i think that mike ross and tom court can both be a bit disappointed to be overlooked for buckley and healy…outside of that i wouldn’t have too many complaints
[quote=“therock67”]No discussion of the reduced Irish squad named on Friday on here yet. 34 man panel is:
Backs:
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Ian Dowling (Shannon Munster)
Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College Leinster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College Leinster)
Shane Horgan (Boyne Leinster)
Robert Kearney (UCD Leinster)
Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
Brian O’Driscoll (UCD Leinster) (capt)
Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution Munster)
Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin Munster)
Eoin Reddan (Wasps)
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Shannon Munster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena Ulster)
Forwards:Rory Best (Banbridge Ulster)
Tony Buckley (Shannon Munster)
Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon Ulster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon Ulster)
Jerry Flannery (Shannon Munster)
John Hayes (Bruff Munster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas Leinster)
Marcus Horan (Shannon Munster)
Bernard Jackman (Clontarf Leinster)
Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College Leinster)
Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution Munster)
Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution Munster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster Munster)
Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution Munster)
Alan Quinlan (Shannon Munster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon Munster)
David Wallace (Garryowen Munster)
O’Kelly the big absentee really.[/quote]
right lads if ye had to pick a team for saturday what would ye go for:
mine would be:
15. Kearney
14. Bowe
13. Fitzgerald
12. BOD
11. Dowling
10. O Gara
9. O Leary
8. Wallace
7. Jennings
6. Quinlan
5. O Connell
4. O Callaghan
3. Horan
2. Flannery
- Hayes
team i expect kidney to pick…geordan murphy, horgan, o driscoll, fitzgerald, kearney, o gara, reddan, heaslip, wallace, quinlan, o connell, o callaghan, horan, best, hayes…
Kearney, Bowe, Trimble, BOD, Dowling, O’Gara, O’Leary, Heaslip, Wallace, Quinlan, O’Connell, O’Callaghan, Horan, Best, Hayes
Based on international form over last year or so there is no way Flannery can play ahead of Best. Hopefully Kidney will be able to get best out of Flannery as some of his problems appear to be mental but I think he should go with Best this time around anyway.
Ross is really missing out due to not getting released by Harlequins in time I’d imagine.
My team would be:
Kearney
Bowe
Fitzgerald
O Driscoll
Dowling
O Gara
O Leary
Heaslip
Wallace
Quinlan
O Connell
O Callaghan
Hayes
Best
Horan
I think he’ll go for:
Murphy for Dowling with Kearney possibly on the wing
Reddan for O’Leary
Hope to God he doesn’t pick Horgan.
[quote=“therock67”]No discussion of the reduced Irish squad named on Friday on here yet. 34 man panel is:
Backs:
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Ian Dowling (Shannon Munster)
Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College Leinster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College Leinster)
Shane Horgan (Boyne Leinster)
Robert Kearney (UCD Leinster)
Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
Brian O’Driscoll (UCD Leinster) (capt)
Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution Munster)
Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin Munster)
Eoin Reddan (Wasps)
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Shannon Munster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena Ulster)
Forwards:Rory Best (Banbridge Ulster)
Tony Buckley (Shannon Munster)
Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon Ulster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon Ulster)
Jerry Flannery (Shannon Munster)
John Hayes (Bruff Munster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas Leinster)
Marcus Horan (Shannon Munster)
Bernard Jackman (Clontarf Leinster)
Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College Leinster)
Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution Munster)
Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution Munster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster Munster)
Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution Munster)
Alan Quinlan (Shannon Munster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon Munster)
David Wallace (Garryowen Munster)
O’Kelly the big absentee really.[/quote]
Can’t believe big Mal isn’t in the squad…playing great stuff at the moment, also Cian Healy not in the squad- have been out of the country for the past few weeks- was he in the original squad?
WBY
[quote=“W.B. Yeats”]Can’t believe big Mal isn’t in the squad…playing great stuff at the moment, also Cian Healy not in the squad- have been out of the country for the past few weeks- was he in the original squad?
WBY[/quote]
look again…he is in the squad…i personally would have had ross or mccourt ahead of him…
big mal is unlucky but to be honest i said here months ago that the likes of boss, dempsey, o kelly etc should retire or be omitted and new blood should be brought in…have a feeling the likes of horgan and stringer could well join that list in the new year…
on a side note i see riki flutey is to make his debut for england at the weekend…i would have thought that he would have been ineligable as he played underage for new zealand and for the maori’s…
he has the ability to be a huge player for england if they can keep the likes of abendonen, strettle, cipriani and care fit…
[quote=“The Puke”]look again…he is in the squad…i personally would have had ross or mccourt ahead of him…
big mal is unlucky but to be honest i said here months ago that the likes of boss, dempsey, o kelly etc should retire or be omitted and new blood should be brought in…have a feeling the likes of horgan and stringer could well join that list in the new year…
on a side note i see riki flutey is to make his debut for england at the weekend…i would have thought that he would have been ineligable as he played underage for new zealand and for the maori’s…
he has the ability to be a huge player for england if they can keep the likes of abendonen, strettle, cipriani and care fit…[/quote]
Missed Healy, think he’s worth his spot especially if there is some blooding of youth to be done.
My problem with big Mal being left out is that the likes of Mick ODriscoll is there in his place, big Mal would have a lot more experience to offer in terms of bringing on young lads
Anyway time will tell on the selections, should be a mix of experience and new players, the problem is that the ranking points from these matches are badly needed when world cup qualification is considered
WBY
yeah i can’t see too much experimenting in the three games apart from maybe fitzgerald starting at centre, o leary and earls getting a go off the bench and possibly jennings getting a go at 7…apart from that the key word will be continuity for kidney…
Best of luck Keith
Earls to make first Irish start against Canada
Keith Earls is set to win his first cap for Ireland after being named in the team to face Canada at Thomond Park this weekend.
