Match Thread: Ireland vs Samoa, Saturday 09th Nov, Aviva Stadium, RTE2/BBCNI

molloyjh

A New Era

After much anticipation, excitement and expectation the Joe Schmidt era begins tomorrow evening against Samoa. After 3 successful years at Leinster Joe will hope to bring a similar level of success to the national side. And wouldn't we all dearly love to see that? He couldn't have asked for a tougher start to his tenure though, facing Samoa, Australia and New Zealand in successive weeks. All 3 sides are ranked above Ireland and there isn't a easy run out in sight.

To make matters worse the injury concerns that plagued Ireland at the end of the last 6 Nations campaign haven't gone away. Donnacha Ryan, Jonathan Sexton, Keith Earls, Craig Gilroy and Simon Zebo have all been ruled out due to injury. Further to that Cian Healy, Paul O'Connell and Sean O'Brien are all returning from injury and unable to start, instead having to make do with benching.

These absences have forced Joes hand somewhat in terms of selection, but it has also allowed him to introduce a number of players that fans will be very eager to see on the field, most notably Jack McGrath and Chris Henry. McGrath has consistently impressed for Leinster in the last year and looks like a Cian Healy 2.0. If he can transfer his form from provincial level to international level Healy will need to watch his back, which will be a good thing for both the players as well as Leinster and Ireland. Henry was often name checked by Schmidt when he was coaching Leinster. A more traditional openside than Ireland tend to utilise he is a menace at the breakdown. If he can withstand the Samoan physicality and impose himself on the game he will make back-row selection very difficult for the coaching staff next week.

Irelands second row pairing is an all Leinster duo of Toner and McCarthy. Toner is arguably the form lock in the country right now along with Dan Tuohy, and while McCarthy hasn't reached the heights of a couple of years ago he compliments Toner well.

Irelands back line is a fairly familiar back line with Murray, Darce, BOD, Bowe and R Kearney. Their experience should be of great benefit to Paddy Jackson who, to be really honest, may not need it at all really. The young lad has come into some serious form for Ulster and combined with his performance with ball in hand vs Scotland earlier in the year I'd have absolutely no concerns with him at 10. Jacksons form from the tee is a potential issue, but Richie Murphy has proven to be a quality kicking coach. McFadden completes the back line on the left wing. And while he doesn't offer the same sort of spark as a Gilroy, Zebo or Earls he has a huge work rate and always looks to come in off his wing and get involved. Between that and his familiarity with Schmidt he should prove solid. The only possible complaint is the inclusion of D'Arcy over Marshall but with new systems and unfamiliar combinations Joe can be forgiven for the conservative selection. Especially with some of the selections in the pack.

It's Irelands bench that is it's greatest weapon though; not something we've often said before. 3 Lions plus another 3 internationals mean that in the last 20-30 minutes there is a huge amount of impact to come into the game. With Reddan and Madigan to come in along side Healy, POC and SOB Ireland will look to up the pace and intensity in the final quarter and that could be the winning of the game.

Irelands opponents have a number of their own injury issues to contend with. Missing several players does somewhat reduce the threat that they can pose, which will be a relief to Joe as a full strength Samoa have more than enough firepower and ability to ruin the party. That said this is their only Tier 1 test in these Autumn Internationals which is a source of huge frustration for them, and rightly so. No other team in the top 8 would be happy with that. Add to that the passing of one of their most revered rugby heroes, Peter Fatialofa, and the emotion that this will bring and this Samoan side will be well and truly up for this encounter.

Few of the Samoan names will be familiar to Irish fans. Filo Paulo plays for Cardiff and Jack Lam is Connachts coach Pat Lams cousin. Kahn Fotuali’i, who along with Alapati Leuia declared for Samoa despite the option of declaring for New Zealand, at scrum-half has been a thorn in the side of numerous Pro12 sides with his time at Ospreys and most of us are all too aware of his ability. His move to Northampton sees him link up with fellow Samoan George Pisi who lines up in the centre tomorrow.

