Ireland Team Talk X: The Long Hard Road to a Semi. MOD WARNING POSTS #1, #1474, #5707

ClanofLams

Carty showed everything in the first forty that you want at test level, attacking the line, incisive passing, clever kicking, defensively solid, etc. Massive variety in his play kept Wales guessing, be a bit disappointed not to land the second conversion but the first conversion was an excellent kick. The penalty would usually go down the line given the distance and angle but clock was up and Ireland were sitting on a nice lead so they went for it.

He made a few errors in the second half but for a guy making his first test start at ten it was a more than encouraging display.

Bridge93

You’d swear Scotland were ripping up trees in their warm up games the amount of doom and gloom being spouted.

Former Former

Zzippy wrote: »

Well MOTM in a test match suggests he is. Agree on Carbery, hope he's fit in time

I thought it was an odd choice for MOTM, and that was a test match only in the sense that caps were awarded. Carty will play much tougher games in the PRO14 this season.

Summershere

Wegians89 wrote: »

There’s no way marmion is ahead of Murray, sorry just not gonna happen

He’s certainly ahead of him in terms of form this year, but yea Joe will never pick Marmion ahead of Murray

Eod100

PTH2009 wrote: »

Is the WC squad been named next week ???

Think it's submitted to World Rugby on Monday. Supposed to officially be named the following week but presumably it will leak sometime next week.

MarinersBlues

ClanofLams wrote: »

Carty showed everything in the first forty that you want at test level, attacking the line, incisive passing, clever kicking, defensively solid, etc. Massive variety in his play kept Wales guessing, be a bit disappointed not to land the second conversion but the first conversion was an excellent kick. The penalty would usually go down the line given the distance and angle but clock was up and Ireland were sitting on a nice lead so they went for it.

He made a few errors in the second half but for a guy making his first test start at ten it was a more than encouraging display.

I was happy with his first 40.

There were 3 kicks in the first 5 mins of 2nd half that didn't work out.
The first one wasn't chased properly - may be down to poor communication form him.
The second was poor from him.
The third was a garryowen from a free kick - decent kick and properly chased but players under it didn't win the competition.

After that we didn't see much in attacking play.
Decent tackles in general and maybe could have done better for the try but 50/50.

All in all an adequate performance and he should be happy with his days work.
I would be very surprised if he didn't go to Japan.
If he does, he will improve further.


I didn't think our backrow was great. They were bailed out by an awesome second row.
Scannell has to start as hooker.
I thought Addison was class.
Farrell was woeful.
Stockdale is going to be targeted big time by teams in the WC, he is our defensive weakness.

dh1985

MarinersBlues wrote: »

I was happy with his first 40.

There were 3 kicks in the first 5 mins of 2nd half that didn't work out.
The first one wasn't chased properly - may be down to poor communication form him.
The second was poor from him.
The third was a garryowen from a free kick - decent kick and properly chased but players under it didn't win the competition.

After that we didn't see much in attacking play.
Decent tackles in general and maybe could have done better for the try but 50/50.

All in all an adequate performance and he should be happy with his days work.
I would be very surprised if he didn't go to Japan.
If he does, he will improve further.


I didn't think our backrow was great. They were bailed out by an awesome second row.
Scannell has to start as hooker.
I thought Addison was class.
Farrell was woeful.
Stockdale is going to be targeted big time by teams in the WC, he is our defensive weakness.

Good analysis above
Agree with addison and I haven't seen anyone else say it. Thought he done lots really well. Made at least two big one on one tackles that I couldn't see Kearney make and showed a solidity that larmour hasn't.
Our back row was average. Of all them POM was the best. Thought he worked harder than normal. When jordi came on I thought he was a little passive.
Aki was good also. Lost alot of weight. Looks trim.
Hoped conan would do a little more. But didn't leave a lasting mark. Conway and stockdale were also good to be fair.

alwald

Some players really stepped up today and IMO Joe needs to change his starting 15 to include players based on form.
On the other hand, we don't seem to be able to score tries while building phases anymore and our defense needs a lot of improvement.

