Scotland vs Ireland - 06/08/2011 - RWC Warm Up

[Conal]

where is damien varley these days?? i thought he could be a more steady option than cronin

 

[irelandfan123]

One thing we can take from today ,is all the Ulster players played solid even Paddy Wallace ( did nothing wrong , but nothing that good to get a mention)

 

[munstermuffin]

where is damien varley these days?? i thought he could be a more steady option than cronin

Varley is here working hard with Munster and is in a battle with Sherry to start as number 2 for us. He would be a decent option and I rate Varley on par with Cronin. Cronin is slightly better in loose but Varley has better darts. But he is still prone to mistakes and well I think that replacing Cronin with Varley wouldn't make much of a difference.

But on game I think in a way it was disappointing that while a few did OK nobody stood up and said " I'm fighting for this jersey". I thought some had seemed reserved and accepted their a back up.
I really think Cronin, Cullen, Leamy, Fitzgearld and Trimble should have been more fired up yesterday as they are really the 1's argubally along with O'Leary fighting for spots in the 15/22.

 

[Perthshire]

was very impressed with both defences yesterday afternoon. It was a game where in my opinion defences were on top for the majority of this game
BUT on the flip side of the coin I would also like to say thaqt the best move of the match created the match winning try

 

[profitius]

Varley is here working hard with Munster and is in a battle with Sherry to start as number 2 for us. He would be a decent option and I rate Varley on par with Cronin. Cronin is slightly better in loose but Varley has better darts. But he is still prone to mistakes and well I think that replacing Cronin with Varley wouldn't make much of a difference.

But on game I think in a way it was disappointing that while a few did OK nobody stood up and said " I'm fighting for this jersey". I thought some had seemed reserved and accepted their a back up.
I really think Cronin, Cullen, Leamy, Fitzgearld and Trimble should have been more fired up yesterday as they are really the 1's argubally along with O'Leary fighting for spots in the 15/22.

I think Cronin is a better player than Varley. Mike Sherry looks the best of all the up coming hookers. I think he'll overtake Varley this season and be number one by the 2012/13 season.

 

[profitius]

I thought Wallace and Mcfadden made a poor partnership. Unfortunately I feel Wallace will get first preference over McFadden which makes me quite sad.

Theres not much between them. Wallace is more of a creative player and offers Ireland something different. McFadden is more like D'Arcy. If D'Arcy doesn't get fit then the 2 of them will go.

 

[Perthshire]

The thing that hit me about the Irish yesteraday verocity of the defence when scotland ventured upfield towards the Irish tryline. However the same can be said of the Scottish defence while the Irish were attacking

 

[TRF_Olyy]

"TRF" Perthshire?
Are you a secret staff member?

 

[big ginger 8]

Are we allowed pretend to be admins please change my name.

Also whoever said Wallace did nothing wrong well I can't agree with that missed three important tackles. I'm a fan of him has great hands but as my uncle says he's a jack of all trades but a master of none. He's not even 12 stone and is really exposed against big centres which every team except us seem to have.

 

[Peat]

Personally I don't think Wallace was particularly exposed by the big centres. He was exposed by a number of guys managing to run straight between him and Sexton/him and McFadden, which is pretty poo. I thought he was just about solid, but nothing special. He doesn't really deserve his place with Ireland at the moment, his Ulster form's been nothing special and neither's his Ireland form, but he's still going to go because positionally he offers something no other Irish player can; he's an outside back that can cover fly-half. He'd have to implode big time for him not to go. I was a bit disappointed by him (and McFadden), but then I expected it, as with that pack and O'Leary they were always on a hiding to nothing.

He'll also be helped that while his defence got somewhat stinky from time to time, there were no howlers like McFadden's shoot up for Ansbro's try. That's the sort of thing people get left off planes for. That, and performances like Sean Cronin, who's still going but all things being even completely ruled himself out of the 22.

Really don't get MM's criticism of Fitzgerald and Trimble though. Fielded well, counter-attacked well (possibly a bit too much kicking), defended well. Worked hard, popped up in midfield. If anything I thought they were too fired up. What more can you reasonably expect from wings when their team is more or less incapable of putting them into space through a duff pack and an insistence on kicking away turnover ball?

On the scottish side of things, was disappointed with Ruaridh Jackson, clearly still has a lot to learn. They still couldn't really score in a brothel. Did like Strokosch though. Hope he travels.

