The IRISH RUGBY thread

[johnneycool]

After the SA result against England today, do last weeks naysayers and down-players have a different perspective on Ireland's result and performance against the Springboks?

All it means is that England are a mess at out-half.

Farrell at 10 today?

Until he was yanked in the second half.

Bankrupt imagination as seems to be standard for England at the halves for as long as I've watched them. The reason we've beat them so regularly lately is because it's so easy to seem them coming a mile off. I'd be disappointed if we lose at home to them next year.

We haven t beat them under Lancaster though. England have won last 3 or 4.
I agree we should be beating them because I think we are better in most positions. But need to get the gameplan right and avoid an arm wrestle.

Farrell is a problem but not the only problem.

I also think the respect that Lancaster earned is now beginning to erode. He took a bit of a grilling in interview after yesterday and his response was pretty lame. Scoreline flattered England yesterday yet they were kicking themselves that they should have won after. England's record under SL against the big 4 of Wales, NZ, SA and Aus is played 16 and lost 13.

The English pack will always give them a chance, even if they lack imagination beyond that.
On Saturday they pushed the SA pack backwards several times, and this was a SA pack which gave Ireland a serious working.
I just think with Lancaster and Farrell senior they're very much a crash, bang, wallop outfit and use the big men to gradually grind you down, the wingers and fullbacks don't see a ball for almost 60 minutes until they've decided the opposition is out on its feet. On Saturday, the SA lads were well able for the big runners but had the bit more wit at 9 and 10 plus.

As someone already said, Ireland would need a dry day, no handling errors and avoid a war of attrition to beat England.

[screenexile]

Holy shit!!!



Hope he's OK and can get this sorted without too many problems. . .

[oakleaflad]

Did Ah You get much game time and if so how did he get on? I would be seriously concerned for Ireland if anything were to happen Mike Ross. You could make a valid point for him being Ireland's most important player at the moment.

Henry seems to have recovered quickly but you can never be too careful with those kind of things. Hopefully the route of the issue is discovered and he can get back to playing as soon as possible.

[screenexile]

Did Ah You get much game time and if so how did he get on? I would be seriously concerned for Ireland if anything were to happen Mike Ross. You could make a valid point for him being Ireland's most important player at the moment.

Henry seems to have recovered quickly but you can never be too careful with those kind of things. Hopefully the route of the issue is discovered and he can get back to playing as soon as possible.

Ah You came on relatively early in the 2nd half and showed well ball in hand but hard to judge how he performed in the scrum with the Georgians down a man for so long.

Unfortunately the scrum looks to be our achilles heel as every other part of our game is in decent shape (I would fancy O'Connell and Toner to get the lineout functioning better again against the Aus). I'm not sure in the case of scrums you can really do much to improve it!!

[Walter Cronc]

A major problem with our scrum is a lack of power from the 2nd rows. O'Connell is rightly lauded for his intensity and workrate and Toner has greatly improved but if you look at their size compared to English, NZ, French, SA and even Aus locks they are very light. It was interesting when Donal Lenihan and Alan Quinlan picked their potential starting 8 for the RWC Lenihan was keen for Ian Henderson get the nod. The lad has serious power and is a great ball carrier! Would be harsh on Toner but if it avoids a mincing in the scrums then it might be worth it. Another worry is how Mike Ross will be physically in 10-12 months. He has virtually started the last 40 odd tests. Need Marty Moore to come on further.

[whitegoodman]

A major problem with our scrum is a lack of power from the 2nd rows. O'Connell is rightly lauded for his intensity and workrate and Toner has greatly improved but if you look at their size compared to English, NZ, French, SA and even Aus locks they are very light. It was interesting when Donal Lenihan and Alan Quinlan picked their potential starting 8 for the RWC Lenihan was keen for Ian Henderson get the nod. The lad has serious power and is a great ball carrier! Would be harsh on Toner but if it avoids a mincing in the scrums then it might be worth it. Another worry is how Mike Ross will be physically in 10-12 months. He has virtually started the last 40 odd tests. Need Marty Moore to come on further.

