Italy vs Ireland Sat 5th Feb 2.30pm, Match Thread:

CouchSmart

Italy vs Ireland, Stadio Flaminio, Rome. Saturday 5th February, kick-off 15.30(14.30 Irish). On RTE2/BCC.

Italy(Possible):

1. Lo Cicero
2. Ghiraldini
3. Castrogiovanni
4. Dellape
5. Del Fava
6. Barbieri
7. Zanni
8. Parrise
9. Canavosio
10. Burton
11. Bergamasco
12. Garcia
13. Canale
14. Benvenuti
15. Masi
Substitutes:
16. Ongaro
17. Perugini
18. Fernandez-Rouyet
19. Geldenhuys
20. Derbyshire
21. Gori
22. Mclean


Ireland:
1. Healy
2. Best
3. Ross
4. O'Callaghan
5. O'Connell
6.Leamy
7. Wallace
8. O'Brien
9. O'Leary
10. Sexton
11. Earls
12. D'Arcy
13. O'Driscoll
14. McFadden
15. Fitzgerald
Substitutes:
16. Cronin
17. Court
18. Cullen
19. Jennings
20. Reddan
21. O'Gara
22. P. Wallace

Ireland’s first game of 2011 comes after a desperately disappointing 2010, with a loss to Scotland, a record breaking defeat to the All Blacks and close call against Samoa the most notable disappointments. Momentum will be the key word throughout this six nations, though redemption may be more fitting, and a game against the Azurri is a perfect start for building up a head of steam for the remainder of the tournament. Italy will be again, as ever, looking for an improvement on last year’s display and they should be capable of it with the return of their influential captain and number 8, Sergio Parisse. The influence this man has over the Italians cannot be overstated and with two teams now playing every week in the Magners League an improved Italy should be expected.


While Ireland tends to do well against the Italians any player will tell you it’s always one of the toughest games of their entire season. Up front is where Italy likes to play it and more often than not they get their way, this year might be a little different for Ireland though. Mike Ross has been selected at tight head for this game and it’s a perfect place for him to show his worth. His ability to shore up the scrum will open up a world of opportunities for Ireland and will negate the usually dominant Italian set piece.


There will be a marked improvement in Ireland line outs and restarts also, thanks entirely to the peerless Paul O’Connell. Such a player’s impact is vital to all Ireland want to achieve and with a noticeable decline in Ireland’s aerial abilities during the course of the Autumn Internationals, his return is most welcomed. Paul’s return also marks the return of his partnership with Donnacha O’Callaghan, who has been struggling to reach the same heights he does when playing alongside the inspirational Limerick leader. There have and still are calls being made for the inclusion of Leo Cullen, who has performed excellently all season, but it is clear Declan Kidney views the “POC-and-DOC-connection” as his best second row pairing.


The loss of Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris will undoubtedly have an effect on the team but with the on form Sean O’Brien waiting as a replacement for either and the experience of Dennis Leamy to call upon, any such effects should be well hidden. David Wallace, as the only remaining member of the starting back row from the Autumn Internationals, needs to be at the top of his game, as the Italians will be determined to slow any ball Ireland get. If O’Brien can replicate his Leinster form, he’ll be producing front foot ball all day, it’ll just be up to the backs to use it properly.


Tomas O’Leary may be viewed as one of the luckiest men in Irish sport as he has gone from being outside the squad for the whole of last week to now being the starting number 9. His selection is definitely the most controversial but it does have its merits. Off the back of a stable scrum his pace will cause havoc to the Italian defense. This pace along with his unquestionable physicality makes him an awesome asset for Ireland if he can find the form that got him selected for a Lions tour.


