Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread VIII - ** MOD NOTE POST #4781 **

Big opportunity for Porter.

Delighted for Ruddock as captain again. Very unlucky to only have 17 caps to his name so far.

Just noticed that James Ryan isn't in the side. Thought he was sure to get a start. Another injury?

Jaysus can you imagine being a poor battered auld Fijian thinking youve done well so far and the scoreline is looking respectable then looking up at the 50-60 minute mark and seeing healy, furlong, stander and henshaw, four b&i lions no less, coming onto the pitch got rest their souls.

irishfan9 wrote: »

Porter's move to tighthead really worked out for him.

Was surprised it took so long. I was saying when I saw him at U20's he should consider a move over.

It's fairly possible they wanted a proper look at him at LH just in case he turned out to be a proper monster who was undroppable.

He's certainly grabbed this chance at TH with both his monstrous hands

AdamD wrote: »

errlloyd wrote: »

I've only seen Chris Farrell play poorly for Munster. I know he's been good, but I am just wondering where he sits on the centre pecking order come Japan.

Henshaw
Aki
Ringrose
Marshall
McCloskey
Scannell
Payne

Doubt Aki is ahead of Ringrose already

That wasn't a ranked list. Just as they came to mind.

irishbucsfan wrote: »

If you look at this team in terms of who can have the biggest short-term impact on their fortunes... I'd say the 5

Ruddock can possibly cement his place in the 23 for Argentina/6Ns.
Murphy can possibly oust him.
Porter can possibly make himself a genuine bench option due to his quality around the field
Dillane can make some lost ground up on Ryan.
Conway can make himself a real option at 15 in the not entirely unlikely scenario that RK and JP are missing.

And I suppose a bad performance from Marmion/Carberry could set them back as our seemingly 2nd choice half backs.

I think Carberry is probably safe enough as 2nd choice for the foreseeable, maybe Marmion too.

There's also the flip side of this - eg. another weak McCloskey performance and I think it'll be a long, long time before we see him named in an Irish squad again.

DGRulz wrote: »

Was looking forward to Bryne v Nadolo II

So was Nadolo!

FrannoFan wrote: »

pretty sure mccloskey played wing that day

Pretty sure he started at 12...

https://twitter.com/IrishRugby/status/702847486747140096/photo/1

Quintis wrote: »

Pretty sure he started at 12...

https://twitter.com/IrishRugby/status/702847486747140096/photo/1

for some reason i have images in my head of him on the right wing.

i stand corrected

MJohnston wrote: »

I think Carberry is probably safe enough as 2nd choice for the foreseeable, maybe Marmion too.

There's also the flip side of this - eg. another weak McCloskey performance and I think it'll be a long, long time before we see him named in an Irish squad again.

I find this strange, I didn't think he was weak against England.
The only fault I could imagine was that he didn't follow Joe's instructions, whatever those instructions were.
Thought he carried well into traffic a few times.

He seems to be in good form this season though, a good run of games too, so I'd be hopeful he could break into the starting 15 against Argentina.
If he is on fire after 50 mins Henshaw could slot in to keep him a bit fresher for the following match.
Nothing against Aki, who was very good against SA, but I just have a little hope that McCloskey is primed to have a stormer.

Jump_In_Jack wrote: »

I find this strange, I didn't think he was weak against England.

I don't personally think he was weak either, but I guess I'm talking about Joe's perspective there.

As someone who appreciates a bit of bosh in a midfield, I'm sorta looking forward to them squaring off against some Pacific Islanders.

It is a very kick chase orientated back three too. Pack would struggle against a lot of teams, but should be too good for the Fijians.

Deleted User wrote: »

What's goin on lads?

3 pages after Dave Kearney has been announced in an Ireland team and no outrage?