Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread IV

Clearlier · 10-02-2015 04:56PM

awec wrote: »

Here's the source btw: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/31327141

A wee bit of an Ulster bias in his analysis!

Micky Dolenz · 10-02-2015 05:38PM

Utah_Saint wrote: »

Former Ireland and Lions player Stephen Ferris:

"What England did at the Millennium Stadium was to beat Wales at their own game...Everyone likes to see England lose but I like to see Warren Gatland lose even more."

God i miss big Ferris....!

Did he really say that?

I dislike Gatland to my core and I can't pinpoint why.

awec · 10-02-2015 05:52PM

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Did he really say that?

I dislike Gatland to my core and I can't pinpoint why.

Yea he really said it.

errlloyd · 10-02-2015 05:57PM

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ferris has some kind of beef with Gatland?

Ferris has pretty much every kind of beef.

dtpc191991 · 10-02-2015 06:20PM

I'm beginning to quite like Ferris as a sports journalist. At least he has the guile to be critical and give his honest opinion even if it totally constrasts the popular view or, in the case of the above Gatty comment, his view isn't PC.

Micky Dolenz · 10-02-2015 06:30PM

awec wrote: »

Yea he really said it.

Ha, that's deadly.

thomond2006 · 10-02-2015 06:34PM

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Ha, that's deadly.

I suppose what's Gatland going to do, pick a fight with him? :pac:

b.gud · 10-02-2015 07:02PM

thomond2006 wrote: »

I suppose what's Gatland going to do, pick a fight with him? :pac:

I'd pay to see that fight

bilston · 10-02-2015 08:12PM

Clearlier wrote: »

A wee bit of an Ulster bias in his analysis!

Nothing wrong with that! He was probably being interviewed by BBC NI which would explain any focus on Ulster players.

Anyway Cave has been excellent for Ulster at 13, not sure about form centre in Europe mind, but that comment is probably a nod towards his performance against Leicester. I'm not sure too many other centres have scored more than 5 tries in Europe this season. If Cave had done that playing for Leinster or Munster the southern media would have gone into overdrive!! Ferris is just fighting his man's corner, and more power to him.

phog · 10-02-2015 08:30PM

On the subject of kicking as part of your game plan

Apologies to romantics, but the data shows the kicking game works ...
When I joined Saracens, one of the first things I did was to show that the coaches’ intuitions about what was the most effective style of rugby was supported by the data: on the whole, teams that use a kicking game more tend to be more successful.

rrpc · 10-02-2015 10:29PM

phog wrote: »

On the subject of kicking as part of your game plan

That was the article that Murray Kinsella referenced.

Morf · 12-02-2015 04:17AM

Deleted User wrote: »

The article was good (which I credited in my original post) save for the bad science (which I debunked and explained in my original post).
Again, maybe others feel it's nit picking, but personally, I don't like bad science creeping into analytics and reserve the right to debunk/call bull**** when it needs doing. That's how science works.

Is boards.ie rugby forum a valid platform for analytical peer review now? :P

total former · 12-02-2015 01:44PM

Nice piece on Joe Schmidt if you want something to read over lunch:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/31312194

Awesomeness · 12-02-2015 07:30PM

Trimble ruled out for the rest of the season. Thats a big blow fir him

vienne86 · 12-02-2015 07:48PM

Awesomeness wrote: »

Trimble ruled out for the rest of the season. Thats a big blow fir him

Ah no - big blow for Ulster too. Gutted for the guy. Out for a season because of a broken toe? Who would have thought that?

bilston · 12-02-2015 09:46PM

Crap for Trimble, crap for Ulster and potentially crap for Ireland if iy affects his chances of making the WC.

ionadnapóca · 13-02-2015 09:23AM

bad news all round. he really did have a smashing 6N last year.
his injury got me thinking though about Irelands wingers and who possesses the greatest pace.
Would I be correct in saying Trimble would be the fastest over 90/100m and Earls from 0-40m? (Straight line speed)
Followed by: 90/100m McFadden? 0-40m Zebo?

davegrohl48 · 13-02-2015 09:52AM

ionadnapokot wrote: »

bad news all round. he really did have a smashing 6N last year.
his injury got me thinking though about Irelands wingers and who possesses the greatest pace.
Would I be correct in saying Trimble would be the fastest over 90/100m and Earls from 0-40m? (Straight line speed)
Followed by: 90/100m McFadden? 0-40m Zebo?

