Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread IV

b.gud · 29-07-2015 11:55am

thomond2006 wrote: »

It's the perfect arena for John Hayes to make his rugby comeback at 43.

A double header would certainly encourage more to travel over.

He has already started getting ready for his triumphant come back

https://twitter.com/mikem7373/status/623572861924605952

bilston · 29-07-2015 12:15pm

The only thing you have to consider is whether we want a repeat of the RWC final so soon?

29-07-2015 12:19pm

bilston wrote: »

The only thing you have to consider is whether we want a repeat of the RWC final so soon?

Well I'm sure NZ will want a chance at revenge and it would be a good way to celebrate Joe signing on until 2023 (source: Irish Independent)

colster · 29-07-2015 1:20pm

Healy was training today.

http://www.sportsfile.com/id/1034328/

b.gud · 29-07-2015 1:37pm

colster wrote: »

Healy was training today.

http://www.sportsfile.com/id/1034328/

This looks like a closed fist to me

29-07-2015 1:55pm

I saw Healy out on the beer last weekend. There was never any doubt

.ak · 29-07-2015 1:57pm

b.gud wrote: »

This looks like a closed fist to me

Or, maybe it was he can't open his fist?

:pac:

b.gud · 29-07-2015 2:08pm

.ak wrote: »

Or, maybe it was he can't open his fist?

:pac:

Ya maybe the surgeon wanted to make him more intimidating looking for opposition teams so he decided to give him a permanent fist

29-07-2015 2:52pm

b.gud wrote: »

This looks like a closed fist to me

He isn't trying to avoid Marty Moore, he is just stuck in that posture. It's called a Semi Bushwhacker in WWE circles.

icdg · 01-08-2015 3:54pm

andymx11 wrote: »

Yea I have no issues with it being shown on BBC NI. Starting to panic now! I wish Sky or RTE would just announce they they have the rights!!!

Unfortunately it now looks like the only Irish coverage will be a one hour highlights show on Saturday at 8:00pm on RTÉ Two. I am not sure why RTE and/or BBC NI are not picking up the live rights when they are available, but there you go. Maybe the WRU are asking for a price that RTÉ aren't willing to pay.

PTH2009 · 01-08-2015 4:13pm

Have a bad feeling we are going to struggle in these warm up games like 2007.

If we don't do well In this World Cup we will never do well

Buer · 01-08-2015 4:30pm

PTH2009 wrote: »

Have a bad feeling we are going to struggle in these warm up games like 2007.

If we don't do well In this World Cup we will never do well

2011 was just as bad. 1999 was poor enough too when Munster beat Ireland and Ulster came close. Would read very little into the warm ups, generally, given teams are normally trying out different selections and players are minding themselves.

We normally do poorly as we often don't have great depth so when we try out different players, we struggle.

shookie · 01-08-2015 5:29pm

icdg wrote: »

Unfortunately it now looks like the only Irish coverage will be a one hour highlights show on Saturday at 8:00pm on RTÉ Two. I am not sure why RTE and/or BBC NI are not picking up the live rights when they are available, but there you go. Maybe the WRU are asking for a price that RTÉ aren't willing to pay.

TV3 are showing all 48 games

Leinstertomas · 01-08-2015 5:38pm

shookie wrote:

TV3 are showing all 48 games

This is a warm up game. Not part of tournament.

total former · 01-08-2015 6:08pm

icdg wrote: »

Unfortunately it now looks like the only Irish coverage will be a one hour highlights show on Saturday at 8:00pm on RTÉ Two. I am not sure why RTE and/or BBC NI are not picking up the live rights when they are available, but there you go. Maybe the WRU are asking for a price that RTÉ aren't willing to pay.

Maybe they're not bothered showing warmup games for a tournament to which they don't have the rights? Maybe they don't want to hype up the coverage of a rival station?

It says a lot about TV3 that it occurred to no one that they might have had coverage.

RobbieRuns · 01-08-2015 7:17pm

Good old TV3 !

icdg · 01-08-2015 9:45pm

Warm up game or not, this is a full international Test match for which caps are being awarded and no station officially broadcasting in Ireland, Northern or Republic, is showing it live. The team is Ireland, not Ireland XV or Wolfhounds. It's an extraordinary situation - even the 2011 match v Scotland, which RTE didn't show despite the rights being available, was shown by BBC NI.

01-08-2015 10:50pm

PTH2009 wrote: »

Have a bad feeling we are going to struggle in these warm up games

I don't think we will at all. We don't win every game, but since Schmidt took over we have only really given any kind of soft win to Australia in that first game.

Our players are good and our basics are exceptional so no one is going to run over us.

What we may see at worst is performances like the USA tour and the Argentina tour where we maybe weren't the most clinical at times but I think we will be plenty competitive and won't be giving away any unpleasant winning margins.

