What we learned; France 19- 12 Ireland

1. Healy- Was first choice and remains so. Scrummaged well and a nuisance in the loose
2. Best- Dear oh. The door is firmly ajar for Flannery now. They will both see gametime in the next two games but we cannot afford to lose so much set piece ball.
3. Ross- First choice and in reality only scrummaging TH. We are fooked if he gets injured
4. DOC- Scrapped well. Maybe not as conspicuous as usual but not bad for a 1st game
5. Cullen- Lineout went to pieces and he must take some blame. The difference when POC came on was stark. Still will make the squad
6. Ryan- Should have the lock/backrow spot sewn up. A decent showing
7. SOB- A big plus for me. May not be as effective as some at the ruck but was always busy and made yards. A Ferris,SOB, Heaslip backrow may be an option (have to see what Wally thinks of that though)
8. Leamy- He was ok (not great)but we really need our top 4 backrows above him.
9. Reddan- had a thankless task in the first half and in general. The ball was difficult but still our number 1.
10. ROG- I thought he was very good. Was targetted but fronted up and his kicking helped stifle the french in the 2nd half
11. Fitz- He was poor. Bar one break towards the end he spilled ball a few times. Definately battling with McFadden.
12. Wallace- I would say he has answered a few critics. France came back into it when we started bypassing him again. Kicked beautifully and wasnt shown up physically.
13. Earls- Outshone by Wallace but looked very dangerous when he got space. In a battle with Trimble and Bowe for the wings. Still a starter for me and unlucky at the end.
14. Trimble- Excellent showing. Set Kearney up beautifully for our best attack and looked good defensively. Will have given Kidney a nice headache.
15. Kearney- another decent showing. Looks good under the highball and ran decent lines. Still not really an attacking 15 but so dependable.

16. Flannery-A shame about the last lineout but looks primed to regain his 2 shirt
17. Buckley- Should he even go after that? I understand why Deccie tried him at LH but we are screwed if he takes the field come the RWC. (in a big game)
18. POC- Looked hungry and was an excellent 30 mins or so
19. Heaslip- Much like POC he was excellent
20. Murray- Looks sharp. I would like him to go to the RWC but only if he isnt going to sit on his derriere for the tournament.
21. McFadden- Hard to say really. Behind Wallace after tonight and fighting with Fitz it looks like
22. Jones- I like the cut of him. Looks solid and pacy and put in a lovely kick. Should go but again only if we use him!

Nice article, i cant disagree with aything there.

I cant imagine Buckley being there after this performance. He was seriously found wanting

Who is his replacement though? Court hasnt set the world alight and yet is clearly our 3rd choice. What other options do we have? We are heavily reliant on Healy and Ross though

I'd agree with most of that Stand! Did anyone watch the RTÉ lot after the match? I understand Hook is there to be a controversial eejit but come on! Going on about how Cullen shouldn't even go and bashed Paddy Wallace at every opportunity despite him having a decent game. I mean who does he want to go instead of Cullen? Mick O'Driscoll? Loved Frankie's shout out for Horan and Hayes to go too Although after Buckley's little cameo....

The things I took from that match were that Buckley is hopeless and Court definitely is the bench prop and, like you said Stand, we're in deep trouble if one of our starting props gets themselves injured. Best has been magnificent for us recently but he's handed Flannery a massive opportunity now. I'd put money on Flannery to be our starting hooker now. All he needs is to come through a full game and he could well have it sewn up.

Any doubt about DOC starting is firmly gone now after Cullen's performance. Disappointing from him. I'm usually a big Reddan critic but he did well under the circumstances and was really pleased with Murray. If it was up to me I'd take TOL, Reddan and Murray but we'll see. Centres played well, ROG played great and Kearney did everything asked of him! Trimble was our best player again - could he threaten Bowe's spot?? Possible if Earls excels on the other wing whenever he gets his chance. And Fitzgerald again...how many chances do we give this lad? Under serious pressure from McFadden now for that last spot.

