Buildy-uppy thread: Ire vs Scot

swiwi_ · 05-03-2018 12:12pm #1

So the Scots have some injured calvary back.

Richie Gray
Fraser Brown
Zander Fagerson
Alex Dunbar
Darryl Marfo

John Hardie is back after his dalliance with Pepsi, as well as George Horne, Byron McGuigan, Lee Jones, and Magnus Bradbury.

What is up with the injured Irish players?

Nb: not considered due to injury - Tim Visser (blessing in disguise), Rob Harley - giving up the ginger advantage

cavemeister · 05-03-2018 12:18pm

Was listening to the news today and they were saying that Furlong and Henderson will be fit.

My only concerns are:
12/13 channel - Huw Jones will run straight through what will be a very inexperienced Irish centre partnership (Aki & Ringrose) and that Hogg will be fully aware of Stockdales defensive shortfall and will exploit.

Our forwards will dominate the Scots but it's the Scottish backline that really worries me.

Buer · 05-03-2018 12:30pm

I would be very nervous of Ringrose starting at 13. I can't see him being close to ready for 6N level of intensity and I imagine he'll need a few games to get up to speed on patterns/systems etc.

The idea of a barely fit Ringrose defending the 13 channel with Stockdale outside him fills me with apprehension. Scotland will be running Hogg and Jones at that channel all afternoon. We'll need to own the ball and put real pressure on Russell when in possession to disrupt any clean ball they're able to move wide.

Henshaw will be a real loss for this game.

Sangre · 05-03-2018 12:45pm

Buer wrote: »

I would be very nervous of Ringrose starting at 13. I can't see him being close to ready for 6N level of intensity and I imagine he'll need a few games to get up to speed on patterns/systems etc.

The idea of a barely fit Ringrose defending the 13 channel with Stockdale outside him fills me with apprehension. Scotland will be running Hogg and Jones at that channel all afternoon. We'll need to own the ball and put real pressure on Russell when in possession to disrupt any clean ball they're able to move wide.

Henshaw will be a real loss for this game.

Worryingly Scotland only needed 44% possession and 43% territory to win against England. They will probably have less than that against us but they obviously don't need to dominate the stats to score points.

[Deleted User] · 05-03-2018 12:48pm

This will be a fascinating encounter.

I fully expect Ireland to win, but then I expected England to beat Scotland as well.

If Scotland do come out on top, then we could potentially see the final day starting with Ireland and England on 14 points and Scotland on 13, but playing Italy in the final day.

Could Scotland win the six nations :eek:

Bridge93 · 05-03-2018 1:09pm

Was it the Scots who tried to choke poor ROG until a brave John Hayes saved the day? Do it for ROG

Buer · 05-03-2018 1:12pm

Bridge93 wrote: »

Was it the Scots who tried to choke poor ROG until a brave John Hayes saved the day? Do it for ROG

It turned out to be Hayes' bingo wing suffocating him.

sydthebeat · 05-03-2018 1:16pm

ireland are -10... and fully justified in my opinion.

Yes, we have a bit of a crisis with injuries in midfield, but we were able to call upon a relative novice in C Farrell who puts in a MOTM performance against wales. If Ringrose is in there, id be fully satisfied that hes match fit and hes our best available player.

I think we could actually hit these guys for a bonus point.

At home, returning lions, battle hardened bench.
Scotland have a tenancy to follow up a great performance with a poor one, much like where we were a few years back.
Beat wales last year, loose abjectly to England
Beat Argentina in oz, loose to fiji the next week
Piss poor against wales this year, fantastic against England.

Bridge93 · 05-03-2018 1:18pm

I'll be putting money on Ireland -10 I think. Scotland not won't away bar Italy since 2010. Although that was in dublin

aloooof · 05-03-2018 1:27pm

Scotland are poor away from home, while Ireland's record under Schmidt at Lansdowne is pretty formidable. And yet, I'm slightly apprehensive about this one.

Maybe it's an over-reaction on my part but with the returning Ringrose, Stockdale's occasional defensive lapse and the width Scotland put on the ball, I can see them causing us problems out wide.

Having said that, I still expect us to win and if we do have Henderson and Furlong back, I'll be a lot more positive.

Former Former · 05-03-2018 1:30pm

Squad update: http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/41540.php#.Wp026XzLhhE

Herring, Henderson and Furlong all due back, Barry Daly added to the squad. N Scannell and Conway back "next week"

Team pretty much picks itself if that turns out to be accurate, probably the only question is whether McFadden holds onto the 23 jersey or whether Larmour gets a go.

