EOYT: Ireland v South Africa, 11/10/2012

[TRF_Ezequiel]

....and a blatant poach. Patrick Lambie? Clearly he's Irish. You won't get Ireland doing that sort of thing.............

Speaking of which... How long till Robbie Diack is eligible? He's from the same school as Lambie... Did you know that?

 

[Draggs]

Speaking of which... How long till Robbie Diack is eligible? He's from the same school as Lambie... Did you know that?

Can't be, his name isn't Patrick.
They should rename it Patrickhouse.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

Speaking of which... How long till Robbie Diack is eligible? He's from the same school as Lambie... Did you know that?

He's been eligible since way last year. I highly, highly doubt he'll play for Ireland if that's what you're wondering.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

What happened to Habana? Did he get injured?

Habana got injured playing in the Currie Cup final match in Durban. He's just one of a whole host of quality players who are out. SA teams need to take some serious stock of what's happening ITO injuries and adjust. Even though it seems it's not only us if I look at Aus and now Ireland as well.

Thankfully JdV, Adriaan Strauss and JP Pietersen are all set to play after being injured but Bokke still out injured;

Guthro Steenkamp
Bismarck du Plessis
Coenie Oosthuizen
Andries Bekker
Schalk Burger
Juan Smith
Heinrich Brussow
Pierre Spies
Johan Goosen
Frans Steyn
Bryan Habana

That's a lot of players to lose to injury for a team that has lost senior players like Matfield, J Fourie, F Du Preez, Rossouw and Botha to "retirement" following the RWC. No, I'm not counting J Smit LOL. And we'll be a better team for losing JdV, Kirchner and Spies next year.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Habana got injured playing in the Currie Cup final match in Durban. He's just one of a whole host of quality players who are out. SA teams need to take some serious stock of what's happening ITO injuries and adjust. Even though it seems it's not only us if I look at Aus and now Ireland as well.

Thankfully JdV, Adriaan Strauss and JP Pietersen are all set to play after being injured but Bokke still out injured;

Guthro Steenkamp
Bismarck du Plessis
Coenie Oosthuizen
Andries Bekker
Schalk Burger
Juan Smith
Heinrich Brussow
Pierre Spies
Johan Goosen
Frans Steyn
Bryan Habana

That's a lot of players to lose to injury for a team that has lost senior players like Matfield, J Fourie, F Du Preez, Rossouw and Botha to "retirement" following the RWC. No, I'm not counting J Smit LOL. And we'll be a better team for losing JdV, Kirchner and Spies next year.

Ag, every team has its casualties. I would rather have them injured now than during a world cup year. But HM has a point that the SA coaches, which includes himself, should use player management much more than they used to. and this year has shown what unbelievable depth we have.

To still have a competitive team with all your superstars on the sideline speaks volumes.

I'm going for a bok-win, by 15

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

vBookie Shamrocks - Springboks

vBookie added

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Given our penchant for ties under HM (already tied with England and Argentina) and the fact that I see Ireland as a difficult nut to crack I went for 250 V$ on a tie.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

If we end one of the matches in a draw, are we the first national rugby union team ever to draw 3 matches in 1 year?

 

[SomeOke]

I really need to see the Irish team before I can make any predictions solid predictions.
As for the SA team I don't have too many complaints.

The Taute - Zane, de Jong - Taute, swap is the only obvious one, but Kirchner hasn't played terribly at international level for us recently, I feel like a lot of saffers have a pretty negative bias against him and he's stuck in a place where he can't do anything right but personally I can live with it.

Our backline is missing a few players but apart from Habana - Hougard I don't think anyone we're missing would have made that much of a difference, Frans hasn't been performing for the Boks of late so I hardly think JdV is too much of a downgrade.

Our forwards pack has also been gelling well recently, history says that Ireland might give us a bit of trouble at the scrums, but without O'Connel I think we might have the edge at line-out time.

All in all I think it would be a lot tougher of a contest with a full strength Ireland team, but I do feel we have the greater depth which is why I feel we'll win by at least 7. Wet weather might change that however.

1000 Swag Bucks on the Bokke!

 

[osullie6]

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/rugby/2012/1108/1224326330480.html

Ireland: S Zebo (Munster); T Bowe (Ulster), K Earls (Munster), G D'Arcy (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster); J Sexton (Leinster), C Murray (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), R Strauss (Leinster), M Ross (Leinster); M McCarthy (Connacht), D Ryan (Munster); P O'Mahony (Munster), C Henry (Ulster), J Healsip (Leinster, capt).Replacements: S Cronin (Leinster), D Kilcoyne (Munster), M Bent (Leinster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), I Henderson (Ulster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O'Gara (Munster), F McFadden (Leinster)

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

mad that Skrela isn't playing

 

[Feicarsinn]

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/rugby/2012/1108/1224326330480.html

Ireland: S Zebo (Munster); T Bowe (Ulster), K Earls (Munster), G D'Arcy (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster); J Sexton (Leinster), C Murray (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), R Strauss (Leinster), M Ross (Leinster); M McCarthy (Connacht), D Ryan (Munster); P O'Mahony (Munster), C Henry (Ulster), J Healsip (Leinster, capt).Replacements: S Cronin (Leinster), D Kilcoyne (Munster), M Bent (Leinster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), I Henderson (Ulster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O'Gara (Munster), F McFadden (Leinster)

Now there's one we hadn't considered. Could be a decent shout, tough enough cookie, should help add a bit of beef to the pack. That said, if I were going for an older head in the second row it'd have been DOC on current form. Either way, it's a bit harsh on Tuohy not to be in the 23.

