Absolutely criminal Healy was let go play for the Scotch. It will be regretted in a big way
This one for starters. And just take one look in the Munster thread. As expected many Munster fans jumping at the opportunity to have a go at Andy Farrell.
Me thinks you're reading too much into a few posts.
As for having a go at Farrell 🙊🙈😂
Not sure about inferiority but if Healy played a warm up against Italy in green and performed the way he did on Saturday not many people would expect him to be second choice at the WC. He had a few decent passes and a couple of decent kicks from hand. Off the tee he was poor and he didn't blow out the lights in any way. Best you could say was it was promising and he didn't make any glaring errors.
On a positive note, we're five days away from our first warm-up and we have not a single injury, which itself is pretty impressive.
I presume we'll see a second string team this weekend with a stronger XV for the England match.
i think anyone that continues this argument, should be threadbanned (by themselves) until lthe world cup. Go enjoy the rain outside lads.
’Narrative’ here usually means false narrative but Ireland’s World Cup record speaks for itself. Let’s go in as underdogs and surprise a few people.
Ireland are the number one ranked team in the world.
Its mildly amusing reading Irish fans getting upset about an Irish born player choosing to play for another country. You had no problems with foreign born players choosing to play for Ireland but when it's the other way round, you get outraged.
Nobody is outraged. Most people are very happy for the guy, he's no loss to Ireland so fair play to him for furthering his own career elsewhere. Much like very few NZers batted an eyelid when JGP left, or Saffers when Stander or Kleyn left.
It's "mildly amusing" how the Kiwis are always trying to deflect attention away from their own highly dubious harvesting of the best talent from the Pacific islands.
Oh sorry, "scholarships".
I certainly don't see it as outrage, I didn't want to lose Healy, I fully accept that he wanted to play international rugby and took his chance, he is one of the lucky guys in that he could play for another country without going through the project player route, not all players will be as lucky as him.
I often wonder what the likes of Darcy and Fitzgerald make of players like McKinley or Healy going away to play for another country, they made enough noise about incoming players taking spots here.
I actually don't know anyone who's annoyed over him playing for Scotland over Ireland and most say fair play to him. A lot of Munster fans are annoyed about it as due to this decision they lose a good club player.
I'm scandalised by the whole thing. Outrage doesn't begin to cover it.
Not saying everyone is upset by his move and people aren't happy him. I'm a Munster fan so I'm sorry to see him go. But I understand it and hope it goes well. You have to acknowledge that there are posters on this forum that are upset by his move. I think those people are being hypocritical.
Your comment on the PI players in NZ just shows your ignorance. Sure a few players who move to NZ schools on scholarships and end up in the ABs. But then there a lot of players who come through the NZ system and end up playing for the islands. Should the NZRU not allow them to play in NZ? At the last couple of world cups, most of the Samoan team was born in NZ. Maybe they should stop raiding NZ's resources 😁
Is anyone actually upset at the SRU or Edinburgh?
I don't think it's entirely out of the question if we were to see Ireland's expected all out effort to beat the Boks be successful, that there might be a player or 2 rested against the Scots. Well, Sexton I mean really.
I know the counter argument to this is Sexton's suspension means he doesn't get game minutes in the warm ups and will be given (or "will need") minutes in most or every group game.
But especially if we manage to win against SA, and have a QF place guaranteed before we play the Scots, I could easily see Sexton be sat out for the final group game. (disguised by telling us he has a niggle)
And yes, we have 2 weeks between playing SA and Scotland, but as a previous poster highlighted, an easy final group game is worth anything to your chances in a QF the following week. So rest some of the big guns against a Scottish team that we should probably beat with our 2nd string anyway. And even if they pull off a miracle and beat us, so what. We're in the QF anyways.
I know that's the stock answer whenever anyone questions the recruitment policies of NZ (and to be fair, Australia are probably worse) but they're two different things.
Samoa etc get the players NZ don't want, and they're all qualified on family grounds. It doesn't weaken NZ one iota.
