Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread V

case885

jacothelad wrote:

Ulster's need for him is paramount and there is really no need for him, Cave or Marshall or Olding for that matter to wheel up at Carton House as tackle bag holders. Fitzgerald at 12 and Earls at 13...Madigan, Ringrose and McFadden on the bench. Sorted. All positions in the backs covered.

That won't effect who's picked though, Ireland will always supersede the provinces needs.
Hes a better option than Fitzgerald at 12 and I hope earls is kept on the wing also where he's more effective.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

case885 wrote: »

That won't effect who's picked though, Ireland will always supersede the provinces needs.
Hes a better option than Fitzgerald at 12 and I hope earls is kept at Munster where he's more effective.

FYP

molloyjh

case885 wrote: »

That won't effect who's picked though, Ireland will always supersede the provinces needs.
Hes a better option than Fitzgerald at 12 and I hope earls is kept on the wing also where he's more effective.

Jaco was being a little bit less than serious.

Anyone else think it's going to be a little harder to get excited about the six nations this year?

molloyjh

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone else think it's going to be a little harder to get excited about the six nations this year?

Not me. We have an opportunity to go for 3 in a row. AFAIK no team has ever won the competition outright 3 times in a row before. And with changes in the England set-up and Wales still being strong, plus changes in the French set-up potentially leading to positive moves there, it should be a very competitive tournament. I'm actually really looking forward to it.

molloyjh

molloyjh wrote: »

Not me. We have an opportunity to go for 3 in a row. AFAIK no team has ever won the competition outright 3 times in a row before. And with changes in the England set-up and Wales still being strong, plus changes in the French set-up potentially leading to positive moves there, it should be a very competitive tournament. I'm actually really looking forward to it.

Yeah I forgot about the 3 in a row aspect.

I guess the "weaker competition" talk (which I don't agree with) combined with the massive anti climax from the RWC has left things a bit flat.

Honestly after the home hammering by Wasps I was so dejected even my wife was asking me what's wrong! Not a great couple of months for Irish rugby.

Unless your from Connacht!

former total

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Yeah I forgot about the 3 in a row aspect.

I guess the "weaker competition" talk (which I don't agree with) combined with the massive anti climax from the RWC has left things a bit flat.

Honestly after the home hammering by Wasps I was so dejected even my wife was asking me what's wrong! Not a great couple of months for Irish rugby.

Unless your from Connacht!

I suppose the question you need to ask yourself is, if it's a weaker competition, doesn't that make it all the more important to win? I'd rather be the best of a bad bunch than in the middle of a bad bunch.

Also, you may need to get out more.

former total

former total wrote: »

I suppose the question you need to ask yourself is, if it's a weaker competition, doesn't that make it all the more important to win? I'd rather be the best of a bad bunch than in the middle of a bad bunch.

Also, you may need to get out more.

Well like I said, I don't think it's a weaker competition. Wales decimated nearly beat SA, and Scotland should have beaten Aus. I don't buy into that at all, but there is a perception out there and it has put a bit of a dampener on the 6N.

And you're right, I should get out more, but .ak won't let me, I have to make a minimum number of posts each day or I get the hose again. It's a miserable existence altogether.

.ak

Clearlier

molloyjh wrote: »

Not me. We have an opportunity to go for 3 in a row. AFAIK no team has ever won the competition outright 3 times in a row before. And with changes in the England set-up and Wales still being strong, plus changes in the French set-up potentially leading to positive moves there, it should be a very competitive tournament. I'm actually really looking forward to it.

We have a very tough draw with Wales at home first followed by France and England away both of whom will have new and quite probably better coaches. Both France and England will have played Italy in the round before they play us. If we can win this 6 nations I think that it will be the best win of all 3.

The Pheasant2

Almost definitely won't happen but I'd like to see:

Murray
Sexton
Fitz
Mccloskey
Henshaw
Earls
Payne

I definitely want Mccloskey given a go at 12 anyway

molloyjh

Clearlier wrote: »

We have a very tough draw with Wales at home first followed by France and England away both of whom will have new and quite probably better coaches. Both France and England will have played Italy in the round before they play us. If we can win this 6 nations I think that it will be the best win of all 3.

The other way to look at that is that Wales tend to start slowly so getting them in the first game is arguably the best time to get them. And Noves will only have had enough time with the French squad to learn their names at that stage so I'm not sure how much of a difference he'll have been able to make. Eddie Jones is technically very good it would seem, but I'm still not convinced he's going to be able to make a big difference to England in the space of a couple of months. Especially as he won't have access to the players for most of that time either.

Clearlier

molloyjh wrote: »

The other way to look at that is that Wales tend to start slowly so getting them in the first game is arguably the best time to get them. And Noves will only have had enough time with the French squad to learn their names at that stage so I'm not sure how much of a difference he'll have been able to make. Eddie Jones is technically very good it would seem, but I'm still not convinced he's going to be able to make a big difference to England in the space of a couple of months. Especially as he won't have access to the players for most of that time either.

