RWC Pool C: Ireland vs USA Eagles, Sun 11 Sep 7am; Pre/During/Post Match Thread.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Ireland by less than 20

Trimble has played all 4 games in the warm ups. I think he is first choice the USA game seems to be treated as almost a fifth(sixth if you count Connacht) warm up.

Earls's best position is the wing. He will wear the 22 shirt for the Aus game imo.

thomond2006

Ireland by less than 20

Ngwenya on the right wing, good luck Earls!

Leslie91

USA

Happy enough.

Delighted for Murray. Hope he plays well and gets the start against Oz.

Jennings will go to bench for Oz match if he performs well sunday. SOB will come into starting back row.

Trimble and Earls will swop spots for Oz match.

I guess Kearney has to be miles away in terms of being ready for the Oz game. Murphy who wasn't even in the squad 2 weeks ago looks like he could be starting against Oz now.

I'm still waiting for DOC to be found out, the guy is not putting it in for me. Leo or Ryan should start over him, he needs a massive kick in the ass, dropping him would help.

Leslie91

USA

Forgot to mention... do not like Best as our no. 1 hooker. Fla better option even if he is not up to full speed yet.

Oh and Tom Court, I call him the 'leaner' watch him. Like DOC does not put it in. Amazing that he is thought of the 3rd best prop in Ireland, says alot about both the selectors and the other props in the country.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Ireland by less than 20

Leslie91 wrote: »

Forgot to mention... do not like Best as our no. 1 hooker. Fla better option even if he is not up to full speed yet.

Oh and Tom Court, I call him the 'leaner' watch him. Like DOC does not put it in. Amazing that he is thought of the 3rd best prop in Ireland, says alot about both the selectors and the other props in the country.

He is thought of as the best guy who can prop both sides. I'd rate Horan or Hagan ahead of him on their own side. The fact that he can prop both sides means that he will be in the 22. Since he will be in the 22 for big games selectors feel that they have to start him occasionally to give him experience.

phog

GerM wrote: »

Start him in one of the 5 warm up matches? Even against Connacht's second string, he only got 25 minutes.

So you're happy enough to let Murray sit on his ass for the tournament and hope that one of the other two SHs doesnt get injured. If that's the case you guys are making then 2 SHs should have been taken to the WC and use the 30th spot for another forward or Luke.

Leslie91

USA

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

He is thought of as the best guy who can prop both sides. I'd rate Horan or Hagan ahead of him on their own side. The fact that he can prop both sides means that he will be in the 22. Since he will be in the 22 for big games selectors feel that they have to start him occasionally to give him experience.

V true. I agree with this.

Still... it's a pity he is a leaner and doesn't put it in. Sounds like he is lucky he is seen as being able to prop both sides of the scrum.

marco_polo

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ngwenya on the right wing, good luck Earls!

Fairly easy tp contain all you have to do is sheppard him towards the touchline.


Isn't that right Mr Habana?

GerM

phog wrote: »

So you're happy enough to let Murray sit on his ass for the tournament and hope that one of the other two SHs doesnt get injured. If that's the case you guys are making then 2 SHs should have been taken to the WC and use the 30th spot for another forward or Luke.

Never said that. Murray should be in the match day squad, I feel. He's got the goods I hope/think. But we'll learn very little about him from playing the USA. It's madness that we had 5 games and he didn't start a single one. We had 4 test matches. 2 players, 1 that's at home, started them. It's a waste of opportunities. We're stuck in the situation now and, if Murray goes really well on Sunday, he's in with a shot of starting but it's a genuine risk that could have been avoided before now.

Rattlehead_ie

"Im sure no one has a problem with George Hook putting his hand in and waking you up"

WOW RTE. Can't wait for that.

Keyzer

Ireland by less than 20

Can't wait for this game. Hopefully (fingers crossed) the ghosts of 2007 are gone and we go out and hockey USA off the pitch.

That said, I'm a little anxious. I really hope Ireland do themselves justice in this tournament.

Keyzer

Ireland by less than 20

RoutineBites wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Bull. Rugby is raidly growing in the states and within the next ten years they have the potential to overtake the Pacific Islands in terms of standing. Much like Japan are on the verge of doing now.

Seven members of USA World Cup Squad are currently signed to top level clubs. (AVIVA Premiership, Pro12, Super Rugby and Top 14). Mike Petri and Robbie Shaw are on trial with top clubs. (Dragons & Scarlets) One or two older players also have experience with clubs of this calibre. (Paul Emerick - Ulster & Dragons, Todd Clever - Lions and Mike MacDonald - Leeds Carnegie )

So clearly, the USA are acres ahead of the likes of Namibia and Romania. Both of which possess a squad largely composed of semi professional domestic based players.

Agreed and exactly why I am anxious for this first game...

armchaircoach

If we are taking the view that Trimble has already proved his worth in the warm up games, and that. this match is being given to Earls to show what he can do on the wing, then surely it would have been far better to have McFadden and not Trimble on the bench. He can cover most of the back line positions, and this would have given him another chance to show what he can offer.

chupacabra

Disappointed with the Earls selection. Its going to be very easy to look good against this USA side and I hope its just a case of giving him a game with an eye on Trimble to start against Australia. While I am over the moon for Murray I am baffled at his rise through the ranks.. I hope he has a magnificent game.

theboss80

Ireland by less than 20

Kidneys comments on team selection against USA

http://www.irishrugby.ie/ireland/23882.php

CatFromHue

Both the Eagles wingers are handy enough. Ngwenya plays for Biarritz and we know what he can do given any space. Paterson plays for the Highlanders in the Super 15's.

ionadnapokot

totallegend wrote: »

In terms of the Murray selection, I don't agree with it; if he tears it up against USA behind a totally dominant pack, what does that tell us? That he can play well against a sub-Celtic League team? Then again, it has to be said that Reddan has never really nailed down the jersey so f**k it, let's see how it goes and maybe this will be a stroke of genius...

