Ireland, 2013 Six Nations

[UlsterRugby2012]

Would have had Trimble over Earls any day. Squad is good enough though.
McSharry over Cave? Right call?

 

[coonor]

No Madigan, No Marshal! Both of them should be on the bench for Wales but neither are even in the squad!

Earl's is becoming a real burden if you ask me. At 13 he's far behind BOD and Cave and at wing he has at least 5 players ahead of him.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

No Madigan, No Marshal! Both of them should be on the bench for Wales but neither are even in the squad!

Earl's is becoming a real burden if you ask me. At 13 he's far behind BOD and Cave and at wing he has at least 5 players ahead of him.

My thoughts exactly. I've heard people say "If Ireland are up by two with ten minutes to play do you realy want Marshall and Madigan coming on" but with recent form it is more likely we'll be a few points down and need a bit of pace to the game.

 

[coonor]

My thoughts exactly. I've heard people say "If Ireland are up by two with ten minutes to play do you realy want Marshall and Madigan coming on" but with recent form it is more likely we'll be a few points down and need a bit of pace to the game.

People who think like that in regards to Marshall and Madigan are greatly misguided. The best form of defence is attack and when you start bringing on player to just close out game, you lose the attacking edge that has more than likely kept you in the game in the first place. In that sense, I'd be more than happy to bring Marshall and Madigan on even if we were just two points up with ten minutes to go. While the opposition are trying endlessly to find those points, Madigan and Marshall will provide a whole new challenge for them to contemplate.

I have said numerous times that Sexton will play the full 80 minutes in every "close" match. I would imagine Sexton will move to 12, replacing D'Arcy. I would much rather end a game with Madigan-Sexton-BOD, than ROG-Sexton-BOD! In the game against Argentina, when ROG came on we conceded 2 tries. Instead of closing out the game he made countless unforced errors which proved costly. Its quite simple, in the Argentina game we played an expansive and direct game that the Pumas could not live with. By bringing on O'Gara everything aspect of the performance which had put us in a such a good position shut down. Just because he's got a good boot doesn't mean he can simply close out games! Think about defence, if i'm the opposition down by two points and O'Gara's coming on, i'd actually be quite optimistic. Suddenly there's a huge defensive weakness in Ireland's set up and the threat of Ireland scoring more tries minimises- thus I can now turn my full attention to getting those points!

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

People who think like that in regards to Marshall and Madigan are greatly misguided. The best form of defence is attack and when you start bringing on player to just close out game, you lose the attacking edge that has more than likely kept you in the game in the first place. In that sense, I'd be more than happy to bring Marshall and Madigan on even if we were just two points up with ten minutes to go. While the opposition are trying endlessly to find those points, Madigan and Marshall will provide a whole new challenge for them to contemplate.

I have said numerous times that Sexton will play the full 80 minutes in every "close" match. I would imagine Sexton will move to 12, replacing D'Arcy. I would much rather end a game with Madigan-Sexton-BOD, than ROG-Sexton-BOD! In the game against Argentina, when ROG came on we conceded 2 tries. Instead of closing out the game he made countless unforced errors which proved costly. Its quite simple, in the Argentina game we played an expansive and direct game that the Pumas could not live with. By bringing on O'Gara everything aspect of the performance which had put us in a such a good position shut down. Just because he's got a good boot doesn't mean he can simply close out games! Think about defence, if i'm the opposition down by two points and O'Gara's coming on, i'd actually be quite optimistic. Suddenly there's a huge defensive weakness in Ireland's set up and the threat of Ireland scoring more tries minimises- thus I can now turn my full attention to getting those points!

Added to the fact that Madigan and Marshall are competent in defence and that Madigan's tactical kicking is on a par with Jackson in my opinion. Only Declan Kidney couldn't realize this though.