Ireland vs France - 20/08/2011 - RWC Warm Up

[TRF_Olyy]

O'Leary hasn't had a good game in a loooong time, it's baffling
I mean, in a very tight match vs France he personally gave France 10pts (which is more than they won by) with his intercept try and shoddy box kick

What is it about national coaches that makes them oblivious to crappy performances?

 

[Leinster+]

Have been told this but not from a reliable source too but 3 Scrum-halves going are O'Leary, Reddan and Boss. AGAIN NOT A 100% RELIABLE SOURCEBut if true Kidney is taking the P*ss as Murray is the only 9 with form.McLaughlin blew his chance on Thursday and was 1 of worst players on field,Niall Ronan I can confirm is on a shortlist to travel as a back-up too.

McLaughlin is vital for us as he can cover Flanker and 2nd row. He is fantastic. I'm pretty sure any1 who isn't from Ireland would never have heard of Niall ronan!!! Boss should be on the bench but highly doubt it as he was reduced to 50mins against connacht. Where do u get your sources btw???

 

[munstermuffin]

O'Leary hasn't had a good game in a loooong time, it's baffling
I mean, in a very tight match vs France he personally gave France 10pts (which is more than they won by) with his intercept try and shoddy box kick

What is it about national coaches that makes them oblivious to crappy performances?

Earls, D'Arcy, BOD etc I can forgive been bad last week because D'Arcy has improved lately and well Earls and BOD have always done well for Ireland.
But O'Leary is 3rd choice for Munster and 1st for Ireland ??????

Murray is being called inexperienced but how can he get that if he isn't played. He had great finish to season for Munster and played in 2 heated games with Leinster that were as high as Heineken Cup level pressure wise and he did well. Has looked good in his appearances in green so far and is best 9 we have at moment.
O'Leary and eddan are the worst out of the 5 by a long way

 

[Leinster+]

O'Leary hasn't had a good game in a loooong time, it's bafflingI mean, in a very tight match vs France he personally gave France 10pts (which is more than they won by) with his intercept try and shoddy box kickWhat is it about national coaches that makes them oblivious to crappy performances?

In my opinion DK already knew who he wanted to play regardless of what is going on in the warm ups. Which is what all coaches would do but he doesn't realise when you play Munster players you will lose or play badly (excluding Paulie and Flannery). MJ also does it with England.

 

[Leinster+]

Earls, D'Arcy, BOD etc I can forgive been bad last week because D'Arcy has improved lately and well Earls and BOD have always done well for Ireland.But O'Leary is 3rd choice for Munster and 1st for Ireland ?????? Murray is being called inexperienced but how can he get that if he isn't played. He had great finish to season for Munster and played in 2 heated games with Leinster that were as high as Heineken Cup level pressure wise and he did well. Has looked good in his appearances in green so far and is best 9 we have at moment.O'Leary and eddan are the worst out of the 5 by a long way

I can see why you believe Murray is our best scrum half, you're from Munster, but saying even comparing O'Leary to Reddan is disgraceful. Reddan had a big impact when he came on but in fairness he didnt set the world alight. He is easily our best scrum half and should be starting. Reddan knows the Leinster players inside out while Murray has no experience with them. Wait till after the world cup and Murray will be a star. It's quite obvious you have never seen a Leinster game since Reddan was instrumental to Leinster's success. He is a world class scrum half.

 

[Peat]

Have been told this but not from a reliable source too but 3 Scrum-halves going are O'Leary, Reddan and Boss. AGAIN NOT A 100% RELIABLE SOURCE

Its called the internet. All over it.

But if true Kidney is taking the P*ss as Murray is the only 9 with form.

Murray's just the only 9 with form full stop really. Whoever he picked it was going to go look silly, but not as silly as...

Niall Ronan I can confirm is on a shortlist to travel as a back-up too.

AHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHA. Oh please. Please. I will cry with laughter.

 

[Leinster+]

Murray's just the only 9 with form full stop.

Ever hear of Eoin Reddan??? You're saying that only upon 2 games where he got 20 minutes and was impressive enough. Reddan played magnificently well all last season and now he has no form????? That really makes sense

 

[munstermuffin]

Peat not getting any info from net these simply from Munster branch members that are in Dublin.
Reason I know about Niall Ronan is because we will be missing him for ML so we're hoping it's not a case where he has to travel.
We have Micko and Strings back and Marcus Horan too as in there a ML to win and Heineken Cup preperations to go through too.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Niall Ronan on the plane is crazy I'd have O'Brien, Jennings, Heaslip, Ferris, Wallace, Leamy, Ruddock, Don Ryan, Dom Ryan,McLaughlan and McCarthy (and I know some of them are) ahead of him. (Might be missing some, possibly really obvious ones but I'm tired) That's 11 players, possibly forgetting some.

