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<blockquote data-quote="snoopy snoopy dog dog" data-source="post: 303266">&lt;div class=&#039;quotetop&#039;&gt;QUOTE (elgringoborracho @ Feb 14 2010, 09:11 AM) <a href="http://index.php?act=findpost&amp;pid=436827" target="_blank">&lt;{POST_SNAPBACK}&gt;</a>&lt;/div&gt;Sums things up perfectly. On the day, no matter how well Ireland could have played, France still would have been the better team.What did we learn? I don&#039;t think the scrum was that bad but it could have been better. Flannery coming out of that team in favour of Best will help - hopefully the citing commissioner will take the decision out of Declan Kidney&#039;s hands. Perhaps it&#039;s time to give Tom Court a shot at tighthead. He&#039;s not helped by being played at loosehead (where he&#039;s playing extremely well I might add) but John Hayes isn&#039;t getting the job done. Give Court a chance to sink or swim in the Scotland and Wales games.Scrumhalf is an issue. Tomas O&#039;Leary is a great defender and can break pretty well. Against that he&#039;s ponderous at the breakdown, average passer (if I&#039;m being kind) and a diobolical box kicker where he&#039;ll get a lot of length on his kicks but won&#039;t give chasers a chance. Eoin Reddan isn&#039;t rated by Eddie O&#039;Sullivan but if Johnny Sexton gets a shot at 10 (as he should) keeping the Leinster halfback partnership together is possibly the right call. I&#039;d give O&#039;Leary another chance though.Stick a fork in Ronan O&#039;Gara, he&#039;s done. How often o you hear Irish commentators say &quot;we all know ROG isn&#039;t a great tackler&quot; as though it&#039;s a minor part of the game? It&#039;s a f&#039;n huge weakness and is often used as a stick to beat Ian Humphreys. If you&#039;re 10 can&#039;t tackle, can&#039;t run with the ball and is getting increasingly erratic with the boot, he shouldn&#039;t be in the team no matter how many caps he&#039;s won in the past. I understand the reason behind picking O&#039;Gara against France (Sexton wasn&#039;t fully match fit) but it should be his last outing in a big game.Next time out, I&#039;d like to see this team:15. Kearney14. Bowe13. O&#039;Driscoll12. D&#039;arcy11. Trimble (Earls didn&#039;t do enough)10. Sexton9. O&#039;Leary1. Healy2. Best3. Hayes (give him a chance with a better scrummaging hooker)4. Cullen (Ireland&#039;s best player in the tournament thus far)5. O&#039;Connell6. Ferris7. Wallace (Hook is an idiot if he thinks Wally should be dropped)8. HeaslipSubs: Cronin (assuming Flannery is suspended), Court, Ryan, O&#039;Brien, Reddan, Wallace (O&#039;Gara won&#039;t offer an impact any more), Earls</blockquote>

[QUOTE="snoopy snoopy dog dog, post: 303266"] <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (elgringoborracho @ Feb 14 2010, 09:11 AM) [url='index.php?act=findpost&pid=436827']<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div> Sums things up perfectly. On the day, no matter how well Ireland could have played, France still would have been the better team. What did we learn? I don't think the scrum was that bad but it could have been better. Flannery coming out of that team in favour of Best will help - hopefully the citing commissioner will take the decision out of Declan Kidney's hands. Perhaps it's time to give Tom Court a shot at tighthead. He's not helped by being played at loosehead (where he's playing extremely well I might add) but John Hayes isn't getting the job done. Give Court a chance to sink or swim in the Scotland and Wales games. Scrumhalf is an issue. Tomas O'Leary is a great defender and can break pretty well. Against that he's ponderous at the breakdown, average passer (if I'm being kind) and a diobolical box kicker where he'll get a lot of length on his kicks but won't give chasers a chance. Eoin Reddan isn't rated by Eddie O'Sullivan but if Johnny Sexton gets a shot at 10 (as he should) keeping the Leinster halfback partnership together is possibly the right call. I'd give O'Leary another chance though. Stick a fork in Ronan O'Gara, he's done. How often o you hear Irish commentators say "we all know ROG isn't a great tackler" as though it's a minor part of the game? It's a f'n huge weakness and is often used as a stick to beat Ian Humphreys. If you're 10 can't tackle, can't run with the ball and is getting increasingly erratic with the boot, he shouldn't be in the team no matter how many caps he's won in the past. I understand the reason behind picking O'Gara against France (Sexton wasn't fully match fit) but it should be his last outing in a big game. Next time out, I'd like to see this team: 15. Kearney 14. Bowe 13. O'Driscoll 12. D'arcy 11. Trimble (Earls didn't do enough) 10. Sexton 9. O'Leary 1. Healy 2. Best 3. Hayes (give him a chance with a better scrummaging hooker) 4. Cullen (Ireland's best player in the tournament thus far) 5. O'Connell 6. Ferris 7. Wallace (Hook is an idiot if he thinks Wally should be dropped) 8. Heaslip Subs: Cronin (assuming Flannery is suspended), Court, Ryan, O'Brien, Reddan, Wallace (O'Gara won't offer an impact any more), Earls [/QUOTE]

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