Ireland vs Scotland (part of Irish team)

I know someone who was in camp with the Irish team for the last week, talked to him and seen his pics and from what I am aware, the team will look something like this

-Flannery-
-
-Leamy??-
Boss-Sexton
Wallace-McFadden
Fitzgerald-Kearney-Trimble

Don't know props, locks or flankers, but I have seen a lot of Court at 3, Cullen has been heavily involved, so too has Ryan.

Leamy will play don't know if 6 or 8 but would imagine 8 as I've seen McLaughlin a lot in the pics doing team runs.
Jones will get game time?
Murray will bench if TOL can't get over a small niggle in time.

Can people piece together more bits? Happy with that much of the team??

Why do you think Boss will start?

I know someone who was in camp with them for the last week. Sorry should have put that in the main article. Will do that now. Have seen pics of him pairing up with Sexton in training matches too.

What's your feeling on Boss starting?

606v2 is going to go into meltown if this is what is going to happen against Scotland.

Photo 20. http://www.irishrugby.ie/rugby/23457.php

Haha it may well do!!! What you think of that part team sin?

Sin é wrote:606v2 is going to go into meltown if this is what is going to happen against Scotland.

Photo 20. http://www.irishrugby.ie/rugby/23457.php

Kind of hope it does just for a laugh.

Pete,

I'm not sure really. I wouldn't have him in my World Cup squad so wouldn't bother with him to be honest.

The majority of the Leinster starters won't be playing because they are behind in terms of pre-season, so that front row could easily be seen on Sat.

There was a picture of Court next to Cronin in the picture before which is much more likely really.

I'd imagine a pack of

Court-Fla-Buckley/Hayes
Ryan-Cullen
McLaughlin-Leamy-Wallace

Fitzgerald oh god.....

Fitzgerald deserves a chance to show what he can do.

Interesting pack that. I'd prefer something closer to the first team but at least it gives a few guys a chance to stake a claim.

He will be one that has to impress. Like the look of the backs I gotta say. Not sure how much ball they will get though, I imagine the Scottish pack will be pretty close to 1st string

The pack is me guestimating. The backs I'm near sure of. Don't know who will play 21 yet though.

MBTGOG wrote:There was a picture of Court next to Cronin in the picture before which is much more likely really.

I think Flannery will be starting though, not Cronin.

This is what I think the team will be (taking into account injuries, rest etc).

1. Horan
2. Flannery
3. Hayes
4. DOC
5. POC
6. McLoughlin
7. Wallace
8. Leamy
9. Tomas O'Leary
10. Ronan O'Gara (with BOD missing, he will go for ROG's experience).
11. Andrew Trimble
12. Paddy Wallace
13. Keith Earls
14. Tommy Bowe
15. Rob Kearney

Bench: Court, Best, Ryan, SOB, Boss, Sexton, Fitz

Boss instead of Reddan because he can also cover FB & wing.

Notch wrote:Fitzgerald deserves a chance to show what he can do.

Fitzgerald was in cracking form towards the end of the season. Some of those hits he put in were superb. I will be very suprised if he isn't on the plane and I think there's more chance of Trimble and McFadden missing out than Fitzgerald .

Sin-

Earls is a week behind in preseason (I imagine POC and DOC are too possibly Wallace also)
ROG is injured for a bit and thus is a week or two behind in preseason
TOL has a niggle and if he recovers will be on the bench if not Murray will be

Isn't RO'G not available for this game due to that knock he picked up?

Sin é wrote:
1. Horan
2. Flannery
3. Hayes
4. DOC
5. POC

I wonder will they be broadcasting in black and white too!

roddersm wrote:Fitzgerald was in cracking form towards the end of the season. Some of those hits he put in were superb. I will be very suprised if he isn't on the plane and I think there's more chance of Trimble and McFadden missing out than Fitzgerald .

He wasnt in cracking form, this guy is a Lion remember, that is not close to cracking form. He was in dire form the majority of last season and in poor to average form towards the end. Kidney must really really like this guy to have got Schmidt to keep him in the Leinster starting team and to pick him over Trimble at the minute ... I think we would have a love child on our hands.

I hope I'm proved wrong and he goes back to the form that got him picked for the Lions, would love to seei it.

I wouldnt say that fitz was in cracking form at any part of last season to be honest but he does deserve the same chance as anyone.

He won't be picked ahead of Trimble for this game anyways.
He does deserve a shot though I reckon.

