Australia V Ireland June 26, KO11:05am, SS 1.**Mod Warning. Read OP**

LeeroyJones

****Mod Warning****
This is a match thread. debate the match rationally and in a civil manner and keep it OT. Do not engage in personal feuds. There is some provincial tribalism creeping in. DO NOT indulge in it or you will be banned.

(I know there are related threads but I thought the match thread should have one of it's own-if inappropriate, feel free to take it down!)

After much talk over we thought should/would make the line-up, the Ireland XV and subs to face Australia this weekend is as follows:


15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 - Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
11 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
9 - Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster)

1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
3 - Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
6 - Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster)
7 - Shane Jennings (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
8 - Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster) *

Replacements:

16 - Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster) *
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster)
19 - Rhys Ruddock (UCD/Leinster) *
20 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 - Geordan Murphy (Leicester Tigers)

I imagine the positions with the most talking points are at 15, 12, 9, 5 and 6.

For me the biggest disappointment is starting Mick O'Driscoll at the expense of Tuohy or O'Donogue and consequently knocking O'Donoghue out of the 22 altogether, how this will benefit our future prospects is beyond me.

The Australia team:
15 - James O'Connor
14 - Drew Mitchell
13 - Rob Horne
12 - Matt Giteau
11 Adam Ashley-Cooper
10 Quade Cooper
9 - Luke Burgess

1 - Ben Daley
2 - Saia Faingaa
3 - Salesi Ma'afu
4 - Dean Mumm
5 - Nathan Sharpe
6 - Rocky Elsom (c)
7 - David Pocock
8 - Richard Brown

Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 James Slipper, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Kurtley Beale.

The Head to Head that I'm most looking forward to is that at fly-half. 2 fly-halfs with hopefully a long and successful future ahead of them - particularly Sexton hopefully!

JustinDee

Aussie front-row has been decimated so I don't see them relying on setpieces as before given the players that have been selected.

I would have kept Ashley-Cooper in the centres if I was Dingo. That fella has a great all-round game.
Rucks are going to be no-less fast and hard than the All Blacks game.
Burgess under pressure will be targetted. He tends to faff about slowing the ball down.
However if any space appears, he's away. Irish backrow and fringes on the ruck will have to be very much on their toes.
Thats the head-to-head I'm looking forward to. Jennings and Ronan giving Burgess a torrid time.

redroar1942

Burgess can run through space if it appears, Genia can make the space out of nothing. Delighted that he's not playing.

I'm not as overly surprised with MOD's selection as some of the rant and rave brigade. Look at the make up of the pack: Buckley has about 20 caps,Cronin 2 or 3, Healy 10 or so, DOC heaps, Ronan a couple,Jennings a handful and Henry none. If you were to put in Touhy with 1 or EOD with 0 thats a very inexperienced pack to play against the number 3 nation.

MOD isn't a fashinable choice but he's good in the lineout and has serious leadership qualities in a pack that is missing all of its natural leaders. I'm all for giving youth a chance but you have to balance it with experience. Touhy is a good impact sub anyway.

CouchSmart

This is definitely the best chance we could be looking for to beat the Aussies. They're missing an entire front row, none of their pack has any form(Sharpe maybe) and I can honestly say that I would have our backline over theirs any day of the week.

We're also been ravaged with injuries in the pack too though so it'll be very close. If the forwards create a decent platform for the backs we should win. Hopefully the pack really stands up and gives Deccie one of those good headaches going into next season.

Come on you boys in green, lay down a marker!

B0X

Front row looks good. Second row... well I can see the benefit of having O'Driscoll there for leadership and experience but not much else, he's never really stood out at this level. The backrow's alright, Ronan seems to try his best and if he learns to not be a penalty machine he could make a fine number 6.

The backs look good, I don't like O'Leary in there though, I really feel that his inability to provide quick ball really diminishes our attacking platforms against SH teams. Delighted to see Walace there though, if O'Leary can actually get the finger out, Wallace will be central to creating breaks and good attacking opportunities. Kearny is a bit of a 50/50, on his day he's fantastic but when he's not, he really isn't. It's good to have someone like Murphy there to give him the fear of losing his jersey and hopefully give him the kick in the arse to play well.