I think we will win 3 out of 4 and I actually expect that last game in Twikenham to be more or less a test match for both teams unless the coaches are happy with conditioning, fitness and tactics and decide to have a slightly softer run in.

I expect that in our first two games we will rack up low scores during the first half and then decimate the teams in the second half. I think we will have one of our largest ever victories over Italy and then scrape passed France in a tense encounter.

We will beat Argentina and coast out the last 20 minutes and then put England out in the semi Finals in a game that will have a 1000 articles afterwards criticising the ref's decisions.

We will then face NZ in the final and sh1t will get real.

irishbucsfan · 01-08-2015 11:01pm

PTH2009 wrote: »

Have a bad feeling we are going to struggle in these warm up games like 2007.

If we don't do well In this World Cup we will never do well

Hmm... I sense a pattern in your posts...

PTH2009 wrote: »

England have this in the bag. They will run away it in the second half. At least we lost the title with pride

PTH2009 wrote: »

Championship is over now. Wales have it won now

We don't have to worry about getting the cup we won't beat Scotland or else we will scrape past them

PTH2009 wrote: »

i think we will finish 3rd play bad in the summer internationals and have a crap World Cup

Ireland always let u down when things are going well. We can't win the championship (England will have a field day today and against France), Wales will hammer Italy

It will be hard to get out of our group in the World Cup

PTH2009 wrote: »

Wales by 3 In a close affair

Sexton will be ruled out before the game

Ireland will score no try's

Please God I'm wrong but can't see anything but a Welsh win

PTH2009 wrote: »

Have a bad feeling about this match. I can see Italy winning by 3 points. There good at home but please god I'm wrong and we hammer them

molloyjh · 01-08-2015 11:20pm

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Hmm... I sense a pattern in your posts...

Yikes that nearly put a downer on my entire bank holiday weekend!!!

bilston · 02-08-2015 11:31am

Brendan Fanning in the Indo today was suggesting that a few of the 41 man squad will be told they are not required for the 4 warm up games this week. Whether that will be announced or not I don't know but we will get an idea after the first two games as to who has and hasn't played.

I see also that the Millenium Stadium is sold out for this game...and no broadcaster in the land of the dominant team in Europe of the last two years could be bothered to show the game live. What a joke.

I guess when the Rugby and the GAA seasons collide you get a real picture of where Rugby actually sits in Ireland.

Wang King · 02-08-2015 11:51am

I wonder how much it would have cost RTE to purchase the rights to what is essentially a friendly game, and the fact they aren't showing the world cup, no onus on them really to spend any money for the privilege

penybont exile · 02-08-2015 12:02pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't think we will at all. We don't win every game, but since Schmidt took over we have only really given any kind of soft win to Australia in that first game.

Our players are good and our basics are exceptional so no one is going to run over us.

What we may see at worst is performances like the USA tour and the Argentina tour where we maybe weren't the most clinical at times but I think we will be plenty competitive and won't be giving away any unpleasant winning margins.

I think we will win 3 out of 4 and I actually expect that last game in Twikenham to be more or less a test match for both teams unless the coaches are happy with conditioning, fitness and tactics and decide to have a slightly softer run in.

I expect that in our first two games we will rack up low scores during the first half and then decimate the teams in the second half. I think we will have one of our largest ever victories over Italy and then scrape passed France in a tense encounter.

We will beat Argentina and coast out the last 20 minutes and then put England out in the semi Finals in a game that will have a 1000 articles afterwards criticising the ref's decisions.

We will then face NZ in the final and sh1t will get real.

It's good to dream I guess .......

total former · 02-08-2015 12:23pm

bilston wrote: »

Brendan Fanning in the Indo today was suggesting that a few of the 41 man squad will be told they are not required for the 4 warm up games this week. Whether that will be announced or not I don't know but we will get an idea after the first two games as to who has and hasn't played.

Peter O'Reilly in the ST reckons a couple of guys have already been told they won't feature and a few more will be cut after the Scotland game.

So by the time we play Wales at home, we could be down to 35 players remaining.

Taking a stab at it, if Herring, Conan, Marmion, Reid and D'arcy don't feature next weekend, it's curtains for them.

It's also looking like Bent will go as one of five props, so bad news for Furlong and Kilcoyne, but he might still get lucky with Healy's injury.

smiley_face · 02-08-2015 4:48pm

bilston wrote: »

Brendan Fanning in the Indo today was suggesting that a few of the 41 man squad will be told they are not required for the 4 warm up games this week. Whether that will be announced or not I don't know but we will get an idea after the first two games as to who has and hasn't played.

