Match preview and thread: IRE v SCO (Sat 10th Mar 14:15) TV3, ITV & FR2.

flutered · 11-03-2018 09:12PM

Kevski wrote: »

Jesus, who’d have thought that the awarding of Man of the Match would be the most controversial decision of the weekend.

quinny got the result he wanted, either by default or design

flutered · 11-03-2018 09:16PM

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Its a bank holiday so most ppl will

most public service will, retail no

prawnsambo · 11-03-2018 09:17PM

I'm still looking for the menu item on here where I can look up evryone's IP addresses. And no sneaky switching off and on your routers while I investigate.

Dog Botherer · 11-03-2018 09:45PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Anybody know at what time was that incident with Cian Healy?

Think it was about the 35 minute mark or so. I remember thinking he’d surely be hauled off at half time after his miraculous “recovery”.

mfceiling · 11-03-2018 09:50PM

Like a lad I used to work with said...

(About Kearney)

"He could squat down in front of you and shìt a gold bar at your feet, and you'd hand it back and tell him there's a smell off shìt on it".

Synode · 11-03-2018 11:07PM

Just watching it back again. Kearney was brilliant when involved but Ringrose probably deserved MOTM. Was superb in defence and attack. Ireland weren't great and if Scotland had taken their chances it would have been a very nervy second half. But credit to the lads. Winning games when not playing to your best is a sign of a great team.

Our subs bench made a big difference too. Our squad depth is fantastic. Just hope Carbery gets more game time at 10 in the next 18 months

Dubinusa · 11-03-2018 11:15PM

Was a very good game. Lots of positives. Sexton had a so so day.

sydthebeat · 12-03-2018 09:23AM

Being very picky, I was disappointed with our defending for the Scotland try. It was a first phase play, two simple back door passes, and they worked the space well for the corner.

prawnsambo · 12-03-2018 10:05AM

sydthebeat wrote: »

Being very picky, I was disappointed with our defending for the Scotland try. It was a first phase play, two simple back door passes, and they worked the space well for the corner.

I don't mind those so much when a tackler gets to the scoring player. Obviously conceding a try is bad, but the worst for me is when the try is scored unopposed. At least if there's a tackle, you can feel that it's a 50/50 chance of the try being defended. A bit like Jamie Heaslip's tackle on Stuart Hogg.

Birdie Num Num · 12-03-2018 10:36AM

sydthebeat wrote: »

Being very picky, I was disappointed with our defending for the Scotland try. It was a first phase play, two simple back door passes, and they worked the space well for the corner.

Picky yes but Scotland did do us some favours throwing some stray passes when going forward.

prawnsambo · 12-03-2018 10:45AM

Birdie Num Num wrote: »

Picky yes but Scotland did do us some favours throwing some stray passes when going forward.

I believe (possibly misguidedly) that our linespeed pressure had a hand in some of those wayward passes. When Huw Jones passed to the floor in front of Stuart Hogg, he was running towards Jonny Sexton, who didn't commit himself, but just stayed in position on Jones forcing Jones to make the decision rather than himself. A game of chicken and Jones blinked first and rushed the pass.

12-03-2018 10:46AM

Birdie Num Num wrote: »

Picky yes but Scotland did do us some favours throwing some stray passes when going forward.

Scotland were really struggling to break us down and then the one time they'd gone with real width they gifted us a try through Stockdale. It was clearly in their minds for the remainder and it impacted the fluency and confidence of their passing.

Beyond that we were covering space quite well and our defensive line made good decisions. I think some of the wayward passes from Scotland were down to conditions and poor handling, I think a good deal of it however was down to the aggressiveness and accuracy of our defence and the early sucker punch from Stockdale robbing that avenue into the game.

irishbucsfan · 12-03-2018 10:47AM

I wouldn't say it's picky at all to criticise some aspects of our performance. We struggled at times again in that first half. There's absolutely loads of stuff for them to work on.

England in Twickenham might be a completely different challenge. We'll see. We're number 2 in the world now with a Grand Slam in our grasp, so the next two objectives are completely clear and obvious for this squad.

Former Former · 12-03-2018 10:54AM

Dubinusa wrote: »

Lots of positives. Sexton had a so so day.