Walter where did you see Quinlan and Lenihan pick their world cup teams, was it on the tv or newspaper?

[Walter Cronc]

A major problem with our scrum is a lack of power from the 2nd rows. O'Connell is rightly lauded for his intensity and workrate and Toner has greatly improved but if you look at their size compared to English, NZ, French, SA and even Aus locks they are very light. It was interesting when Donal Lenihan and Alan Quinlan picked their potential starting 8 for the RWC Lenihan was keen for Ian Henderson get the nod. The lad has serious power and is a great ball carrier! Would be harsh on Toner but if it avoids a mincing in the scrums then it might be worth it. Another worry is how Mike Ross will be physically in 10-12 months. He has virtually started the last 40 odd tests. Need Marty Moore to come on further.

Walter where did you see Quinlan and Lenihan pick their world cup teams, was it on the tv or newspaper?

I think it was against the head last Monday. If you look through RTE rugby on facebook the clip should be there.

[Max Payne]

It's nicely set up for famous Irish victory against Australia next week.

I fear a wee bit for Ireland against the Aussies. I think Cheika will be desperate not to go home with a 1/3 record in the November series.

That being said they are tired at the end of a long season. So basically I'm sitting on the fence.

Anyone what time the match is at on Saturday?

Cheika is good but confident of an Ireland win. All the tourists look a bit shagged and remember Aus. still have another test against England a week later. I thought Aus. got a bit of a beating-up  from the French last night and our first XV had a bit of a rest this week. I was encouraged by the performance against Georgia today as well.

[5 Sams]

Stole this off the Kerry GAA Forum....didn't know exactly where to put it...I suppose this is as good a place as any...



Thought it was quite good..

[Hardy]

Can we not muster up an Ah You joke between us? Has gratuitous silliness disappeared altogether?

I'll put up a prize for the best Ah You joke, story, poem, riddle, cartoon or maybe a good Keats and Chapman. First prize - Ryle Nugent's album "A Noise That Annoys, Volume I. Do Not Set Volume Any Higher".

[deiseach]

Thought it was quite good..

Rhyming 'and' with 'Ireland'? Ugh.

[5 Sams]

Thought it was quite good..

Rhyming 'and' with 'Ireland'? Ugh.

It was the last two lines that struck me....how true!!

[muppet]

Can we not muster up an Ah You joke between us? Has gratuitous silliness disappeared altogether?

I'll put up a prize for the best Ah You joke, story, poem, riddle, cartoon or maybe a good Keats and Chapman. First prize - Ryle Nugent's album "A Noise That Annoys, Volume I. Do Not Set Volume Any Higher".

As Ireland prepares to tackle the Roos,
We daren't think we could possibly lose,
If we sort out the scrum,
Plenty of tries will come,
Then we'll give Joe Schmidt his fair dues.

But this is much easier said than done,
For backups to Ross there simply are none,
When Joe said: 'Archer Best Ah You',
The squad said: 'We haven't a clue',
And Joe was back again to square one.

'Lads this is tough' said Joe with a sigh,
'But at 60 minutes on the field I will try:
Dave Kilcoyne Strauss Ah You',
Said Dave, 'Jays I'm not even U2',
Then poor Joe looked as if he would cry.

In his final attempt at picking his team,
Joe was without any hope it would seem,
He said: 'Right! Ah You Cronin McGrath!'
Said Jack: 'Not according to me Ma',
Then Joe's tears quickly started to stream.

[Hardy]

A good start, muppet.

Concept: Good
Presentation: Good
Execution: Rhyming good. Scansion needs improvement (and so qualifies for an Irish Water bonus).

Clubhouse leader.

[deiseach]

Can we not muster up an Ah You joke between us? Has gratuitous silliness disappeared altogether?

I'll put up a prize for the best Ah You joke, story, poem, riddle, cartoon or maybe a good Keats and Chapman. First prize - Ryle Nugent's album "A Noise That Annoys, Volume I. Do Not Set Volume Any Higher".

Second prize - Volume I & II