It was a 45-man squad, then Buckley and White joined to make it 47.
Assuming those 2 have been told they won't feature,
And assuming these players that are on the fringe similarly will not feature: Furlong, Herring, Conan, Marmion, Reid,
Squad would then be down to 40.
The biggest headache will be deciding who to cut out of the backs.
IMHO the next few to go after that would most likely be T O'Donnell, D'Arcy, Cave, D Kearney, Gilroy.
That would bring it down to 35.
The last few decisions will prob be:
Healy if fit, else Kilcoyne
Ryan or Tuohy
Earls or McFadden
Trimble or Jones

Of course, it's speculative to make any predictions this early on.

Just read this, stating we should take 9 front row forwards, that would make it very hard to decide what other player to cut elsewhere.
Perhaps 2 of Zebo, Jones and Trimble will both be dropped to make space for the extra prop.
http://www.balls.ie/rugby/ireland-rwc-squad-battles/298345

02-08-2015 4:56pm

penybont exile wrote: »

It's good to dream I guess .......

It certainly is!

That said - it's not like this is out of the realm of possibility at all. We've beaten France the last two times out, same with Italy and we just won twice in a row in Argentina last summer.

There is no reason why a semi is dreaming. After that, yeah - it's pure knock out rugby and anything can happen.

I'm trying not to think too much about it, I'll end up being too nervous by the time the tournament comes around.

AbusesToilets · 02-08-2015 5:18pm

I'm looking at these games from behind my fingers, who's going to pick up season/ career ending injuries this time out?

bilston · 02-08-2015 5:31pm

AbusesToilets wrote: »

I'm looking at these games from behind my fingers, who's going to pick up season/ career ending injuries this time out?

Well it's a worry. We are effectively playing for a mini Triple Crown here plus playing Wales again. In any given 6Ns you'd expect a couple of injuries, there is little reason to think this will be any different even if the games are a little bit below the same intensity. Even then I don't really know how you can play below full intensity in these games anyway. I mean England at Twickenham at the end of the warm ups is going to be full on I would think.

irishbucsfan · 02-08-2015 6:16pm

bilston wrote: »

Well it's a worry. We are effectively playing for a mini Triple Crown here plus playing Wales again. In any given 6Ns you'd expect a couple of injuries, there is little reason to think this will be any different even if the games are a little bit below the same intensity. Even then I don't really know how you can play below full intensity in these games anyway. I mean England at Twickenham at the end of the warm ups is going to be full on I would think.

Not sure I agree, these warmup games are rarely at full intensity, remember Ireland-France in 2011?

I think we could see a pattern a bit like the NFL's pre-season where you get very little intensity in 3/4 games but 1 game which is pretty full on. That game would be the 3rd game, IE the one against Wales in the Aviva. Then rest the key guys the next week in Twickenham.

bilston · 02-08-2015 6:50pm

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Not sure I agree, these warmup games are rarely at full intensity, remember Ireland-France in 2011?

I think we could see a pattern a bit like the NFL's pre-season where you get very little intensity in 3/4 games but 1 game which is pretty full on. That game would be the 3rd game, IE the one against Wales in the Aviva. Then rest the key guys the next week in Twickenham.

Well maybe the fact I don't remember the Ireland France game in 2011 suggests your right about the intensity.

However in 2003 we lost Geordan Murphy, in 2007 we nearly lost BOD and in 2011 we lost David Wallace so there is a definite danger there.

smiley_face · 02-08-2015 6:52pm

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Not sure I agree, these warmup games are rarely at full intensity, remember Ireland-France in 2011?

I think we could see a pattern a bit like the NFL's pre-season where you get very little intensity in 3/4 games but 1 game which is pretty full on. That game would be the 3rd game, IE the one against Wales in the Aviva. Then rest the key guys the next week in Twickenham.

That is possible alright, but I'm hoping they go all out for each of the matches, I mean in intensity but not with only the 1st choice players for every match.
If injuries occur then hopefully it will be to a fringe player that is getting a run out.
Would love to see some variety in selection for the 1st 2 matches at least, Cave and Gilroy for example, as they both deserve to get a chance to play for Ireland, but prob won't make the RWC final squad.

Tox56 · 02-08-2015 8:01pm

bilston wrote: »

Well maybe the fact I don't remember the Ireland France game in 2011 suggests your right about the intensity.

However in 2003 we lost Geordan Murphy, in 2007 we nearly lost BOD and in 2011 we lost David Wallace so there is a definite danger there.

I'm pretty sure there were 2 games against France in 2011 so you really missed the boat on that one.

They're a necessary evil, although given our soft initial schedule in the World Cup proper I wonder if Schmidt will use the actual tournament games as warm ups for our important players

CatFromHue · 02-08-2015 8:27pm

RTE will have an hours long highlights package on Saturday night of next weeks game.

bilston · 02-08-2015 8:40pm

CatFromHue wrote: »

RTE will have an hours long highlights package on Saturday night of next weeks game.