Any player I havent mentioned I'm happy with! Let's hope we win this one, we need something to celebrate this year

marco_polo

Not too bad all considered, though I am sure some will be disappointed that Reddan Murphy and Tuhoy are only on the bench. Just reward for Paddy Wallace, and Sexton for their outstanding displays last week. And confirms that Buckley is now the #1 tighthead in the squad. I fully expect to see a positive reaction from Kearney and TOL who can count themselves lucky to be still in the team.

Not far off the best we could muster up in the circumstances and hopefully more than able to put in a decent display on Saturday.

subfreq

I am a little bit surprised deans has stuck with Drew Mitchell and O'Connor at the back.

I guess it's the old classic you got us into this mess now prove you can get us out with a back up reaction performance.

I would have preferred to see a shuffle around of the back line a bit more.

I think Ireland are in with a shout but the Aussies have a superb record in Brisbane.

Dave Joyce

Hmm, delighted to see Paddy Wallace get a start but disappointed with TOL's selection AND although I didn't see the game against the Maori All Blacks in all the reports I read it mentioned that Gavin Duffy had a good game so I thought he'ed make the bench for this game:mad:

thomond2006

LeeroyJones steals my chance to thanks whore.

I dunno if the backline changes will make much of a difference tbh because (on paper) our back row is going to be wiped off the field. Pocock is going to be like a kid in a candy store. Ronan is a decent link up player but doesn't come close to Rocky's physicality. Henry should put it up to Brown though. At least Ruddock will be 'imprisoned' when he comes on.

I'd expect Cooper to be the goal kicker and allow Giteau to concentrate at being a running threat. I think Wallace is tougher than most of us think but he will still have a hard time keeping Gits quiet.

Kearney needs to be told to run, run and run. New Zealand put us to the sword because (for some reason) our game plan was to kick first and our kicking was shocking.

This is Buckley's big chance. If he does the job against a pretty shíte Aus front row, he will be first choice for Munster and Ireland IMO and Hayes will be put out to pasture. Buckley cannot blow this one.

I'll be happy with a positive Irish performance, Australia to win by 7-10.

PhatPiggins

subfreq wrote: »

I am a little bit surprised deans has stuck with Drew Mitchell and O'Connor at the back.

I guess it's the old classic you got us into this mess now prove you can get us out with a back up reaction performance.

I would have preferred to see a shuffle around of the back line a bit more.

I think Ireland are in with a shout but the Aussies have a superb record in Brisbane.

Beale has had a few chances though and has always looked like a plod. Mitchell was very effective in the first English test and has pedigree. They're a bit light on back 3 options with Ioane out.

Who would you have replaced Mitchell with?

subfreq

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Beale has had a few chances though and has always looked like a plod. Mitchell was very effective in the first English test and has pedigree. They're a bit light on back 3 options with Ioane out.

Who would you have replaced Mitchell with?

Strongest back three we could put out this weekend for me would be AAC - Full Back and Peter Hynes and Lachy Turner on the wings.

I would put O'Connor on the bench and Beale and Mitchell would have to sit this one out.

akkadian

subfreq wrote: »

Strongest back three we could put out this weekend for me would be AAC - Full Back and Peter Hynes and Lachy Turner on the wings.

I would put O'Connor on the bench and Beale and Mitchell would have to sit this one out.

Well I hope Ireland do well as these few years might be as good as it gets for Ireland regardless.

At the JWC (Junior World Championships) in Argentina, it all looks very familiar.
1. NZ 2. Aus 3. SA and England got forth losing the third place play off to SA
Ireland - last in their pool. They didn't win a single match. And theres plenty of young players in this country - way more than Wales or Scotland but those regions did better.

So there's 2 possibilities:
1. Crap youth system, lack of resources, competitiveness.
2. Backwater in squad selection.
3. Lots of crap players?

Either way it looks very bad to me.

duckysauce

did you watch any of the matches ?

PhatPiggins

subfreq wrote: »

Strongest back three we could put out this weekend for me would be AAC - Full Back and Peter Hynes and Lachy Turner on the wings.

I would put O'Connor on the bench and Beale and Mitchell would have to sit this one out.

Turner has never done it for Australia but AAC is wasted on the wing I'd have him at 13 first then 15. Hynes offers nothing that Cooper doesn't on the wing. I guess it all comes down to O Connor and he's too talented not to start, in my book anyway.

A few of the Australian backs are falling into the ultility bracket and I think its stunting their progress a bit.

PhatPiggins

akkadian wrote: »

Well I hope Ireland do well as these few years might be as good as it gets for Ireland regardless.

