Scotland v Ireland (pre/during/post thread)

Rattlehead_ie · 10-03-2009 4:21pm

buck65 wrote: »

All in all the changes should inject a bit of fizz into proceedings

Hopefully D'arcy inclusion will inject a bit of Fitz into proceedings, see what I did there

To be honest I think the Best inclusion is a better choice, IMHO i would say he is a better scrumager and better disiplined and I think with someone like Patterson on the pitch that is one thing we will need.

D'arcy as earlier stated is a no brainer. I sat there watching the Leinster game last wkend and his hunger for the ball and his abuse and breaking of defensive line in making himself go forward or creating the space for going forward ball was immense.

Im happy with the backrow for now. I think with Kindey is trying to an ability to be able to swap out and adjust his back 3 which will be important come the welsh game.

I want to see Murphy play just to see if he can pull off the drop goal stunt again from 55m out.

RuggieBear · 10-03-2009 4:23pm

tbh i think flannery has been very good this six nations...both in the loose and throwing. admittedly he is not punching huge holes but for the most part he has provided go forward ball.

Best has had at least one howler throwing in each game he has come on but other wise has been good too.

Colm_OReilly · 10-03-2009 4:44pm

Lads I have it from an ultra reliable source that Jerry has an appointment in Tony and Guy at 16.00 so wouldn't make kick off, but will be there for the second half

Even though Heaslip was quieter against England I don't think he's been dropped per se as is being rested/Leamy is being developed. Happy with Darce and Strings on. When Stringer has come on he's marshalled the forwards well, and I wasn't overly impressed with Wallace against England, but have been with Darce when he's came on.

Someone posted they don't want RoG to kick behind the Scots, why not? Surely our strategy should be to keep it in their third of the pitch and look for penalties. If we run from our own half and don't hold our discipline, we give Paterson a chance to kick points. Since Scotland lack real effective attacking, we should take the points early, and force them to chase the game - then give it out to the backs.

Of course, I'm just a guy who watches the game and no Declan Kidney.

bleg · 10-03-2009 4:49pm

i think leamy's selection gives an insight into how the game is going to be played. heaslip is a great open field runner but leamy is more of a groundhog. i think the main focus for the back row is to get quick ball out to the backs (stringer will aid in this) score tries and finish off the championship this weekend. good call.

Noopti · 10-03-2009 4:59pm

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

Lads I have it from an ultra reliable source that Jerry has an appointment in Tony and Guy at 16.00 so wouldn't make kick off, but will be there for the second half

Well his hair is more important than timekeeping afterall.

Brewster · 10-03-2009 5:10pm

Folks, some interesting points re the Best/Flannery thing. I wouldnt agree with it all.

Statistical when Best has been at hooker, the Irish lineout has functioned better in recent seasons. Best was always the better thrower than Flannery for Ireland, of this there is no question. It was always Jerry's achilles heel to some degree. In fairness to Jerry he has been very good this season and has improved immeasurably thankfully. To say he is now better than Best is laughable, based on what? One of the reasons I favoured Best over Flannery was the accuracy of his throwing. Its quite ironic that most posters now think this is now Best's weakness! Folks its not true, yes he had a couple of bad throws, which was as much down to the nerves and adreline of a sub as anything. Every other facet of his game was spot on. Lets see him on Sat when hes back in a pre game routine.

Other skills of players. Best is a better scrummager, ask the guys he plays with!

. Best is probably a better tackler and fringe defender than Fla. In my opinion, Fla is still better in loose in that he will gain more yards through hard carries.

To be honest, both should be on Lions tour. Jackman is nowhere near as complete a player than either of these two.

stephen_n · 10-03-2009 5:10pm

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

Someone posted they don't want RoG to kick behind the Scots, why not? Surely our strategy should be to keep it in their third of the pitch and look for penalties. If we run from our own half and don't hold our discipline, we give Paterson a chance to kick points. Since Scotland lack real effective attacking, we should take the points early, and force them to chase the game - then give it out to the backs.

Of course, I'm just a guy who watches the game and no Declan Kidney.

Think that's the way the game will be played alright but Stringers inclusion does indicate he is planning on mixing it up from the start which might not be a bad thing as ROG's kicking from hand has been suspect in all three games so far so it will be good to keep the Scotish defence thinking about what might happen!

