Ireland V France

reallybad

Stringer and Hickie out of 22 - knee jerk if you ask me. I like to see Reddan being given a chance - in saying that if he is ahead of Boss in pecking order then why the did Eddie stick with Boss all the time?

15 - Girvan Dempsey
14 - Shane Horgan
13 - Brian O'Driscoll
12 - Gordon D'Arcy
11 - Andrew Trimble
10 - Ronan O'Gara
9 - Eoin Reddan


2 - Jerry Flannery
3 - John Hayes
4 - Donncha O'Callaghan
5 - Paul O'Connell
6 - Simon Easterby
7 - David Wallace
8 - Denis Leamy

Replacements:
16 - Frankie Sheahan
17 - Simon Best
18 - Malcolm O'Kelly
19 - Neil Best
20 - Isaac Boss
21 - Paddy Wallace
22 - Gavin Duffy

jdivision

Well Boss had a shocker when he came on so O'Sullivan reckoned both were rubbish at the moment. No Murphy in the panel is a big surprise. I would have dropped one of the second rows and one of the back rowers too.

Orion

Where the hell is Murphy? Makes no sense.

SpAcEd OuT

Please tell me thats not the official line up

No N.Best, Murphy not even in the panel let alone the line up

What is EOS at, his decision to leave Murphy out of the panel infuriates me

:mad:

I'm praying this isn't the official line up

starman100

OK, Reddan deserves his chance but he should have been blooded 3-4 games ago. Absolutely no idea how himself and O'Gara will link up. Easterby can count himself lucky, of the 2nd rowers O'Callaghan played better than POC on Saturday, O'Kelly wouldn't be any improvement. Flannery is a forced change, good in the loose and at the line-out but against the French front row in the scrum.....? Hickie injured but off-form anyway.

Very late in the day to be making significant changes, then again we like being the underdogs (which we most certainly are next Friday).

Aldini98

Great move to drop Stringer, has been poor for Ireland in the last year. Hickey has already retired by the looks of things.

mrincredible

France will win

Finally Eddie has seen (a bit) of sense.

I was also initally shocked with the Redden over Boss decision, but obviously Redden has proved himself in training. Lets hope he can bring something to the table, also really glad to see Boss on the bench as opposed to Stringer. If required Boss can come on and (hopefully) play a different style of game and shake things up.. He's also versitile and if needed could slot in elsewhere in the backs..

P155ed off that Eddie is still showing no faith in Murphy, would love to see him given one chance to shine.. if he fails I'll be the first agree that the Murphy ship has sailed,, but For gods sake give the guy a chance.

Elsewhere I'd love to see Carney get a run at some stage (maybe against the Argies) I believe he's either going to sink horribly or shiny fantasticly.. I think playing on the World cup stage could make him or break him in Rugby union.

Paddy Power have France at 1-6 to beat us which is hardly suprising. We really should have the fire in our bellies by now to really take it to the French. They robbed is of the 6nations, the embarassed us in the WC and one of there lot (I know the guy was a Kiwi, but is playing for a French club.. so it counts) is responsible for making BOD talk strangely (the new nassley sound!)

I really do think that for Irish rugby at this moment in time the next two matches hold almost as much importance as when the English at Croke park

SpAcEd OuT

I noticed that there is no 1 in the selection does this mean that EOS is still undecided between Horan and Young

davyjose

France will win

Still no change in the back-row. Disgraceful. Leamy was dreadful!!!

Crusaderjim

Right I’ve often been annoyed by his selections but never really pived me as he seemed to get away with it. Possibly cos all his key players were on form. He’s done well up to this point but it was only a matter of time until he was going to get fecked over due to the fact he never bothered playing the reserves. Whats good for the All-Blacks is good enough for me.

Trimble. Not international quality. Eddie persists with this guy. He might be good in a few years time but he makes the wrong decisions. CONSTANTLY!

Flannery. Should have been in since Argentina. Darts as good as Best. Way better around the pitch and the scrimmaging wont matter vs France as we’re going to be losing that battle anyway.

Reddan. About time. Though Stringer shouldn’t be the scape goat though.

Replacing Murphy with Gavin ‘Jack of all trades master of absolutely none’ Duffy is an Agatha Christie. Ridiculous. If I was Murphy I would retire from International rugby right now. The only thing I can think of is to put pressure on Darce and Dric.