At the JWC (Junior World Championships) in Argentina, it all looks very familiar.
1. NZ 2. Aus 3. SA and England got forth losing the third place play off to SA
Ireland - last in their pool. They didn't win a single match. And theres plenty of young players in this country - way more than Wales or Scotland but those regions did better.

So there's 2 possibilities:
1. Crap youth system, lack of resources, competitiveness.
2. Backwater in squad selection.
3. Lots of crap players?

Either way it looks very bad to me.

Most uninformed post of the month and on the wrong thread too!

LeeroyJones

akkadian wrote: »

Well I hope Ireland do well as these few years might be as good as it gets for Ireland regardless.

At the JWC (Junior World Championships) in Argentina, it all looks very familiar.
1. NZ 2. Aus 3. SA and England got forth losing the third place play off to SA
Ireland - last in their pool. They didn't win a single match. And theres plenty of young players in this country - way more than Wales or Scotland but those regions did better.

So there's 2 possibilities:
1. Crap youth system, lack of resources, competitiveness.
2. Backwater in squad selection.
3. Lots of crap players?

Either way it looks very bad to me.

We beat Scotland 53-23

To be honest I only watched the France match and we were desparatly unlucky in that one. I didn't see the England match this time around but I did during the 6 Nations, and-well we won, and deservedly so!

I wouldn't be so pessimistic regarding the future, even some of our best players in the senior squad are only in their mid-20s so there's plenty in the tank.

Back to the topic, as you point out Thomond regarding Kearney running more, I hope Sexton is given the freedom to run the ball and get the ball out the backline. Let's hope kicking is only done when it's necessary. I would love to see a running game, not going to hold my breath though!

wonton

i think if we win this game and france loose to argentina we end the season in 3rd.....................very strange.

duckysauce

what are you thanking him for ?

akkadian

duckysauce wrote: »

what are you thanking him for ?

because he has a positive attitude. Nice to reminded that things are never that bad. I can be a whinger at times. :pac:

duckysauce

akkadian wrote: »

because he has a positive attitude. Nice to reminded that things are never that bad. I can be a whinger at times. :pac:

thats what we all need:D

subfreq

PhatPiggins wrote: »

A few of the Australian backs are falling into the ultility bracket and I think its stunting their progress a bit.

I think Adam Ashley Cooper is really suffering here. I am surprised that O'Connor holds the 15 jersey this weekend and AAC goes to the wing. AAC has been so solid at Full Back. I think he has done enough to have earned a run with the jersey rather than still rotating positions.

I know Ireland are saying they will run it a lot more on Saturday but I would put a bit of money on the fact they will test both O'Connor and Mitchell with a kicking game all night long.

duckysauce

subfreq wrote: »

I think Adam Ashley Cooper is really suffering here. I am surprised that O'Connor holds the 15 jersey this weekend and AAC goes to the wing. AAC has been so solid at Full Back. I think he has done enough to have earned a run with the jersey rather than still rotating positions.

I know Ireland are saying they will run it a lot more on Saturday but I would put a bit of money on the fact they will test both O'Connor and Mitchell with a kicking game all night long.

yep you would think they would learn the kicking game is gone

akkadian

subfreq wrote: »

I think Adam Ashley Cooper is really suffering here. I am surprised that O'Connor holds the 15 jersey this weekend and AAC goes to the wing. AAC has been so solid at Full Back. I think he has done enough to have earned a run with the jersey rather than still rotating positions.

I know Ireland are saying they will run it a lot more on Saturday but I would put a bit of money on the fact they will test both O'Connor and Mitchell with a kicking game all night long.

They want to be quick

Judgement Day

I'm a big fan of young James O'Connor but I wonder is his tackling a bit suspect? I suppose he could be carrying an injury as I never noticed it before the last match. Then again I'm probably imagining things - past my bedtime. I fancy Ireland's chances in this game and it would be great to bring something positive home from the tour.

Paddy Power have Ireland at 11/4 to win - too good to pass up on!!

LeeroyJones

Nathan Sharpe ruled out.