IMO Leamy is there because the Scotish back row will do what all Scotish back rows do, live offside and try slow the ball down. Leamy is big and physical a real work horse when it comes to clearing rucks and I'd say that's what he will be doing on Saturday. Clearing out for quick ball to move it away from the breakdown!

bamboozle · 10-03-2009 6:51pm

Brewster wrote: »

Folks, some interesting points re the Best/Flannery thing. I wouldnt agree with it all.

Statistical when Best has been at hooker, the Irish lineout has functioned better in recent seasons. Best was always the better thrower than Flannery for Ireland, of this there is no question. It was always Jerry's achilles heel to some degree. In fairness to Jerry he has been very good this season and has improved immeasurably thankfully. To say he is now better than Best is laughable, based on what? One of the reasons I favoured Best over Flannery was the accuracy of his throwing. Its quite ironic that most posters now think this is now Best's weakness! Folks its not true, yes he had a couple of bad throws, which was as much down to the nerves and adreline of a sub as anything. Every other facet of his game was spot on. Lets see him on Sat when hes back in a pre game routine.

Other skills of players. Best is a better scrummager, ask the guys he plays with! . Best is probably a better tackler and fringe defender than Fla. In my opinion, Fla is still better in loose in that he will gain more yards through hard carries.

To be honest, both should be on Lions tour. Jackman is nowhere near as complete a player than either of these two.

Have you watched any Irish games this season? Best's throwing has been 'jackmanesque' when he came on last week he scored 2/2 for crooked lineouts, it was 2/4 the previous week.
as for the point about improved scrummaging when he came on against Italy, both Italian props had been injured by that stage.
Best is a good leader but he is not at Flannery's standard of overall play.
In defence of his lineout in the last 2 games when he's come on as sub POC has called throws to the tail which is pretty unfair/stupid when a fresh hooker is on the pitch

Aidric · 10-03-2009 6:55pm

stephen_n wrote: »

Funny I would say that Flannery is better in the loose than Best but not by a huge amount, Best is undoubtedly the better scrumager but that is the only aspect of his game that I would think is superior to Flannery's

Yep, I'd have Flannery over Best every day of the week. As others have alluded to the Lineout is key for Ireland to get an attacking platform and Best's throwing runs the risk of negating this.

Podge_irl · 10-03-2009 7:04pm

I'm happy with most of those changes I must say. I imagine the team will revert to the one that lined out in the other three games once we hit Wales, but it does give those players actually pushing for a spot a chance to show what they can do with the start.

I'm not overly happy with Leamy at 8 though. I imagine Heaslip is still seen as first choice, but I just don't like Leamy at 8. He's a fantastic 6 and can do a job at 8 if he has to come on there from the bench, but that's it as far as I am concerned.

twinytwo · 10-03-2009 8:25pm

sm.org wrote: »

I always wonder why people say Best is the better scrumager, how is it rated? I know he's bigger but I cant say I've ever noticed a marked improvement in the Irish scrum when he's in it.

Flannery seems to have found his form again and is a shoe in for the Lions.

Plus people forget if the lions turns into a slug fest which it could who better than the flans to have your back

Sparky14 · 10-03-2009 9:45pm

twinytwo wrote: »

Plus people forget if the lions turns into a slug fest which it could who better than the flans to have your back

Prefer O'Gara, no one more adept at absorbing punchs to the face.

taidghbaby · 10-03-2009 11:29pm

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

+1

Plus Andy Powell

i'm not a huge fan of powell, and i think he would be a mistake for the lions - his head down style of running would play right into the hands of the massive boks back row!

anyway on the match in hand i wonder if the reason darcy is in, is because stringer is playing.....i.e. kidney doesnt want a midfield defence of stringer/o'gara/wallace??

i'll be missing this one, but i have a feeling this mightn't be one for the southern hemisphere purists - a lot of trench warfare (perhaps the reason for leamy)

ireland to win a tense edgey battle, with 4 yellow cards!

stephen_n · 10-03-2009 11:32pm

Brewster wrote: »

Statistical when Best has been at hooker, the Irish lineout has functioned better in recent seasons.

My friend statistics can prove your aunty is your uncle the simple fact in the 3 games this year our lineout has been functioning superbly up till Bests introduction when it has fallen apart in all 3 games that points to a problem that statistics won't cure. Hopefully he will get it right on Saturday as it was an area of his game that was quite strong when he first came into the irish set-up but maybe has lost out as he has concentrated on other areas of his game!

