England 1 from 6...ROG vindicated?

toomevara

Cracking weekend of rugby, proving once again that the Heineken is the daddy..surely now must be challenging the 6 nations as the most passionate and unmissable rugby tournament on the planet. Wouldn't be too happy if I was a follower of the red rose tough. ROG's comments seem almost prescient.....can we write them off for the 6N? It would seem that, with the honourable exception of Wasps, who know how to win, they've got nothing.......

Teg Veece

Would have to disagree with you when you say that apart from Wasps the English sides have nothing. I felt that Leicester were unlucky today. They completely dominated the scrum and won the battle of the lineouts too. Munster were very fortunate to come away with a win. Although Leicester's penalty try was a bit dubious, it took a cracking kick from an odd penalty to save the day for the men in red.

RuggieBear

let's just see how they do for the rest of the pool stages. it still early days

The strength in depth of the English teams is one of the massive reasons for their success (in general). The Irish teams just can't cope with the loss of their key players like the English can.

toomevara

Teg Veece wrote:

Would have to disagree with you when you say that apart from Wasps the English sides have nothing. I felt that Leicester were unlucky today. They completely dominated the scrum and won the battle of the lineouts too. Munster were very fortunate to come away with a win. Although Leicester's penalty try was a bit dubious, it took a cracking kick from an odd penalty to save the day for the men in red.

Agree munster rode their luck, but winning at Welford road is a massive, massive achievement any day of the weeek, and I thought that Munster were very, very streetwise and really stepped up to the plate today (was, i have to say extremely worried beforehand re: munsters challenge this year...got no worries about commitment after that win)...If England's got a Thomond, welford road is it (with the possible exception of Gloucester's shed)

toomevara

RuggieBear wrote:

let's just see how they do for the rest of the pool stages. it still early days

The strength in depth of the English teams is one of the massive reasons for their success (in general). The Irish teams just can't cope with the loss of their key players like the English can.

Would agree, and indeed the dread spectre of a few key injuries could turn it all around...probably shouldnt tempt fate.

zAbbo

No prize yet for winning Pool games, we'll see what happens come the knockout stage.

Diamondmaker

Great weekend some good Irish results but as usual the real headlines will be ROG and co for what was a great performance, not pretty but pretty effective!

spanner

good opening salvo by all Irish sides, Leinster looked brillant as they usually do on the front foot, exploiting any tiny bit of space to score some spectacular tries however as usual their defence was quite poor

buck65

Well done Munster absolutely stunning win that was a little harsh on Leicester, but we owe them right?.
Was impressed by Munsters will to win again hopefully it will continue. Scrum looked shaky for a while but this Leicester team are not finished yet and will improve - the rematch in Thomond could be a turnaround!
Also Leinster - hats off imperious rugby as usual very well done. And of course probably the most unexpected thrashing of the weekend for Ulster against Toulouse!!
Irish rugby is in great health now but don't write of the likes of Leicester Wasps or Sale it is a long season and I'm sure Ronan is happy the week is over because controversy isn' t his style.
Also thought Shaun Payne had a cracker yesterday.

Mad Finn

buck65 wrote:

Irish rugby is in great health now

It certainly is, but we are critically short of strength in depth in key positions.

We have more three quarters than you can shake a stick at and promising youngsters like Fitzgerald coming through.

Isaac Boss is looking promising at scrum half. We need to get him more involved in the test side before the World Cup. Definitely think he should get some serious game time in the autumn internationals.

Loads of options in the back row too with Heaslip and Neil Best playing very well at the moment to challenge the likes of Gleeson, Easterby, Wallace, Quinlan and Leamy when he comes back. And if desperation takes hold, how useful to have somebody like Foley to drag out of the closet when the going gets rough.

Mal O'Kelly has a few years on the clock now but can still do a job and O'Callaghan and O'Connell are world class.

But oh dear me do we need to find some front row forwards and a back up fly half FAST!!! If Paul Burke is the best second string fly half we have we are in DEEP do-do.

And it used to be the case that Munster could boss pretty much any pack in the Heineken Cup. Bearing in mind that it is to all intents and purposes the Irish team, the drubbing the Munster pack got at the set pieces at Welford Road yesterday must be a cause for concern. That's the Irish front row we're talking about until Flannery comes back from injury.

So a great weekend for the provinces but a long way still to go.

bugler

I don't think you can make the case for Sheahan's inclusion in the national squad. Just because he was once there, doesn't mean he has a divine right to return. His throwing has been poor since he came back from injury, and his loose play adequate at best.

Rory Best should start for Ireland as it now stands, with Fogarty on the bench.

zAbbo

Mad Finn wrote:

But oh dear me do we need to find some front row forwards and a back up fly half FAST!!! If Paul Burke is the best second string fly half we have we are in DEEP do-do.

Staunton kicked 3 pens and a conversion for Wasps as they were the only English team to win this weekend, beating Castres 19-13

bugler

I don't know why Paul Burke was mentioned, he's nowhere near the international scene.

Staunton kicked well and has been doing so all season. But he was also subbed shortly after half-time. The suspicion remains that he doesn't have the ability to take control of tight games and make the right decisions. He breaks very well, his kicking looks good, but I don't expect to see him contest for the Irish no. 10 shirt.

The Irish Times today again refers to Humphreys making himself available for the WC, which would be great. Perhaps the most unsettling thing that could happen Irish rugby would be a serious injury to ROG.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

bugler

No Dave, I was referring to the international squad, and meant John Fogerty of Connacht.

I'm aware of the Munster hooker situation. Personally I'm not sure what Kyriacou was deemed to have ahead of Cronin. It would seem to make more sense to give a guy who might be around a while the opportunity to be in the squad rather than someone who will be off back to the obscurity of Sarries bench in a couple of months.

CJhaughey

buck65 wrote:

the rematch in Thomond could be a turnaround!

Records are made to be broken and if any team can do it Leicester could be the ones.... but I don't think so.