Ire v Samoa 19:45pm - On RTÉ Two

Stockdale is many things but poor under a high ball he is not- misjudged one but good apart from that

Awful game in horrendous conditions. But we had a very mixed side out there. Good few 3rd and 4th choice players playing large parts of the game. And Samoa are not a bad side. They comfortably beat both Tonga and Romania in recent months by 20 odd points each. And the only try they scored was a pretty jammy intercept. So basically what we’ve seen is that even in terrible conditions a scratch side that hasn’t really played together much is enough to get us through those first 2 games. That’ll do.

What we need to worry about is whether our first string team will get through the other games. And I think there was plenty of evidence that we can in that England game. When we clicked in that one we looked very good and some of our variations off the our pods was encouraging. A functioning line out and we’d have put 40+ on them and I’m not sure we’d see quite the same level of hysteria on here then.

However the line out is a worry. And having 2 injured hookers is going to make that hard to fix. It’s one of the only areas I’d be genuinely concerned about at this stage. Things settled down when Herring came on yesterday which eases that concern somewhat but SA will be licking their lips at those issues.

Another concern is the form of a few senior players. Hendo and Henshaw yesterday for me were very poor. Two senior and experienced guys who needed to step up and who I don’t think did. Beirne too has been very quiet in his performances. Add to that the injury to Healy, an area where we simply don’t have too much depth at all, and there is cause for some concern.

I wouldn’t worry about our form in general. Our first string team have played 1 game together now in 5 months. And they were close to putting a big score up on an admittedly very poor England. They showed some real class at times in that game and have a few weeks to iron out any additional issues. Plus that side will almost certainly include both VDF and Sexton in the starting line up (with Doris in his best position at 8) which will improve us again.

Its a real shame seeing so many Irish people looking to run this team down before the tournament even gets going. It’s okay to have criticisms, but try and contextualise those and recognise that it isn’t all bad. And if you’re a rugby fan who can’t see anything but negatives (and not just in this series of games), I do wonder what the point is. Why follow something that makes you miserable? It’s just weird.

Glad the warmups are over. Always a challenge.

12 of our 1st choice didn't start last night for context. My concerns for the wider squad would be the obvious ones, injury at hooker, loosehead and jack conan and a lack of form from Henderson, Henshaw, Beirne and to a lesser extent Furlong.

I think we have selected well and despite lacking a decent 1, 7 and back 3 player to push for squad inclusion ( we don't have these guys) we will be in a great place at the beginning of the competition.

Barnes got pissed off early with the shouting that was being directed at him.

Ultimately he is a posh brit so doesn't take that kind of behavior. I think it was steward he penalized for it, and hansen later in the game gave away ten yards for objecting to a penalty call.

The players should know barnes well enough now to keep your mouth shut and have the captain approach him when needs be

I think the most worrying aspect of last nights performance, was the lack of leadership. There was a massive change when Ryan and POM came on. A lot of the senior players were coasting, when we needed them to step up. Yes it’s a warm up and no one wants to get injured. Though you want to know that certain players can step up, when Sexton, Ryan and POM aren’t there.

The weather was atrocious and I’m sure that had a major influence on the performance too. I’m the end, we stuck to it and dug out the win. That’s important in itself.

I’m not sure if I want us to win more because I’m a rugby fan and Ireland fan. Or to shut up the misery merchants and seagulls on here, who are baying for Ireland to lose. I think the former but the latter would be sweet to.

At least the warmups proper are over now and we can look forward to the tournament. Perhaps I’m too Irish to be confident but I’m certainly optimistic about our chances.

If a Leinster player was as anonymous in the last 2 games as Beirne has been, there would be an army on here calling for his head on a spike.

McCarthy should be ahead on form

POM was quietly excellent, some of his best carrying I've seen in a long time. Not often you see him running over someone, especially an Islander.

With concerns over our accuracy in the lineout, it was great to see us do well defensively. I hope it's something we keep up. Ryan and POM are 2 of the best in the business for disrupting opponent's throws.

Exactly this, VDF is many things but a turnover threat is not one. He has never been a fetcher type 7. Porter, Doris and Conan are far more prolific there.