10-03-2009 11:56pm

stephen_n wrote: »

My friend statistics can prove your aunty is your uncle the simple fact in the 3 games this year our lineout has been functioning superbly up till Bests introduction when it has fallen apart in all 3 games that points to a problem that statistics won't cure. Hopefully he will get it right on Saturday as it was an area of his game that was quite strong when he first came into the irish set-up but maybe has lost out as he has concentrated on other areas of his game!

My friend statistically Flannery has been utter ****e except at lineout time this 6 nations.

He may still carry but he is a shadow of his former self and Best should have started every game this 6 nations.

puntosporting · 11-03-2009 12:34am

Brycen Attractive Oasis wrote: »

My friend statistically Flannery has been utter ****e except at lineout time this 6 nations.

He may still carry but he is a shadow of his former self and Best should have started every game this 6 nations.

Show the statistics that say he was ****?

ScholesyIsGod · 11-03-2009 1:05am

Brycen Attractive Oasis wrote: »

My friend statistically Flannery has been utter ****e except at lineout time this 6 nations.

He may still carry but he is a shadow of his former self and Best should have started every game this 6 nations.

What an odd thing to say, granted he isnt playing as well as he did in 2006 but he's not a shadow of his former self, he's a better lineout thrower then Best and he is still much better then him around the field i have never seen anything to suggest that Best is a great ball carrier all of a sudden. He got picked to scrummage, the one area he is slightly better then Flannery. Whereas Flannery is a far superior thrower then Best and that has been shown in recent games.

ScholesyIsGod · 11-03-2009 1:12am

Good to see Leamy in the side, definitely horses for courses he was excellent against the Dragons which probably got him the nod, Strings deserves his spot as well being playing very well recently hopefully he doesnt kick away as much ball as O'Leary has been doing and gets it out wide more often. D'Arcy was always going to come back in sooner or later it was just a matter of when and the answer to that is Saturday. Best is in for his scrummaging.

The man i expect a big performance out of is Kearney, its all well and good people saying he's such a great counter attacker but he hasn't done anywhere near enough so far in the championship he's been way too quick to just boot everything into the air when he gets ball in hand and has a chance to run it.

Podge_irl · 11-03-2009 2:54am

ScholesyIsGod wrote: »

Good to see Leamy in the side, definitely horses for courses he was excellent against the Dragons which probably got him the nod, Strings deserves his spot as well being playing very well recently hopefully he doesnt kick away as much ball as O'Leary has been doing and gets it out wide more often. D'Arcy was always going to come back in sooner or later it was just a matter of when and the answer to that is Saturday. Best is in for his scrummaging.

The man i expect a big performance out of is Kearney, its all well and good people saying he's such a great counter attacker but he hasn't done anywhere near enough so far in the championship he's been way too quick to just boot everything into the air when he gets ball in hand and has a chance to run it.

I'm pretty sure TOL was under orders to kick so much possession away (though the quality of the kicking is certainly an issue). As regards Kearney, I think he has been mixing it up quite well. He's exceptionally good under the high ball so up and unders are a very viable tactic. Similarly, he has a larger boot then most oppo fullbacks so unfortunately given the emphasis on kicking these days it makes sense to use him in that way.

chupacabra · 11-03-2009 3:07am

ScholesyIsGod wrote: »

The man i expect a big performance out of is Kearney, its all well and good people saying he's such a great counter attacker but he hasn't done anywhere near enough so far in the championship he's been way too quick to just boot everything into the air when he gets ball in hand and has a chance to run it.

Id rather Kearney kick it back into the opposition's 22 than run into a wall of defenders with little support, the way the tounament has been going there is simply so little room to play the ball in hand, Italy smothered us as did England whereas france's defense wasnt a constant rush so we had the room to create the space and get the ball out wide and kearney made a few telling half breaks the highlight of which led to Heaslips try.

I expect he will put in a big performance this weekend, but if he kept up his current form then i wouldnt complain, the man is an absolute picture of perfection under the highball and his tactical kicking is spot on most of the time too.

ScholesyIsGod · 11-03-2009 10:29am

Ya he's a full back he should be good under the high ball so was Girvan Dempsey, im not saying he's not playing well but he has to start running the ball back more often, i know he has no other option but to kick at times but his strength is supposed to be his counter attacking and he hasnt shown much of that so far he has been a bit too conservative. And yes the defences are like brick walls but a game breaker should be able to create and opening and get through them from time to time.

One of the few times he did make a little half break against France he put Bowe through and it ended up with Heaslips try, we need to see more of that.

