On a more positive note, Jack Boyle has looked decent as an impact sub. Made some strong carries against Wales and Italy.
Hasn't really been tested at the scrum yet, but looks competent and even dominant at provincial level.
Would not be upset if less Irish lads go. Tours tend to negatively impact the country who contributes the most players.
I am sick of tip toeing around the topic. Pendergast is an average 10 who might be good one day , there is no obvious signs of that yet. let’s see how he goes with Leinster , I predict now Leinster have zero chance of a European cup with him starting. He simply is currently not good enough. harry and Ross Byrne and Frawley must be thinking they have entered the same bizarro world as Crowley.
Yawn.
He was far from hopeless. He was average. But his kicking from hand & tee was below average.
But we need more from our 10.
He'll have better days.
Perspective thank you. Their families are sacrificing a lot to support our boys, a little celebration to toast 3 legends of the game is deserved and the cynicism is just sour. Between them they have an absurd amount of caps.
This 💯
We caught a Dupont-less, RWC hungover France on the hop in Marseille, beat a hapless Wales and narrowly defeated Scotland at home.
The other away challenge we had, we failed against a poor England in Twickenham.
That defeat of France papered over a lot of cracks which couldn't be hidden this year.
He should have been given more games, this retirement has been way over the top, it's professional sport Healy should have been moved on after the November Internationals.
He was only really ok in the 6N granted. But Leinster are a far better team with him at 10 than either Byrne or Frawley. Harry is probably the closest to him but can't stay fit. Ross has simply hit his ceiling and fair play to him next year in Gloucester.
Forget about the number 10 debate. Ireland have serious problems re coaching. We look clueless in attack. So slow. So easy to read. Defence has also been abject at times.
For sure. Our phase play is absolutely awful, and that's coming off a height of where it was the best in the world. We just don't have the skills it seems to do it anymore. I think a lot of this is down to Leinster's playstyle these days.
It’s depressing to see how organised England are after making positional switches and to compare how disjointed and flustered Ireland wee against Italy. More or less with a first choice team.
That performance raised serious questions about what exactly Ireland have been trying to develop and do through the 6 nations.
that is literally what club dinners are for. Ireland were hanging on today against an Italy team that everyone else has smashed and the last 20 minutes was about 3 veterans getting caps. We could have lost the match and very nearly did. Any distraction in those situations is insane and it speaks to the general malaise with which the team has performed.
Yes, you know that & I know that but lest anyone take offense.
He may have been able to become a good 10. Not being able to get a chance to play the position until he was 26 fecked up any chance. Leinster should not be allowed hold so many players as it hinders the chances of the next player up.
Scoring just 2 tries against this diabolical Wales team sums up our attack. Goodman has destroyed our attack.
There is a valid point in this.
It’s clear there is a malaise. What’s not exactly clear is why but the older more experienced players performances over the past two games are not helping.
Ireland have clearly got the mixture of experience and youth wrong.
He didn't get a chance to play 10 in the last few seasons cause Leinster realised he wasn't a good 10 and moved him to 12. He got plenty of chances at 10 until they realised this.
Him being a 10/12/15 has saved his career, he can have zero complaints. He is a good 23 but he is not a 10 and never will be and was never going to be.
The thought of Easterby going to Wales seems half desirable right now. Don’t think he will make a number 1 and new voices needed. Should have been going for Felix Jones and Jerry Flannery
Why do you think he didn’t get a chance?
In the last six months, we’ve seen a guy come from miles back and overtake three internationally capped 10s to become first choice at Leinster. Some guys don’t need to be “given a chance”, they just demand selection.
The cruel reality is that Frawley seems to have all the tools - strength, speed, kicking, passing - but has never been able to put it all together. No one is to blame for that. It just is the way it is.
Hard to disagree with this.
What do you mean 'should have been going for'? When?
They aren't going to bring these people in when the head coach is away (I detest the Lions in the modern era)
What England have done to Wales and what France did to Italy, really makes the performance of Ireland questionable.
It's hard to know what to think about the performance of Ireland this yeay. In most years, 4 wins is a great achievement, but that usually means we beat one of the big two away from home. This year it seems disappointing, maybe because we never really looked comfortable during most of our wins. There are always fine margins but it seems like we didn't win many of them.
We gave away stupid tries against England and it will likely cost us a place in the table. But if Finn R took the conversion from the right place, England would be worse than us. France catching a few balls against England and they had the GS, and we wonder about England potentially having 3 defeats. But now they could win. Is it just that the three or four top teams (including Scotland against England here) are just more competitive and so we will see more close competitions or something else?
Either way I think we need to look at the coaching ticket and what depth there is in the absence of Farrell
Who's going to start at 10 for the lions in the test matches?
It can’t be just the one coach! I believe Farrell is also the one who is responsible for the phase play attack. You will also see allot of posts trying to railroad the conversation to Prendergast v Crowley. I think it’s pretty clear this team have just got old. The edge is blunt.
I think Ireland probably did as expected when it comes to results this Six Nations. A lot of people, including myself had France primed for this year's trophy and Ireland to run in 2nd and if they'd have secured (or prevented) a bonus point here or there, they'd have done that. Four out of five wins is pretty good on paper.
Ultimately a kick up the arse around squad depth and the need for an improved and sustained performance (which was desperately sub-par at times) will stand to them in the longer term so the results can't be taken in isolation.
The noise around 10 is just that, noise. Having two good 10s for the future is brilliant despite what the tribal idiots would have you believe. My concern is around the wings where we have little pace and even less depth and also in the front-row where we're quite light. We also have a bit of gap after JGP and Casey at scrum-half. Plenty of time for new players to come through but I think it was quite evident this competition how light we were.
Huh? He played 10 for Leinster when he was 20 and for his first three professional seasons…
Finn Russell. its who on the bench that's the question. At the moment, it would have to be Marcus Smith. I can't see any Irish outhalf going.
Absolutely. All the tin foil hat Munster fans should look at his performance against the second worst team in the 6N and reflect on how bad he was today. He did nothing and offered nothing. They said SP was poor from the tee - well he was certainly not as bad as JC today - awful. 3/10