Zebo you would imagine is quickest over all of those distances. Earls is quick over 40 as well, but I doubt he has the stride length to be impressive 40 - 100.
Zebo has a long sprinters stride.

MattD · 13-02-2015 11:07AM

I'll back Sean Cronin over 40m all day...

But Zebo definitely accelerates quickly with that stride. Would have considered him and Ferg to be the speedsters in the squad.

ionadnapóca · 13-02-2015 11:12AM

MattD wrote: »

I'll back Sean Cronin over 40m all day...

players must hold onto the ball!

MJohnston · 13-02-2015 02:46PM

Long term at this point, but if you were bringing a tourist to one of the home August internationals, which would you get tickets for?

Buer · 13-02-2015 02:52PM

MJohnston wrote: »

Long term at this point, but if you were bringing a tourist to one of the home August internationals, which would you get tickets for?

Any of them. The interest in them was extremely lukewarm last time and there was no difficulty getting tickets. Granted, we had just had a mediocre 6N but it's the height of summer, people are away and interest isn't really there. Neither home game last time (France and England) were sell outs.

If you're on the ball, I'm sure you'll pick up some in a public sale without too much difficulty.

dub_skav · 13-02-2015 02:56PM

MJohnston wrote: »

Long term at this point, but if you were bringing a tourist to one of the home August internationals, which would you get tickets for?

Just make sure you don't get your seats at the wrong end of the red carpet this time

MJohnston · 13-02-2015 03:03PM

Buer wrote: »

Any of them. The interest in them was extremely lukewarm last time and there was no difficulty getting tickets. Granted, we had just had a mediocre 6N but it's the height of summer, people are away and interest isn't really there. Neither home game last time (France and England) were sell outs.

If you're on the ball, I'm sure you'll pick up some in a public sale without too much difficulty.

I have a Supporters Club presale code, just trying to predict whether Wales or Scotland will be the more interesting team to play come August

I'm presuming that with the WC on the horizon, the teams will be more substantial than with regular friendlies.

Clearlier · 13-02-2015 03:12PM

MJohnston wrote: »

I have a Supporters Club presale code, just trying to predict whether Wales or Scotland will be the more interesting team to play come August I'm presuming that with the WC on the horizon, the teams will be more substantial than with regular friendlies.

I'd be more interested in watching the Scotland game as they're more likely to pose interesting problems than the Welsh who will try to be fitter and stronger.

durkadurka · 13-02-2015 11:31PM

I would guess the teams will get stronger as the games go on.

vienne86 · 13-02-2015 11:52PM

I have one of those supporters club codes as well. My gut feeling is that tickets won't be that hard to come by, and anyway I don't feel like committing to going to a match at this stage.

shuffol · 16-02-2015 04:08PM

So with Heaslip seemingly ruled out for a while what do people see as the most likely backrow for the England game.
Henderson to 6 and POM to 8 or a straight swap with Murphy.

I'd go with the former myself, the Irish pack struggled with the physicality of France and for the 2nd game in a row a lack of ball carrying ability was an issue.

Pudsy33 · 16-02-2015 04:10PM

I'd like to see Henderson too but I'll be very shocked if it's anything other then 6 POM 7 SOB 8 Murphy

matthew8 · 16-02-2015 04:14PM

Given he gave Murphy a game against England last year and he's in good form I'd be surprised if Murphy doesn't start.

Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread IV

Comments