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

Burkie1203 wrote: »

connachta wrote: »

Of course if you're talented enough back-3 player and under 33 in  2019

Why have you got this fixation on talent

Because I love rugby and I'm fed up to see us being spanked in crucial time by Wales or Argentina just because some prefer other criteria than talent

prawnsambo wrote: »

connachta wrote: »

Of course if you're talented enough back-3 player and under 33 in  2019

Simon Shaw is still laughing at this. :pac:

Is he a back-3 player? I precised that point very clearly.

connachta wrote: »

Because I love rugby and I'm fed up to see us being spanked in crucial time by Wales or Argentina just because some prefer other criteria than talent

Talent is a word that covers a player ability quite broadly and what the coach wants from a player might mean a player with different skills doesn't make the cut.

Right now have a 40 man squad involved this november. There is probably another 15 guys in the frame unavailable for various reasons. We have a few others like Beirne, Moore (rumoured to be ulster bound) who are going to be back in Ireland next season.

We are building nicely. Conway for now has overtaken TOH and is likely to occupy the 23 shirt quite a bit. He may well go to the RWC as first choice 15. But for now its time to develop options. Not pick a 31 man squad for Japan.

connachta wrote: »

What? EOS, partly Schimdt.

Strange smell of bullcrap wafting this way. :pac:

prawnsambo wrote: »

connachta wrote: »

Is it a back-3 player? I precised that point very clearly.

It?

Ok Shane Williams then. I can keep this up all day.

Shane Wiliams wasn't decisive at all in the end (except against us, sadly)

prawnsambo wrote: »

connachta wrote: »

Shane Wiliams wasn't decisive at all in the end (except against us, sadly)

Total bollocks. He scored three tries in that RWC and one of them was against us in the match that knocked us out.

What does 'decisive' even mean in this context?

It means he wasn't who he was before. I don't know what the Welsh situation was in 2011, but our situation now allows us to use other option(s)

connachta wrote: »

I fully supported Beirne and Moore (I read the rumour too) inclusion ASAP because they are talented enough.

What is so wrong about thinking players have gone for a year too long in the past with Ireland, and don't want it happens again? What is so wrong about thinking Dave is behind enough quality players to be dropped clearly?

I give you 2 heart-breaking examples to show it's not bad faith : John Muldoon is still playing ok, but I think he should retire this summer. Matt Healy has some qualities but I agree he's been surpassed by better players. It's the same

Who says R Kearney will be going on too long?

Whats wrong with keeping as many options open as possible?

prawnsambo wrote: »

connachta wrote: »

It means he wasn't who he was before. I don't know what the Welsh situation was in 2011, but our situation now allows us to use other option

Well decisive is not the correct word for that.

He was damned effective. Three tries in a RWC is pretty good for an 'over the hill' winger. And stop moving the goalposts. Shane Williams was 34 and selected in the squad, played and scored. What more do you want from a winger? Do the can-can down the touchline with the ball on his nose?

OK t'morrow I'll try to find out how many tries he scored in his last season

connachta wrote: »

It means he wasn't who he was before. I don't know what the Welsh situation was in 2011, but our situation now allows us to use other option(s)

But we are using other options. Sweetnam, Conway, Aki, Byrne, Farrell, McCloskey, Stockdale. We have others to come in (some more likely then others) like Ringrose, R Scannell, Payne, Marshall.

I have the relevant stats based on enough games (with Spreys)
2007/08 12 tries 16 games played
2009/10 3 tries 17 games played.
Of course age has nothing to do with this

connachta wrote: »

yes. in a already lost game. Decisive

That is actually a pathetic response. One player is somehow picked out for a team loss despite scoring a try. Seriously?

connachta wrote: »

I have the relevant stats based on enough games (with Spreys)
2007/08 12 tries 16 games played
2009/10 3 tries 17 games played.
Of course age has nothing to do with this

Funny how you left out the fact that he scored two tries in his final match for the Ospreys in the Pro 12 final against Leinster. The last one being the decisive one that won the game for them.

Decisive. Am I doing this right? :pac:

Looking like 10 is an area that really needs to be depth developed quickly before the World Cup. Ulster and Connacht could do with a high quality Irish qualified 10 each. Cartys good but international level and we all know about Jackson.
Leinster have sexton Byrne Carbery marsh, and in the academy Crawley could play there? Byrnes you get brother? Any other options?
Munster have beylandaal, keatley hanrahan and Johnston Conor Fitzgerald, Alan tynan? And Tomas quinlan?
With madigan in Bristol.
Really think the irfu should push for spreading talent

Just got around to watching the game now. I reckon it was a fairly important exercise, if perhaps not the greatest spectacle.

Conway deservedly MOTM, and after that the only real standouts were Conan and maybe McCloskey. Herring also had his darts on point which was nice to see.

All of our issues going forward began with our breakdown work, which appeared disjointed and underpowered. Dillane in particular had a very poor game, I thought. He seemed to be good value for arriving last to a breakdown and putting his hand on someone's ass, but otherwise contributed very little. Contrast his breakdown work with what we get from someone like Henderson and it's night and day. I also feel as though Conan and Murphy left Ruddock with too much to do. So all in all, not too surprising we struggled to recycle quickly.

Which then meant Carbery, a 21-year-old who primarily plays fullback, was not afforded much space on most phases, so not surprising he couldn't get us moving too well. He played OK though, so no real need to panic here.

I was thinking too if Joe may have had World Cup strategy in mind, with the 13 changes. Could he be seeing how much rotation he can get away with before the team significantly dips? It goes without saying that getting our starting 15 to the QFs as fresh as possible will be massively beneficial.

Herring has been really impressive

Neil3030 wrote: »

I was thinking too if Joe may have had World Cup strategy in mind, with the 13 changes. Could he be seeing how much rotation he can get away with before the team significantly dips? It goes without saying that getting our starting 15 to the QFs as fresh as possible will be massively beneficial.

I'd say for most teams, these AIs are the precise point at which they can do the most risk-free experimentation. Before now, everyone had rankings to worry about. After now, you really have to be looking towards 2019 and getting consistent.

I think Joe is just using these latter matches (or maybe just the Fiji one) as an attempt to see everybody's strengths and weaknesses. If you read his post-match interview, you can tell he was uncharacteristically sanguine about how the match went, he clearly wasn't in the "agonise over what went wrong" mode that you'd usually expect, he was talking like he expected it to be incohesive, sloppy, and difficult to win. Which suggests to me that he cared more about the post-match data analysis and video reviews than anything else. Alpha testing.