Ireland side against France named.
Just the one change, Heaslip in for Leamy, O'Brien moved to six. I have a bad feeling about this...
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Ireland side against France named.
Just the one change, Heaslip in for Leamy, O'Brien moved to six. I have a bad feeling about this...
Doesn't really rectify the problems of last week except it gets rid of penalty machine Leamy (for 60 minutes at least). I'm not sure what Jennings needs to do to get in the team - perhaps put on 3 stone and run down blind alleys? Wallace was the weak link in the scrum last week - he broke off within seconds every time, and journalists are still wondering why Ross kept getting pinged.
Agreed - Wallace wasn't the only one, since Leamy spent most scrums complaining at the ref (with reason, in fairness). Still would've been better putting a decent shove on. I really don't see what Kidney sees in Leamy above Jennings. Also think it's curious Trimble doesn't make the bench - our only attacking game changer in reserve is O'Gara. Can't see Paddy Wallace making much of an impact late on, whereas at least Trimble's direct running and versatility could help.
D'Arcy can count himself very lucky I think...
I don't understand why Paddy Wallace is in the squad. With O'Gara on the bench, he's not needed to cover out half and we've no bench cover for the back 3 now.
I wouldn't fancy Wallace defending against Rougerie and Traille.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr A
What time is that game on in Dublin?
3pm.
Scotland and Wales was the worst game I've ever seen. Or at least since the Italy match last week. Truly frustrating stuff. England mauled Italy without ever looking great. I think if France can sort out their inferiority complex they'll cause them serious problems and if we can match them up front we'll have enough to win comfortably. Worried about tomorrow though.
Very disappointed. We played nearly all the rugby but too ill-disciplined and still far too many silly errors. So frustrating, should've been a certain try at the end too...what could've been.
The one possible positive is it takes some pressure off Kidney in terms of team selection. With so many injuries, there's ample opportunity to do some much needed squad building. I certainly think it's time for Cronin to get a stretch in team, and maybe a chance for a few others to get a run.
D'Arcy had another shocker today. He'll do well to keep his place
Anyone hear Brian Moore's comment with the clock on 79+ minutes and France putting the ball into the scrum under their own posts?
"Ireland should collapse this scrum. You never know, the ref might give it".
Fair enough in my book, but earlier (and he has frequently done it in his newspaper columns) he put football down - "stop talking back to the ref, it's not football".
No big deal in ityself but I'm tired listening to the sanctimony of rugby union and its perceived holier than thou view on cheating. The All Blacks are rampant offenders, Harlequins' bloodgate affair was pathetic, I've seen plenty of players take quick penalties and run offline into an opponent who hasn't retreated to get him a yellow, and Moore's comments today were categorical proof that rugby players cynically play the ref too. If rugby players could gain advantage from pretending they were taken down, they would. I'm not saying they're as bad as (some / many) footballers - the spirit is generally much much better and they allow the ref to be in charge.
Anyway, it looks like our rugby and football teams are suffering from the same ailments. Conservative selections, players playing on reputations and lack of clinical edge. That game was there to be won but there were too many errors. We rode our luck big time at the end. BOD's grubber kick for the try was badly executed and we were lucky it rebounded of a French shin into an Irish hand. RO'G was dead luckly his missed kick for touch was knocked on and then played by an offside French player, winning us another 30 yards.
The press would have a field day tearing our footballers apart for similar errors.
I think the French were just as guilty in the luck riding stakes. But I agree - no glory in another glorious failure. Yah, and I remember Brian riding around his high horse a few times, responding to the booing when Chabal came on with a 'shut up, it's not football' style comment.
Cant say im the most knowledgeable rugby fan, but what were most of the Irish pens for today?? Holding onto the player after the tackle, seemed to be the majority consenus. Was at the game and have to say Ireland have only themselves to blame. They were reasonably comfortable in the first half and only for conceding numerous needless pens would have had a comfortbable lead at half time.
In the second half the mistakes continued, I continued at least 6 knock ons in total. Line outs lost on their own throw, numerous missed tackles (particularly for their try), garryowens not dealt with (X3 in Luke F's case). And worst of all when Ireland had got themselves back in a chance to win the game, 3 points behind with 10 mins to play, they win a pen and a lineout just on the edge of the 22, a great platform for an attack, they lose the line out. Shocking and not good enough if you ask me. Perhaps im looking at the glass half empty but has there ever been a game against France where they threatened our line so little, we scored 3 tries to one and still lost.
