The Six Nations General Banter Thread. *Read Mod Warning. Post no.5*

sock puppet

twinytwo wrote: »

flipping country is awash with wingers,fb's and backrows... why no props:(... id be happy if we could just find one for hayes

I was just thinking about this actually. At the moment Kearney's the only quality Irish fullback getting gametime. Earls and Bowe are our only other options and they don't play there much.

2040

sock puppet wrote: »

I was just thinking about this actually. At the moment Kearney's the only quality Irish fullback getting gametime. Earls and Bowe are our only other options and they don't play there much.

I was also thinking about this recently. I think this is the reason Cheika played Kearney at wing a few weeks ago. Just to keep his options open.

thomond2006

Oh Johnson, you plonker: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12321_5885161,00.html

Steve Borthwick has retained the captaincy of the England side, assuring him of a place in the starting line-up against Wales on February 6.

Goose81

sock puppet wrote: »

I was just thinking about this actually. At the moment Kearney's the only quality Irish fullback getting gametime. Earls and Bowe are our only other options and they don't play there much.

Kearney
Fitzgerald
Murphy
Bowe
Earls

We are fine at FB,when everyone is fit mind you.
Fitzgerald and Bowe both prefer playing fullback aswell.

Personally I would feel confident down to Murphy on that list,Bowe or Earls I wouldnt be too keen on.

Risteard

Goose81 wrote: »

Kearney
Fitzgerald
Murphy
Bowe
Earls

We are fine at FB,when everyone is fit mind you.
Fitzgerald and Bowe both prefer playing fullback aswell.

Personally I would feel confident down to Murphy on that list,Bowe or Earls I wouldnt be too keen on.

Has Fitz. played FB recently?

IMO, if his catching is up to the same level as Kearney's then I think he would be a better counter attacker from FB with a lot more space than on the wing.

Judgement Day

thomond2006 wrote: »

Oh Johnson, you plonker: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12321_5885161,00.html

Oh I don't know, it's an ill wind and Borthwick can only help Ireland's cause. Johnson would be better coming out of retirement himself!

PhatPiggins

Judgement Day wrote: »

Oh I don't know, it's an ill wind and Borthwick can only help Ireland's cause. Johnson would be better coming out of retirement himself!

Borthwicks not that bad if you pair him with an athletic player like Lawes,Shaw or Kennedy but sticking him in beside the likes of Deacon is pointless.

He's a better captain then player imo

Crash

Has Fitz. played FB recently?

IMO, if his catching is up to the same level as Kearney's then I think he would be a better counter attacker from FB with a lot more space than on the wing.

Fitz spends a huge amount of time with Leinster covering back as an auxiliary FB, my only worry would be his positioning, purely because he hasn't had as much time alone back there. I'd agree, though for FB i'd put Murphy ahead of Fitz on that list.

edit: His catching wouldn't be as good as Kearneys, seeing as very few players worldwide can match him for his ability to take a high ball under pressure consistently, but it'd be decent enough. See Fitz getting flipped catching a high ball against Italy last year, I think?

Ciaran-Irl

Judgement Day wrote: »

Oh I don't know, it's an ill wind and Borthwick can only help Ireland's cause. Johnson would be better coming out of retirement himself!

At a guess, Johnson must have been thinking about playing Lawes & Shaw, but with Croft injured, he will play Lawless at 6. Problem solved. Foolish coach.

danthefan

Crash wrote: »

Fitz spends a huge amount of time with Leinster covering back as an auxiliary FB, my only worry would be his positioning, purely because he hasn't had as much time alone back there. I'd agree, though for FB i'd put Murphy ahead of Fitz on that list.

edit: His catching wouldn't be as good as Kearneys, seeing as very few players worldwide can match him for his ability to take a high ball under pressure consistently, but it'd be decent enough. See Fitz getting flipped catching a high ball against Italy last year, I think?

Think that might have been the Quins game, he definitely got upended in the air, accidentally.

profitius

I'd start Court at loosehead and see how he does. Healy isn't as good a scrummager yet. No replacement for Hayes.


Cronin at hooker I'd like to see but he could be injured.


