team v russia

Miller80

How many changes will ireland make for game against russia?

CatFromHue

I'd say a few.

D'arcy, POC and possibly Ross and Kearney could be out injured for a start.

It's hard to know if Kidney will rest Ferris, SOB, BOD, Reddan, and Healy.

While I'm confident of beating Italy we will need our strongest team out for them. Russia is the only chance to rest any players in the group stages.

PhatPiggins

New front row, POC rested, at least one of the backrow rested, Boss to start, possibly both centres, Murphy to start.

Whats that? About 9 changes would be my guess.

B0X

Court
Cronin
Buckley

Ryan
Cullen

Leamy
Jennings
Heaslip

Boss
O'Gara

Wallace
McFadden

Earls
Trimble

Murhpy

Or something similar.

Fizman

I'd go with something along these lines:

Buckley
Cronin
Court
Cullen
Ryan
Leamy
Jennings
Heaslip

Murray
ROG
Wallace
McFadden
Earls
Trimble
Murphy

CatFromHue

I don't think the team is announced til Friday so there will be alot of speculation this week.

bamboozle

B0X wrote: »

Court
Cronin
Buckley

Ryan
Cullen

Leamy
Jennings
Heaslip

Boss
O'Gara

Wallace
McFadden

Earls
Trimble

Murhpy

Or something similar.

i'd go with this, except maybe with Bowe to start ahead of Earls to give him an extra 80 mins to get match fit

Hype710

I don't think the likes of Healy, O' Brien, Reddan and Kearney need to be rested as this was their first start. A good win against Russia will further boost confidence within the camp before Italy.

Kearney
Bowe
Earls
McFadden
Trimble
O' Gara
Reddan
Healy
Best
Court
O' Callaghan
Cullen (C)
Leamy
Jennings
O' Brien

Cronin
Buckley
Ryan
Heaslip
Boss
Wallace
Murphy

Have Earls as 13 as he is the de facto back up to BOD, I wouldn't play him there, don't think anyone on here would, but Kidney will.

.ak

I dunno. I'd have to pick a team I know that can put a bonus point against Russia. There's a fine line between cotton-wooling your players and derailing momentum. Certain players need a run out, whilst certain players need to stay on. My 22:

1. Court
2. Cronin
3. Ross
4. DOC
5. Cullen
6. Ferris
7. Jennings
8. Leamy
9. Boss
10. Sexton
11. Trimble
12. McFadden
13. BOD
14. Bowe
15. Murphy
16. Buckley
17. Varley
18. Ryan
19. Heaslip
20. Murray
21. ROG
22. Earls

___________________

REASONING:

Front Row:
Buckley cannot scrummage and thus should not start. This is a Russian side who pride themselves on their tight 5. We cannot show up on the day presuming we'll win the scrum after last saturday. Buckley may be effective off the bench considering fatigue and fitness issues with Russia. This front row, will, in my opinion be solid and turn penalties.

Second Row:
DOC needs more game time, he's on a roll and momentum is key to this guy's form.. POC just needs some rest, simple as. Cullen needs a decent win under his belt in an Irish jersey.

Back Row:
Ferris will be needed for some go forward ball if we rest SOB. Jennings needs to show us he can turn-over ball on the grand stage, and Heaslip needs atleast 50 min on the bench to put things into perspective. Leamy to start at 8 because he needs to be match fit if he's gonna be our bench in big matches.

Halves:
Boss needs to start, and it's the perfect game to do that. By name, by nature; Boss will boss the ruck with his physicality, and won't be put off by big Russian props and flankers bashing the ruck. This is where Murray would fail in my opinion - he'll lose his head when that happens. Sexton needs to get his kicking game on. I predict a lot of penalties in this match. I can only presume his kicking is off because of the ball - surely he's striking them well in training? Is he not hitting the sweet spot at the event? If so, he needs to start, for more match practice.

Wings:
Again physicality is key. Trimble is a big fella, and if BOD needs to come off can be moved around without much issue. Bowe needs another game as he seems to be improving with more games under his belt.