Kilcoyne and Scannell carried better, defended better and played way better than Best and Porter who by the way doesn't bring much to the team.
Addison and Conway had a good showing too so they should definitely be real contenders to play.
James Ryan brings a much needed physicality to the team and Conan did his job well without flashiness. Beirne and POM were quiet but the backrow looked better than last week.

The best pack for me to play in the WC would be Healy, Scannell, Furlong, Ryan, Henderson, POM, VDF and Conan with Kilcoyne, Cronin, John Ryan, Toner and Murphy/Beirne/CJ to the bench.

The backs are much trickier to choose from but I would go Marmion, Sexton, Stockdale, Ringrose, Bundee, Larmour and Kearney with Mcgraht/Murray, Carberry and Addison to the bench.

Diabhal Beag

Carty's kicking in front of goal was ropey but my word he was impressive for a first start.

Addisson was excellent though and Ryan + Hendo were great.

A win is a win after utter scutter since Feb.

thebaz

alwald wrote: »

S

The best pack for me to play in the WC would be Healy, Scannell, Furlong, Ryan, Henderson, POM, VDF and Conan with Kilcoyne, Cronin, John Ryan, Toner and Murphy/Beirne/CJ to the bench.

The backs are much trickier to choose from but I would go Marmion, Sexton, Stockdale, Ringrose, Bundee, Larmour and Kearney with Mcgraht/Murray, Carberry and Addison to the bench.

Earls will start ahead of Larmour -

Wouldn't mind seing a back row of van der Flier Conan and Henderson for next week

Burkie1203

thebaz wrote: »

Earls will start ahead of Larmour -

Wouldn't mind seing a back row of van der Flier Conan and Henderson for next week

Toner will cop a ban so Henderson might well be in the 4 shirt. Unless Kleyn gets a run out with Ryan

thebaz

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Toner will cop a ban so Henderson might well be in the 4 shirt. Unless Kleyn gets a run out with Ryan

really don't want to see Kleyn again - got his chance and didnt take it (being kind)

thebaz

a year ago I had hoped deegan might be pushing for a place on the plane (at least)

bilston

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Toner will cop a ban so Henderson might well be in the 4 shirt. Unless Kleyn gets a run out with Ryan

No chance Kleyn starts over Henderson!

Burkie1203

bilston wrote: »

No chance Kleyn starts over Henderson!

Henderson might be on bench as he started last 2

penybont exile

Poor match overall ..... shockingly error strewn first half (when we had a lot of possession) probably cost us victory but not important in the grand scheme of things.

Nice to see Patchell back & playing well. Tomas Williams too. These two made a big difference when they came on .... might have been a different story if they had both started!

Wonder if we'll see a hybrid Wales team next week. I wouldn't start AWJ, Biggar, JD or Tipuric. Possibly a couple of the other first teamers as well .... we'll see I guess.

Not sure what to make of Ireland ..... Schmidt has some big decisions to make ... if not tomorrow then certainly in three weeks time.

Shefwedfan

thebaz wrote: »

Earls will start ahead of Larmour -

Wouldn't mind seing a back row of van der Flier Conan and Henderson for next week

Henderson will not be moved to back row....we need him in second row

bilston

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Henderson might be on bench as he started last 2

Sorry I thought you were talking about the WC 1st choice team.

In which case I agree I'd say Kleyn will probably start next week.

ionadnapokot

Bridge93 wrote: »

You’d swear Scotland were ripping up trees in their warm up games the amount of doom and gloom being spouted.

Probably more based on what Ireland are not doing.
We still haven’t even seen Sexton or Henshaw yet. And that is not a good thing!
Other than James Ryan and Furlong What would you be optimistic about right now?

molloyjh

Only half saw the game, but very happy with what I did see. Some real bite from the forwards, which has been missing for a while. I'm a lot more confident of our chances in the RWC now.

molloyjh

ionadnapokot wrote: »

Bridge93 wrote: »

You’d swear Scotland were ripping up trees in their warm up games the amount of doom and gloom being spouted.

