Ireland - France Your 15

decisions

We have nothing to loose at this point so we may as well start experimenting, not that I expect it to happen. I wouldn't be too surprised if almost the same team started next week.

So who would you like to see start next week?

My 15 would be something like this:

EDIT: Original Team I posted was a little bit of a knee jerk to our loss so a few changes have been made.

15. R. Kearney
14. D. Kearney Bowe
13. O'Malley
12. McFadden
11. Zebo D. Kearney
10. Sexton
9. Murray
1. Healy
2. Cronin
3. Ross
4. Ryan
5. POC capt.
6. Ferris
7. O'Brien PO'M
8. Heaslip

With an experienced bench.

freyners

well there is a team sure to be killed

what did bowe best or trimble do today to be dropped?

decisions

freyners wrote: »

well there is a team sure to be killed

what did bowe best or trimble do today to be dropped?

They did nothing wrong I would just like to see something different, and I have a feeling we are going to be killed anyway.

TBH even just a different centre partnership I would be happy with.

Who would you start?

Hagz

1. Healy
2. Best
3. Ross
4. Ryan
5. O'Connell
6. Ferris
7. O'Mahony
8. Heaslip
9. Reddan
10. Sexton
11. Trimble
12. McFadden
13. O'Malley
14. Bowe
15. Kearney

16. Cronin
17. Court
18. Tuohy
19. O'Brien
20. Murray
21. O'Gara
22. Earls

Tigerandahalf

I get the feeling that after today OMalleys chances of playing have been cut short. He is too small and unless he starts setting the world on fire with his pace and step it would be very hard for him to compete against backline like France or Wales. Not surprising we missed BOD today. When absent b4 we always showed up poor.
I think it is time to try Ferris in the 2nd row. Maybe POM to 7 and SOB to 6 with Heaslip to 8. Thought Heaslip had best game in ages today. He is lucky as he could be dropped. Darcy is no longer an option at 12. He offers nothing that you really need. Id bring Downey in and Bowe to 13 or Earls.
Tbh though lads Im not sure if any changes will make a difference with the current gameplan. Wales have a good physical backline but they got nowhere against an equally big French backline.

Tox56

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

I get the feeling that after today OMalleys chances of playing have been cut short. He is too small and unless he starts setting the world on fire with his pace and step it would be very hard for him to compete against backline like France or Wales. Not surprising we missed BOD today. When absent b4 we always showed up poor.
I think it is time to try Ferris in the 2nd row. Maybe POM to 7 and SOB to 6 with Heaslip to 8. Thought Heaslip had best game in ages today. He is lucky as he could be dropped. Darcy is no longer an option at 12. He offers nothing that you really need. Id bring Downey in and Bowe to 13 or Earls.
Tbh though lads Im not sure if any changes will make a difference with the current gameplan. Wales have a good physical backline but they got nowhere against an equally big French backline.

Knees.

freyners

decisions wrote: »

They did nothing wrong I would just like to see something different, and I have a feeling we are going to be killed anyway.

TBH even just a different centre partnership I would be happy with.

Who would you start?

There is nothing more damaging that getting killed in your first game and while kearney and zebo are talented, they would be slaughtered v france away from home. There is developing a team and then there is damaging a player confidence by throwing them in the deep end in the toughest game in the six nations.

ditto that for EOM, who shoudl start a game this year but not france away, if we wanted to play him for it he should have been in the 22 today

I would like to see this (presuming, hopefully, that the baby recovers and earls is available

healy
best
ross
ryan
poc
ferris
SOB
heaslip
murray
sexton
trimble
darcy
mcfadden
bowe
kearney

with earls on the bench

however this is kidney so that wont happen

what we really need is a new coach. Kidney has been good, got a GS and will be remembered for that. but his gameplan is stale in my view and he doesnt make the best use of whats available

short term i would like to see schmidt being asked to coach the backs for this tournament.

Tigerandahalf

His knees have held up plenty well since. He has played more games in a row than in a long time. POM could always be used at 2 in the lineout.

B0X

1. Healy
2. Best
3. Ross
   
4. Ryan
5. POC
   
6. Ferris
7. O'Brien
8. Heaslip
   
9. Reddan
10. Sexton
    
11. Earls
12. McFadden
13. Bowe
14. Trimble
15. Kearney

I feel the biggest changes that need to be made are Ryan for DOC, he's just plain better, and Reddan for Murray, we need quick ball which Murray just isn't providing.

I think we should try McFadden / Bowe in the centre, McFadden wasn't great at 13 today, we all know he's a 12, and I think Earls is a much better winger.

