Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread III

thomond2006

thomond2006 wrote: »

Given Schmidt talks about gametime a lot in terms of selection decisions, could he justify selecting Mike Ross if he is suddenly 3rd choice TH at Leinster?

Mike Ross is 3rd choice TH at Leinster.

No way he drops out of a matchday 23 in a pivotal game for tactics.

Will be interesting to see what Joe does alright. To be honest, I think Ross' star is fading, and posted as much several months ago. Reckoned we were going to need someone else to come through and rip the shirt off his back.

Didn't think we might see two of them though!

Tox56

thomond2006 wrote: »

Given Schmidt talks about gametime a lot in terms of selection decisions, could he justify selecting Mike Ross if he is suddenly 3rd choice TH at Leinster?

I think Schmidt will give him the WH game and keep him on the bench in case of a scrum emergency

Clegg

S12b wrote: »

What's your thinking there?

Probably because Mermion would be odds on to start due to Reddan being injured as well. Would mean a Marmion-Madigan half back partnership with a Henshaw-Fitz midfield. Neither pairings have ever been tried before and it would be a big risk to try it in an away game. Italy would be right up for it too as they usually are in the opening games.

Quite possible we see D'arcy starting. I hope it's not the case as he's past it now but he's reliable and massively experienced. Schmidt may want that experience to balance things out.

aimee1

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

TOD must be nailed on for the 7 jersey until SOB returns. He was always the obvious choice, but he had a brilliant game today which should quieten some doubters/critics.

Jordi was excellent for leinster yesterday in a properly competitive game against the team 4th in the AP against a very strong backrow for wasps.

TOD was very good today against a 2nd string Sale [8th in AP] who were finished after about 50 minutes so its hard to judge just how good it was.

Munsters performance today wont be a barometer to use to judge players. Zebo's first half today was more impressive for me then the 2nd half because the game had a bit of niggle and was competitive and he was very good, probably the best player on the pitch in the 1st half by a long way.

Henderson - POM - Heaslip
POM - Jordi/TOD - Heaslip


If Heaslip's shoulder isnt right we could see

Henderson - Jordi/TOD - POM

SaveOurLyric

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

Can't leave Zebo out of the side. He been playing very well season, was very good in the Autumn, and was world-class out of position today.

Can when there are several more rounded players to choose from.

World class today? Performance in a romp counts for nothing whatsoever. World class can only be judged against worthy opposition.

Podge_irl

Furlong isn't in the squad is he?

Moore is starting but Ross will be on the bench.

aimee1

Clegg wrote: »

Probably because Mermion would be odds on to start due to Reddan being injured as well. Would mean a Marmion-Madigan half back partnership with a Henshaw-Fitz midfield. Neither pairings have ever been tried before and it would be a big risk to try it in an away game. Italy would be right up for it too as they usually are in the opening games.

Quite possible we see D'arcy starting. I hope it's not the case as he's past it now but he's reliable and massively experienced. Schmidt may want that experience to balance things out.

against SA we had new centre pairing, then 2 weeks later against Aus another new centre pairing. They have two weeks to train together to get some understanding. We arent going to Italy to play champagne rugby, we are going there to win. The best players will be in the pitch IMO

blackdog1

thomond2006 wrote: »

Given Schmidt talks about gametime a lot in terms of selection decisions, could he justify selecting Mike Ross if he is suddenly 3rd choice TH at Leinster?

Ross is really 2nd choice I recon. If moore was injured he'd have started. Furlong has a better impact off the bench but moc clearly doesn't trust his scrummaging yet in a tight game. There isn't much between moore and ross. Will schmit drop ross after he started all the games so far?. Absolutely I would say if he thought he merited it.

White for me is the dark horse. Recon he could be in the 23 before either of the above. Competition is very tight.

SaveOurLyric

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

TOD must be nailed on for the 7 jersey until SOB returns. He was always the obvious choice, but he had a brilliant game today which should quieten some doubters/critics.

Murphy is nailed-on for 7. You cant nail two guys at the same time.

Clegg

aimee1 wrote: »

against SA we had new centre pairing, then 2 weeks later against Aus another new centre pairing. They have two weeks to train together to get some understanding. We arent going to Italy to play champagne rugby, we are going there to win. The best players will be in the pitch IMO

They played alongside a settled, world class pairing of Murray and Sexton. Possibly playing alongside Marmion and Madigan makes a big difference. It would certainly make for some edge of your seat rugby though.

SaveOurLyric

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

Murphy is nailed-on for 7. You cant nail two guys at the same time.

..

..

SaveOurLyric

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

You cant nail two guys at the same time.

Am I allowed make a 'your mom' joke here or is that against the charter?

aimee1

Clegg wrote: »

They played alongside a settled, world class pairing of Murray and Sexton. Possibly playing alongside Marmion and Madigan makes a big difference. It would certainly make for some edge of your seat rugby though.

if thats the case then JS should just pick 23 players from one province because they play together all the time.

