Disappointing to see Murray trying to stick the knees into the Welsh lad who was scoring the try. A typically disappointing act in this abomination of a game.
Hookās fall guy is Heaslip. Donāt think he was looking at the game.
Now Pope getting it completely wrong. āSame as Ferrisāā¦ā Clown.
Ireland deserved to lose that game, we pussied out of tackles, far too weak at the breakdown and we bottled it at the end. Ferris was stupid to lift him in the tackle.
ffs sexton had a very poor game along with mcfadden and trimble, o brien was hardly at the races either at seven.
Sexton kicked several balls long and high down the center when he should have been hitting the corners, two bad kicks at goal and missed a penalty to touch early on. his running game is excellent, but all round iām not convinced he should be starting.
Iād make two changes to the team straight off:
Ryan for OāCallaghan and McFadden replaced by OāMalley, Bowe (with Earls on wing) or Earls.
OāCallaghan wasnāt poor today but thought Ryan did enough in his time on the pitch to earn the start. Otherwise I thought the pack did fine actually. Would also actually nearly prefer Reddan to Murray even though Murray was very good. Weāre not getting the most out of the backs out wide in the current style. Thatās not all the scrum halfās issue (and he was at the heart of some good play) but I think we do need to change the emphasis to a more open game.
Earls will definately be at 13 next week.
[quote=āRocko, post: 647722ā]Iād make two changes to the team straight off:
Ryan for OāCallaghan and McFadden replaced by OāMalley, Bowe (with Earls on wing) or Earls.
OāCallaghan wasnāt poor today but thought Ryan did enough in his time on the pitch to earn the start. Otherwise I thought the pack did fine actually. Would also actually nearly prefer Reddan to Murray even though Murray was very good. Weāre not getting the most out of the backs out wide in the current style. Thatās not all the scrum halfās issue (and he was at the heart of some good play) but I think we do need to change the emphasis to a more open game.[/quote]
OāMalley is a worse tackler than McFadden Rocko. Needs to bulk up a small bit.
Yeah Iād agree on that but Iād like to see Kidney adopting a strategy of dropping players who play badly. McFadden had a stinker today, Iām not writing him off but he deserves to be dropped. Earls is the obvious candidate (and has his own defensive weaknesses) but if heās not available I think we still need to change it.
Spence would do a good job but not a hope he will be picked.
Sexton has a shit game, yet Rocko and the boys blame OāGara for the loss because of a poor restart in the couple of minutes he was on the pitch. :lol:
Thought Sexton played well myself. Will definately be retained for the French match
McFadden was like a fucking rag doll. Will never be international class.
And OāGaraās two restarts after he came on were shocking. That said Wales walked the ball 70 yards up the field no problem.
ok if you ignore the routine kick at goal he missed plus the numerous aimless kicks he gave down the middle , handing possession back to wales .
The team I expect to see go out in Paris. Iād start Bowe at 13, but I believe heāll go with Earls.
Kearney
Bowe
Earls
Darcy (purely out of lack of alternative really at this stage, but heās got little left to offer at this stage)
Trimble
Sexton
Murray
Healy
Best
Ross
Ryan
POC
Ferris
SOB
Heaslip
Bench stays the same with McFadden pushing D Kearney out.
As for yesterday, disappointing displays for me from McFadden, Darcy, Sexton, DOC, SOB and Ferris. Our MOTM was Murray who has been a revelation at this level since he introduction and looks and acts like a veteran at this stage.
While we seem to have a great back row there, its obvious that SOB isnt a 7, it might be time to looking at changing that up in the near future.
What the fuck was OāConnell doing making the call to go for the post from 51m with Wales down a man and less than five mins left.
Thereās no way that any kicker worth his salt would have said no to having a go but the captain should at least be able to weigh up the options.
Thatās the second time an idiotic call from him has cost up the opening game of the Six Nations.
Really? Iād like to think a kicker would be able to speak his mind and say otherwise, but I agree it was ridiculous to go for a kick in that position.
What was the first one?
France at Croke Park.
:rolleyes:
We beat Wales in the opening game of that Six Nations campaign in Cardiff.