Mark Chisolm comes in with Mitchell Chapman coming onto the bench

Are we feeling cautiously confident? Aussies have such a great record in Brisbane but Im wondering if we can take advantage of their injuries list.

heybaby

Cant see anything other than an ozzie win here guys. Remember 2 games ago we were utterly humiliated by poorer than average all blacks side who fielded some of their youth players in the second half. Also, returning to the fray are the underperforming TOL and rob kearney , the latter having been given a rugby masterclass at 15 by the debutant Israel dagg. Granted, we didnt play quite as poorly against the kiwi barbarians but i didnt see nearly enough to convince me that this irish team will provide much opposition for the ozzies. We may be able to compete with their soft scrum but its inconceivable to me that the ozzies will ship a second defeat in a row to our tourists. Why we persist in a kicking game and fail to adopt the running game so favoured by southern hemisphere teams is a constant source of bemusement to me, the ozzies and all blacks are loath to let the ball go dead, opting to keep the forward momentum in their game and hence the pressure on the opposition, this relentless attrition is one of the keys to southern hemisphere teams' success.

Digifriendly

heybaby wrote: »

Cant see anything other than an ozzie win here guys. Remember 2 games ago we were utterly humiliated by poorer than average all blacks side who fielded some of their youth players in the second half.

Think that's a far from fair observation considering their subsequent win over Wales.

anonymous_joe

Australia are missing as many players as we are. So f all excuses to be made.

'Only' advantage they have is that this is midseason for them, end of season for us.

redroar1942

heybaby wrote: »

Cant see anything other than an ozzie win here guys. Remember 2 games ago we were utterly humiliated by poorer than average all blacks side.

There's no such thing. 12 of that AB's team would have started in a combined team of NZ/Ire.

subfreq

Ireland will win this if they play direct rugby IMO.

15

I am not overly optimistic if I'm honest. If O'Leary continues to play as he has been doing all season, then our chances of creating anything from the backline will be severly limited. This is quite a bold statement but personally I feel O'Leary has actually held this Irish team back with his slow delivery, decision making and poor pass.

What good is having running back players such as Wallace and Sexton starting when O'Leary will be the one distributing? With O'Leary at scrumhalf surely D'arcy would be the better option as at least D'arcy can make yards with slow stop-start ball. Honestly, I don't know how on earth Reddan didn't get picked ahead of O'Leary.

Final point, I actually would of started Ruddock at 6 and Jennings at 7. The kid is international standard already and showed a lot more than 'penalty machine' Ronan against the Maoris. Niall Ronan will never be an established international so why not throw someone who very well could be as good, if not better, than Ferris, into the mix?

akkadian

Can't say how it will go. A lot depends on Matt Giteau. He's the most exciting fly half in world rugby for me, even better than Carter. But Sexton is knocking at the door as one of the worlds best too the way he's headed.

15

Whatever about Jonathan Sexton's performance from boot in the 6 Nations, his all round running game is world class currently. I think it was Jackie Kyle that said he is one of the best outhalfs hes seen in an Irish jersey in a long time. I believe if he gets the Irish shirt now he could go on to be a world beater. Seems to have everything in his game.

molloyjh

If I were D'arcy I'd feel hard done by tbh. I thought he was one of the few who looked good going forward against the ABs, and I would have thought against the Aussies he'd have been a better selection. I didn't see the Maouri game though so can't comment on how well Wallace played there.

Glad to see Sexton in but agree with some here that Reddan may have been a better pick than O'Leary. Buckley in at prop is good news, but I would also like to see Tuohy on in the second row. I thought he looked promising against NZ.

I don't see any reason why we can't win this game though. It will be tough and Australia will be targetting us to prevent another loss to a visiting side, but there should be enough talent in that Irish side to do the business. Less kicking and more running with ball in hand is required though. I'm starting to get very frustrated with Irish sides kicking away possession as regularly as they are these days, both at provincial and international level. We have the ability with ball in hand to do damage and we should trust in that more.

All that aside I think it's still a good sign that we're in with a shot of beating Australia (albeit a depleted Australia) in their own back yard when we're missing so many first team players. The likes of Heaslip, Flannery and young Fitzy would be big losses to any side. It's nice to know we've the depth to challenge good opposition without them.

molloyjh

15 wrote: »

Whatever about Jonathan Sexton's performance from boot in the 6 Nations, his all round running game is world class currently. I think it was Jackie Kyle that said he is one of the best outhalfs hes seen in an Irish jersey in a long time. I believe if he gets the Irish shirt now he could go on to be a world beater. Seems to have everything in his game.