And, finally, Felix Jones! Gibbo if you're reading...WATCH OUT! He's getting on that plane

I actually thought Kearney was very good tonight and much more willing to join the line than usual. A very good game from him, but Jones was excellent as well.

Great debut from Conor Murray. Paddy Wallace really answered his critics in a big way, Trimble was excellent. It's the first time that I've seen O'Gara and Wallace gel well together in attack. Very pleased with that combination tonight. Good game from O'Gara too.

Got to say I was let down by Rory Best and Leo Cullen, both in the lineout and the leadership stakes. Fitzgerald and Buckley hurt their chances and I would want to see Court back in the 22. I'm sick of seeing brainfarts from DOC too. No look offloads? Seriously Donners?

I dont even think Wallace was just decent. I thought he was excellent. His option taking was excellent. I was depressed all week about our centre options but if Paddy can play consistently like that i think we will be fine. I may be being harsh on Kearney but i would like to see him up and under less. Not a massive criticism of him and to be honest he did it more in the 2nd half. He has looked impressive given his layoff though

Standulstermen wrote:
2. Best- Dear oh. The door is firmly ajar for Flannery now. They will both see gametime in the next two games but we cannot afford to lose so much set piece ball.
3. Ross- First choice and in reality only scrummaging TH. We are fooked if he gets injured
5. Cullen- Lineout went to pieces and he must take some blame. The difference when POC came on was stark. Still will make the squad
6. Ryan- Should have the lock/backrow spot sewn up. A decent showing
7. SOB- A big plus for me. May not be as effective as some at the ruck but was always busy and made yards. A Ferris,SOB, Heaslip backrow may be an option (have to see what Wally thinks of that though)
8. Leamy- He was ok (not great)but we really need our top 4 backrows above him.
9. Reddan- had a thankless task in the first half and in general. The ball was difficult but still our number 1.
15. Kearney- Still not really an attacking 15 but so dependable.
17. Buckley- Should he even go after that? I understand why Deccie tried him at LH but we are screwed if he takes the field come the RWC. (in a big game)
20. Murray- Looks sharp. I would like him to go to the RWC but only if he isnt going to sit on his derriere for the tournament.

I agree with most of what you say especially in regards to Murray. He should be second choice behind reddan, he came on and wasn't phased at all, probably has the fastest pass behind stringer but unlike stringer is very accurate. Hes also f***ing huge, hes the same height as buckley.

Best- I still think he will be first choice but he was very poor, one of the worst games I've seen him play for Ireland.
Ross- He was absolutely destroyed by poux, but then again poux is one of the best in the world. French are probably the strongest scrummaging team in the world so he did well today.
Cullen- Unfortunately for him hes up against poc, poc is easily the best lock in the northern hemisphere and one of the best in the world, he will always look poor in comparison.
Ryan- I thought he was pretty poor in the first half, and only decent in the second half. Mclaughlin still has a chance to get ahead of him imo.
Sob- Knocked on 3 or 4 times, and was knocked back in contact, dissappointing overall but he will improve and it will be easier when he plays with heaslip and wallace/ferris
Leamy- thought he was good, very unlucky with the first penalty, worked hard and will probably make the plane now
Reddan- very good under a lot of pressure, should definitely be first choice if there were any doubts before now.
Kearney- disagree with you, kearney is a very good attacking fullback and showed it in this match when he got the chance.
Buckley- will still travel, ross was destroyed by poux as well so no shame in that, shouldn't be cover on the bench as court is a better option, wish there was better options.
Murray- we might have a good player here

Well the set piece was a shambles for a start, in fact most of the 1st half was, however there were real positives in the 2nd half, in fact we could have won that game.

Trimble was superb. In fact that was as good as I've seen him in an irish shirt and the doubts I had about his WC place are gone now. He was brilliant and Bowe will have to be on top form to get his jersey back.

Eoin Reddan is a better SH than TOL in every single aspect, including tackling. I dispair at the judgement of anyone who thinks otherwise.

Rob Kearney had a cracking game and has nailed down the 15 jersey.

