By Eddie's Logic

flsghujslkuo

Since O Sullivan picked the Easter bunny against Wales because he played in Wales and knew the Welsh play, shouldn't he thus pick Murphy ahead of Dempsey against England??

On a side,

Since Ireland have one of the best backs in rugby today who is the better S.H. assuming Ireland use attacking tactics; I realise that both Boss and Stringer have strengths and weaknesses: Boss can break, creating the threat of a break giving ROG a bit of space. Stringer has a better pass which will create space also and has a better box kick. But what annoys me is that over the last year Stringer feels he must break... and when he does the little midget always looses the ball, don't get me wrong I like Stringer but I think he should play to his strengths and not try to break. He doesn't know the correct time to do it.

Boss, I feel, made ROG play well against France.

Stringer has a better/developed relationship with ROG.

So who should Eddie play, personally, I think it's a terribly difficult decision...
Good luck with that Eddie... that's what you get paid for :rolleyes:

But Eddie... For god's sake play Neil Best!!!!

Diamondmaker

Well the EasterB V Best call was tight and that was a good excuse to give it to easty but Murphy has played his way out of a place in my opinion so its not that tight enough a call. But yeah there are likley to be a few leicester heads in there so Murphy would have som edge here.

Interesting to see how this one pans out actually.

Aesop

flsghujslkuo wrote:

Since O Sullivan picked the Easter bunny against Wales because he played in Wales and knew the Welsh play, shouldn't he thus pick Murphy ahead of Dempsey against England??

To be fair EOS never said that was his only reason for picking Easterby against Wales (if that was the case then players playing abroad would routinely get picked over players playing at home and the opposite is true). The fact he picked Easterby against France means he thinks a lot of his general play. To be honest I am sick to death of hearing about how Murphy should be selected over Dempsey because Dempsey is defensively sound but Murphy is a better attacking player :rolleyes: . Dempsey is playing some of the best rugby of his career, Murphy had his chance last year to make the shirt his own and put in some very poor performances to lose it (again!). IMO Murphy had a poor game against France and didn't do nearly enough to take a starting position from anyone.

flsghujslkuo wrote:

Since Ireland have one of the best backs in rugby today who is the better S.H. assuming Ireland use attacking tactics; I realise that both Boss and Stringer have strengths and weaknesses: Boss can break, creating the threat of a break giving ROG a bit of space. Stringer has a better pass which will create space also and has a better box kick. But what annoys me is that over the last year Stringer feels he must break... and when he does the little midget always looses the ball, don't get me wrong I like Stringer but I think he should play to his strengths and not try to break. He doesn't know the correct time to do it.

Did you even see the Heineken cup final last year? I don't think Serge Betsen would agree with you. I know what you are saying but this again comes down to Boss not playing nearly well enough to take the position away from an established player like Stringer. Stringer will start if he is fit end of story. Boss will get plenty more opportunities and may one day be Ireland's SH but not yet.

flsghujslkuo wrote:

But Eddie... For god's sake play Neil Best!!!!

Ok I would agree with you on this one

Linford

Easterby was picked because of his form and the form of Llannelli during the Heineken cup, in addition Best and Ulster had not been playing well during the same period. Easterby has done little wrong in the last two matches and with Eddie you really have to **** up before you are dropped.

The Murphy/Dempsey debate should be null and void after last Sunday week, only reason Murphy will be on the bench is that there would be no cover for fullback if Trimble was selected on the bench ahead of him.

I think the only real position up for debate is that of hooker. The options that were available in the line out when Flannery came on were very clear. Perfect throwing everytime, easy catches from the jumpers. When Best was throwing the only safe option seemed to be a number 2.

I think Eddie's beloved Stringer will be picked, his speedy distribution was missed against France, but Boss did have a good game. The only problem was his slow distribution combined with an inexperienced inside centre was one of the reasons for our line not moving. I think if O'Driscoll had been playing this might not have been as evident and we would see Boss in against England.

terry mac

Easterby has done little wrong in the last two matches

He has done little wrong and little right. In fact he has done f*** all.

Funkstard

flsghujslkuo wrote:

... and when he does the little midget always looses the ball,

Aaaahahaha, that made me break my **** laughing out loud here in college, good work!

redmca

I think the single worst mistake in the side selected is the omission of Geordan Murphy from the 22. Apart from his unique creative talents, with him on the bench, we are covered for any injury in the back 5.
What do we do now if Dempsey gets injured?? Trimble is strong and direct but is still only a boy, Murphy despite his occasional lapses is world class.

As for Best at hooker, I thought he was deaf in the Millenium Stadium, had to double check every call, and still f***ed up a lot of throws.

Flannery & Neil Best must get onto the pitch, hopefully before Eddie's usual timing, i.e. around 60 minutes.

Conor_8

You can't pick a bench to cover every injury! If Dempsey is injured Hickie is the most likely cover. Although I recall D'Arcy playing full back a bit and didn't O'Driscoll play there for the Lions in 2001?

Murphy has never seemed to perform as well for Ireland as Leicester and he has had his chance and not taken it. Trimble did very well against France when he came on.

Disappointed Flannery is not in. And Best deserves a chance even though Easterby has done OK.

LFC5Times

Hickie will be grand if he has to cover fullback,sure didnt he play there in schools and also a couple of seasons ago for Leinster he played a few games at fullback and did a great job.

He has a good left foot,can catch,tackle better than Murphy and has pace while not as fast as he used to be.

So i would have no problems with Hickie coming in for Dempsey.

By the by im not saying Hickie is a better FB than Murphy but as someone rightly pointed out,you cannot cover for every possible injury.

nacho libre

terry mac wrote:

He has done little wrong and little right. In fact he has done f*** all.

He had a great game against Wales, i thought. He wasn't as effective against France. I would start with Easterby and bring on Best for the last twenty or thirty minutes

Diamondmaker

LFC5Times wrote:

He has a good left foot,can catch,tackle better than Murphy and has pace while not as fast as he used to be.

QUOTE]

Still does the 100m in less than 11 secs. Not bad for the old dog. I think the lack of hair is helping him with his speed:D

yeah for Leinster in a few odd games he has done well. Does the job but offers a nice attacking dimension, i even recall him going FB for Ire recently, game escapes me all together.

davyjose

I agree, Murphy just does not cut it, and is a severe liability - never got over his broken leg in '03 as far as I'm concerned.
We beat Wales, but no real thanks to Stringer i think. And Boss wasn't the reason for our demise against France (ultimately it was not having BOD).
Easterby/Best, I'd go with Best at this stage. Although it's hard to criticise Easterby really.

flsghujslkuo

With the selection of the team I have growing concern over O sullivans ability as a manger.

My main concern is that he didn't pick Best or flannery for this weekend, this selection does pose several questions about O sullivan:

Would he have picked Best if he played for munster or the ladies, i.e. is there a political influence on O Sullivan

Is he ruthless enough, the kiwis drop players if they get old or even have a hint of bad form; I am not saying we are New Zealand nor that we have the quality player base, but we do have a very talented player to replace the Easterbunny who played well last friday night.

Why doesn't he use substitutes???

Is he too conservative??

Amz

Next person to refer to Leinster as the ladies will be permanently banned from the rugby forum. We don't call Munster the "potato munching sheep shaggers" so cop yourself on if you want to continue posting here.