2009 Grand Slam Champions

[Hound]

One area where I thought Ireland excelled is an area where both Leinster and Munster have struggled badly this year. Giving away silly and needless penalties. Two penalties conceded in 80 minutes is a testament to our discipline on the day. The other five teams in the competition conceded 9, 9, 10, 10 and 13.

[Main Street]

I think you're spot on there Hound. The problem was that that's bun to an elephant when the French are in the mood to run from anywhere, which they often are. At least they learned and changed. Don't be surprised if it's more of the same against Italy next week.

O'Leary was getting stick for doing that, but it's obviously something he was told to do.

O'Leary cut down on his blind kicking but others continued with the use of the kick.in the 2nd half
Kicking was a deliberate Kidney tactic carried right throughout the game, just less so in the second half.

Probably some time in the game Kidney demanded a more effective kick with better closing down.

Kidneys tactics were an almost perfect utilisation of the talent available to him  against a formidable dangerous opponent.

[Declan]

Two penalties conceded in 80 minutes is a testament to our discipline on the day. The other five teams in the competition conceded 9, 9, 10, 10 and 13.

Think the ref had something to do with that as well though!!

[Bord na Mona man]

Again I ask you, who other than media is overhyping anything to do with Munster? Unless you mean fans? Are Munster fans capable of having observers from all over the NH come to the same conclusion about O'Gara. Come off it now.

O'Gara hadn't nailed down his position because a) he was young and b) Humphrey's wasn't a bad player himself.

Since he has nailed it down he has been a good player for Ireland, and recognised as such by commentators from other parts as well, not just Munster fans or Irish media.

And he is one of the reasons why Munster are on this 'crest' you mention.

I'll not contest that Munster are over hyped in the media, but that's a bizarre reason to talk down one of the key players for Munster and Ireland. Ask Brian O'Driscoll what O'Gara means to that team.

Don't let your hatred of Munster hurling or soccer cloud you on the individual merits of one of their rugby players, just because he is a Langer

Well certainly, I'd be biased and probably wrong, but I just never really got why O'Gara is (or maybe used to be) vaunted as one of Ireland's premier sports stars.
In a sport where barely 10 international teams can even raise a gallop, he is mid table at best in the pecking order for his position. Off the top of my head, I could think of 8 or 9 international fly halves from the 00s who were better players than him. It'd be like someone been hailed as being the 5th or 6th best goalkeeper in the Ulster championship.

Keith Wood or Brian O'Driscoll were the real deal. They'd be worth their place on any of the World Cup winning sides, whereas if any former winners had O'Gara as their flyhalf, they probably wouldn't have won it.

[The GAA]

France shuffle the pack
Lievremont makes four changes for Scotland clash

France have made four changes to the team which started the 30-21 defeat against Ireland for Saturday's RBS Six Nations match against Scotland in Paris.

Les Blues must beat Scotland to salvage any hopes of regaining the Six Nations championship they won in 2007 but missed out on last year.

Head coach Marc Lievremont has replaced Julien Malzieu on the left wing with Cedric Heymans in what is the only change in the back line.

Props Fabien Barcella and Nicolas Mas and lock Romain Millo-Chluski have also been called up in place of Lionel Faure, Benoit Lecouls and Sebastien Chabal in the pack.

Lionel Nallet is once again named captain, even though the Castres lock is struggling for form at the moment.

Lievremont gave Nallet the captain's armband when he took over as head coach after the 2007 World Cup and he has no intention of taking it off him.

"At no time have we envisaged changing our captain," Lievremont said.

"He is our captain. In no way is it a handicap to start him. We are very happy with his performance (against Ireland)."

France: 15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Maxime Medard, 13 Yannick Jauzion, 12 Florian Fritz, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 Lionel Beauxis; 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde; 8-Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir, 5 Lionel Nallet (capt), 4 Romain Millo-Chluski, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Fabien Barcella.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayzer, 17 Renaud Boyoud, 18 Sebastien Chabal, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Benoit Baby, 22 Julien Malzieu.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12321_4910096,00.html

[The GAA]

Two changes for England
Noon and Armitage make way for new men

Martin Johnson has brought Joe Worsley and Mike Tindall into England's starting XV to play Wales on Saturday.

Wasps flanker Worsley came on as a substitute in the RBS Six Nations opener against Italy at the weekend.