Kidney is making a huge mistake if he doesn't take Jones and Murray. The two boys were electric when they came on. Murray and Reddan are the best SH's in Ireland by a country mile and Jones should be on the plane before either Fitzgerald or McFadden.

Paddy Wallace had another good game but no doubt the knives will be out again.

Paul O'Connell is a giant off the game. The impact he had when he came on was phenomenal. He should have went for the catch and drive rather than the goal kick though at 65 min.

Jerry Flannery is another 60min away from taking the 2 Jersey of Best who had a poor game.

If Ross gets injured we are fecked because he's the only decent tighthead we have.

Thierry Dusitoir is superhuman.

Standulstermen wrote:I dont even think Wallace was just decent. I thought he was excellent. His option taking was excellent. I was depressed all week about our centre options but if Paddy can play consistently like that i think we will be fine. I may be being harsh on Kearney but i would like to see him up and under less. Not a massive criticism of him and to be honest he did it more in the 2nd half. He has looked impressive given his layoff though

Agree on paddy, I actually thought that the centre pairing was very good. Earls got very little ball going forward but I was very impressed with him defensively. I was worried about the size of them, because neither are very big and having rog inside, but they were solid and made all their tackles.

I think Stand's comment on Kearney is spot on

Standulstermen wrote:
15. Kearney- another decent showing. Looks good under the highball and ran decent lines. Still not really an attacking 15 but so dependable.

Jones seems much more prepared to come into the line and be an attacking FB - looks like the sort of "problem" Ireland had for years between Girvan Dempsey (dependable) and Geordan Murphy (attacking, flair etc etc). This is a very nice problem to have - you play the one who is more appropriate for THAT game.

I thought ROG played really well, and he got a fair few decent tackles in - has he been practicing?

I wuld not be unhappy if Luke were left behind. Besides those who have played last week and this, we also have Bowe to come back in - do we need another oputside back? Luke has been persistently the weakest player on show.

And if we leave Mushy behind, does that mean The Bull will travel .....

valjester wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:I dont even think Wallace was just decent. I thought he was excellent. His option taking was excellent. I was depressed all week about our centre options but if Paddy can play consistently like that i think we will be fine. I may be being harsh on Kearney but i would like to see him up and under less. Not a massive criticism of him and to be honest he did it more in the 2nd half. He has looked impressive given his layoff though

Agree on paddy, I actually thought that the centre pairing was very good. Earls got very little ball going forward but I was very impressed with him defensively. I was worried about the size of them, because neither are very big and having rog inside, but they were solid and made all their tackles.

I do too. Paddy will always cop flack but if D'arcy had of played like that the critics would be saying he had a great game.

Earls was super defensively and I'm beginning to think sin E was right and he never misses tackles . However he made that break in the end and if he'd have passed to McFadden it was almost certainly a try but he didn't even look. I'm still not sure he has the awareness to be a centre but hs had a good game otherwise.

Interestingly Frankie Sheehan thinks he should be a fullback (so do I), but then he does talk a lot of bollix too....

roddersm wrote:

valjester wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:I dont even think Wallace was just decent. I thought he was excellent. His option taking was excellent. I was depressed all week about our centre options but if Paddy can play consistently like that i think we will be fine. I may be being harsh on Kearney but i would like to see him up and under less. Not a massive criticism of him and to be honest he did it more in the 2nd half. He has looked impressive given his layoff though

Agree on paddy, I actually thought that the centre pairing was very good. Earls got very little ball going forward but I was very impressed with him defensively. I was worried about the size of them, because neither are very big and having rog inside, but they were solid and made all their tackles.

I do too. Paddy will always cop flack but if D'arcy had of played like that the critics would be saying he had a great game.

Earls was super defensively and I'm beginning to think sin E was right and he never misses tackles . However he made that break in the end and if he'd have passed to McFadden it was almost certainly a try but he didn't even look. I'm still not sure he has the awareness to be a centre but hs had a good game otherwise.

Interestingly Frankie Sheehan thinks he should be a fullback (so do I), but then he does talk a lot of bollix too....

