6 Nations

[Superhoops]

Question: why do Irish players when they are standing on the edge of a ruck put one hand in the air? I watched the Wales/Italy and France/England games and none of their players do it. :confused:
Don't know if this is right, but I was told (by a rugby head) that it is to attract the referee to the fact that they are not coming in from the side. BTW, England players were at it last night, mainly when the French were within 10 yards of the line.

[OneRedArmy]

Its part of the defensive system. I think its to mark where exactly the ball is, so the defensive line can arrange either side of that person. The person with their hand up is known as the "policeman" and is supposed to stop someone making a quick break straight through the back of the ruck.

[SkStu]

Its part of the defensive system. I think its to mark where exactly the ball is, so the defensive line can arrange either side of that person. The person with their hand up is known as the "policeman" and is supposed to stop someone making a quick break straight through the back of the ruck.

exactly, though i think theyre called the "pillar" & "post" position. They stand on each side of the ruck. And the hand in the air is to let team mates know that pillar and post are covered.

[RogerMilla]

fair play to geordan , he pulled it out of the bag, he should be give an extended run in the team now, ireland to beat wales

[Dr. Ogba]

Yeah happy to see him do well, he definitely added some dynamism to the back line and deserves his place for the next game. Wouldn't be so confident of such an easy time against the Welsh though. If we start like we did against the Scots then we could be in for a rough time. Whereas the Scots were completely toothless in the backline, the Welsh will be very very dangerous.

Should be a cracking game for the neutrals though...

[paul_oshea]

anyone wonder was that comment from EOS, done as motivation?!

[OneRedArmy]

For Wales I'd bring in Best and O'Connell and seriously consider Horgan in place of Bowe. Bowe didn't do anything wrong but Horgan has more pace.

Murphy has to stay and I just hope he can string two good performances together, something that I don't think he's ever done for Ireland.

[joeSoap]

For Wales I'd bring in Best and O'Connell and seriously consider Horgan in place of Bowe. Bowe didn't do anything wrong but Horgan has more pace.
Murphy has to stay and I just hope he can string two good performances together, something that I don't think he's ever done for Ireland.

Don't know where you're getting that from. Bowe is easily faster than Horgan, and while he hasn't got the strength Horgan has, he certainly isn't slower than him. Horgans major contribution to games over the past couple of seasons has been to field high cross field kicks from ROG, but I'd certainly leave Bowe there ahead of him because he's an out and out finisher.

A fit Flannery has to start also. Neither Best or Jackman have proven themselves having been given several chances, and Flannerys accuracy at the lineout, coupled with his abrasiveness around the pitch will be badly needed against Wales.

Regarding Murphy....Don't be surprised to see Dempsey included ahead of him against Wales. One swallow doesn't make a summer, and O'Sullivan likes consistency and is quite loyal to those who provide it. Although from hat I hear Dermpseys injury is going to keep him out of the Wales game too, so then it becomes a no-brainer.

Flannery and O'Connell for Jackman and O'Driscoll will be the only changes I think.

[RogerMilla]

Wouldn't be so confident of such an easy time against the Welsh though. ...


never said it would be easy , but i fully expect us to win , the team has finally got the influx of new blood that it needed and the XV is not set in stone.

Gatlands return.. loved him as manager.. but i hope he has a mare in two weeks..

[geysir]

A fit Flannery has to start also. Neither Best or Jackman have proven themselves having been given several chances, and Flannerys accuracy at the lineout, coupled with his abrasiveness around the pitch will be badly needed against Wales.
On that point I heard Keith Wood say it takes time for a hooker to gel with the lineout, that patience was needed even for the best hookers in the game to get it right at the lineout.

[Dr. Ogba]

Gatlands return.. loved him as manager.. but i hope he has a mare in two weeks..


Ditto, he was responsible for introducing the Stringer/O'Gara axis into the Irish setup and I think he wasn't really given enough credit for putting us on the right track.
Saying that, I 'd love if we gave the Welsh a good spanking, they can be an awful arrogant shower when they're winning...