That would be an hour with up to 20 minutes of adverts and 15 minutes of analysis. Not really good enough really...albeit not just RTE's fault...

postitnote · 03-08-2015 4:46pm

Assuming it'll be on the BBC sport website to stream at least. With not having sky sports I've watched many's an Ulster game in the past like that. Mirror it through the TV and bob's your uncle.

Stheno · 03-08-2015 4:47pm

Are the games on sky?

icdg · 03-08-2015 4:49pm

Not the game on Saturday. The other three (the two home games and the away game to England) are. Streaming on the BBC Sport website only an option for NI viewers.

bilston · 03-08-2015 5:02pm

Is BBC Wales not widely and legally available in the Republic?

andymx11 · 03-08-2015 5:16pm

Slightly off topic but the Woolshed are showing the Wales Ireland game so I'm sure plenty of other pubs have Sky and therefore the option to add BBC Wales.

I'm not a fan of watching matches in pubs but I think it's the only realistic option for many. Plus, watching New Zealand and Australia will be a nice warm up for the Ireland game!

total former · 03-08-2015 5:21pm

bilston wrote: »

Is BBC Wales not widely and legally available in the Republic?

Yes, only via satellite though.

Frequency for BBC Wales HD can be found here btw:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/television/satellite/channels.html

The Pheasant2 · 03-08-2015 6:31pm

total former wrote: »

Yes, only via satellite though.

Frequency for BBC Wales HD can be found here btw:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/television/satellite/channels.html

So just to clarify, I have Sky - I'll be able to watch the match by accessing BBC Wales through the other channels option?

total former · 03-08-2015 6:45pm

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

So just to clarify, I have Sky - I'll be able to watch the match by accessing BBC Wales through the other channels option?

Exactly.

03-08-2015 8:31pm

Can you get this channel on UPC?

alias no.9 · 03-08-2015 8:53pm

andymx11 wrote: »

Slightly off topic but the Woolshed are showing the Wales Ireland game so I'm sure plenty of other pubs have Sky and therefore the option to add BBC Wales.

I'm not a fan of watching matches in pubs but I think it's the only realistic option for many. Plus, watching New Zealand and Australia will be a nice warm up for the Ireland game!

Anybody receiving their TV by satellite (Sky or FTA) can get it Nice Sticky Here

UPC customers are screwed

alias no.9 · 03-08-2015 8:57pm

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

So just to clarify, I have Sky - I'll be able to watch the match by accessing BBC Wales through the other channels option?

Probably even just using the red button, its been a while since I've had a Sky subscription but if BBC Wales or BBC NI vary from default, you can usually navigate with red button, otherwise they're in the 9xx range of channels

03-08-2015 9:17pm

alias no.9 wrote: »

Anybody receiving their TV by satellite (Sky or FTA) can get it Nice Sticky Here

UPC customers are screwed

Well that's annoying.

icdg · 04-08-2015 12:00am

alias no.9 wrote: »

Probably even just using the red button, its been a while since I've had a Sky subscription but if BBC Wales or BBC NI vary from default, you can usually navigate with red button, otherwise they're in the 9xx range of channels

The other BBC regions in the 900s are not on the Irish EPG - only BBC NI and, only if you have HD, England - for some reason the HD swap in the Republic on Sky is to the English version of BBC One HD while there is no BBC Two NI HD).

alias no.9 · 04-08-2015 9:20am

icdg wrote: »

The other BBC regions in the 900s are not on the Irish EPG - only BBC NI and, only if you have HD, England - for some reason the HD swap in the Republic on Sky is to the English version of BBC One HD while there is no BBC Two NI HD).

It's been a while and I've used boxes with Irish and UK EPGs, my memory is a bit hazey, thanks for clarifying.

Can you still get the UK EPG by powering down, removing the card and powering back up? Otherwise it's a case of manual tuning, but it should be available.

vienne86 · 04-08-2015 11:51am

alias no.9 wrote: »

It's been a while and I've used boxes with Irish and UK EPGs, my memory is a bit hazey, thanks for clarifying.

Can you still get the UK EPG by powering down, removing the card and powering back up? Otherwise it's a case of manual tuning, but it should be available.

Manual tuning is fairly straighforward, and you only have to do it once - once you have found your channel, you store it in 'Other Channels'.

I'm going to be away for the weekend, and am hoping I can find it on the freeview box.

Larbre34 · 04-08-2015 12:17pm

alias no.9 wrote: »

Anybody receiving their TV by satellite (Sky or FTA) can get it Nice Sticky Here

UPC customers are screwed

So what's firkin new.

Ireland Team Talk/Gossip/Rumour Thread IV

Comments