Ireland Team Talk XI: Team of nervoUS MOD warning Post 1

Dubinusa

Good selection imo. With Sexton out POM has to play. He will steady Ryan as captain.
Roux deserves the chance. Very impressive against Wales, albeit a dire Welch team.
Keenan will be pressured and that's what we need to see. His reaction under pressure will be interesting.
I think Conway should have been selected. But, Earl's is very experienced.
RB has a massive task ahead of him. We will see were he is in terms of top quality opposition. Having JGP beside him will be beneficial.
I reckon we lose. Without Sexton, our chances drop a little. But I believe we can make it very close.

crossman47

kingofthekong wrote: »

I think they nailed that team, nailed all the tight calls:

Second row: Couldve thrown hendy in but you could really allow Quinn Roux to get some momentum and build on his performace last week by rewarding him with another start, hes also there to give Porter the best possible chance of competing in the scrum - Roux imo is the right call to start

Backrow: Again I think they nailed it, Doris kept on at 8 for the extra threat of the base of the scrum, Stander back in is an obvious one,
the call for POM is the correct one - as a massive POM critic over the last couple years - he has absolutely deserved to be put in this team - I think Sexton being out massively helped his chances of starting to provide back up for Ryan in the cauldron that is Twickenam, love Connors and am a Leinster supporter but its probably the right call given the circumstances - I think his instructions when coming on 50 mins will be to absolutely empty himself in the last 30....cant wait for that


Half Backs: Thank god its JGP and Byrne - Park in for his quick service which will be needed if we are to get any momentum upfront against one of if not the best defenses in world rugby, if JGP starts then Byrne has to start because Burns place kicking questionable, byrnes kicking for goal is exeptional and i think the starting out half was actually more determined by JGP starting ahead of Murray.

centres: Henshaw injury meant centres was an obvious call

Backthree: Conway rightfully dropped for getting pushed into touch fairly easily twice back to back in the redzone - you just cant do that at international level when the margins are so tight , need to be better as an international wing, Lowe in again obvious decision, and Keenan rightfully maintains is spot at fullback - Strange that if fit stockdale not starting ahead of Earls but maybe confidence in Stockdales calf isnt great

I'm a great fan of Earls for his service over the years but I can't agree about Conway. Hes done the best he can with limited possession. I know we don't have much choice at centre but Aki offers very little imo.

ionadnapokot

Deleted User wrote: »

Fascinating team sheet that perhaps answers some of the questions which have been posed on this forum the last while.

Henderson to bench likely a result of a lack of game time but other decisions perhaps indicate a change in pecking order.

I wonder how much of POM to 7 is a reflection of wanting Kelleher at 2. I think to be fair you need to disentangle those two selections and give each player the benefit of the doubt but it's a question that will linger.

Similarly - Farrell seems to prefer the tempo Gibson Park brings and Murray now is in a proper fight. Park has been unreal for Leinster over the last year and a half and he is more familiar with Byrne but as with the 2 / 7 call above - you have to give the benefit of the doubt and see each selection on merit.

Burns seems to be viewed as an impact player, Byrne leapfrogging him somewhat confirms that.

Doris being rewarded for his distribution skills with the 8 jersey. Someone posted during the week that he is more in the Heaslip mold of 8 and I think that's spot on - Stander is a nailed on starter but he isn't a distributer.

It was an inevitability that Lowe would claim a wing spot and if there was any doubt at this stage the selection of Earls at 14 should put that to rest. This is definitely the strongest Irish team that Farrell feels he has at his disposal - the only changes from here will be related to the walking wounded such as Furlong, Henderson, Ringrose, Larmour, Kilcoyne etc.

I think we'll get hosed at the weekend to be honest but I do think this is a pretty pragmatic selection that generally reflects form.

If we loose but the scrum goes well again, lineout is steady and maul improves i would think Ireland will give themselves a better chance to fire a few shots at England.
Big If's!
I really dont care if we loose. But getting completely dominated by England again would be tough to take.

I do doubt that Murray is been dropped per se.
I fully expect Farrell to start him at 9 with Sexton for 6N

arsebiscuits1

I decided to go back over the England game from the 6N.

Their website actually has a pretty comprehensive stat sheet from the game which is great

https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/report/impressive-england-down-ireland-with-first-half-blitz#match-stats

In a lot of aspects, we were pretty even with England that day. We won the second half.

The major glaring differences were that we spent 40% of our possession in our own half. And we only kicked 5% of our possession away.

