Ireland V Italy, Sat 12/3, KO: 13.30PM, OFFICIAL SUPER MATCH THREAD

Ireland team: S Zebo; A Trimble, J Payne, R Henshaw, K Earls; J Sexton, C Murray; J McGrath, R Best (capt), M Ross; D Ryan, D Toner; CJ Stander, J van der Flier, J Heaslip.

Replacements: S Cronin, F Bealham, N White, U Dillane, R Ruddock, K Marmion, I Madigan, F McFadden.



Italy: David Odiete; Leonardo Sarto, Michele Campagnaro, Gonzalo Garcia, Mattia Bellini; Edoardo Padovani, Guglielmo Palazzani; Andrea Lovotti, Davide Giazzon, Lorenzo Cittadini; George Biagi, Marco Fuser; Francesco Minton, Alessandro Zanni, Sergio Parisse (capt).

Replacements: Oliviero Fabiani, Matteo Zanusso, Dario Chistolini, Quintin Geldenhuys, Abraham Steyn, Alberto Lucchese, Kelly Haimona, Luke McLean

thomond2006

Joe out. Jacothelad in.

former total

Hang on.

1330??

Ah jaysus

awec

former total wrote: »

Hang on.

1330??

Ah jaysus

Good for a day on the sauce.

connemara man

Best opening post for a match thread yet.

There's one thing I feel not brought up nearly enough.

The hair is mental.

Teferi

Best match preview ever.

LostArt

Amazing preview, no words necessary.

Ireland by 30+

phog

If tomorrow is a tight game how many of our subs (barring injury) will get more than 20 mins?

sydthebeat

does this match thread reflect the over all interest in this game?? ?

dub_skav

I really like the OP, only 1 thing missing:

thomond2006

phog wrote: »

If tomorrow is a tight game how many of our subs (barring injury) will get more than 20 mins?

This feckin guy lads, heh?

Gruesome photo to open it. The kind that your friends would continually post on your facebook wall to irritate you with if you'd done your best to pretend it had never happened.

razorblunt

For the first time in a long, long while I've lost all excitement for an Irish game.

razorblunt

razorblunt wrote: »

For the first time in a long, long while I've lost all excitement for an Irish game.

The silence in this thread, on a Friday afternoon, really does speak volumes

Akrasia

Its a good warm-up for the England Wales game which should be a pretty epic encounter.

MJohnston

Never has a grown rugby player looked more like a wee boy wearing a fake 'old man' disguise. Though, I think I figured out what he's going for:

Looking forward to the match. Loads of inexperience getting valuable caps against an Italy side with similar injury issues.

Good opportunity for first team guys to build momentum and cohesion for next week and ensure there is a balance of experience across the 23.

Some intersting calls with selection, used to be called "typical Joe Curvballs", not sure what the current term is.

Ireland by 15 then onto the task against Scotland with our evolved gameplan having hopefully clicked for us this weekend.

MJohnston

Deleted User wrote: »

Some intersting calls with selection, used to be called "typical Joe Curvballs", not sure what the current term is.

They're called "injuries" :pac:

sydthebeat

Deleted User wrote: »

Looking forward to the match. Loads of inexperience getting valuable caps against an Italy side with similar injury issues.

Good opportunity for first team guys to build momentum and cohesion for next week and ensure there is a balance of experience across the 23.

Some intersting calls with selection, used to be called "typical Joe Curvballs", not sure what the current term is.

Ireland by 15 then onto the task against Scotland with our evolved gameplan having hopefully clicked for us this weekend.

what i want to see is a performance to justify the selection, dont really care what the score is as long as:

1. we dont leak tries because the selection is mainly based on defense
2. we create good attacking patterns where we are clinical and accurate

and 3....... marmion to get at least 25 mins, Bealham to get a good 30 and Dillane to come on at half time

buck65

Couldn't care less about this game today, I will feel better tomorrow. Any game with Italy in it really is a bore fest but this year they have been mildly interesting- unlike our bunch. Two teams stuck in the past desperately trying to find a way to be relevant in a world where the game has left them behind.

Teferi

What was the press conference at 1.45pm about today? Just the Cian Healy thing?

MJohnston

Teferi wrote: »

What was the press conference at 1.45pm about today? Just the Cian Healy thing?

It was at 12:45pm (awec just had a brain fart) and yeah, that's what it was about.

MJohnston

Zebo always looks like he's taking the piss.

Jump_In_Jack

MJohnston wrote: »

Zebo always looks like he's taking the piss.

Zebo looks like he's just trying to get above Toner's head for the photos and the lads around him are cracking up.
Also FMF is saying his prayers with his eyes closed, "please don't fudge up tomorrow or boards will go into meltdown!"

Is it just me or did Ultan Dillane used to be in Love/Hate?

(Darren)

Rightwing

Can Ireland beat Italy?

Yes, tentatively getting my prediction. A loss and the wooden spoon is on the way.

thomond2006

Deleted User wrote: »

Is it just me or did Ultan Dillane used to be in Love/Hate?

(Darren)

Stheno

MJohnston wrote: »

Someone needs to get him to a barbers

thomond2006

thomond2006 wrote: »

It's definitely him

http://rsvpmagazine.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/shutterstock_133691261-e1368728411403.jpg

(linked instead of embedded, it's a big photo)

Stheno

Stheno wrote: »

Someone needs to get him to a barbers

Adam Jones says no

CMOTDibbler

Robert Sheehan. Has had a pretty good career so far: The Misfits, The Mortal Instruments: city of bones, Fortitude etc.