He should also get rid of O’Kelly from the bench…Why? Cos he never F&cking uses him, bring in Quinlan.

Best for Easterby. Obvious enough. The unseen work that he does is very much unseen now. We’re losing it at the breakdown cos he’s not getting there. Also due to his stupid scrum hat.

Carney. Where is Carney?? Impact Eddie, Impact. It’s what the bench is for!!!!!


Rant over. TBC after the French game.

Hugh_C

France will thump Ireland back to the famine

1 - Marcus Horan

reallybad wrote:

2 - Jerry Flannery
3 - John Hayes

bugler

France will thump Ireland back to the famine

Still no change in the back-row. Disgraceful. Leamy was dreadful!!!

Lads, there is no other 8 in the squad. What do you want him to do? Move someone who is not an 8 there?

The real baffler in the abck row is the retention of Easterby. Considering over the past year that 6 has been the most closely fought position along with hooker, how the 6 shirt hasn't changed hands considering the first two games is beyond me.

Gingervitis

Oh Murphy, I sometimes wonder why you bother...
Ditto Quinlan...

Thank God for Reddan anyway, I hope Munster are kicking themselves now that they didn't give him a chance to shine the way Wasps did, especially now that Stringer's on the downslide

markf909

At least Stringer is gone.

The French backrow will at least have to cast half an eye on Reddan now.

raven136

why the f##k is duffy ahead of murphy or hickie.shocking not to see a genuine attacking talent as an impact sub.Coul he for once not just have risked it and put quinlan,murphy and hickie on the bench and hope injuries dont affect the team.

Well it seems that this team has run its course,a coach who doesnt know what to do to change it and another 4 years.Friday could be a disaster

davyjose

France will win

bugler wrote:

Lads, there is no other 8 in the squad. What do you want him to do? Move someone who is not an 8 there?

Just someone who can competently ruck, pass or catch.

The bottom line is our backs weren't the problem - they got no ball. Any ball they did get was slow, and it's unfair to shoulder Stringer with 100% of the blame here. We were dreadful at the breakdown. Against the french we will get creamed for this.

thebaz

I'm no Hickie fan , but what did he do wrong ?
What did Murphy do wrong ?

Retaing the pedestrian Easterby is staggering , but not surprising !

Neil Best , Geordan Murphy and Brian Carney must be as puzzled as the rest of us !

davyjose

France will win

As far as I know, Hickie is injured. murphy should be a shoo-in at this stage. TBH I don't see the point in bringing in the untested Carney - there's no real point in experimenting with a backline that has only failed because of such poor service.

raven136

anyone get the feeling that after the world cup some of our sports journo's might be getting great stories from unhappy"sorces close to the ireland squad" similiar to the ones from the last lions tour

Gingervitis

If Leamy gets cited and potentially banned, will that allow Quinlan to come in?

Obviously the loss of Leamy isn't good, despite his poor performance, but this just might be a blessing in disguise. Anyone?

monaghanbiffo

France will win

I'm just stunned, he really is the steve staunton of the rugby world, this line up is just idiotic!!!

I'm delighted that Eoin Reddan go in ahead of Boss, but everything else just boggles the mind!!!!

1. Surely Neil Best must be in at 6 pure aggression for 40-50 mins then spring Quinlan from the bench for the remainder that would just be frenzied play for 80 mins and to me seemed an obvious choice for the french game!! I believe Easterby is a quality flanker but he's just not in form.

2. Trimble, Duffy, Hickie, Murphy! WTF if you had to pick 2 from the 4 to do a job? Murphy should be starting, he should walk out now as EOS is just making a laughing stock of him, even Carney should be in ahead of Duffy. Trimble is a good player, but Murphy is a world class attacker and must be in the starting XV, but the fact that he's left out of the 22 is infuriating beyond words, Gavan Duffy shouldn't have even made the 30, Tommy Bowe has been better than him but thats neither here nor there.

Geordan please dont retire we will be knocked out of the world cup shortly, EOS will do the honourable thing and fall on his sword and the new manager will appreciate you talents i promise!!!!!! Obviously you have molested EOS's Dog or interfered with his daughter because there is no other explanation for your treatment.