I thought he should have either passed or backed himself at first but looking at the replay bonnaire was covering mcfadden so I'd give him the benefit of the doubt, especially as a better bounce and he would have scored.

Deccie has a massive headache now, because imo, bowe and earls have to start but kearney, jones and trimble are all looking very good so who does he leave out. I think jones will travel but won't make the squad against aus/italy.

To be honest I think hes good enough to play anywhere but munster will have to decide soon where they want him. I'd like to see a bod earls partnership at some stage, it could be very good.

We learnt that Buckley is a pile of Poopie. and that Trimble has to be starting in the WC

But i actually feel very confident after tonight very confident we will give them a good smashing come next match when we have more of our first teamers playing

roddersm wrote:

Earls was super defensively and I'm beginning to think sin E was right and he never misses tackles . However he made that break in the end and if he'd have passed to McFadden it was almost certainly a try but he didn't even look. I'm still not sure he has the awareness to be a centre but hs had a good game otherwise.

Interestingly Frankie Sheehan thinks he should be a fullback (so do I), but then he does talk a lot of bollix too....

I sometimes wonder in that situation if the player "he should have passed to " lets the ball-carrier know he is there? Cullen was making the comment that last week some of the players were "very quiet" and needed to be a it more vocal. Did McF yell to Earls that he was there?

Irish,if you didn't know that Buckley was awful then you haven't watched much rugby! ROG was magnificent tonight,Sexton has to live up to that I doubt he would have done that well. Our backrow were decent but I still feel like Sean O'Brien doesn't do enough breakdown work which should be his primary goal. Leamy was decent has a good chance of going as our backup no8 if we take one. Trimble shouldn't have been taken off has been our best player for the past 2 games. Rory Best couldn't hit a cows bum with a banjo.

Thomond wrote:Irish,if you didn't know that Buckley was awful then you haven't watched much rugby! ROG was magnificent tonight,Sexton has to live up to that I doubt he would have done that well. Our backrow were decent but I still feel like Sean O'Brien doesn't do enough breakdown work which should be his primary goal. Leamy was decent has a good chance of going as our backup no8 if we take one. Trimble shouldn't have been taken off has been our best player for the past 2 games. Rory Best couldn't hit a cows bum with a banjo.

Trimble was probably taken off as he is more than likely on the plane and to give others a chance.

Magnificent is pushing it a bit for rog. He was good but he made some mistakes and at times could have taken more control of the game. I'm sure sexton would have coped just as well.

His kicking to the line was brilliant tonight and I have yet to see Sexton do that with great effiency for Ireland. Also Paddy hit a great chip for Fitzgerald and another kick down the touchline in the first.

Paddys kicking early in the 2nd half (he seemed to be at 1st receiver) was imo what gave us a foothold. Once we started getting some decent ball though i thought ROG kicked really well. I wouldnt say it was better than Sexton could have done (because we can never know) but he was impressive

Yeah, ROG was fantastic and that's what you want. In an ideal world we'd like to think that professionals will be their very best no matter what the circumstances but that simply isn't true. ROG playing like that will certainly motivate Sexton to have a blinder next week though! And having ROG on the bench at the world cup, what a luxury!

If only Buckley could motivate the starting props though......You know I remember watching him play against New Zealand about 14 months ago and saw a potentially great player. It's so frustrating that he can't live up to at least a decent replacement prop.

What did people think of going for the posts for the penalty ROG missed? I thought it was an incorrect call,we had France on the rack and it was a difficlult kick.

Thomond wrote:What did people think of going for the posts for the penalty ROG missed? I thought it was an incorrect call,we had France on the rack and it was a difficlult kick.

ROG was on fire and had nailed all his kicks at the time. I'd say it was the correct call personally but can understand the argument...

Yeah if we had taken the lead France may well have capitulated

mrsuperclear wrote:

If only Buckley could motivate the starting props though......You know I remember watching him play against New Zealand about 14 months ago and saw a potentially great player. It's so frustrating that he can't live up to at least a decent replacement prop.

