Ireland v Italy

[An Tarbh]

He was Connacht coach and was under-21 coach before heading to the States and then back to Ireland as assistant to Gatland.

His credentials were magnificient, just where did it all go wrong???

 

[Prestwick]

....must of sucked allota dick to get to somewhere so high with such a weak CV!

Surely, surely there was better Irish coaching talent about at the time?!

 

[An Tarbh]

well he, rather than Gatland, was credited with our turnaround in form following our drubbing in Twickenham in 2000, which I was never too pleased with, I never really understand the sacking of Gatland at the time. All the praise was for Eddie and how he got an Irish backline to play like they had under Mick Doyle.

However the IRFU missed the boat in 2005 after a disastrous year and now we're stuck with the consequences

 

[shtove]

Hmmm, results are results. Gatland wasn't getting them. Didn't he go when Keith Wood delivered his Keane-esque "not good enough" interview after we pushed England close (back when supporters accepted that kind of scoreline as a 'result', before heading off to skull a rake of pints)? Or has my brain shrunk to walnut size?

Some more senile rambling in response to Logo's outrage: Heaslip may be the way to go, but he hasn't shown with Leinster he can be a heavyweight matchwinner. Maybe he should go to a team that knows how to win big matches. And Kearney, for all his 'bursting on the scene' a few seasons ago, often plays like a bimbo - plenty of talent but not even close to the young D'Arcy, so I'd wouldn't like to see him starting in a green jersey. And Easterby is playing with a very poor team this season, so it's not unreasonable for Eddie to stick with him.

Would anyone like to see D'Arcy go in to the back three? I remember seeing him there for Leinster, and his running patterns from deep were genius. Make that change, and put Trimble at 13 outside BOD as suggested by Snoopy. (BTW - Tommy Bowe at 14! What are you thinking? This is international rugby.)

 

[shazbooger]

Some more senile rambling in response to Logo's outrage ........................ And Easterby is playing with a very poor team this season, so it's not unreasonable for Eddie to stick with him. [/b]

yeah I was quite pished about the whole selection thing. Just managing to calm down now. So you seriously think Trimble and Easterby deserve their places? or are you just happy to see fewer Leinster players in the side?

Not *****in here, just curious about where your coming from.

 

[shtove]

I'd like to see more Leinster players in the side - but only those who can dig deep when it matters. Flash is great, so long as you score two points for every point you give away.

Trimble is just a bit above bog standard, but he won't lose the head. Kearney is prone to losing the head, which is especially bad in a tactical kicker. What I'm really outraged about is Carney's absence from the squad - FFS!

Easterby knows his way around.

Yeah, it's another YAWN! selection from Mr Conservative. But I think it can win the championship.

What about D'Arcy at 14 or 15? He's getting a bit rusty as BOD's inside anchor.

 

[An Tarbh]

Hmmm, results are results. Gatland wasn't getting them. Didn't he go when Keith Wood delivered his Keane-esque "not good enough" interview after we pushed England close (back when supporters accepted that kind of scoreline as a 'result', before heading off to skull a rake of pints)? Or has my brain shrunk to walnut size?[/b]

Gatland not getting results, you're having a laugh. First win in Paris for 28 years, first win against the French at home for 18 years, 1st win against Scotland for 12 years, who were champions at the time, first win over England in 7 years, he was getting results and performances were improving and had Gatland stayed on I doubt we would have seen the backward step of 2002.

Some more senile rambling in response to Logo's outrage: Heaslip may be the way to go, but he hasn't shown with Leinster he can be a heavyweight matchwinner. Maybe he should go to a team that knows how to win big matches. And Kearney, for all his 'bursting on the scene' a few seasons ago, often plays like a bimbo - plenty of talent but not even close to the young D'Arcy, so I'd wouldn't like to see him starting in a green jersey. And Easterby is playing with a very poor team this season, so it's not unreasonable for Eddie to stick with him.[/b]

So what has Heaslip done this season that merits someone being picked out of position starting ahead of him, what glaring mistakes has he made, cause lets remember that Leamy was in shite form until he moved back to the blindside.

Would anyone like to see D'Arcy go in to the back three? I remember seeing him there for Leinster, and his running patterns from deep were genius. Make that change, and put Trimble at 13 outside BOD as suggested by Snoopy. (BTW - Tommy Bowe at 14! What are you thinking? This is international rugby.)
[/b]

Well Bowe, Fitzgerald and Kearney have been the form wingers this season, but since Eddie picks on international experience, where Trimble btw has excelled , so we're laughing. It's nothing against Trimble he should be in the centre, same for Leamy being at 6, you'd think that heading into to his 9th Six Nations in the Irish setup that he'd realise by now you don't pick players out of position.