Combine this with the pretty astonishing stat of 39 dominant tackles out of 214 that England managed and it's enough to show our downfall.

England basically knew we wouldn't try to kick it away and spent the time defending in the middle third of the pitch absolutely blowing us away. This forced us into pressure exits having conceded ground.

Italy showed some very shrew tactics to put England under pressure and I hope we can recreate them.

I want to see a strong day off the boot from JGP and Byrne as well as our back 3.

If we can put England under pressure in their own half we can nullify their smothering rush defence

UAEguy2020

kingofthekong wrote: »

Not sure there is an outhalf in the world that wouldve looked good against England when are pack was getting its lunch handed to them

And also if Ross Byrne has produced some of the shockers that Sexton produces in 2019 we would say he isn’t international level and should be binned but because Sexton is Sexton he got a free pass.

I’m sure with a scoreline of 57-14 there was more problems for Ireland than just who played at 10... the narrative created was Byrne isn’t good enough so when Ireland lost he was the convenient scape goat. Hopefully this weekend the team actually put in a performance that allows Byrne to flourish as it looks like based on social media that the scape goat is already being prepared.

Solutionking

I like it, some good changes

Kelleher: I suppose the decision was he has been practicing with Roux/Ryan/POM etc for last few weeks so keep him in the team. I think everyone expected Herring to come back in but will be interesting to see how he goes

Roux: Had a great game v Wales and I think he was the main reason the scrum went so well, similar to Kelleher I think everyone expected Hendo to come back in. The decision to stick with a form player against the old guard is good

Backrow: personally would of had Conners in but I guess POM in to help at lineout and also for Ryan at captain. Good to see Stander back at 6, lets see how he goes

9/10: I think most people would never thought JGP would start after Sexton injury, going with the experience of Murray was expected so very interesting call. Also the call to bring Byrne back in, last time out in Twickers was a nightmare but then again no 10 would of had a good day with the team hammered like that.

Backs: More or less picked themselves due to injury and Conway didn't have great game v Wales. His skill in the air is not required as we dont seem to be kicking the ball.

schmoo2k

eclipsechaser wrote: »

I'm glad to hear someone else bring this up. It's staggering the number of penalties given away from holding on when letting go - although frustrating - would leave the team much better off. I can't fathom why teams and players haven't adapted yet.

I second this as a lot of times the jackler may have hands on ball, but is unable to lift it (due to supporting weight via arms and ball) and sometimes even end up falling on it and giving a pen to the attacking team.

Larbre34

He picks on form. Even if its a different XV every week, he will pick on form.

No sacred cows, nobody is safe, I'm behind that all the way.

Harpon

I’d have Henderson on in place of POM but apart from that it’s a good selection

theVersatile

Harpon wrote: »

I’d have Henderson on in place of POM but apart from that it’s a good selection

Henderson in the back row???

Harpon

theVersatile wrote: »

Henderson in the back row???

Yeah, I don’t see why he couldn’t do a good job there, we need the extra bulk against England

razorblunt

Harpon wrote: »

Yeah, I don’t see why he couldn’t do a good job there, we need the extra bulk against England

Ah man, there's "doing a job" in the Pro 14 and there's International rugby.

kingofthekong

crossman47 wrote: »

I'm a great fan of Earls for his service over the years but I can't agree about Conway. Hes done the best he can with limited possession. I know we don't have much choice at centre but Aki offers very little imo.

Thought AKI was very good against France and offered us gainline every time, not the most creative center partnership though

Paul Smeenus

razorblunt wrote: »

Ah man, there's "doing a job" in the Pro 14 and there's International rugby.

To be clear, I don't want to see Hendo at six.

But he's put in superb performances in the HEC at blindside, against the likes of Sarries. I know how you love to pooh-pooh, but don't get carried away with the pooh-pooh.

Paul Weller

I can't see that side being within 15 points of England at the games end, hopefully they prove me wrong, but I believe we'll get spanked.

Paul Smeenus

Paul Weller wrote: »

I can't see that side being within 15 points of England at the games end, hopefully they prove me wrong, but I believe we'll get spanked.

I downheartedly agree with Back-Up Paul.

UAEguy2020

Harpon wrote: »

Yeah, I don’t see why he couldn’t do a good job there, we need the extra bulk against England

No we don’t, what we need is to use our brain which we have failed to do the last 3 games against England.

kingofthekong

I think we lose this pretty comfortably but hope its not a blow out,

I actually think we beat them in the six nations when Furlong, Leavy and others back as well as some additions into the squad from maybe Baird or H.byrne

aloooof

kingofthekong wrote: »

Thought AKI was very good against France and offered us gainline every time, not the most creative center partnership though

I'm a massive fan of Aki, but I think the biggest downside to having him against England is his lack of kicking game. Intelligent grubbers, crossfield kicks etc. are a brilliant way to turn England's line speed against them.