I don't think he's fit. I think he's carrying that injury he had leading up to the Wales game.

I'd say he'll get through the England match then be given a few weeks off.

Which is very bad news for Leinster

prawnsambo · 12-03-2018 10:59AM

Former Former wrote: »

I don't think he's fit. I think he's carrying that injury he had leading up to the Wales game.

I'd say he'll get through the England match then be given a few weeks off.

Which is very bad news for Leinster

His kicking was better though. The one he missed was from a position he often has problems with; around the 15 on the right hand side. But his follow through looked a lot more fluid and not as truncated as it seemed to be against Wales.

He went for the corner more, but despite protestations to the contrary, I believe the target was getting a bonus point and closing off the championship.

Buer · 12-03-2018 11:18AM

Former Former wrote: »

I don't think he's fit. I think he's carrying that injury he had leading up to the Wales game.

I think you're right. I noticed he kept his tracksuit bottoms on until the very last minute which is unusual. He was the only Irish player to do so; everyone else was fully stripped when they came out for the anthems. I reckon he was keeping muscles as warm as possible for as long as possible before kick off. Keatley popping up during the warm up was also unexpected. I'd be confident there was some sort of question mark over him.

Buer · 12-03-2018 11:23AM

Synode wrote: »

Just watching it back again. Kearney was brilliant when involved but Ringrose probably deserved MOTM. Was superb in defence and attack.s

I was hugely impressed with him and surprised he was so comfortable almost immediately.

He made one suspect read in defence early on when coming up but it wasn't exposed. After that, he was flawless. His appreciation of space and using his footwork to shepherd Hogg/Jones into a tackle was very intelligent. He was more than happy to give up 5 yards by backing off to let himself close that outside channel and put his man down. Stockdale looked far more at ease and contributed well at times.

Ringrose also picked the perfect moment to shoot on a couple of occaisons, notably putting Jones down in our 22 at one point. He's far more slight than many centres but he made his tackles stick. I'd love to see him against Te'o next week although England might shake things up agains there and move Farrell infield.

Professor Moriarty · 12-03-2018 11:35AM

Buer wrote: »

I was hugely impressed with him and surprised he was so comfortable almost immediately.

He made one suspect read in defence early on when coming up but it wasn't exposed. After that, he was flawless. His appreciation of space and using his footwork to shepherd Hogg/Jones into a tackle was very intelligent. He was more than happy to give up 5 yards by backing off to let himself close that outside channel and put his man down. Stockdale looked far more at ease and contributed well at times.

Ringrose also picked the perfect moment to shoot on a couple of occaisons, notably putting Jones down in our 22 at one point. He's far more slight than many centres but he made his tackles stick. I'd love to see him against Te'o next week although England might shake things up agains there and move Farrell infield.

You know that times have completely changed when a 14st 8lbs centre is considered very 'slight'.

Christy42 · 12-03-2018 11:39AM

Buer wrote: »

I was hugely impressed with him and surprised he was so comfortable almost immediately.

He made one suspect read in defence early on when coming up but it wasn't exposed. After that, he was flawless. His appreciation of space and using his footwork to shepherd Hogg/Jones into a tackle was very intelligent. He was more than happy to give up 5 yards by backing off to let himself close that outside channel and put his man down. Stockdale looked far more at ease and contributed well at times.

Ringrose also picked the perfect moment to shoot on a couple of occaisons, notably putting Jones down in our 22 at one point. He's far more slight than many centres but he made his tackles stick. I'd love to see him against Te'o next week although England might shake things up agains there and move Farrell infield.

He played well but was his shoot up in the 22 not offside? I remember they had a penalty advantage and there was another penalty advantage in the center which was used when the Scots passed to touch.

For all the Scots inventive play they are really not scoring tries. Sure there was one guilt edged chance they missed vs us and a couple of close calls if passes went to hand but not really convinced they can pull them off consistently. So I am OK with how we defended. There are still issues there but if a team puts caution to the with they will get opportunities. Just means they are tough to pull off which is the risk/reward Scotland are trying

prawnsambo · 12-03-2018 11:43AM

Christy42 wrote: »

For all the Scots inventive play they are really not scoring tries. Sure there was one guilt edged chance they missed vs us and a couple of close calls if passes went to hand but not really convinced they can pull them off consistently. So I am OK with how we defended. There are still issues there but if a team puts caution to the with they will get opportunities. Just means they are tough to pull off which is the risk/reward Scotland are trying

I love it.

