It's been below his usual average all season for Munster as well. Probably why he wasn't starting in the first place.
is Cian Healy the most decorated player for both Ireland and Leinster?
It would be good for Irish rugby if Frawley was moved to Connacht or Ulster and under an unsterstanding it's to develop him at 10.
Pity a full year was wasted
Are you down to 10 six Nations games and 2/3 proper November challenges now
What was the point in this long goodbye for POM Healy Murray
Crowley had a good opportunity to put the 10 argument to bed today but didn't quite manage it.
I'd still have him before Prendergast, but it's still arguable.
Well said. Both players now need to go back to their clubs and work on their games. Neither will be picked for the Lions which is a blessing in disguise. Both need the summer tour to develop.
He’s incessant. He loves it and himself. How world rugby can’t find it within their remit to pull him aside…. “ communication is fine when necessary but you just won’t shut your fûcking mouth, stop it ! It’s annoying, it’s distracting, quite frankly it’s oddball behavior “ I’m sure they have a medical team for referees, maybe he needs to sit down and have a chat with someone, although good luck to them getting a word in.
Watched Game in pub before going into work. Disappointing but need to properly rewatch over next few days to properly give assessment on things beyond overall it was mostly poor.
however mods can we please have match threads. Even set up just on kick off. Makes post match discussion easier as well as everything else. Everything in this thread alone is shite. Especially if you happen to be offline for day of a game. Far easier to catch up if you have a match thread.
Think these are two of the fairer takes from the today.
It's a 6 Nations where we won 4 out of 5 games and a Triple Crown.
I'd like to send people back in a time machine to the Wooden Spoon year of 1992. Now that was brutal.
Not much to Crowley's performance today. Made a lovely outside break in the 1st half, that came to nothing unfortunately. Made a couple of nice pop passes for two tries. Have to watch it again, but can't say he had much impact on the game. His kicking is really poor, markedly substandard.
Our centres are not performing at all. Henshaw needs to be dropped, Aki looks past it, and Ringrose had a really poor game. Osborne should be starting at 12 going forward imo, would like to see Frawley given some time there too. It's a massive area of weakness in our attack currently. Brex and Melloncello were lightyears better today.
I would say though, while I do agree they deserve their moment, it did seem like maybe the fact that they were retiring played a part in the in-game decision making, particularly POM's introduction and how it was orchestrated. Fair enough if the game is won, but it wasn't.
But the ref said they were letting it play out and then checking it. What if the AR was flagging a penalty offence? Until the ref blows the whistle, ball is live. If Italy stopped, that's on them.
Nicotera's yellow has been upgraded to red as per RTE
Sam Prendergast awarded the best young player of the Six Nations.
He came across very well in that interview, not media talking to death yet.
Read what I said again
Serious stink from Ireland this tournament.
Both outhalves got worse as the competition went on.
Crowley was dreadful today....
Italy completely braindead cost themselves a win.
Thought our backrow were outplayed today. Really need to find another viable option at 7. Also 6 is still a live option, conan is either an impact bench player where we've seen him to best effect, or he plays 8 if Doris isn't available. One of Cian P, Izzy or Baird, (maybe Coombes as an option?) need to claim it
Crowley and Prendergast are 10s with things to work on. Frawley is a 12 or 15. Tector should be next off the rank if one of the two were to be out. Both last week and this week the ability of the 10 to impact the game significantly was impacted by team disfunction. Prendergasts defence and Crowleys kicking, both placed and from the hand, need work. In a dis functioning team I think the kicking is the bigger issue as you lose out field position and points
You mean the real knock on by Doris?
I liked how he admitted that he has lot to smooth out in his game, but that he doesn't let the abuse that he receives online bother him.
English try after two and a half minutes.
Doubt we'll ever see Tector as a 10. He was leapfrogged by Prendergast last season and now seems to have made the transition to centre.
He has the playmaking ability and a surprising amount of physicality and athleticism. Could be a very good centre.
He absolutely can not make decisions under pressure. He is a good playmaker coming onto the ball, but put him at 10 and he falls apart completely and panics. Leinster moved him from 10 to 12 for a lot of good reasons.
Well done to him, did well on his first season. Not sure how that was selected though given the tournament isn't over. There's a 22 year old OH playing very well for England in this tournament.....
Edit: Is this a wind-up? Or maybe Bielle Bierrie is in the running for player of the tournament as a 21 year old?
Yes every six months he gets a nice coat of Dulux vinyl silk!
and Ross Byrne
Frawley is an ok option for the 22 jersey but absolutely not for 10
Our backrow have been consistently outplayed since the NZ game last year. The drop off in JvDFs performances this season have been notable. But some on here don't seem to see that....
Both are big issues, our defensive shape is all off to protect SP. And missing points from the tee always creates pressure.
