The IRISH RUGBY thread

[Walter Cronc]

Agree. More about performance and combinations for me. This South African team have been in a training camp (no Currie Cup commitments) this past month to prepare for the Northern Hemisphere tour. So they are going hard for the RWC.

[JoG2]

PJ is brave but long gone are the days of a fly half at 5'10. You'll see the new breed in Handre Pollard on Saturday.

JS was being written off (compared to ROG) purely on his kicking game, however he is still the best attacking and defending 10 we've ever had!

Was just going back through the old thread there from around Sextons debut and the following 6 Nations. . . jesus there was some shite talked about him and Kearney.

trileacman the main culprit as well:

Alot of shite being posted on here. Firstly Kearny is not or nowhere near the Worlds best FB. Off hand I can think of Byrne and now poitranaud being better. That's not even considering Southern Hemisphere sides. Murphy's two displays have been superior to alot of Kearny's rugby in the past year and he should now be given the Full back shirt in my opinion.

Kearny has no attacking threat compared with any other world class full back and is only considered so highly because of his capable hands and strong boot which we all love coz it minds us of a GAA midfielder or FB.

Interesting to see the Sexton apolygists out in force. Had ROG produced these kicking displays the same men would have been twisting the knife in no time. But anyway we are going down this road so we'll have to stick with him. He does get the best out of the backs and aids the defence.

George Hook is also right. The triple crown is a losers trophy and means shite all. However we still have to win this match and cant afford to piss about with the team too much, starting trimble would be dabbling with defeat, he's an awful centre. The only change I would believe in making is starting Mushy to see if he can scrummage. We are now 12 months from a WC and we have an embarassment of a scrum. If Mushy is the way forward (which he isn't) then we need to bleed him quickly.

I of course always backed the 2 of them to be World Class . . .

it was and is usually Rory Best who gets it with both barrels from TM ;-)

[Max Payne]

Team to face South Africa. Interesting midfield selection.

15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 55
14. Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 54
13. Jared Payne (Ulster) *
12. Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht) 3
11. Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster) 8
10. Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92) 45
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 28
1. Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 10
2. Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 35
3. Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster) 41
4. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 17
5. Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) 94 (capt)
6. Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 23
7. Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster) 16
8. Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster) 67

Replacements:

16. Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster) 4
17. Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 10
18. Rodney Ah You (Corinthians/Connacht) 1
19. Mike McCarthy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 15
20. Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 3
21. Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 55
22. Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster) 10
23. Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster) 6

That midfield doesn't fill me with confidence. I think Henshaw could be the man for the 13 jersey. I have my doubts about Payne there. He's a smashing FB but don't know if he has the skill set for 13. Also our depth props wise is scary. And not in a good way. Ah You doesn't have the stamina for it.

[Myles Na G.]

Wouldnt be Devon Toners biggest fan (has come on rightly though), but I like the look of that team. The back line looks strong.
No harm to Paddy Jackson, but he isnt really international level

That old chestnut . . . the lad is only 22 so has plenty of time!!

It wasn't that long ago I remember Sexton being completely written off as 'not up to it' and now he's probably 2nd best fly half in the world!!

By the way Sexton made his Ireland debut at the age of 24!!!

maybe, and hopefully he does. imo he is holding Ulster back in Europe, along with Marshall. The sooner RP is back the better

Payne at 13 is holding Ulster back, imo.

[michaelg]

What's anyone make of the 3 year residency rule?

[Tony Baloney]

George Hook is an awful shitehawk.

[tiempo]

What's anyone make of the 3 year residency rule?

Utter toilet, I could go on but everyone knows why it is such.

[Hardy]

Ah ffs! No BBC. 80+ minutes of Ryle Nugent is cruel.

[muppet]

Ah ffs! No BBC. 80+ minutes of Ryle Nugent is cruel.

RTE not too optimistic.

[screenexile]

Ah ffs! No BBC. 80+ minutes of Ryle Nugent is cruel.

Sky not much better f**king Mark Robson!!! 2 w**ks!

[screenexile]

Classic Joe Schmidt in the lineout with Jack McGrath coming round for the uncompeted maul... it's a bit backs to the wall but we're playing smart and frustrating the Springboks I just hope we can hang on with this type of performance for 80 minutes.

[muppet]

Classic Joe Schmidt in the lineout with Jack McGrath coming round for the uncompeted maul... it's a bit backs to the wall but we're playing smart and frustrating the Springboks I just hope we can hang on with this type of performance for 80 minutes.

Hard to believe we are ahead. I am not looking forward to the B front rows coming on.

[screenexile]

f**king GET IN!!!!!

[muppet]

Jaysus can we hang on?

[muppet]

A scrum to us is like a penalty to them.