Pete, the team you yourself named had Fitzgerald on the left wing and Trimble on the right

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Sin-

Earls is a week behind in preseason (I imagine POC and DOC are too possibly Wallace also)
ROG is injured for a bit and thus is a week or two behind in preseason
TOL has a niggle and if he recovers will be on the bench if not Murray will be

I think the preseason schedule is out the window with all the injuries. One week isn't going to make a difference. It may well have been that anyone who played a lot of games towards the end of last season were given some extra time off. Since POC missed so much rugby last season, I doubt if he would have been included in that (or would he want to be). Scotland has an excellent lineout, so thats why I've got the likely starters in the big games in the world cup there. They need the competition that Scotland's lineout will give them.

POC will be there to captain the team in the absence of BOD. I'd say Sexton is the same as ROG in his preseason.
I wouldn't worry about any niggles - they will get over them.

Sin, O'Gara won't play because of his injury surely? He missed a significant chunk of pre-season fitness there.

I also expect Court and Cronin to start given it's been said that the majority of Munster/Leinster players that can be held back for next week will be.

Notch-
Yeah Fitz 11 and Trimble 14, not getting the point sir. Ftiz won't be selected over Trimble??? Well he won't in this game as they are both playing.

Sin-
Preseason of course still counts for something.
Not out the window what so ever. ROG missed a week or two of it and thus is well behind the others (that aren't Darcy and 1F).

Think POC could do with a bit of time off then games against France and England. Same with DOC who has worked very hard this season IMO.

I'd say leamy may captain the team or Cullen.

Standulstermen wrote:I wouldnt say that fitz was in cracking form at any part of last season to be honest but he does deserve the same chance as anyone.

Stand he ripped us to pieces for that try in the Magners SF and the tackles he put in against Doug Howlett and Courtney Lawes were two of the biggest hits I've seen from an Irish back or forward this season.

He had a poor 6N but I think people are being too harsh. Earls had a pretty poor start to the season and has only found his form recently too.

Notch-
Think Fla is exempt from that ruling because he hardly played for Munster. Flannery will start. Haven't seen anything about Best so I imagine Cronin will be on the bench.

Notch wrote:Sin, O'Gara won't play because of his injury surely? He missed a significant chunk of pre-season fitness there.

I also expect Court and Cronin to start given it's been said that the majority of Munster/Leinster players that can be held back for next week will be.

I read somewhere that O'Gara was fine, just was a week behind everyone else in his preseason schedule.

He is anxious to know what the story is for Jerry Flannery, so he will be starting (Flannery was not involved in end of season games, so very well rested). I think that unit are well used to each other and I don't think he will break it up.

I hope Sexton plays as we've seen O'Gara against Scotland this year already so will be interesting to see how Sexton gets on against them.

Jesus a lot of the lads look red-er than a man a Brunch


Except for DOC, lovely tan.

I would have thought Flannery would pick up maybe 20 minutes in this game. Cronin to start with Court and Hayes/Horan.

The management seem to think they have to get Fla up to speed quick and find out how he will deal with match a situation and how is body will deal with it.

realistically he is fitter than fit but completely unmatch fit.

They have a lot to find out about him in a very short space of time.

they all have said they don't want any player to get more than 2.5-3 games.

MBTGOG wrote:I hope Sexton plays as we've seen O'Gara against Scotland this year already so will be interesting to see how Sexton gets on against them.

Sexton played about 15 mins against Scotland. No points scored by Ireland in that period. Parks got a DG though.

Sexton had a fairly heavy duty end of season so was more than likely one of the ones that was given extra time off.

Rava - the nature of Flannery's injury means that he needs the intensity of a full game to see if his injury is indeed cleared up.

Yeah, only 15 minutes when we were really under the cosh. Very different to starting the game.

Sin E, surely it would be more beneficial to give Sexton another go. Don't lose sight of big picture.

Guys, no need to have this discussion, ROG is not in the picture for this game due to his injury which has set him back preseason wise. Not even sure how much contact he has done.

red_stag wrote:Sin E, surely it would be more beneficial to give Sexton another go. Don't lose sight of big picture.

The bigger picture is that he won't have BOD or DARCE outside! And unfamilar people. And heavy duty end of last season. I wouldn't have an issue with Sexton starting, just with BOD out, I think Kidney might go for ROG's experience.

ROG IS NOT AVAILABLE

What do people think of the backline anyways other than 10?
Boss-Sexton
Wallace-McFadden
Fitzgerald-Kearney-Trimble

Sin - its a good point about experience. But the other way to see it is that its a good learning experience.

Pete - chillax. Seriously man you need to stop telling people what they can and can't debate. It was the same in your picking an Irish team series.