Healy Best Furlong
Henderson Ryan
POM Stander Leavy
Murray Sexton
Stockdale Aki Ringrose Earls
Kearney

Cronin McGrath Porter Toner Conan Marmion Carbery McFadden/Larmour

razorblunt · 05-03-2018 1:59pm

I'm really apprehensive about this.

Ringrose coming back in, Stockdale and Kearney poor defensively. The Scots on the up, especially Hogg. I was really excited to see Farrell and Aki go up against Jones in this one.
I think Best will really need to be vocal too if both Gray brothers start as they'll just flop all over rucks and ensure the Scots have all day back there.

durthacht · 05-03-2018 2:08pm

Former Former wrote: »

...Team pretty much picks itself if that turns out to be accurate, probably the only question is whether McFadden holds onto the 23 jersey or whether Larmour gets a go.

Healy Best Furlong
Henderson Ryan
POM Stander Leavy
Murray Sexton
Stockdale Aki Ringrose Earls
Kearney

Cronin McGrath Porter Toner Conan Marmion Carbery McFadden/Larmour

Don't know about that as I imagine there are close calls at LH and second row.

Aside from that though I do agree.

thomond2006 · 05-03-2018 2:09pm

Buer wrote: »

It turned out to be Hayes' bingo wing suffocating him.

One day I'll find you.

The Rape of Lucretia · 05-03-2018 2:16pm

Buer wrote: »

I would be very nervous of Ringrose starting at 13.
The idea of a barely fit Ringrose defending the 13 channel with Stockdale outside him fills me with apprehension.

You make a good case for leaving Stockdale out of this one and bringing back a safe pair of hands. Trimble. Or Tommy Bowe maybe. He does do Grand Slams. Trimble only does championships. I am OK with either.

cavemeister · 05-03-2018 2:19pm

I'd seriously consider putting Earls on the left wing and McFadden on the right. Need to shore up any defensive shortfall for this one. Don't go for the bonus point, just grind out the win... With our barren midfield, this is the best option.

Squatter · 05-03-2018 2:30pm

Bridge93 wrote: »

Was it the Scots who tried to choke poor ROG until a brave John Hayes saved the day? Do it for ROG

One of Eddie "the spoofer" O'Sullivan's more deranged claims. He got away with it too.

[Deleted User] · 05-03-2018 2:42pm

England were poor against Scotland and not great against Italy. Premiership teams are dire this year bar one or two exceptions. I wouldn't automatically fear Scotland off the back of their win in Murrayfield.

Anyone who is really concerned about Scotland coming to town need to go back and watch the Wales game. They will be better but they are a very beatable team. Ireland will strangle them in a way that England couldn't and whilst Scotland will definitely bag a few tries, I think we'll beat them with a decent cushion.

Burkie1203 · 05-03-2018 2:46pm

Re concerns about Ringrose. Possible it could be 12 Ringrose 13 Aki??? Defensively at least they could line up that way. Ringrose played v NZ and Aus at inside centre

Sangre · 05-03-2018 2:49pm

Unless Scotland can start off well I think its going to be a long day for them. They'll start chasing the game and we'll suffocate them completely.

Teferi · 05-03-2018 2:53pm

Famous last words here but not too worried about this fixture. Scotland are awful away from home and celebrated like they won the world cup, two weeks ago when they beat the English. I think they won't be able to gee themselves up emotionally for the encounter. We'll have to shore up the defence on the outside as Scotland have the backs to exploit that particular weakness of ours, but otherwise, I think we should suffocate them.

jr86 · 05-03-2018 3:03pm

Teferi wrote: »

Famous last words here but not too worried about this fixture. Scotland are awful away from home and celebrated like they won the world cup, two weeks ago when they beat the English. I think they won't be able to gee themselves up emotionally for the encounter. We'll have to shore up the defence on the outside as Scotland have the backs to exploit that particular weakness of ours, but otherwise, I think we should suffocate them.

To be fair this is their "World Cup Final", win it and they might just actually win the competition. Can't see hunger or intensity being an issue and they've had a 2 week layoff now

One minute I think Ireland will win it handy, the next I think it's a real banana skin. Stats like Scotland's away record over the past few years aren't as assuring when you see their improvement in 2017, which has continued through to this year - if that massive win against England is anything to go by

I rate this Scotland team better than Wales these days (opening day apart) and certainly better than France so while generally during the 6n era we may be conditioned to thinking "it's just Scotland", I do think this is our toughest opponent to date

jr86 · 05-03-2018 3:08pm

Venjur wrote: »

England were poor against Scotland and not great against Italy. Premiership teams are dire this year bar one or two exceptions. I wouldn't automatically fear Scotland off the back of their win in Murrayfield.

Is there really that much of a correlation between club and national form?

