Ireland v USA - Live Match Thread & Post Match Discussion

[Pal Joey]

First topic message reminder :

Ireland v USA, Sunday 11/9 4:00pm (EST), New Plymouth

Ireland (15-1): Geordan Murphy; Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Keith Earls, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray, Jamie Heaslip, Shane Jennings, Stephen Ferris; Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callagha; Mike Ross, Rory Best, Tom Court.

Res: Jerry Flannery, Tony Buckley, Donnacha Ryan, Denis Leamy, Eoin Reddan, Sean O'Brien, Andrew Trimble.


United States (15-1): Blaine Scully, Takudzwa Ngwenya, Paul Emerick, Andrew Suniula, James Paterson; Roland Suniula, Mike Petri, Nic Johnson, Todd Clever (capt), Louis Stanfill, Hayden Smith, John van der Giessen, Shawn Pittman, Phil Thiel, Mike MacDonald.

Res: Chris Biller, Matekitonga Moeakiola, Scott LaValla, Pat Danahy, Tim Usasz, Nese Malifa, Colin Hawley.

[valjester]

Team for next week

1. Healy
2. Best- did enough tonight to hold off flannery
3. Ross
4. DOC
5. POC
6. Ferris- Our best player
7. SOB- A dual threat with Ferris could be irresistable
8. Heaslip
9. Reddan

10. Sexton
11. Trimble
12. Wallace- D'arcy offers zip
13. BOD- if we had another option i would be debating it
14. Bowe - Harsh on Earls i think but 2 tries swings it for me
15. Kearney- if fit

It feels very like 2007 all over again

Reddan made a difference when he came on and I hope he starts. I didn't think Rog made much of a difference when he came on, I think that Sexton is a better player and his defence is necessary if we are going to come with in 50.

Bowe over earls is harsh as I though Earls was better today but bowe is vital as even when he plays poorly he still scores. Earls looked at times today as if though he was playing in the centre as he kept popping up there. I hope darcy is dropped poor yet again, can't remember the last time he played well.

[dublin_dave]

Ldc pete. You have obviously not watched ireland much over the last 18months. We are careering backwards. We are also utterly boring too watch. The gas thing is our attacking game has gotten worse the more our scrum has improved.

[Standulstermen]

LDC

I have never seen a team break the gainline so easily and yet look totally inept when they tried to press home the advantage. I think you do the USA too much credit. They were incredibly poor.

Ireland may have won comfortably but after 4 defeats on the bounce, ourlowest ranking for God knows how long, a tema looking utterly devoid of ideas and an atrocious error count playing against a tier 2 nation who in know way see those conditions as much as us, i am finding it a little difficult to be positive.

The thought of Digby Ioane running at our centres (the great man isnt absolved of shocking performances) is the stuff of nightmares

[Thomond]

Pete,that performance wasn't good enough. We offered F all in attack. Nobody expected us to beat them by 50 points,I'd say if you looked at the SG predicitons then 20 or so would have been the number. We should be gettign BPs against teams like the USA. We did win comfortably,but there are few positives to take from the game,other than our defence and lineout.

[Standulstermen]

Team for next week

1. Healy
2. Best- did enough tonight to hold off flannery
3. Ross
4. DOC
5. POC
6. Ferris- Our best player
7. SOB- A dual threat with Ferris could be irresistable
8. Heaslip
9. Reddan

10. Sexton
11. Trimble
12. Wallace- D'arcy offers zip
13. BOD- if we had another option i would be debating it
14. Bowe - Harsh on Earls i think but 2 tries swings it for me
15. Kearney- if fit

It feels very like 2007 all over again

Reddan made a difference when he came on and I hope he starts. I didn't think Rog made much of a difference when he came on, I think that Sexton is a better player and his defence is necessary if we are going to come with in 50.