In the injury savaged backline the ever-present Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll continue their centre partnership. Fergus McFadden earns a well deserved start on the right wing with Keith Earls opposite him. At full back, Luke Fitzgerald starts as he did against Samoa in the Autumn. Having only returned from injury in August he was just starting to find some form before he got injured again, against New Zealand in November. Since returning he has played at full back against the Ospreys at the RDS, while not setting the world alight he showed some good touches. A late call-up to the team against Saracens saw him starting in his more familiar wing position – by the end it seemed he was a million miles off where he needed to be to wear the green of Ireland. A decent performance the following week ensured his inclusion in the Ireland squad and it is now up to him to repay the faith Kidney has shown in him.

Key Battles:

Sean O’Brien v Sergio Parisse:





Arguably the best number 8 in the world cup comes up against a young up and comer. Each player will be looking to get one over on the other throughout the match. Currently Parisse is head and shoulders above O’Brien, though O’Brien has been carrying better than any other forward in Europe. Parisse’s tactical awareness and experience at this level should see him come out on top.


Front rows:




Who would have thought 12 months ago Ireland could be going into a match against Italy with a chance of not only matching the Italians in the scrum but perhaps even bettering them. In Martin Castrogiovanni Italy posses one of the best tight heads in the world, his work rate in the tight is nearly unmatched and his ability in the loose in outstanding. In Mike Ross Ireland now posses a tight head who can not only lock out a scrum but also push opponent’s scrums backwards. With Rory Best alongside him, don’t expect any easy scrums for the Azurri. Expect the Irish scrum to surprise a few people.

Prediction:
With the forecast for a clear, dry day there is no reason why Ireland won’t be able to implement a running game. If the Italians succeed in killing the game, it’s going to be the usual attritional fair but if Ireland manage to play to their strengths and game plan a rout could be on the cards.

Italy 13 - Ireland 33

Too much free time..:p

P.S. I don't own the images, don't sue please..

Stev_o

Realistically this will be a terrible game to watch and these forums will suitably go mad by the performance of us.

I see it either going down the route of 20-12 in favour of us or 30 something 19ish.

We ll probably grind out our win here and i don't really mind considering playing Italy for the past number of years has been such a chore.

trackguy

Stev_o wrote: »

Realistically this will be a terrible game to watch and these forums will suitably go mad by the performance of us.

I see it either going down the route of 20-12 in favour of us or 30 something 19ish.

We ll probably grind out our win here and i don't really mind considering playing Italy for the past number of years has been such a chore.

I followed you over here! I accept the difficulty that Italy pose but I'd like Ireland to show more ambition than they usually do - rather than focus solely on matching them physically.

If you compare the way Leinster coped with Clermont Auvergne - use speed and width to outwit such a big, physical team.

Stev_o

trackguy wrote: »

I followed you over here! I accept the difficulty that Italy pose but I'd like Ireland to show more ambition than they usually do - rather than focus solely on matching them physically.

If you compare the way Leinster coped with Clermont Auvergne - use speed and width to outwit such a big, physical team.

Im more going on past experinces with Italy then stating that the players we have are unable to play such a expansive game everyone wants.

Last time we truly ran them over was in 2007.

2008- Ire-19 Italy-11.
2009-Ire-38 Italy -9 A game where we scored only one good try and the rest were hard graff sort of ones.
2010 Ire 29- Italy -11.


The point being is that if we go out there and throw the ball around we ll more then likely fail and either gift Italy a rare win or give a performance which will annoy the entire country.

It's one thing being able to play a expansive game at a provincial game it's a different kettle of fish at international especially your first game away from home.

They do the basics take their points and take their opportunities then ill be happy. If they force the game it ll be a disaster.

Gritty attrition-al, backline not getting any ball, nothing working. Dropped passes and knock ons. Frustration. Missed kicks. Silly penalties. Sin bins. Tempers. Breakdown refereed poorly. Rustyness Ironed out. etc etc.

These will be the buzzwords next weekend.

(please be wrong, please be wrong, please be wrong)
Italy's gameplan is to frustrate teams and to disrupt their game. It works brilliantly. They rarely win, but they rarely lose by a cricket score. Thems the breaks unfortunately.

