Scotland vs Ireland, 4th Feb 2017, Murrayfield, 2:25, RTÉ 2

shootermacg wrote: »

Scannell to 12, Henshaw to 13, CJ to 8, SoB to 6, VdF to 7. Byrne in for Earls. DR in for Henderson.

I'd like to see these changes but as we know we won't get many changes, Heaslip & Ringrose won't get dropped.
If he made these changes and we battered Italy he'd be under pressure to not pick Heaslip & Ringrose for the France game.
Would like to see Conan sometime during the six nations aswell.

So many people on here calling for Ringrose to be dropped, this was his first time at centre in a tournament test match and he showed flashes of what he could do in the second half. The last thing we should do is drop him. I have no doubt that him and Henshaw can provide the incision we are missing in our backline but for that too happen we need to give him time to develop and that means giving him to scope to make a few cock ups in defence and attack as he did yesterday.

Some players have to be dropped after that performance. We cannot keep running around with the same collection of undropable players, who know there are no personal consequences for a poor performance.

Heaslip ought not to play our next match. He was dire against Scotland in general. He threw away an excellent try scoring opportunity with a needless offload, and gave away the penalty that put Scotland ahead, to name but two of his "standout" moments.

Ringrose was completely at sea, however I would cut him some slack given his inexperience. He needs to catch on fast though if he is to have any future in green.

Rob "The Cooley Turnstile" Kearney spent much of his "counter-attacking" taking the ball directly into contact, rather than looking for space or the pass.

Henderson did grab a try, but other than that moment, I can't really remember Henderson being on the pitch.

Tommy Bowe was finished at international level by 2015. He should be absolutely nowhere near the squad. His sole contribution to the match was to give away the penalty that sealed the result.

Murray was rubbish yesterday. Slow, ponderous, and unimaginative. He is difficult to drop however, given the utter gulf in ability between him and Marmion.

It's about time Schmidt starting picking a team based on form, not on supposed class or reputation.


The team Ireland should be putting out against Italy:
O'Halloran, Zebo, Ringrose, Henshaw, Earls, Jackson, Murray, Healy, Best, Furlong, Ryan, Toner, O'Brien, Van der Flier, Stander

Bench:
Scannell, McGrath, Ryan, Dillane, O'Donnell, Marmion, Keatley, Conway (if fit)/Gilroy

wittycynic wrote:

Heaslip ought not to play our next match. He was dire against Scotland in general. He threw away an excellent try scoring opportunity with a needless offload, and gave away the penalty that put Scotland ahead, to name but two of his "standout" moments.

Name the others. He had a couple of stand out bad moments but his general play was good. He made more ground with his carries than any of our forwards and was one of the only people getting us on the front foot in the first half.

The bloke is nominated for IRB POTY in 2016 and after the first game of 2017 you want him dropped.

First Up wrote: »

We need a more balanced back row and I thought Henderson was very dissapointing. I'd give Ryan a go. Italy are no mugs up front.

What is our back row missing? Not sure balance is an issue at all tbh

Buer wrote: »

Name the others. He had a couple of stand out bad moments but his general play was good. He made more ground with his carries than any of our forwards and was one of the only people getting us on the front foot in the first half.

The bloke is nominated for IRB POTY in 2016 and after the first game of 2017 you want him dropped.

There seems to be more of a focus on this forum on scouring ESPN for match statistics than actually developing an overall impression of a player from watching the game. Here's the thing, standout moments are what determine results. Yes I expect players to perform well generally throughout the game, but at the crucial points on which games turn we need players to make the right choices and perform at their best during these pivotal points. It was at some of these moments that Heaslip was at his worst.

This idea that "those moments don't matter because his stats were good" is plainly wrong in my view.

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

This is nonsense. We lost, therefore dropped players has no logic. You pick the best players you have. Just because they loose, does not mean they are still the best players available. A good coach continues to use the same best 15 and improve what they are doing, improve the identification of weak points in the next points opposition, and increase the teams tactical range.

This bitching about players and why the coach is not changing them, bringing in young 'new blood' for little other reason than blind optimism at the expense of reason, is just amateur couch coach. Just Sega Football Manager tendency.

Joe got this one wrong, not doubt. Ireland did not identify, exploit weaknesses, or deal well with Scotland's good preparation to contain us. Shuffling the deck in frustration is not the corrective action for this problem.

There is a very strong argument for the same 15 again on Saturday. One change at most.

Players need to be under pressure for their place in the team. Maybe O'Halloran isn't as gifted as Kearney, maybe Van der Flier isn't as gifted as Heaslip. But players need to know that if their performance drops, if they don't give 100%, someone else is going to be taking their place. Competition for places is a factor that drives performances, as any sports psychologist will tell you. Right now we don't have that for many positions on the team.

O'Halloran has been playing brilliantly this season. What kind of message does his continued exclusion send out? Regardless of how Rob Kearney plays, if he's fit he's in the team. Does this make Ireland a better team, a better squad? There were many reasons why we lost yesterday, but some of the players' performances are chief amongst them. There need to be personal repercussions for playing below your best.

wittycynic wrote:

This idea that "those moments don't matter because his stats were good" is plainly wrong in my view.

The stats are simple facts regarding how they performed and what they did on the pitch.

The impression of those players was good without having to consult the stats. Heaslip made a couple of bad errors but it was obvious to anyone watching that he was doing a massive amount of carrying and was getting us forward particularly in the first half when our more powerful carriers were struggling.

Kearney and Zebo were showing for the ball repeatedly and making their presence felt. Kearney's try saving hit was a massive moment.

The statistics simply go hand in hand with the overall performance of the players and contradicts your assessment.

If you're looking at guys who failed to perform then you look at Jackson, Toner, Earls, Best and Henderson. They struggled badly to impose themselves on the game when we needed to get a hold of the game. Their overall showings simply weren't good enough.