Don't forget he was carrying a groin injury at the time. His Magners kicking stats were > 90% success if I recall. I know the points been made before, but 15 is new here...I can't wait to see how he does on Saturday.

akkadian

15 wrote: »

Whatever about Jonathan Sexton's performance from boot in the 6 Nations, his all round running game is world class currently. I think it was Jackie Kyle that said he is one of the best outhalfs hes seen in an Irish jersey in a long time. I believe if he gets the Irish shirt now he could go on to be a world beater. Seems to have everything in his game.

I would hope by now he has won over the support of Munster fans. Surely they can't deny we need 2 top class fly halfs. There's very few players that have the natural ability to make these kind of plays, and know when to make them and how. He's creative and attack-minded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWU8kXwwVdo#t=4m28s

toomevara

Alright, enough. Back OT. If anyones a re-reg we'll sort it. Avoid calling folks out on-thread.

Stev_o

Get some go forward ball and we should tear the Aussies apart, though the same can be applied to the Aussies.

akkadian

Stev_o wrote: »

Get some go forward ball and we should tear the Aussies apart, though the same can be applied to the Aussies.

well said. Good boy!

thomond2006

http://www.rugby365.com/all_news/nbc/ireland/news/2498491.htm

Veteran lock Nathan Sharpe has been forced to withdraw from the Australian team for the one-off Test against Ireland in Brisbane on Saturday due to a back injury.

The 32-year-old Sharpe suffered a twinge in his lower back during Tuesday's training session and it has not responded to treatment, the Australian Rugby Union said in a statement.

Mark Chisholm comes into the starting side, with fellow Brumbies lock Mitchell Chapman named on the replacements bench

The Australian team (revised):
15 James O'Connor, 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Luke Burgess,
8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Ben Daley.

Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 James Slipper, 18 Mitchell Chapman, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Josh Valentine, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Kurtley Beale.

Judgement Day

I have a really good feeling about this one and PP are still offering some great odds on an Irish win @ 11/4; Ireland by more than 5 @ 11/2 and by more than 11 @ 11/1. Jesus the lads have got to take their frustrations out on someone soon - let this be the one.

outwest

depending on how the scrum goes, i think ireland can win this,

this is jennings big chance to show what he can do maybe his last if he wants to be in contention to start in the wc.

looking forward to see o conner, come world cup he will be a super star

akkadian

Judgement Day wrote: »

I have a really good feeling about this one and PP are still offering some great odds on an Irish win @ 11/4; Ireland by more than 5 @ 11/2 and by more than 11 @ 11/1. Jesus the lads have got to take their frustrations out on someone soon - let this be the one.

Yeah, but Australia will be frustrated too, especially Giteau. He'll have a point to prove missing that kick against England. Bet he got no sleep that night! Good be a good game!

SomeFool

Went for Ireland to win by 6-11 points @11/1 on Paddy Power. Will probably have a punt on Wallace to score the first try too. Having a good feeling about this game, hope I'm not wrong!!

Flash92

Can't wait to see Quade Cooper against Sexton..will be an interesting one!
Kearney and O'Leary have a lot of redeeming to do, they need to put the nightmare of NZ behind them.
Not really looking forward to the Irish back row taking on that Australian one though!

NBTD

Heading down to the game - flyin into Brissy tonight. Should be a good contest in what I'm told is a fantastic Suncorp stadium.

If Ireland can win their own ball at the breakdown and get fast ball to the backs, this one is there for the taking. Hopefully they can get a chance to run at O'Connor, who I'm not convinced of as a FB.

Judgement Day

NBTD wrote: »

Heading down to the game - flyin into Brissy tonight. Should be a good contest in what I'm told is a fantastic Suncorp stadium.

If Ireland can win their own ball at the breakdown and get fast ball to the backs, this one is there for the taking. Hopefully they can get a chance to run at O'Connor, who I'm not convinced of as a FB.

Agree about O'Connor but 'fast' ball with TOL. :rolleyes:

chupacabra

Judgement Day wrote: »

Agree about O'Connor but 'fast' ball with TOL. :rolleyes:

In fairness his delivery has sped up a lot in recent times.

CouchSmart

chupacabra wrote: »

In fairness his delivery has sped up a lot in recent times.

Now he just needs to work on his accuracy and actually passing the ball within 5 seconds of it being produced, which I believe is what people were talking about, not the actual speed of his pass.

chupacabra

CouchSmart wrote: »

Now he just needs to work on his accuracy and actually passing the ball within 5 seconds of it being produced, which I believe is what people were talking about, not the actual speed of his pass.

I said delivery, not pass. Its worlds away from what it was last year.