Stev_o

It is and i sorta worry about this match. There is a lot of pressure on us at the moment and given that many of these Italians will have either played well for Treviso or their respective club may result in a even harder match then we all predicted. This is our banana skin of the 6N i feel.

Kunny

This match has the potential to be a banana skin, will be terrible to watch and Ireland will probably only win by 2 scores.

trackguy

Jaysus, you are all depressing me. Still you are probably right,

Italy 12 Ireland 24

Digifriendly

Kunny wrote: »

This match has the potential to be a banana skin, will be terrible to watch and Ireland will probably only win by 2 scores.

To win by 2 scores in Rome with injury ravaged side won't be a bad result surely? Remember no bonus points for 4 tries or more in 6N!

lologram

Digifriendly wrote: »

To win by 2 scores in Rome with injury ravaged side won't be a bad result surely? Remember no bonus points for 4 tries or more in 6N!

Yeah but remember the 6N can and does come down to points difference... which Ireland inevitably loses every time because we don't rack up points against people!

Digifriendly

lologram wrote: »

Yeah but remember the 6N can and does come down to points difference... which Ireland inevitably loses every time because we don't rack up points against people!

Good point - had forgotten that. We need to win another Grand Slam then!

thomond2006

Nice post OP!

I think we will win but as Stevo says, we'll be cursing the performance of the team.

Kunny

Digifriendly wrote: »

Good point - had forgotten that. We need to win another Grand Slam then!

Its not looking likely that there will be any grand slam winner this year - let alone ireland (unfortunately!)

A two score win would not be a great result for us if we want to challenge for the championship!

Unita

Ahhh the 6 Nations...
Luke Fitzgerald at fullback fills me with utter fear. This is going to be an ugly game which i'd expect us to win but it ain't going to be pretty. Lets hope we get through it without any more injuries as the squad's going to start wearing thin soon!

Magi11

Is Ger Loughnane now picking the Irish team? How can Tomas O'Leary go from not being in the squad 12 days ago to playing? What did Stringer and Boss do wrong in the meantime? Ragball!

Badgermonkey

Really glad McFadden got in and hope he gets a bit of ball.

DO'C is a lucky boy imho and lets hope TO'L finds form.

Lukes a concern at FB though.

buck65

Ah they'll be grand, Italy are spoilers at best. Nice start to the 6 nations, good for the forwards to get a go against a tough pack and the backs to get used to each other in the knowledge that Italy can't score tries unless gifted to them by pen scrum or intercept.
Ireland by 20 in a dour dogfight.
Good to see the likes of Ross, O Brien and McFadden there even if it is because all other options are unavailable. Hilarious to read some papers crediting Kidney for having built a panel when he did the complete opposite. Injury to others are the only reason that these guys are starting. These guys should all have a handful of caps by now.

pajunior

Magi11 wrote: »

Is Ger Loughnane now picking the Irish team? How can Tomas O'Leary go from not being in the squad 12 days ago to playing? What did Stringer and Boss do wrong in the meantime? Ragball!

TOL wasn't really outside the squad. Kidney just put him in the wolfhounds to give him some much needed game time. I imagine he was always going to start.

RMD

buck65 wrote: »

Ah they'll be grand, Italy are spoilers at best. Nice start to the 6 nations, good for the forwards to get a go against a tough pack and the backs to get used to each other in the knowledge that Italy can't score tries unless gifted to them by pen scrum or intercept.
Ireland by 20 in a dour dogfight.
Good to see the likes of Ross, O Brien and McFadden there even if it is because all other options are unavailable. Hilarious to read some papers crediting Kidney for having built a panel when he did the complete opposite. Injury to others are the only reason that these guys are starting. These guys should all have a handful of caps by now.

