What we can take from the Ireland match.

First topic message reminder :

1) Reddan is undeniably a better option than O'Leary, who, to be honest, had a shocker. He threw two abysmal passes, gave an interception, gifted Trinh-Duc a drop goal with one of his appalling trademark box kicks and got absolutely skinned by Palisson. Moreover, O'Learly lacks the dynamism provided by Reddan: as soon as Reddan came onto the pitch Ireland were recycling the ball much faster. A lot of the time O'Leary looks like a total liability. Also, Reddan's affinity with Sexton is important.

2) As embarrassing as it is to admit it, I totally agree with Jeremy 'Misery Guts' Guscott when he said that the 10, 12 and 13 partnership is not working. D'Arcy and O'Driscoll were drifting with the ball far too much. No-one was offering decoy lines or cutting against the grain of attack. Ireland persistently shifted the ball from side to side and gained NO ground. The French defence just had to wait for the last man to get the ball. What ever happened to the 'Leinster Loop'? I thought O'Driscoll looked static and indecisive in attack and haphazard in defence. Sadly, D'Arcy is a shadow of his former self. Ireland just never looked like they could break the gain line. Look at the Heymans try. The French were running decoys, varying their running angles and receiving the ball at pace. A total inversion of what Ireland were doing.

3) Earls is not up to RWC standard. The guy had a shocker of a match. With Trimble, Bowe, Fitzgerald and Kearney available, I would seriously consider leaving the blundering Earls at home if he performs badly against England (that is if Kidney picks him, which I hope he doesn't!).

4) Ireland need to play to their main strength: brilliant forwards. O'Brien and Heaslip were good. When O'Brien was brought into the line, he made road kill of Trinh-Duc. Perphaps Kidney should select O'Brien at inside centre?! Healy also needs more ball in the loose. He was brilliant in the Heineken Cup final when Leinster were on the front foot and he had space to run with the ball. Ferris and O'Connell are also good carriers. Ultimately, these guys need to brought into the backline more, where they will have dominance over opposition backs. A mismatch will allow breaking of the gain line.

5) Selection is a problem. If Ireland perform like they did yesterday next Saturday, Kidney will need to consider major changes to his selection. But Ireland have very little options. At centre for example, there is a very shallow player base. Kidney refuses to question the ability of BOD. But even if he did, Ireland have no other decent options at 13, especially in light of the performance of Keith Earls, who can play at outside centre. The same goes for D'Arcy. Paddy Wallace provides little solace for those of us weary of D'Arcy's mediocrity. Kidney is left with the 'Oh, he's better than nothing' argument. 15 is also a real quandry. Kearney (injured) has been out for a long time and looked average on his most recent appearance. Geordan Murphy has also been out for a long time and is more of a 'cool-head' than a genuine attacking threat. Other than that Ireland have a wayward Keith Earls.

Does anyone have any suggestions for solutions to the dire state of affairs?

Notch wrote:

Sin é wrote:The dirty looks from BOD & Sexton probably said more about them than him. They were the ones who were not handling the pressure very well and they were letting the French know they were rattled.

Stop making up stories in your head to justify your own view. Honestly!

We all have to stop making excuses for our favourite provincial players. It's World Cup time, not inter-province bitchfest time.

I would bring them because they are good players. Say they both start on the wings versus Russia and get on the scoresheet playing well, they'll bring that confidence into their next game hopefully. And they will grow from their experiences and struggles. Being left out of the squad will do them more harm than good and they still have plenty of potential. And, most importantly, there aren't the quality replacements.

Geoffs point re. Trimble and Bowe is very well made. Remember Bowe being made a scapegoat after a poor game against France? He wasn't ready then; mentally or in terms of where he was as a player. Earls has all the talent, but I'm not convinced he has reached the point where we can say he is resilient enough to be the player he has always threatened to be.

We have to be careful now to make sure we don't go overboard on the criticism of Earls, because he didn't lose that game by himself. He deserves a break- he gives his best and that's all you can ask for. But he needs to cope better with adversity on the field if he is to fulfil his potential as a player

Earls is going and I think he will be starting on the wing - he had one bad game when he made two errors - the fact that one of them involved BOD who might have been able to cope if he was a bit fitter (like ROG saving Fitz's skin for Sexton's try).

Earls has been through the ringer for the Lions Tour - far more severe criticism than anything Bowe or Trimble got and he came back well from that. He stays well away from the internet as well. Hopefully he told both BOD to feic off and next time not to overrun the pass and look at his own game before having a go at him.

We need Earls to be playing well for his attacking ability, his pace and his finishing. Simple.

