Ireland Team Talk X: The Long Hard Road to a Semi. MOD WARNING POSTS #1, #1474, #5707

troyzer · 26-02-2019 11:21am

Buer wrote: »

Look at the guys who have picked up caps for Ireland in the last 3-4 years despite Best having the position locked down.

Cronin, Herring, Scannell, Tracy, Heffernan, Strauss all collected caps in that period. If you're getting significant game time for a province whether in a starting position or not, you're very likely to be capped.

I'd expect Marshall and Delahunt both to be capped in the next 2 years given Best will be retired and there will be a certain amount of rebuilding underway.

The ones struck out above only have one cap. Marshall might get a throwaway cap but there are better options at hooker.

Buer · 26-02-2019 11:23am

troyzer wrote: »

The ones struck out above only have one cap. Marshall might get a throwaway cap but there are better options at hooker.

Tracy has 5 or 6 caps. He was on the bench for a 6N game ahead of Cronin previously, I recall.

troyzer · 26-02-2019 11:24am

Buer wrote: »

Tracy has 5 or 6 caps. He was on the bench for a 6N game ahead of Cronin previously, I recall.

Oh yeah, I have no idea why I thought he only had one.

Former Former · 26-02-2019 11:28am

b.gud wrote: »

Jarrad Butler will be IQ then too. Given our strength in the back row I doubt he'll pick up a cap but just pointing out for completeness

Forgot about Butler, he's a good player and just as likely as Cloete to win a cap.

Wegians89 · 26-02-2019 12:06pm

Former Former wrote: »

Forgot about Butler, he's a good player and just as likely as Cloete to win a cap.

His age profile won’t help him but could see him getting a cap or two similar to Sean reidy

Shefwedfan · 26-02-2019 2:01pm

Former Former wrote: »

Gibson Park and Kleyn will be eligible just in time for the World Cup.

Rhys Marshall qualifies right after it.

Then James Lowe and Chris Cloete in November 2020 I think and that's pretty much it for a while.

Personally I dont see why Ireland should cap player like Gibson Park etc unless they are going to add something to the squad

We have a number of Irish 9's available now so the need for Gibson park has reduced. Murray/Cooney/Marmion/Blade etc

I would put Cloete etc in same bracket.

James Lowe would be a player that could really bring a difference to the team and a real spark so I would bring into the squad.

I think we spend too much time looking at player from overseas and waiting to cap them when the Irish equivalent is better at sitting at home.

errlloyd · 26-02-2019 2:11pm

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Personally I dont see why Ireland should cap player like Gibson Park etc unless they are going to add something to the squad

JGP is on 19 assists and 6 tries this season. I think he's underrated. I think the best thing about him is his ability at a ruck near the line to accurately hit any of 4 or 5 players on either side. It stops teams being able to stack the pillars.

Shefwedfan · 26-02-2019 2:27pm

errlloyd wrote: »

JGP is on 19 assists and 6 tries this season. I think he's underrated. I think the best thing about him is his ability at a ruck near the line to accurately hit any of 4 or 5 players on either side. It stops teams being able to stack the pillars.

I like JGP and was one of the few voices that said he would become good on here.....but I don't see any huge difference between him and other players

He has played most of his rugby in Pro 14 with Leinster kids rolling over anything thrown at them

salmocab · 26-02-2019 2:48pm

Whilst I don’t see JGP getting much of a look in it only takes a two injuries before he could be pushing into squads. I’d be pretty confident saying that this year he would have been picked before Blade for the 6N squads.

Buer · 26-02-2019 3:08pm

So, from what I can see, Beirne and Dillane are both back with their provinces this week whilst no sign of Roux, Henderson or Ryan to the best of my knowledge.

Is that the trio they're looking to retain for the French match? I'm particularly surprised that Dillane is back training with Connacht already after the full blooded showing less than 48 hours ago in Rome.

26-02-2019 3:10pm

JGP has been better than McGrath at times for Leinster especially more recently. Not much between them at all. He could easily be in the mix as 3rd choice behind Marmion and Murray.

Former Former · 26-02-2019 3:11pm

I don't think anyone expects JGP to be challenging Murray but he's a decent option in a position in which we always struggle for depth.

I've seen John Cooney playing for three provinces and now Ireland and he is not a test-level option. Blade has had a great season but still needs to step up another couple of levels. I don't think JGP will have much trouble getting ahead of them. Probably still too prone to calamitous errors of judgement to be truly international level though.