I reckon Buckley has two decent games a season. last season,he played a blinder for Munster in the match after it was announced he was going to Sale. If he always played like that he would have nailed the Munster / Irish / Lions jersey down.

He could have been a really good prop, but he just can't do it everytime. Shame really

I also think POC should be captain ahead of BOD for WC

C'mon You Irish wrote:I also think POC should be captain ahead of BOD for WC

Leave it with bod, it won't make a difference which one of them has it, they will both lead the team no matter which has the armband.

double post

Best and Cullen will always suffer when compared to the practically telepathic connection between Flannery and POC. But, fairs fair, the lineout was awful today. You can argue it was one players fault, both players faults, lifters faults whichever. Bottom line, we can't keep giving away posession so cheaply and Flannery will have to start in NZ.

Earls looked lively, but reinforced his back 3 credentials more than his centre aspirations. His run at the end was excellent, his pass over the head of Fitzgerald in the first half... wasn't.

Felix Jones looked lively, very lively. Nice to watch.

But lets face it, we may be happy with individual performances but we can't be happy with that match at all. We've now gone 160 minutes without scoring a try.

roddersm wrote:

valjester wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:I dont even think Wallace was just decent. I thought he was excellent. His option taking was excellent. I was depressed all week about our centre options but if Paddy can play consistently like that i think we will be fine. I may be being harsh on Kearney but i would like to see him up and under less. Not a massive criticism of him and to be honest he did it more in the 2nd half. He has looked impressive given his layoff though

Agree on paddy, I actually thought that the centre pairing was very good. Earls got very little ball going forward but I was very impressed with him defensively. I was worried about the size of them, because neither are very big and having rog inside, but they were solid and made all their tackles.

I do too. Paddy will always cop flack but if D'arcy had of played like that the critics would be saying he had a great game.

Earls was super defensively and I'm beginning to think sin E was right and he never misses tackles . However he made that break in the end and if he'd have passed to McFadden it was almost certainly a try but he didn't even look. I'm still not sure he has the awareness to be a centre but hs had a good game otherwise.

Interestingly Frankie Sheehan thinks he should be a fullback (so do I), but then he does talk a lot of bollix too....

I was also right about Wallace being better off being outside ROG than Sexton! Wallace only had to make about 3 tackles tonight.

Energy could be spent by the board in worrying about Ross's performance when Poux came on, as like Buckley, he got destroyed by him. That maybe because of fatigue at that stage as Ross looked a bit on the chubby side tonight.

Poux was something else. To be honest we have to hope Ross and Healy remain fit.

Up to now, I never really thought Wallace was up to International level. But he really played great. I hope his size is not an issue because it would be a great story if he started in the RWC. And if he plays like that, then good things will happen.

Also thought Earls was very good defensively, but could have done a bit more when Ireland had the ball. Liked Trimble as well.

Best was not good, nor was Cullen. The difference in the second row was huge when POC came on, but class is class.

I am hoping for a bit more from the whole front row as we get to the RWC. To me that appears to be the key. A bit more push up front will make the whole pack come together. The back row was very good as well.

Thomond wrote:What did people think of going for the posts for the penalty ROG missed? I thought it was an incorrect call,we had France on the rack and it was a difficlult kick.

Yeah mentioned above Thomand I thought it was the incorrect call. I really thought we should have went for another catch and drive. France were reallt crumbling and I thought it was the wrong call. It was a really crux moment in the game..

It's hard to criticise POC who was awesome when he came on but for me that was the wrong call and could have cost us the game.

Agree it was the wrong call, but points from O'Gara are usually automatic.

Thomond wrote:What did people think of going for the posts for the penalty ROG missed? I thought it was an incorrect call,we had France on the rack and it was a difficlult kick.

I thought at the time that iw was the wrong decision but there was not really that much confidence in the line out. The lineout was not performing so i can understand the decison to go for the points. An Ireland with the lineout functioning would'nt have elected to go for the points.

