England Saxons vs Ireland Wolfhounds, Sat 28 January 4:30pm; Live on Sky Sports

thomond2006

England Saxons squad:

Backs: Nick Abendanon (Bath), Delon Armitage (London Irish), Matt Banahan (Bath), Freddie Burns (Gloucester), Matt Hopper (Harlequins), Paul Hodgson (London Irish), Ryan Lamb (Northampton Saints), Jonny May (Gloucester), Ugo Monye (Harlequins), Billy Twelvetrees (Leicester Tigers)Micky Young (Leicester Tigers).

Forwards: Chris Brooker (Harlequins), Paul Doran-Jones (Northampton Saints), Matt Garvey (London Irish), James Gaskell (Sale Sharks), Joe Gray (Harlequins), Rupert Harden (Gloucester), Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs), Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors), Kearnan Myall (Sale Sharks), George Robson (Harlequins), Andy Saull (Saracens), Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers), Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers), Nick Wood (Gloucester).

The England lineup could be:
Wood, Gray, Doran-Jones, Robson, Myall, Gaskell, Saull, Narraway;
Young, Lamb, Monye, Twelvetrees, Hopper, Banahan, Armitage

---

O2 IRELAND WOLFHOUNDS Squad (v England Saxons):
Stephen Archer (Cork Constitution/Munster), Brett Wilkinson (Galwegians/Connacht), Ronan Loughney (Galwegians/Connacht)

Mike Sherry (Garryowen/Munster), Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster)

Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster), Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht)

Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster), Kevin McLaughlin (St. Mary's College/Leinster), John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht), Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary's College/Leinster)

Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster), Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster)

Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster), Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)

Eoin O'Malley (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch/Ulster)

Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster), David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster), Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht), Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)

I'd like to see:
Wilkinson, Varley, Archer, McCarthy, Tuohy, Ruddock, Henry, Muldoon;
Boss, Madigan, Zebo, Spence, O'Malley, Kearney, Hurley

Bench: Sherry, Loughney, Toner, McLaughlin, TOL, Keatley, Duffy

Tox56

Good team that, can't wait to see how they get on.

Anyone know when the team is announced?

Hype710

Keatley at 10 for me, Madigan needs a better kicking game to progress to the next level.

jacothelad

I'd be very worried for the front row.

PhatPiggins

jacothelad wrote: »

I'd be very worried for the front row.

Snap, that was my first reaction too.

phog

I think Archer needs more PRO12 and H/C gametime before been started for the Woulfhounds and as said above I think Madigan needs to be kicking for Leinster before he starts for us.

irishbucsfan

I'd imagine well see a team today or tomorrow. Maybe it'll be later than usual.

Id like to see Madigan play, I think he's better, and I'd prefer to see a 10 who will give the rest of the backline the best chance. Surely the performance is more important than the result. But his kicking is a question mark.

Wilkinson, Varley, Archer, Tuohy, Toner, McLaughlin, Henry, Muldoon/Ruddock, Boss, Madigan, Zebo, Spence, OMalley, Hurley, Duffy

Is what id like to see.

Madigan's kicking is almost irrelevant, he's behind Sexton, Nacewa and McFadden, all >80% kickers this season.

If he kicks 79% and Nacewa kicks 80%, then Nacewa gets picked as first kicker, it's that simple.

Keatley has been less than impressive this season, along with Carr and Hagan, they're not shining when outside of the green of Connacht.

fitz

irishbucsfan wrote: »

I'd imagine well see a team today or tomorrow. Maybe it'll be later than usual.

Id like to see Madigan play, I think he's better, and I'd prefer to see a 10 who will give the rest of the backline the best chance. Surely the performance is more important than the result. But his kicking is a question mark.

Wilkinson, Varley, Archer, Tuohy, Toner, McLaughlin, Henry, Muldoon/Ruddock, Boss, Madigan, Zebo, Spence, OMalley, Hurley, Duffy

Is what id like to see.

I'd mostly go along with that team.
I'd have Kearney ahead of Hurley, but the bench should be used liberally in this game, so regardless of who starts, they should both get a decent run out. Same for the Muldoon/Ruddock selection.

phog

Deleted User wrote: »

Madigan's kicking is almost irrelevant, he's behind Sexton, Nacewa and McFadden, all >80% kickers this season.

If he kicks 79% and Nacewa kicks 80%, then Nacewa gets picked as first kicker, it's that simple.

Keatley has been less than impressive this season, along with Carr and Hagan, they're not shining when outside of the green of Connacht.

I agree with you for Leinster that his kicking is irrelevant but surely for his own development he needs to kick? McFadden and Nacewa may not always be available to kick for him.

irishbucsfan

Corey Wonderful Windbreak wrote: »

If he kicks 79% and Nacewa kicks 80%, then Nacewa gets picked as first kicker, it's that simple.