I'm delighted to see McFadden get his debut but O'Brien certainly deserves to be there regardless of others being injured, he's playing some amazing rugby right now.

twinytwo

Personally i think we might be surprised. win we will but so long as the team settles and people start to click im happy. Hopefully go into the france game with confidence.

twinytwo

buck65 wrote: »

Ah they'll be grand, Italy are spoilers at best. Nice start to the 6 nations, good for the forwards to get a go against a tough pack and the backs to get used to each other in the knowledge that Italy can't score tries unless gifted to them by pen scrum or intercept.
Ireland by 20 in a dour dogfight.
Good to see the likes of Ross, O Brien and McFadden there even if it is because all other options are unavailable. Hilarious to read some papers crediting Kidney for having built a panel when he did the complete opposite. Injury to others are the only reason that these guys are starting. These guys should all have a handful of caps by now.

You have no idea who he would or would not have picked so your arguement is pointless

buck65

Sorry Mrs. Kidney, miaooow.

padser

twinytwo wrote: »

You have no idea who he would or would not have picked so your arguement is pointless

I do. If injuries had not intervened (either through players lacking match practice or being injured the team would be)

1) Healy
2) flannary
3) buckley
4) doc
5) poc
6) ferris
7) Wallace
8) heaslip
9) tol
10) sexton
11) fits
12) gd
13) bod
14) Bowe
15) Kearney
16) best
17) court
18) Cullen
19) leamy
20) redden
21) rog
22) earls

Form is irrelevant to kidney so how could it be any different???

danthefan

twinytwo wrote: »

You have no idea who he would or would not have picked so your arguement is pointless

You can't tell 100%, no, but there are very strong precendents set from past selections. If Buckle, Heaslip, Ferris were all fit then I have no doubt in my mind all would have been involved at the expense of SOB and Ross.

twinytwo

danthefan wrote: »

You can't tell 100%, no, but there are very strong precendents set from past selections. If Buckle, Heaslip, Ferris were all fit then I have no doubt in my mind all would have been involved at the expense of SOB and Ross.

tbf if ferris and heaslip had been fit he would have played sob at 7. I dont think he would have played buckley either. If ross does well asgainst Italy and we actually have a scrum that works.. he will surly stay.

danthefan

twinytwo wrote: »

tbf if ferris and heaslip had been fit he would have played sob at 7. I dont think he would have played buckley either. If ross does well asgainst Italy and we actually have a scrum that works.. he will surly stay.

He's never been interested in a working scrum before, has had had some sort of Damascene Conversion in the time between the AIs and the 6N? And Wallace played all the big games in the AIs, what would be the point of this unless he saw Wallace as his medium term (i.e. through the 6N and RWC) first choice 7? We'll learn a bit more when the injured guys come back but in selections where there actually was an option - 2nd row, SH, and fullback to a lesser extent, he's made typically disappointing selections.

RMD

Anyone placing any bets on this lads? PP have a -13 handicap for Ireland at 10/11, I think we'll either play well and ease past Italy or play ****e and win by 5-8 points at most in a boring game. -13 seems very risky.

SomeFool

danthefan wrote: »

He's never been interested in a working scrum before, has had had some sort of Damascene Conversion in the time between the AIs and the 6N?

Sorry fella , but I read this with a George Hook voice in my head :pac:

[Jackass]

Donnocha O'Callaghan and Thomas O'Leary starting. Shocking! :eek:

Neither are either currently good enough to be in the Munster XV, yet are starting for Ireland.

petebricquette

[Jackass] wrote: »

Donnocha O'Callaghan and Thomas O'Leary starting. Shocking! :eek:

Neither are either currently good enough to be in the Munster XV, yet are starting for Ireland.

It makes no sense. I mean, TOL passes at a glacial speed which very considerately gives the opposing defence time to organise. He's been out of form recently and there's no justification for the start. I'll concede that he's a great physical presence but come on; the one thing that has to be flawless (his passing) is pedestrian at best.