Analysis of the Ireland lineout by Gavin Hickie, former Leinster and Leicester hooker;

http://www.lineoutcoach.com/2011/08/14/ireland-need-to-get-into-winning-habit/

Notch wrote:Analysis of the Ireland lineout by Gavin Hickie, former Leinster and Leicester hooker;

http://www.lineoutcoach.com/2011/08/14/ireland-need-to-get-into-winning-habit/

Hardly that insightful though.

Feagh McHugh wrote:

Notch wrote:Analysis of the Ireland lineout by Gavin Hickie, former Leinster and Leicester hooker;

http://www.lineoutcoach.com/2011/08/14/ireland-need-to-get-into-winning-habit/

Hardly that insightful though.

It's the most accurate analysis I've read. Most people have just blamed the hooker, when there are a number of other factors to be considered. Obviously not rocket science, but better than scapegoating.

I didn't see the game, but I would say that Ireland should now focus on getting a win in the next couple of games. Nice to get players warmed-up, but I do think the squad would benefit from a win before the WC.

I'm pleased that Wallace was impressive. I gave him some stick on here for his performance against Scotland, but with D'Arcy struggling for fitness, it's obviously a key position for Kidney to find appropriate back-up. The Sunday Times review suggested his tackle for the winning try wasn't robust, but it sounds on here as if that's not accurate. Wouldn't be the first time.

Havent read all the posts blaming Best, and I dont buy that at all anyway, I jump myself and know Best was part of a unit that didn't function that well. In at least two of the 4 throws in the first half the lifters didnt have the jumper fully locked up and the ball just sailed over -( nothing wrong with the throw here)
This could be down to the jumper or the lifters but usually not the thrower in this instance. There was a lot of new combinations at work here too and confidence as a unit was lost early and the doubts set in everywhere.
I wouldnt be in too much of a hurry to denounce Best or any one else from the first half lineout - a little less reactionary would be my approach.
Id back best and start him again next week in Dublin, (and Cullen and POC in the second row too.)

It was more a one on one tackle, in which he could stop the ball carrier but not prevent the offload.

Really the factor in the try was we could not stop the French getting quick ball and get our defence organised, so they managed to offload the ball out of contact very well and we weren't able to hold the man up and prevent the offload like we did against Scotland.

It was excellent attacking play to break down our defence.

Feagh McHugh wrote:Havent read all the posts blaming Best, and I dont buy that at all anyway, I jump myself and know Best was part of a unit that didn't function that well. In at least two of the 4 throws in the first half the lifters didnt have the jumper fully locked up and the ball just sailed over -( nothing wrong with the throw here)
This could be down to the jumper or the lifters but usually not the thrower in this instance. There was a lot of new combinations at work here too and confidence as a unit was lost early and the doubts set in everywhere.
I wouldnt be in too much of a hurry to denounce Best or any one else from the first half lineout - a little less reactionary would be my approach.
Id back best and start him again next week in Dublin, (and Cullen and POC in the second row too.)

Yes I agree- perosnally I blame Best and Cullen as the most experienced players and 'Captains' in the tight five. They're both experienced, proven players with laods of top level experience. But the whole unit was at fault

Best should and will get another game, I hope also that Flannery will be fit enough to get a start in the next few games as well. We really need O'Connell to get two games under his belt now imo. I thought Best was generally off the pace and looks like he needs more gametime tbh.

funnyExiledScot wrote:I didn't see the game, but I would say that Ireland should now focus on getting a win in the next couple of games. Nice to get players warmed-up, but I do think the squad would benefit from a win before the WC.

I'm pleased that Wallace was impressive. I gave him some stick on here for his performance against Scotland, but with D'Arcy struggling for fitness, it's obviously a key position for Kidney to find appropriate back-up. The Sunday Times review suggested his tackle for the winning try wasn't robust, but it sounds on here as if that's not accurate. Wouldn't be the first time.

