RBS 6 Nations - Ireland vs Wales - (05/02/2012 -15:00)

[TRF_Cymro]

Hey, that Irish journalism for you. They make Stephen Jones look like a bloody genius.





Well, no, obviously not. But still.

I'll chuck in Andy Howells from the Western Fail, boy is utter clueless when writing articles.

 

[psychic duck]

Stephen Jones in my opinion is the worst journalist, pretty much every fan I've heard seems to agree yet he's been there for years

 

[munstermuffin]

He's been injured a lot though this season right?


Anyway, it's pretty much what I expected in that Deccie got all the big calls wrong. DOC's selection is a bit farcical considering he's not first choice for Munster, as is D'arcy's.I'm less irritated about Earls at 13, but i still think it's the wrong call.

Yes Earls has had injuries but still in his defense he is probably the most experienced at 13 of all options. And people seem to forget Earls was our most clinical finisher at World Cup albeit on the wing. But whoever filled this spot was always going to be slated and put in a no win situation.

 

[coonor]

Murray's greatest asset is his kicking, he has a superb box kick with great height and distance. He can be slow at the breakdown but often this is down to Munster's game style which is exactly full of pace. However I think he has a great spark and hopefully will develop with Ireland.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Yes Earls has had injuries but still in his defense he is probably the most experienced at 13 of all options. And people seem to forget Earls was our most clinical finisher at World Cup albeit on the wing. But whoever filled this spot was always going to be slated and put in a no win situation.

I don't think people forget, but it just isn't relevant because he'll be playing a completely different role. I still don't think his passing or positioning is up to the required level and he's likely to play against better centres in every 6N except Italy and Scotland than he has done in the Heineken Cup.

 

[Gavin]

It'll happen; Earls will play fantastic and score 2 tries whilst DOC will get Man of the Match



God help us if that does happen, Ireland will be stuck for another season in the past.

 

[Peat]

Lenihan vs Jones battle of the idiots who think there experts.

The thing about Stephen Jones is, while an idiot, he also blatantly doesn't take it seriously. He's just out there trolling the rugby world, doing it for the lulz and the benjamins. And, despite most people knowing this, he still gets bite after bite. In a twisted way, he's a genius. Well. An idiot savant.

Lenihan et al are just halfwits.

Very predictable looking Ireland squad, the only name I'm not familiar with is Peter O'Mahoney.

The boy's an animal. Another of those big, athletic, slightly insane wrecking balls that Ireland seem to specialise in producing, although he's not quite in the same league of mutant as Ferris and O'Brien (yet at least). Might even turn out to be a 7, which would be nice for Ireland.

I love Ireland teams. They're brilliant. About 85pc of the team everyone's happy with, and then there's always a couple of selections that causes apoplexies. And everyone knows they're coming too! Kidney changes his team with all the speed and grace of old people shagging. And they'll just be defensible too, probably because they've had so many games that they're bound to have put in one decent game somewhere. Plus, they've had so many games, that they're hogging all the experience. But they're always so dodgy and even if they have a good game this time, you know the bad one's coming soon. Brilliant.

I sometimes think Jones isn't the only guy trolling the rugby world you know.

And then, for added lulz, the Irish press then comes out with some of the worse justifications ever.

 

[Draggs]

Mefin Davies step forward! I think he would at least give it 150% if called up.

 

[munstermuffin]

I don't think people forget, but it just isn't relevant because he'll be playing a completely different role. I still don't think his passing or positioning is up to the required level and he's likely to play against better centres in every 6N except Italy and Scotland than he has done in the Heineken Cup.

Can accept those points but I think whoever went in at 13 was always going to face critics. At least he's young and may grow in to the role.

