won the slam this year, but Schmidts game plan is no negative and conservative it plays into the hands of weak teams like France on Sat.
If we had tried to go around them and not through them we would have won handy.
my prediction was 4th in the table, I will now predict we will get the wooden spoon this year unless Schmidt stops treating the players like robots.

So what you're saying is that you watched the game?

Timothy Bryce

Leandro Round Billboard wrote: »

The championship is over, finished.
From now on lets rotate our squad, Sexton, Heaslip, OBrien, Murray, McCarthy should be stood down for the rest of the championship. They need the rest.
I want to see at least 30 different players used over the next 3 games.
both Cronins, furlong, dillane, jackson, olding, mccloskey, scholes, madigan, flier, healy, gilroy, marshall, payne at full back, Ruddock at lock etc etc.
its time to experiment with our team and how we play. If we continue with Schmidtball we are doomed.

Utah_Saint

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/video-are-rwc-lessons-being-heeded-up-north/

stadedublinois

fitz wrote: »

Come off it, you think a tug of a jersey is the same as what the French lock did there? He spotted Furlong pull Medard out of the way and then ran straight at him, tackling him as he stood off the side of the ruck, with the ball not even in play. I wouldn't complain about the little "dark arts" stuff, everyone gets away with a bit of that, but there's degrees of scale here. Deliberate off the ball hits have no place in the game, and shouldn't be ignored. That was just another example that illustrates a pattern of foul play that was not dealt with by the officials.

He didn't pull Médard (who is moving a teammate) out of the way he threw out of the way. And Flanquart seems to miss him. There's nothing in it from either one.

Buer

flangemeistro wrote: »

How much more credit does Schmidt have left in the bank after the back to back 6 nations,

most of all I'm realistic.

These two statements sit in stark juxtaposition with one another.

I'm not happy with how things have gone and I think we need to be bolder with our selections, more than anything, where Schmidt has been far too conservative.

However, Schmidt deserves huge credit in the bank for his performances to date. At any other point in the professional era, we would not fire out the same criticism of a late, one point defeat in Paris. Schmidt, to an extent, is a victim of his own success and the punters have higher expectations now.

The galling thing is that we could have won and are good enough to win but we have come a huge distance. We still only have 2 wins in France in 44 years.

I somehow think how fortunate someone like Bernard Laporte is to be born a French man. They're supposedly an extremely demanding and harsh audience. He went on to become the most successful 5N/6N coach of the modern era but, if he was Irish, I suspect the fans would have been calling for his head given he finished 2nd and 5th in his first two tournaments.

Or what of Warren Gatland, who after winning the title in his first season with Wales, finished 4th in three consecutive years? Poor Warren's arse wouldn't have touched the floor as the Irish support threw him under the bus.

Schmidt has not delivered in this tournament to date but he, like the above men, is a proven top class coach. To wonder "how much more credit" does he have is a quite laughable thought.

Utah_Saint

Utah_Saint wrote: »

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/video-are-rwc-lessons-being-heeded-up-north/

It's not rocket science. Surely everyone knows this stuff, why can't they execute?

bilston

The World Cup draw isn't all that important to me. Sure half the time are we not saying we should concentrate on the 6Ns as that is something we know we can win. To be honest you could end up 1st or 2nd seeds and still get a s**** draw. I certainly wouldn't let that stand in the way of our development.

However what is more important to me is keeping players in Ireland, and the best way to do that is for the IRFU to get optimal profit. Finishing as high up the 6Ns table as possible is important in that regard, especially in a year where none of the provinces made the knockout stages of the Champions Cup. It may not be popular with some but that test match in Chicago is looking like a bit of a God send at the moment!

Of course it could be that best way to finish higher up the table is to make changes!

Still as for the starting team I'd say Healy and Ross could come into the front row, although Healy may be more likely to bench. Earls will most likely replace D.Kearney and we will wait and see on McCarthy, TOD will start at O/S.

I'd shake the bench up though, they were pretty ineffectual at the weekend. Healy comes in for James Cronin and White drops down anyway under the above scenario and I suppose Zebo will probably be available as well, although as I've said already I'd be a bit braver and stick Olding on the bench, his versatility would allow Jackson to cover 10. Ruddock presumably will step up as well, for me he is a far better bench option than O'Donnell anyway. Oh and I'd definitely have Cronin on the bench over Strauss. I like Strauss but surely Cronin gives us more impact later in the game?

15 Kearney
14 Trimble
13 Payne
12 Henshaw
11 Earls
10 Sexton
9 Murray
1 McGrath
2 Best
3 Ross
4 Toner
5 McCarthy/Ryan
6 Stander
7 O'Donnell
8 Heaslip

16 Cronin, 17 Healy, 18 White, 19 Ryan/Dillane, 20 Ruddock, 21 Reddan, 22 Jackson, 23 Olding (not likely to happen)

Utah_Saint

Basil3 wrote: »

It's not rocket science. Surely everyone knows this stuff, why can't they execute?

I just comes back to the same old arguments of Risk<>Return

Utah_Saint

bilston wrote: »

The World Cup draw isn't all that important to me. Sure half the time are we not saying we should concentrate on the 6Ns as that is something we know we can win. To be honest you could end up 1st or 2nd seeds and still get a s**** draw. I certainly wouldn't let that stand in the way of our development.