I'd like to see a high impact bench. Donnacha Ryan, Sean O'Brien etc.


Boss deserves a chance too as he is the form scrum half.

Podge_irl

profitius wrote: »

No replacement for Hayes.

You know what, at this stage I think it would be almost worth just shoving Ross in there and seeing how he gets on. He can certainly lock out a scrum and Hayes' contribution around the field is dwindling anyway. While Hayes is probably still the better all round prop at the moment there is not a hope that he will be in a years time.

sock puppet

Goose81 wrote: »

Kearney
Fitzgerald
Murphy
Bowe
Earls

We are fine at FB,when everyone is fit mind you.
Fitzgerald and Bowe both prefer playing fullback aswell.

Personally I would feel confident down to Murphy on that list,Bowe or Earls I wouldnt be too keen on.

Oh I know long term we're okay. I was talking about just this tournament. Fitz and Murphy are injured. Though Murphy may be returning soon?

theKramer

Podge_irl wrote: »

You know what, at this stage I think it would be almost worth just shoving Ross in there and seeing how he gets on. He can certainly lock out a scrum and Hayes' contribution around the field is dwindling anyway. While Hayes is probably still the better all round prop at the moment there is not a hope that he will be in a years time.

I was thinking the exact same thing myself. And have Hayes on the bench in case it all goes pear-shaped.
The potential benefits outweigh any possible drawbacks.

thomond2006

Italy 30 man squad for Ireland match:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8486044.stm

Forwards: Matias Aguero (Saracens), Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais), Marco Bortolami (Gloucester), Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester), Lorenzo Cittadini (Benetton Treviso), Carlo Antonio Del Fava (MPS Viadana), Paul Derbyshire (Petrarca Padova), Simone Favaro (Banca Monte Parma), Quintin Geldenhuys (MPS Viadana), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso), Fabio Ongaro (Saracens), Antonio Ravanello (Benetton Treviso), Salvatore Perugini (Bayonne), Josh Sole (MPS Viadana), Manoa Vosawai (Banca Monte Parma), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Treviso).

Backs: Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), Riccardo Bocchino (Femi-CZ Rovigo), Gonzalo Canale (Clermont), Gonzalo Garcia (Benetton Treviso), Craig Gower (Bayonne), Andrea Marcato (Benetton Treviso), Andrea Masi (Racing-Metro), Luke McLean (Benetton Treviso), Simon Picone (Benetton Treviso), Matteo Pratichetti (MPS Viadana), Kaine Robertson (MPS Viadana), Michele Sepe (MPS Viadana), Alberto Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso), Tito Tebaldi (Plusvalore Gran Parma).

twinytwo

thomond2006 wrote: »

Do you think Flannery will still be considered for Italy given that he won't have featured for Munster this weekend?

For the sake of development, I would like to see Cronin start, whether Flannery is available or not.

But then we run into the problem of development over victory... if kidney was to play 3/4 of the younger players and we lost you still have people crying for kidneys head etc etc so he is stuck between a rock and a hard place

TheGod

Anyone know when Ireland's 30 man squad will be announced?

Jbone07

twinytwo wrote: »

But then we run into the problem of development over victory... if kidney was to play 3/4 of the younger players and we lost you still have people crying for kidneys head etc etc so he is stuck between a rock and a hard place

I think if we start discounting the threat of the likes of Italy, we will be undone. Maybe if the game is getting on and we are winning by a comfortable margin Cronin should come in?

anonymous_joe

thomond2006 wrote: »

Italy 30 man squad for Ireland match:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8486044.stm

Forwards: Matias Aguero (Saracens), Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais), Marco Bortolami (Gloucester), Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester), Lorenzo Cittadini (Benetton Treviso), Carlo Antonio Del Fava (MPS Viadana), Paul Derbyshire (Petrarca Padova), Simone Favaro (Banca Monte Parma), Quintin Geldenhuys (MPS Viadana), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso), Fabio Ongaro (Saracens), Antonio Ravanello (Benetton Treviso), Salvatore Perugini (Bayonne), Josh Sole (MPS Viadana), Manoa Vosawai (Banca Monte Parma), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Treviso).