That's not the only reason he isn't kicking. Or else a 97% McFadden would have been ahead of a <90% Sexton.

I agree though that his kicking is irrelevant at this stage. Leinster have done the smart thing and let him concentrate on playing 10 first, which he hasn't even become fully comfortable with yet. This is understandably quite confusing though for people who see letters that spell O-U-T H-A-L-F and read kicker.

d-gal

This game is all about making the 6 nations squad so tuohy, mccarthy, muldoon, Henry and omalley are the main lads to look out for. The likes of archer, toner, kev, ruddock, keatley, madigan and the back 3 will be ovrlooked I think due to either not making the starting 15 for their province enough or due to depth in that position.
Going to be a great game.

totallegend

Hype710 wrote: »

Keatley at 10 for me, Madigan needs a better kicking game to progress to the next level.

Have you seen Keatley's goal-kicking lately? It's been atrocious. Can someone remind me of the game where he came on late on, Munster got a try and Keatley's conversion ended up at the corner flag? And the less said about his kicking against Connacht on Stephen's Day the better.

FWIW, I'd pick:
Wilkinson, Varley, Loughney
Toner, Tuohy
Henry, Ruddock, Muldoon
Boss, Madigan
Spence, O'Malley
Zebo, Kearney, Duffy

Not a bad side but as someone else mentioned, it's a front row that has plenty of mobility but could get minced in the scrum.

I was disappointed to see Gilroy "promoted" to the senior squad, I think he'd have been better served getting a run against the Saxons.

Podge_irl

Gilroy wasn't in the WH squad originally. He's behind Zebo and Hurley for some reason.

I'd like to see Madigan start. It's irrelevant that he doesn't kick for Leinster as he can and will for the WH.

phog

irishbucsfan wrote: »

That's not the only reason he isn't kicking. Or else a 97% McFadden would have been ahead of a <90% Sexton.

I agree though that his kicking is irrelevant at this stage. Leinster have done the smart thing and let him concentrate on playing 10 first, which he hasn't even become fully comfortable with yet. This is understandably quite confusing though for people who see letters that spell O-U-T H-A-L-F and read kicker.

In the team that thomnd2006 posted as the team he'd like to see who would kick if the O-U-T H-A-L-F was Madigan? That was why I raised the question about his kicking.

Tox56

Madigan can kick, he just doesn't. Keatley's kicking hasn't been great, but as mentioned above, I would be more interested in the performance than the result.

Madigan should be able to kick to a good enough level, he said himself he wants to start to take the kicks at Leinster, so I think he should start, he can really get the backline moving.

Hype710

My point was not about goal kicking but rather about tactical kicking. Madigan has a beautiful passing game but he has been playing behind dominant Leinster packs whereas Keatley has three years of playing behind a beaten Connacht pack and has shown a more rounded game thus far. With the front row likely to struggle, I think the management will go for Keatley.

Podge_irl

phog wrote: »

In the team that thomnd2006 posted as the team he'd like to see who would kick if the O-U-T H-A-L-F was Madigan?

Madigan.

Tox56

Hype710 wrote: »

My point was not about goal kicking but rather about tactical kicking. Madigan has a beautiful passing game but he has been playing behind dominant Leinster packs whereas Keatley has three years of playing behind a beaten Connacht pack and has shown a more rounded game thus far. With the front row likely to struggle, I think the management will go for Keatley.

I actually thought Madigan's kicking out of hand isn't bad at all. In the wind in the RDS on Saturday he weighted the up-and-unders very well, and when he has kicked tactically, he's been pretty good.

May not necessarily be as good as Keatley (Admit I haven't seen a lot of him), but it's not that poor.

wp_rathead

thomond2006 wrote: »

[

I'd like to see:
Wilkinson, Varley, Archer, McCarthy, Tuohy, Ruddock, Henry, Muldoon;
Boss, Madigan, Zebo, Spence, O'Malley, Kearney, Hurley Duffy

Bench: Sherry, Loughney, Toner, McLaughlin, TOL, Keatley, Duffy Hurley

fixed;)

leonard7

England

this will be the most interesting wolfhounds game in some time...there seems to be strength and depth in the saxons team yet european results would tell us this should be an irish victory...looking forward to some of the boys stepping up and kidney wiping the egg off his face afterwards!

Mr.Applepie

Podge_irl wrote: »

Gilroy wasn't in the WH squad originally. He's behind Zebo and Hurley for some reason.

Not enough Munster caps.

I like to see Madigan start as he seems to have the most potential.

The front row looks weak but we look strong everywhere else

danthefan

Don't care

Keatley will almost certainly start ahead of Madigan. He's been in Kidney's squads before.

vinny chase

Don't care

As the squad is so small, there really are only a handful of judgement calls to be made;

Archer v Loughney for the TH shirt- I think Loughney deserves this.