Hugh_C

France will thump Ireland back to the famine

davyjose wrote:

The bottom line is our backs weren't the problem - they got no ball.

I disagree, I think the problems ranged from 1 to 15. When the backs did get the ball, they panicked, knocked on, dropped it or ran stupid lines to places where there was no support or any liklihood of support. You can't just blame the forwards. It's was a collective shambles.

Hopefully the new-look backline will help. I think dropping Stringer may have been harsh, but at least it's a sign of leadership, rightly or wrongly.

prendy

where is murphy....i mean were looking to score and one of the most gifted attackers not even in the squad...can he be any worse than the rest have shown.
iv my reservations bout how reddan and ogara will team up...dont know why stringer isnt on the bench in case it fails?

Killme00

Who would you like Murphy to replace?

gosplan

France will thump Ireland back to the famine

mrincredible wrote:

is responsible for making BOD talk strangely (the new nassley sound!)

isn't that the way all posh Dublin types talk

pd101

Sorry to see stringer go but he just doesnt deserve a place in the team at the moment. But why isnt Murphy playing?

madds

So the only change in the pack is a forced one through Best's injury? Come off it Eddie. Neil Best should be starting...we all know Chabal will be.

Hickie - very unlucky IMO. Got no ball on Saturday and whatever did come his way he usually had horde of enraged Georgians bearing down on him, so had to kick, and kick well he did. What the hell will Trimble bring to the table? Unless EOS is thinking that Trimble is better defensively...?

Stringer - had to happen sooner or later. Not the worst player on Saturday, but hasn't shined in an Irish jersey for a long time now. Best of luck to young Reddan. Hopefully his fringe breaks might leave a few spaces infield for Darcy and BOD.

Crusaderjim

thebaz wrote:

I'm no Hickie fan , but what did he do wrong ?

Not a lot but TBH he has not warranted inclusion for this game for the way he has played. He's our second highest try scorer and he should be eating up the likes of Naimbia and georgia...he didnt look for the ball and looked like he didnt want it. Where are all those infield runs gone??

monaghanbiffo

France will win

Killme00 wrote:

Who would you like Murphy to replace?

Trimble and drop Trimble to the bench or have hickie on the bench or Carney but not that gimp Duffy

Linford

France will win

I'm not a Murphy fan at all, but he should be starting on the wing, the fact that he is off the 22 is ridiculous.

However he was interviewed in a number of papers last week venting his frustration at not getting a chance and that a 10 minute cameo at the end of a match didn't count. I wonder if Eddie was aggrieved at his comments...

Brilliant that Stringer has been cut, obviously this is as much to make a point as it is to how poorly he has been playing.

davyjose

France will win

hughchal wrote:

I disagree, I think the problems ranged from 1 to 15. When the backs did get the ball, they panicked, knocked on, dropped it or ran stupid lines to places where there was no support or any liklihood of support. You can't just blame the forwards. It's was a collective shambles.

IMO, that is because they got so little of the ball. If you are getting one chance every 20 mins to make it count, you will naturally get nervous. Look at the french last night, trying things, and if it went wrong they would get it back 30 seconds later to try again. There is a lot of pressure when you don't have that luxury. And any nervousness or uncertainty surely developed from a p!ss poor pack.

SpAcEd OuT

Is anyone else of the opinion that only Best has the aggressiveness and physicality to keep Chabal from running amok?

Best needs to start.

Zzippy

WTF is this? Did Geordan Murphy get EOS's daughter pregnant or something?
Andrew Trimble has the creativity of a brick, and Duffy is nowhere near international class, but we leave a world class winger/fullback in the team hotel.

I thought Horgan was significantly off the pace on Saturday, he should be dropped to the bench with Murphy on the team.

Glad to see Reddan finally get his chance, but he's up against it having had no chances yet to play with ROG.

Can't believe back row is still the same, IMO Easterby should have been dropped, he just hasn't performed. Same with Leamy but with no cover at 8 he can't be dropped.

I'm afraid we're fvcked on Friday!

Punchbowl

France will win

madds wrote:

Hickie - very unlucky IMO. Got no ball on Saturday and whatever did come his way he usually had horde of enraged Georgians bearing down on him, so had to kick, and kick well he did. What the hell will Trimble bring to the table? Unless EOS is thinking that Trimble is better defensively...?