Given all of the above I think we'll see a very tough, physical and close encounter for the first 50-60 minutes. However the quality that Ireland have to come off the bench should be the difference in the end. It's probably a bit too early to expect fantastic attacking rugby and superb set piece moves. Instead we'll probably need to build on a solid performance from the pack and strong ball carriers going up against tiring legs in the last quarter. I wouldn't even be surprised to see Samoa leading coming into those last 20 minutes. After the full 80 though I'd expect Ireland to come through winners by 10 or less.

I for one am excited about Irish games again though. And that alone is something positive. Thanks to Swiwi for the info on Samoa and ....

COME ON IRELAND!

|

15: Rob Kearney|15: Fa’atoina Autagavaia
14: Tommy Bowe|14: Alapati Leiua
13: Brian O'Driscoll|13: George Pisi
12: Gordon D'Arcy|12: Johnny Leota
11: Fergus McFadden|11: Brando Va’aulu
10: Paddy Jackson|10: Tusi Pisi
9: Conor Murray|9: Kahn Fotuali’i CAPTAIN
|
1: Jack McGrath|1: Sakaria Taulafo
2: Rory Best|2: Ole Avei
3: Mike Ross|3: Logovi’i Mulipola
4: Mike McCarthy|4: Fa’atiga Lemalu
5: Devin Toner|5: Filo Paulo
6: Peter O'Mahony|6: Ofisa Treviranus
7: Chris Henry|7: Jack Lam
8: Jamie Heaslip CAPTAIN|8: Taiasina Tuifu’a
|
16: Sean Cronin|16: Ti’i Paulo
17: Cian Healy|17: Viliamu Afatia
18: Declan Fitzpatrick|18: James Johnston
19: Paul O'Connell|19: Joe Tekori
20: Sean O'Brien|20: Alafoti Faosiliva
21: Eoin Reddan|21: Jeremy Su’a
22: Ian Madigan|22: Isaia Tuifua
23: Dave Kearney|23: Fautua Otto

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

The Samoan fullback only has six caps and plays his rugby in Samoa

You'd have to think he will be tested early

molloyjh

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience wrote: »

The Samoan fullback only has six caps and plays his rugby in Samoa

You'd have to think he will be tested early

Didn't realise that. A few bombs with Ferg and/or Bowe bearing down on him would be well worth a shot early on all right.

.ak

Great right up. I'm in the same boat of thinking this will be a tight afair for the first 60. But as long as we see some glimpses of attacking rugby I'll be happy

mfceiling

Lovely write up molloy.

Really looking forward to see what direction the team are heading.

You'd expect the boys to be excited by a new coach and staff.

Kanrith

Ireland haven't had the composure in the six nations to close out games I hope that's of the past now.

errlloyd

I can't predict anything other than freezing my testicles off in the stands. If anyone sees the lad with the two gorgeous but stereotypically rugby ignorant girls in 108 that's me.

(I'm probably not being fully truthful, they've both supported rugby socially for years, so they'll keep up).

Hogzy

Bought tickets earlier on ticketmaster to be picked up at the box office. Does anyone know where this is?

Howard Juneau

Can't see Samoa being within 15 points at the end of this game, we should have too much for them in attack when Jackson & Murray click. Speed & penetration in our backline & some pretty ok subs to spring from the bench too!

awec

Hogzy wrote: »

Bought tickets earlier on ticketmaster to be picked up at the box office. Does anyone know where this is?

Ballsbridge Hotel after 2pm.

Crash

Anyone know of somewhere to watch the match in Brisbane? Its on at about 3:45am over here so bit of a long shot.

duckysauce

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience wrote: »

The Samoan fullback only has six caps and plays his rugby in Samoa

You'd have to think he will be tested early

He scored a try against Wales last year and plays for Northland in NZ.

mogwai81

Crash wrote: »

Anyone know of somewhere to watch the match in Brisbane? Its on at about 3:45am over here so bit of a long shot.