Bowe over earls is harsh as I though Earls was better today but bowe is vital as even when he plays poorly he still scores. Earls looked at times today as if though he was playing in the centre as he kept popping up there. I hope darcy is dropped poor yet again, can't remember the last time he played well.

12 kickable points missed and aimless kicking from hand cannot be rewarded with a start. I had hoped Sexton would step up but he hasnt.

[Ozzy3213]

dublin dave

I have watched every Ireland match since 2008 fella.

[Notch]

Pete I expected the scoreline but hoped the performance would be better. 12 points win is a poor reward for total forward dominance and... well, we just don't look dangerous. The amount of possession we have is not proportional to opportunities for scoring points. We might have 10 minutes with the ball trying to bludgeon our way through then get cut apart by one of the top teams in a heartbeat.

We have to give credit to the USA for the commitment they showed especially in contact.

[D24tress]

Rog to start for me, with redden, not sure about twelve at all, if all we want from a twelve is crash ball why didn't we try downey awhile ago short of that play sob at twelve cause the 12s we brought aren't built for that, otherwise maybe try pass the ball

Matt Williams was saying that gaffney is getting no input in the coaching apparently so maybe that shows why our back play has been so bad.

[Standulstermen]

Doesnt explain why Leinster's backs looked rubbish under gaffney though D24.

I actually think Italy will beat us on what i have seen

[Thomond]

The way the Leinster backs were up to when he left I don't know if that is a bad thing.

[dublin_dave]

Good man. Respect your positivity so.

Usa were absolutely hopeless as were we. Yet again.

[D24tress]

Doesnt explain why Leinster's backs looked rubbish under gaffney though D24.

I actually think Italy will beat us on what i have seen

Backs weren't that bad in winning the heineken cup, but maybe that was Schmidt

[Notch]

Well, obviously Gaffney has had no involvement since Schmidt took over? The first Heineken Cup win was all about Leinsters defence and guts.

[D24tress]

So who is looking after the backs then

[valjester]

Team for next week

1. Healy
2. Best- did enough tonight to hold off flannery
3. Ross
4. DOC
5. POC
6. Ferris- Our best player
7. SOB- A dual threat with Ferris could be irresistable
8. Heaslip
9. Reddan

10. Sexton
11. Trimble
12. Wallace- D'arcy offers zip
13. BOD- if we had another option i would be debating it
14. Bowe - Harsh on Earls i think but 2 tries swings it for me
15. Kearney- if fit

It feels very like 2007 all over again

Reddan made a difference when he came on and I hope he starts. I didn't think Rog made much of a difference when he came on, I think that Sexton is a better player and his defence is necessary if we are going to come with in 50.

Bowe over earls is harsh as I though Earls was better today but bowe is vital as even when he plays poorly he still scores. Earls looked at times today as if though he was playing in the centre as he kept popping up there. I hope darcy is dropped poor yet again, can't remember the last time he played well.

12 kickable points missed and aimless kicking from hand cannot be rewarded with a start. I had hoped Sexton would step up but he hasnt.

I'd agree with you but I think that sexton is the better player and rog wasn't much better when he came on. The last minute kick in the 22 was stupid.
Bod was very disappointing and if he was bod he would be torn apart for his performance; poor passes, missed tackles and no real leadership.

[Standulstermen]

I agree completely with what you're saying Val. IMO we are as blind to his failings as SA/PDV is to Smits. He has no form to speak of

as i say that Smit has a shocker. He looks like he cant run the length of himself

[Notch]

So who is looking after the backs then

Schmidt is a backs coach by trade.

[lostinwales]

One thing I noticed was that when Murray was caught up in a ruck it took an age before anyone else came in to do the scrum half duties and get the ball out.

[D24tress]

So who is looking after the backs then

Schmidt is a backs coach by trade.

Ireland I mean

[Standulstermen]

So who is looking after the backs then

Schmidt is a backs coach by trade.