Sin é wrote:Hopefully he told both BOD to feic off and next time not to overrun the pass and look at his own game before having a go at him.

*cough* Revisionism *cough*

Sin é wrote:

Notch wrote:

Sin é wrote:The dirty looks from BOD & Sexton probably said more about them than him. They were the ones who were not handling the pressure very well and they were letting the French know they were rattled.

Stop making up stories in your head to justify your own view. Honestly!

We all have to stop making excuses for our favourite provincial players. It's World Cup time, not inter-province bitchfest time.

I would bring them because they are good players. Say they both start on the wings versus Russia and get on the scoresheet playing well, they'll bring that confidence into their next game hopefully. And they will grow from their experiences and struggles. Being left out of the squad will do them more harm than good and they still have plenty of potential. And, most importantly, there aren't the quality replacements.

Geoffs point re. Trimble and Bowe is very well made. Remember Bowe being made a scapegoat after a poor game against France? He wasn't ready then; mentally or in terms of where he was as a player. Earls has all the talent, but I'm not convinced he has reached the point where we can say he is resilient enough to be the player he has always threatened to be.

We have to be careful now to make sure we don't go overboard on the criticism of Earls, because he didn't lose that game by himself. He deserves a break- he gives his best and that's all you can ask for. But he needs to cope better with adversity on the field if he is to fulfil his potential as a player

Earls is going and I think he will be starting on the wing - he had one bad game when he made two errors - the fact that one of them involved BOD who might have been able to cope if he was a bit fitter (like ROG saving Fitz's skin for Sexton's try).

Earls has been through the ringer for the Lions Tour - far more severe criticism than anything Bowe or Trimble got and he came back well from that. He stays well away from the internet as well. Hopefully he told both BOD to feic off and next time not to overrun the pass and look at his own game before having a go at him.

We need Earls to be playing well for his attacking ability, his pace and his finishing. Simple.

Yeah, I hope Earls told the captain to go phook himself, that would do wonders for his confidence. Look, it's clear what Ireland need to do to win the world cup, get Alan Quinlan in as Earls special motivational coach. He can start every game at the expense of Ferris and teach Earls how to deal with "dem feicin naysaying jackeens".

HURLEY_BURLEY wrote:

Sin é wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:I am not discarding them either, although Fitzgerald is not certain to go.

I simply don't think they have done enough to be in the starting XV.
Should clarify they don't look ready to cope now, doesn't mean they won't be able to in future. Trouble is the WC is now.

I remember Trimble and Bowe struggling at a younger age - they are simply more experienced now - and more able to cope eith the intensity the WC will throw at them.

We have no idea of Bowe's fitness or form. Trimble has done very well - but bear in mind this is his 3rd game to start in the same position and while he has done some good stuff, looks confident, made all his tackles - this is not his fault, but he hasn't seen an awful lot of ball to make a hames of it.

Sin é - thats the whole point! Irish wingers never see a lot of ball. When they do see it, you don't want them dropping it or passing it into touch. Trimble is doing everything well and making few mistakes. Earls & Fitz are making too many mistakes which we cannot afford based on Ireland's possession stats.

Fitz & Earl's wing is far busier (which is usual) - both come in off their wing. Earls has said that he has been given the licence to roam. Fitz & Earls are the only two backs that have posed any threat to the opposition try line.

Sin é wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:I am not discarding them either, although Fitzgerald is not certain to go.

I simply don't think they have done enough to be in the starting XV.
Should clarify they don't look ready to cope now, doesn't mean they won't be able to in future. Trouble is the WC is now.

I remember Trimble and Bowe struggling at a younger age - they are simply more experienced now - and more able to cope eith the intensity the WC will throw at them.

We have no idea of Bowe's fitness or form. Trimble has done very well - but bear in mind this is his 3rd game to start in the same position and while he has done some good stuff, looks confident, made all his tackles - this is not his fault, but he hasn't seen an awful lot of ball to make a hames of it.

Trimble has seen more than enough of the ball to make a ham of it - the only difference is he hasn't

I think BOD, Sexton and the anyone else for that matter aree perfectly within their right to give someone an ear full. Remember when Stringer threw the intercept against Georgia and BOD went mental?

Theya re competitive players, they want to get the best out of themselves and eachother.

greybeard wrote:

Notch wrote:We all have to stop making excuses for our favourite provincial players. It's World Cup time, not inter-province bitchfest time.

On that note I hope McCarthy travels. That way we can all unite and blame him.

Indeed. Is this what the IRFU really mean when they say Connacht has a big role to play in the future of Irish rugby?