Edit: Snap

Are we really not going to talk about the match?

CMOTDibbler

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

Robert Sheehan. Has had a pretty good career so far: The Misfits, The Mortal Instruments: city of bones, Fortitude etc.



Edit: Snap

Are we really not going to talk about the match?

I've nothing against Robert Sheehan, but we learn nothing new by continually putting him into TV shows. I'd like to see some young blood come in so that we are preparing for Love Hate 2 in 2019.

CMOTDibbler

Rightwing wrote: »

Can Ireland beat Italy?

Yes, tentatively getting my prediction. A loss and the wooden spoon is on the way.

The wooden spoon has already passed us by.

It has always been for the nation getting no points. Unfortunately ignorance in the press has turned it popularly into the team coming last.

The Rape of Lucretia

MJohnston wrote: »

The blazer getting his moment of fame is such a relic from a bygone age isnt it? A little quaint. A little pathetic. A little charming. A little anachronistic. A little sad.

irishbucsfan

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

The blazer getting his moment of fame is such a relic from a bygone age isnt it? A little quaint. A little pathetic. A little charming. A little anachronistic. A little sad.

It's quite a nice experience for him. He gets to come in and pick the team, and then get his picture and then leave.

The Rape of Lucretia

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

The wooden spoon has already passed us by.

It has always been for the nation getting no points. Unfortunately ignorance in the press has turned it popularly into the team coming last.

It hasnt passed us by. Its still on !

The wooden spoon is for the team coming last.
A white wash is the term for a team getting no points.

former total

irishbucsfan wrote: »

It's quite a nice experience for him. He gets to come in and pick the team, and then get his picture and then leave.

... telling the Connacht guys what province they'll be moving to next season as he's getting into the taxi.

The Rape of Lucretia

irishbucsfan wrote: »

It's quite a nice experience for him. He gets to come in and pick the team, and then get his picture and then leave.

A welcome note, or some such, in the match programme as well I think - and I am sure better seats than my Row B down at worms level.
Maybe he should get the boards match thread preview as well ?

CMOTDibbler

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

The blazer getting his moment of fame is such a relic from a bygone age isnt it? A little quaint. A little pathetic. A little charming. A little anachronistic. A little sad.

It's only the President of the IRFU: Martin O'Sullivan :rolleyes:

pickarooney

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

It hasnt passed us by. Its still on !

The wooden spoon is for the team coming last.
A white wash is the term for a team getting no points.

As long as we don't get the red lantern

pickarooney

pickarooney wrote: »

As long as we don't get the red lantern

That's only for the womens six nations...! :eek:

salmocab

The wooden spoon was traditionally for a team losing all their matches not coming last and the president being in photos is also a tradition. No harm in keeping old traditions going especially ones that have no actual impact on anything to do with the team.

dub_skav

The wooden spoon is not the utensil that I want, therefore it's conservative and stupid.

I think it should be a silicone spatula, far more progressive

salmocab

dub_skav wrote: »

The wooden spoon is not the utensil that I want, therefore it's conservative and stupid.

I think it should be a silicone spatula, far more progressive

Not that spatula, I want the other spatula, the one that spends most of the year in a drawer in my province.

MJohnston

Think we should be sticking with the trusty old wooden spoon tbh. Sure it might have given us a splinter while we were trying and failing to put together that French dish, and sure it might be in need of some time to glue back on the broken handle. But we've still got some porridge to make, and we can't afford to use some fancy spatula, even though it might do just as good of a job. No, lets stick with the trust wooden spoon!


I really want porridge now for some reason.

irishbucsfan

What qualifies you guys to think your opinions on wooden spoons are worth anything?

salmocab

irishbucsfan wrote: »

What qualifies you guys to think your opinions on wooden spoons are worth anything?

Well to be perfectly honest Im not qualified in anyway but Im pretty sure if I post about spatulas/wooden spoons enough then I become an oracle on the subject, or some sort of kitchen utensil troll.

MJohnston

irishbucsfan wrote: »

What qualifies you guys to think your opinions on wooden spoons are worth anything?

I read this book about cooking with wooden spoons once by this chef, Jorgé Hook. I think that qualifies me to tell you what he said about them. Bizarrely though, he mostly filled the book with anecdotes about the spoons he used in the 1950s.

CMOTDibbler

salmocab wrote: »

Well to be perfectly honest Im not qualified in anyway but Im pretty sure if I post about spatulas/wooden spoons enough then I become an oracle on the subject, or some sort of kitchen utensil troll.

The Goddess Annoia* comes to mind.







*The Goddess of things that stick in drawers

bamboozle

We'll probably win the game well, scrum will look comfortable, lineout will look strong, backs will look electric but once we face a higher quality opposition I fear we will revert to type.
As a huge JS fan I just cannot understand the lack of planning, why Ross is involved at 36 is beyond me. 12 months from now he'll be 37 and of no use at this level. Now is the time Furlong should be picking up valuable experience. Same too with Marmion and Reddan.
How Madigan and McFadden are in the squad is beyond me. I know JS sees them in training, but unfortunately I get to see too much of Madigan trotting onto the pitch and kicking balls out on the full and making awful drop-offs. I know BOD has mentioned McFadden so many times in the past as being an incredible team-mate and trainer but he days at this level are long gone.

captbarnacles

I can't understand McFadden and Madigan either. Are other coaches so fixed on making sure they have every eventuality covered in case of an injury to the backline?