Italy Squads..

tHE vAGGABOND

The Ireland squad to play Italy in the RBS 6 Nations Championship in Croke Park on Saturday, 2nd February at 13:30 is as follows:

Forwards (12):
Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
Simon Easterby (Llanelli)
John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster)
Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)
Bernard Jackman (Clontarf/Leinster)
Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Malcolm O’Kelly (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)

Backs (10):
Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster)
Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)
Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Eoin Reddan (Wasps)
Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
Not Considered:
Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster) - Suspension
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster) - Injury
Alan Quinlan (Shannon/Munster) - A Team
Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster) - A Team

The Ireland A team to play England Saxons in Welford Road, Leicester on Friday, 1st February at 19:45 is as follows:

15. Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)
14. John Murphy (Leicester)
13. Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
12. Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)
11. Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
10. Andrew Dunne (Old Belvedere/Connacht)
9. Isaac Boss (Ballymena /Ulster)
1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2. Frankie Sheahan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
3. Bryan Young ( Ballymena/Ulster)
4. Trevor Hogan (Shannon/Leinster)
5. Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster)
6. Stephen Keogh (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
7. Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College /Leinster)
8. Alan Quinlan (Shannon/Munster)

Replacements:
16. Adrian Flavin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
17. Declan Fitzpatrick (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
18. Donncha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
19. David Pollock (Queens University/Ulster)
20. Chris Keane (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
21. Niall O’Connor (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
22. Daniel O’Riordan (Buccaneers/Connacht)

Not Considered:
Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Keith Gleeson (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) - Injury
Neil Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Johnny O’Connor (Corinthians/Connacht)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster) - Injury

Wow...

tHE vAGGABOND

Why were Cullen and Jonny O'C not considered for A game?

Im glad Kearney is in squad ahead of Fitz and Bowe - he is a better long term prospect [and can actually defend!]

zAbbo

Two very strong squads, but a little strange to leave Gleeson & JOC out of both teams.

GreenHell

Well if the Italians don't give away stupid penalties I'd say we're a big target on their radar.

roverjoyce

Ireland squad v Italy:

Girvan Dempsey
Andrew Trimble
Brian O'Driscoll
Gordon D'Arcy
Robert Kearney
Ronan O'Gara
Eoin Reddan


Marcus Horan
Rory Best
John Hayes
Donnacha O'Callaghan
Malcolm O'Kelly
Simon Easterby
David Wallace
Denis Leamy

SUBS:
Bernard Jackman
Tony Buckley
Mick O'Driscoll
Jamie Heaslip
Paddy Wallace
Peter Stringer
Geordan Murphy

JESUS THIS TEAM LOOKS FAMILIAR
oh hang on its our world cup team what is this idiot at best 2nd row cant even make any squad leo cullen going with Mod lets start now
GET EOS OUT

Before he kills irish rugby with his out of form favourte players

marco_polo

Surprised Bowe isn't in instead of Kearney, aside from that I wouldn't quibble too much with the selection.

roverjoyce wrote: »

Ireland squad v Italy:

JESUS THIS TEAM LOOKS FAMILIAR
oh hang on its our world cup team what is this idiot at best 2nd row cant even make any squad leo cullen going with Mod lets start now
GET EOS OUT

Before he kills irish rugby with his out of form favourte players

MOD played very well against Wasps and has probably been the form lock in the country for most of the season. A marginal call between MOD, MOK and Cullen who have all been playing very well, with Cullen the unlucky loser. If anything I would have him in for MOK.

MikeHoncho

Marcus Horan
Rory Best
John Hayes
Donncha O’Callaghan
Mick O’Driscoll
Simon Easterby
Denis Leamy
David Wallace

Eoin Reddan
Ronan O’Gara
Gordon D’Arcy
Brian O’Driscoll
Geordan Murphy
Andrew Trimble
Girvan Dempsey

Thats what he is gonna pick as a first 15.:rolleyes:

Ulstermell0

cant believe bowe isnt on the bench

thebiggestjim

marco_polo wrote: »

MOD played very well against Wasps and has probably been the form lock in the country for most of the season. A marginal call between MOD, MOK and Cullen who have all been playing very well, with Cullen the unlucky loser. If anything I would have him in for MOK.

MOD is not up to International standard its as simple as that. He played well against wasps, won lineout ball and did the simple things well enough, thats the most you can expect from him. A successful game for MOD is not doing something suicidal like passing the ball the the linesman on your own tryline. We have to aim better than that if we want to improve. By picking MOD Eddie is looking at the safe bet to get over the 6N and save his own hide.
And Easterby, if someone tells me again he does a lot of unseen work ill puke. He is so good at the unseen stuff I can't tell if he is playing or not anymore.
EOS just seem to be repeating himself these days, reading the BBC sports pages today a quote

"The match 22 selection for the Italy game was made on the basis of form and while the response of all of the squad over the last week has been excellent, there were some tight calls to be made," said O'Sullivan.


How many times have we heard this tight calls comment to justify him picking conservatively.

This article from the indo today struck a chord with me. Chances are if im sick of listening to EOS repeat himself and I have a fraction of the exposure to him as the players do then surly the players are getting sick of him repeating himself also and it showed in their performance at the WC.