.

Hickie is injured so the obvious choice on the left was Trimble. He will be badly exposed on Friday however, as I don't rate him as a defensive kicker. He also has a dodgy set of hands, and will spill a lot of ball

zAbbo

Well, it's ballsey, if not a little baffling. This could be a good thing, I'm excited now.

Both Boss and Stringer played themselves out of the jersey on Sunday.

Trimble is quality, regardless what some people who have seen him 2-3 times say.

I reckon Murphys previous performances against France have played on Eddies mind.

Gingervitis

http://www.setantasports.com/en/Sport/News/Other-sports/2007/09/17/RWC-Ireland-v-France/?facets/sport-space/rugby/north-america-locale/

Eddie's reasoning being that France is a kind of "boogie man" for Murphy, which I guess makes sense (begrudgingly)

SpAcEd OuT

and have to agree that Duffy just isn't good enough. I dread the thought that any of our centres or wings get injured and Duffy has to come in.

zabbo

France will win

zabbo wrote:

Well, it's ballsey, if not a little baffling. This could be a good thing, I'm excited now.

Both Boss and Stringer played themselves out of the jersey on Sunday.

Trimble is quality, regardless what some people who have seen him 2-3 times say.

I reckon Murphys previous performances against France have played on Eddies mind.

I agree 100% with your points. I'm glad to see trimble back the the squad. Although stringer has to shoulder some blame for the poor delivery to the back line, O'Gara was almost as guilty in the last match.

I would have liked to see RO'G dropped but what have we got in the squad to replace him??

SpAcEd OuT

Punchbowl wrote:

Hickie is injured so the obvious choice on the left was Trimble. He will be badly exposed on Friday however, as I don't rate him as a defensive kicker. He also has a dodgy set of hands, and will spill a lot of ball

According to Eddie's interview on Setanta Hickie's not injured he just feels Trimble deserves to be there ahead of him which I don't really have too much of a problem with

BUT

What is the reasoning for not even having him on the bench

remus808

Just going to do a bit of armchair coaching here to relieve my frustration! Delighted to see the back of Stringer though, the populace of this forum has been baying for his blood for a long time now.

15 - Geordan Murphy
14 - Shane Horgan
13 - Brian O'Driscoll
12 - Gordon D'Arcy
11 - Denis Hickie
10 - Ronan O'Gara
9 - Eoin Reddan

1 - Marcus Horan
2 - Jerry Flannery
3 - John Hayes
4 - Alan Quinlan
5 - Paul O'Connell
6 - Neil Best
7 - Johnny O'Connor
8 - Denis Leamy

Replacements:
16 - Frankie Sheahan
17 - Simon Best
18 - Donnacha O'Callaghan
19 - David Wallace
20 - Isaac Boss (on for Reddan if things don't go to plan)
21 - Paddy Wallace (purely out of necessity, i'd nearly prefer John Hayes at 10 cover)
22 - Brian Carney (on for Horgan if he dosen't perform)

I think a new-look backrow is a necessity. Leamy would be gone too only there's no better option!
If we had more time to blood new combinations, I'd be starting Trimble and Carney in the backline too, but we can't risk that at this stage.

monaghanbiffo

France will win

zabbo wrote:

Trimble is quality, regardless what some people who have seen him 2-3 times say.
QUOTE]

I've been an ulster season ticket holder for 4 years so i hope thats directed at me you gimp

Trimble should not be starting ahead of Murphy and anyone except of course a small section of ravenhill, who would want the ulster XV starting and will whine about reddans inclusion ahead of the average boss, would accept this

Scobius90

monaghanbiffo wrote:

Geordan please dont retire we will be knocked out of the world cup shortly, EOS will do the honourable thing and fall on his sword and the new manager will appreciate you talents i promise!!!!!!

you must be joking if you think the EOS will fall on his sword!! the only way that the IRFU will get rid of EOS after the RWC (should they want to?), will be to buy him out of his new contract. Both EOS and the IRFU know that this will be extremely costly and IMHO it won't get to that. so lets hope that EOS learns from this and improves his pre-tournament coaching, manageing etc of the irish squad.