I'm just watching the match again at the moment and for the try, wallace made the tackle but pallison's arms were free to offload for clerc, who went in through the gap between cullen and where wallace had been. I don't think you can really blame him. It was a good french try that was coming.
Just finished the first half and it was very bad, it looked at one stage as if we were going to be nilled. Healy was superb and one of the few forwards to stand up and be counted. Ross good in the scrum but anonymous elsewhere. One of the worst games I've ever seen him play. The second rows were very poor. Doc did nothing at all, and cullen was poor. Ryan was better than I had thought previously. He made his tackles and tried to disrupt at the breakdown. Leamy, along with healy, seemed to be the only Irish players capable of taking contact on their own terms. He was very unlucky with the penalty, as walsh seemed willing to let french players away with similiar which was frustrating. Sob was very quiet and I was surprised at how often he was knocked back in contact, didn't do enough work in the tight for me and knocked on a few times. Rog was quiet for the first twenty minutes but grew into it after and kicked very well tactically. Reddan was very good under a lot of pressure.

Wallace and Earls were good, solid defensively. Trimble and Kearney were excellent with limited ball. Kearney showed his counterattacking skills. Fitz was disappointing. I think if it hadn't been a warm up match he would have received a yellow for the early tackle, which was simply a case of him not trusting his speed or the people outside him to make the tackle, and he might have received one for the penalty he gave away for jumping into the french players from the 22 drop out. He's obviously a very talented player but his form just isn't good enough at the moment to justify more gametime in the warm ups or to be brought to new zealand. I like him as a player and feel sorry for him but at the moment I just don't think you can justify him getting a place in the 30.

I would say this is the first time I've seen Ireland use a '2 five-eights' system. Wallace spent a lot more time at first receiver and he had a bigger impact on the game. We used both 10 and 12 as tactical kicking options and they executed that part of the gameplan well.

After seeing how bad our lineout was I have to say I'd be much happier with Flannery, POC and DOC starting against Australia. We once had one of the best defensive and offensive lineouts in the world. Now we struggle to retain possession on our throws and barely even contest opposition throws.

Feagh McHugh wrote:Havent read all the posts blaming Best, and I dont buy that at all anyway, I jump myself and know Best was part of a unit that didn't function that well. In at least two of the 4 throws in the first half the lifters didnt have the jumper fully locked up and the ball just sailed over -( nothing wrong with the throw here)
This could be down to the jumper or the lifters but usually not the thrower in this instance. There was a lot of new combinations at work here too and confidence as a unit was lost early and the doubts set in everywhere.
I wouldnt be in too much of a hurry to denounce Best or any one else from the first half lineout - a little less reactionary would be my approach.
Id back best and start him again next week in Dublin, (and Cullen and POC in the second row too.)

It was a complete meltdown by best and cullen. Best falls to pieces in the lineout every now and again and you can usually see it coming if the first few go wrong. The lineout really was a disaster zone yesterday and there seemed to be a number of different things going wrong in everyone. The thing about best is that the rest of his game went to pieces yesterday which is unusual because he usually keeps it together in the loose but yesterday he just had a nightmare.

Next week it will have to be doc poc in the second row. Cullen has had two chances and not really done his case for a starting place any good. Doc was poor yesterday though so will have to improve a lot next week.

Did I watch a different match? What did Wallace do that was so good? His defence was pretty sound he made a couple of kicks and that was about it. Did he beat a man or get over the gain-line? Did he unlock the French defence with his 'silky hands'? No.

Maybe my understanding of the game is too limited. Can someone explain to me what Wallace did that was so good because I'm at a loss to explain this praise.

PS Would like to see much more of Murray next week please.

Best actually looked on the small side there yesterday too, I thought most of the other players looked to have bulked up but was surprised to notice Best. (but maybe Im wrong).
Paddy Wallace had an excellent game yesterday and outshone Earls imo. The try was a good team try by France. I think if Wallace scored a hat-trick of tries some people would still give out about him.

Dont think Id like to see Earls play 13 for Ireland yet - at my level of rugby his chip and go himself would be lambasted for butchering a two on one - he was even unaware of McFaddens presence too (I swear) which makes it worse. Some will argue Bonnaire had MCF covered but where I come from you make Bonnaire make the tackle -end of.
His over throw FItz wasnt great either. Earls could be an excellent 13 (in the future) but he is not WC 13 material. Hope he gets back to the wing - where he is his most dangerous and competent (not 12, 13, or 15).