 

[el_tk]

D'Arcy would find it very difficult to slot into the back 3 straight away as he's put on some weight since his move to the centre and lost a little of his pace. He's not the same player who played wing/fullback a few years back.
Also back then he was renowned for playing 5 steps ahead of everyone else, as often as his runs were good he landed Leinster in all kinds of trouble.

And Shtove you say Heaslip shouldn't play because he plays for a team that can't "win big matches" yet Easterby deserves his place because he's playing for a team having an awful season (0-6 in the HEC). Makes no sense.

I always thought the Gatland thing had something to do with his contract demands or was that just IRFU spin?

 

[stevemagoo]

Would anyone like to see D'Arcy go in to the back three? I remember seeing him there for Leinster, and his running patterns from deep were genius. Make that change, and put Trimble at 13 outside BOD as suggested by Snoopy. (BTW - Tommy Bowe at 14! What are you thinking? This is international rugby.)[/b]

I don't think that D'Arcy should even have his place - by his own admission, his form has dropped. But just because he is who he is, it doesn't give him a right to make the team even out of position. Backline, in my opinion should look something like:

9. Reddan
10. O'Gara
11. Fitz/Bowe/Carn
12. Trimble
13. O'Driscoll
14. Kearney
15. Dempsey

 

[el_tk]

Carney isn't in the squad as he had the temerity to question why himself and 7 other players were taken to France with no intention of using them.

 

[An Tarbh]

Eddie is certainly dying by his own sword, that's for sure. His use, well lack of, of tactical substitutions looks set to continue with Eddie insisting that these players are too much of a risk as they're not up to the intensity of an international test match. So it's better to continue with a poor player for the entire match cause he's up to the intensity of the occasion, never mind his performance or contribution, that's just secondary.

 

[shtove]

So it's better to continue with a poor player for the entire match cause he's up to the intensity of the occasion, never mind his performance or contribution, that's just secondary. [/b]

Same thing, shewerly? And if a player's up to the intensity of the occasion, how can he be classed as poor?

Five seasons ago it was all about Ireland putting in a battling performance, before collapsing in the final fifteen minutes because they weren't up to the intensity. The former is of zero use without the latter.

So that's where the subs come in - and if Eddie gets off his arse quicker than usual, then Heaslip and Jackman will have the chance to prove they're 'worth it'. BTW - I've no doubts about Jackman, he probably should have started.

 

[Prestwick]

Let me ask this. If Shane Geraghty decided to don the green of Ireland rather than the white of England, how many years would it be before he would be given the chance to trot out for Ireland considering the O'Gara/BOD/D'Arcy triangle of doom we have going on here?

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Something which concerns me is that if O'Sullivan insists on playing the same team regardless of form (take a look at the 6 Nations teams of 2002 - there are only about 6 differences, most through retirement), those next in line will follow Tommy Bowe's lead and leave the country for not getting a fair crack at making the team. Why should Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney (debatably), Brian Carney, Luke Fitzgerald and others stay if they'd get paid more elsewhere and would see just as much international action (i.e. none)?



Reports in one of today's papers say that Dick Best is approaching lots of young Irish players because they're being frozen out of the provincial (Earls, Hurley) and international setups. That's a consequence of O'Sullivan's actions.

Let me ask this. If Shane Geraghty decided to don the green of Ireland rather than the white of England, how many years would it be before he would be given the chance to trot out for Ireland considering the O'Gara/BOD/D'Arcy triangle of doom we have going on here? [/b]

He'd be lucky to have an appearance in the A setup by now. Not through lack of talent (far from it - he's good enough to play 12 in the full Ireland team right now) but through conservative selection. He'd have to wait until O'Gara retires in 4 years time to have a shot at starting.

 

[Prestwick]

Yeah, I was thinking it'd be a combination of conservative selection and the cupboard being pretty crowded already.

 

[An Tarbh]

Well I think he would have gone to the world cup and given what happened to ROG during the tournament Eddie would have had a proper back up. I know he's conservative but I think even Eddie would have given Geraghty a run in France had he been there, there's also the flip side of the argument that Geraghty's presence may well have kept O'Gara on his toes and he might not have got complacent, unless it was purely the personal problems that screwed him up.

 

[shtove]

That's what I was thinking about Heaslip - maybe he should go to France and get toughened up. There seem to be enough good players to let the home-grown selection policy slide. The whole set up is a bit incestuous at this stage.

 

[An Tarbh]

Hook with another spot on analogy about Eddie - if he'd been in the bunker in Berlin in 1945 he'd still be fighting.

Not a happy bunny our George!!!

 

[nam97]

Well that was as tedious a first will ever get. No one seems to be doing anything, Murphy is having a shocker on the wing but O'Gara looks pretty solid again so I suppose that's something to take out of it.

 

[yeastextract]

Ive had a crazy idea

if Italy beat Ireland now, Italy will win the whole Six Nations!!