Murphy or Dempsey?

[An Tarbh]

It's not as if the backline struggled to create tries when Murphy was not in the squad against England or Italy last year.

 

[monkeypigeon]

It's not as if the backline struggled to create tries when Murphy was not in the squad against England or Italy last year. [/b]

Yeah, but O'Driscoll was playing a hell of a lot better then.

 

[stormmaster1]

It's not as if the backline struggled to create tries when Murphy was not in the squad against England or Italy last year. [/b]

Not a particularly useful point, because it's not as though the same side were easily creating tries at the world cup. If ireland need an extra creative edge then go for murphy, or go for the safer defender who is still less creative, but a strong runner. I'd go for Murphy on form, but it's just a matter of preference/judgement for EOS to make taking into account the overall team balance and style of play. Given Murphy was out of form in his entire play the past couple of seasons, it would be nice to see him tested defensively as a full back now he has more confidence back.

 

[An Tarbh]

Well there was a slight difference in the world cup in that the players were underprepared, form had dipped and O'Driscoll wasn't fit, so my point is valid.

 

[Fantasy King]

From BBC, both fullbacks have slight injury concerns:

Murphy did not train on Monday after suffering an Achilles injury while playing for Leicester on Saturday.

Girvan Dempsey, vying with Murphy for the full-back spot, took a limited part in training on Monday but is still a doubt because of a hip strain.

The Irish will announce their team a little later today (Tuesday 4th Mar)