Ps one last point if you are still reading - Reddans defense was superb yesterday - if he reproduces that again next week I think he will have disarmed those who argue TOL should start against OZ for his "defense".
He looked to have bulked up a good bit too.


Agree Valjester - unusually, Best's game did go to pieces yesterday and was unlike him. DOC is going to be starting come WC with POC lets see Cullen and POC together for a half - I dont remember them having any meaningful game time together before and if DOC gets injured during the WC .......

His kicking from hand was one of the things that gave us a foothold in the game. Excellent chips over the defence for himself and Fitzgerald to run onto, great kicks for the corner. One poor kick which was taken on the full by a winger, but excellent kicking from hand. Defence; solid. Passing; good play on several occassions. Ball-carrying; made yards and presented well.

Feagh McHugh wrote:Ps one last point if you are still reading - Reddans defense was superb yesterday - if he reproduces that again next week I think he will have disarmed those who argue TOL should start against OZ for his "defense".
He looked to have bulked up a good bit too.

Reddan was excellent in terms of some of the cover tackles he made. Several times his covering saved our bacon in the first half.

I heard most of the Ireland team have lost a few kilos rather than bulked up in pre-season. That's been the emphasis for us.

Feagh McHugh wrote:Best actually looked on the small side there yesterday too, I thought most of the other players looked to have bulked up but was surprised to notice Best. (but maybe Im wrong).
Paddy Wallace had an excellent game yesterday and outshone Earls imo. The try was a good team try by France. I think if Wallace scored a hat-trick of tries some people would still give out about him.

Dont think Id like to see Earls play 13 for Ireland yet - at my level of rugby his chip and go himself would be lambasted for butchering a two on one - he was even unaware of McFaddens presence too (I swear) which makes it worse. Some will argue Bonnaire had MCF covered but where I come from you make Bonnaire make the tackle -end of.
His over throw FItz wasnt great either. Earls could be an excellent 13 (in the future) but he is not WC 13 material. Hope he gets back to the wing - where he is his most dangerous and competent (not 12, 13, or 15).

Ps one last point if you are still reading - Reddans defense was superb yesterday - if he reproduces that again next week I think he will have disarmed those who argue TOL should start against OZ for his "defense".
He looked to have bulked up a good bit too.


Agree Valjester - unusually, Best's game did go to pieces yesterday and was unlike him. DOC is going to be starting come WC with POC lets see Cullen and POC together for a half - I dont remember them having any meaningful game time together before and if DOC gets injured during the WC .......

I think you're being harsh on earls. And I think he will always suffer no matter how well he plays because he is not bod. He is perfectly competent at 11,13, or 15. I would argue that he is most dangerous at 15.

Reddan was superb yesterday, I'd really like him and murray as the scrumhalfs for the 22. Murray looked like he'd played for Ireland for years rather than making his debut. Beside the stupid kick into the french 22, he looked very good. He gets to the ruck quick, he is big, good defensively but most importantly he has a quick and accurate pass. At this stage I think he is a better passer than stringer because although not as quick he is much more accurate. I would expect him to overtake reddan within a year.

Yep, the 2nd half started as the first finished with france on the front foot. Paddy's kicking moved the french back to their own 22 and teams are an awful lot more circumspect running the ball from their own 22m line than they are in the opponents half or near halfway (France showed this). We didnt have the dynamism up front to get mismatched against the French (until the POC and Heaslip subs)so kicking was the only way to get behind them.

Wallaces kick which held up and forced Traille to boot out on his 22 was the first attacking platform i can recall. ROG then started doing it to and Jones put a nice one through late on. It was the right tactic and it got the french backs running towards their own line instead of ours.

The try was the product of multiple phases and Wallace did well to get his man down. Stopping the offload would have been virtually impossible. We were unlucky as Trimble nailed Trinh Duch shortly before that but as i recall the ball squirted out of the ruck that we had committed men too. THis caught us out imo.