Kevin, how highly rated is Archer down in Cork? I believe he has the tools to be high quality international class.
Well funny that we were talking about it, but his scrummagging is supposed to be very good. His speed around the place looks good to me. I have only seen him with Con, but from reports he is developing nicely and played well for the Munster Aâs.
Most of my contacts are Con, and they are great men to talk up their own, but i genuinely think this guy has some serious talent.
Ireland team to play Australia on Saturday 26 June in Brisbane:
Kearney (Leinster); Bowe (Ospreys), OâDriscoll capt (Leinster), Wallace (Ulster), Trimble (Ulster); Sexton (Leinster), OâLeary (Munster); Healy (Leinster), Cronin (Connacht), Buckley (Munster), OâCallaghan (Munster), OâDriscoll (Munster), Ronan (Munster), Jennings (Leinster), Henry (Ulster).
Replacements: Varley (Munster), Court (Ulster), Tuohy (Ulster), Ruddock (Leinster), Reddan (Leinster), OâGara (Munster), Murphy (Leicester).
Decent backline, Iâd worry a lot about the back row against an area where Australia are incredibly strong. The front row should do ok given the state of Australiaâs. Great to see Sexton in there, hope he hangs onto it for a decent stretch now. Disappointing to see MOD start again, youâd have liked to see more of Tuohy.
What a season for Varley, starting off 3rd choice for Munster and now in line to make his test debut off the bench.
AUSTRALIA TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (v Ireland, Lansdowne Cup Match, Suncorp Stadium, Saturday, June 26, kick-off 8.05pm local time/11.05am Irish time):
15 - James (AKA Rabbit & friend of the forum) OâConnor (Western Force)
14 - Drew Mitchell (NSW Waratahs)
13 - Rob Horne (NSW Waratahs)
12 - Matt Giteau (Brumbies)
11 - Adam Ashley-Cooper (Brumbies)
10 - Quade Cooper (Queensland Reds)
9 - Luke Burgess (NSW Waratahs)
1 - Ben Daley (Queensland Reds)
2 - Saia Faingaa (Queensland Reds)
3 - Salesi Maâafu (Brumbies)
4 - Dean Mumm (NSW Waratahs)
5 - Nathan Sharpe (Western Force)
6 - Rocky Elsom (Brumbies) (capt)
7 - David Pocock (Western Force)
8 - Richard Brown (Western Force)
Replacements:
16 - Huia Edmonds (Brumbies)
17 - James Slipper (Queensland Reds)
18 - Mark Chisholm (Brumbies)
19 - Matt Hodgson (Western Force)
20 - Josh Valentine (Brumbies)
21 - Berrick Barnes (NSW Waratahs)
22 - Kurtley Beale (NSW Waratahs)
Touhy is nowhere near Micko at this stage, he needs a lot more development and wonât even be in the running for WC, so whats the point, they want to win a test over there. Nathan Sharpe would eat Touhy. Iâm all for blooding guys for the WC, but i really really canât see Touhy being within an arses roar of it.
Great for Varley alright. They had no choice but play that front row, could be the front row next year.
What an awesome backrow the Aussies have.
Not a bad Irish backline at all but those Australian backs are something else. And their back row, well thatâs just a ridiculous gulf in class. Front row should stand up ok as has been said and second rows might be ok, though Sharpe is a top player.
If nothing else this will be a serious test for our defence. Nice to see Wallace get a start but thereâll be an awful lot of running at his channel, at least he has Sexton inside him.
Pleased to see Sexton and Wallace start. They will be up against it all right but our backline really hasnât functioned in an age and I actually canât remember last time BOD and Darcy both played well together. In contrast Sexton and Wallace usually bring out best in one another. While MOD isnât the answer Iâm really not sure Tuohy is either. He has been in and out of Ulster side this year but he needs to regularly hold down a starting slot if he is to figure. Our backrow really does look particularly poor.
Its not so much poor larry, as very inexperienced.
I think thatâs giving it a bit too much credit. Both Jennings and Ronan are around a fair while now. Jennings in particular is a capable ERC player, Ronan is ok at that level. Neither are at southern hemisphere level or anything like it.
Inexperienced Internationals. But i never ever suggested they were near the SH standard of back row, so iâm not sure what your on about.
They are not poor players.
At this level they are of a poor standard. Hoping they play blinders on Saturday obviouslyâŚDespite Reddanâs poor kicking display against the Maoriâs I think he would have been better than TOL.He was worst player against NZ and that is saying something.
Disagree. The ball he was getting was horrible, no bias, he wasnât great, but he was far from the worst. The 2nd row was destroyed, the backs ran over, the pack mauled. A scrum half is always vulnerable in these situations.
Theyâre not poor but thereâs an awful lot more between Pocock and Ronan than just experience. And likewise on the other flank. Thereâs a huge difference in ability that dwarfs the impact of experience.
Ya your right, there is a massive difference, but iâd put it down to Aussie brilliance. Obvioously this is our 2nd choice backrow.
This Aussie back 3 could be one of the greats.
Tomas OâLeary - what a fucking joke this inept piece of shit, a scrum half who delivers every second pass on the half volley, is chosen yet again. Joke.
NZ Maoiriâs playing tomorrow against England. Handicap is -1. Worth a punt on the Maoiriâs imo. In truth they looked very good in parts last week and think they will be well up for this tomorrow.
Wouldnât be as keen Larry. England have sent a stronger squad than Ireland have. Maoris donât have a great scrum and while they were dangerous in play in the first half the lack of structure hurt them after a while. I expect England with a couple of midweek games under their belt to just have a small bit more cohesion.
Maoris win 35-28, 3 tries from Gear.
Gotta love those Maori bastards dont you? Hardy shower of fuckers who have a pride in what they do. Gear is a serious boyo, fairly made shite of Horgan last week, even the time Horgan tried to cleave him. Terrific viewing.
:rolleyes: