England v Ireland St Patricks Day 2012

Tox56

cp wrote: »

Have to say I'm really looking forward to some of these battles, in particular the half backs. Been very impressed by Dickson and Farrell - his kicking from hand wasn't great yesterday, but all in all for a player playing only his second international game at 10, he seems to have a great head on his shoulders. His offload for the Tuilagi try was excellent. With opposites like Priestland and Beauxis its easy to look good but, IMO, Farrell v Sexton is a straight shootout for the Lions 10

Also think the Earls V Tuilagi & Ferris V Croft battles will have a big say in how this game goes....

Earls v Tuilagi will be crucial.

Earls has improved immeasurably, most notably in defence. However, so far the only quality centre he has come up against is Fofana, and they weren't directly against eachother.

Rougerie has been awful this 6 Nations, whereas Scotland and Italy have no centres to speak of. Earls didn't face the Welsh test, although I would really have liked to see how he would have done.

Tuilagi has added another dimension to England, and he was able to wreak havoc against Roberts and Davies.

This will be Earls' big test, and although I wouldn't have said this before the Six Nations, I think he can (and will) pass it. It will be interesting though.

irishbucsfan

I'm dreading seeing pictures of TOL playing at 9 tomorrow...

bamboozle

HappyBalance wrote: »

Would it be to early to call Wallace up?

Wallace is 36, great servant but no longer needed for the national team.

watching the england defence yesterday they had shooters popping up every time france had attacking ball. i'd expect to see Ferris/SOB and the blind side wingers carrying a lot of ball in the 10/12 channel v's england.
i hope Mike Ross figures out this week what the french scrum did in the 2nd half to start dominating the english scrum.
Tom Croft is nothing to worry about, have Ryan follow him in lineout and Ferris to put manners on him in open play.

prospect

I am nervous about this, I thought England were very good at the weekend.

But, we have developed the habit of putting on our A Game against England.

In the last 10 games we have won 7 times.

I am pie

Earls vs Tuilagi is huge, but i'd expect Ferris to lend a hand there where he can. I wonder will the ROG-Sexton 10/12 be employed earlier to shore up the defence.

Someone has got to get on top of Morgan and stop him breaking tackles. He is a monster in the loose and as we saw on Saturday has a good offloading game. Needs to get nailed low and hard anytime he appears with ball in hand.

bamboozle

I am pie wrote: »

Earls vs Tuilagi is huge, but i'd expect Ferris to lend a hand there where he can. I wonder will the ROG-Sexton 10/12 be employed earlier to shore up the defence.

Someone has got to get on top of Morgan and stop him breaking tackles. He is a monster in the loose and as we saw on Saturday has a good offloading game. Needs to get nailed low and hard anytime he appears with ball in hand.

First time i've ever seen ROG suggesed as a defensive option.

touts

If the Ref is fair and balanced I think a cocky Wales will be beaten by a wounded France. So we could be in a situation where just before they go out on the pitch the English players know that if they play the game of their lives in front of their home fans they can steal the championship from the Welsh team they believe robbed them a few weeks ago.

I am pie

bamboozle wrote: »

First time i've ever seen ROG suggesed as a defensive option.

Clearly he's not, but at 12 Sexton is stronger than the ailing D'Arcy. Another nothing performance from him to add to his growing selection adds no weight to claims for his inclusion.

bamboozle

I am pie wrote: »

Clearly he's not, but at 12 Sexton is stronger than the ailing D'Arcy. Another nothing performance from him to add to his growing selection adds no weight to claims for his inclusion.

Sexton/Darcy 10-12 is far far stronger defensively than ROG/Sexton.