Ireland I mean

Robbie Deans or Nick Mallett i guess

[D24tress]

So who is looking after the backs then

Schmidt is a backs coach by trade.

Ireland I mean

Robbie Deans or Nick Mallett i guess

Might apply myself i'll do it for free just fly me out

[Goosestepper]

c'mon Wales hope you put the boks away, you deserve to win this. Hopefully you can inspire Ireland to come up with something next week.

[BlueMuff]

Where to start with that shambolic performance where we dominated scrum and line out yet struggled badly.

1. Fly half- Enough is enough he is not even medicore now he is just plain terrible. Reads the game completely wrong. Dont think he went out wide once, kept on going back inside to heavy traffic and with static targets for the US to hit. Didnt adapt to the conditions and 1 from 5 .... well. Puts play to the rumour that he can get a backline going.

2. The Breakdown - Shane Jennings strenght is supposed to be his scrapping at the breakdown. I didnt see any of this. We were over powered and over run at times. Murray who passing was quick and sharp was just not given any protection from the back row.

3. Backline / creativity - 0 out of 10. Nothing from midfield absolutely nothing. Hard to figure out why when the scrum and line out were strong. We have not made one clean line break now from mid field in 5 matches.

4. Handling errors. Bowe must have knocked on 6 or 7 times. Murphy dropping up and unders. Darcy dropping simple passes.

5. Positives - very few. Mike Ross superb. Rory Best had his strongest game in a while.

This might seem harsh but its time to face reality.

[asoreleftshoulder]

Where to start with that shambolic performance where we dominated scrum and line out yet struggled badly.

1. Fly half- Enough is enough he is not even medicore now he is just plain terrible. Reads the game completely wrong. Dont think he went out wide once, kept on going back inside to heavy traffic and with static targets for the US to hit. Didnt adapt to the conditions and 1 from 5 .... well. Puts play to the rumour that he can get a backline going.

He wasn't great but in saying that O'Gara was no better,I'd pick O'Gara for the Aus game as he seemed more comfortable kicking penalties but that decision won't matter unless our forwards learn to protect the ruck.

2. The Breakdown - Shane Jennings strenght is supposed to be his scrapping at the breakdown. I didnt see any of this. We were over powered and over run at times. Murray who passing was quick and sharp was just not given any protection from the back row.

The whole pack were poor here not just Jennings,the support when any made a half break was awful and both our clearig out and protection of the ruck was almost non existant.I thought Murray was okay but threw a couple of shockers and made a few poor kicks,he wasn't bad and it wasn't ideal conditions so it was good experience at least.

3. Backline / creativity - 0 out of 10. Nothing from midfield absolutely nothing. Hard to figure out why when the scrum and line out were strong. We have not made one clean line break now from mid field in 5 matches.

I thought BoD woke up after the 3rd try,up until then he was anonymous in attack and poor in defence.After that he seemed to get a burst of life so hopefully that will continue.D'Arcy was poor but then he's been poor for Ireland for so long that it's not surprising,why Kidney persists with him in this form I have no idea.

4. Handling errors. Bowe must have knocked on 6 or 7 times. Murphy dropping up and unders. Darcy dropping simple passes.

Yeah the rain excuses some of this but our handling was still shocking.

5. Positives - very few. Mike Ross superb. Rory Best had his strongest game in a while.

The lineout was good too and Ferris looks back to top form,thats about all I can add.

This might seem harsh but its time to face reality.

[Cari]

Muffy - sorry about Bowe's greasey hands...it was the KY Jelly

Seriously, I thought Ferris had a really good game for you today, and the conditions were awful during the first half.

[Irish Curry]

[quote="asoreleftshoulder"][quote="BlueMuff"]Where to start with that shambolic performance where we dominated scrum and line out yet struggled badly.

1. Fly half- Enough is enough he is not even medicore now he is just plain terrible. Reads the game completely wrong. Dont think he went out wide once, kept on going back inside to heavy traffic and with static targets for the US to hit. Didnt adapt to the conditions and 1 from 5 .... well. Puts play to the rumour that he can get a backline going.