Steffon Armitage made his international debut in that 36-11 triumph at Twickenham but failed to flourish and he has been dropped from the match squad altogether for the trip to face the defending champions.

Worsley, who plays predominantly as a blindside flanker, has been pressed into action in the number seven jersey following the loss of Tom Rees, Lewis Moody and Michael Lipman.

Strengths
Despite not having started a game for his country since the group stages of the 2007 World Cup, Worsley has shown his quality as an openside flanker before.

He starred most famously in the role out-playing the retiring Neil Back for Wasps against Leciester in the 2005 Guinness Premiership final and Johnson has no doubt he will fit the bill in Cardiff.

"Joe has been playing very well. He is a very experienced player, a big tackler and a big carrier. His form has been great all year, and we thought it was the right game for him to come and play," Johnson said.

"It was a tough call. Steffon played there last week. He has taken his first step in international rugby and he has a bright future.

"But we think Joe is the right guy for what we want to do."


Battle
Tindall has recovered from a back injury, meanwhile, and replaces Jamie Noon at outside centre.

"It is nice to have him back - and we hope he will last until Saturday," quipped Johnson.

"We know as a squad we can play better than we did last week. It is about improving.

"I am looking forward to going away from home, and the pressure and intensity will be a big test for our team.

"The Welsh enjoy having a successful rugby team, and they are playing some attractive rugby - so it will be doubly difficult.

"We don't have that much expectation - and we need to go there and fight. We can also play - but we need to battle and quieten the crowd down."

Toby Flood takes over from Shane Geraghty on the bench after recovering from a calf injury, while Paul Hodgson provides cover at scrum-half in place of Ben Foden and Luke Narraway replaces Worsley.

Grand Slam champions Wales began the defence of their title with a 26-13 win away to Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday and are set to name their team on Thursday.

England team: 15 D Armitage (London Irish) 14 P Sackey (Wasps), 13 M Tindall (Gloucester), 12 R Flutey (Wasps), 11 M Cueto (Sale Sharks), 10 A Goode (Brive), 9 H Ellis (Leicester), 8 N Easter (Harlequins), 7 J Worsley (Wasps), 6 J Haskell (Wasps), 5 N Kennedy (London Irish), 4 S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), 3 P Vickery (Wasps), 2 L Mears (Bath), 1 A Sheridan (Sale Sharks).
Replacements: 16 D Hartley (Northampton), 17 J White (Leicester), 18 T Croft (Leicester), 19 L Narraway (Gloucester), 20 P Hodgson (London Irish), 21 T Flood(Leicester), 22 M Tait (Sale Sharks).

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12321_4910518,00.html

[gerry]

link to download

http://www.irishtorrents.com/torrents.php?id=1824

[Capt Pat]

joxer i may be wrong but I think you have to be at the game to benefit from one of those ref mics!

My father was at it, the earpiece wasnt working

The buggers 90 euros for a ticket and 10 euros for one of those things as well. I fell into the same trap.

[Capt Pat]

i wouldnt know a great deal about rugby, never played a game in my life, but one thing i wondered on saturday was why o'leary kept kicking the ball aimlessly down the pitch. a couple of times it worked but more times than not it just conceded good possession.

maybe someone that knows a bit more about the game could shed some light on it.

I have played a bit of rugby and no sorry I can't answer the question as to why he did it so much. I wouldn't have done it but we did win the game.

[Capt Pat]

I'm not questioning O'Driscoll's standing in the game at all. The point I was (poorly) trying to make was that the same people who laud O'Driscoll also find O'Gara to be a good player. Why is it that only O'Gara's is considered to be a result of some sinister conspiracy to paint all things Munster as being great?

No way am I digging at O'Driscoll, I've been one of his constant admirers.

Well in the southern hemisphere they think O'Gara is shíte, but they concede O'Driscoll at his best was the best around.
However, they also don't rate O'Connell, so I think that would be a better comparison for you.

O'Gara's not even that popular among his own teammates, so he's always probably always going to get more slagging than he deserves, as he can be a bit of a t**ser.

I remember being in Cardiff the last time we beat Wales over there, and he was singled out for heaps of abuse by the Welsh fans in my vicinity. Though he answered it (not that he heard it!) with a try and probably one of his best performances.

Well if they don't rate O'Connell they don't know anything about the game. Apart from a few knock ons the guy is pretty much perfect.