Centers:
BOD is one of those types that just needs more games to stay match fit. Unfortunately that's the risk we need to take, and just hopes he doesn't commit to any mad tackles and his shoulder gets better. But I think resting him will put him out of sorts. He'll also want to be selected due to wanting to take every match in the WC by the horns. McFadden needs a game now - and at 12, not on the wing. He needs to show that when Darce is fit, he should be atleast wearing the 22 jersey.

Full Back:
Murphy also needs a decent game under his belt. He's experience with controlling the back 3 is immense. Kearney needs a rest. Altho I'm torn between benching Earls at 22 (who can cover FB if needed) or having Kearney on the bench at 22 so he can get some more game time in the last 30.

___________________

Ofcourse, this is just my 22. In Kidney's 22 we'll probably just see P. Wallace, ROG, Murray, and Buckley starting. In my opinion that could be our undoing and cracks will begin to resurface.

B0X

Hype710 wrote: »

I don't think the likes of Healy, O' Brien, Reddan and Kearney need to be rested as this was their first start. A good win against Russia will further boost confidence within the camp before Italy.

I'd have them on the bench so they can change the game in case it goes pear shaped.

GoldFour4

ROG has to start. He's kicking better in the tournament. He needs to be talked out of retirement. Give him the start.

endabob1

Hype710 wrote: »

I don't think the likes of Healy, O' Brien, Reddan and Kearney need to be rested as this was their first start. A good win against Russia will further boost confidence within the camp before Italy.

Kearney
Bowe
Earls
McFadden
Trimble
O' Gara
Reddan
Healy
Best
Court
O' Callaghan
Cullen (C)
Leamy
Jennings
O' Brien

Cronin
Buckley
Ryan
Heaslip
Boss
Wallace
Murphy

Have Earls as 13 as he is the de facto back up to BOD, I wouldn't play him there, don't think anyone on here would, but Kidney will.

I think BOD will start maybe with Earls to come off the bench when the job is done, other than that you're pretty close I reckon

We can't really risk losing momentum and those lads who missed the USA game will need game time so it should be a pretty strong one, obviously no need to risk players carrying any knocks, POC etc..

GerM

malachyscott wrote: »

ROG has to start. He's kicking better in the tournament. He needs to be talked out of retirement. Give him the start.

I would certainly start ROG but under no circumstances should he be handed a start on the basis that he's talking about retirement.

laugh

ROG is kicking better but a fly-half is more than a kicker, Sexton requires no protection by back row forwards. I don't think the changes will be as drastic as predicted here, they will want continuity.

phog

laugh wrote: »

ROG is kicking better but a fly-half is more than a kicker, Sexton requires no protection by back row forwards. I don't think the changes will be as drastic as predicted here, they will want continuity.

ROG has clearly shown he can play behind any set of forwards and any scrum half, it looks like Sexton can only play a game he's comfortable with if Reddan is his SH

bamboozle

phog wrote: »

ROG has clearly shown he can play behind any set of forwards and any scrum half, it looks like Sexton can only play a game he's comfortable with if Reddan is his SH

lets not turn this into a ROG v Sexton debate, you'd swear ROG had a stormer against England last month. We're lucky to have both, ROG to start v Russia and probably Sexton v Italy as we'll probably want to move the italian pack around the paddock a bit.

irishbucsfan

I would certainly start ROG against Russia to give Sexton the break. Then back to our first team against Italy with Reddan and Sexton.

I'd select

Court
Best
Buckley
O'Callaghan
Cullen
Leamy
Jennings
Heaslip
Boss
O'Gara
Earls
Wallace
McFadden
Trimble
Murphy

Varley
Healy
Ryan
O'Brien
Murray
Sexton
Kearney

wixfjord

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I would certainly start ROG against Russia to give Sexton the break. Then back to our first team against Italy with Reddan and Sexton.

I'd select

Court
Best
Buckley
O'Callaghan
Cullen
Leamy
Jennings
Heaslip
Boss
O'Gara
Earls
Wallace
McFadden
Trimble
Murphy

Varley
Healy
Ryan
O'Brien
Murray
Sexton
Kearney

I'd have Varley above Best, Ryan above DOC, and perhaps start Kearney at FB with Murphy on the wing.

marco_polo

The Italians are making twelve changes from their team that played Australia for the Russian game and still appear fairly confident of taking a BP (The pack still looks solid having said all that, with Parisse, Bergamasco and Bortalami included), I don't see any realy reason why we shouldn't be doing likewise as from now on in there will be no rest opportunities, especially as Russia have only a five day turnaround between tommorrow and Sunday.