SH-Isaac Boss v Tomas O'Leary-I'd have Boss hands down here.

OH-Madigan v Keatley- Think Madigan is far more talented

FB-Duffy v Hurley-I'd wouldn't have selected either of these for the squad, as I think Irish rugby would have more to gain by blooding Gilroy or O'Halloran here, but between these two I'd give Hurley the chance.

padraig.od

Podge_irl wrote: »

Gilroy wasn't in the WH squad originally. He's behind Zebo and Hurley for some reason.

I'd like to see Madigan start. It's irrelevant that he doesn't kick for Leinster as he can and will for the WH.

1. He's not a Heineken Cup winning fullback like Hurley, Gilroy doesn't (never?) play fullback for Ulster. In fact Ulster signed a 36 year old to play fullback ahead of Gilroy. Hurley has shown good form this season and has an excellent off loading game. If you're desperate to have a pop off Kidney & the rest of the Irish management make a case on which wingers Gilroy should be ahead off in the WH squad, not Dennis Hurley.

2. I don't know why Gilroy is behind Zebo.

thomond2006

England

England Saxons:
15 Delon Armitage, 14 Ugo Monye, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Andy Saull, 6 James Gaskell, 5 George Robson, 4 Matt Garvey, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Matt Mullan.

Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 Rupert Harden, 18 Kearnan Myall, 19 Tom Johnson, 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Ryan Lamb, 22 Jonny May.

irishbucsfan

Ooh interesting team. Inexperienced half backs!

Not desperately scared of their scrum tbh, I think they'll be stronger there but not dominant.

10-12 axis going to be very unpredictable

Hype710

Leaving out Jonny May is criminal. He is absolutely lightning

thomond2006

England

Hype710 wrote: »

Leaving out Jonny May is criminal. He is absolutely lightning

From what I've read, he unfortunately has the dreaded 'utility back' tag.

totallegend

thomond2006 wrote: »

From what I've read, he unfortunately has the dreaded 'utility back' tag.

Yeah but he's young, plenty of time to establish himself. Utility or not, I would still pick him over Monye, Banahan or that plonker Armitage, all of whom have had plenty of chances at senior national level so there is questionable value in having them in the Saxons team.

I like the look of that Hopper guy and Twelvetrees is better at 12 than at 10, so not a bad selection.

CatFromHue

When is the Irish team out does anyone know?

.ak

Is Goode not in the squad?

.ak

... or Browne?

thomond2006

England

Some of the Saxons squad members may be called up to the seniors.

swim2

Chris Henry
Chris Henry will captain the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds against the England Saxons on Saturday

Ulster Back row Chris Henry will lead the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds in their game against the England Saxons this Saturday in Exeter. The side shows a balance between youth and experience, with nine of the match day 22 uncapped at senior level.
Gavin Duffy will be the man with that experience in the back three, with both David Kearney and Simon Zebo starting on the wings. Nevin Spence and Eoin O'Malley will form a new centre partnership at this level outside a half back partnership of Ian Keatley and Isaac Boss.

In the forwards, Damien Varley starts at hooker and beside him experienced Connacht loose head prop Brett Wilkinson packs down with Stephen Archer, who has recently broken into the Munster match squad and been part of his provinces Heineken Cup run.

Dan Tuohy wins his third cap at this level and partners Mike McCarthy in the second row. John Muldoon the most experienced player in the squad at this level with 10 Wolfhounds caps to his credit forms a back row with Captain Chris Henry at open side and Rhys Ruddock starting at No.8 to win his first cap for the Wolfhounds.

O2 Ireland Wolfhounds Coach Eric Elwood was looking forward to the game and the challenge of playing a Saxons team that is packed full of premiership and European experience. "The games against the Saxons are always highly competitive affairs as you would expect and results have tended to go with the home side, but I think we have a good mix in our side and the key message is that we have to match them on all fronts, especially in the physical stakes, to come away with a win.

"Eoin (O'Malley) and Nevin have done well over the last couple of days as a pairing and I am looking forward to see how both Simon (Zebo) and David Kearney travel on the wings after a good couple of weeks for them with their provinces.

"We have a touch more experience in our pack, which I think will be important for this game and good spine through it with Dan (Tuohy) and Mike (McCarthy) giving us some really good ability across the set piece and in the carrying stakes to compliment a back row that I think can make a good impression.

"I would expect a really good atmosphere for the game and I know the players are looking forward to it."

The match can be seen live on Sky Sports.