Probably more based on what Ireland are not doing.
We still haven’t even seen Sexton or Henshaw yet. And that is not a good thing!
Other than James Ryan and Furlong What would you be optimistic about right now?

Could you be any more negative!? Seriously?

Today Killer showed really well. Ryan was good for his first game back. I thought Conan had some good moments too. Both Best and Furlong brought the exact physicality they've lacked for a lot of this year in green. Carty did most of what he needed to. Aki performed better than he had done. Addison looked good for his first outing in months. Conway continued to show his worth.

Weeks out from the RWC we showed exactly the kind of improvements we needed to and best Wales in Cardiff for the first time under Joe. We defended really well for large parts of the second half and our set peice was rock solid, a big improvement on last week.

We dont need to be world beaters at this stage. We just need to be moving in the right direction. And nobody can deny we're doing exactly that.

Dog Botherer

Positives:

- Brodie Retallick wears James Ryan pyjamas
- No injuries
- 40-50 minutes of some the best rugby Ireland have played all year
- No injuries
- Best came on and was a functional member of the team (12 tackles is a respectable half hours work for a 37 y/o)
- No injuries
- Survived a fightback from a fired up Welsh team, at home, with WC squad places on the line, in Gatland’s last game, during our period of lowest cohesion
- No injuries
- Kilcoyne and Conway maybe well have played their way into the plane
- No injuries
- Carty is a viable international 10
- No injuries
- Got the W boys

Negatives:

- Played like absolute crap when our experienced players came off the bench
- Beirne and Farrell will struggle to make the squad based on their performances
- Might well be without Big Dev for our crucial group matches, and maybe beyond

Could be much worse, but we really need to see lads putting their hands up for selection at hooker, second row, and backrow. Our stocks are... shallow.

Tigerandahalf

penybont exile wrote: »

Poor match overall ..... shockingly error strewn first half (when we had a lot of possession) probably cost us victory but not important in the grand scheme of things.

Nice to see Patchell back & playing well. Tomas Williams too. These two made a big difference when they came on .... might have been a different story if they had both started!

Wonder if we'll see a hybrid Wales team next week. I wouldn't start AWJ, Biggar, JD or Tipuric. Possibly a couple of the other first teamers as well .... we'll see I guess.

Not sure what to make of Ireland ..... Schmidt has some big decisions to make ... if not tomorrow then certainly in three weeks time.

What do you make of starting Murray and Sexton? They look to be serious injury risks now. Murray is beginning to go down as often as Sexton. These guys have played very little continuous games over the last year, yet will be expected to last 4 or 5 games in a short turnaround come the WC.

Wales look in decent nick. How far will they go?

ionadnapokot

molloyjh wrote: »

ionadnapokot wrote: »

Bridge93 wrote: »

You’d swear Scotland were ripping up trees in their warm up games the amount of doom and gloom being spouted.

Probably more based on what Ireland are not doing.
We still haven’t even seen Sexton or Henshaw yet. And that is not a good thing!
Other than James Ryan and Furlong What would you be optimistic about right now?

Could you be any more negative!? Seriously?

Today Killer showed really well. Ryan was good for his first game back. I thought Conan had some good moments too. Both Best and Furlong brought the exact physicality they've lacked for a lot of this year in green. Carty did most of what he needed to. Aki performed better than he had done. Addison looked good for his first outing in months. Conway continued to show his worth.

Weeks out from the RWC we showed exactly the kind of improvements we needed to and best Wales in Cardiff for the first time under Joe. We defended really well for large parts of the second half and our set peice was rock solid, a big improvement on last week.

We dont need to be world beaters at this stage. We just need to be moving in the right direction. And nobody can deny we're doing exactly that.