On a side note interesting to hear Kidney speak about playing ROG and Sexton together and how it has worked well in past and in training.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

Effectively I see no excuses for Ireland losing this game. For the follinwing reasons:

1. Home advantage
2. Delicious revenge
3. (most importantly imo) No Jenkins
4. No Rees
5. No Charteris or AW Jones
6. Probably no Lydiate, Priestland or Roberts
7. If they DO play the players mentioned in point 6 they will be playing with ****les.
8. Form of Irish players following a great pool stage for Irish teams in the Heineken Cup

Essentially we're playing a half strength Welsh team full of players who have struggled to live up to the form they found in the RWC. If we lose there will be MONSTROUS question marks surrounding Kidney.

 

[Peat]

What King D'Arcy said. Damnit, it's gonna look like I'm copying him in my blog now.

 

[Erin Go Bragh]

Have to agree with you there Luimneach.

I'm from Tyrone, living in Manchester, so I really only get to see the Heinken Cup games. But from what I've seen he is like a man possessed!
I really do think it's time for a changing of the guard at No.4. D.O.C. has been great for us, but I thing DR can take it up another level.

Here's to hoping we kick off with a great win and platform to fantastic 6N's....if not just Sunday....I'm married to a South Wales lass!!! ;0)

ha, was in the gaeltacht with him, sound lad iswell, would love to see donnacha start..he's in tip top form alright. would like to see Tuohy getting a shot, doing well for Norn Iron and his work shoud be acknowledged more..whatever the pick I'll be supporting the team with hopefully a win

don't rate D'arce anymore...we should be looking for a replacement for him at this stage do you not agree?

Again gents, I have to agree there on Tuohy. I think now is the time to freshen things up after the disappointment of the World Cup quarters. Men who would be chompin at the bit to make a name for themselves, and stake their claim. I would use Trimble at 13....In really good form!!!

 

[DuncTheDoodle]

Priestland & Roberts are fit, but Lydiate's out. The team has been floating around Twitter for about half an hour now, it's as follows-

Leigh Halfpenny; George North, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, Alex Cuthbert; Rhys Priestland, Mike phillips; Rhys Gill, Huw Bennett, Adam Jones; Ian Evans, Bradley Davies, Ryan Jones, Sam Warburton (c), Toby Faletau

 

[Peat]

Oops! Bad news Ireland. If they're properly sharp, I think Ireland are in trouble...

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Priestland & Roberts are fit, but Lydiate's out. The team has been floating around Twitter for about half an hour now, it's as follows-

Leigh Halfpenny; George North, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, Alex Cuthbert; Rhys Priestland, Mike phillips; Rhys Gill, Huw Bennett, Adam Jones; Ian Evans, Bradley Davies, Ryan Jones, Sam Warburton (c), Toby Faletau

Likely side but I'll await for tomorrow's announcement before commenting.

 

[Saintjay]

Effectively I see no excuses for Ireland losing this game. For the follinwing reasons:

1. Home advantage
2. Delicious revenge
3. (most importantly imo) No Jenkins
4. No Rees
5. No Charteris or AW Jones
6. Probably no Lydiate, Priestland or Roberts
7. If they DO play the players mentioned in point 6 they will be playing with ****les.
8. Form of Irish players following a great pool stage for Irish teams in the Heineken Cup

Essentially we're playing a half strength Welsh team full of players who have struggled to live up to the form they found in the RWC. If we lose there will be MONSTROUS question marks surrounding Kidney.

I think Ireland need to remain positive. With regards to form they won the same amount of games at the RWC as Wales. Also they did the one thing Wales could not do and that is beat Australia. Home advantage is a massive bonus as is the motivation for revenge.

If I was DK the recent Wales v Auatralia games would be burining a hole in my DVD player.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

Assuming thats actually the Welsh team I'm gonna do something totally crazy and compare the teams player for player in order to make myself feel better.

