The IRISH RUGBY thread

[TwoUpTwoDown]

I could understand the omission of Cooney on age and World Cup planning, but that doesn't seem to be his approach with anyone else. As previously mentioned, his versatility alone should have made him a shoe in for the last one and 2023.

Hard to know who the 10 will be come World Cup. I think it is a major concern for Ireland and probably why the will try and continue with Sexton in some capacity, even as an impact for last 20 option.

A fit Carberry is what everyone will automatically jump to, but I don't think he showed anything overly spectacular as a 10 when he has been fit. That leaves the following, Byrne x2, Carty, JJ, and Burns. Nothing inspiring about that list. There is a lad playing serious ball in West London, but that disgracefully isn't going to happenm

[sid waddell]

Surely Andy Farrell must have one eye on the world cup with his selections. Sexton still a fit lad, but will be 36 when world cups comes around. Cooney ticks the same boxes, maybe more as an all round playmaker, and is about 3 or 4 years younger. Can't understand his omission myself.

Maybe he doesn't, and maybe he's right not to

If Ireland get through a World Cup group containing South Africa and Scotland  - and that looks a 50/50 shot at best - they'll have to play either New Zealand or France (in France) in the quarter-final

Goodnight

Roll on 2027

[Angelo]

What I find amazing is that in Ireland where rugby is a minority sport , a substantial number of players come from a private school background which is a tiny percentage vid the population, yet we can beat England and France and even wales who have much more resources . Fair play to Irfu for getting us punching above our weight, and marketing the game well. But where is Rugby in Ireland actually going, it's not widening its appeal , it's dangerous, elitist , and we are apparently getting worse at it

Rugby is a minority sport in every country in the world other than New Zealand.

[johnnycool]

Much being made of the french ref in the England v Wales game and IMO he did diddle Farrell when he asked him to go speak to his team about all the penalties they were giving away, then walked straight over to the Welsh lad who then asked him if the clock had restarted and the straight away blew his whistle..
You'd be pissed off yourself if that had happened your team.

The knock on that wasn't with LRZ.. I don't know enough of the rules but I'd have thought a knock on can only be blown if the ball hits the deck or is touched by another player.
LRZ obviously miscontrols it forward, as he's running it's falling behind him and then hits his heel and goes forward...

In saying that England did give up penalties for fun after they had the game tied at 24 each, Gengis or whatever he's called doesn't seem the sharpest tool in the box..

[seafoid]

Fabien Galthié the French manager left the French bubble to watch his sonplay in an underage match.
https://www.lemonde.fr/sport/article/2021/03/01/rubgy-bernard-laporte-confirme-que-fabien-galthie-a-enfreint-le-protocole-sanitaire_6071535_3242.html

[Estimator]

Article from BBC sport
Six Nations 2021: What next for England after defeat against Wales? - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56254639

The highlights:
This team is finished now. There will be a new team made."
The words of England boss Eddie Jones on 3 November 2019, as he picked through the wreckage of the World Cup final defeat by South Africa.

"I don't think this group can have another World Cup in them," he told the BBC after putting pen to paper in April 2020.

But the starting XV that lost to Wales last weekend included 12 of the 15 that started the World Cup final; if Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes and Manu Tuilagi had been fit, Jones could have picked the exact same side.

At the World Cup, his reliance on scrum-half Ben Youngs was costly, but come March 2021 other nines are still struggling to get a look in.

Meanwhile, in Jones' whole tenure, only one man has started a Test match at fly-half that wasn't Owen Farrell or George Ford. That was Danny Cipriani in Cape Town in 2018 and he never played for England again.

At number eight, Billy Vunipola wears the shirt whether in form or not. Nathan Hughes, Sam Simmonds and Zach Mercer have all come and gone. Alex Dombrandt has trained with the squad without getting near a cap.

[seafoid]

Stockdale is back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkUvmDQ3HY

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/jacob-stockdale-back-in-ireland-squad-ahead-of-scotland-clash-1.4504200

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Stockdale is back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkUvmDQ3HY

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/jacob-stockdale-back-in-ireland-squad-ahead-of-scotland-clash-1.4504200

On the wing fine but please not as a full back

[seafoid]

Stockdale is back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkUvmDQ3HY

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/jacob-stockdale-back-in-ireland-squad-ahead-of-scotland-clash-1.4504200

On the wing fine but please not as a full back

We have a decent full back now so the wing would be the place for him.

[Estimator]

Ireland: Keenan; Earls, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe; Sexton, Gibson-Park; Healy, Herring, Furlong; Henderson, Ryan (capt); Beirne, Connors, Stander.

Replacements: Kelleher, Kilcoyne, Porter, Baird, Conan, Murray, Burns, Larmour.

[Capt Pat]

Earls got in again, Stockdale must not be back to his best.

[thewobbler]

Earls in again. Proof yet again that when management teams demand state of the art performance tracking tools and systems that cost their employers six figures a year, it's a giant f**king waste of money as they'll just pick whoever they like anyway.

Same problem is awash in the GAA too. Money for old rope.

[seafoid]

Scotland will tell us where they are at.

Gordon D'Arcy :

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/gordon-d-arcy-clarity-must-descend-at-murrayfield-on-farrell-s-ireland-project-1.4505598

"It is hard to put a finger on what is wrong with Ireland at the moment. It could be the players, it could be the coaches, it could be a combination of both, but there is a problem that keeps being explained away as under-performance."

[Gmac]

Scotland will tell us where they are at.

Gordon D'Arcy :

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/gordon-d-arcy-clarity-must-descend-at-murrayfield-on-farrell-s-ireland-project-1.4505598

"It is hard to put a finger on what is wrong with Ireland at the moment. It could be the players, it could be the coaches, it could be a combination of both, but there is a problem that keeps being explained away as under-performance."

who do Ireland have thats world class and can unlock a defense with his speed or power ?
We don't produce huge men to overpower teams and we don't produce world class speed merchants either so we have to play to a system that gets the best out of our pool of players and it's a pretty boring brand of rugby for the most part . We were the best team in the world in 2018 but I think the brand of rugby we were playing was too attritional and the bodies or spirit broke in some players .
Scotland were unbelievable in 80s and  90s but fell away terribly since .
I expect Ireland to win Sunday by 10.

[Tony Baloney]

Earls in again. Proof yet again that when management teams demand state of the art performance tracking tools and systems that cost their employers six figures a year, it's a giant f**king waste of money as they'll just pick whoever they like anyway.

Same problem is awash in the GAA too. Money for old rope.

Was thinking about this earlier. A whole raft of the old guard have signed 1 year contracts - Earls, Sexton, Healy, POM (2 years) but you have to wonder when Farrell will throw off the conservatism of Schmidt and start cutting some of these fellas.