[b]He wasn't great but in saying that O'Gara was no better,I'd pick O'Gara for the Aus game as he seemed more comfortable kicking penalties but that decision won't matter unless our forwards learn to protect the ruck.[/b]

2. The Breakdown - Shane Jennings strenght is supposed to be his scrapping at the breakdown. I didnt see any of this. We were over powered and over run at times. Murray who passing was quick and sharp was just not given any protection from the back row.

[b]The whole pack were poor here not just Jennings,the support when any made a half break was awful and both our clearig out and protection of the ruck was almost non existant.I thought Murray was okay but threw a couple of shockers and made a few poor kicks,he wasn't bad and it wasn't ideal conditions so it was good experience at least.[/b]

3. Backline / creativity - 0 out of 10. Nothing from midfield absolutely nothing. Hard to figure out why when the scrum and line out were strong. We have not made one clean line break now from mid field in 5 matches.

[b]I thought BoD woke up after the 3rd try,up until then he was anonymous in attack and poor in defence.After that he seemed to get a burst of life so hopefully that will continue.D'Arcy was poor but then he's been poor for Ireland for so long that it's not surprising,why Kidney persists with him in this form I have no idea.[/b]

4. Handling errors. Bowe must have knocked on 6 or 7 times. Murphy dropping up and unders. Darcy dropping simple passes.
[b]
Yeah the rain excuses some of this but our handling was still shocking.[/b]

5. Positives - very few. Mike Ross superb. Rory Best had his strongest game in a while.
[b]
The lineout was good too and Ferris looks back to top form,thats about all I can add.[/b]

This might seem harsh but its time to face reality. [/quote][/quote]

I don't buy this we were dropping the ball because of the rain, it bloody well rains every day nearly in Ireland they dont do this in other matchs. Also the usa were coping well with the conditions and it doesn't rain much in california as George Hook pointed out.(cant believe I actually argee with something he said )

Ireland were pants, usa were worse and god help us against Oz.

[valjester]

I don't buy this we were dropping the ball because of the rain, it bloody well rains every day nearly in Ireland they dont do this in other matchs. Also the usa were coping well with the conditions and it doesn't rain much in california as George Hook pointed out.(cant believe I actually argee with something he said )

Ireland were pants, usa were worse and god help us against Oz.

The rain is a reason for the bad handling, rain makes the ball greasy. It doesn't excuse it though as we should be used to.

[Pot Hale]

"Rain makes the ball greasy." "We should be used to it."

Well if Rain makes the ball greasy in New Zealand, it also does in Ireland, UK, France, Romania, South Africa.

A greasy ball mades handling more difficult - for any team.

Why should Ireland be more experienced at making a greasy ball stick?

I think it's a myth that Ireland are a wet-weather team and benefit from it. They don't. They much prefer a drier track.

[Irish Curry]

[quote="Pot Hale"]"Rain makes the ball greasy." "We should be used to it."

Well if Rain makes the ball greasy in New Zealand, it also does in Ireland, UK, France, Romania, South Africa.

A greasy ball mades handling more difficult - for any team.

Why should Ireland be more experienced at making a greasy ball stick?

I think it's a myth that Ireland are a wet-weather team and benefit from it. They don't. They much prefer a drier track.



[/quote]

We should be used to it because it dosen't affect them in other wet matchs.

[valjester]

"Rain makes the ball greasy." "We should be used to it."

Well if Rain makes the ball greasy in New Zealand, it also does in Ireland, UK, France, Romania, South Africa.

A greasy ball mades handling more difficult - for any team.

Why should Ireland be more experienced at making a greasy ball stick?

I think it's a myth that Ireland are a wet-weather team and benefit from it. They don't. They much prefer a drier track.