The Pig & Whistle on eagle street is probably your best bet. Just give them a ring in advance to make sure.

wicklowwonder

Crash wrote: »

Anyone know of somewhere to watch the match in Brisbane? Its on at about 3:45am over here so bit of a long shot.

The pig n whistle on queen st. It's the pub in the middle if the street if that's still open it used to show all the sports through the night or else the casino. Those two venues got me through many nights a few years ago!

Swiwi.

Reading GT's article in the IT just now, and if Samoa manage to take down Ireland + NZ & SA win their games, Samoa would go to 5th in the world rankings!

(which they could then consolidate with victories over the French BaaBaas and Georgia :P )

Swiwi.

duckysauce wrote: »

He scored a try against Wales last year and plays for Northland in NZ.

Well spotted duckysauce!

bilston

Swiwi. wrote: »

Well spotted duckysauce!

Now thats rugby

phog

Today is the start of a new era, here's hoping that it a successful run. Would expect a win but wouldn't be gutted with a loss if there was a good performance going with it.



G'wan Ireland

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Good spot Ducksauce, still, ITM cup is a few levels down from what our lads play at so no harm targeting him anyway

thomond2006

Ah here phog feck that. We need a performance that will bate them.

The Pheasant2

I'm so excited! Curse these late kick offs! Can't wait to step back into Lansdowne road for another (hopefully) great season

19543261

As long as we see a glimpse of things to come I could forgive almost any scoreline.

Today's a special day. I declare it Schmidt Day, a national holiday.

dtpc191991

Um lads not to dampen everyone's spirits but Kearney has said this, "There hasn't been a huge amount of emphasis put on that back-line play. We have maybe five or six moves that we know inside out and we stick to those on the day. The coaches haven't thrown huge amounts of new material at us, so it has just been about perfecting the ones that we do have."

Maybe we shouldn't get our hopes up that much about the brand we are going to play.

molloyjh

dtpc191991 wrote: »

Um lads not to dampen everyone's spirits but Kearney has said this, "There hasn't been a huge amount of emphasis put on that back-line play. We have maybe five or six moves that we know inside out and we stick to those on the day. The coaches haven't thrown huge amounts of new material at us, so it has just been about perfecting the ones that we do have."

Maybe we shouldn't get our hopes up that much about the brand we are going to play.

Absolutely not. Baby steps and all that. It's far too early to expect a complete turnaround in performance. As I said in the preview we should probably expect a performance heavily based on the pack doing their job properly and keeping it tight until we bring in Healy, Cronin and SOB to run at tired legs.

P_1

bilston wrote: »

Now thats rugby

The soundtrack makes it all the better too

19543261

Stop it, will ya. It's gonna be triple figures!

dtpc191991

molloyjh wrote: »

Absolutely not. Baby steps and all that. It's far too early to expect a complete turnaround in performance. As I said in the preview we should probably expect a performance heavily based on the pack doing their job properly and keeping it tight until we bring in Healy, Cronin and SOB to run at tired legs.

That is what I would expect, shadows that we are going in the right direction. However I also have a feeling that there will be a high error count and the score will be close as higher risk games take time to perfect at the top level.

Tox56

It goes without saying of course, but it's hard to understate the importance of a good win here. There's still Healy, SOB, POC, Sexton and Earls to come into the team for next week, our performances are inevitably going to improve when those players come in, today is about testing depth. A lot of guys starting today won't be starting for the next couple of weeks, if we can get a good performance out of them we can start to become very comfortable about our depth.

duckysauce

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience wrote: »

Good spot Ducksauce, still, ITM cup is a few levels down from what our lads play at so no harm targeting him anyway

He is a fast bugger. Seems be be a higher paced level than the Rabo looking at this clip. Hope it stays dry for an open fast match today .

bilston

dtpc191991 wrote: »

Um lads not to dampen everyone's spirits but Kearney has said this, "There hasn't been a huge amount of emphasis put on that back-line play. We have maybe five or six moves that we know inside out and we stick to those on the day. The coaches haven't thrown huge amounts of new material at us, so it has just been about perfecting the ones that we do have."