1. Healy vs Gill; Bit of a no brainer. Wales are very unfortunate not to have Jenkins. Could be crucial
2. Best vs Bennett; Best is in the form of his career and Huw Bennett's not very good really tbh
3. Ross vs Jones; Bit of a no brainer again. Ross is a "scrum nerd" but Jones is a scrum creep
4. O'Callaghan vs Evans; Really haven't a clue on this 1. I naturally assume o'Callaghan is better because Evans is there by default. Although O'Callaghan is there by brain fart so I'll say this 1 mite be ambiguous.
5. O'Connell vs Davies; Undeniably really
6. Ferris vs Jones; If the game were just decided by comparing them like this Ireland would walk it!
7. O'Brien vs Warburton; Both quality players but Warburton definitely gets it.
8. Heaslip vs Faletau; I'd say i'll hear some complaints about this one. Heaslip's the more proven 8. i accept Faletau may turn around and prove me wrong but as far as I can see he could jsut be a flash in the pan.
9. Murray vs Phillips; Obviously
10. Sexton vs Priestland; And I won't hear another word said about it! Sexton has been playing quality rugby this season. Priestland has failed to capture the form with Scarlets that he had in the World Cup.
11. Trimble vs Cuthbert; Cuthbert's good, Trimble's better
12. D'Arcy vs Roberts; Scary prospect thinking of D'Arcy being run over repeatedly again
13. Earls vs Davies; So scared of this
14. Bowe vs North; Too ambiguous! The Irish will all say Bowe, the Welsh will all say North. I'll go with the neutrals and say they are exactly equal.
15. Kearney vs Halfpenny; I feel bad saying it but with his attacking flair and his place kicking Halfpenny takes it

8 Irish
6 Welsh
1 Equal

We win!

 

[Draggs]

Oh my.

 

[dullonien]

Priestland & Roberts are fit, but Lydiate's out. The team has been floating around Twitter for about half an hour now, it's as follows-

Leigh Halfpenny; George North, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, Alex Cuthbert; Rhys Priestland, Mike phillips; Rhys Gill, Huw Bennett, Adam Jones; Ian Evans, Bradley Davies, Ryan Jones, Sam Warburton (c), Toby Faletau

If that's true then I'll be over the moon. Lydiate will be a big loss, but Ryan is in excellent form, and can slot back in well. Gill will be a bit of a surprise if true, because I personally think Bevington is an excellent all round player, who could go someway to filling in for Jenkins' loss in the loose. Probably just not seen enough of Gill recently to fully understand his current form.

Other than that, the team is as expected really. That's a pretty beasty backline, with 5 out of 7 pushing 15 stone (over 16 in Roberts, North and Cuthberts cases). I know it's not a very exciting gameplan, but I'd personally bombard Ireland's centres with wave after wave of hard, straight running. Get them all involved, who the hell do you target when Roberts, North, Davies and Cuthbert are capable of bursting a tackle to score?

Of course, alot of this depends on the forwards producing enough quality ball in the correct areas of the field. We should have the slight edge scrum time, but nothing majour, quality ball should be almost guaranteed though. With Ian Evans, lineout should be reletively good aswell (although this can fall apart at any time it seems). The backrow is still of a very high quality, despite missing Lydiate. I don't think Warburton is quite as effective without his parter in crime, but I'd still expect him to be the dominant figure at the breakdown, especially because Ireland still don't have an out and out 7.

Honestly, if this is the team, I'm feeling reletively confident. Ireland are always gonna be tough at home, and they should probably deservedly go into this game as slight favourites, but I see Wales having the edge in most areas of the game. Ireland's backrow are perfectly capable of really clicking on the day and getting the upper hand (especially with Ferris in such phenomenal form), and O'Connell could completely dismantle our lineout, but I don't think either will happen to such an extent that they'll run away with the game.

I think the ultimate difference between the teams will be Wales' power in the backs, in both attack and defense. So I think we'll edge it by 5-8.

Assuming thats actually the Welsh team I'm gonna do something totally crazy and compare the teams player for player in order to make myself feel better.