Yes
And yes I am serious

BeardySi

Dog Botherer wrote: »

Negatives:

- Played like absolute crap when our experienced players came off the bench
- Beirne and Farrell will struggle to make the squad based on their performances
- Might well be without Big Dev for our crucial group matches, and maybe beyond

Could be much worse, but we really need to see lads putting their hands up for selection at hooker, second row, and backrow. Our stocks are... shallow.

Add to that the fact that Toner will almost certainly be cited for that shoulder to the head...

Dog Botherer

BeardySi wrote: »

Add to that the fact that Toner will almost certainly be cited for that shoulder to the head...

Dog Botherer wrote: »

Negatives:

- Played like absolute crap when our experienced players came off the bench
- Beirne and Farrell will struggle to make the squad based on their performances
- Might well be without Big Dev for our crucial group matches, and maybe beyond

Could be much worse, but we really need to see lads putting their hands up for selection at hooker, second row, and backrow. Our stocks are... shallow.

Former Former

Barrett got three weeks, that would rule Toner out of the Scotland game and no more.

But then again, I don't think there have been any citings from the other warm-up games? Kruis should have been cited last week, possibly Kearney too. I don't think anyone will be looking to cause trouble.

ionadnapokot

Former Former wrote: »

Barrett got three weeks, that would rule Toner out of the Scotland game and no more.

But then again, I don't think there have been any citings from the other warm-up games? Kruis should have been cited last week, possibly Kearney too. I don't think anyone will be looking to cause trouble.

Gatland

penybont exile

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

What do you make of starting Murray and Sexton? They look to be serious injury risks now. Murray is beginning to go down as often as Sexton. These guys have played very little continuous games over the last year, yet will be expected to last 4 or 5 games in a short turnaround come the WC.

Wales look in decent nick. How far will they go?

Not convinced Murray is the best 9 in Ireland ..... it's almost as if the zip, threat, aggression etc has flown the nest. I'd start Marmion.
Sexton must be a worry .... no games under his belt ..... hopefully he starts next week. He's gonna be needed against Scotland I feel.

As for Wales ... its not perfect .... Anscombe, Faletau ... big losses. Cory Hill a doubt now as well .... so hopefully no additions to that next weekend.
Australia is the big one for us. Win that and we've a good shot at the semis ...... Not going to take anything for granted though. Fiji have proven difficult opponents in previous WCs (07 & 15). Hopefully it will be the Fiji of 2011 that turns up this time.

Burkie1203

Former Former wrote: »

Barrett got three weeks, that would rule Toner out of the Scotland game and no more.

But then again, I don't think there have been any citings from the other warm-up games? Kruis should have been cited last week, possibly Kearney too. I don't think anyone will be looking to cause trouble.

Can we not pull an All Blacks trick and organise some Tag training friendlies against the Lansdowne u14s to use up games if he cops a ban?

connemara man

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Can we not pull an All Blacks trick and organise some Tag training friendlies against the Lansdowne u14s to use up games if he cops a ban?

Celtic cup fixtures

D14Rugby

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Can we not pull an All Blacks trick and organise some Tag training friendlies against the Lansdowne u14s to use up games if he cops a ban?

Lansdowne have 3 leinster senior league games before the Scottish game, they'll do

ionadnapokot

penybont exile wrote: »

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

What do you make of starting Murray and Sexton? They look to be serious injury risks now. Murray is beginning to go down as often as Sexton. These guys have played very little continuous games over the last year, yet will be expected to last 4 or 5 games in a short turnaround come the WC.

Wales look in decent nick. How far will they go?

Not convinced Murray is the best 9 in Ireland ..... it's almost as if the zip, threat, aggression etc has flown the nest. I'd start Marmion.
Sexton must be a worry .... no games under his belt ..... hopefully he starts next week. He's gonna be needed against Scotland I feel.

