Yeah anything during COVID should not be held against a person.
If a close relative or friend passed away and you felt you needed to spend time away to help in some way, that should not go against you either.
AC joint injury for Stockdale. Flying back home for rehab.
It's an interesting one. What Ireland probably don't have relative to France is a lot of young tyros - players 23 and under - who are first choice or thereabouts for their province/club, i.e. getting enough exposure to come into consideration for international selection at a young age. There are a few in Ulster because of how much turnover there's been in the squad and them not having much money for signings. McNabney and Jack Murphy look to be starters outright, and Postlethwaite and Wilson are probably close enough for it not to make much difference. But across the other provinces there's probably only Sam Prendergast and Hugh Gavin (although Jamie Osborne is also seeing enough high level gametime to be a really good option). On the other side of this there'd probably be a fair few cases like Matthew Devine stuck as third choice and not getting a huge amount of exposure. Charlie Tector and Hugh Cooney would have a hard time breaking into the Leinster first XXIII for a big game with Leinster opting to go to the market and bring in Ioane. If Devine came through in France maybe he would have spent the season before last on loan in ProD2 and then returned to his original club and played a lot as first or second choice.
It's true that there have been no shows from the A team the last two times they've played but the scratch nature of those teams does make it difficult. I look at the Ireland and France lineups from last weekend and for a lot of the head-to-heads I'm thinking Ireland should be competitive - Tixeront v Timoney, Tom Spring v TOB, Slimani v Clarkson, le Garrec v Casey, etc.
My read on it is there are enough players getting provincial gametime for Ireland to be able to field good quality second and third strings. Obviously if you went down to 10th choice French selection versus 10th choice Irish France would have the better readiness by probably a long way. Ireland 2nds of course would be more susceptible to key injuries having a detrimental effect. France have a lot more options if they're looking for a particular profile of player, which is probably especially relevant in the front five.
I'm no doctor, would an AC joint injury be a number of months out? Edit: A google search brings up the answer that it could be anything from 2 to 8 weeks to fully recover if no surgery required. Fingers crossed that's the case.
Good Summary.
TOB is going to bring allot to this Irish team. Would like to see Killgallen get a run at 11/23.
I thought Georgia wouldn't be up to much but It was still Impressive seeing how Casey (also loved that pass!) and Prendergast guided the team from the very start.
Wanted to see more of Ben Murphy.
Scrum did ok. TH put the squeeze on Boyle a few times.
I'd start both Baird and Ahern in the Second Row v Portugal.
v Portugal
Jimmy O’Brien; Tommy O’Brien, Hugh Gavin, Jamie Osborne, Killgallen / Nash; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jack Boyle, Tom Stewart, Tom O’Toole; Ryan Baird, Thomas Ahern; Cian Prendergast, Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.
Reps: Gus McCarthy, Michael Milne, Thomas Clarkson, Darragh Murray, Max Deegan, Ben Murphy, Sam Prendergast, Nash / Killgallen.
Could we see Ireland International Rugby games being brought to Cork if they get a municipal stadium?
If Cork Gaa gets a €30million bailout from the Government to clear their debt and get the Government to take over the running of Pairc Ui Chaoimh, I assume there will be a big push to get international Rugby & Soccer games to Cork.
No. All internationals are played at the Aviva as that's a stipulation in Aviva's sponsorship deal.
Where are you getting this idea that the government is going to bail them out from?
No irfu have commercial deals with various partners tied in with the playing of games in the aviva.
Also PuC, while a nice enough stadium, is nowhere near at the level needed to host international matches.
I would hope something like A games could be moved around a bit more though.
“They’re showing the stadium as the people's stadium. My vision is for it to be a municipal stadium. I think stadiums are expensive public goods that need public support and funding and need to be multi-sport. SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh wasn’t built for that, but this is our way of maybe retrofitting a little bit of that."
I would assume by "public support and funding" he means the Government. It looks like Cork Gaa can't keep up with the current debt not to mind the running and maintenance of the stadium.
If his vision for Pairc Ui Chaoimh is to be a publicly owned municipal stadium it will need sold out big international games to pay the stadium bills.
There will be more Munster games there. There is never going to be internationals there.
The government don't own or operate any stadium in the country.
They already gave €30m towards building the stadium. They're not going to stump up another €30m to bail out Cork GAA.
Pairc Ui Chaoimh is to be a publicly owned municipal stadium it will need sold out big international games to pay the stadium bills.