[Torn-Ado]

Anyone knoe where you can see the highlights of the Ireland v France and Scotland games. The sattelite went in the pub on both occassions.

[tetsujin1979]

Both games available on torrent sites

[Rovers fan]

Don't know where you're getting that from. Bowe is easily faster than Horgan, and while he hasn't got the strength Horgan has, he certainly isn't slower than him. Horgans major contribution to games over the past couple of seasons has been to field high cross field kicks from ROG, but I'd certainly leave Bowe there ahead of him because he's an out and out finisher.

A fit Flannery has to start also. Neither Best or Jackman have proven themselves having been given several chances, and Flannerys accuracy at the lineout, coupled with his abrasiveness around the pitch will be badly needed against Wales.

Regarding Murphy....Don't be surprised to see Dempsey included ahead of him against Wales. One swallow doesn't make a summer, and O'Sullivan likes consistency and is quite loyal to those who provide it. Although from hat I hear Dermpseys injury is going to keep him out of the Wales game too, so then it becomes a no-brainer.

Flannery and O'Connell for Jackman and O'Driscoll will be the only changes I think.

I would agree with everything there

[OneRedArmy]

Don't know where you're getting that from. Bowe is easily faster than Horgan, and while he hasn't got the strength Horgan has, he certainly isn't slower than him. Horgans major contribution to games over the past couple of seasons has been to field high cross field kicks from ROG, but I'd certainly leave Bowe there ahead of him because he's an out and out finisher.

A fit Flannery has to start also. Neither Best or Jackman have proven themselves having been given several chances, and Flannerys accuracy at the lineout, coupled with his abrasiveness around the pitch will be badly needed against Wales.

Regarding Murphy....Don't be surprised to see Dempsey included ahead of him against Wales. One swallow doesn't make a summer, and O'Sullivan likes consistency and is quite loyal to those who provide it. Although from hat I hear Dermpseys injury is going to keep him out of the Wales game too, so then it becomes a no-brainer.

Flannery and O'Connell for Jackman and O'Driscoll will be the only changes I think.Assumption was that Flannery won't be fit, which is what I've read pretty much everywhere. Is he playing for Munster this weekend?

[Torn-Ado]

Its all good. Got the highlights on the official RBS6 nations site.

[joeSoap]

It now appears certain that Murphy is definitely out, and that Dempsey has virtually no chance of making it either. Kearney will be moved to full back, and Horgan on the right wing with Bowe moving across to the left. Luke Fitzgerald will be brought on to the bench.

This now represents a huge day at the office for Kearney. Jones will no doubt bombard him early on, but from what I've seen of him he's more than capable.

[Kingdom]

It now appears certain that Murphy is definitely out, and that Dempsey has virtually no chance of making it either. Kearney will be moved to full back, and Horgan on the right wing with Bowe moving across to the left. Luke Fitzgerald will be brought on to the bench.

This now represents a huge day at the office for Kearney. Jones will no doubt bombard him early on, but from what I've seen of him he's more than capable.

Joe you would appear to be our go-to man on all things rugby. Is Murphy and the Swerve being out a good thing in terms of game time for the young lads? Is Kearney an out and out full back or is he just a temp?

[joeSoap]

Joe you would appear to be our go-to man on all things rugby. Is Murphy and the Swerve being out a good thing in terms of game time for the young lads? Is Kearney an out and out full back or is he just a temp? Thanks for the compliment (I think) but I just follow the game very avidly and have a few friends involved in the set up, so I get to hear stuff, thats all.

I think Kearney will be ok at full back. Its hard to say whether or not he's an out and out full back but any time I've seen him there he looks very comfortable, with a good eye for the high ball, a sweet left foot and great pace. Confidence is the thing, and I'm not sure on how he is with that, but he's done nothing but impress me so far.

Long term, I think Ireland see him as a left winger, with Luke Fitzgerald probably the full back. Theres some serious talent in the backline coming up with Fitzgerald, Kearney, Keith Earls, Felix Jones and Jonathan Sexton on the up.

