Flannery should be suspended for the rest of the season but he’ll probably get off scot free. He’ll just get his friend Mick Galwey to give a character reference and that will be the end of the matter.
It’s unfortunate that the whole incident occurred as in his little cameo at scrum half before half time he delivered far superior ball to what Tomas O’Leary was giving. A possible option there in the future maybe.
Result was obviously frustrating but manner of defeat was really disheartening. Think perhaps we get a bit carried away with our success over past year and in particular our success in the H Cup over past few years which doesn’t have the knock on impact which too many believe it should. France were way better than us in virtually all areas other than lineouts. Their defence was superb though as caoimhaoin has said they were consistently offside and Barnes just didn’t bother to ref this area which is farcical really. Was impressed with performances of Cullen, Heaslip and Darcy but other than that we were real poor and we should always be able to identify a couple of players who stood out. The team as a collective unit were miles off however.
Looking ahead I would make the following conclusions
Flannery has been cited alright.
Not sure how much of that was down to Best or Court, felt to me as though the French were gone home, esp as they showed in that late scrum when tehy minced the Irish scrum when they felt like they’d been disrespected. But Court needs gametime, no doubting that.
Yeah hard to know. The combination of the two of them appeared to make a difference but they did get destroyed in the last scrum all right. Best is a superior scrummager to Flannery anyway and i suspect Court probably has the edge on Hayes too. Thought it was noticeable how well seven man scrum did before French try actually. Felt bit sorry for Hayes actually. Great player but looks to be past it at this stage along with one or two other players.
Ya, i’d nearly go with Best and Court regardless of his citing or not. Scrum has to improve, end of story, we are not up to scratch. I’m not sure what affect the hooker has on the scrum, but the props is obvious, and simply put Court is better than Hayes. Its sad to say, but i think the Bull stayed on one season too long.
Knowing Kidney i think he’ll discard a few players, we could be in for a shock next week. The World Cup is definitely what we need to look at now, and next years 6N. Obviously we want to win at least 2 of the next 3 games, but an eye must be on the future.
Sexton in, Stringer and Boss in (not sure who i’d start), Court and Best in, O’ Callaghan in. Paulie should be put under pressure if he has another poor game, but not till then. Any player gets a break for one game, after that though he’s the same as everyone else. I’d bring in Sean O’ Brien and Henry closer to the team as well. Like mbb said though, you can’t make too many starting 15 changes together, but he should start ringing some changes. I’m not discounting any of those guys like ROG or Flannery, but they may need a rest, or a good old kick up the hole.
Alan Quinlan isn’t the future, but he would have been handy saturday.
He was ready to pack it in at the end of last year by all accounts but was talked out of it…Not really his fault that there are/were no real alternatives to him…
I’d agree with whoever it was earlier on who suggested putting Bowe to full back if the Kearnivore is out. That looks likely now. Shane Horgan has to come in on the right wing. Shaggy has as good a record against England as O’Gara has a bad one against France. Trimble should start at 11. Some sacred cows need to be slaughtered if Ireland are to have a chance at Twickers. O’Gara, O’Leary, O’Connell and Hayes should all be culled. The air of complacency and smugness around the management’s selection and amongst some of the so-called experts before Saturday was comparable to the bluster emanating from the cheerleaders of the Celtic Tiger economy circa September 2007. A similar mess could result if the problem players are not dealt with.
Wales have dropped Andy Powell from their 35-man RBS 6 Nations squad with immediate effect.
Powell is due to appear in court next month charged with drink-driving after he was arrested with a golf buggy at motorway services.
Back row forward Powell, 28, was arrested early yesterday, hours after his team beat Scotland 31-24 at the Millennium Stadium.
Wales decided that Powell should be suspended from the squad for ‘behaviour contrary to the squad’s code of conduct’.
He was detained with another 28-year-old man at the service station near junction 33 of the M4 motorway, close to the spa hotel in the Vale of Glamorgan where his team were staying.
South Wales Police said Powell was charged with ‘driving a mechanically propelled vehicle whilst unfit through drink’.
Alan Phillips, Wales’ team manager, admitted his behaviour was unacceptable and gave no indication of when he would return to the squad.
‘We take matters of player conduct extremely seriously and have been happy with the professionalism and discipline of this squad in general terms,’ said Phillips.
'Andy knows he has misbehaved and is apologetic, but he also knows that he must take responsibility for his own actions and accept the repercussions.
'This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated in a professional, elite sporting environment and we have acted quickly and incisively in order to leave no ambiguity over the dim view we take of this situation.