Darlie · 11-03-2009 12:14pm

Delighted to see the changes made, to prove that the squad is interchangeable if nothing else. Rugby is a sport that is slower than most to realise that the best 15 for one fixture is not always the best 15. There is a definite game plan being prepared for Scotland, and what better way to stop minds wandering to Cardiff than to shake things up a bit and give a few lads their head. We're definitely aiming to quicken the ball at the breakdown, hence Leamy for Heaslip, Best for Flannery (as desapite his fans, Jerry isn't going at 100% in the losse for some reason). Added to that the best and quickest pass in the 6N and you have a completely different approach than France or England matches. Bringing D'arcy in also gives us a different midfield weapon, although probably reducing the influence of BOD somewhat (he doesn't play as an orthodox 13 when playing with Darcy, whereas he does playing with Wallace).
All in all good to see the changes made, doesn't for one moment though indicate selection strategy for Wales.

Brewster · 11-03-2009 12:23pm

ScholesyIsGod wrote: »

What an odd thing to say, granted he isnt playing as well as he did in 2006 but he's not a shadow of his former self, he's a better lineout thrower then Best and he is still much better then him around the field i have never seen anything to suggest that Best is a great ball carrier all of a sudden. He got picked to scrummage, the one area he is slightly better then Flannery. Whereas Flannery is a far superior thrower then Best and that has been shown in recent games.

Scholesy, I think you should stick to the football. What planet are you on? Up till this 6 Nations season, Flannery couldnt hit a barn door consistently and was no where near as consistent as Rory Best. The Irish lineout always was stronger when Best was in the team. All of a sudden, Best has missed a few throws, for a number of reasons, after coming on as a sub and Flannery is a world beater at this aspect of the game?? Its not true. Flannery has NEVER thrown the ball as well as he has over the past few weeks, which has been great for Ireland. This is a fact, ask any decent Munster fan. To equate this upsurge in accuracy as a reason to cite that he is better than Best is pub talk?

You cant compare players over three games when it comes to discussing who executes an aspect of the game better. Must be done over seasons. Rory Best has had many more good days in a green jersey with darts than he has had bad days.

Micky Dolenz · 11-03-2009 12:32pm

Happy that Stringer is getting a shot, has been in flying form of late.

Best in, no argument there.

D'arcy was only a matter of time.

Think Heaslip is contender for player of the tournament, up there anyway.

bamboozle · 11-03-2009 1:27pm

methinks we need a poll on who we'd chose at hooker.....

Darlie · 11-03-2009 1:30pm

bamboozle wrote: »

methinks we need a poll on who we'd chose at hooker.....

What would it really achieve though:)
Personally speaking, I'd take either. And be glad to have a replacement as capable as we do. When both are in their prime condition of fitness and performance, I'd probably side with Flannery. But couldn't complain if Best got the nod. One of those welcome headaches for a coach to have.

Timothy Bryce · 11-03-2009 1:34pm

Darlie wrote: »

What would it really achieve though:)
Personally speaking, I'd take either. And be glad to have a replacement as capable as we do. When both are in their prime condition of fitness and performance, I'd probably side with Flannery. But couldn't complain if Best got the nod. One of those welcome headaches for a coach to have.

Agreed. We have an abundance of competition at a lot of key positions (not at OH sadly) which makes for positive selection headaches...

On that note, is there much of a case to give Bob Casey a shout at lock? DOC hasn't been at his best lately and he can be a bit of a liability on the pitch....

NU8 · 11-03-2009 2:17pm

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

On that note, is there much of a case to give Bob Casey a shout at lock? DOC hasn't been at his best lately and he can be a bit of a liability on the pitch....

I agree with you about DOC but according to the Independent Casey is out for the rest of the season. Leaving MOD and Mal as the only back up, neither of which are good enough to challenge for a starting position.

Darlie · 11-03-2009 2:26pm

NU8 wrote: »

I agree with you about DOC but according to the Independent Casey is out for the rest of the season. Leaving MOD and Mal as the only back up, neither of which are good enough to challenge for a starting position.

But who would both be justifiably ahead of Casey in the queue.

NU8 · 11-03-2009 2:47pm

Personally I agree with the current starting seconds rows but I think O'Kelly should be on the bench ahead of MOD. Casey, if he wasn't injured, would probably be 5th choice anyway as Kidney seems to want someone with experience on the bench.

chapelizod1 · 11-03-2009 5:48pm

Don't agree with you on DOC, I think his work rate is exceptional and he doesn't give away penalties too often. With the ELVs big 2nd rows like Casey are not as useful as they used to be.