[Hound]

I'm not questioning O'Driscoll's standing in the game at all. The point I was (poorly) trying to make was that the same people who laud O'Driscoll also find O'Gara to be a good player. Why is it that only O'Gara's is considered to be a result of some sinister conspiracy to paint all things Munster as being great?

No way am I digging at O'Driscoll, I've been one of his constant admirers.

Well in the southern hemisphere they think O'Gara is shíte, but they concede O'Driscoll at his best was the best around.
However, they also don't rate O'Connell, so I think that would be a better comparison for you.

O'Gara's not even that popular among his own teammates, so he's always probably always going to get more slagging than he deserves, as he can be a bit of a t**ser.

I remember being in Cardiff the last time we beat Wales over there, and he was singled out for heaps of abuse by the Welsh fans in my vicinity. Though he answered it (not that he heard it!) with a try and probably one of his best performances.

Well if they don't rate O'Connell they don't know anything about the game. Apart from a few knock ons the guy is pretty much perfect.

Indeed, but he has never done himself justice when playing in the southern hemisphere. I expect that to change on the Lions tour.

[Hoof Hearted]

The Ireland team to play Italy in the RBS 6 Nations has been announced

Both Paddy Wallace and Jerry Flannery have been passed fit after picking up injuries in the France game and take up their positions at centre and hooker.   
Captain Brian O'Driscoll will be earning his 90th cap in the Italy game and Prop John Hayes will equal the Irish cap record of 91 appearances of his fellow squad member Malcolm O'Kelly.

Winger Tommy Bowe will be picking up his 20th cap while Geordan Murphy could pick up his 60th cap if he makes an appearence off the bench on Sunday.

IRELAND TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (v Italy , 2009 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Stadio Flaminio, Sunday, February 15):

15 - Robert Kearney (UCD - Leinster)

14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)

13 - Brian O'Driscoll (UCD - Leinster) (capt)

12 - Paddy Wallace (Ballymena - Ulster)

11 - Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College - Leinster)

10 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution - Munster)

9 - Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin - Munster)

1 - Marcus Horan (Shannon - Munster)

2 - Jerry Flannery (Shannon - Munster)

3 - John Hayes (Bruff- Munster)

4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution - Munster)

5 - Paul O'Connell (Young Munster - Munster)

6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon - Ulster)

7 - David Wallace (Garryowen - Munster)

8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas - Leinster)

Replacements:

16 - Rory Best (Banbridge - Ulster)
17 - Tom Court (Malone - Ulster)
18 - Malcolm O'Kelly (St. Mary's College - Leinster)
19 - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution - Munster)
20 - Peter Stringer (Shannon - Munster)
21 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne - Leinster)
22 - Geordan Murphy (Leicester)

[AZOffaly]

Good. Deccie is going with a relatively settled team. D'Arcy is unlucky to not make it, but Paddy Wallace doesn't deserve to be dropped on Saturday's match, especially in the circumstances he had to leave. That sort of thing breeds loyalty among players.

Having said that, Kidney has shown a hard edge down the years at Munster, and the likes of Anthony Foley will tell you what he thinks of sentimentality. So if changes need to be made, he'll make them.

Other than that, O'Leary will learn the more game time he gets, and there's no way either Heaslip or Ferris were in danger after last week, so Leamy will be chawing at the bit to get on again, which can only be a good thing.

[thewobbler]

I'd seriously doubt D'Arcy has 80 minutes in him at present. It would make more sense to use his manouverability against tiring defences, rather than from the start, so this is the right decision in my book. Besides, Wallace's kicking game should take pressure off ROG, who'll be bearing the brunt of the Italian blitzes.

[muppet]

Good. Deccie is going with a relatively settled team. D'Arcy is unlucky to not make it, but Paddy Wallace doesn't deserve to be dropped on Saturday's match, especially in the circumstances he had to leave. That sort of thing breeds loyalty among players.

Having said that, Kidney has shown a hard edge down the years at Munster, and the likes of Anthony Foley will tell you what he thinks of sentimentality. So if changes need to be made, he'll make them.

Other than that, O'Leary will learn the more game time he gets, and there's no way either Heaslip or Ferris were in danger after last week, so Leamy will be chawing at the bit to get on again, which can only be a good thing.

Maybe we could put Leamy at scrum-half to even it up a bit?