Whether or not Darcy deserves to keep his place is another question, i'd quiet happily see McFadden at 12 but with BOD injured there was no way DK was going to start 2 novices in the center in the 6ns

Come the NZ tour i'd expect to see McFadden at 12.

davegrohl48

Darcy really doesn't seem to be producing it anymore. It's fine to say he is there for his defensive abilities. But at the end of the day weighing up overall effect on the scoreboard I think McFadden has to start (won't happen).
I don't see Darcy being in position to collect or being quick enough to score for McFaddens try.
He doesn't seem to be involved in backline moves as much anymore and his break has totally dissappeared.
Darcy of a few years ago I think we'd all select him but he is not as quick or playing with as much confidence now. He's had a great innings but I think it's starting to negatively effect our performances. He hasn't had a championship so far to keep his place.

cp

Tox56 wrote: »

Earls v Tuilagi will be crucial.

Earls has improved immeasurably, most notably in defence. However, so far the only quality centre he has come up against is Fofana, and they weren't directly against eachother.

Rougerie has been awful this 6 Nations, whereas Scotland and Italy have no centres to speak of. Earls didn't face the Welsh test, although I would really have liked to see how he would have done.

Tuilagi has added another dimension to England, and he was able to wreak havoc against Roberts and Davies.

This will be Earls' big test, and although I wouldn't have said this before the Six Nations, I think he can (and will) pass it. It will be interesting though.

I think you're right, Tuilagi is a monster, but I don't think I've seen him pass a single ball this championship. We need to shoot up on him before he gets a chance to build up a head of steam. I'd expect we'll see Ferris in that role again.

Been massively impressed with Earls defense this tournament, think he's really improved. Dare I say it, but I saw a bit of the BOD about him in the way he marshaled the channel in the last two games..

This is one game where I don't see the choke tackle being an option, when you look at guys like Tuilagi and Morgan, you really need to be getting them round the ankles.

MungBean

Whats the deal with Darcy ? Him being taken off with Sexton moving to 12 and ROG to 10 so much must mean he's not fit enough to play 80 right ? I cant see any other reasoning behind it. So is he carrying an injury or is it old age ?

snow mad

I wonder will the ROG-Sexton 10/12 be employed earlier to shore up the defence.

would that not cause more problems than it would solve.
In my opinion McFadden at 12 either from the start or at half time would be a better solution.

JustinDee

touts wrote: »

If the Ref is fair and balanced I think a cocky Wales will be beaten by a wounded France. So we could be in a situation where just before they go out on the pitch the English players know that if they play the game of their lives in front of their home fans they can steal the championship from the Welsh team they believe robbed them a few weeks ago.

I can't see Wales losing in Cardiff, to be honest. Even when playing poorly, they've managed to climb on and keep the result their way. Momentum is hard to break.

As for France, start at halfback where Dupuy is deemed good enough for such an important role. I would have thought Saint-Andre had it in him to coax a game out of Parra, rather than dropping him for someone I see as an inferior player.

Podge_irl

snow mad wrote: »

I wonder will the ROG-Sexton 10/12 be employed earlier to shore up the defence.

I'd go as far as to say it would merely cause problems without solving any.

Would really like to see McFadden take over from D'Arcy but it's not going to happen at this point. Kidney doesn't even seem to see him as a centre full stop as he's only been coming on on the wing. Sexton/McFadden is a much better combo then ROG/Sexton. I don't understand Kidney's obsessions with that.

teednab-el

It would be nice if we demolish England and France as much as I hate them beat cocky and arrogant Wales.

ButtersSuki

I'd be a little worried about a confident England at home playing what is after all an under strength Irish team. Despite our last two performances, the team is missing just that little bit extra that the likes of a fit strongest 15 can bring.

I'd be worried about Tuilagi targeting Earls as he did so well for the opening try in the WC warm up game in the Aviva in particular; I'd be worried about Deccie's potential back row selection (namely if he puts O'Mahoney in for this game against a massive English pack), and I'd be very, very, very, very (!) worried if he jettisons Reddan for TOL.

Despite all of that though, I do think we'll win, but it will be a close game.

