Never seen a run of posts quite like this.
Remarkable.
I don't care who Leinster pick for their own games. I am interested in how players are selected for the Irish team
If AF is picking a team based on form and performance ceiling. Jack Conan should not be ahead of Coombes.
Coombes has shown himself to be a better player in both the 2nd row and the back row
I'd also have Alex Kendellen ahead of him in the back row. Anyone who's been following him through the Schools and the Under 20s knows how special he is, and he's already had over 30 caps for Munster buy the age of 21.
I see Leo Cullen is in on the dastardly plot also
Still though, going in at half time level after the half Ospreys had, I knew they were going to get hammered. Leinster are a bit like the all blacks used to be in the urc. No matter how bad they play in stretches you know their purple patch can be worth 20 points in ten minutes. RB and Keenan was sublime. Papering over cracks elsewhere but when they click it’s fun to watch.
Leinster were poor. Akrasia is right! But still, they won.
Conan was sublime in the last quarter. He's got speed and power. Which was very evident. He put to Ospreys and made hay.
As I stated earlier, Ospreys are leading the league in scrum penalties. Fat load of good it does for them! They are probably going to be on the bubble. For a side that provides a large amount of international players, they are shockingly disappointing. They had Leinster on the ropes and couldn't finish the job. Leinster have a good 10 minutes or so and win.
That scrum would demolish any province scrum. Ireland are not getting it right as far as scrummaging goes. I'd guess that Scott Wilson at Ulster is our best bet at tight head at the moment. Munster have produced none, Leinster also and Connacht are using Illo, who went right into the pro set up. In Leinster defense, Aungier left, as did Salanoa and Illo took a guaranteed contract.
The union should be looking to get better scrumm coaches. It's disappointing to watch our sides struggle against the top teams.
Wrong thread. Leinster thread is here.
https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058167373/leinster-team-talk-gossip-rumours-thread-xii-the-byrne-supremacy#latest
Ospreys had 28 scrum penalties won before this contest. How many do the provinces have? They'd have murdered all of the provinces scrum.
Harry Byrne was very poor. Healy was very poor and Osborne had a shocker. Leinster were poor overall. But, still managed to win.
Loughman is the biggest winner from tonites match.
Conan was poor in stages! But, he pulled his jocks up and delivered.
You've been on a roll this weekend. Fair play
Harry Byrne did not step up tonight
he did the opposite imo
He might be a good 10 in the future, but not now
Conan was pretty rubbish until the opposition were spent.
he gave away loads of penalties and made lots of poor decisions.
The reported depth from Leinster was not that impressive against a poor welsh team
A lot of the backup props got taken to the cleaners this weekend, Furlong, Porter and Loughman all advanced their Irish spots by not playing.
But magnificent all the same
Is Naughtyboy another alt account of Rape of Lucretia? The latter outed himself yesterday in the General Rugby thread.
Very random to use Lady Gaga as your reference point here.
I warmly welcome the delegate from the "only games that matter are in a tournament younger than Lady Gaga" preservation society, and sincerely look forward to a spirited, informed debate, during their time here.
Interesting. How many other World Rugby Players of the Year haven’t really done it at the elite level?
Lol. Grow up.
As of today Johnny Sexton will be remembered as a very good player but a player who never really did it at the elite level.
at the world cup , 2011 a bench warmer, 2015 injured and 2019 a real stinker.
The world cup this year is his last chance at redemption , hope he gets it
Besides the 6N game Vs Wales he was MOTM in...
Still a silly statement mind.
The thread has gone so mad that you’d nearly think the 6 nations had already started!
Bonkers stuff
He can do both.
He had a very good game against Wales in the GS winning season. Made it over the gainline with his carries and was used as a good passing option. Then he did his cruciate in training the following week.
Never played as well for Ireland after that.
Jeez.. Chris Farrell had never been the best Irish back on a pitch, except for when he played in France
Thought Conway was our best back followed by Larmour at the last World Cup. Kilcoyne and Ruddock were in good form as well. Joe had lost the plot though, he had his team and form didn't come into it
Don't worry boys, Furlong can switch to outhalf, in a pinch.
I utterly disagree. He was mediocre at best and the most notable thing he did at the World Cup was run into Stander off the back of a scrum to give away an offside penalty.
Very few players excelled at that WC. Farrell wasn't one of them. Larmour played well against Scotland and Ringrose against Japan. I can't think of any others.
not really, he played very well in the (almost) two games he played and had done well in the warm ups. larmour was probably the only other back that did much in the pool stage and henshaw was okay against NZ once they had the game tied up. conway went well when given the chance too
chris farrell being the best back was more down to the poor performances of the others than anything else.
Farrell as Ireland's best back in the last WC is the most bizarre statement made in an increasingly unhinged thread.
Ringrose and Larmour were the standouts in the group stages.
whatever about debuts, i remember england making alot of changes throughout the 6Ns in 2003 and SA mixed up their team leading up to the 2007 rwc. didnt make a massive difference in terms of their starting teams (josh lewsey became englands FB from it though) but it did mean that they had massive strength in depth when injuries struck during the tournaments
as for selecting the team a year before the tournament, while i dont advocate wholesale changes to the starting lineup there definitely is a precedent for not picking players on form and going with the status quo in previous tournaments. chris farrell was irelands best back in the last rwc (not saying much) but lost out as soon as the other options became available, conway and larmour similarly were playing well and lost out to kearney and stockdale who werent in any sort of form. 2007 was its own story and even in 2015 there was some bit of it (simon zebo). the funny thing is some people on here and other places also cry on about the fact that the team was changed up in 2011 (which was the right thing) so i suppose its impossible to please everyone
Does Sexton hog all the minutes or is he constantly injured? I find it hard to see how he can do both at once.
Then came back and played the second and third - there are week breaks between the Scotland game, QF, SF and Final (granted this is one extra game) (Sexton does not have to play the SA game either).
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