Maybe we shouldn't get our hopes up that much about the brand we are going to play.

To be honest 5 or 6 moves is all you really need, Im sure they will have three or four variations of each call and it will be up to Jackson in particular to make the right call, he is actually pretty good at that. I think we will see the wingers popping up in midfield quite a bit today. I wouldnt be surprised to see Tommy catch Hickie in the try scoring list this evening. Think he is two behind?

jamiedav2011

Reckon we could have a good bit of scrum joy today. McGrath in particular could do a bit of a job on Mulipola who's not a great TH and is also very tall. Jack's more squat frame could be important.

Healy v. Johnstone should be an interesting battle too.

sullivlo

I deserve a hangover today with the amount I drank last night. Defended my phd successfully so was celebrating. I was dreading the match hungover (505 - all those steps) but today I'm fresh as a daisy and cannot wait for Schmidt-ball rugby.

C'mon Ireland!

blackdog1

jamiedav2011 wrote: »

Reckon we could have a good bit of scrum joy today. McGrath in particular could do a bit of a job on Mulipola who's not a great TH and is also very tall. Jack's more squat frame could be important.

Healy v. Johnstone should be an interesting battle too.

Somoa have one of the best scrums around. Heaviest pack in rugby too. If munipola is ahead of johnston he must be handy. I rate James johnston very highly. They lost one or 2 from injury but the days of these boys being a soft touch in the scrum is gone.

ScissorPaperRock

You know, as much as these games are about performance, I think we should be expecting to win today. Sure, they beat Wales, but that was a poor Welsh performance.

I don't think there's a way that we could play this game, while performing well, without winning.

And there's not a hope that we can go into the Australia and game with confidence if we don't meaningfully put this weakened Samoa team away today.

I think we'll do it too.

OldRio

Nooooooooo.
Married nearly thirty years. You would think she knows me by now. She just now tells me we have to go out at six to see some neighbours. What !!!!!!
She was told. Forget saturday afternoon and night. Rugby on TV.

How the hell do I play this?
Man or mouse?
I do like cheese.
Panic.
Calm down.
Think for feck sake. Think.

jamiedav2011

blackdog1 wrote: »

Somoa have one of the best scrums around. Heaviest pack in rugby too. If munipola is ahead of johnston he must be handy. I rate James johnston very highly. They lost one or 2 from injury but the days of these boys being a soft touch in the scrum is gone.

One of the best scrums around is fairly high praise! What do you base that on?

As I say, have seen Mulipola a few times at TH and he's not technically great, height doesn't suit the new laws.
Weight isn't necessarily positive, but in any case, their pack today is around 918kg, ours is 920 by the way.
Ross heaviest player on the park.

molloyjh

OldRio wrote: »

Nooooooooo.
Married nearly thirty years. You would think she knows me by now. She just now tells me we have to go out at six to see some neighbours. What !!!!!!
She was told. Forget saturday afternoon and night. Rugby on TV.

How the hell do I play this?
Man or mouse?
I do like cheese.
Panic.
Calm down.
Think for feck sake. Think.

Foot down. If she was told she was told. If you forgot to say it to her then you'd have to swallow your tongue and head along, but if you gave her advance notice then that's fair enough.

The Pheasant2

OldRio wrote: »

Nooooooooo.
Married nearly thirty years. You would think she knows me by now. She just now tells me we have to go out at six to see some neighbours. What !!!!!!
She was told. Forget saturday afternoon and night. Rugby on TV.

How the hell do I play this?
Man or mouse?
I do like cheese.
Panic.
Calm down.
Think for feck sake. Think.

