Printable View
Sounding like a broken record but I fear for our front row on Saturday.
If the pack can get the backs enough ball then we're in with an outside chance with such a quality backline available, but man for man our pack is way off the AB's. I fear for Muldoon and Wallace against Kaino and McCaw. I hope I'm wrong but it could be carnage.
There's no forwards on the bench that you can bring on for the front five with any confidence either.
I suspect we'll lose on sheer number of penalties conceded. In terms of tries I reckon both teams will get one or two.
Well done Heaslip, you're an absolute disgrace.
What the **** went through his head? Absolutely ridiculous.Quote:
Originally Posted by OneRedArmy
Given the embarrassment at the half time score, there were quite a few individual and team positives in the second. Trimble, Buckley and Tuohy were excellent. Redden was great when he came on.
Great spirit and hopefully we'll learn from it, particularly Heaslip who let the whole team and the fans down massively.
What happened? Only watched first 10 minutes or so before having to head outQuote:
Originally Posted by OneRedArmy
Sent off after 10 mins for repeatedly dropping the knee on McCaws head at a ruck when we were on their try line. To compound it O'Gara went to the bin shortly after for a professional foul and we were down to 13. We shipped 21 or 28 points in that 15 min period. Madness.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
Fairly pleased with the performance after that. The scrum was a bit shaky for obvious reasons but was a lot more solid than it usually is with Hayes. Buckley was fantastic in the loose as well - his handling was incredible at times. Court missed a couple of tackles when he came on, so I think the decision to go with Buckley was 100% right.Quote:
Originally Posted by OneRedArmy
I thought Trimble had an excellent game too, so that's at least two positives. NZ were understandably complacent once the game was over as a contest but they still looked absolutely awful in defence. Kearney put in his usual game performance and O'Driscoll & d'Arcy had some good midfield breaks. Very concerned about the injuries though. He'll have to put out as weak a side as possible against the Maoris (phenomenally pointless fixture that should never have been booked to begin with) if we're to have any chance against the Aussies.
Gutted with that really. Hard to draw any positives given it was like a training spin in the 2nd half.
I'd put the full team out against the Maori . Hopefully flannery and Horgan can get out.
I disagree that it's hard to draw positives. I watched the NZ TV feed and there was no sense the ABs took their foot off the pedal. It's not their style to coast. The cameras regularly cut to Henry and he wasn't happy. The commentators were extremely unhappy the ABs shipped 4 tries and praised Ireland's 2nd half play.
I'd change the two half backs for Australia though.
Well if Henry was not happy then NZ must have been taking thier foot off the gas. Grand if you want if you want to take positives but any positives must be taken into context of the intensity of the second half which was not at normal test match level. Ireland showed a professional attitude in not giving up totally in the second half which is least you would expect. If buckey and Trimble play as well for 80 mins against Australia then I'll be happy to change my view.
I thought we were brilliant in the 2nd half. Fair play to em because NZ could put a 100 on you if heads dropped. It's a shame Heaslip lost the plot because the game was starting to hot up and I think we'd have ran them close.
Was Wayne Barnes going to give us a penalty on their line or did he want to wait another 2 minutes for the ball to come back?
Buckley was excellent and I hope he keeps getting more game time.
Side picked to play the Maori on Friday...
15 Geordan Murphy (c), 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Gavin Duffy, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Chris Henry, 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Ed O'Donoghue, 3 Tom Court, 2 John Fogarty, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 John Hayes, 18 Donncha O'Callaghan, 19 David Wallace, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Rob Kearney.
First impressions are that it is a weak side defensively, and has a very inexperienced pack bar Horan. Great opportunity for guys like Henry and Ruddock to make a name for themselves but theres a distinct lack of a real leader on the pitch to galvanise the side. This could be every bit as ugly as Saturday morning. At least theres a class bench there to be sprung if it goes pear shaped.
I'd predict a 20 point beating.
Don't know a massive amount about some of those players so it's hard to know. The team has a bit of a hodge podge feel to it (Gavin Duffy at centre!?) and that is unlikely to lead to a good performance, but at the same time these guys will probably benefit from the experience.
After a pretty good performance against the Maori, team against the Wallabies is as expected, although I wouldn't have picked O'Leary or M. O'Driscoll. Surely Redden deserves his place? Kidney certainly doesn't have his favourites in the same way Fast Eddie did, but O'Leary is as close to teachers pet as it comes.
Good to see P. Wallace get the chance, D'Arcy's injury made the decision easy, but Wallace was the standout performer against the Maori IMO, constantly breaking the gainline and lots of clever offloads. Big chance for him on Saturday.
I think Wallace has done enough to warrant selection ahead of D'Arcy, but Reddan was fairly poor against the Maoris and was caught out at the ruck a few times. O'Driscoll is probably the better bet ahead of Tuohy but I have a feeling we'll see Mick go off injured at some point anyway. The only change I'd have made is to put Geordan Murphy in ahead of Kearney.
I forgot about Geordan (how apt given how many times he's been forgotten at international level). Agree that he deserves to start. He's playing with a lot more confidence that Kearney. Kearney has had an absolute stinker of a season after a magnificant season last year with Leinster, Ireland and Lions. Hopefully its not permanent.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
He's shown glimpses but he's been hampered by a couple of small injuries and maybe a bit of a Lions hangover. There's a few lads in there who will particularly benefit from a summer's rest.
I think Murphy's defence isn't up to standard at international level. Great going forward and has always been an excellent fielder of the ball but his defence has always been shaky. If he had been a more solid defender then he would have 100 caps I think.
What do people think our chances are on Saturday? Hopefully the fact that our scrum shouldn't be under as much pressure has got to give us a realistic chance of a win on Saturday. It does require some new faces to have big games. Delighted Sexton got the nod at out-half and fair dues to Paddy Wallace as well getting himself back in there - played a great game last Friday night against the Maori. Hopefully the lads that played against New Zealand will be out to redeem themselves. A win would be a nice boost I think, and maybe a psychological blow given that its the last time we play them before the World Cup in a years time. It should be an interesting game. Still think we are too knackered to get a win - Id do for a narrow win for the Aussies 14-11, but hopeful of a good result.