Six Nations Week 3 - Teams

[Jackass]

Englad have named their team to face Ireland this Sunday in Landsdowne road:

15. J Robinson
14. M Cueto
13. J Noon
12. O Barkley
11. J Lewsey
10. C Hodgson
9. H Ellis
8. M Corry
7. L Moody
6. J Worsley
5. B Kay
4. D Grewcock
3. M Stevens
2. S Thompson
1. G Rowntree

[Jackass]

It has to be said, looking at the English team for this weeked, they have a serious lack of options in the backline, which, if fully fit, wouldn't even be the same class of players they'll be facing.
Whereas the pack is very average, with sprinkles of quality here and there, but again, not the same class as the Irish pack.

Also nice to see they've kept the failing kicking combo of Hodgson and Barkley, who wont punish errors to nearly the same extent as O'Gara will.

Downtime

Woo hoo !! Hope to see a capitulation in Englands kicking game in one of the most difficult grounds to kick in, in the world.

12. O Barkley
10. C Hodgson
9. H Ellis

Hopefully Ellis might do a Wayne Rooney on it and have 10 minutes. Enngland lack serious options but Cueto against Hickie could be interesting.

Owing to D'Arcy's proposed absence, I'd say Eddie will be looking at something similar to the Scotland game.

15. Dempsey
14. Murphy
13. O'Driscoll
12. Horgan
11. Hickie
10. O'Gara
9. Stringer
8. Foley
7. O'Connor
6. Easterby
5. O'Connell
4. O'Kelly
3. Hayes
2. Byrne
1. Corrigan

rubberduckey

Agree with your proposed team downtime, however wouldn't be suprised to see maggs slot in at inside centre and Dempsey drop out of the 15.

CJhaughey

padshea2 wrote:

Agree with your proposed team downtime, however wouldn't be suprised to see maggs slot in at inside centre and Dempsey drop out of the 15.

Wouldn't be surprised or disappointed either for that matter

[Jackass]

D'Arcy confirmed injured, Maggs loses out in the Irish team to face England on Sunday:

15. G Murphy
14. G Dempsey
13. B O'Drisscoll (Capt)
12. S Horgan
11. D Hickie
10. R O'Gara
9. P Stringer
8. A Foley
7. J O'Connor
6. S Easterby
5. P O'Connell
4. M O'Kelly
3. J Hayes
2. S Byrne
1. R Corrigan

Replacements: F Sheahan, M Horan, D O’Callaghan, E Miller, G Easterby, D Humphreys, K Maggs.

thejollyrodger

bad news about D'arcy. I hope we can turn England over

Downtime

Damn, I told Eddie to put Girv at full back - last time I'm picking the team for him.

The Rooster

Girv will have his work cut out on Lewsey alright. I would have stuck Horgan over there with Maggs at 12.

England have a dangerous bench in Dawson, Goode and Ollie Smith. The latter 2 are completely unproven at this level, but they're in terrific form.

Ireland 39 England 13

dubal

I think it will be much lower scoring. More like 18-8 for Ireland.

Hopefully, they get a kick over early, then they will stick with that "great" kicker for the whole game

Eoin

Rooster wrote:

Girv will have his work cut out on Lewsey alright. I would have stuck Horgan over there with Maggs at 12.

Dead right, I don't understand why Dempsey is playing - if he is not at fullback, he shouldn't be on the team. I don't think he has the pace for the wing, or a particularly good eye for the game. He is great under a high ball, but I don't think that will see him through?

Is this a case of EOS being too loyal to him?

[Jackass]

Hmm...i agree, he has been overly loyal to Dempsey in the past, but I would have gone with him over Maggs on this occasion tbh, but would swap Dempsey with Murphy in that selection...I seem to be agreeing with downtimes selection policy a lot these days!!

Solid Defencevly though, and should cope as well as anybody against Lucey, but wouldn't bank on him breaking the gain line on to many occasions, or making any inciseve breaks like Horgan would if he was out there and D'Arcy was fit...ah well..

(tempting fate) I wouldn't be overly concernd about the selection or the opposition though, I'd peg Ireland for a 27 - 14 victory, with a late Irish try seeling the deal

Eoin

I think Maggs would be ideal in the center - superb defensively (his defence against Engerland when we beat them in Lansdowne last time was outstanding), and his hard running in attack would be horrible for those fresh new English boys to see. I think people have forgotten just how good Maggs is.