Redsock

freyners wrote: »

well there is a team sure to be killed

what did bowe best or trimble do today to be dropped?

Born in ulster. The 3 of them played well.

cgpg5

1. Healy
2. Best
3. Ross
4. RYAN
5. Poc
6. Ferris
7. O'Mahony
8. Sob
9. Murray
10. Rog
11. Earls
12. McFadden
13. Bowe
14. Trimble
15. Kearney

Tigerandahalf

decisions wrote: »

We have nothing to loose at this point so we may as well start experimenting, not that I expect it to happen. I wouldn't be too surprised if almost the same team started next week.

So who would you like to see start next week?

My 15 would be something like this:

15. R. Kearney
14. D. Kearney
13. O'Malley
12. McFadden
11. Zebo
10. Sexton
9. Murray
1. Healy
2. Cronin
3. Ross
4. Ryan
5. POC capt.
6. Ferris
7. O'Brien
8. Heaslip

With an experienced bench.

Id go along with that team. I thought McFadden did ok today but he is a 12 not a 13.
Im also disappointed with Sexton. He is a big man. He has got to attack the space in front of him more. At the moment we are just shovelling the ball out to centre channel.
Edit. Sorry didnt see OMalley in there. Id put Bowe there.

Cpt_Blackbeard

This match is really last chance saloon for the whole coaching setup in my mind (even though they will stay on regardless).

Smal can hold his head somewhat high but, he isn't absolved of blame. The pack are his duty and he should have a serious chat with whatever coach feels that our backrow will be put to better use standing out in the backs rather than securing our ball.

Kiss can take nothing away from this match other than the one sucessful choke tackle. Our defense was useless and its his responsibility. Why you would employ such a passive drift defense against such a massive backline is bizarre. His work as an attack coach needs to be questioned too. The plan appeared to be: Kick the ball away and rely on the defense to get the ball back. Ridiculous.

Kidney, as the top dog, should really begin to question himself. Our tactics were gash and we just weren't up for the game. We showed some moments of great intensity but, it was too few and far between. His use of the bench was terrible too. DOC had a very good game but, Ryan was immense when he came on. POM should have been introduced for SOB at some point too imo. We lacked intensity and SOB was very poor at the breakdown, it would have been a great chance for POM to lay down a marker. My patience is wearing thin.

That off my chest, I'd like to see the following against France:

1. Healy
2. Best
3. Ross
4. Ryan - DOC had a great game but, Ryan was fantastic in his cameo. I'm not too pushed about the bench option but, it would be harsh to drop DOC after a good defensive performance. Touhy might be more suited to asserting himself from the bench though.
5. POC
6. Ferris
7. SOB - He needs a big game to keep his place but, it would be a baptism of fire to just throw POM in against the French. I'd like to see him get a good 30 mins though. SOB really hasn't been the same player with ball in hand this season but, it may be an issue of him not being able to bully the Welsh backline.
8. Heaslip - Much improved performance in an Irish shirt. He carried very well when he got the ball but, my only gripe is his inability to carry off a scrum.
9. Murray - I thought he had a great game (two poor boxkicks aside). His service was generally very snappy other than the few times he tried to slow the ball down and allow our forwards time to align themselves. The criticism is mostly unwarranted; Haters gonna hate.
10. Sexton - He didn't have a great game but, he will be our 10 going forward so he needs to retain the jersey. It might prove beneficial to hand the kicking duties to McFadden. He needs to bring his Leinster form to an Irish shirt if he is live up to the popular opinion of him being a world-class OH.
11. Trimble - Decent game but, I'd like to see more.
12. McFadden - It was always going to a difficult game for him defensively but, I was happy with what I saw. D'Arcy needs to be put out to pasture
13. Earls - Provided that he is available for selection, I'd like to see him get a shot. He'd bring a needed spark to our midfield axis and will hopefully have a good game in defense. McFadden didn't grab the 13 jersey with both hands and it would be horrible if complications to what should have been (one of) the happiest moment of his life, negatively impacted his rugby career.
14. Bowe - A few shaky moments aside, he looked good. He will need to improve though.
15. Kearney - I thought he had a great game and his fielding of the highball brought back memories of '09. It was great to see him in such flying form. I'd keep his brother in the 22 jersey and hopefully introduce him for one of the wingers with ~20 remaining.

freyners

Redsock wrote: »

Born in ulster. The 3 of them played well.

your talking to a connacht fan about playing in the wrong province???:p

Redsock

freyners wrote: »

Redsock wrote: »

Born in ulster. The 3 of them played well.

your talking to a connacht fan about playing in the wrong province???:p[/

Putting aside my provincial bias I would drop ferris and move SOB to 6 for Paris.

djjdomahony

great post....think murray is playing well but would like to see leinster half packs both playing

our pack is just not imposing itself enough..we always knew the welsh backs were better but we needed to win battle of front

corny

Doesn't matter who plays. The gameplan isn't gonna lead to much if the French have their game faces on.