The Munster man will start at full-back, with Tommy Bowe and Robert Kearney completing the back three.
Luke Fitzgerald, meanwhile, will partner captain Brian O’Driscoll in midfield.
In the pack, Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery and Tony Buckley make up the front row, while Stephen Ferris will start on the blindside alongside Shane Jennings on the other flank.
Jamie Heaslip is named at number eight.
Ireland team: Keith Earls, Tommy Bowe, Brian O’Driscoll, Luke Fitzgerald, Robert Kearney, Ronan O’Gara, Eoin Reddan, Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery, Tony Buckley, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Stephen Ferris, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip.
gutsy call from kidney…delighted to this
Gutsy call but makes sense. Blood Earls early, we’ll beat Canada anyway. Still nice to see him try a few things with Earls, Jennings and Ferris.
Best to give Earls his start in his comfort zone in Thomond rather than against the All Blacks or Argentina. Best of luck to him.
no o leary on the bench either…I wonder is kidney going to hold back a few of the munster lads so they can play in the midweek match against the all blacks…
Exactly. for reference point, look up the following
John McWeeney, Irish career there of.
wales team to play south africa:
L Byrne(Ospreys); L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), J Roberts (Cardiff Blues), G Henson (Ospreys), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Scarlets), G Cooper (Gloucester); G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), M Rees (Scarlets), A Jones (Ospreys), A-W Jones (Ospreys), I Evans (Ospreys), R Jones (Ospreys, capt), M Williams (Cardiff Blues), A Powell (Cardiff Blues).
Replacements: R Hibbard (Ospreys), Duncan Jones (Ospreys), I Gough (Ospreys), Dafydd Jones (Scarlets), D Peel (Sale Sharks), J Hook (Ospreys), T Shanklin (Cardiff Blues)
England team to play the pacific islanders:
D Armitage (London Irish); P Sackey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), R Flutey(Wasps), U Monye (Harlequins); D Cipriani (Wasps), D Care (Harlequins); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath), M Stevens (Bath), S Borthwick (Saracens, captain), N Kennedy (London Irish), T Croft (Leicester), T Rees (Wasps), N Easter (Harlequins).
Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), P Vickery (Wasps), T Palmer (Wasps), J Haskell (Wasps), M Lipman (Bath), H Ellis (Leicester), T Flood (Leicester).
Scotland and New Zealand teams for the weekend:
Scotland: 15 C Paterson, 14 T Evans, 13 B Cairns, 12 N de Luca, 11 S Lamont, 10 P Godman, 9 M Blair; 1 A Jacobsen, 2 R Ford, 3 E Murray, 4 N Hines, 5 J Hamilton, 6 J White, 7 J Barclay, 8 S Taylor
Replacements: D Hall, A Dickinson, M Mustchin, S Gray, R Lawson or M McMillan, D Parks, H Southwell
New Zealand: 15 I Toeava, 14 A Tuitavake, 13 R Kahui, 12 M Nonu, 11 J Rokocoko, 10 S Donald, 9 P Weepu; 1 J Mackintosh, 2 K Mealamu, 3 J Afoa, 4 A Boric, 5 A Williams, 6 K Read, 7 A Thomson, 8 L Messam
Replacements: C Flynn, N Tialata, R Filipo, R McCaw, A Ellis, D Carter, C Jane
French team to play Argintina:
15-Maxime Medard, 14-Julien Malzieu, 13-Yannick Jauzion, 12-Benoit Baby, 11-Cedric Heymans, 10-David Skrela, 9-Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8-Louis Picamoles, 7-Imanol Harinordoquy, 6-Thierry Dusautoir, 5-Lionel Nallet (captain), 4-Romain Millo-Chluski, 3-Benoit Lecouls, 2-Dimitri Szarzewski, 1-Fabien Barcella.
Replacements: 16-Benjamin Kayser, 17-Nicolas Mas, 18-Sebastien Chabal, 19-Fulgence Ouedraogo, 20-Morgan Parra, 21-Damien Traille, 22-Alexis Palisson
Are you serious about Ross??? Shouldn’t be next or near it.
I have only seen ross play a handful of times and i think he is every bit as good as the likes of healy, buckley and young from what i have seen…also he is plying week in week out and is a far superior scrummager to the two young lads…
That All Black team is beatable for the Scots, i’m worried about the fact that they are clearly keeping the A team for Ireland and seem to have targeted that game.
Great to see Kidney show a bit of balls in the Irish role, he has done it so often with Munster.
Looking at the teams, i think England are pretty average, we’re in between and the Welsh look like the most exciting team.
Agree/Disagree
I’ve seen him maybe 20 times, plenty with Con and about 4-5 times with Quins, i really think he is muck. He is a decent scummager, but you need more than that these days. He’s no1st choice at Quins, but neither is Buckley i suppose, but who’s a stronger squad, Munster or Quins?
We’re never going to agree on this fella, sorry i’m already blinded by his total crapness at Cork Con.
[quote=“caoimhaoin”]
Looking at the teams, i think England are pretty average, we’re in between and the Welsh look like the most exciting team.
Agree/Disagree[/quote]
that england team is average enough alright but it has a bit of potential…johnson has been unlucky with injuries also…tom croft at 6 for them will be 6 for the lions next summer…
i reckon that we could well win the 6 nations next year as the english and french are both still in transition and we have both of them at home…