[quote="Mickado"]

Sin é wrote:

Yeah, I hope Earls told the captain to go phook himself, that would do wonders for his confidence. Look, it's clear what Ireland need to do to win the world cup, get Alan Quinlan in as Earls special motivational coach. He can start every game at the expense of Ferris and teach Earls how to deal with "dem feicin naysaying jackeens".

Well, maybe if BOD took a leaf out of Quinlan's book, Luke Fitz might have regained his confidence a bit sooner.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:I think BOD, Sexton and the anyone else for that matter aree perfectly within their right to give someone an ear full. Remember when Stringer threw the intercept against Georgia and BOD went mental?

Theya re competitive players, they want to get the best out of themselves and eachother.

All that showed was that BOD, the captain was rattled. Not going to encourage anyone to take any chances and invoke the wrath of the Irish captain. Stringer has hardly played for Ireland since.

There's literally no reasoning with you. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Sin é wrote:All that showed was that BOD, the captain was rattled. Not going to encourage anyone to take any chances and invoke the wrath of the Irish captain. Stringer has hardly played for Ireland since.

True, he has been kept out by a plank who can't make a simple decision if he's a bit tired.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:I think BOD, Sexton and the anyone else for that matter aree perfectly within their right to give someone an ear full. Remember when Stringer threw the intercept against Georgia and BOD went mental?

Theya re competitive players, they want to get the best out of themselves and eachother.

Pete, shouting at some players doesn't help get the best out of them. Sexton was right to shout at earls but I think that at the stage that bod gave the look to earls it was not the right time. Bod hasn't exactly been blameless in messing up those sort of situations with poor passes this year. And to be honest I think that play with stringer and bod showed up everything that was wrong with our last world cup, players playing poorly and players falling out with one another. Leave the screaming and recriminations for after the game, by all means have a word but there is no need for the dirty looks or screaming at a player.

Mickado wrote:There's literally no reasoning with you. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Well, just maybe, I know a bit more than you do about leadership & motivation.

valjester wrote:

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:I think BOD, Sexton and the anyone else for that matter aree perfectly within their right to give someone an ear full. Remember when Stringer threw the intercept against Georgia and BOD went mental?

Theya re competitive players, they want to get the best out of themselves and eachother.

Pete, shouting at some players doesn't help get the best out of them. Sexton was right to shout at earls but I think that at the stage that bod gave the look to earls it was not the right time. Bod hasn't exactly been blameless in messing up those sort of situations with poor passes this year. And to be honest I think that play with stringer and bod showed up everything that was wrong with our last world cup, players playing poorly and players falling out with one another. Leave the screaming and recriminations for after the game, by all means have a word but there is no need for the dirty looks or screaming at a player.

I agree with all of this. I wouldn't read anything into the Sexton / Earls messup.

But the look that BOD gave Earls just made me think that this is 2007 all over again. BOD needs to get his head sorted - and quick. If he had been blameless himself in this regard, I'd say maybe, but when he isn't .... that just shows he is rattled.

BOD also had a terrible game on Saturday and POC, while getting on with the work, seemed to be very quiet. Previous week in Bordeaux, I thought they started looking like a team when POC came on. They were not playing as a team last Saturday.

Sin é wrote:

valjester wrote:

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:I think BOD, Sexton and the anyone else for that matter aree perfectly within their right to give someone an ear full. Remember when Stringer threw the intercept against Georgia and BOD went mental?

Theya re competitive players, they want to get the best out of themselves and eachother.

Pete, shouting at some players doesn't help get the best out of them. Sexton was right to shout at earls but I think that at the stage that bod gave the look to earls it was not the right time. Bod hasn't exactly been blameless in messing up those sort of situations with poor passes this year. And to be honest I think that play with stringer and bod showed up everything that was wrong with our last world cup, players playing poorly and players falling out with one another. Leave the screaming and recriminations for after the game, by all means have a word but there is no need for the dirty looks or screaming at a player.

I agree with all of this. I wouldn't read anything into the Sexton / Earls messup.

But the look that BOD gave Earls just made me think that this is 2007 all over again. BOD needs to get his head sorted - and quick. If he had been blameless himself in this regard, I'd say maybe, but when he isn't .... that just shows he is rattled.

BOD also had a terrible game on Saturday and POC, while getting on with the work, seemed to be very quiet. Previous week in Bordeaux, I thought they started looking like a team when POC came on. They were not playing as a team last Saturday.

I actually thought that poc was one of our better players. Along with healy, heaslip, and trimble he seemed to be one of the few to play well when the going was tough in the middle periods.

I mean that POC was quiet from rallying the troops/inspiring those around him point of view. Heaslip kept the head down and did his work as well. Healy was brilliant. He was a big loss when he went off.

Anyone care to comment on my article?