I like your optimism but I'd hope that the management and team are of the view that they'll be incredibly hard games - tougher than before and that they'll have to reach a new standard to win them.

The other side of that coin by the way is that Wales will have their injured players back and will want to show what they could have done at the RWC, France will be rejuvenated simply by having a different coach and England will have a tactical master to build on the foundations laid by Lancaster and will have already had 2 games to get them used to new systems.

FWIW - I see England as toughest, France as unpredictable (plus ca change) and Wales as the least tough of those 3 games. I also didn't mention Scotland earlier who look to be heading in the right direction under Cotter and may well be looking to take advantage of a bruised and battered team. I'm not sure that they have the quality of player to be a challenger for the title but they'll be immeasurably better than they have been for the last decade.

molloyjh

Clearlier wrote: »

I like your optimism but I'd hope that the management and team are of the view that they'll be incredibly hard games - tougher than before and that they'll have to reach a new standard to win them.

The other side of that coin by the way is that Wales will have their injured players back and will want to show what they could have done at the RWC, France will be rejuvenated simply by having a different coach and England will have a tactical master to build on the foundations laid by Lancaster and will have already had 2 games to get them used to new systems.

FWIW - I see England as toughest, France as unpredictable (plus ca change) and Wales as the least tough of those 3 games. I also didn't mention Scotland earlier who look to be heading in the right direction under Cotter and may well be looking to take advantage of a bruised and battered team. I'm not sure that they have the quality of player to be a challenger for the title but they'll be immeasurably better than they have been for the last decade.

But surely that's even more reason to be excited? It should be a very competitive tournament and one that we stand as much a chance as anyone of winning. And if we do we'll do something no team has ever done before. For me that's as positive a tournament as we've had in some time.

Clearlier

molloyjh wrote: »

But surely that's even more reason to be excited? It should be a very competitive tournament and one that we stand as much a chance as anyone of winning. And if we do we'll do something no team has ever done before. For me that's as positive a tournament as we've had in some time.

All I said was that this one will be harder to win than the other two. I think that it has the potential to be a great tournament.

aimee1

molloyjh wrote: »

The other way to look at that is that Wales tend to start slowly so getting them in the first game is arguably the best time to get them. And Noves will only have had enough time with the French squad to learn their names at that stage so I'm not sure how much of a difference he'll have been able to make. Eddie Jones is technically very good it would seem, but I'm still not convinced he's going to be able to make a big difference to England in the space of a couple of months. Especially as he won't have access to the players for most of that time either.

Eddie jones apparently only allowed to make limited changed to england squad based on the elite deal with the PRL. Saw figure of only 9 changes mentionned on twitter

Now he probably wont be making big changes anyway but still......

Clearlier

aimee1 wrote: »

Eddie jones apparently only allowed to make limited changed to england squad based on the elite deal with the PRL. Saw figure of only 9 changes mentionned on twitter

Now he probably wont be making big changes anyway but still......

According to ESPN it's 11. It's unlikely to make much of a difference as it would be surprising if he wanted to make more than 11 changes to the elite playing squad. That said, an agreement like that hints at one of the reasons that England haven't done as well as they would like internationally since they won the world cup. It was one of they key reasons for Woodwards departure as he said they could not be the best in the world if they had to adhere to the agreement that was drawn up between the clubs and the RFU.

irishbucsfan

The reason for the agreement is that English clubs get paid based on how many players they have in the EPS. You cant really run a business if you can't estimate revenue effectively I guess.

Clearlier

irishbucsfan wrote: »

The reason for the agreement is that English clubs get paid based on how many players they have in the EPS. You cant really run a business if you can't estimate revenue effectively I guess.

I do understand why there's an agreement and in fact and agreement of some sort is essential. It's not an agreement that's conducive to the English national teams success though.

P.S. Does the revenue from players going on international duty would represent a significant portion of a single clubs income?

bilston

The England squad selection wasn't really that bad anyway. It was the team selection that was the problem. I don't think Jones will be looking to make wholesale changes. Maybe bring someone like Itoje in I
suppose. Maybe Daly as well.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

bilston wrote: »

The England squad selection wasn't really that bad anyway. It was the team selection that was the problem. I don't think Jones will be looking to make wholesale changes. Maybe bring someone like Itoje in I
suppose. Maybe Daly as well.

Agreed. Lancaster could have started much better teams than he did based even just on the 31 man squad at the World Cup.