'The player has made his private apologies to the Welsh management team as well as apologising in a public statement and we have also asked him to apologise to the Vale Resort Hotel, before asking him to leave the squad.
‘We will now leave the South Wales Police service to conclude the matter and we will be making no further public statements at this time.’
Wales have declined to call up a replacement for Powell, who has won 14 caps for his country and toured with the British Lions squad to South Africa.
He has played regional rugby for Cardiff Blues since 2005, after joining from the Llanelli Scarlets. He has also played for Beziers, Leicester and Newport.
He is due to appear at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on March 2.
Andy Powell is an alright sort.
Always thought he was a complete shaper…He is headless on the field and it seems he is the same off it
Agreed. Who hasn’t indulged in some drunken hijinx in a golf cart at some stage?
Nothing but a bit of hi jinks pukey. He’s a Victor Costello on the field, but unlike Victor he seems to have a personality and a bit of crack off it.
It heartens me that other balanced forumites have finally accepted the utter ineptitude of TOL as an international class rugby player. I take no pleasure from the fact that since the beginnning of last year I have consistently stated this. This coming from a poster with no rugby pedigree I may add. It seems rugby pedigree, ie being a friend of the coach, is key to getting into the Irish side. How else could the likes of O’Gara and O’Leary be even near the side? Ireland winning for the first time in donkeys years a little 6 team competition covered up a series of serious faults. Ireland’s best players by far are in the backs yet their scrum half cannot pass the ball to anything remotely near international standard. That as Paris has proved cannot be in doubt any more.
What a pile of shit. TOL should not be let near the international pitch again. He is the McShane of the team. Earls is shit too by the way. Bowe full back and Horgan must be brought back. Best ahead of Flanney is a certainty - disgusting anti Ulster bias from the coach at play there. DOC is useless - anyone but that gimp. Other than that i agree.
Ah our banks cant go bust again, can they? Hopefully rugby has overspent though and areas like Thomond Park and Donnybrook are returned to the areas of social housing that they were always intended for.
[quote=“cluaindiuic, post: 427646”]
Tough one…
Hopefully after that performance the penny has finally dropped around O’Leary and his outrageous lack of passing ability.
[/quote]
Hate to say I told you so but…
TOL was atrocious on Saturday
Excellent point indeed
Think Scally and McGuinness are sitting beside each other in one of those “big 4” hot house places
Massively disappointed Kev that you won’t admit how woeful TOL was…
Not up to Intl level based on Saturday’s showing. All the things I said about him were true, woeful pass, poor decision making, too long clearing ball, aimlessly directing forwards to take the ball on in midfield, bad box kicking.
Reddan has to start the next day with Sexton
[quote=“KIB man, post: 427711”]
It heartens me that other balanced forumites have finally accepted the utter ineptitude of TOL as an international class rugby player. I take no pleasure from the fact that since the beginnning of last year I have consistently stated this. This coming from a poster with no rugby pedigree I may add. It seems rugby pedigree, ie being a friend of the coach, is key to getting into the Irish side. How else could the likes of O’Gara and O’Leary be even near the side? Ireland winning for the first time in donkeys years a little 6 team competition covered up a series of serious faults. Ireland’s best players by far are in the backs yet their scrum half cannot pass the ball to anything remotely near international standard. That as Paris has proved cannot be in doubt any more.
What a pile of shit. TOL should not be let near the international pitch again. He is the McShane of the team. Earls is shit too by the way. Bowe full back and Horgan must be brought back. Best ahead of Flanney is a certainty - disgusting anti Ulster bias from the coach at play there. DOC is useless - anyone but that gimp. Other than that i agree. [/quote]
KIB knows the score re TOL
O’Gara’s defence was yet again woeful, he’s so much of a liability, Trinh Duc mowed him down and he’s no bruiser.
Sexton and Reddan to start for me, but having said that Sexton and anyone would pretty much be better than the half backs we had on Saturday
While now is not the time for panic, Kidney has an opportunity here that he can grab if he wants. He can make a good number of changes here in the guise of giving game time experience. With that in mind he could go something like this
Earls
Trimble
BOD
Darce
Bowe
Sexton
Reddan
Healy
Cronin
Court
Cullen
O’Callaghan
SOB
Heaslip
Ferris
Kidney will not do that though and the team will probably be
Earls
Shaggy
BOD
Darce
Trimble
Darce
ROG
TOL
HEaly
Best
Hayes
POC
DOC
Wallace
HEaslip
Ferris
Whos this Mark McDermot lad on against the head?
WB - why do you think Kidney will drop Bowe?