If it's a couple you're seeing, invite the guy over for a few beers to watch the match while the Wimmins can chat away

former legend

OldRio wrote: »

Nooooooooo.
Married nearly thirty years. You would think she knows me by now. She just now tells me we have to go out at six to see some neighbours. What !!!!!!
She was told. Forget saturday afternoon and night. Rugby on TV.

How the hell do I play this?
Man or mouse?
I do like cheese.
Panic.
Calm down.
Think for feck sake. Think.

Invite the neighbours over to your place.

Chances are the man of the family would rather be watching the game too. So have the match on when they arrive and say "Sean/Tony/Martin, you'll have a beer", you and he sit down, watch the game and send the women off gasbagging in the kitchen. Win win.

thomond2006

Sun is out with a light breeze here.

Hagz

OldRio wrote: »

Nooooooooo.
Married nearly thirty years. You would think she knows me by now. She just now tells me we have to go out at six to see some neighbours. What !!!!!!
She was told. Forget saturday afternoon and night. Rugby on TV.

How the hell do I play this?
Man or mouse?
I do like cheese.
Panic.
Calm down.
Think for feck sake. Think.

Divorce her..


Do it.

Dublin Red Devil

I hope Sexton never plays another game for Ireland as long as he's signed to a french club. He should be made an example of

jamiedav2011

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

I hope Sexton never plays another game for Ireland as long as he's signed to a french club. He should be made an example of

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to an Irish international weekend.
Strap yourselves in for the ride, this could get bumpy.

mfceiling

OldRio wrote: »

Nooooooooo.
Married nearly thirty years. You would think she knows me by now. She just now tells me we have to go out at six to see some neighbours. What !!!!!!
She was told. Forget saturday afternoon and night. Rugby on TV.

How the hell do I play this?
Man or mouse?
I do like cheese.
Panic.
Calm down.
Think for feck sake. Think.

Surely you must feel that flu coming on?

Probably best if you stayed in this evening, with your feet up on the couch, with a blanket on you, watching a bit of tele (don't know if there's anything on worth watching)...

eyeball kid

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

I hope Sexton never plays another game for Ireland as long as he's signed to a french club. He should be made an example of

Anyway...I'm about to leave for Dublin now. Heading up to watch the game. Hopefully it stays dry.

Looking forward to this game. I think the expectation for this series is a little muted. Everyone expects a tough game from Samoa today and nobody is predicting Ireland to win by a cricket score. That can only be good for the team. I'll be interested to see how Jackson and McGrath gets on. Hoping they'll have a good game. Also, would be great to see no more injuries.

chupacabra

OldRio wrote: »

Nooooooooo.
Married nearly thirty years. You would think she knows me by now. She just now tells me we have to go out at six to see some neighbours. What !!!!!!
She was told. Forget saturday afternoon and night. Rugby on TV.

How the hell do I play this?
Man or mouse?
I do like cheese.
Panic.
Calm down.
Think for feck sake. Think.

divorce

mfceiling

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

I hope Sexton never plays another game for Ireland as long as he's signed to a french club. He should be made an example of

Welcome to the rugby forum.

Please take time to watch a few games...

thomond2006

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

I hope Sexton never plays another game for Ireland as long as he's signed to a french club. He should be made an example of

Did you say the same when Tommy Bowe was playing for a Welsh club and Keith Wood and Geordan Murphy were playing for an English club?

mfceiling

thomond2006 wrote: »

Did you say the same when Tommy Bowe was playing for a Welsh club and Keith Wood and Geordan Murphy were playing for an English club?

Think the username of Dublin Red Devil tells you all you need to know...

Shouldn't allow those soccer players who ply their trade abroad to play for the national team as well.

andymx11

Number one rule of boards rugby club. Do not take the bait! I know it's tempting but just leave little red riding hood off! Enjoy the game folks. I'm getting the first beer into me to settle the nerves!

Hagz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pp7UWnc0cs