Dubinusa

I wonder if not playing Beirne at 6 is a missed opportunity. England would be a great opposition to try this out. Maybe go with
6. Beirne
7 VDF
8. Stander
20. Doris.

The Lost Sheep

Dubinusa wrote: »

I wonder if not playing Beirne at 6 is a missed opportunity. England would be a great opposition to try this out. Maybe go with
6. Beirne
7 VDF
8. Stander
20. Doris.

Why? When has he played there recently and why would England be a side to try that out against?

TRC10

I think it's pretty clear that England are way ahead of us at the moment. Winning away against the best team in the world is going to be very tough. I think the main focus from us should be putting in a strong performance and also seeing a clear development into our game and a movement towards playing the way Andy Farrell wants us to play. Accuracy at the breakdown and being more clinical in the opposition 22 are two things that theres room for improvement in. However we created a lot of chances against Wales which is a promising sign in itself. We're a team in transition, Englans are arguably the best team in the world. This will be a tough game but I'm hoping for clear signs of development.

Paul Weller

TRC10 wrote: »

I think it's pretty clear that England are way ahead of us at the moment. Winning away against the best team in the world is going to be very tough. I think the main focus from us should be putting in a strong performance and also seeing a clear development into our game and a movement towards playing the way Andy Farrell wants us to play. Accuracy at the breakdown and being more clinical in the opposition 22 are two things that theres room for improvement in. However we created a lot of chances against Wales which is a promising sign in itself. We're a team in transition, Englans are arguably the best team in the world. This will be a tough game but I'm hoping for clear signs of development.

I don't think they are the best team in the world..if you say top 4 ..then maybe

bilston

I feel strangely optimistic about this game.

We have a bigger midfield than England which is unusual and with the speed that JGP gets the ball moving and the sharper from throughout the team in general I think we might cause England more problems than we did in February.

swiwi_

IMO if Ireland win then Ross Byrne will have had a stormer. I struggle to see Ireland winning otherwise. It’s nice to have rugby on, although crying shame about Fiji.

aloooof

swiwi_ wrote: »

IMO if Ireland win then Ross Byrne will have had a stormer. I struggle to see Ireland winning otherwise. It’s nice to have rugby on, although crying shame about Fiji.

It really does make such a difference as compared to the last lockdown. Really looking forward to the weekend now, even if I'm not expecting a win.

Real shame about Fiji alright. Especially the France game, that could've been brilliant to watch.

swiwi_

swiwi_ wrote: »

IMO if Ireland win then Ross Byrne will have had a stormer. I struggle to see Ireland winning otherwise. It’s nice to have rugby on, although crying shame about Fiji.

Ross Byrne could have the game of his life but if the Irish pack don't gain some advantage in contact and hold parity at the set piece then it wont matter.

Byrne will deliver a competent, professional but not game changing performance and that's fine - Ireland enjoyed plenty of success with O'Gara doing the same thing but we'll need to hammer them up front if we want to win in Twickenham.

Paul Weller

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Ross Byrne could have the game of his life but if the Irish pack don't gain some advantage in contact and hold parity at the set piece then it wont matter.

Byrne will deliver a competent, professional but not game changing performance and that's fine - Ireland enjoyed plenty of success with O'Gara doing the same thing but we'll need to hammer them up front if we want to win in Twickenham.

Many would rightly argue that O'Gara dragged a lesser quality side over the line many times compared to the fantastic players Sexton had around him

Dave_The_Sheep

Paul Weller wrote: »

Many would rightly argue that O'Gara dragged a lesser quality side over the line many times compared to the fantastic players Sexton had around him

Um. Ireland's golden generation? A lesser quality side?

swiwi_

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Ross Byrne could have the game of his life but if the Irish pack don't gain some advantage in contact and hold parity at the set piece then it wont matter.

Byrne will deliver a competent, professional but not game changing performance and that's fine - Ireland enjoyed plenty of success with O'Gara doing the same thing but we'll need to hammer them up front if we want to win in Twickenham.

Think those are mutually exclusive. If Irish pack doesn’t gain some advantage I don’t see Byrne having the game of his life. He’s just not the sort of player to deliver a statement performance with a beaten pack.