As for Wales ... its not perfect .... Anscombe, Faletau ... big losses. Cory Hill a doubt now as well .... so hopefully no additions to that next weekend.
Australia is the big one for us. Win that and we've a good shot at the semis ...... Not going to take anything for granted though. Fiji have proven difficult opponents in previous WCs (07 & 15). Hopefully it will be the Fiji of 2011 that turns up this time.

Think that’s a good synopsis of Ireland’s halfback situation.
Wales highlighted the problems Ireland have at 9 and 10 in that dreadful day in Cardiff. Sorry! Wales look in decent shape to go far in this WC. Funnily enough I thought Wales looked better with Biggar at 10 in the 6N. Could see Australia beating Wales again (SH teams are way ahead in their prep). But Wales beating England again in 1/4s and loosing to NZ in semi.

Downlinz

Faugheen wrote: »

On what planet is Kilcoyne ahead of Healy?

Killer put himself on the plane today without a doubt with a great performance, but let’s relax a little bit there.

Healy's getting older, you certainly don't see him stepping defenders and making line breaks anymore. Kilcoyne today looked like the Cian Healy of 5 years ago.

VANG1

That game was nothing like the intensity of thr England game. It was Wales B. Joe will not be fooled by guys looking great in an easy game.

molloyjh

Downlinz wrote: »

Faugheen wrote: »

On what planet is Kilcoyne ahead of Healy?

Killer put himself on the plane today without a doubt with a great performance, but let’s relax a little bit there.

Healy's getting older, you certainly don't see him stepping defenders and making line breaks anymore. Kilcoyne today looked like the Cian Healy of 5 years ago.

In fairness some of the Welsh defending for his breaks was as bad as some of ours last week. Let's keep our heads here. Healy has been in great form for a while now and is still our best LH. Killer is definitely number 2 though.

molloyjh

VANG1 wrote: »

That game was nothing like the intensity of thr England game. It was Wales B. Joe will not be fooled by guys looking great in an easy game.

The same could be said of the English lads last week given that we as the opposition were so poor. You're right of course that we need to consider how poor Wales were in the first half, but it's a step in the right direction, especially from an attitude perspective. Again, we dont need to be on top form now. We just need to be moving in that direction.

VANG1

If Patchell started we would probably have lost. They won the second half. Still a long way to go to beat a full strength top team.

molloyjh

We weren't full strength and theres still a long way to go before we face a top team.

ionadnapokot

Bundee looks like he lost a good 10lbs
Was niftier with ball in hand. Nice little pirouette and break out of the 22 on 30mins
Would love if he offered a bit of a kicking threat.
Really hope Henshaw has a stormer next week. His boot would be very useful option against big blitz.

clsmooth

ionadnapokot wrote: »

Bundee looks like he lost a good 10lbs
Was niftier with ball in hand. Nice little pirouette and break out of the 22 on 30mins
Would love if he offered a bit of a kicking threat.
Really hope Henshaw has a stormer next week. His boot would be very useful option against big blitz.

He was very good. Certainly seems to have slimmed down a little. I thought CJ Stander looked like he lost a good few lbs too last week

ionadnapokot

& Scannell. The weight watchers Campus in Portugal.
Or maybe it’s just the sun tans

MarinersBlues

ionadnapokot wrote: »

Bundee looks like he lost a good 10lbs
Was niftier with ball in hand. Nice little pirouette and break out of the 22 on 30mins
Would love if he offered a bit of a kicking threat.
Really hope Henshaw has a stormer next week. His boot would be very useful option against big blitz.

It was the shave and haircut.
He is more aerodynamic now.

LostArt

Downlinz wrote: »

Healy's getting older, you certainly don't see him stepping defenders and making line breaks anymore. Kilcoyne today looked like the Cian Healy of 5 years ago.

Healys only a year older than Kilcoyne. Kilcoyne played very well but Healys been mostly excellent the past while.