RugBeir

Killme00 wrote:

Who would you like Murphy to replace?

:rolleyes:

Girvan Dempsey - who else? May not have done much wrong to be fair to him but doesnt compare against Murphy at No 15. Obvious EOS isnt serious about beating France, only trying to keep hiding to a minimum. Dempsey will catch and kick for him - ping pong - like V Georgia!

Only way to beat France is to run, run and run. Remember the panic when Wales ran at them in Paris a few years ago? Dempsey can kick and fill in the line but no flair or breaking ability. Hickie, Murphy, Darcy, O Driscoll and Horgan have the flair and ability. Maybe Trimble too, certainly worth a go.
Unfortunately forwards seem knackered of late and cannot see them contributing to a running game. Flannery is a help tho.

Stringer gone, deservedly. Zero breaking ability and tendancy to kick possession away. Not sure if Reddan will be an improvement but have to start somewhere.

Disappointment about the prop situation - probably our weakest line. Have we no alternatives, if only to give the existing props a 40 min rest?

Changes are good, but given the general malaise affecting the Irish team, expect France to win by 20+ .

Crusaderjim

Might be only hearsay but i've heard the past week or so that there has been some infighting between the Munster and Ulster players...it might be all hot air but these things stem from something. Best and Hayes did nearly come to blows last year remember!

France will win

I'm going to be really stubborn and ignore all evidence of how crap we are. Ireland to scrape a win.

zAbbo

@MonaghanBiffo - Cheerio, you're contribution of 5 posts have been worthwhile.

I'd much rather get behind the team, than berate them and fellow supporters.

mrincredible

France will win

gosplan wrote:

isn't that the way all posh Dublin types talk

yeah.. but he's gone from Posh Dub to.... Very very very posh dub.. lol

Killme00

RugBeir wrote:

Girvan Dempsey - who else? May not have done much wrong to be fair to him but doesnt compare against Murphy at No 15. Obvious EOS isnt serious about beating France, only trying to keep hiding to a minimum. Dempsey will catch and kick for him - ping pong - like V Georgia! .

Dempsey hasnt been great so far, but i think it is essential that he plays at FB for Ireland. He has been our form player for the past few years. The only place i can see for Murphy is currently at the wing.

RugBeir wrote:

Only way to beat France is to run, run and run. Remember the panic when Wales ran at them in Paris a few years ago? Dempsey can kick and fill in the line but no flair or breaking ability. Hickie, Murphy, Darcy, O Driscoll and Horgan have the flair and ability. Maybe Trimble too, certainly worth a go.
Unfortunately forwards seem knackered of late and cannot see them contributing to a running game. Flannery is a help tho.

Disagree..i think we need to get back to kicking the corners and playing the game in the opponents half and building from there. If we keep France pinned back they will start to panic and the crowd also have a tendency to get on their backs. I thought all along the EOS had a gameplan but the past two games have been inept. Whats the point in bringing a squad to the world cup if we cant use it. Fair enough Horgan needed the gametime as did Flannery but the rest of the starting 15 only need 40-60 mins and we could have hit the French game with some confidence. Confidence seems shot to sheet at the moment, is there anything untoward going on behind the scenes?

mrincredible

France will win

SpAcEd OuT wrote:

Is anyone else of the opinion that only Best has the aggressiveness and physicality to keep Chabal from running amok?

Best needs to start.

Lets just pray that Eddie is planning to use Best as an impact sub.. in the last 30 or so..

Maybe?!

remus808

Crusaderjim wrote:

Might be only hearsay but i've heard the past week or so that there has been some infighting between the Munster and Ulster players...it might be all hot air but these things stem from something. Best and Hayes did nearly come to blows last year remember!

The three Bests, Ferris, Wallace, Boss and Trimble
VS
John Hayes. Paul O'Connell.


Oh how I'd love to see this

This Ireland team is shagged, they just dont have a WC mentality.

monaghanbiffo

France will win

zabbo wrote:

@MonaghanBiffo - Cheerio, you're contribution of 5 posts have been worthwhile.

I'd much rather get behind the team, than berate them and fellow supporters.

oh yes if i've only posted 5 times as opposed to over 7 thousand my views are somehow less relevent.

Maybe its time to berate this team somebody has to cuz EOS sure isn't