It's a pipe dream. What the stadium needs and what the IRFU do are two different things. Maybe way off into the future if the IRFU feels pressure to move internationals around the country and forfeit a large chunk of money from stadium naming rights we might see something but in the short term International Rugby will be played in the Aviva.
Any financial input from the State would necessarily involve the facility being available to multiple sports. Major investment would be required to upgrade existing GAA stadia. Paying off existing debt and then spending millions on upgrades while still having games played would cost stupid money.
It's, as @phog said, a pipe dream.
The guy says his vision is a municipal stadium. He doesn’t say anything about Cork GAA giving up ownership. If you pressed him on it, I’d bet his actual vision is to host more regular non-GAA events with more regular rent being paid to the Cork county board.
This.
I presume when the Aviva sponsorship deals are being re-negotiated, the deal could include full international games in Cork long term.
It might be a pipe dream but this isn't any ordinary Gaa member with a vision for a municipal stadium this is Cork Gaa's CEO. I doubt he would say it without some backing. Don't forget the Taoiseach's son plays in goal for Cork footballers. Cork are after getting Munster (European Cup game there this December), women's international soccer, Celtic fc matches there. The next step would obviously be full Ireland Soccer / Rugby internationals.
It would be a big coup for Cork Gaa if they could convince the Government to take over a loss making stadium.
It could but it won't. Why on earth would they reduce the naming rights value to bring games to a smaller stadium with much worse corporate and non corporate facilities. And GAA stadiums are shite for rugby to boot. Its a complete non-runner.
the cork GAA CEO snd even the government have nothing to do with where the irfu put their matches unless the irfu ask. This is fanciful stuff. The stadium isn’t suitable for an international match anyway. Sounds more like him selling the idea of things to sucker in some money
A definite no as others mentioned due to sponsorship but even without that, there likely isn’t the number of people willing to pay €100-€200 for tickets outside of Dublin to actually fill the stadium.
You'd absolutely have no problem in filling the stadium for an international game, in fact for anyone that would be overnighting Cork might turn out to be a cheaper option but it's not going to happen because the IRFU want to use the Aviva.
yeah don’t think filling the stadium is the issue. Corporate facilities and related revenues would be a big problem at a stadium not designed for it. Plus renting a stadium when you own a better one with a bigger capacity that is already probably a bit small for international matches doesn’t seem like something that would happen.
The team has been named for Portugal.
as with last week nothing can be read into any selections but good to see different people get a chance/look at. pack looks decent enough given who’s not available
I wasn't expecting wholesale changes but am surprised they've gone for so few - only four unforced changes?
Doak, McCarthy Jr, and Smyth are the only players named for the tour that haven't seen any game time.
So for the most part they've used essentially the entire squad.
i guess the goal for this team is to show a similar cohesion and understanding of the systems as we had last week.
Delighted for the debutants. Bolton definitely viewed above Kilgallon currently, but it will be fun to watch those two battle it out over the next few years for a squad spot. With TOB coming through on the other side i am not as worried as some on the U20s thread about the future of irish wings. We're stocked ok for the next 5 years
I'm glad to see Baird get another run at blindside. His real breakthrough was last season, but I was worried that his progress had been ruined by multiple head knocks and injury.
He was Leinster's best player during the URC knockouts and was great against Georgia last weekend. Another strong performance would be more evidence to suggest he's finally cracked it and is stepping up a level to become a top class player.
Jamie osbourne joining the Lions
AFAIK Gavin starts against Portugal
I think its reasonable to surmise a few things from these selections.
Osborne: Ringrose is the best 13. Keenan is the best FB. Osborne needs to be playing 12 for Leinster again next season. I want to see him start at 12 v NZ.
Henshaw: I'm really not sure if I'd even consider him as a starter for Ireland next season.
This would be my depth chart for next season
Inside Centre Depth Chart:
Osborne. Age 23. Contract 2027/28?
Aki. Age 35. Contract 2025/26.
Henshaw. Age 32. Contract 2027/28.
McCloskey. Age 32/33. Contract 2026/27.
Outside Centre Depth Chart:
Ringrose. Age 30. Contract 2027/28.
Gavin. Age21. Contract 2025/26?
edit: just saw Osborne news. Maybe they knew this could come hence why SMcC started again at 12.
edit edit: Also just saw NEWS about BOARDS in trouble. Shame. I'd contribute. 'KEEP THE LIGHTS ON'