To be perfectly honest I really don't think a facile win with a near fully strength team will have much bearing on continuity or momentum for the business end of things.

ambid

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I would certainly start ROG against Russia to give Sexton the break. Then back to our first team against Italy with Reddan and Sexton.

I'd select

Court
Best
Buckley
O'Callaghan
Cullen
Leamy
Jennings
Heaslip
Boss
O'Gara
Earls
Wallace
McFadden
Trimble
Murphy

Varley
Healy
Ryan
O'Brien
Murray
Sexton
Kearney

I like this. Lots of changes is good to give guys a rest after such a tough match vs. Australia. Still though I'd like to see Best, Cullen & Heaslip in the pack for experience & leadership, and suspect Ryan will and should get a start too.

I think BOD will not start. He seems to be carrying an injury so 2 weeks without a game might be what he needs. Ferris probably needs a break too after carrying Genia around the place.

He's not the most poopular on here but I'd also like to see Wallace start. This is his, what, third world cup? He's only had a few minutes so deserves to start. Same with Boss.

Kearney, POC, Darcy are out with injuries I think.

I think Best is having an excellent tournament. (Randon thought which I couldn't fit into this post, but there you go.)

GerM

Posted on LF by poster who has had the inside track in the past ahead of time:

TEAM v Russia

15: Murphy
14: Trimble
13: Earls
12: Mc Fadden
11: Kearney
10: Wallace
9: Boss

1: Court
2: Cronin
3: Buckley
4: Cullen (c)
5: Ryan
6: Ferris
7: Jennings
8: Leamy

16: Varley
17: Ross
18: O'Callaghan
19: Heaslip/O'Brien
20: Murray
21: O'Gara
22: Bowe

Sport101

Ferris?? Seriously, that seems crazy, why risk him. His leg will never heal so its just a matter of rugby minutes until he's injured again. Back into the cryogenic freezer Mr Ferris.

Thanos

GerM wrote: »

Posted on LF by poster who has had the inside track in the past ahead of time:

TEAM v Russia

15: Murphy
14: Trimble
13: Earls
12: Mc Fadden
11: Kearney
10: Wallace
9: Boss

1: Court
2: Cronin
3: Buckley
4: Cullen (c)
5: Ryan
6: Ferris
7: Jennings
8: Leamy

16: Varley
17: Ross
18: O'Callaghan
19: Heaslip/O'Brien
20: Murray
21: O'Gara
22: Bowe

Really Earls at 13 again!!! I thought we had stopped with that idea.
Also Ferris starting :eek:
Rest seems fine

irishbucsfan

That front row could be a disaster. It's bad when you're in a position where Tom Court is your best scrummager. Don't know anything about the Russian scrum though tbh.

No problem with the rest of it. Earls at 13 is not as big a risk as it was against England, I don't know much about Andrei Kuzin, but I'd imagine he's not as good as Manu! I think Wallace could really have a good game, although I expect him to miss at least 5 kicks, with the way this world cup has gone for kickers so far !

Ferris, Jennings, Leamy should absolutely dominate the break down. Boss and Wallace will have plenty of possession to work with.

I do hope that's the team.

wixfjord

They've hardly picked the team for this already?

GerM

wixfjord wrote: »

They've hardly picked the team for this already?

Not a clue. Personally, I'd be surprised to see a team as weak. My post should come with a disclaimer. The poster knew the WC squad as well as the HEC fixture list before they were announced though.

EDIT: The other reliable poster on LF with inside information is confirming Wallace is starting anyway.

irishbucsfan

wixfjord wrote: »

They've hardly picked the team for this already?

I know that the players knew the selection for the USA game on the Monday morning before it, because they were texting home about it.