Shefwedfan

penybont exile wrote: »

Not convinced Murray is the best 9 in Ireland ..... it's almost as if the zip, threat, aggression etc has flown the nest. I'd start Marmion.
Sexton must be a worry .... no games under his belt ..... hopefully he starts next week. He's gonna be needed against Scotland I feel.

As for Wales ... its not perfect .... Anscombe, Faletau ... big losses. Cory Hill a doubt now as well .... so hopefully no additions to that next weekend.
Australia is the big one for us. Win that and we've a good shot at the semis ...... Not going to take anything for granted though. Fiji have proven difficult opponents in previous WCs (07 & 15). Hopefully it will be the Fiji of 2011 that turns up this time.

When playing Australia just pray for rain.....they are useless in rain

Shefwedfan

Downlinz wrote: »

Healy's getting older, you certainly don't see him stepping defenders and making line breaks anymore. Kilcoyne today looked like the Cian Healy of 5 years ago.

Healy has been one of the best props in World rugby in the last two year, he has been one of ireland top performs. He has played against the top teams in the World and in most cases won the battle

Kilcoyne done well yesterday but he isn’t even close to Healy....plus he is a year younger....not 5

Tigerandahalf

penybont exile wrote: »

Not convinced Murray is the best 9 in Ireland ..... it's almost as if the zip, threat, aggression etc has flown the nest. I'd start Marmion.
Sexton must be a worry .... no games under his belt ..... hopefully he starts next week. He's gonna be needed against Scotland I feel.

As for Wales ... its not perfect .... Anscombe, Faletau ... big losses. Cory Hill a doubt now as well .... so hopefully no additions to that next weekend.
Australia is the big one for us. Win that and we've a good shot at the semis ...... Not going to take anything for granted though. Fiji have proven difficult opponents in previous WCs (07 & 15). Hopefully it will be the Fiji of 2011 that turns up this time.

With Murray's neck issues he is probably less likely to snipe and run around the fringes. I remember Keith Wood saying how at the end of his career he had to lead into tackles with his other shoulder as the stronger one was damaged.

Sexton doesn't threaten the gainline anymore either and as a result teams are able to read and push up high on our 12/13 players.

As for Wales I can see how ye would struggle against Australia and Fiji. They are 2 teams that are better than ye at playing it loose and you need a half back pairing to control the game with good kicking and keeping it tight.

Overall though it has never been tighter between the top 5 or 6 teams. The SH teams have definitely declined and the NH teams have improved so fine margins.

bilston

No injuries yesterday?

Carbery aside, and to a lesser extent Healy, we've done ok on that front.

Clearly I've just skudded about six players for next weekend...

Didn't watch the game until late last night and haven't read the match thread so apologies if any of this is repetition.

Thought James Ryan was a cut above everyone on the pitch. Line speed, aggression in contact and organising the defence - Henderson similarly was everywhere. Those two players alone seemed to limit Welsh momentum. The lack of go forward gave us a lot more scope to slow down Welsh ball and that's where the game was won.

As a team we were better than last week. Certainly much harder working and somewhat manic from some of the lads under pressure for Japan.

Kilcoyne had an excellent game, popped up everywhere and carried well. Set piece was unpredictable and I still think he's a risk in the scrum but has shown more than Jack McGrath at this stage.

Rest of the starting front row had solid if unspectacular performances. Lineout was decent if notably uncomplicated.

Back row was workmanlike - Beirne went reasonably well at 6 and he's a good deal faster than I had given him credit. Made some incredibly athletic cover tackles but didn't get a chance to carry as spent a good bit of our possession in the wider channels.

POM and Conan were solid, Conan tackled all and everything around him. Whilst he got one or two steals on the deck - POM more importantly was sweeping the rucks effectively and slowed the Welsh breakdown consistently.

Marmion was urgent all day, probably a nose ahead of a stuttering Murray on the basis of this performance. Carty went well, don't think he deserved MOTM but he used our early possession well and was integral in the build up to our scores. Felt we went a bit flat later on and got a bit predictable, hard to be critical in a warm up match but would like to have seen a bit more variety in how we attacked when Wales started coming back into the game.