Why don't we throw Paddy Wallace in at out half for the heck of it?
That would free up room for the marvellous Gavin Duffy to come in at centre.

roddersm wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:I wouldnt say that fitz was in cracking form at any part of last season to be honest but he does deserve the same chance as anyone.

Stand he ripped us to pieces for that try in the Magners SF and the tackles he put in against Doug Howlett and Courtney Lawes were two of the biggest hits I've seen from an Irish back or forward this season.

That doesn't mean he was playing well, that means he scored a try and made a couple of tackles. For all that, he didn't play that well in the Magners semi of final.

Stag-

Why aren't we debating putting Darcy at 12 in that case. The guy isn't available at the moment. I'm not trying to tell people what to debate just letting people telling people that he isn't up for selection at the moment due to his injury hampering pre-season for him.

Sin é wrote:

red_stag wrote:Sin E, surely it would be more beneficial to give Sexton another go. Don't lose sight of big picture.

The bigger picture is that he won't have BOD or DARCE outside! And unfamilar people. And heavy duty end of last season. I wouldn't have an issue with Sexton starting, just with BOD out, I think Kidney might go for ROG's experience.

Seems very unlikely to be honest. Firstly, Sexton is much closer to match fitness. Secondly, surely there isn't anyone now who sees Sexton as inexperienced. He's played against South Africa, New Zealand, England, France etc. Has two Heineken Cup medals in his back pocket. Established first choice for Ireland at outhalf. He's hardly an inexperienced player.

If anything, if Wallace starts now D'Arcy is out, Sexton is a much better foil at 10. O'Gara and Wallace have very clashing styles and have never gelled well together. Sexton is much more capable of bringing the best out of him.

Notch wrote:

Sin é wrote:

red_stag wrote:Sin E, surely it would be more beneficial to give Sexton another go. Don't lose sight of big picture.

The bigger picture is that he won't have BOD or DARCE outside! And unfamilar people. And heavy duty end of last season. I wouldn't have an issue with Sexton starting, just with BOD out, I think Kidney might go for ROG's experience.

Seems very unlikely to be honest. Firstly, Sexton is much closer to match fitness. Secondly, surely there isn't anyone now who sees Sexton as inexperienced. He's played against South Africa, New Zealand, England, France etc. Has two Heineken Cup medals in his back pocket. Established first choice for Ireland at outhalf. He's hardly an inexperienced player.

If anything, if Wallace starts now D'Arcy is out, Sexton is a much better foil at 10. O'Gara and Wallace have very clashing styles and have never gelled well together. Sexton is much more capable of bringing the best out of him.

+1

Sin é,

"Rava - the nature of Flannery's injury means that he needs the intensity of a full game to see if his injury is indeed cleared up."

I agree Flannery needs game time but surely it would be nonsensical to risk his place on the plane by expecting too much too soon. I would prefer him getting a couple of shorter exposures early and going for starts in the France and England games later in the month.

Does the team get announced on Thursday?

Notch wrote:

Sin é wrote:

red_stag wrote:Sin E, surely it would be more beneficial to give Sexton another go. Don't lose sight of big picture.

The bigger picture is that he won't have BOD or DARCE outside! And unfamilar people. And heavy duty end of last season. I wouldn't have an issue with Sexton starting, just with BOD out, I think Kidney might go for ROG's experience.

Seems very unlikely to be honest. Firstly, Sexton is much closer to match fitness. Secondly, surely there isn't anyone now who sees Sexton as inexperienced. He's played against South Africa, New Zealand, England, France etc. Has two Heineken Cup medals in his back pocket. Established first choice for Ireland at outhalf. He's hardly an inexperienced player.

If anything, if Wallace starts now D'Arcy is out, Sexton is a much better foil at 10. O'Gara and Wallace has very clashing styles and have never gelled well together. Sexton is much more capable of bringing the best out of him.

If O'Gara's fitness was an issue, McNaughton would have said it in the press conference yesterday. He went through everyone else's injuries!
Until he has played a game without Darcy & BOD outside him, he is not experienced. Who organises the backs defensive system? Keith Earls, who will also be surrounded by players that he doesn't play regularly with.

Has Wallace & Sexton ever played a game together?

Rava wrote:Sin é,

"Rava - the nature of Flannery's injury means that he needs the intensity of a full game to see if his injury is indeed cleared up."

I agree Flannery needs game time but surely it would be nonsensical to risk his place on the plane by expecting too much too soon. I would prefer him getting a couple of shorter exposures early and going for starts in the France and England games later in the month.

Its just the nature of his injury. He is fine in training, but in the intensity of a match, he collapses after about 30 mins. If he is going to break down, they need to know before he gets on the plane.