TBH, I think JGP, Cloete, Butler and Kleyn are in the same class of guys who will pick up caps here and there without ever getting to Stander levels of importance.

Faugheen · 26-02-2019 3:14pm

Buer wrote: »

So, from what I can see, Beirne and Dillane are both back with their provinces this week whilst no sign of Roux, Henderson or Ryan to the best of my knowledge.

Is that the trio they're looking to retain for the French match? I'm particularly surprised that Dillane is back training with Connacht already after the full blooded showing less than 48 hours ago in Rome.

Wouldn't be at all surprised if Ryan, Henderson and Roux were the trio for France.

EachSmallChime · 26-02-2019 3:41pm

Vey surprised that Roux would get in ahead of Dillane after his Italy performance but it might go back to the old lineout-calling argument.

Dubinusa · 26-02-2019 4:08pm

Disappointing for Dillane. He was massive.
I think JGP will be capped. I doubt he's going to pass Marmion. He's in competition with Cooney and Luke, imo.
I think Kleyn will pass by Roux. Only cos he's a bigger version. He should be in around the wider squad.
Lock is not really a weakness. There's a lot of fine locks spread throughout the provinces.
One lad who could be a surprise addition to the 2nd row, if he stays healthy, would be Thornbury!
He's a good line out option and is a caller.
Butler could pick up some caps also. The back row is stacked and I think we should have a look at Beirne at 6?
Of course, Leavy must regain fitness or I think we'll be depleted for 7's.
Don't worry though, Penny will be coming along fairly soon!

Wegians89 · 26-02-2019 4:20pm

EachSmallChime wrote: »

Vey surprised that Roux would get in ahead of Dillane after his Italy performance but it might go back to the old lineout-calling argument.

If you look at rouxs stats from the Scotland game, how many rucks he hit etc, you can understand why he gets picked by Schmidt.

the baby bull elephant · 26-02-2019 5:30pm

Wegians89 wrote: »

If you look at rouxs stats from the Scotland game, how many rucks he hit etc, you can understand why he gets picked by Schmidt.

Think Schmidt also loves him for his scrummaging, he tends to get a go against physically bigger teams.

Perifect · 26-02-2019 9:21pm

The foreign player's talk is depressing.

swiwi_ · 26-02-2019 9:31pm

Perifect wrote: »

The foreign player's talk is depressing.

Do Americans view Irish Americans as Irish or American? Do Irish Americans view themselves as Irish or American? Do you view Irish Americans as Irish or American?

Perifect · 26-02-2019 9:34pm

swiwi_ wrote: »

Do Americans view Irish Americans as Irish or American? Do Irish Americans view themselves as Irish or American? Do you view Irish Americans as Irish or American?

American. Irish. American.

rm75 · 27-02-2019 12:04am

Interview with Stockdale in the presbyterian herald, always a cracking read.

http://www.presbyterianireland.org/Blog/February-2019/Presbyterian-Herald-March-2019.aspx

leakyboots · 27-02-2019 12:31am

Rhys Marshall is arguably one of the best hookers playing in Ireland at the moment. I do think he's suffered a little dip in form lately (think he's back after injury?) but last season especially he was brilliant. Himself and Scannell really drive each other on. I don't think Munster fans mind which of the pair of them start to be honest.

Interesting view from Murray Kinsella on Conor Murray's Six Nations thus far

https://www.the42.ie/analysis-conor-murray-ireland-six-nations-4513683-Feb2019/

Some interesting nuggets:

TL;DR - Murray actually hasn't been as poor as some have been suggesting. Not playing as brilliant as he can either though.

"We have reviewed each and every one of his passes in the three games so far in order to get a better understanding of his overall competence here.

Against England, we counted four of Murray’s 100 passes as ‘poor,’ whereby the ball went to ground or noticeably made the target player check to receive it

There were a further four passes from Murray in this game that we marked as ‘inaccurate,’ a category above ‘poor.’

Against Scotland, we counted three ‘poor’ passes and a further four ‘inaccurate’ efforts, from his total of 114, another solid return."

Kinsella makes the point that Tebaldi came in from the side when Murray was stripped against, rightly points out that it's Murray's reaction (turning his back and giving out to the ref) that was most disappointing.

For getting snagged off the back of the maul, Kinsella notes that Sisi appears to have joined the maul initially from the side but Jackson doesn't call it.

His kicking against England was mixed, only kicked 3 times against Scotland and had a pretty good day out against Italy.

Despite coming back from a shoulder injury (Kinsella notes his left arm is visibly slimmer than the other since the op) he made 13 tackles against England, slipping one on Manu Tuilagi.

