Changes for scotland?

chupacabra

Now that we have another week of ML games followed by a game against a weak scottish side i think its time Kidney started thinking of changes to the match day 22.

I dont really see any change to the starting XV, D'arcy is still not ready imo but a full 80 minutes against 'y Gweilch' on friday would do him the world of good and would still give him an outside chance at a start for ireland. Would also like to see Earls/Cave/Trimble have cracking games on saturday and tho i would LOVE to see Cave get his first cap against scotland, if any change would be made to the backs it would be Earls to earn the call in place of Murphy which, in itself, is a tough change to make due to Murphy being a very powerful and experienced impact option.

Yeah yeah i know "If it aint broke..", but there is a serious opportunity to blood one or two of the young lads at this level and twould be a pity to have to wait till the summer to see them in action when there is no harm bringing them off the bench against the scots.

[Jackass]

This is and always has been a Grand Slam mission. Kidney is a smart man and knows better than to rock the boat at this stage. Any changes may come on the bench and possibly at 1st centre. Other than that (and barring injuries) you have the team to start v Scotland and Wales already picked and have to say I don't see any problem with it.

Touch wood, once we land this, I think we can then look at bringing through the new generation and changing of the old gaurd. But for now, the O'Driscolls, O'Connells, Hayes, O'Gara et al are after what they deserve, which is a grand slam winning campaign.

I am as excited as you though to see the likes of Earls, Cave, Pollock, Caldwell, Sexton / Keatley / Humphries, Healy etc. etc. take their chances in the Irish squad over the coming seasons, but concentrate at the job at hand for now.

We've waited 60 years, another couple of weeks wont hurt then we can get on with mission number 2: Building for the future and the next world cup.

pucan

[Jackass] wrote: »

This is and always has been a Grand Slam mission. Kidney is a smart man and knows better than to rock the boat at this stage. Any changes may come on the bench and possibly at 1st centre. Other than that (and barring injuries) you have the team to start v Scotland and Wales already picked and have to say I don't see any problem with it.

Agree completely. Kidney shouldn't risk winning the GS in his first year.

barnesd

He'll go with the same teams, however if we don't improve a good bit we won't beat Wales in Cardiff.

Noopti

Cannot see Kidney changing anything, but I would still like to see D'Arcy and Stringer brought on earlier if the ball is slow and we are having trouble breaking through the Scottish midfield. When Stringer came on on Saturday the extra speed in our attack was easily apparent.

Would love to see Earls on the bench.

Serenity Now!

chupacabra wrote: »

Yeah yeah i know "If it aint broke..", but there is a serious opportunity to blood one or two of the young lads at this level and twould be a pity to have to wait till the summer to see them in action when there is no harm bringing them off the bench against the scots.

I will never understand this attitude. There will be f**k all changes to the squad for Edinburgh in two weeks because quite simply Ireland need their strongest squad out there.

It is NOT an opportunity to "blood one or two of the young lads at this level". Not even close.

razorblunt

Stringer for TOL would be one everything else is hunky dory. Although I would prefer Cave ahead of Wallace and D'Arcy, far too risky to throw him in for this game. But I would have like to have seen Cave in from the start.

conf101

Have to agree with the lads who are saying this is a GS campaign and shouldn't be anything else. Kidney shouldn't, and won't, take risks blooding new players, one false move and it's all down the pisser! Our only aim out of this campaign should be to win the championship and hopefully a grand slam, anything outside that will have to wait.

corny

At this stage he's hardly likely to make changes just to give experience to the younger lads.

I'd have Stringer on from the start though. Think we'd function a bit better in attack. Everything else is fine.

Fishtits

I think the team selection is based as much on form as tactical options vs the opposition. I wouldn't be surprised to see Stringer play a part against Wales for example, his quick delivery against their rush defence could be a part in bringing the backs into the attack etc.

Its all down to the game plan IMHO.

D'Arcy is match fit. Trimble is too flaky ATM (have seen brilliance and WTF? from him in the same match at Ravenhill several times over the winter...)

ScholesyIsGod

We've played 3 games and won them all, no need to change a winning team.

ozt9vdujny3srf

I hate this idea of "blooding" players on the national side, especially during an important campaign.

Players are blooded at provincial level below, only the best player in each position should be playing for the national side. The only exception being if there are two players of similar ability in the same position - go for the younger one.

dub_skav

Not ROG bashing here, but I think whoever plays the best this week of Humphries, Sexton and Keatley should be brought onto the bench. If nothing else it might give ROG a kick in the arse

Pshan

pucan wrote: »

Agree completely. Kidney shouldn't risk winning the GS in his first year.

So who do you see winning the GS for Ireland, an experienced team or a bunch of new comers with mainly ML experience?

zAbbo

Now is the wrong time to blood players, We've got a good mix of experienced players in the starting XV and bench.

What needs to happen now, is careful squad management.

I don't think anyone has been poor enough to be dropped, ROG had a bad day, probably won't happen again - don't forget he setup 2 tries in his first 2 games.

So no changes, but D'Arcy, Best, Leamy & Stringer to get on, and the rest of the bench if we're well on top after 60 mins.

pucan

Pshan wrote: »

So who do you see winning the GS for Ireland, an experienced team or a bunch of new comers with mainly ML experience?

What? I said he shouldn't make changes.

Colm_OReilly

I'd have D'Arcy on sooner. Not sure about Strings/O'Leary debate, can see good points for Stringers inclusion tbh. The 'give RoG a kick up the arse' thinking if laughable, it's not as if RoG heads home after a poor day at the office and says 'well, there's no way I'm gonna lose my place so it's okay' - the type of pressure you're under when there is no one else to replace you is immense.

That said, I'm thinking we'll put Scotland away with 10-15 (and we need 10-15 to ensure we've a good points advantage when we face the Welsh)

barnesd

zAbbo wrote: »

Now is the wrong time to blood players, We've got a good mix of experienced players in the starting XV and bench.

What needs to happen now, is careful squad management.

I don't think anyone has been poor enough to be dropped, ROG had a bad day, probably won't happen again - don't forget he setup 2 tries in his first 2 games.

So no changes, but D'Arcy, Best, Leamy & Stringer to get on, and the rest of the bench if we're well on top after 60 mins.

He set up 2 tries in the France game. He didn't even look remotely like threatening to set up a try in the Italy or England game.

bamboozle

Andrew Trimble is no where near the irish squad at the moment.

i think the summer tour will be a great opportunity for the likes of Earls, Cave, Pollock, Healy, Tonar, Keatley, Ryan, Caldwell, Muldoon, Cronin to get immersed into the Irish squad set up in low key games.

I cant see Kidney making any changes to Scotland given it is a potential banana skin, especially considering our results against them in recent years.
to be honest the squad has progressed a bit since O Sullivan left with the likes of Ferris, Fitzgerald, Kearney, O'Leary & Bowe all establishing themselves,

The players that had the poorest games on sat that are dropable are
O'Leary
Flannery

I would bring in stringer and best tbh,or at least give them more game time than they have been getting.Say bring them on at 60.