Put Horgan on the wing, and you have a good attacking player and a good defensive player (I would rate him at least as good as Dempsey in defence).

daveirl

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Nukem

daveirl wrote:

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More mind games?
Dempsey is good in defence though. Although would have thought shaggy to pumble Lewsey would have been better and Maggs(the train) in the middle.

On a lighter note Isaac Boss(SC for Wellignton) is confirmed and is eligble for Ireland and playing for Ulster next year. He's supposed to be good.

[Jackass]

Ya, i read that on Rugby Now ...sh!t one for Kieran Campbell, he was playing savage, but apperantly Boss is brilliant, so might even take stringers place

The Rooster

He's either 24 or 25 (depending on where you read it!), and played on the NZ U19 team that won the World Cup in 99. It'll be next season before he gets here. He's not always first choice scrum half, he has tough competition with Piri Weepu. I think they alternative, but when Boss is not no.9, he usually plays full back.
http://xtramsn.co.nz/sport/0,,11491-4125390,00.html

"I have a passionate interest in my Irish heritage and I am very excited about the prospect of living in Ireland and playing for Ulster"

[PHP]Name : Isaac Boss
Playing Position : Halfback, fullback
Date of Birth : 9/4/80
Height : 1.79m
Weight : 89kg
Secondary School Attended : Forest View High
Rugby Club : Southern United
Rep Rugby Honours : NZ U19 1999, Waikato 1999-present, Chiefs 2001-2004, Hurricanes 2005
Birthplace : Tokoroa [/PHP]

Nukem

I think he is primarily a SC (saw highlights and he was plying there in 2matches) all the reports say he plays SC - anyways i don't care. He is supposed to be good. Aparently he caused a bit of a stir in NZ when he turned down a chance to go on one of the Senior development trips
He had a choice to play for NZ or Ireland and picked Ireland - his grandfather is from Derry i think,its all good,on the down side a bitch for Campbell he is just starting to shine and get recognition.

rubberduckey

Hi Daveirl, I'm a big fan of EOS's work however I do think hes got the Maggs/Dempsey call wrong. Still like everyone else, I'm hopeful that we can get the right result.

As of interest anyone here got a ticket yet???

Eoin

DaveIrl wrote:

Nope that would have been far too logical for Eddie

Well, his gamble to drop Maggs to see what O'Driscoll and D'Arcy would be like in the centre together worked pretty well, so I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt

As of interest anyone here got a ticket yet???

If only...

I am not too sure how accurate this is, but I heard that the English RFU actually sent back some tickets as they couldn't shift them over there - anyone know if this is true? Lansdowne has be a pretty hostile place for visiting teams as it is, without feck all of your supporters travelling...

Nukem

padshea2 wrote:

As of interest anyone here got a ticket yet???

Praying il have one by tonight (fingers crossed) there like gold

[Jackass]

I wouldn't say the Maggs/Dempsey debate makes too much of a difference tbh, they're both equaly compitent by international standards, neither outstanding.

What frustrates me more about EO'Ss selection is the choice to restore O'Driscoll as captain...The diference between the Italy and Scotland match in my opinion was that against Italy O'Driscoll failed to calm and focus the team...fair enough he lead by example, but he's only one man, we need all 15 focused, especially in games where he is marked out of the game which is more likely (yet not probable) against the bigger sides. Whereas Scotland game was simular for the first 15 - 20 minutes of the Italy match for lack of composer, but O'Connell displayed real leadership with his calls, taking the pressure off the backs, and fireing up the forwards..First Mal O'K, them himself getting in off forward drives from the line-out. I know i said it before, but having a great captain was the difference between England winning the world cup, and Australia loosing. Now was EOSs chance to change it over, and he didn't. I hope Woodward picks O'Connell as captain for the Lions, although it's very unlikely as he is in love with O'Drisscoll.
On another note, having the "Roy of the rovers" captain (like O'Drisscoll is) is proving to be a hindrence on the best players again, as is being displayed by Robinson ever since he was given the captaincy...he's a shaow of his former self. (At least it effected O'Drisscolls performances for an initial stage for Ireland as captain, being far less effective on the break imo, not anymore, but who knows? Maybe he'd play even better with out it?)

daveirl

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The Rooster

eoin_s wrote:

Well, his gamble to drop Maggs to see what O'Driscoll and D'Arcy would be like in the centre together worked pretty well, so I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt

I am not too sure how accurate this is, but I heard that the English RFU actually sent back some tickets as they couldn't shift them over there - anyone know if this is true? Lansdowne has be a pretty hostile place for visiting teams as it is, without feck all of your supporters travelling...