Good defensive display against Scotland.

Two missed tackles against Italy, one a linespeed miss when he had cover and the other poor effort at a kick chase

nice_guy80 · 27-02-2019 12:39am

Basically we need to stop kicking the ball back to the opposition
Get better distance on our box kicks from inside the 21 into touch
Start asking questions of the rush defences we face by playing small grabbers and chip kicks in behind and get the opposition turned
Oh, and stop box kicking it away so much as our chase has been brutal

joseywhales · 27-02-2019 12:40am

Perifect wrote: »

American. Irish. American.

Do you define irish american as someone who was born in america but may have lived in Ireland for most of their lives?
Do you define irish american as someone who has lived most of their lives in America but was born in Ireland?
Do you define either as irish american?

troyzer · 27-02-2019 8:14am

Good interview here, same old reserved ****e but he gives away more than most.

In other news, Luke Fitzgerald is going full on Neil Francis lately in the Left Wing saying we should be starting Zebo and dropping Roux just because he's South African.

thegreycity · 27-02-2019 8:56am

Perifect wrote: »

The foreign player's talk is depressing.

Roux is an Irish citizen and has every right to represent us in sports, aside from any rugby specific rule that allowed him to in the first place.

thegreycity · 27-02-2019 8:58am

rm75 wrote: »

Interview with Stockdale in the presbyterian herald, always a cracking read.

http://www.presbyterianireland.org/Blog/February-2019/Presbyterian-Herald-March-2019.aspx

Frankly it's my favourite publication.

randomname2005 · 27-02-2019 9:25am

leakyboots wrote: »

Rhys Marshall is arguably one of the best hookers playing in Ireland at the moment. I do think he's suffered a little dip in form lately (think he's back after injury?) but last season especially he was brilliant. Himself and Scannell really drive each other on. I don't think Munster fans mind which of the pair of them start to be honest.

Interesting view from Murray Kinsella on Conor Murray's Six Nations thus far

https://www.the42.ie/analysis-conor-murray-ireland-six-nations-4513683-Feb2019/

Some interesting nuggets:

TL;DR - Murray actually hasn't been as poor as some have been suggesting. Not playing as brilliant as he can either though.

"We have reviewed each and every one of his passes in the three games so far in order to get a better understanding of his overall competence here.

Against England, we counted four of Murray’s 100 passes as ‘poor,’ whereby the ball went to ground or noticeably made the target player check to receive it

There were a further four passes from Murray in this game that we marked as ‘inaccurate,’ a category above ‘poor.’

Against Scotland, we counted three ‘poor’ passes and a further four ‘inaccurate’ efforts, from his total of 114, another solid return."

Kinsella makes the point that Tebaldi came in from the side when Murray was stripped against, rightly points out that it's Murray's reaction (turning his back and giving out to the ref) that was most disappointing.

For getting snagged off the back of the maul, Kinsella notes that Sisi appears to have joined the maul initially from the side but Jackson doesn't call it.

His kicking against England was mixed, only kicked 3 times against Scotland and had a pretty good day out against Italy.

Despite coming back from a shoulder injury (Kinsella notes his left arm is visibly slimmer than the other since the op) he made 13 tackles against England, slipping one on Manu Tuilagi.

Good defensive display against Scotland.

Two missed tackles against Italy, one a linespeed miss when he had cover and the other poor effort at a kick chase

What about his speed of pass? Is that anyway faster or slower? What about his speed to rucks and the time he takes to get the ball out? Harder things to measure but equally as important I would think.

troyzer · 27-02-2019 9:34am

randomname2005 wrote: »

What about his speed of pass? Is that anyway faster or slower? What about his speed to rucks and the time he takes to get the ball out? Harder things to measure but equally as important I would think.

His speed has been my main issue and Kinsella didn't really talk about it. Good article all the same but it doesn't get to the heart of why our attack is floundering: slow ruck ball.

Clegg · 27-02-2019 10:33am

According to the Indo, Carbery will miss the rest of the Six Nations and is a doubt for Munster's Champions Cup QF fixture. We might now see Ross Byrne pulled from the Leinster squad.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/rugby/six-nations/joey-carbery-to-miss-six-nations-finale-and-facing-fitness-race-for-champions-cup-quarterfinal-37859684.html?dfhfgfgfghhhgff

Ireland Team Talk X: The Long Hard Road to a Semi. MOD WARNING POSTS #1, #1474, #5707

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