Scotland are a bit reminiscent of French teams away from home.....who knows which team would turn up.
If italy get a good start then Scottish heads have a tendancy to drop
Felix Jones not making a great first impression it seems.
They are doing it the right way. Get the defense right first and then focus on something else. Players are idiots.
Like most coachs over the last few years brought into England, they are brought in and everyone is told they are fantastic, give it a few months and then they are the problem.
After last WC Jones hired a coach from SA and it was the same, England going on they have hired the guy that won the WC for SA, give it a few years and people saying he was one of the reasons England went backwards
You can understand how the backs might be frustrated. A lot of the English media and public will just blame their backs and criticise the half backs for kicking ther ball away when moves break down.
It's all a big plot for England to announce Mike Catt as their attack saviour after our SA tour is over in July. 😁
Thornley on Second Captains:
The ball looked like a foreign object to the English players v Scotland. 25 handling errors!
Ollie Lawrence had a shocker. Presume the old nemesis Tuilagi will return at 12 for the auld enemy on Sat.
Highly unlikely Ringrose will come straight back into the side. Wouldn't be surprised to see him back at 23 though.
Bench of Ryan, Baird, *Byrne, Murray, and Ringrose/SMcC makes more sense to me than Murray and McCloskey/Ringrose.
What odds can I get for Ringrose scoring a try on a chip through from Crowley, over the top of a completely mis-timed blitz by the English D?
Heard Johnny may on a podcast say Eddie Jones never worked on attack. Just defence and line speed. Tries could be scored off turnover and mistakes. Was going to start an attack in the year before the world Cup.
I wouldn't be surprised if there were lots of attack training sessions but May wasn't invited. He always just seemed to do whatever came into his head, often with devastating effects
Chicken life > thug life
OTBAM just alluded to Kennan being out for remainder of 6 nations, they didnt categorically say it but definitely dropped a big hint.
If true could be a blessing in disguise, I would say Farrell and co have been great at getting positions covered, even during Sextons time they were giving others a run but the one position neglected was FB. Thats likely down to him being very good and consistently available. If Frawley got the nod for the next two games it would be great for him and Ireland. I would say he's slightly weak under the high ball given his performance v Wales but I would put that down to inconsistency in him being picked in various positions.
He's a tall man but take Lowry, quite small but actually excellent under the high ball cause he's played so much at 15.
Didn't realise we were going for 5 in a row against England, they really don't have a Plan B, our defence against them has been really good the last few years
It's a bit of bad timing for some of the other options. JOB would probably be right in there. I like Frawley, but I'd worry about his relative lack of pace for FB
Hugo Keenan trains as Ireland declare clean bill of health for England clash
Hugo Keenan, Garry Ringrose, Iain Henderson and Oli Jager took a full part in the session.
Keenan, whose left knee was heavily strapped, missed the win over Wales with a knee injury, while Iain Henderson was ruled out with a toe issue.
Jager missed training last week with a knee injury, while Ringrose has yet to feature in the Six Nations after damaging his shoulder in January.
Andy Farrell names his team on Thursday and the players will need to come through a more physically intense session tomorrow, but scrum coach John Fogarty says all four are available and the availability of both world class backs poses a selection conundrum.
Ringrose faces a huge battle to dislodge RobbIe Henshaw in the outside centre slot, but Keenan would likely come in for Ciarán Frawley if declared fit.
The dilemma then extends to the bench, where Ireland have selected a six/two split of forwards and backs to great effect in the recent games.
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Frawley covers more positions than Ringrose or Henshaw, but the midfielders are established operators while combination of James Ryan, Ryan Baird and Jack Conan have been excellent off the bench.
“Garry and Hugo, Hendy all trained today, Oli as well,” Fogarty said.
“It’s such an important day for us to be on the field. A healthy squad training today is important for selection and it was great they were all on the field.
“Hugo trained today. Again ,they are on the road to recovery and training on the field today live was important for them.
“We’ll see how they got through the session. We’ve another session tomorrow, which is the most physical session of the week where we’ll properly test our plan and the players so we’ll see how he gets through tomorrow and then Andy will select his side.”
Fogarty was asked about the intensity level of today’s training session.
“It’s full speed, there’s no huge contact in it, it’s kind of a coaching day,” he said.
“Monday is forming a plan, Tuesday we put it on the field and we’ll see the timings of our launch plays and how our defence work and tomorrow we’ll test that.”
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If Keenan is in the team, you'd have to think Frawley goes on the bench. Particularly if we go for the 6-2 split. Even if Ringrose is back, I'd rather not have two just-recovered backs in the 23.
I wonder do we go with a 5-3 split if Ringrose is fit. I cant see Henshaw,Ringrose or Aki being left out.
If both Keenan and Ringrose are fit could Nash miss out to accomodate the 6 2 split?
I know people have previously suggested Ringrose could play 14 and it been discussed previously.
but what about a different left field call...
Could Frawley retain the 15 jersey with Keenan starting on the wing and Ringrose in the 23 jersey?
Obviously Keenan is without doubt the top full back in the country but he started his International career on the Wing playing I think 4 of his first 5 tests on the wings before nailing down the 15 jersey.
Would it be the best solution to get all your best players within the 23?
I'd be surprised if it's anything other than a 6-2 with Murray and Ringrose as the two. If Keenan is fit then Frawley misses out entirely.
Obviously Crowley is more than capable of playing the full 80 minutes unless he gets injured.. but if he got a HIA or a hamstring tweak your are very light on cover at 10.
If we go 6-2 I'd say it's more likely to be Murray either Murray and Frawley or Murray and Byrne. Either Frawley or Crowley can cover 10, 12 & 15. Keenan can cover cover wing and Bundee covers 13. In a pinch Nash could go to 13 or JGP on a wing.
Not Ideal but it's as good as it gets with a 6-2
If its 6-2 and keenan is fit, i don't see any selection other than Murray / Frawley.
Farrell has always been in favour of the guy in possession of the jersey. Therefore Aki / Henshaw and Frawley on the bench.
I absolutely do not see any world in which Nash is dropped for Ringrose on the wing, i think thats off the wall.
I have a feeling Farrell will go 6/2 with the plan to tire out the English forwards, as they will likely go 5/3 with Care / Smith (or Ford) and IFB on the bench.
will england be brave enough to go Itoje and Martin in the row, with Chessum at 6 and Roots at 7?
and if frawley isnt there, probably looking at murray or ringrose to cover 10 which wouldnt be ideal
Yeah, if Keenan comes back in Frawley/Murray seems obvious. Keenan just back from a bad knee injury needs coverage, Crowley becomes your 15 backup but who goes to ten? Bringing Ringrose in perhaps allows Henshaw to cover 15 but then you've no ten cover in the slim chance Crowley gets hurt. That's just not an option.
Don't see why Ringrose should walk back in. Henshaw and Frawley have been excellent. Bit it would be very Irish if he does.
1st time in yonks that I really aren't excited playing England. I probably will watch it. Still haven't watched the match v Wales.
Really ?
I'm hoping for a better performance than the last couple of years. We've let them disrupt us far too much, given how limited they are.
You're not excited by watching the most dominant Irish team in history? Would you rather we were worse?
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