Todd Toddington III

The Pheasant2 wrote:

Murray Sexton Fitz Mccloskey Henshaw Earls Payne

Swap Henshaw and Payne for a game or two. Would love to see Payne and McCloskey develop a strong centre partnership in ulster

former total

Confirmed that Ireland will host Australia, New Zealand and an unspecified third team in November 2016.

captbarnacles

England and France away, test series in South Africa and November tests vs Aus and NZ. Bloody hell.

sydthebeat

captbarnacles wrote: »

England and France away, test series in South Africa and November tests vs Aus and NZ. Bloody hell.

and possibly NZ in chicago on nov 5th as well

....

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/ireland-to-play-all-blacks-in-chicago-next-year-1.2428573

awec

Two weeks ago I was planning on going to the game in Chicago, then I got engaged.

"We'll not be able to go to Chicago now we're paying for a wedding."

él statutorio

awec wrote: »

Two weeks ago I was planning on going to the game in Chicago, then I got engaged.

"We'll not be able to go to Chicago now we're paying for a wedding."

Rookie mistake son.

Honeymoon in Chicago. Problem solved.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

awec wrote: »

Two weeks ago I was planning on going to the game in Chicago, then I got engaged.

"We'll not be able to go to Chicago now we're paying for a wedding."

Wedding's pay for themselves these days, or so I'm told.

former total

awec wrote: »

Two weeks ago I was planning on going to the game in Chicago, then I got engaged.

I've got one word for you.

Stag trip.

molloyjh

former total wrote: »

I've got one word for you.

Stag trip.

This man is a genius! All aboard for the awec boards stag party! :cool:

awec

Does that mean you're all paying for me to go?

Zzippy

awec wrote: »

Does that mean you're all paying for me to go?

Don't be silly! We'll periscope the whole weekend to you, naturally...

b.gud

Zzippy wrote: »

Don't be silly! We'll periscope the whole weekend to you, naturally...

Won't that be around the time of your anniversary? You're going nowhere mate, don't worry we'll periscope you too

Zzippy

b.gud wrote: »

Won't that be around the time of your anniversary? You're going nowhere mate, don't worry we'll periscope you too

You do realise my missus is nearly as big a fan as I am? If I told her we're off to Chicago for the anniversary to see the ABs she'd swoon...

molloyjh

Zzippy wrote: »

You do realise my missus is nearly as big a fan as I am? If I told her we're off to Chicago for the anniversary to see the ABs she'd swoon...

Not much of a stag with a wife about though in fairness. We'll meet up with you for the game but you're on your own after that!

Zzippy

Zzippy wrote: »

You do realise my missus is nearly as big a fan as I am? If I told her we're off to Chicago for the anniversary to see the ABs she'd swoon...

molloyjh wrote: »

Not much of a stag with a wife about though in fairness. We'll meet up with you for the game but you're on your own after that!

Yeah, unless as well as rugby she is also into Tranny's and ping pong ha ha!

Zzippy

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah, unless as well as rugby she is also into Tranny's and ping pong ha ha!

:eek:

What kind of stags do you and your mates go on?

Zzippy

Zzippy wrote: »

:eek:

What kind of stags do you and your mates go on?

Ah come on, no stag is complete without an enema fountain or a game of "if it fits he/she sits"...

molloyjh

You can't see this, but I'm backing away slowly now, with my head looking around for an exit....

molloyjh

molloyjh wrote: »

You can't see this, but I'm backing away slowly now, with my head looking around for an exit....

Zzippy

molloyjh wrote: »

You can't see this, but I'm backing away slowly now, with my head looking around for an exit....

Venjur's off the list. When we're booking the flights give him the wrong flight number. And airline. And then don't answer the phone...

Zzippy

Zzippy wrote: »

Venjur's off the list. When we're booking the flights give him the wrong flight number. And airline. And then don't answer the phone...

If Molloy and .ak are going I'll just watch which plane all the beard, scarves and sandal combo's are getting onto...

The logo for Hipster Stag:

former total

Deleted User wrote: »

Ah come on, no stag is complete without an enema fountain or a game of "if it fits he/she sits"...

You know when you're learning a new language, and you think you know what each word means but you just can't figure out what the sentence means?

kuang1

And here's me checking the ireland team gossip/rumour thread for the first time in a couple of days expecting some good insight or latest whispers...

Am I :
a) disappointed
b) shocked
c) booking a flight to chicago
d) googling tranny ping pong after posting this

e) all of the above

Journeyman_1

f) slightly aroused

Pink Fairy

Journeyman_1 wrote: »

f) slightly aroused

Only slightly?

Pink Fairy

Pink Fairy wrote: »

Only slightly?

Yeah I don't get the levels of shock. Some Tranny's can be really really convincing:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

I'd say this is a record for the most off topic the Ireland thread has ever gotten.

Pink Fairy

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I'd say this is a record for the most off topic the Ireland thread has ever gotten.

It'll come full circle soon enough, a few more ladyboy jokes and someone is bound to mention Ian Madigan