[Kingdom]

Thanks for the compliment (I think) but I just follow the game very avidly and have a few friends involved in the set up, so I get to hear stuff, thats all.

I think Kearney ....... Theres some serious talent in the backline coming up with Fitzgerald, Kearney, Keith Earls, Felix Jones and Jonathan Sexton on the up.

Thanks for that and yes it was a compliment.

[Dr. Ogba]

would it have been a bit too soon to throw Fitzgerald in and leave the rest of the back line as it is? maybe a bit too inexperienced I suppose but I would love to see a back line of Bowe Fitzgerald and Kearney in the near future....

[shakermaker1982]

PLEASE PLEASE LET US HAMMER WALES TODAY!!!

I'm sick to death of this Gatland/EOS backstabbing story and cannot wait for the action to start.

[paul_oshea]

hes right though EOS did stab him in the back. Said he was off to the eagles and backed them into a corner.

[beautifulrock]

hes right though EOS did stab him in the back. Said he was off to the eagles and backed them into a corner.

thats stabbing him in the front so..............

[pete]

Can't stand cocky Wales when they win a few games.

[endabob1]

Time for Eddie to take his leave me thinks, he has gone stale and Ireland were so devoid of ideas today it was shocking. There are some really good young players coming through but I don't think EOS is the man to take them on.

[Rovers fan]

that was terrible,no direction whatsoever. Eddie out!! he cant bring this team any further imo.

[rebelarmyexile]

just back croker, another dismal performance. just cant understand o'sullivans substitutions? great performance for the first 30min, after that it looked like the GAA was gettin to us.

[shakermaker1982]

awful. The only one who can hold his head up today is Kearney. What was the ****** gameplan today Eddie? To add salt into the wound Wales were nothing special - they just knew what they were doing.

[Cymro]

Sorry fellas, close enough game but just wasn't your day. Reminds me of the game back in '03 when O'Gara kicked the last minute drop goal. Little things change games.

To be fair though we did spend about 70% of the 2nd half camped down in your half of the field, so I'd say we marginally deserved it.

[Superhoops]

just back croker, another dismal performance. just cant understand o'sullivans substitutions? great performance for the first 30min, after that it looked like the GAA was gettin to us.

I may have missed something it but why was O'Connell left on for the whole game, he was fu**ing abysmal, did fu*k all in the line out except knock balls forward.

No doubt Wales wanted it more today, but why why at the start of the second half when we had a man advantage were we not punting balls into the Welsh 25.

[shakermaker1982]

I'm still livid.

Eddie has to go and quick. The team have looked 'flat' since last August.

We've lost our two 1st choice centres so God knows who will partner Trimble next week against England who will be looking to improve on their shocking performance against the Scots today.

[pete]

O'Sullivan Out!

All too obvious he is too conservative & has been in the job too long. He has stumbled onto good players such as Kearney & Heaslip (not good enough for the World Cup). Today also proven Wallace will never play as was an unused option when O'Driscoll got injured. The bench was very poor with no options. Easterby offers nothing off the bench. Even if Ireland had nicked it with a penalty they would not have deserved as only have one effort at a try. Must have been a terrible match to attend as was very flat.

[Torn-Ado]

We just have intelligent players anymore. No real creativity and spark. Some of the options the players took yesterday boggled the mind. Jackman's charge at a player who wasn't intentionally interfering, Reddans quick tap for a penalty and then kicks to touch giving piossession back to Wales when we would have got our own throw in if he just left it to ROG.

Idiotic is the only word I would use to describe them.

[Torn-Ado]

just back croker, another dismal performance. just cant understand o'sullivans substitutions? great performance for the first 30min, after that it looked like the GAA was gettin to us.

I don't understand. "the GAA was gettin to us"?

[paul_oshea]

I may have missed something it but why was O'Connell left on for the whole game, he was fu**ing abysmal, did fu*k all in the line out except knock balls forward.