Then DOC. Good god, what does Leo Cullen have to do to get regular, consistent starting spots with Ireland? He's played out of his skin for friggin' ages, he's an excellent lineout option both in attack and defence. Insanity.

beggars_bush

petebricquette wrote: »

It makes no sense. I mean, TOL passes at a glacial speed which very considerately gives the opposing defence time to organise. He's been out of form recently and there's no justification for the start. I'll concede that he's a great physical presence but come on; the one thing that has to be flawless (his passing) is pedestrian at best.

Then DOC. Good god, what does Leo Cullen have to do to get regular, consistent starting spots with Ireland? He's played out of his skin for friggin' ages, he's an excellent lineout option both in attack and defence. Insanity.

TOL has been cat bad for Munster - don't know how he got in. its the problem with coaches/managers. Especially coming from the provinces. They have a soft spot for certain players and are blind to their lack of form and what other players could do
same applies to DOC.

liquidbob

A lot of people seem to think DOC should be dropped in favour of Cullen.

I always thought DOC and cullen were 2 very different players with Cullen much more in the mold of POC.

Do you think Cullen and POC would make a good pairing? Would you play DOC and Cullen instead or should we be developing another gruntier player to partner POC ? (possibly Tuohy?)

I'll probably be ostracised for this, but Cullen hasn't been great recently. He's been miles ahead of DOC, whos been in the pits this season.

However, with our best performing lock of the season (Tuohy) out injured, MOD should be the man most aggrieved. He's been head and shoulders above DOC and deserved a bench of not a starting role.

We need to reward players for good form, take the politics and allegiances out of the game.

The Rooster

Deleted User wrote: »

I'll probably be ostracised for this, but Cullen hasn't been great recently. He's been miles ahead of DOC, whos been in the pits this season.

However, with our best performing lock of the season (Tuohy) out injured, MOD should be the man most aggrieved. He's been head and shoulders above DOC and deserved a bench of not a starting role.

We need to reward players for good form, take the politics and allegiances out of the game.

Cullen had a bit of a dip in the winter, but I thought he was excellent against Saracens and Racing in the last two H Cup games.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

We need to reward players for good form, take the politics and allegiances out of the game.

If you take a quick look at the under-20s side you'll see this is starting to happen.

smurphy29

Italy team (v Ireland): Luke McLean, Andrea Masi, Gonzalo Canale, Alberto Sgarbi, Mirco Bergamasco, Kristopher Burton, Edoardo Gori, Sergio Parisse (captain), Alessandro Zanni, Josh Sole, Quintin Geldenhuys, Santiago Dellape, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Salvatore Perugini

Replacements: Fabio Ongaro, Andrea Lo Cicero, Carlo Antonio Del Fava, Valerio Bernabo, Pablo Canavosio, Luciano Orquera, Gonzalo Garcia


Any word on why they haven't picked their apparently crack new centre who has earned raves for Treviso, and ripped apart the Leicester midfield, Benvenuti or something? Thought he was going to be key to their back play this year.

crisco10

smurphy29 wrote: »

Italy team (v Ireland): Luke McLean, Andrea Masi, Gonzalo Canale, Alberto Sgarbi, Mirco Bergamasco, Kristopher Burton, Edoardo Gori, Sergio Parisse (captain), Alessandro Zanni, Josh Sole, Quintin Geldenhuys, Santiago Dellape, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Salvatore Perugini

Replacements: Fabio Ongaro, Andrea Lo Cicero, Carlo Antonio Del Fava, Valerio Bernabo, Pablo Canavosio, Luciano Orquera, Gonzalo Garcia


Any word on why they haven't picked their apparently crack new centre who has earned raves for Treviso, and ripped apart the Leicester midfield, Benvenuti or something? Thought he was going to be key to their back play this year.