Heaslip being captain is hardly a surprise, and is probably a good call. I fear for Zebo, but not because he's not a very good player, but as he has zero full back experience. No one wants to see him knock back in terms of his progression (which has been excellent) in a similar fashion to what happened to Luke.

Can't have too many gripes with selection under the circumstances.

Winners: Zebo, McCarthy, Bent Kilcoyne, Henderson
Losers: Tuohy, McLaughlin, Jackson
Lucky to be there: RO'G

 

[Jockstap]

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/rugby/2012/1108/1224326330480.html

Ireland: S Zebo (Munster); T Bowe (Ulster), K Earls (Munster), G D’Arcy (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster); J Sexton (Leinster), C Murray (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), R Strauss (Leinster), M Ross (Leinster); M McCarthy (Connacht), D Ryan (Munster); P O’Mahony (Munster), C Henry (Ulster), J Healsip (Leinster, capt).Replacements: S Cronin (Leinster), D Kilcoyne (Munster), M Bent (Leinster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), I Henderson (Ulster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O’Gara (Munster), F McFadden (Leinster)

Happy with that team injuries considered, Mike McCarthy has been playing some excellent stuff these days and deserves his spot. I still think we're going to lose but it's nice to see that we're trying new things.

An interesting article by Liam Toland on McCarthy from a few weeks back

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/1026/1224325731780.html

"Of the four secondrows selected for the autumn internationals I suggest you rewatch the Connacht-Harlequins match because Mike McCarthy was outstanding; firstly as a secondrow and then as a rugby player. What made him outstanding? According to the statistics, Ulster’s Dan Touhy made three tackles against Glasgow last Friday night, O’Connell made one with O’Callaghan making five; nine in total â€" McCarthy made 13. O’Callaghan made no clean break, neither did O’Connell, who ran with the ball for five metres with Touhy adding four metres. McCarthy beat two defenders making a clean break and totalled 29 metres carried. Only O’Connell joined him on the lineout steals, beating him by two.

Having been to the matches over the previous games McCarthy stands head and shoulders over the other three with his athleticism and impact in all aspects of the game; genuinely contesting the ball in the air and on the ground, accelerating in contact, breaking tackles and off-loading to better-placed support runners, not to mention the quality of his offensive tackles. His performance was further enhanced in that he was playing on a losing Connacht team."

 

[Feicarsinn]

Yup, he's a handy player. Should do well. He's only 30 too, which gives him another 4 or 5 years to be knocking around the international scene.

We're at the beginning of a new era in Irish rugby. 4 new caps will be handed out on the weekend, as well as a new captain. The likes of Ryan, Zebo, O'Mahony and Henry are all relatively new to the setup too. We get a new coach in the summer, so it's an interesting juncture.

 

[coonor]

At first I thought the selection of McCarthy was just same old Kidney picking other the hill players. However I think the view "if you're good enough, then you're old enough" should work both ways. McCarthy is always a stand out player for his club and hopefully brings that kind of form to the international team.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Is Tom Court injured? No problem with him not being selected on the bench given he's unlikely to be around at the next World Cup but right now he's a better player than Dave Kilcoyne.

 

[UlsterRugby2012]

I haven't heard anything about Court being injured.
Im a little bit surprised Marshall, Cave or Tuohy aren't even in the 23. I can't stand the thought of Murray starting - what more has Marshall to do? & Reddan is far better tbh.

 

[Feicarsinn]

I haven't heard anything about Court being injured.
Im a little bit surprised Marshall, Cave or Tuohy aren't even in the 23. I can't stand the thought of Murray starting - what more has Marshall to do? & Reddan is far better tbh.

Start for Ulster.

 

[Conal]

Start for Ulster.

starting for a province didnt stop o'leary

 

[big ginger 8]

My optimism is returning I know it annoys some but yeah it's back. Some stuff like Zebo at fullback and RO'G on the bench make me cringe. Mike McCarthy is actually an excellen pick I hadn't considered for whatever reason. Brilliant athlete with a real dog about him. Has also really improved at the lineouts. Tuohy is quite unlucky. I'm also delighted to see Kilcoyne and Henderson on the bench hope he gets a good run. It's a team I think which can play with a real chip on their shoulders which is necessary for playing teams like S.A.. Also happy Henry gets a shot with him PO'M, Healy and Strauss we should be competitive at ruck time. I think we could sneak a win. Then probably almost lose to Fiji.

Probably the one time you want Lambie over Steyn.