No doubt Wales wanted it more today, but why why at the start of the second half when we had a man advantage were we not punting balls into the Welsh 25.

this is exactly what me and my presentation friend were saying, odriscoll should have started, he did nothing wrong all campaign, oconnell then on for the last 15.

We weren't even one-dimensional we were non-dimensional, we hadn't a clue what we were doing, trying to play it in at the forwards all game, yet we were getting nothing from this yet eddie continued to play this game, it was obvious after about 15 mins that we were doing nothing and weren't going to win unless we changed our tactics. I think EOS has had long enough and things are becoming stale. Its alright to have things like this at the start of your tenure but after a few years when this sets in there is no turning it back.

[Macy]

It's been an awfully long year since last years highs in the Championship. Time for Eddie to go - either his tatics aren't working or the players aren't listening. Jake White while he's still available or Kidney.

However, there has to be some reassessment of the provincial set up's too. There has to be more focus on bringing players through and even moving players around the provinces to keep them in the Irish system. It's a hard balancing act between success at that level and bringing through players, but is it one we're getting right at the moment?

[endabob1]

It's been an awfully long year since last years highs in the Championship. Time for Eddie to go - either his tatics aren't working or the players aren't listening. Jake White while he's still available or Kidney.

However, there has to be some reassessment of the provincial set up's too. There has to be more focus on bringing players through and even moving players around the provinces to keep them in the Irish system. It's a hard balancing act between success at that level and bringing through players, but is it one we're getting right at the moment?

There is a man who understands the structure and knows how to motivate and organise a team, the unfortunate part is he was in the other camp on Saturday and we've already dumped on him from a great height once:(

[beautifulrock]

There is a man who understands the structure and knows how to motivate and organise a team, the unfortunate part is he was in the other camp on Saturday and we've already dumped on him from a great height once:(

My thoughts on Gatland are similar to Ricky Gervais, you can either be a great coach of comedian or make sure your sure your best friend is i.e. Merchant and Edwards.

Wales can keep Gatland but I would take Edwards in a split second.

[paul_oshea]

It's been an awfully long year since last years highs in the Championship. Time for Eddie to go - either his tatics aren't working or the players aren't listening. Jake White while he's still available or Kidney.

However, there has to be some reassessment of the provincial set up's too. There has to be more focus on bringing players through and even moving players around the provinces to keep them in the Irish system. It's a hard balancing act between success at that level and bringing through players, but is it one we're getting right at the moment?

We were having this discussion as well during the game, something like using Connaught as a "development" province, with young up and coming guys and reserve guys etc, going out on loan to get some game time and experience...

[ifk101]

We were having this discussion as well during the game, something like using Connaught as a "development" province, with young up and coming guys and reserve guys etc, going out on loan to get some game time and experience...

Connaught is used as "a development province" (or am I reading your post incorrectly?)

[paul_oshea]

its not really though, connaught sign up all the castaways and retiring players from other provinces and England, plus a few token europeans/world. I am suggesting loaning out players on the fringes, be them young up and coming promising players or those just outside of the 22.

[shakermaker1982]

I hope he takes a risk and opts for Fitzgerald today. Horgan is not a centre.

I'd also seriously consider bringing Stringer back. Reddan was driving me nuts at the weekend - S L O W and his box kicks could be read from a mile off.

[OneRedArmy]

No surprises in the team. Playing one of the worst passers in the team (Horgan) in a pivotal position that has NEVER worked before. Kearney being rewarded for being our standout player on Saturday by being shunted onto the wing again.....

In addition to O'Sullivan, Philip Browne should also head for the door. He has masterminded us into a situation that will take years to emerge from in relation to Eddie's contract and if O'Sullivan is correct is his assertion that he has been effectively left no option to experiment, then we face almost a whole team retiring at the same time.

The IRFU are fast becoming the new FAI......

[joeSoap]

if O'Sullivan is correct is his assertion that he has been effectively left no option to experiment, then we face almost a whole team retiring at the same time.