Postman99

healy
best
ross
ryan
oconnell
obrien
heasip
ferris
reddin
sexton
downey
bowe
fitzgerald
trimble
kearney.

Simples.

WeleaseWoderick

At this point, I don't think our performances are a selection issue. The lack of a decent gameplan is hampering the team completely. Saying that, this is the 22 I'd pick for the France game:

1. Cian Healy
2. Rory Best
3. Mike Ross
4. Donnacha Ryan
5. Paul O'Connell
6. Stephen Ferris
7. Sean O'Brien
8. Jamie Heaslip
9. Eoin Reddan
10. Jonathan Sexton
11. Keith Earls
12. Fergus McFadden
13. Tommy Bowe
14. Andrew Trimble
15. Rob Kearney

16. Tom Court 17. Sean Cronin 18. Dan Tuohy 19. Peter O'Mahony 20. Conor Murray 21. Ronan O'Gara 22. Eoin O'Malley

Blackandblue42

decisions wrote: »

We have nothing to loose at this point so we may as well start experimenting, not that I expect it to happen. I wouldn't be too surprised if almost the same team started next week.

So who would you like to see start next week?

My 15 would be something like this:

15. R. Kearney
14. D. Kearney
13. O'Malley
12. McFadden
11. Zebo
10. Sexton
9. Murray
1. Healy
2. Cronin
3. Ross
4. Ryan
5. POC capt.
6. Ferris
7. O'Brien
8. Heaslip

With an experienced bench.

OMG that team would be destroyed. You are not changing the backrow even though that is where most of our problems lie! and no Tommy Bowe!

Tigerandahalf

I dont think they can make huge changes for the next day. What happens if they get hammered again. The scrum struggled again today. We never had quality ball. Then again I think Adam Jones is the outstanding tighthead in the world and he is only 30.
In fairness when you look at the Welsh they didn't do anything spectacular. They just beat us through force in the backline.
The gameplan needs to change. One thing I hate about Munster/Ire gameplan is the amount of time that is wasted at the bottom of rucks. Murray looking up waiting for the line to align itself. Every single time I have seen this over the last 2 years with Munster and Ire we have turned over the ball at the next contact. Not surprising. Afterall the other team has had about 30 sec to align to itself and see who the ball is going to,
I wouldn't be one calling for the coach's head but you got to question the IRFU giving another big contract to a coach before a subsequent WC failure. They did it before with Eddie. The gameplan has got to change or else.

.ak

Okay, so at this point we're just not going to win the Championship. So I'd like to see a somewhat 'experimental' side that could possibly inspire something less predictable and perhaps force the coaches to adapt some new game plans.

15. R Kearney
14. Trimble
13. Bowe
12. McFadden
11. Earls
10. Sexton
09. Redden
08. Heaslip
07. O'Brien
06. Ferris
05. POC
04. Ryan
03. Ross
02. Best
01. Healy

The pack picks itself. During the Wales game the only thing that lead us in the ascendency was our pack. The calls for changing our backrow are just Hook Parrots. There's nothing wrong with our backrow. We secured plenty of possession and won some spectacular turn overs. SOB made linebreaks when it counted.

I think Sexton needs to be in his comfort zone to develop for the national side. And he won't do that while Murray is trying to learn his trade.

I was against Bowe at 13, but some of the running lines today and passin was very impressive. I actually think Darcy was very good in terms of offloading, but defensively was suspect. Again, as I mentioned, we're not going to win, so why not make some experiments?

Tigerandahalf

I don't think Hook is wrong. We are crying out for an out and out 7. If we are going to play a more fluid game with less kicking, then we need a 7 even more.
SOB is being made look poor by playing at 7. He was lucky today that he wasn't penalised more. He easily could have given up 2/3 penalties if a different ref was on duty. His hands were all over the ball while on the ground.
Unfortunately we don't have that ready made seven. POM may be worth a shot but I worry about his discipline.

Long term if we are going to accomodate the current backrow plus POM (or other 7) Ferris will have to be tried at 2nd row.