Thanks for putting a smile on my face on a grim Monday.
Do you think you'll ever get over him not making the squad?
Kleyn is immense at scrums, rucks and mauls, we definitely missed him but as I said, that's another story.
It wasn't just in the 80th minute, the backrow were quiet all match and looked to be missing something regarding their physicality.
Scotland was not a tough game but even if you deem it that way, there was no need to play so many of the starters in the other matches.
Did we? He can't get a look in for Ireland. He is a good player. But so are our lads and there's nobody playing on the island that hits rucks like Ryan. He changes the dynamics.
Thought Henderson was poor getting to the rucks!
Yes, JSP I meant. I think if there are two better scrum halfs in the Ireland squad ahead of JGP in 4 years time, we would be in good stead. The pass to JVDF which gave away the penalty was the worse error. I don't think he was the problem at the breakdown but he has been instrumental in getting Ireland to a place where they can compete at the very highest level. Probably can't do it in 4 years time, but can't see any reason why he won't be the best option in 2 years time.
We missed Kleyn too but that's another story
This
Their were out on their feet because they went through 30+ phases in the 80 minute. Not saying I was pleased with no rotation but I think the fixture list with our toughest at the end had a bigger factor
Even if Earls was better, he has become far too injury prone to be selected in a WC squad and he proved that to be the case during the tournament, having to be subbed early in his one game rather than giving a starter a break and picking up an injury that ruled him out when he could have been needed.
In hindsight, discussions about Earls or any selection of the wider squad were pretty pointless, with AF simply refusing to use it.
Ireland were an outlier when it came to minutes of their starters during the tournament for those sides making the knockouts. I don't believe it is a coincidence that the backrow lacked punch on Saturday and the likes of Beirne were out on their feet towards the end of the match - coincidentally all seeing the upper end of minutes during the tournament.
I don't know how the IRFU can both put such focus on their player welfare policy, that takes account the importance of player rest, while at the same time then acting like player rest has zero impact during the WC, as they run their starters into the ground before the knockouts. With such fine margins in top end sport, rest can have a huge impact.
We missed Ryan. We didn't perform great at rucks.
Where are you getting those stats? I know Doris didn't have an offload. And POM definitely had at least one carry that I can remember.
I think Sexton should have been replaced, probably not as early as you suggested.
There was no one left at home that was better than Earls, I had him on the plane from way out
Honestly thought it was JGP's poorest performance for us in a long time, try not-withstanding. Obviously ruck protection is a big element of that, but even so, some of his decision making was pretty poor, imo.
are you referring to jamison gisbon park? if so, i thought he was poor on saturday and threw a very ill-judged ball over the top that we were lucky to not concede an intercept try. i wouldnt say he 100% isnt an option for the next rwc but he will be 35 so its unlikely
and no to MH at 10, unless its in an in-game emergency a la murray against wales a few years ago. i would like to see him tried at 15 more though
not replacing Henshaw has to be questioned as well - Healy could have been useful to bring on.
Wales replaced Biggar to their detriment. Ifs buts and maybes. Better team won.
An understandable reluctance to remove Sexton when he was clearly gassed for last 15 - 20 minutes cost us. Farrell is clearly a players coach, they love him and the play with a freedom for him that on the whole is a huge positive. There are however downsides and either an element of sentimentality or fear stopped him making some hard decisions. Not hooking Sexton on 60 mins was one and I'd argue bringing Keith Earls to the WC is further evidence of this.
Exactly this. This isn’t a Saracens situation, for example.
(And congrats btw, while I’m here).
I don't think you understand how an asterisk next to a championship works. Losing in one competition doesn't put an asterisk next to a title or win in another competition. Can't believe this needs to be explained.
Where are you looking?
The future is bright. Lot's to look forward too. We've plenty of youngsters coming in. There are some area's that are suspect but, I think we'll be fine.
When you look at how little crap the French have been getting from fans compared to us just show's how well we've done over the last 2 years. We lived in people's head's so much that it built so much resentment that they couldn't wait to unleash on us the second we had a slip up, if that isnt a sign that we are the best side in the world (or at least have been all this time) idk what is!
Don't know what JSP has done so wrong. Just about 4 years younger than Aaron Smith. I wouldn't be against the idea of experimenting with Mack Hansen at out half. Crowley obviously still being next man up.
I was very surprised that VdF got the hook over POM, who was very quiet. Our backrow just struggled in general. Thought Conan made some good carries when he came on.
I'm not overly worried about the future, there's a load of quality coming through. Some fresh blood at SH and OH are probably the two biggest areas of concern, along with LH.
Yes, analysis is best through vibes, not facts.
No Dominant tackles or you remember him on the field
Pom made 15 tackles .I don't know what game you were watching
The lineout is the most important set piece in modern rugby and gets more so every year. It doesn’t really matter what position they play in the back 5 but you really need 4 viable jumpers and some of them should be elite like POM. Really missed Ryan in that regard as well.
POM was anonymous, no tackles/carries/turnovers
Lineout work should be only an extra part of your 6, the lineout shouldn't be relying on them to function
If you take off Henderson and POM you are down two very experienced line-out jumpers in an already harried unit.
McCarthy doesn’t seem to jump much if ever, so with henderson going off it already hurt the line out albeit improved the maul.
I thought POM was the best back row in a unit that honestly got kind of destroyed by NZ. I’m not going to blame them too much for that because we ended up basically not playing our usual game plan. You cannot expect doris to be a heavy carrier for example. Its not his game.
I thought McCarthy looks like a massive talent (i’ll admit i underrated him) but baird would have been a better fit for what we needed in this game. I’ll also say its McCarthy who misses the clear-out that ended the game. That was inaccurate. That’s harsh maybe but its also literally true.
I’m not sure if Leinster lift him in the lineout but i would say that it will be interesting to see how pack builds work with him and VdF in them. Two guys who don’t jump in a back five (or usually jump) is decently unusual these days. He’s really not the typical type of lock we use. If we transition to a more ball dominant game plan, he would be very useful but in that case i think we need more heavy carriers in the back row as well.
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