Backs: Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), Riccardo Bocchino (Femi-CZ Rovigo), Gonzalo Canale (Clermont), Gonzalo Garcia (Benetton Treviso), Craig Gower (Bayonne), Andrea Marcato (Benetton Treviso), Andrea Masi (Racing-Metro), Luke McLean (Benetton Treviso), Simon Picone (Benetton Treviso), Matteo Pratichetti (MPS Viadana), Kaine Robertson (MPS Viadana), Michele Sepe (MPS Viadana), Alberto Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso), Tito Tebaldi (Plusvalore Gran Parma).

Weakest Italian side for a while...

Other than the props, the Bergamascos and Canale there's very little there at all.

BoarHunter

twinytwo wrote: »

But then we run into the problem of development over victory... if kidney was to play 3/4 of the younger players and we lost you still have people crying for kidneys head etc etc so he is stuck between a rock and a hard place

We have the same problem in France and i am mixed about this. We are definitly not playing our best chances in the 6N since the last WC with our group but the target is 2011.

IMO there is too many things that you can't be on top to bet "all in" for the WC ( form, weather, luck, and so on ) and it is too much of a gamble.

It is very hard to find a good balance between team building and performance. Winter and Summer tests are all about this i guess.

toomevara

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Weakest Italian side for a while...

Other than the props, the Bergamascos and Canale there's very little there at all.

+1, I Worry about this Italian side, I can see little in store for them but a steady diet of defeat.

Armada

Random burst of excitement:

I cant wait for the six nations to kick off, I actually get to go this year woohoo. My luck of course that the England and France games are away but the Wales game could be a cracker. Looking forward to the Italy and Scotland games too though!

Pub -> Bus -> Match -> Bus -> Pub

Nice little plan I think


Sorry about that.....

thomond2006

The championship just won't be the same without Parisse.:(

Without him, Italy are doomed.

TheGod

thomond2006 wrote: »

The championship just won't be the same without Parisse.:(

Without him, Italy are doomed.

They were doomed anyway.

thomond2006

TheGod wrote: »

They were doomed anyway.

Yeah, probably.

btw if anyone wants to see Wales youngsters Kristian Phillips and Tom Prydie, they are lining out the Ospreys tonight in the LV= Cup. Live on S4C at 7:30pm afaik.

Ospreys: 15 Tom Prydie 14 Kristian Phillips, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Gareth Owen, 9 Jamie Nutbrown, 8 Tom Smith, 7 Steve Tandy (c), 6 Ben Lewis, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andy Lloyd, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Ed Shervington, 1 Ryan Bevington.

Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Craig Mitchell, 18 Cai Griffiths, 19 James Goode, 20 James King, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Matthew Jarvis, 23 Jonny Vaughton

thomond2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8486602.stm

Lee Byrne banned for two weeks, therefore missing Wales' opener against England. Massive blow for Wales

Who to play at FB?

It's probably between Halfpenny and Hook. Doubt young Prydie would get a look in in any case.

ScrubsfanChris

thomond2006 wrote: »

The championship just won't be the same without Parisse.:(

Without him, Italy are doomed.

Agree, he was the 2nd best player last year behind BOD, and Italy didn't even win a game.

twinytwo

thomond2006 wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8486602.stm

Lee Byrne banned for two weeks, therefore missing Wales' opener against England. Massive blow for Wales

Who to play at FB?

It's probably between Halfpenny and Hook. Doubt young Prydie would get a look in in any case.

that sucks.. neither have a tap on byrne and i was looking forward to wales giving england a good thumping

Crash

thomond2006 wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8486602.stm

Lee Byrne banned for two weeks, therefore missing Wales' opener against England. Massive blow for Wales

Who to play at FB?

It's probably between Halfpenny and Hook. Doubt young Prydie would get a look in in any case.

They'll throw hook into fullback - its been tried before, and they like halfpenny as a winger.

Judgement Day

twinytwo wrote: »

that sucks.. neither have a tap on byrne and i was looking forward to wales giving england a good thumping

I don't Lee Byrne's absence will make any difference to the outcome at Twickenham and if anyone is going to be thumped on the day it's Wales. So much depends on whether Jonny Wilkinson starts ahead of Flood or they could both start.