Of all the 6N games I've ever been to, have to say the atmosphere for the 2004 game in Twickers was unbelievable and the best I've ever experienced at a rugby game. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck such was the noise when the teams came out. Gutted not to be going this Saturday....:(

Podge_irl

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I'd be worried about Tuilagi targeting Earls as he did so well for the opening try in the WC warm up game in the Aviva in particular;

I'm far less worried about this then I was at the start of the tournament. Earls has played well and certainly hasn't looked out of place in defence.

The_Kew_Tour

teednab-el wrote: »

It would be nice if we demolish England and France as much as I hate them beat cocky and arrogant Wales.

touts wrote: »

If the Ref is fair and balanced I think a cocky Wales will be beaten by a wounded France. So we could be in a situation where just before they go out on the pitch the English players know that if they play the game of their lives in front of their home fans they can steal the championship from the Welsh team they believe robbed them a few weeks ago.

d-gal

I think we can beat England. Too much hype again about an average team. They have a captain who wouldn't even get in our 30..only a couple of months he got destroyed by Muldoon twice.
Croft is decent but not even half the man of Ferris and their 2nd rows are extremely average.

Tuilagi is the main threat but I can see Ferris putting him on his hole pretty quickly.
Farrell is the great white hope but Sexton should have the edge and Foden is no match for Kearney.

Overall we are a much better team and if we are on song we should beat them by at least 7

Tox56

d-gal wrote: »

I think we can beat England. Too much hype again about an average team. They have a captain who wouldn't even get in our 30..only a couple of months he got destroyed by Muldoon twice.
Croft is decent but not even half the man of Ferris and their 2nd rows are extremely average.

Tuilagi is the main threat but I can see Ferris putting him on his hole pretty quickly.
Farrell is the great white hope but Sexton should have the edge and Foden is no match for Kearney.

Overall we are a much better team and if we are on song we should beat them by at least 7

I don't know about them being over-hyped, their defence is excellent and they showed some really good attacking moves against France, and were able to win in Paris, something we haven't done for quite some time.

We should be better, but they are not a bad team.

twinytwo

Mr Ferris will put both croft and farrell in their places quickly enough... the only saving grace that england have is that neither Drico or POC are playing.

molloyjh

Podge_irl wrote: »

I'm far less worried about this then I was at the start of the tournament. Earls has played well and certainly hasn't looked out of place in defence.

Yeah he has a lot of us eating humble pie at the moment, fair play to him.

JRant

I fully expect SOB to put in a massive performance against England if fit.

ongarite

Who is the referee for this match?

phog

Donn O'Sullivan (Limerickpost.ie) tweeted

Judging by the Press conference today, POM will be retained this weekend for Ireland. I wonder will he play at 7 or 8 though?

d-gal

phog wrote: »

Donn O'Sullivan (Limerickpost.ie) tweeted

Judging by the Press conference today, POM will be retained this weekend for Ireland. I wonder will he play at 7 or 8 though?

Interesting. Wonder is SOB fully fit? Wouldn't mind him coming on with 30mins to go

Burgo

phog wrote: »

Donn O'Sullivan (Limerickpost.ie) tweeted

Any one catch the press conference?

What's the news with SOB?

Moflojo

I'd be expecting Ireland to be using the up-and-under quite frequently against England. I'd fancy Kearney, Bowe and Trimble against the England back three under the high ball so I won't be surprised to see the tactic being employed even more than it has been already.

I think we also have a bit more creativity in midfield but we lack the power that England have there so it should be an interesting duel.

The battle of the backrows is going to be very interesting, I'd expect Heaslip to match Morgan and hopefully Ferris will have the edge on Croft. I'd favour O'Mahony over SOB at 7 on current form. Himself and Donncha Ryan really made up for POC's absence in the 'manic aggression' stakes.

phog

Burgo wrote: »

Any one catch the press conference?

What's the news with SOB?

I didn't see the press conference but my take on Donn's tweet was that POM might have been interviewed and he assumed then that Peter would be playing next weekend, I never thought about Sean not making a return in time for the game.