Absolutely we totally threw it away, and the high error count is quickly becoming the signature move of this team. Our ill-discipline is entirely of our own making - penalties were mostly not rolling away, but also playing the ball off of feet, joining ruck from side (think was against Rory Best and he was warned twice by the referee but didn't move, absolutely idiotic).
Fact is France made loads of errors too, they just made us pay for ours. D'Arcy's missed tackle and generally poor game should see him not start the next game. The malfunctioning line-out and ill-discipline will probably cost Rory Best too, that overthrow with five minutes to go summed up his afternoon. Fitzgerald dealt well with the high ball generally I thought, credit the French there Garryowen's and chases were generally excellent. The knock on's are bizarre though, it almost seems psychological at this point. And some of our decision making is poor too - like O'Leary's inexplicable kick into touch in the first half and Cronin's going for the try at the end instead of simply spreading the play out to the four or five outside for a certain touchdown. Just thinking about it is making me grind my teeth...
It's a shame because we played some lovely stuff and our commitment at the breakdown was fantastic. The forwards got through some work, but the ill-discipline has to get sorted out.
I'd bring in Cronin, Wallace, possibly Cullen and Reddan for Scotland - start spreading the experience around the squad pre-World Cup.
I think Id agree with your replacements, Tomas O'L despite his try was poor imo. His passing is too often too slow and too high. D'Arcy has had two particularly poor games in a row so you would expect a change there.
On Fitzgerald and the high ball, I fail to recall too many good takes, more so I recall two that was pretty horrendous. The French try arose from a spate of errors, we lost our own line out in their half, followed by Fitzgerald completely missing a high ball (to Rougerie I think) who broke through and then the missed tackle from D'Arcy. One of those errors are poor on their own but three in the same play is criminal and was punished so.
To finish on a positive, I dont think I have ever seen an Ireland team get so many scores from attacks on an opponents line. From four attacks on their line we got three tries, the one that failed was in the very last min.
We still have that propensity to go for the killer pass every time - it almost seems to be a lack of awareness. If Australia or New Zealand had been presented with the ball like we were in the final minute, whatever player got on the ball would have got his head up and picked the correct pass instead of risking a pass at speed to Cronin.
Especially stupid as that was French fans shouting "Lupe". :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by SwanVsDalton
Was it booing or was it more of an 'oooo'? In any case, Chabal loves it.
Gutted.
Penalties cost us again but what else is new? The one when Best was offside in the second half was the final straw for me. Drop him. Chokes whenever we've got a key lineout and he needs to go.
D'Arcy and O'Leary are in the same boat. O'Leary cannot box kick so why does he do it? Plus he seems to be getting slower when releasing the ball.... I'd consider bringing back the Stringer/O Gara partnership.
I didn't think D'Arcy did anything wrong outside of the missed tackle. I think, realistically, we need to be able to drop players who make big errors so he should make way. If Bowe is back for Scotland, I'd be in favour of bringing McFadden in. I like Wallace but he gets injured too often at test level.
D'Arcy? Forward passes, offloaded to McFadden (who wasn't expecting it) when he should have took the ball to ground.
I'd bring Trimble or Earls to 13. Bowe will be back for the 14 slot (fingers crossed). I prefer Fitzgerald on the wing but don't think we have anybody at 15. How long is Kearney out for?
McFadden's playing too well to be dropped in my opinion. Not convinced by Earls yet - not got the physical strength to play at centre for me.
Kidney and O'Driscoll on yesterday's game and future selections.
Kidney says next weekend's Magners League fixtures will go some way to determining the team for Scotland.
O'Driscoll sums it all up when he says: “Guys have to go back and look at their individual performances, errors that were made. The more pressure that is put on guys who are in the starting 15 from other players . . . you are going to have to up your game or be replaced. They’re the blunt facts of the matter."
Absolutely right. And I hope that's followed through with a good bit of shake up in the coming games.
Very frustrating game. Ireland score 3 tries to 1 and still lose - a sliced penalty kick by Sexton the difference between the teams. How that Rugby's version of Dunphy, George Hooke, could claim that France were the better team is beyond me. They only got close to scoring one other try (the kick in to the corner)
On the positive side, the scrum did not capitulate. The dropped passes were so frustrating.
Am I right in thinking that O'Connell never makes any ground when he takes a pass off a ruck? I can't even remotely claim to be an expert but he always seems to be brought down on the spot he began.