Luke Fitzgerald: Tommy Bowe, Andrew Trimble, Felix Jones, Keith Earls: Ian Humphries, Frank Murphy; Cian Healy, Jerry Flannery, Tony Buckley: Donncha Ryan, Trevor Hogan: Stephen Keogh, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip.

Jerry Flannery at 27 would be the oldest of that side. They are all up and coming players. We are playing England in a dead rubber, only important to Eddie because it is his l;ast chance of saving his own neck. Every one of that 15 has years ahead of them, and all promising futures, yet bar Flannery, Bowe, Trimble and Heaslip, Eddie doesn't want to blood any of them.

There is no being correct in that assertion Eddie. You're just a lily livered , self preservationalist bottler. England to hockey us....and God forgive me, part of me hopes they do if it means the end of the road for the talking horse.

[shakermaker1982]

I'm disgusted at the selection. We played ****e all game and he only makes one change because of an injury to BOD. Horgan is not a CENTRE - how can he not see this? This crap about only losing by one score is also infuriating. Defeatist attitudes like that ensure our nation does not succeed at the top tiers of sport. If we lose to England EOS is gone but I hope that he's shown the door even with another victory at Twickenham. The team is stale - change is a necessity to ensure the shambles of RW2007 and this 6N campaign is not repeated.

[Bald Student]

Luke Fitzgerald: Tommy Bowe, Andrew Trimble, Felix Jones, Keith Earls: Ian Humphries, Frank Murphy; Cian Healy, Jerry Flannery, Tony Buckley: Donncha Ryan, Trevor Hogan: Stephen Keogh, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip.

Jerry Flannery at 27 would be the oldest of that side. They are all up and coming players. We are playing England in a dead rubber, only important to Eddie because it is his l;ast chance of saving his own neck. Every one of that 15 has years ahead of them, and all promising futures, yet bar Flannery, Bowe, Trimble and Heaslip, Eddie doesn't want to blood any of them.

There is no being correct in that assertion Eddie. You're just a lily livered , self preservationalist bottler. England to hockey us....and God forgive me, part of me hopes they do if it means the end of the road for the talking horse.

I can see the point you're making but I don't agree with this. One disagreement I'd have with Eddie is that he plays each game with either a first or second XV, making 15 changes between games in the autumn internationals and sending second string squads on the various tours.

I think he's improved this year bringing players in one and two at a time, even if that was forced on him by injury. I wouldn't like to see him play a second XV against England, especially if it means players line Earls and Healy, who aren't ready for this level, have to start.

The most revealing comment of the championship in my mind came from the Leinster coach when he announced his team for the Mangers League game against Cardiff. D'Arcy was injured and Cheika said that he'd received no information from Eddie about who he'd like to see get game time in the centre instead. So, in the absence of any information, he fielded his strongest team and played a foreign player.

[joeSoap]

I'm not suggesting he picks an alternative xv against England, but merely pointing out that there are patent alternatives open to him should he choose to use them.

If I was picking a side against England I would go with:

Geordan Murphy; Tommy Bowe, Luke Fitzgerald, Andrew Trimble, Rob Kearney; ROG, Eoin Reddan; Marcus Horan, Rory Best, Tony Buckley; Donncha Ryan, Paul O'Connell; Alan Quinlan, Keith Gleeson, Jamie Heaslip.

[pete]

The IRFU are fast becoming the new FAI......

They must be meeting over Lansdowne & other issue too often that Delaney rubbing off on them. I am not of course criticising the FAI as have to be careful what I say.

12 months since last good performance (last years 6 Nations) shows that this is not a blip in form. Injuries are no excuse as it is not as if missing some one like O'Gara with no replacement.

Leave Kidney at Munster as they need him.

[tetsujin1979]

Leave Kidney at Munster as they need him.I don't know if Kidney would leave Munster. New stadium, still in the Heineken Cup, possibility of testing himself against the All Blacks in the Autumn.