1. Healy vs Gill; Bit of a no brainer. Wales are very unfortunate not to have Jenkins. Could be crucial
2. Best vs Bennett; Best is in the form of his career and Huw Bennett's not very good really tbh
3. Ross vs Jones; Bit of a no brainer again. Ross is a "scrum nerd" but Jones is a scrum creep
4. O'Callaghan vs Evans; Really haven't a clue on this 1. I naturally assume o'Callaghan is better because Evans is there by default. Although O'Callaghan is there by brain fart so I'll say this 1 mite be ambiguous.
5. O'Connell vs Davies; Undeniably really
6. Ferris vs Jones; If the game were just decided by comparing them like this Ireland would walk it!
7. O'Brien vs Warburton; Both quality players but Warburton definitely gets it.
8. Heaslip vs Faletau; I'd say i'll hear some complaints about this one. Heaslip's the more proven 8. i accept Faletau may turn around and prove me wrong but as far as I can see he could jsut be a flash in the pan.
9. Murray vs Phillips; Obviously
10. Sexton vs Priestland; And I won't hear another word said about it! Sexton has been playing quality rugby this season. Priestland has failed to capture the form with Scarlets that he had in the World Cup.
11. Trimble vs Cuthbert; Cuthbert's good, Trimble's better
12. D'Arcy vs Roberts; Scary prospect thinking of D'Arcy being run over repeatedly again
13. Earls vs Davies; So scared of this
14. Bowe vs North; Too ambiguous! The Irish will all say Bowe, the Welsh will all say North. I'll go with the neutrals and say they are exactly equal.
15. Kearney vs Halfpenny; I feel bad saying it but with his attacking flair and his place kicking Halfpenny takes it

8 Irish
6 Welsh
1 Equal

We win!

Not sure about Best over Bennett. Bennet was one of the best hookers at the WC, just depends if he can continue that. I'd Say draw.

Ian Evans over DOC any day of the week, considering DOC's current form. Ian Evans is back to something approaching good form. Davies aint no push-over either, although I agree O'Connell would pip it.

Faletau over Heaslip please.

Priestland over Sexton aswell. Priestland is the best NH fly-half at the moment, and was up there as the best in the WC. Sexton is perfectly capable of being better on the day, granted, but still...

Tough decision on North v Bowe as you say. I'd take North, currently in better form.

 

[lucky number 7]

Assuming thats actually the Welsh team I'm gonna do something totally crazy and compare the teams player for player in order to make myself feel better.

1. Healy vs Gill; Bit of a no brainer. Wales are very unfortunate not to have Jenkins. Could be crucial
2. Best vs Bennett; Best is in the form of his career and Huw Bennett's not very good really tbh
3. Ross vs Jones; Bit of a no brainer again. Ross is a "scrum nerd" but Jones is a scrum creep
4. O'Callaghan vs Evans; Really haven't a clue on this 1. I naturally assume o'Callaghan is better because Evans is there by default. Although O'Callaghan is there by brain fart so I'll say this 1 mite be ambiguous.
5. O'Connell vs Davies; Undeniably really
6. Ferris vs Jones; If the game were just decided by comparing them like this Ireland would walk it!
7. O'Brien vs Warburton; Both quality players but Warburton definitely gets it.
8. Heaslip vs Faletau; I'd say i'll hear some complaints about this one. Heaslip's the more proven 8. i accept Faletau may turn around and prove me wrong but as far as I can see he could jsut be a flash in the pan.
9. Murray vs Phillips; Obviously
10. Sexton vs Priestland; And I won't hear another word said about it! Sexton has been playing quality rugby this season. Priestland has failed to capture the form with Scarlets that he had in the World Cup.
11. Trimble vs Cuthbert; Cuthbert's good, Trimble's better
12. D'Arcy vs Roberts; Scary prospect thinking of D'Arcy being run over repeatedly again
13. Earls vs Davies; So scared of this
14. Bowe vs North; Too ambiguous! The Irish will all say Bowe, the Welsh will all say North. I'll go with the neutrals and say they are exactly equal.
15. Kearney vs Halfpenny; I feel bad saying it but with his attacking flair and his place kicking Halfpenny takes it

8 Irish
6 Welsh
1 Equal

We win!

As a 7 yes...as an overall player ..no.

SOB is simply god...just spelt differently.