I think France targeted Ireland with the high balls in Kearney's absence and it worked - Fitzgerald only collected one cleanly if I recall.
Ireland had their chance at the end and fluffed it......through a dropped pass. Strange since this happened against Italy a lot.
Good game though.
That was a conversion, wasn't it? So we'd still have lost by a point.Quote:
Very frustrating game. Ireland score 3 tries to 1 and still lose - a sliced penalty kick by Sexton the difference between the teams.
It's an area of his game that's gotten worse, although in his defence he is just back from a long injury. It's because he's so tall and bulky - he finds it difficult to get his body low enough to break the tackle. O'Callaghan is better at it.Quote:
Am I right in thinking that O'Connell never makes any ground when he takes a pass off a ruck? I can't even remotely claim to be an expert but he always seems to be brought down on the spot he began.
There was a peno he missed - I thought it was that he sliced rather than the conversion but I might be wrong. With a one point game we might not have gone hell for leather in that last attack for the try and just gone for the dropped goal. Who knows. I'd say we'll be doing well to win one of the last three games.
Based on what I've seen, I'd certainly expect us to beat Scotland and have a very good chance against Wales.Quote:
Originally Posted by OwlsFan
I'm surprised Parra has been dropped by the French. There was no harm he is knocked down a peg he likes to think the French have more ambition at international level that Ireland. Hopefully we'll get to knock them out of the World Cup at some point.
Ireland team to face Scotland
Three changes - Bowe, O'Gara and Reddan all back in. D'Arcy and Best are lucky, Wallace is still on the bench leaving us woefully short of back cover - again. It's unlikely he'll get any meaningful game time so what's the point? Don't know why McFadden isn't there tbh
D'Arcy probably got away with it because Wallace made so little impact for Ulster last week. Trimble was pretty poor also so that probably explain his exclusion.
Best isn't brilliant but haven't seen anything from Cronin to suggest he's better.
I'd prefer to see Stringer start over Reddan (s l o w).
I'm expecting us to win our 3 remaining games.....
I'm just relieved he didn't recall Tony Buckley. My heart skipped when he was recalled to the squad on Monday.
Both appear to struggle with their throws, but Cronin's a livewire in the loose and a real prospect. Think he should be given a better crack at competitive games, particularly if the guy in front of him is struggling.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr A
We've got to win well today and cut out the 1990s-era errors that have become a feature. Otherwise I think it'd be fair to say that we are a team that makes mistakes consistently rather than a team that has played below par for a bit.
Do educated observers think that England were any great shakes yesterday? They were the better team but a penalty that hit the upright and missing the rugby equivalent of an open goal (French guy failing to collect the grubber kick over England's line) was all that separated the sides. Wales missed a hatful of chances by taking wrong options. This could be an easily achieved Slam for them unless we pull our socks up. (They've already beaten Scotland in the press).
I was listening to R5 Live yestetrday morning and one pundit already had England in the RWC Final.
General point: the number of times English players chased up-and-unders from an offside position without being penalised was unreal. I thought that this was one of the major areas of focus for referees this year.
Any team that can hold them up front will beat them fairly comfortably. We won't but South Africa, New Zealand or France playing well will. I think they'll lose to France in the quarter final but if they win that, they could make the final as New Zealand and South Africa are in the other half of the draw.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I thought England were very average yesterday, France looked clueless and I really don't know why they seem to freeze whenever they face England. Bizarre.
Would Ireland have beat France playing like that? No way, maybe that's a sign of England being able to beat good sides when not at the races and it's something this Kidney side need before the WC. It seems that whenever we get a big scalp then it means our players 1-15 have to be at their absolute best. I still fancy our chances of beating them in the final 6N game. We have the better backs and just need to make sure the set pieces are solid.
Kidney needs a good win today to silence some of the doubters (Leinster fans on the whole) but I fear we're going to try and slug it out with Scotland which will make it a close game.
Cut out the penalties and handling errors and I think this team could get to a semi final at the WC.
France seem to have a mental bloke when it comes to England much as we have a mental block when it comes to France. They were much better this week than they were against us yet they consistently fluffed their lines, often under no pressure at all. I think we'll beat England because we're not scared of them but Wales away still looks tricky despite their poor form.
They have Lievremont for all their games unfortunately for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Haha wow. Freudian.
Well that was terrible, Scotland were awful and we only barely won. 21-9 up and we fell apart, gave away more stupid penalties and completely panicked when Scotland got back within a score.