However what is more important to me is keeping players in Ireland, and the best way to do that is for the IRFU to get optimal profit. Finishing as high up the 6Ns table as possible is important in that regard, especially in a year where none of the provinces made the knockout stages of the Champions Cup. It may not be popular with some but that test match in Chicago is looking like a bit of a God send at the moment!

Of course it could be that best way to finish higher up the table is to make changes!

Still as for the starting team I'd say Healy and Ross could come into the front row, although Healy may be more likely to bench. Earls will most likely replace D.Kearney and we will wait and see on McCarthy, TOD will start at O/S.

I'd shake the bench up though, they were pretty ineffectual at the weekend. Healy comes in for James Cronin and White drops down anyway under the above scenario and I suppose Zebo will probably be available as well, although as I've said already I'd be a bit braver and stick Olding on the bench, his versatility would allow Jackson to cover 10. Ruddock presumably will step up as well, for me he is a far better bench option than O'Donnell anyway. Oh and I'd definitely have Cronin on the bench over Strauss. I like Strauss but surely Cronin gives us more impact later in the game?

I agree that Olding provides the versatility and allows a proper 10 to be on the bench...

CMOTDibbler

Buer wrote: »

These two statements sit in stark juxtaposition with one another.

I'm not happy with how things have gone and I think we need to be bolder with our selections, more than anything, where Schmidt has been far too conservative.

However, Schmidt deserves huge credit in the bank for his performances to date. At any other point in the professional era, we would not fire out the same criticism of a late, one point defeat in Paris. Schmidt, to an extent, is a victim of his own success and the punters have higher expectations now.

The galling thing is that we could have won and are good enough to win but we have come a huge distance. We still only have 2 wins in France in 44 years.

I somehow think how fortunate someone like Bernard Laporte is to be born a French man. They're supposedly an extremely demanding and harsh audience. He went on to become the most successful 5N/6N coach of the modern era but, if he was Irish, I suspect the fans would have been calling for his head given he finished 2nd and 5th in his first two tournaments.

Or what of Warren Gatland, who after winning the title in his first season with Wales, finished 4th in three consecutive years? Poor Warren's arse wouldn't have touched the floor as the Irish support threw him under the bus.

Schmidt has not delivered in this tournament to date but he, like the above men, is a proven top class coach. To wonder "how much more credit" does he have is a quite laughable thought.

Laporte had plenty of critics while he was French caoch. The same kinds of things about selections and lack of imagination etc. that Joe is getting.

Billysays no

bilston wrote: »

The World Cup draw isn't all that important to me. Sure half the time are we not saying we should concentrate on the 6Ns as that is something we know we can win. To be honest you could end up 1st or 2nd seeds and still get a s**** draw. I certainly wouldn't let that stand in the way of our development.

However what is more important to me is keeping players in Ireland, and the best way to do that is for the IRFU to get optimal profit. Finishing as high up the 6Ns table as possible is important in that regard, especially in a year where none of the provinces made the knockout stages of the Champions Cup. It may not be popular with some but that test match in Chicago is looking like a bit of a God send at the moment!

Of course it could be that best way to finish higher up the table is to make changes!

Still as for the starting team I'd say Healy and Ross could come into the front row, although Healy may be more likely to bench. Earls will most likely replace D.Kearney and we will wait and see on McCarthy, TOD will start at O/S.

I'd shake the bench up though, they were pretty ineffectual at the weekend. Healy comes in for James Cronin and White drops down anyway under the above scenario and I suppose Zebo will probably be available as well, although as I've said already I'd be a bit braver and stick Olding on the bench, his versatility would allow Jackson to cover 10. Ruddock presumably will step up as well, for me he is a far better bench option than O'Donnell anyway. Oh and I'd definitely have Cronin on the bench over Strauss. I like Strauss but surely Cronin gives us more impact later in the game?

15 Kearney
14 Trimble
13 Payne
12 Henshaw
11 Earls
10 Sexton
9 Murray
1 McGrath
2 Best
3 Ross
4 Toner
5 McCarthy/Ryan
6 Stander
7 O'Donnell
8 Heaslip

16 Cronin, 17 Healy, 18 White, 19 Ryan/Dillane, 20 Ruddock, 21 Reddan, 22 Jackson, 23 Olding (not likely to happen)

I'm really sorry but the Olding stuff is really grating on my head. And you may ask why? Isnt he a great player? And yes he is a great player. But he's been fecking injured for like forever. He comes back and plays one game and is now an international fullback. I do have my own strange opinions but Olding is not going to be one of them. Like you have Tiernan who has been paying a stormer at Connacht all season but Olding deserves it on a comeback performance? And in any case it doesnt matter RK, no matter how rubbish he is, will remain fullback. But Olding? Really????? Heavens

Buer

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

Laporte had plenty of critics while he was French caoch. The same kinds of things about selections and lack of imagination etc. that Joe is getting.

He did but they stuck by him and didn't cave to the rhetoric. The result was the most decorated coach in the last 25 years of the championship. He had a great core of players and counted on them, bringing through players gradually.

The team that won his first championship in 2002 was very different to the one that won a back to back championship in 2007; only Betsen and De Villiers remained in the starting team from the respective championship openers after 5 years.