I wouldn't be too surprised. They will need to have all these guys training as starters all week, and given the players are back in training today/tomorrow they will probably be told the team quite early in comparison to last week.

totallegend

irishbucsfan wrote: »

That front row could be a disaster. It's bad when you're in a position where Tom Court is your best scrummager. Don't know anything about the Russian scrum though tbh.

In fairness, we should be able to get a BP from Russia with O'Gara in the front row, and if Healy or Ross get injured, our World Cup is in serious trouble so we should wrap them in cotton wool and get 80 minutes out of Buckley and Court.

I cannot believe that Kidney would play Ferris again; every time he went into a tackle against Australia I was holding my breath to see if he'd get back up. Leamy and Jennings need a run and Heaslip could do with building a bit of momentum.

Court
Cronin
Buckley
Cullen
Ryan
Leamy
Jennings
Heaslip
Murray
ROG
Trimble
Wallace
McFadden
Murphy
Kearney

Bench: Varley, Ross, DOC, SOB, Boss, Sexton, Earls

Kearney could use a bit more game time

marco_polo

No problems with that team, gets everyone in the squad some game time, rests nearly all of our keys players and should be comfortably good enough to dispatch the Russians.

Good to see Kearney in there as he would benefit from extra game time (for fitness not performance reasons). Would have Heaslip in there instead of Ferris but that is about the only quibble.

marco_polo

irishbucsfan wrote: »

That front row could be a disaster. It's bad when you're in a position where Tom Court is your best scrummager. Don't know anything about the Russian scrum though tbh.

Both set pieces were dominated by the US last time out, so its fair to say not very good at all.

thebaz

I would expect kidney, in interest of morale and impetus, will select all players not picked on sat - give everybody a bit of game time - feal part of the squad - and lay down a marker for places, when injuries occur , for hopefully a long campaign - a second string team , would really let fly, to lay claims for positions, and keep the jersey fresh, for more difficult encounters

tolosenc

My knowledge of the Russian team aside from Artemyev is zero. However, my knowledge of Eastern Europeans suggests that their big guys are absolutely massive. Buckley would get minced by J4s, and Ferris is way too injury prone to face up to that. Earls at 13 shouldn't even be tried against a tier 3 side. Would give Sexton a go to try and sort out his kicking, and to try him out at 12 towards the end of the game. Dislike that Varley seems to have leapfrogged Cronin. Again, it's just speculation for now.

marco_polo

tolosenc wrote: »

My knowledge of the Russian team aside from Artemyev is zero. However, my knowledge of Eastern Europeans suggests that their big guys are absolutely massive. Buckley would get minced by J4s, and Ferris is way too injury prone to face up to that. Earls at 13 shouldn't even be tried against a tier 3 side. Would give Sexton a go to try and sort out his kicking, and to try him out at 12 towards the end of the game. Dislike that Varley seems to have leapfrogged Cronin. Again, it's just speculation for now.

Exaggerate much? Buckley can scrummage just fine at for the most part at fairly average ML level which judging on the basis of the US game is probably a step above the level of where this Russian scrum is at. Likewise Earls has played fairly adequately at HEC level in the 13 jersey previously, to suggest they aren't capable of doing a job against Russia is silly.

Also Cronin is starting on the leaked team?

astonaidan

Personally I think the Russia scrum isnt as good as people thought, Look what the states did to them.

My team for the Russia game would be:

1. Court
2. Cronin
3. Buckley
4. Cullen
5. Ryan
6. Leamy
7. Jennings
8. SOB
9. Murray
10. ROG
11. Trimble
12. Wallace
13. McFadden
14. Bowe
15. Kearney
16. Varley
17. Healy
18. DOC
19. Heaslip
20. Boss
21. Sexton
22. Earls

padser

Assuming that leaked team is correct I really like it.

The guys who are second choice are easily good enough to beat Russia and they will be far more motivated than the first choice players who (as we saw in USA game) may find it difficult to get motivated with a big game the next week.

To be honest I think Leamy, McFadden, Jennings, Cronin, Cullen etc will be chomping at the bit to show what they can do. SOB, Healy etc will be trying to make sure they don't injure themselves.

Please please please just put Ferris in some kind of sweeper role behind all the action though......