By Hugh Farrelly
Friday January 25 2008

THERE are lots of meetings in rugby. Call into a hotel in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway or Belfast around noon tomorrow and you are likely to see function rooms filled with track-suited AIL players, seated in neat rows, sipping energy drinks and listening to words of wisdom from their coaches.

And that’s amateur rugby. For Ireland’s professional players, corralled in their Killiney base for the next two months, there will be daily meetings, sometimes two or three a day.

Some players find meetings inspirational and a vital source of mental focus, for others they are mental torture. Jeremy Guscott was one well-known ‘dozer’ during his playing days and made no attempt to hide his scorn for these rugby talk-shops. He preferred to do rather than say.

There is a story we are fond of telling, regarding a Highfield team meeting which took place before a crucial AIL match in the mid-1990s. The coach was outlining the afternoon’s objectives and going over the various calls and moves he had drummed into his players.

The backrow moves were pretty straightforward – ‘Highfield One’ was go left, ‘Highfield Two’ was go right and ‘Highfield Three’ was a box kick by the scrum-half. The coach was in mid-flow when he spotted one of his forwards dozing and decided to jolt him to attention.

“Paul!” he barked. “What’s Highfield One?”

The unfortunate daydreamer, startled from his reverie, was understandably flustered and panicked his answer.

“F*** all for years!” he shouted and then looked around in bewilderment as the room collapsed in laughter.

No matter how good the coach or captain, or how talented their public speaking, hearing the same voice over a protracted period of time greatly reduces its impact.

It is hard to think what words Eddie O’Sullivan can use to inspire his Irish players in this Six Nations considering that he has been head coach since 2001 and was part of the set-up under Warren Gatland for several seasons before taking over.

“Do it for me lads,” is unlikely to carry much clout, given the reported stony silence that greeted the coach’s announcement of his four-year contract extension at a meeting prior to the World Cup.

Of course, the players would never admit to their patience wearing thin, and rightly so, but the rest of us do not have to indulge in such diplomacy.

Not since the dark days of 1990s, when Ireland couldn’t buy a win (save for a logicdefying run of results in Cardiff ) has there been so little anticipation heading into the international season.

Patriotism decrees the desire for Ireland to do well, and pragmatism prefaces the wish that this group of players can reach the Grand Slam pinnacle their talents deserve, as we do not know when we will next have such ability at our disposal. But the farcical events of the past five months have hammered hope, annihilated anticipation and erased expectation.

After taking more than 70 days to admit changes had to be made, principally the introduction of a backs coach and manager, the IRFU now have us waiting until the end of the season for those changes to be implemented.

Apparently, as O’Sullivan pointed out on Wednesday, “there is no rush.”

So, we wait. And Eddie will have his meetings, the IRFU will have theirs and perhaps by the end of spring, we will have a better idea of where Irish rugby is headed.

The strongest suspicion is that all these meetings will lead to the conclusion that should have been reached immediately after the World Cup debacle – Irish rugby needs a new voice.

“A meeting is an event where minutes are taken and hours are wasted,” said Captain James T Kirk of the Starship Enterprise. He had another saying that seems particularly pertinent ahead of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign: “One to beam up.”

- Hugh Farrelly


New Voice Required!!

Sorry about the rant had to get it off my chest.

the hoff

Couldn't agree more with the comments about MOD...he's a journeyman pro end of story! To pick him ahead of Leo Cullen who has been outstanding this season is an absolute p#*s take! Granted Leinster haven't progressed to the knock out stages of the Heineken Cup but through no fault of the Leo Cullen's and the Leinster forwards generally who have been in fine form this season.

It's unsurprisingly a conservative selection from conservative Eddie! At the end of the day Eddie is more concerned about saving his own skin than building for the future so he's gonna pick a team that he feels can beat Italy Scotland and Wales and therefore much to may dismay probably just about save his own skin.

Also I think it's terrible that certain players haven't retired from the international fold...most notably Simon Easterby, the Irish backrow undoubtedly should be Wallace at 7 Leamy at 6 and Heaslip at 8...but without retiring and making way for the next generation Eaterby will start. One could say this is not his fault and level the blame squarely at Eddie and I'm never slow to do that, but at 33 and with the wealth of backrow talent that we have I think Easterby should have realised he's not gonna be around for the long haul and made way after the wordl cup for the likes of Heaslip to cement their place in the team.

Stev_o

At this stage i just want us to be humiliated just so EOS can get sacked quicker -_-

In times like these you d love to hear a Stuart Barnes rant about the team suits the moment perfectly

komodosp

At this stage i just want us to be humiliated just so EOS can get sacked quicker -_-

But if we do well then why do you want him sacked? Before the WC warm-ups, EOS was the hero, and one bad world cup and everyone is out to hang him. Even if he does only reasonably well in the 6N, it's not like anyone has suggestions for some other great manager who would have done better. Some have said Kidney, but I'd want him to stay with Munster

Timothy Bryce

komodosp wrote: »

But if we do well then why do you want him sacked? Before the WC warm-ups, EOS was the hero, and one bad world cup and everyone is out to hang him. Even if he does only reasonably well in the 6N, it's not like anyone has suggestions for some other great manager who would have done better. Some have said Kidney, but I'd want him to stay with Munster

The general public thought he was a hero however those who follow the game properly can see that he just came along at the right time after the ground work had been done by Gatland...EOS' rigit squad selection and lack of deviation is all well and good when the team performs but when it doesn't it should come back to bite him