The IRISH RUGBY thread

[screenexile]

Genuine question to the rugby folk on here - what's the thinking behind Conor Murray's box kicks?  It's obviously part of the game plan because he does it regularly, but it just looks to me like he's giving the ball away.  He did it with a few minutes to go yesterday when I swore the right thing to do was stick it up the jumper for a few minutes and run down the clock.

Yeah he didn't kick well yesterday!

[seafoid]

What club do people on the Ros side of Athlone play for. Is it St Brigids or Clan or another team ?

Clan out the Ballinasloe road. Brigids out the Roscommon road. That's my blunt understanding.

GRMA

So does that mean there are 4 GF clubs in Athlone?

[Maroon Manc]

Genuine question to the rugby folk on here - what's the thinking behind Conor Murray's box kicks?  It's obviously part of the game plan because he does it regularly, but it just looks to me like he's giving the ball away.  He did it with a few minutes to go yesterday when I swore the right thing to do was stick it up the jumper for a few minutes and run down the clock.

I was thinking that, his kicking over the last 2 weekends appeared poor to me.

[Rudi]

What club do people on the Ros side of Athlone play for. Is it St Brigids or Clan or another team ?

Clan out the Ballinasloe road. Brigids out the Roscommon road. That's my blunt understanding.

GRMA

So does that mean there are 4 GF clubs in Athlone?
[/quote

No, St Brigids club is located about 7 miles from the bridge in Athlone. Clans pitch is located at Johnston about 7 miles from the Bridge. Athlone Gfc and Garrycastle are on the east side and are located in the town. Most people on the west side of the town (except blow ins) would regard themselves as Rossies even though their addresses would be Westmeath.

[trileacman]

Everyone seems to do that shitty box kicking style but we are particularly strong exponents of it. Agreed it looks like shite but at the same time Schmidt mustn't be telling him otherwise or it wouldn't be part of our game plan.

It's been very prevalent for some time now so it must be a Schmidt thing. Run a few phases and when we're stagnating pump it up for some mild territorial gain or let the opposition f**k it up.

[muppet]

Everyone seems to do that shitty box kicking style but we are particularly strong exponents of it. Agreed it looks like shite but at the same time Schmidt mustn't be telling him otherwise or it wouldn't be part of our game plan.

It's been very prevalent for some time now so it must be a Schmidt thing. Run a few phases and when we're stagnating pump it up for some mild territorial gain or let the opposition f**k it up.

When Zebo or Trimble or whoever, catches it, the momentum is enormous. But at the end of a game when no one seems to have the energy to chase the kick (at least I assume thats what is wrong) it looks bad.

[Gold]

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Genuine question to the rugby folk on here - what's the thinking behind Conor Murray's box kicks?  It's obviously part of the game plan because he does it regularly, but it just looks to me like he's giving the ball away.  He did it with a few minutes to go yesterday when I swore the right thing to do was stick it up the jumper for a few minutes and run down the clock.

Ive been thinking it for years

We work so hard to get the ball back and he just kicks it away immediately...makes no sense to me

Thought he had cut it out for a while until last few games

[trileacman]

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Genuine question to the rugby folk on here - what's the thinking behind Conor Murray's box kicks?  It's obviously part of the game plan because he does it regularly, but it just looks to me like he's giving the ball away.  He did it with a few minutes to go yesterday when I swore the right thing to do was stick it up the jumper for a few minutes and run down the clock.

Ive been thinking it for years

We work so hard to get the ball back and he just kicks it away immediately...makes no sense to me

Thought he had cut it out for a while until last few games

A lot of teams do it and have done it poorly for years. Was it Nz or Auss who put one up against Ireland and it landed near exactly where it was kicked?

A horrible strategy but there have been some big coaching think in where they were shown that it is an effective way of attacking.

50-60% of them look like f**k all though.

[trileacman]

Genuine question to the rugby folk on here - what's the thinking behind Conor Murray's box kicks?  It's obviously part of the game plan because he does it regularly, but it just looks to me like he's giving the ball away.  He did it with a few minutes to go yesterday when I swore the right thing to do was stick it up the jumper for a few minutes and run down the clock.

The only counter you could say to that though is that against Nz a few years ago we tried to put it up the jumper for 3 minutes at the death, conceded a penalty and Nz went on to score the try that won the match. You do have to mix it up, rog was brilliant at pinning teams into the corner when the attack was not breaking the gain line at midfield. As wingers and full backs cover the space better now it's a lot harder to do so this has become the prominent method of mixing it up.

One thing you see very little of anymore is chips from the 10/12/13. Used to be all the rage 10 years ago. Now you could go 20 matches without seeing a running chip in midfield, it's now normally from a wimger trying to beat the full back. Remember bod v England in 2004 to win the triple crown? That was brilliant, you'd miss that aspect of the game.

[PW Nally]

Genuine question to the rugby folk on here - what's the thinking behind Conor Murray's box kicks?  It's obviously part of the game plan because he does it regularly, but it just looks to me like he's giving the ball away.  He did it with a few minutes to go yesterday when I swore the right thing to do was stick it up the jumper for a few minutes and run down the clock.

What would Kilcoo do?

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Box kicks are not a schmidt thing we have been doing it for years in fact watch our 60-0 thumping to NZ under kidney and we spent the whole match kicking the ball to their back 3 to then watch them waltz back through us time and time again scoring trys. At least under schmidt they are more accurate and we seem to compete for them now. One thing i notice with the current team is we have to work so hard to gain a few metres (hence why we kick it so much) but when we are defending we seem happy to let teams spin it wide and surrender territory for fun only to steady things up at our 22 which seems incredibly risky.

[seafoid]

Astonishing physical resilience but at what long term cost ?

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/autumn-internationals/neil-francis-astonishing-physical-resilience-puts-ireland-in-unenviable-position-of-being-six-nations-favourites-35247565.html

[screenexile]

Rumours abound that Sexton may be out for a considerable amount of time!!

[seafoid]

Rumours abound that Sexton may be out for a considerable amount of time!!

He is like the canary in the coalmine of concussion

[AZOffaly]

Rumours abound that Sexton may be out for a considerable amount of time!!

He is like the canary in the coalmine of concussion

I don't particularly like Jonny Sexton, or at least I didn't when he was younger, but I worry for him as a lad. I think he should give it up, because he's such a brave 10, and I think it's obvious his body is not able for the defensive style he plays, and then you add in the obvious targetting that he gets as IReland's main playmaker. I hope he's not a wreck when he's 45.