.ak

P. Wallace to start? Ahead of ROG? I think that'll make ROG feel all nice n' warm inside...

Defo agree Ferris could get injured here, but in reality if Jennings and Leamy start we'll have no go-forward ball without Ferris.. Can't cotton-wool him forever.

.ak

Also, any reason why they're not announcing til Friday when every other game we've had we announced on the Monday?

irishbucsfan

.ak wrote: »

Also, any reason why they're not announcing til Friday when every other game we've had we announced on the Monday?

No they didn't

It's been late in the week every week.

tolosenc

marco_polo wrote: »

Also Cronin is starting on the leaked team?

I read that as Best!

I stand by the rest. Earls has always been below average at 13, and Buckley is in the sh!t if they can scrummage.

marco_polo

tolosenc wrote: »

I read that as Best!

I stand by the rest. Earls has always been below average at 13, and Buckley is in the sh!t if they can scrummage.

Don't particularly disagree, but unless they are hiding an entire front row somewhere TB will be fine from what I've seen

TheHighRoad

Is ROG being punished? He hasn't had much game time and Wallace is third choice back up, it really doesn't make sense not to start him.

Former Great

TheHighRoad wrote: »

Is ROG being punished? He hasn't had much game time and Wallace is third choice back up, it really doesn't make sense not to start him.

Wull quade cooper play v USA???

TheHighRoad

Former Great wrote: »

Wull quade cooper play v USA???

No because hes their first choice outhalf....

bamboozle

the leaked team is a bit odd i'd have thought, surely if playing kearney they'd want him at 15, Ferris i'd have thought would be top priority to wrap up in cooton wool. Earls at 13? surely this experiment has shown it doesnt work.

bottom line is most of the front line players need to be rested this weekend, there's gonna be 3 tough weekends of rugby thereafter and we need the frontliners fresh and fit.

Otacon

I think this morning's display from Russia shows that our second string should have no issues getting a bonus point against them.

Slowfiction

Hey! Someone got a link for this game?

funky penguin

http://www.nj43.com/channels/live-rugby

Quint2010

I think and hope we will see something like:

Murphy
Bowe
McFadden
Wallace
Trimble
ROG
Murray
Court
Cronin
Buckley
Cullen
DOC
Ferris
Jennings
Leamy

Earls Sexton Boss Healy Ryan SOB Best

I dont really care as long as we win by a point and we rest all our important players but have a few stars on the bench just in case things go pear shaped

Thanos

Quint2010 wrote: »

I think and hope we will see something like:

Murphy
Bowe
McFadden
Wallace
Trimble
ROG
Murray
Court
Cronin
Buckley
Cullen
DOC
Ferris
Jennings
Leamy

Earls Sexton Boss Healy Ryan SOB Best

I dont really care as long as we win by a point and we rest all our important players but have a few stars on the bench just in case things go pear shaped

Think Ferris is an important player, and with his knee, we probably should not risk him for this match. The Italy match is now the big, must win one.
Think the rest is fine, Bowe could do with another bit of game time (60 mins) and would only play DOC for half a game. (both assuming things are going are way)

Quint2010

Thanos wrote: »

Think Ferris is an important player, and with his knee, we probably should not risk him for this match. The Italy match is now the big, must win one.
Think the rest is fine, Bowe could do with another bit of game time (60 mins) and would only play DOC for half a game. (both assuming things are going are way)

I would just like to see some of the first teamers start just in case. Maybe Heaslip in order for him to sharpen his game up-Leamy Jennings Heaslip in the back row?

onlyrocknroll

I don't think we're going to see a second string side after all. At least according to Paul McNaughton.

“Yes we could (make 13 changes), but we won’t,” said the Irish team manager. “You saw the USA game. We will prepare properly, we won’t make that many changes and will take the game extremely seriously and win that, and get it over with, and then move on to Italy."

Also Keith Earls spoke about using the Russian match to hone the back play, something badly needed if we want to continue to do well. I don't think we'll see a dramatically changed back line.

I think we'll see the forwards who haven't got game time start. Probably ROG to start, Trimble and Mcfadden to play, and Wallace get twenty minutes at 10