Yea He Should have played against England!

trackguy

chupacabra wrote: »

Disappointed with the Earls selection. Its going to be very easy to look good against this USA side and I hope its just a case of giving him a game with an eye on Trimble to start against Australia. While I am over the moon for Murray I am baffled at his rise through the ranks.. I hope he has a magnificent game.

He wouldn't be near the team if the existing scrummies has nailed down their spots - they haven't.

Kidney is looking for a little extra from the 9 and is hoping Murray can provide, it seems.

irishbucsfan

Lineout was one of the few things that was working by the end of the warmup games and people still think the issues we had were down to Best. I suppose some people just can't comprehend it.

Flannery has always been a weaker scrummager than Best and coming back from injury that is going to be more of an issue now than ever. And so when you are forced to start a weakish scrummager at loosehead you are probably better off playing the best scrummager you can beside him, especially when they play together week-in week-out.

irishbucsfan

O'Driscoll was really talking Murray up, which is nice to see considering the two other 9s in the squad are his club team mates.

Hope he is Man of the Match and Kidney is left with a huge selection problem ahead of the Aussie game.

irishbucsfan

Ireland by less than 20

irishbucsfan wrote: »

O'Driscoll was really talking Murray up, which is nice to see considering the two other 9s in the squad are his club team mates.

Hope he is Man of the Match and Kidney is left with a huge selection problem ahead of the Aussie game.

God I'd love if all our selection problems were because of players playing their way into the team as opposed to injuries and shocking form.

Quint2010

USA

My one grip is with Trimble being dropped. Our form winger? What happens if Earls scores a hat trick against The Eagles? Our best winger will be left out against Australia

Stev_o

Ireland by less than 20

Hopefully we should get a good performance out of the team. Happy with the team. Can't wait

bamboozle

Ireland by 20-40

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Lineout was one of the few things that was working by the end of the warmup games and people still think the issues we had were down to Best. I suppose some people just can't comprehend it.

Flannery has always been a weaker scrummager than Best and coming back from injury that is going to be more of an issue now than ever. And so when you are forced to start a weakish scrummager at loosehead you are probably better off playing the best scrummager you can beside him, especially when they play together week-in week-out.

you do realise its the scrummaging powerhouse of america we're playing against this weekend & the primary role of the hooker is to throw into the lineout??

GerM

bamboozle wrote: »

you do realise its the scrummaging powerhouse of america we're playing against this weekend & the primary role of the hooker is to throw into the lineout??

The primary role of the hooker is to hook the ball at the scrum. The throwing at the line out is another aspect of his game nowadays. In the past, wingers and scrum halves have done it.

dub_skav

bamboozle wrote: »

you do realise its the scrummaging powerhouse of america we're playing against this weekend & the primary role of the hooker is to throw into the lineout??

the hooker has 2 major roles. As to which is more important, that may depend on your style of play, but there is also a clue in the name

edit: dammit

bamboozle

Ireland by 20-40

GerM wrote: »

The primary role of the hooker is to hook the ball at the scrum. The throwing at the line out is another aspect of his game nowadays. In the past, wingers and scrum halves have done it.

let me rephrase so, the most important role of the modern day hooker is to throw into the lineout. Its certainly the most technical aspect of his game and certainly the aspect which has the biggest bearing on a teams performance and which is concentrated on more in training, given that very seldom do we see a hooker fail to hook the ball in a stable scrum the act of hooking the ball backwards is not one that takes much practice at top level.

Blindside87

Best is such an underrated player. He gets through so much work at the breakdown for a hooker. He also has sweet hands...Himself and Flannery are nice to have.

irishbucsfan

bamboozle wrote: »

you do realise its the scrummaging powerhouse of america we're playing against this weekend & the primary role of the hooker is to throw into the lineout??

What is wrong with Best's throwing? His throwing was iffy for a few months after his injury, but it's been fine ever since.

Against France Best started and we won 100% of our lineouts. Flannery wasn't even that good against England.

Stop just submitting to the myth that our lineout issue was bad throwing. As soon as the jumpers and lifters sorted themselves out we've been perfect.


The difference between the two is dynamism in the loose versus solidity in the set piece. As far as I'm concerned, Hooker is the one position that is most involved with both set pieces, and so I'll take someone who is solid in both every time.

GerM

bamboozle wrote: »

the act of hooking the ball backwards is not one that takes much practice at top level.

Try is sometime! 8 guys trying to crush you as you lean forward and hook a ball backwards isn't easy. It's not massively technical but it certainly isn't the cake walk you'd think it is and is a skill in itself. A good clean strike on the ball at scrum time can be very important. Look at the scrum against England in the first half where we conceded a penalty. The ball never made it to the back of the scrum and Heaslip never came close to getting his hands on it. Three points to England. It's not just a matter of scraping the ball behind you. A good scrummaging hooker has the ball clear to the back whilst keeping his end of the bargain in terms of scrummaging and the No. 8/scrum half has it cleared before the opposition can turn the screw. It's something that has caused issues for both Ireland and Leinster in the past.