The whole IRFU system allows the coach 2 weeks with the players to train and Madigan and Fitz have played together the most lately too. Its not really a consideration

Swiwi.

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

TOD must be nailed on for the 7 jersey until SOB returns. He was always the obvious choice, but he had a brilliant game today which should quieten some doubters/critics.

Please quote me back if I'm wrong, but I reckon TOD won't get the 7 jersey for Italy. Doesn't really matter what the doubters/critics think, it's what Joe decides (obviously), but I reckon it'll either be Murphy, or a move for one of the 6s (POM, or Ruddock if fit, but I've lost track of when Ruddock is back).

Mahatma Geansai

SaveOurLyric wrote: »

Can when there are several more rounded players to choose from.

World class today? Performance in a romp counts for nothing whatsoever. World class can only be judged against worthy opposition.

Are you including the interpros in that? :pac:

Fight for a better Ireland! Pledge your support for Zebo.

S12b

.....although at least to get to go on the sauce for a bit!!

http://instagram.com/p/ySM4uvRak4/

RoundBox11

Yeah I really don't think TOD is nailed on for anything. Looking good against a poor side today means nothing at all. Although in fairness to him he's been good this season. I don't want to sound like a broken record but i'd much rather see Henderson in beast mode smashing everything while POM does the groundhog work.

SaveOurLyric

RoundBox11 wrote: »

Yeah I really don't think TOD is nailed on for anything. Looking good against a poor side today means nothing at all. I don't want to sound like a broken record but i'd much rather see Henderson in beast mode smashing everything while POM does the groundhog work.

Henderson will bench.

chupacabra

Popped over to the IRFU site and spotted this "shoulder to shoulder" section. Whoever is the makeup person for these photoshoots should be fired.


Kearney seems to realise how ridiculous the whole thing is.

.ak

The boys are more tanned than the girls.

Peregrine

chupacabra wrote: »

Popped over to the IRFU site and spotted this "shoulder to shoulder" section. Whoever is the makeup person for these photoshoots should be fired.


Kearney seems to realise how ridiculous the whole thing is.

.ak

So we're only really sweating on the status of our scrum halves. Murray is obviously very important, but if he's fit we can afford to rest Reddan for another week. A 3 week rest should fix any grade 1 strain. Gutted for Kearney who I think could've been a dark horse for the tournament, he was playing very well.

Oregano_State

I think it would be very harsh on Zebo to be left out of the starting XV against Italy, he was on fire today and was one of the only Munster players that managed to look good last week when we were absolutely pasted. Earls hasn't played 80 minutes yet. Fitz should be in the centre.

How long is Dave Kearney out for?

SaveOurLyric

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

Are you including the interpros in that? :pac:
Fight for a better Ireland! Pledge your support for Zebo.

Sure.

Mahatma Geansai wrote: »

Fight for a better Ireland! Pledge your support for Zebo.

Contradiction!

Joe is giving him every chance though and may yet develop him into a good player with the full range of skills for an international. His time is yet to come though.

And as you allude to, however good the case for any Leinster player appears at the moment, they are doing so with a MOC handicap - so an upping of performace when unleashed in an Irish shirt must be factored in to selection reasoning.

aimee1

Oregano_State wrote: »

I think it would be very harsh on Zebo to be left out of the starting XV against Italy, he was on fire today and was one of the only Munster players that managed to look good last week when we were absolutely pasted. Earls hasn't played 80 minutes yet. Fitz should be in the centre.

should zebo start ... yes


does today have a bearing on it, no. It was a turkey shoot against a 2nd string side so it has no relevance really.

Oregano_State

aimee1 wrote: »

should zebo start ... yes


does today have a bearing on it, no. It was a turkey shoot against a 2nd string side so it has no relevance really.

It was a turkey shoot for about 15 minutes.

13-10 at the break with attitude from both sides. I'm not saying that Sale team were world-beaters, but to call it an irrelevant performance is nonsense.

Would his performance have been irrelevant in your eyes, had he thrown three intercept passes, knocked on with the line at his mercy, and missed tackles left right and centre?

SaveOurLyric

Oregano_State wrote: »

Would his performance have been irrelevant in your eyes, had he thrown three intercept passes, knocked on with the line at his mercy, and missed tackles left right and centre?

No, it then would have been relevant.
Playing well against a team being trounced can be discounted. Playing badly against one is relevant however, since playing badly in that case would suggest he cant even play well against beaten teams. But he did well, so its a case of 'not proven'.

Zzippy

Today absolutely was relevant. Zebo put in a good performance that Joe will have noted. Calling it world class is a bit OTT alright, it was only Sale, not the All Blacks. But it won't have done his selection chances any harm at all.

Wang King

S12b wrote: »

What's your thinking there?

9, 10, 12 & 13 never played together.
Recipe for disaster. If it was against France or England, it wouldn't even be considered