Whatever way you look at it that was an outstanding win. To essentially hammer a side with 2 losses since 2015

Can't see us putting down England so easily next week when it's us to face them, in fact we'll be probably be hailing it as one of our greatest victories of all time if we win in Twickenham Saturday week, and there would be a lot of merit in it too.

ClanofLams · 05-03-2018 3:09pm

cavemeister wrote: »

I'd seriously consider putting Earls on the left wing and McFadden on the right. Need to shore up any defensive shortfall for this one. Don't go for the bonus point, just grind out the win... With our barren midfield, this is the best option.

McFadden didn’t exactly cover himself in glory in defence against Wales although he’s usually solid to be fair. Would be shocked to see him starting though.

arsebiscuits1 · 05-03-2018 3:10pm

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

You make a good case for leaving Stockdale out of this one and bringing back a safe pair of hands. Trimble. Or Tommy Bowe maybe. He does do Grand Slams. Trimble only does championships. I am OK with either.

I'm more likely to get a call up than either of those fellas I reckon.

While they will publicly say at every opportunity that they're taking it game by game, the Irish management have 1 eye on the WC. Bowe has already said he is retiring, why parachute in a players whose been out of the system in who will be gone at the end of the season?

They've called up Barry Daly this week due to Conways issues. I reckon Sweetnam is next on that list. Then it's a straight shoot out between all of the other fit wingers in Ireland... followed by Zebo

[Deleted User] · 05-03-2018 3:21pm

jr86 wrote: »

Is there really that much of a correlation between club and national form?

Whatever way you look at it that was an outstanding win. To essentially hammer a side with 2 losses since 2015

Can't see us putting down England so easily next week when it's us to face them, in fact we'll be probably be hailing it as one of our greatest victories of all time if we win in Twickenham Saturday week, and there would be a lot of merit in it too.

I think there is a reasonable correlation. In the 2015 / 2016 champions cup season England had 5 teams into the knock outs with Saracens winning the entire thing and forming the spine of the team that fairly comfortably won the Grand Slam.

Ireland had no teams in the knock out stages and had our worst six nations under Joe that same year. Ireland won the Grand Slam when Leinster and Munster were consistently the best two teams in Europe.

I don't think it is the be all and end all as Wales have been competitive when the provinces haven't but I think it impacts Ireland and England more due to our selection policies and history in the domestic leagues.

It was an outstanding win for Scotland in round 3. Outstanding is probably the right word because it was exceptional, ie: not usual or typical. It was out of the ordinary and unexpected. I don't think they can do it two fixtures in a row, home and away.

I personally think Ireland would need to seriously under perform to lose the game. I think we're much more likely to get a TBP win than a loss of any kind.

jr86 · 05-03-2018 3:26pm

Venjur wrote: »

I think there is a reasonable correlation. In the 2015 / 2016 champions cup season England had 5 teams into the knock outs with Saracens winning the entire thing and forming the spine of the team that fairly comfortably won the Grand Slam.

Ireland had no teams in the knock out stages and had our worst six nations under Joe that same year. Ireland won the Grand Slam when Leinster and Munster were consistently the best two teams in Europe.

From what I recall 2016 was a pure write off campaign for us, in terms of injuries. We had a load of fringe players playing in Twickenham anyway. So maybe not the best example

We lost two matches in 2011 and 12 (was it even 3 in 2012?) when Leinster won Europe, and beat Ulster one year.

Dubinusa · 05-03-2018 3:38pm

Should be a cracker of a game. I'd start toner just for the line out and for his presence in the maul. Hopefully ringrose is sharp. I think he's the best 13 we have and offers better attacking options. Hopefully we get the ball out to earls a bit and watch the wee man work his magic. Set piece has got to function, or it will be s long day. Sexton will be on the money with his place kicking. We can't afford to miss kickable opportunities. I worry for this game more than the final fixture. Scotland are a serious outfit when firing on all cylinders.

aloooof · 05-03-2018 3:52pm

Dubinusa wrote: »

I worry for this game more than the final fixture.

Can't help but feel there's strong recency-bias in this post. While I am slightly apprehensive about this game, I've no doubt that beating England in Twickenham is an exponentially more difficult task.

irelandrover · 05-03-2018 3:57pm

Scotland were good against England. Scotland were one of the worst teams I've seen in the competition against Wales.

ireland should be beating them easily enough at home.

sydthebeat · 05-03-2018 4:03pm

England were too passive at ruck time, we shouldnt in any way be passive....... rucking is our strength and an important basic in how we play.

what we need to do is tighten up out wide, i think ringrose could actually enhance this compared to aki / farrell or henshaw / aki.
Hopefully hes fit and ready to go.

Buildy-uppy thread: Ire vs Scot

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