Ireland A v NZ Maori (Churchill Cup) Tuesday 8pm

zAbbo

Here's the team
Ireland A:
1. Ray Hogan (Galwegians/Connacht)
2. John Fogarty (Buccaneers/Connacht) Captain
3. Michael Ross (Harlequins)
4. Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster)
5. Andrew Farley (Buccaneers/Connacht)
6. John O’Sullivan (Garryowen/Munster)
7. *Johnny O'Connor (Wasps)
8.*Roger Wilson (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
9. Frank Murphy (Leicester)
10. Johnny Sexton (St.Mary's College/Leinster)
11. Johnny Murphy (Leicester)
12. Keith Earls (Thomond / Munster)
13. Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
14. Paul McKenzie (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
15. Ross McCarron (Leinster)

Reps:
16. Sean Cronin (Shannon/Munster)
17. Declan Fitzpatrick (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
18. David Gannon (Buccaneers/Connacht)
19. Stephen Keogh (Shannon/Leinster)
20. Chris Keane (Buccaneers/Connacht)
21. Seamus Mallon (Northampton)
22. John Hearty (Galwegians/Connacht)

N.B. *Capped at full international level

Ireland A coach Michael Bradley has made four changes to his line-up for Tuesday night's Churchill Cup match against New Zealand Maori at Exeter.
In the backs, Keith Earls replaces Seamus Mallon and Johnny Murphy comes in for Chris Keane while Ross McCarron is named at full-back.
Johnny Sexton moves to fly-half in place of Jeremy Staunton.
The only change in the forward line sees John O'Sullivan replace Stephen Keogh in the back row.
Maori coach Donny Stevenson has opted to rotate his squad, making eight changes to the side that defeated Canada 59-23 in the first game of their Churchill Cup defence.

Good lineup considering the pool of players available, Sexton at OH is good to see, he's an excellent prospect, as is Ross McCarron at FB.

Haven't really been keeping upto date on this tournament, but the Maori are surely the acid test of where the development stands.

burnedfaceman

its quite a young backline and it will be see how younger players when taking a step up against the maori

Pinetree Boy

50 to 22 to Maori.

Nukem

For the first 20-30 minutes they looked very good and then just fell asunder. No leadership there which was pretty obvious. Glad to see glimpses of pure genius from Irish players. Cladwell was awesome again, bright propect for the future, Sexton i think with some more coaching could be a very good outhalf (he can tackle:eek:), Earls looked very well for a youngster.

In all delighted that they blooded so many of the U21 players. Irish rugby is looking good for the future i hope.

Diamondmaker

Nukem wrote:

, Sexton i think with some more coaching could be a very good outhalf (he can tackle:eek:), Earls looked very well for a youngster.

In all delighted that they blooded so many of the U21 players. Irish rugby is looking good for the future i hope.

An OH that can tackle?!?:) seems you can improve your kicking and tactical game as an OH but so many OHs show a weakness in defence, gotta be a good place to be coming from then.

mc23

I thought Ireland really put it up to them for the first half hour but the Maori power and experience told in the end especially in the backs.

What about Hosea Gear leading out the Haka with his jersey off.......a scary sight.

daveirl

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Nukem

daveirl wrote:

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Maybe a little harsh on the leadership but none the less true, Fogarty didnt seem to be rallying the troops enough. Think your right about the tackles, but an awful lot of half tackles went in an d NZ just bounced and pivoted. Rush defence was exposed due to this and then that resulted in gang tackling which in turn left holes. Think Bradley did a great job though with the squad he had, once again very positive.

Diamondmaker

Nukem wrote:

Think Bradley did a great job though with the squad he had, once again very positive.

Future Irish manager, does well with his squads?
Or would he be a Brian Kerr or will Eddie do a Fergie ( there for life ? )

thebaz

daveirl wrote:

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what is Earls best position -- centre or wing -- is he a real speed merchant ?

He seams to do real well, scoring lots of tries, at whatever level he plays at -- i assume he will be a first teamer for munster next year !

Was McCarron any good, whenever he play for Leinster i've been impressed .

daveirl

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spank_inferno

Just a quick question on the NZ maori side

Do NZ have a seperate "A" side to the Maori side?
Is the Maori side only comprised of ethnicly Maori people or is it just a name?
If NZ have a seperate "A" side does the Maori side have test status themselves (at senior level)?


thanks

daveirl

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