Thought Farrell and Aki gave us a nice but of extra muscle from mid field. Aki obviously under pressure and he was working incredibly hard on and off the ball. He gave away at least 2 penalties however but probably the best of our centres on the day. Farrell would have been a very useful addition last week, he's a serious unit but went missing a bit as the game progressed.

Wings both good. Stockdale threw the ball away after his first try and kicked it away after his second. Could have gotten a card for the latter. Thought he went well though and was physical at the breakdown when given the opportunity. We know he scores tries, he wasn't tested too much defensively which is the primary area of concern so not sure how much to take away from his performance.

Conway putting really serious pressure on Larmour now, albeit I think Addison having a shaky enough game is the more consequential component of the sub narrative around back three selection.

Of the subs I was very impressed with Porter. He's in incredible physical condition and took some big enough hits on the deck with a smile on his face. Scrum was good when he came on - French clubs will be lining up for his signature if he keeps this up.

Ringrose is a real worry. On 43 minutes (and he was only just on the pitch) he had a Welsh player lined up and rather than fold him he went arms first in the tackle around the upper leg. In that kind of situation I ask myself WWTD (what would Tuilagi do) and needless to say I came out with a different conclusion. I can't help but feel he's carrying a knock and isn't confident leading with the shoulders. He was shook after attempting to tackle Marler last week. I think he's one of our top 5 players and hugely important to our world cup chances but something does appear off with him.

Best and Jordi both had big performances off the bench. One or either seemed to be every second tackler in the last 20 minutes.

Luke McGrath was good when he came on also, played it a bit too safe and like Carty could have varied our attack a bit to force Wales to tighten things up but his defensive play was top drawer.

I managed to avoid the result until I saw the game. None of the neighbours gave anything away and whilst I gave them initial credit for good poker faces, in hindsight I think the lack of expression was probably the fairest reflection of the game.

It was better than last week against a much weaker team. We at least looked like we gave a ****e which is a positive step in the right direction but I still saw nothing which suggests we'll be competitive in Japan against a top 5 team.

Winners from the game are Kilcoyne, Henderson, Ryan, Beirne, Marmion, Carty, Conway, Porter, Best, Jordi and Stockdale (just).

Lads like Conan, POM, Scannell, Aki probably didn't shift the dial a huge amount. Aki was good overall, a few things didn't go his way but he was best of the centres. I think he makes the plane and getting selected will help his confidence a lot.

I think Addison, Farrell and John Ryan did not advance their case. Neither did Toner. I feel we need either a fit and in form Henshaw or Farrell against a South Africa or English type team but Farrell didn't stand out yesterday and Henshaw is still in hiding.

Speaking to someone close to the squad on Friday and got an interesting tid-bit. Training has been different in the run up with the wider squad much more involved in on pitch training and no setting of combinations or continuity towards a match day squad. Seems Joe is favouring having a wider number of players involved and up to speed until as late as possible.

I think we need to improve as much from this week to next as we did from last week to yesterday or Wales first choice XXIII is going to give our first choice a serious black eye on our home turf.

stephen_n

molloyjh wrote: »

Could you be any more negative!? Seriously?

Today Killer showed really well. Ryan was good for his first game back. I thought Conan had some good moments too. Both Best and Furlong brought the exact physicality they've lacked for a lot of this year in green. Carty did most of what he needed to. Aki performed better than he had done. Addison looked good for his first outing in months. Conway continued to show his worth.

Weeks out from the RWC we showed exactly the kind of improvements we needed to and best Wales in Cardiff for the first time under Joe. We defended really well for large parts of the second half and our set peice was rock solid, a big improvement on last week.

We dont need to be world beaters at this stage. We just need to be moving in the right direction. And nobody can deny we're doing exactly that.

One small point of pedantry, we beat them in Cardiff in the warm ups in 2015 too.