Those half backs look very very weak. Such a pity for them because, thats a pretty good pack.

thomond2006

smurphy29 wrote: »

Italy team (v Ireland): Luke McLean, Andrea Masi, Gonzalo Canale, Alberto Sgarbi, Mirco Bergamasco, Kristopher Burton, Edoardo Gori, Sergio Parisse (captain), Alessandro Zanni, Josh Sole, Quintin Geldenhuys, Santiago Dellape, Martin Castrogiovanni, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Salvatore Perugini

Replacements: Fabio Ongaro, Andrea Lo Cicero, Carlo Antonio Del Fava, Valerio Bernabo, Pablo Canavosio, Luciano Orquera, Gonzalo Garcia


Any word on why they haven't picked their apparently crack new centre who has earned raves for Treviso, and ripped apart the Leicester midfield, Benvenuti or something? Thought he was going to be key to their back play this year.

Not sure why Benvenuti is left out, don't think he's injured.

Interesting that they go for Gori, he was (apparently) good for them in the AIs but he's only made one start for Treviso this season.

Burton is a decent 10, he'll look for the DG option when it's on. Don't think he's up to international level, just a good ML standard player IMO.

The Rooster

Benvenuti was only on the bench for Treviso's last HC match v Leicester (and wasnt used) and didnt feature at all the previous week v Perpignan. I'm sure there's a story behind it, perhaps its just he's carrying an injury.

Who'll be Italy's goalkicker?

gOst

A quick question for the more enlightened rugby enthusiasts, why does O'Leary take forever and a day to pass a ball from a ruck, He arrives looks left, looks at the ball, looks right, looks back the ball incase it has moved, looks left again, checks his blind spot, indicates and then passes the ball. Why does he not make a conscience decision to just hurry the fcuk up as he always gets slated for it. I've never played the game so maybe theres an inherent reason why he's confined to passing so slowly? if so please explain. rant over:)

Peter B

gOst wrote: »

A quick question for the more enlightened rugby enthusiasts, why does O'Leary take forever and a day to pass a ball from a ruck, He arrives looks left, looks at the ball, looks right, looks back the ball incase it has moved, looks left again, checks his blind spot, indicates and then passes the ball. Why does he not make a conscience decision to just hurry the fcuk up as he always gets slated for it. I've never played the game so maybe theres an inherent reason why he's confined to passing so slowly? if so please explain. rant over:)

I don't know either. I was a scrumhalf and cannot explain why he waits for so long. I sometimes see stringer do it also (not as much recently) so I'm guessing its a request from the coach or backs outside. Seems wierd as we should be making the most of quick ball to attack defences who are not ready.

All it takes for is the coach to say "Tomas, when you arrive at a ruck, instead of waiting 5 seconds to pass the ball to the awaiting player, just pass it straight away."

thomond2006

The Rooster wrote: »

Who'll be Italy's goalkicker?

Bergamasco or Burton, most likely Bergamasco.

toomevara

Parisse been declared fit.

beggars_bush

gOst wrote: »

A quick question for the more enlightened rugby enthusiasts, why does O'Leary take forever and a day to pass a ball from a ruck, He arrives looks left, looks at the ball, looks right, looks back the ball incase it has moved, looks left again, checks his blind spot, indicates and then passes the ball. Why does he not make a conscience decision to just hurry the fcuk up as he always gets slated for it. I've never played the game so maybe theres an inherent reason why he's confined to passing so slowly? if so please explain. rant over:)

he is poor at assessing/scanning his options left and right before he arrives at the ruck. that is the main reason he takes so long over the ball.

petebricquette

beggars_bush wrote: »

he is poor at assessing/scanning his options left and right before he arrives at the ruck. that is the main reason he takes so long over the ball.

Yeah, himself and Reddan have similar problems in that area. But Reddan isn't quite as bad as O'Leary methinks. It's intensely frustrating to watch though!

little173

liquidbob wrote: »

A lot of people seem to think DOC should be dropped in favour of Cullen.

I always thought DOC and cullen were 2 very different players with Cullen much more in the mold of POC.