NZ cherry-pick the best schoolboy players from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, give them "scholarships", wait out the residency period, and it massively weakens their native countries. Maybe Tonga might pick up a few guys three years after NZ are done with them.
Correct me if I'm wrong/ignorant, but the entire NZ replacement front row last weekend was made up of Samoans and Tongans who qualified on residency, plus Frizell in the starting XV. Add to that Narawa and Finau who featured in earlier rounds and I'm sure a lot of others I can't think of. The Aussies had Tupou, Kerevi and Koroibete. I know Taukei’aho turned down Tonga's call at the last RWC and I'm sure a lot of others have done likewise.
Imagine how competitive these countries would be if they could keep them?
It's not against the rules but that doesn't make it "right", and it's a million miles removed from Healy, or JGP, or Kleyn.
Ireland were number 1 going into last World Cup too.rankings mean nothing in a WC year
Fully agree. Healy might have picked up 5-10 caps for us over the next decade, but he chose to take the easier route to international rugby by going to Scotland, instead of going to Connacht or Ulster and fighting his way into the Ireland squad. Ultimately he's no huge loss to us. Crowley is a far superior player.
And there's huge revisionism going on with people saying he should have been given a chance with Ireland. There was nobody calling for Healy to get capped for Ireland over the last year, and not once did he put in a performance that would have pushed the envelope with regards to Irish selection.
He was certainly playing to standard that should have got him in to an Irish camp and on the EI tour but for whatever reason that didn't happen and he chose the only route to international rugby.
Remember, if he is deemed to have taken the easier route then you must apply that to all the imports we have had come here to play for Ireland.
Nothing you said has anything to do with fully agreeing with the poster and as pointed out basically nobody is annoyed at Healy taking the option to play for Scotland, they’re annoyed about a depth chart at a province being kneecapped by Ireland coaches while they capped an absolutely useless Harry Byrne 2 years ago. The last 12 months a convenient nonsense time period for you. And while you have the almanac for the next ten years can you give us all the lotto numbers for the next month.
Hopefully we stay injury free as long as possible
Hoping to see a mixed team on Saturday, a little obvious but match fitness is very important
Heading up on Saturday, first Rugby game I've been too since 2018. 8pm start is a bit of a pain but **** happens
He wasn't starting for the Munster team and he's good enough to make the Irish camp? There was enough consternation at Harry getting called up, and he's been making HC match day squads. Healy was never good enough, more meaningless Munster moaning
Ireland should never call somebody up to camp just to stop them leaving their province
It is absolutely true for all our imports.
Every single one of our imports is here because he didn't have a prospect of getting a cap for his native country, and Ireland offered an easier path. No one has ever said otherwise.
A couple of them have subsequently proved that they could indeed have got a cap at home, but most of them have not. Time will tell which category Healy falls into I guess.
It was never said nor implied
But only referred to in one instance, I wonder why?
Including Solanoa?
The point about some of our players eventually getting capped if they's stayed at home is interesting, and I wonder if it's true. Player development is bizarre and non linear, a couple of injuries to established players can sometimes lead to a player who was solidly outside breaking in and eventually making an international career, and similarly a good player who is on track can be discarded and passed by when they're injured. Or a guy moves club and blossoms under a different manager/culture. Would Lowe have had the time and coaching to develop his game and become a very good defender had he stayed in NZ? He had the skills and promise but in a place with a conveyor belt of great wingers coming through would he ever have become the player he is? Same perhaps fr JGP. Healy might well become a player none of us predicted in Scotland for similar reasons.
The EI tour was an agreement between Ireland and provinces on who should travel. Healy was starting for Munster at that time and Crowley was down the pecking order so it made sense for him to travel and not Healy. If both Healy and Crowley travelled it would have left Munster extremely short in the 10 position.
People have different opinion on who should/shouldnt be in the squad. To me I didn't think he was ever in a position he could feel hard done by for not making it. But Im sure other would disagree but I certainly don't think he should have travelled on the EI tour ahead of Crowley
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