His "gamble" to play D'Arcy instead of Maggs wasnt any kind of gamble. D'Arcy had been exceptional for Leinster, it would have been idiotic not to pick him.

Unfortunately thats rubbish re the RFU sending back tickets. The English love coming over to Ireland, so much so that many Irish clubs sell many of their tickets into the UK corporate sector who pay top dosh. In 2003 about 1/3rd of the crowd was English. I expect the same to be the case on Sunday. Unfortunately. Hopefully they'll be kept quiet though

As for the captain, O'Driscoll's record is impeccable. Of course O'Connell would make a great captain too - though personally I think he needs a couple more years experience (remember Johnson seved a long apprenticeship before he was made full time England captain). To use the Italy and Scotland games as reasons to knock O'Driscoll and put forward O'Connell is ridiculous though. O'Driscoll almost single handedly won the Italian game for us, while O'Connell put in a terrible performance!

Captaincy would be far more likely to distract O'Connell than a confident brash boyo like O'Driscoll (comparing O'Driscoll to Jason Robinson is equally not applicable - Robinson is very quiet - he's only captain because Wilkinson, Greenwood and Tindall are all out, and they've no obvious captains in the forwards). O'Connell needs to concentrate on his own performances. From looking at Welsh and English fansites, because of his poor and average performances in the last two games he's only on about 50% of Lions teams (O'Kelly is on them all). Now we all know he's the best lock in the Northern Hemphishere, but he needs to show that this week and next.

rubberduckey

Hi daveirl, its really frustrating with tickets. I'd love to see a demographic on the breakdown of ticketholders in lansdowne on Sunday. As a Munster fan I also find the number of corporates increasing significantly for HEC games.

Eoin

His "gamble" to play D'Arcy instead of Maggs wasnt any kind of gamble. D'Arcy had been exceptional for Leinster, it would have been idiotic not to pick him.

Yes, he was playing well, but O'D was at 2nd centre and D'Arcy was on the wing I think. EOS put two in new positions to them - and that is why I think it was a gamble.

[Jackass]

The Rooster wrote:

As for the captain, O'Driscoll's record is impeccable.

Very true, since his first game against the Ozzies in Landsdowne when we beat them for either the first time in donkeys years or even ever i'm not sure, but bear in mind, his period of captaincy has also been the period of the immergance of the likes of D'Arcy, Murphy, O'Connell and has also been the time of players hitting their peak, such as Hickie, Horgan, O'Kelly and O'Gara (O'Drisscoll also), so it's difficult to judge how much of the recent success is down to O'Drisscolls captaincy or the emrgence of world class squad during that time?
My point was that in two very simular games, O'Drisscolls team scraped it and O'Connells team ran out comprehensive winners.
Also, i don't think O'Connell has played poor and average, more like average and very well...O'Kelly has played better, but O'Connell is still a fantastic player. I just believe O'Connell is more of a leader, in Britain he's constantly compared to Martin Johnson for his manner on the pitch. Take the game against England in Twickenham, where O'Drisscoll had a shocker, and O'Connell was the captain everywhere except on the team sheet, and without him i don't believe we would have won..i suppose it's all down to the interpretation of preformances...that's just mine You'rs is also very valid though, and i understand were you're coming from, He is confident and brash enouh for the job.

DaveIrl wrote:

Yep but I think the point is that it's better to have a competent Maggs playing in his position rather than Dempsey out of position. But as I've said my selection decisions would be radical anyway. I'd freak people out with the things I'd try!

lol, good point. Although I would have preferred to have swopped Dempsey and murphy around , than to have horgan on the wing and maggs in the 15. Just out of interest, what would you try?

daveirl

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