 

[munstermuffin]

Well lets remember - I expect Leamy, Heaslip, Wallace, Ferris, O'Brien and Donnacha Ryan to be backrow options in squad.
And then the shortlist of Niall Ronan, Shane Jennings and maybe McCarthy on the shortlist. Only 1 I presume will travel as backup or do they stay here and just have to be ready in case of being called at any time I don't know.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Ugh can't edit. When is the squad being announced muffin?

 

[Feicarsinn]

Tomorrow. Sometime in the afteroon.

 

[munstermuffin]

1pm tomorrow it's offically announced but I think all players know by now.

 

[Leinster+]

Niall Ronan on the plane is crazy I'd have O'Brien, Jennings, Heaslip, Ferris, Wallace, Leamy, Ruddock, Don Ryan, Dom Ryan,McLaughlan and McCarthy (and I know some of them are) ahead of him. (Might be missing some, possibly really obvious ones but I'm tired) That's 11 players, possibly forgetting some.

Taking 11 out of 16 forwards as back rowers is a bit over the top. Leamy, Donncha Ryan and McCarthy are the most dismal players I have ever seen. Ruddock is probably too young. The same with Dominic but if the 2 of them had another year of senior rugby under their belts they would have been in the 43 man squads for sure and would have made a go of it, much better than those 3 disgraceful players.

 

[Logorrhea]

Thought the French were pretty impressive to be honest. Not in a traditional French sense, but the physicl power the displayed across the park was seriously impressive.

Some of the Irish team played quite well. The likes of Healy, Heaslip, O'Brien, O'Connell all looked to be on form but as a team, a unit, the Irish were physically dominated. The French owned the breakdown (more due to the power of their backs then their backrow), and we lived off shite ball as a result. O'Leary made the shite ball, shiter and everything else outside of him was nullified.

I wouldnt judge the Irish backline on this, but I would certainly question the likes of O'Callaghans (pointless I know, he does invisible stuff), and Jennings performance. Simply not good enough.

As for the French, I was seriously impressed with the physicality. From 1-15 they are the only team that could physically dominate New Zealand and South Africa. There wasnt too much flair but **** me they beat the shite out of the Irish pack, and that hasnt happened in a long time. Massive strength in depth, Heymans oozed class, Rougerie looked pretty good, very physical with decent enough hands for his first game back.

France, dispite Lievermont, are looking pretty good.

 

[coonor]

Some players can be excused for their poor performances as the likes of Earls and O'Driscoll have played very well lately and this may have been a one off poor game. So long as they improve and learn form the game I am not to worried. Any way with the sqaud announcement in a few hours my 30 would be:

-Cian Healy
-Tom Court
-Rory Best
-Jerry Flannery
-Mike Ross
-John Hayes
-Paul O'Connell
-Donncha O'Callaghan
-Leo Cullen
-Donnacha Ryan
-Sean O'Brien
-Stephen Ferris
-Jamie Heaslip
-David Wallace
-Shane Jennings
-Conor Murray
-Issac Boss
-Eion Reddan
-Jonathan Sexton
-Ronan O'Gara
-Paddy Wallace
-Gordan D'Arcy
-Brian O'Driscoll
-Fergus McFadden
-Tommy Bowe
-Andrew Trimble
-Keith Earls
-Luke Fitzgerald
-Rob Kearney
-Geordan Murphy

Fitzgerald and Paddy Wallace have been selected more for injury cover. The pack is smaller than I would have liked however there is a lack of other options. I would be tempted to take Buckley along with instead of Wallace or Fitzgerald just to add to the front row option to try and reduce the risk of injury to Mike Ross

 

[munstermuffin]

I'd definitely have Hayes ahead of Buckley anyway,
We have to protect Ross and not flog him as he is as important as the likes of BOD and Paulie.

 

[erwanseb]

This is always the same story, poor France in between world cup due to structural reasons, no judgement there just a fact (more than a hundred players at rwc07 were playing or had played in the top 14, so overall benefits in the rugby sense are greater than short term inconvenience) . Then, thanks to a reversal of priorities, France has to catch up with all the delayed homework during the three months preparation period. Hopefully, the talent and the abilities are there but time is running out fast. Surely France has a margin for improvement much greater than any southern team so the question will always linger, what is their real level ?
Well I guess we will to have to wait a few weeks for the answer.