You might have started something there.

Buer · 12-03-2018 11:44AM

Professor Moriarty wrote: »

You know that times have completely changed when a 14st 8lbs centre is considered very 'slight'.

They really have. It used be that the 12 was the bosher but that player is often a playmaker now like Horne or Farrell (neither small nor tanks). Then you look at the outside centres who played this weekend, Ringrose and Bisegni were the only ones under 100kg.

Christy42 · 12-03-2018 11:53AM

prawnsambo wrote: »

I love it.

You might have started something there.

I blame a lack of caffeine... Having said that if Jones should feel some guilt over messing that up so I reckon it still works! Most of their mess ups were going for spectacular passes but that one should be bread and butter even with the tackle coming in.

It was said a lot that that pass vs England would not always come off and we saw that very clearly. Maybe with the skill sets of Quade Cooper it might but Scotland are not there yet and inconsistency won't win a six nations. It does make them very dangerous in any individual match though!

prawnsambo · 12-03-2018 11:56AM

Christy42 wrote: »

I blame a lack of caffeine... Having said that if Jones should feel some guilt over messing that up so I reckon it still works! Most of their mess ups were going for spectacular passes but that one should be bread and butter even with the tackle coming in.

It's definitely one for the alternative dictionary.

Guilt-edged - A golden opportunity that's been butchered.

Professor Moriarty · 12-03-2018 12:05PM

Buer wrote: »

They really have. It used be that the 12 was the bosher but that player is often a playmaker now like Horne or Farrell (neither small nor tanks). Then you look at the outside centres who played this weekend, Ringrose and Bisegni were the only ones under 100kg.

Farrell hits very hard though despite being relatively light at 15st. Backs are just getting heavier and heavier and Ireland is following the trend. Ringrose is even heavier than Darcy was at 12 and BOD weighed less than 15st. Aki and Henshaw are about 16st while Farrell (the Irish one) is 17st 4lbs which is the same weight as POC was.

prawnsambo · 12-03-2018 12:08PM

Professor Moriarty wrote: »

Farrell hits very hard though despite being relatively light at 15st. Backs are just getting heavier and heavier and Ireland is following the trend. Ringrose is even heavier than Darcy was at 12 and BOD weighed less than 15st. Aki and Henshaw are about 16st while Farrell (the Irish one) is 17st 4lbs which is the same weight as POC was.

He's only 2" smaller than POC though.

12-03-2018 12:11PM

There's no issue with Ringrose being too small. Never mind his weight, what's important is if the team has ever suffered out on the field for it. He's well able for whoever he may come up against. Couldn't believe how good he was on Saturday, he's just class.

Dubinusa · 12-03-2018 12:21PM

Ringrose was exceptional. He destroyed Jones and we defended better with him in the team. I thought Best was very good also, he put in a huge shift. But, swan dive Sean was the highlight for me. What an effort.

Bridge93 · 12-03-2018 12:24PM

If England name Ford Farrell Teo in the centre of the pitch we could cause carnage there. Ford is lightweight and Farrell is a poor defender.

Dubinusa · 12-03-2018 12:30PM

Teo is decent, but not world class. I don't think Ford starts this week. He has not shown much this season.

7oakse · 12-03-2018 12:36PM

Dubinusa wrote: »

Teo is decent, but not world class. I don't think Ford starts this week. He has not shown much this season.

What is the alternative?
Farrell isn't an international 10 - the 1st Lions test showed that (as have previous outings at 10). Teo at 12 hampers your distribution because he is not the most comfortable passer of a ball - I think their attack would be pretty easy to read if they go for a Farrell / Teo combo at 10/12.
Wouldn't be that surprised to see Lozowski start - knows all the Saracens boys well and is a good operator. Or Marcus Smith? Would be a real baptism of fire.

Match preview and thread: IRE v SCO (Sat 10th Mar 14:15) TV3, ITV & FR2.

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