Do you think Cullen and POC would make a good pairing? Would you play DOC and Cullen instead or should we be developing another gruntier player to partner POC ? (possibly Tuohy?)

I would have thought Cullen and DOC are pretty similar in style so POC and Cullen should work well in that - 4 jumpers, adding grunt, most teams tend to play with a grunt and a more athletic mid line jumper - so Botha at 4, Johnson at 4 etc, it also tends to work with the scrum too having the 5 behind the tight head.

LostPassword

gOst wrote: »

A quick question for the more enlightened rugby enthusiasts, why does O'Leary take forever and a day to pass a ball from a ruck, He arrives looks left, looks at the ball, looks right, looks back the ball incase it has moved, looks left again, checks his blind spot, indicates and then passes the ball. Why does he not make a conscience decision to just hurry the fcuk up as he always gets slated for it. I've never played the game so maybe theres an inherent reason why he's confined to passing so slowly? if so please explain. rant over:)

I was a (bad) scrummie too at one stage, so I have quite a bit of sympathy for the poor old number 9. There are a bunch of reasons for a delay at a ruck.

Firstly, nowadays, teams rarely commit huge numbers to securing the ball at the ruck, so the scrum half is vulnerable to a defender coming through and scragging them once they've picked up the ball and before they've got it away. This means that you don't really have time to pick, then scan, then pass, you want to have picked your pass before you touch the ball.

Secondly, there are often lazy runners and your own forwards realigning themselves coming back in the way of your first receiver, so you may need to wait a little bit before you can pick the pass.

Thirdly, and most importantly, unless it is quick, front-foot ball, or there is an imminent danger of a turnover, there is little benefit in getting the ball away that quickly. If it's slow ball, it's more important to wait until a pod of forwards is organised to maximise the chance of getting quick ball on the next phase than getting it away quickly, because you're not going to get anywhere on that phase of play anyway.

Judgement Day

LostPassword wrote: »

I was a (bad) scrummie too at one stage, so I have quite a bit of sympathy for the poor old number 9. There are a bunch of reasons for a delay at a ruck.

Firstly, nowadays, teams rarely commit huge numbers to securing the ball at the ruck, so the scrum half is vulnerable to a defender coming through and scragging them once they've picked up the ball and before they've got it away. This means that you don't really have time to pick, then scan, then pass, you want to have picked your pass before you touch the ball.

Secondly, there are often lazy runners and your own forwards realigning themselves coming back in the way of your first receiver, so you may need to wait a little bit before you can pick the pass.

Thirdly, and most importantly, unless it is quick, front-foot ball, or there is an imminent danger of a turnover, there is little benefit in getting the ball away that quickly. If it's slow ball, it's more important to wait until a pod of forwards is organised to maximise the chance of getting quick ball on the next phase than getting it away quickly, because you're not going to get anywhere on that phase of play anyway.

TOL was the scrumhalf in question not the number 9 position in general. I used to be a fan of his when he broke on to the scene but no longer rate him. He is too slow getting the ball out, his passing is frequently diabolical and as for his box kicking! Stringer should be starting ahead of him.
The points you make about the problems facing the number 9 position don't seem to affect Jimmy Cowan, Piri Weepu, Morgan Parra, Ben Youngs, Peter Stringer amongst others - just TOL and to a lesser extent Issac Boss and Eoin Reddan. I hope TOL pulls the finger out on Saturday as our backline is our best chance of winning if they get decent ball.

Podge_irl

Jaysus I can't wait for this.

brianthebard

petebricquette wrote: »

Yeah, himself and Reddan have similar problems in that area. But Reddan isn't quite as bad as O'Leary methinks. It's intensely frustrating to watch though!

I intensely dislike watching either of those two play for Ireland, would really like to see Boss get a shot, I believe he is eligible isn't he? Looking forward to the game.

Podge_irl

Podge_irl wrote: »

Jaysus I can't wait for this.

+1..

Going to be a huge weekend for the oval ball!