Timothy Bryce wrote: »

Agreed. We have an abundance of competition at a lot of key positions (not at OH sadly) which makes for positive selection headaches...

On that note, is there much of a case to give Bob Casey a shout at lock? DOC hasn't been at his best lately and he can be a bit of a liability on the pitch....

11-03-2009 6:05pm

When Cullen comes back it will be himself and Doc going for the sport beside Poc,although I would expect Cullen on the bench as the others are a pairing.

puntosporting · 11-03-2009 9:28pm

Im sorry but Casey is not good enough in my opinion!
Doc is having a decent 6 nations and i dont see any change necessary!

cruiserweight · 12-03-2009 10:56am

For anybody that is coming over early and is interested in seeing some free rugby, I received the following details about the U20, womens and club games on Friday from the SRU

While the Scotland team completes their final pre-match preparations for the game on Saturday, the nation's best young rugby players will also be in action. Having already played home fixtures against Wales & Italy, now's your chance to see them take on Ireland.

Hot on the heels of home victories against Wales and Italy under 20, Scotland under 20 are in action at McDiarmid Park, Perth against Ireland U20. This young team has shown some real character so far this season and certainly contains talent to watch for the future.

Meanwhile at Meggetland in Edinburgh, Scotland Women take on Ireland Women - and they'll be keen to see out another victory after defeating Italy Women, two weeks ago on the same turf.

Finally, the best club rugby players from Scottish clubs have been selected to take on their Irish counterparts in the Club International match at Myreside. This is your only chance to see the best club rugby talent join forces for the nation on home soil - so don't miss it.

All matches kick off at 7.30pm on Friday 13 March and with free entry at all venues, there's no excuse for not being able to support your country this weekend. No tickets or vouchers required - simply turn up and give our teams the best home backing.

Zzippy · 12-03-2009 11:51am

Brycen Attractive Oasis wrote: »

When Cullen comes back it will be himself and Doc going for the sport beside Poc,although I would expect Cullen on the bench as the others are a pairing.

Cullen is nowhere near good enough to play for Ireland, and DOC is a far superior player. And no, I'm not a Munster fan, that's my honest opinion. Plus his discipline is poorer than DOCs

shaneomurf · 12-03-2009 3:36pm

Hey,

I'm asking a favour of anyone travelling to the Ireland v Scotland game this weekend. Will you please keep an eye out for a group of us who will be collecting for the Stuart Mangan Trust on Princes St and The Royal Mile. We will try to do a round of the pubs too so Please support us!!

Check out http://www.stuartmangan.org

Thanks in advance,

Shane

12-03-2009 4:16pm

Zzippy wrote: »

Cullen is nowhere near good enough to play for Ireland, and DOC is a far superior player. And no, I'm not a Munster fan, that's my honest opinion. Plus his discipline is poorer than DOCs

He is easily the best we can put on the bench,also he has been desperately unfortunate with injuries since returing to Leinster,when Ireland are playing.

I dont rate Doc,so I disagree with your other point aswell.

Micky Dolenz · 12-03-2009 4:27pm

Brycen Attractive Oasis wrote: »

I dont rate Doc,so I disagree with your other point aswell.

jeez Goose, do you use the term "I don't rate" loosely or what?

You don't rate a player that has won a couple of European cups and has been an Internatonal player for years, not to mention his 6 or 7 lions caps.

sm.org · 12-03-2009 4:31pm

Brycen Attractive Oasis wrote: »

He is easily the best we can put on the bench,also he has been desperately unfortunate with injuries since returing to Leinster,when Ireland are playing.

I dont rate Doc,so I disagree with your other point aswell.

Granted he has been unlucky with injuries but he's not international level by any stretch of the imagination. It doesn't matter what your opinion of DOC is , 40 odd caps , two Lions tests another Lions tour this summer with a good shout of more test caps (as a sub) would suggest that people with slightly more rugby knowledge would rate him.

12-03-2009 5:03pm

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

jeez Goose, do you use the term "I don't rate" loosely or what?

You don't rate a player that has won a couple of European cups and has been an Internatonal player for years, not to mention his 6 or 7 lions caps.

I just think he is living off Pocs reputation and for me anyway he is not as good as people think.
I would have liked to see either Casey or cullen get a shot alongside Poc at some stage over the last few years.

Micky Dolenz · 12-03-2009 5:32pm

Brycen Attractive Oasis wrote: »

I just think he is living off Pocs reputation and for me anyway he is not as good as people think.
.