Idle question - have Court and Ross ever played together?

 

[munstermuffin]

Peat I not criticisng Fitz and Trimble - I just meant it as they did well but didn't do anything to convince me they should be in the starting 15. They both did some good things but had some errors too. I personally think, while he may not have been able to prevent it, Trimble's effort for the try was a bit poor.

Profitius I agree Cronin is probably the better player but don't think there is a huge gap and well if Sherry performs to a similar level as he did last season then there no reason he can't overtake Varley and Flannery this season. Murray has really inspired alot of youngsters by starting last season as Munsters 5th choice 9 and ending it as 1st choice and having a shot at World Cup.

 

[Peat]

Peat I not criticisng Fitz and Trimble - I just meant it as they did well but didn't do anything to convince me they should be in the starting 15. They both did some good things but had some errors too. I personally think, while he may not have been able to prevent it, Trimble's effort for the try was a bit poor.

Fair enough. Personally, I considered grouping them with Cronin (mainly anonymous, then popped up with a mistake) and Cullen (walked into most contact situations) was pretty damn critical, as was accusing them of not wanting it enough. As for the try, eh, the cover defender is pretty much always buggered there. Certainly nowhere near as culpable as McFadden or Kearney.

 

[Peat]

Jones didn't cover himself in glory either.

 

[Logorrhea]

Theres not much between them. Wallace is more of a creative player and offers Ireland something different. McFadden is more like D'Arcy.

Seriously watch some rugby would you.

He'll also be helped that while his defence got somewhat stinky from time to time, there were no howlers like McFadden's shoot up for Ansbro's try. That's the sort of thing people get left off planes for.

Nahhhh Ireland play with a shooter. O'Driscoll has frequently missed his tackle and left a gap, its a risk associated with the system. McFaddens error of course, but given hes reasonably new to the system, its understandable.

Wallace was the one real soft point in the defensive line, that looked worrying for me.

 

[Dougydeluxe]

Scotland has one big issue.... FINISH!!!!

At the start I thought that this game could be a blowout for Scotland, but once again we were unable to FINISH. The commentators did point out two issues; the first was that on a few breaks the ball went to the wrong support runner or to no one, when a possible try option was right there. The second issue was a few times when Scotland looked like they were thinking about the next phase and waiting for the ball to come out instead of securing it.
Ireland had a great game defensively.

 

[munstermuffin]

Jones didn't cover himself in glory either.

Can agree with this and well while I though Felix did well I know nerves stopped him doing what he can but agree he and a few others were at fault.
But as I said I not sure if Trimble could've stopped him just felt it was a poor effort.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Scotland has one big issue.... FINISH!!!!

At the start I thought that this game could be a blowout for Scotland, but once again we were unable to FINISH. The commentators did point out two issues; the first was that on a few breaks the ball went to the wrong support runner or to no one, when a possible try option was right there. The second issue was a few times when Scotland looked like they were thinking about the next phase and waiting for the ball to come out instead of securing it.
Ireland had a great game defensively.

We have a good defensive system, but we were never going to threaten you guys with that back row. No runners, no dynamism, niet. Scotland should be worried about a lack of a clinical edge.

 

[profitius]

Seriously watch some rugby would you.

I've watched enough to know that McFadden isn't as great as some people make out and Wallace is better than some people make him out to be.

 

[munstermuffin]

We have a good defensive system, but we were never going to threaten you guys with that back row. No runners, no dynamism, niet. Scotland should be worried about a lack of a clinical edge.

I think Ireland deserve great credit for this too. The defense was brilliant the weekend but agree we didn't have a natural backrow that could test Scootland.

 

[Seaton]

Scotland has one big issue.... FINISH!!!!

At the start I thought that this game could be a blowout for Scotland, but once again we were unable to FINISH. The commentators did point out two issues; the first was that on a few breaks the ball went to the wrong support runner or to no one, when a possible try option was right there. The second issue was a few times when Scotland looked like they were thinking about the next phase and waiting for the ball to come out instead of securing it.
Ireland had a great game defensively.

Aye, twas simple things that got us. Still struggling to fathom how in every line break, the players conspired to look for support in every direction bar the ones that actually contained runners.

Aah, nae worries, the main problem is that the players were probably still in shock at having so much ball in good positions, will either be fixed, or won't happen again.

In Andy we trust B)