O2 Ireland Wolfhounds Team & Replacements ( v England Saxons,Sandy Park, Exeter, Saturday, 28th January 2012, K.O. 5.00pm):

15 - Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)
14 - David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster) *
13 - Eoin O'Malley (Old Belvedere/Leinster) *
12 - Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch/Ulster) *
11 - Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)*
10 - Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster)
9 - Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster)
1 - Brett Wilkinson (Galwegians/Connacht)*
2 - Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster)
3 - Stephen Archer (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
4 - Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster)
5 - Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht)
6 - John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht)
7 - Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster) Captain
8 - Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary's College/Leinster)

Replacements:
16 - Mike Sherry (Garryowen/Munster)*
17 - Ronan Loughney (Galwegians/Connacht)*
18 - Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
19 - Kevin McLaughlin (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
20 - Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
21 - Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)*
22 - Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)

*Denotes Uncapped at full international level

Tox56

Surprised about Madigan. I thought he looked more impressive than Keatley this season.

.ak

Yeah only thing I'm not 100% with is Keatley of Mads... still, Keatley's put in some serious impressive games and I think he'll get the team into the right end of the pitch.

Seriously good team sheet tho. It'll either work nicely, or fail miserably... But some serious form in there. Gutted I'm gonna miss it, must try and record it!

totallegend

Is it not a massive stretch of the truth to say that Archer has been part of Munster's Heineken Cup run?? I would have liked to have seen Loughney picked but so long as it's a young prop getting game time, it's all good either way.

Surprised at Keatley's inclusion over Madigan; both have got limited opportunities but I would have thought Madigan had shown a lot more in the game time he did get.

Other than that, no real surprises, bring it on.

irishbucsfan

Elwood being coach would have helped people like McCarthy, Muldoon and Keatley make the team.

profitius

O'Malley and Archer will be the 2 players I'll be watching most. Them and the 2 second rows.

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Elwood being coach would have helped people like McCarthy, Muldoon and Keatley make the team.

So that explains why Hagan and Carr are not in it!

irishbucsfan

profitius wrote: »

O'Malley and Archer will be the 2 players I'll be watching most. Them and the 2 second rows.

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Elwood being coach would have helped people like McCarthy, Muldoon and Keatley make the team.

So that explains why Hagan and Carr are not in it!

That's a good point, but id wonder if Elwood might be given the squad squad to work with.

Moflojo

England

totallegend wrote: »

Surprised at Keatley's inclusion over Madigan; both have got limited opportunities but I would have thought Madigan had shown a lot more in the game time he did get.

Madigan just seems to get more hype and attention when he plays. Dare I say it, but I think Keatley possesses more of an all-round game than Madigan at the moment!

And so it begins...

Podge_irl

Moflojo wrote: »

Madigan just seems to get more hype and attention when he plays.

Possibly due in some small part to the 120 minutes of HEC rugby he has as opposed to Keatly's 8. Still though, it's much of a muchness between them.

vinny chase

Don't care

Moflojo wrote: »

Madigan just seems to get more hype and attention when he plays. Dare I say it, but I think Keatley possesses more of an all-round game than Madigan at the moment!

And so it begins...

Madigan is a better player.

Simple as that.

I'd have had Denis Hurley ahead of Duffy at full back, and Ronan Loughney ahead of Stephen Archer too. Other than that, the team picked itself.

porterbelly

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Elwood being coach would have helped people like McCarthy, Muldoon and Keatley make the team.

Muldoon and McCarthy are there on merit, nothing to do with Elwood.

Kidney picks the Wolfhounds squad as well so nothing to do with Elwood excluding Carr and Hagan

To be honest it would be a disgrace if Carr got in seeing as he's probably 6th choice winger in Leinster. Hagan is 3rd choice tighthead as well so may be that's the reason he isn't picked

siltirocker

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Elwood being coach would have helped people like McCarthy, Muldoon and Keatley make the team.

Or because they are better players than Devin Toner & Kevin McLaughlin maybe?

Tox56

siltirocker wrote: »

Or because they are better players than Devin Toner & Kevin McLaughlin maybe?

Toner and McCarthy at the moment definitely, but McLaughlin and Muldoon is a much closer call.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Moflojo wrote: »

Madigan just seems to get more hype and attention when he plays. Dare I say it, but I think Keatley possesses more of an all-round game than Madigan at the moment!

Both players should have exactly the same amount of hype since they have scored exactly the same amount of tries in their senior professional career

CIARAN_BOYLE

Tox56 wrote: »

Toner and McCarthy at the moment definitely, but McLaughlin and Muldoon is a much closer call.

Who says McLaughlin is 100% fit. He hasn't play for Leinster since the 7th of January.

I'd have swapped Ruddock and Muldoon, and Keatley and Madigan.

Tox56

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Who says McLaughlin is 100% fit. He hasn't play for Leinster since the 7th of January.

I'd have swapped Ruddock and Muldoon, and Keatley and Madigan.

That what I thought the most likely reason was, but the assertion in the post above was that Muldoon was the better player.