These people being, in no particular order...

Munster Rugby, coaching and management along with the Irish set up and ofcourse the lions.

He has been picked by many managers to be part of some fine squads.

do you think these people are wrong?

thehighground · 12-03-2009 5:45pm

Brycen Attractive Oasis wrote: »

I just think he is living off Pocs reputation and for me anyway he is not as good as people think.
I would have liked to see either Casey or cullen get a shot alongside Poc at some stage over the last few years.

O'Callaghan & O'Driscoll were good enough to get Munster into the knock-outs of the Heineken Cup from the group of death last season. You may remember that POC was out for a couple of months after the world cup undergoing a back operation.

Gert Smal (world cup winning forwards coach) rates the POC & DOC partnership very highly. I posted an interview on it elsewhere. Did you read that?

Even England have dropped Nick Kennedy to the bench, who I believe is more highly rated than Casey.

Macsimus · 12-03-2009 6:01pm

Delighted with the inclusion of Stringer and Darcy - hopefully we'll now get to see some rugby played

Happy with best - wont carry as well as flan but has other aspects to his game, seems to be wining a lot of turnovers when ive seen him play for Ulster too

RE: Leamy - not as sure on this - if DK was going to going to wrap someone up in cotton wool, i might have preferred him to give ferris the rest instead of heaslip - mainly because i think leamy plays better at 6 than 8, but also cos, if i was given the option of risking heaslip or ferris to injury before Cardiff, imo losing ferris would do us more damage

That said, i wouldn't try and second guess dk. Its great to be confident that the coach will do what he thinks is best for the team not what what poses the least risk to his position

12-03-2009 7:36pm

thehighground wrote: »

Even England have dropped Nick Kennedy to the bench, who I believe is more highly rated than Casey.

By the English,Casey is the better of that pair.

You keep going on about Gert Small rating them.Hes hardly going to say they are **** is he?

Anyway Poc is right there with Matfield so obviously we are going to have a top lineout,that doesnt mean Poc is a world beater.

NU8 · 12-03-2009 7:48pm

Brycen Attractive Oasis wrote: »

By the English,Casey is the better of that pair.

They definitely rate Casey higher as a player but rate Kennedy as the superior lineout player of the two.

puntosporting · 12-03-2009 8:10pm

I can safely say Casey will not be getting a sniff of an Irish jersey in any competitive games be world cup or six nations!
Cullen was in fine form a few months back be interesting to see can he get back to it after his layoff!
Would be a nice selection headache to have over the next couple of years!

Stev_o · 12-03-2009 9:22pm

thehighground wrote: »

O'Callaghan & O'Driscoll were good enough to get Munster into the knock-outs of the Heineken Cup from the group of death last season. You may remember that POC was out for a couple of months after the world cup undergoing a back operation.

Gert Smal (world cup winning forwards coach) rates the POC & DOC partnership very highly. I posted an interview on it elsewhere. Did you read that?

In fairness no coach in the world is going to come out and say "Yeah they both over rated and sh1t"

Amabokke · 12-03-2009 9:44pm

Stev_o wrote: »

In fairness no coach in the world is going to come out and say "Yeah they both over rated and sh1t"

I can assure you that before Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha became the best lock pair in the world (and line-out of course) the team with the best line-out before that was Ireland - during Keith Wood's day. I can't remember who the locks were but remember Irish locks and temper were a pain in the bud for the boks and we could not compete. TBF to Gert Small, who is one of the most physical front rows we've seen (see Lions 99 call where he clobered your man) his opinion would be highly regarded as he could have said "yea, they brilliant and we will continue to improve areas" if they weren't any good, so listen to old Gert.

Rattlehead_ie · 13-03-2009 3:11pm

Slightly changing the subject but does anyone know where or if possible any scotish website or someone is showing the U-20s game tonight online, would be great to see.

juvenal · 13-03-2009 8:17pm

Jim Hamilton and Jason White are selected at 4 and 5 respectively, with Nathan Hines and Nick De Luca on the bench as cover.

Perhaps a mod can throw that into the OP as the editing feature is disabled after 48 hours I think.

Lads, I'll also need a good stream for this match (and the Italy-Wales match if it's going!). You can PM me or post if you've any links please. As it's $20 per person to go out for Setanta PPV here and the bar is on the far side of town, we're saving ourselves for next week!

Any help is appreicated.:)

Scotland v Ireland (pre/during/post thread)

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