We should be used to the rain and able to adapt our game to suit the conditions. Just because we prefer dry weather doesn't mean we should go to s**t when it starts to rain.

[Cari]

I'm just watching the match again on the iPlayer. There were a lot of handling errors - about nine or ten from Ireland in the first half. However, the conditions didn't help both teams either. That's just the way it goes though in rugby and you should adapt the game to the conditions.

[poissonrouge]

Maybe we dropped the ball more than the USA because we had the ball more than the USA?

[Standulstermen]

Sorry but Murray was awful out there. I feel for the kid because he was exposed at times (certainly when Joubert decided the US could come in at all angles) but he was poor. He will learn from it though i just feel that we should have given him this game in the warm ups and not the RWC.

This isnt me blaming him for our entire performance or anything this is just saying he had a bad game. Sugar coating it and blaming others will do nothing for the guy.

I agree re Sexton. he has to be dropped imo. Irrepsective of the missed points trying an up and under on the opposition 22 in those positions is just dumb.

Our centres are (along with halfbacks) the weakest part of our team. The issue of 12 has been well documented but the elephant in the room is that 13 is becoming a problem position for us.

Bowe had a shocker and still got 2 tries. Earls was ok but out of position a few times. Trimbles decision to kick at the end was bloody baffling. Out of those 3 i would go Trimble and Bowe. The reality was that outside of Ferris we had no forward that could consistently break the gain line on his own. Heaslip did it in the first half a few times then became anonymous. We badly miss Healy and SOB as carrying options.

[Standulstermen]

Maybe we dropped the ball more than the USA because we had the ball more than the USA?

Quinlan suggested that at HT when i think we had spilled something like 8 against 2 from the US. I think the possession stats were 52-48 in our favour. Not the reason

[emack2]

Just finished watching the game,observations very tricky conditions hence the handling errors.Ireland of all people trying to play dry weather rugby in atrocious conditions.Keep it simple,put the ball in front of the forwards and let them do the work.
Sycophantic studio guests,Ireland no chance against Australia on this form.
Having just watched both games,on overall performance by BOTH teams over 80 Minutes.
I can`t agree with that,get the team right Ireland will run them close or maybe even nick a win.
Ireland at least were firing some of the time in the first half,just tried to play to much Rugby.
Brave effort by USA.again to many penalties,but I predicted that post RWC start..

[nottins_jones]

Italy will be looking at this encounter and perhaps fancying their chances of finishing second in the group; but they'll have to do a lot more than fancy their chances to actually achieve that. Ireland are doing what they did in the last world cup, struggling against the minnows. You'll be lucky to get within 20 points of Aus unless you have improved tremendously by then.

[Thomond]

6 days isn't a long time for improvement. We weren't great today but were it not for Sexton leaving his kicking boots at home,it could have been over early on.

[Guest]

bit harsh to blame it all on Sexton, Thomond, especially with all the troubles all kickers have been having. Would ahve said also if you guys hadn't knocked the ball on twice 5m out from scoring would have made a big difference too.

[Thomond]

ROG manged it alright. At least 2 or 3 of his kicks weren't extremely difficult,he should have nailed them. For a guy who is supposed to be a great leader for Leinster,he looks like a bag of nerves for Ireland. I hope he gets himself together, he is not playing well. ROG is looking like the better option now.

[nottins_jones]

I thought all the way through the 6 Nations that O'Gara is the much better fly-half and I still think it. He's a match winner and Ireland need that at the moment. No point in rueing missed kicks, you should be rueing missed tries as you only scored 3 and most top tier teams would have put double that amount or more passed the Eagles. Going back to what I originally said, it would probably take an off day from Ireland for them to lose to Italy, like the time they almost lost to them in Rome. Saying that, Ireland are having a few 'off days' lately.

[Guest]

Ture Thom, just think it's a bit harsh to say were it not for Sexton's kicking it could have been over early on. Same goes for the guys who dropped the ball so close to the try line early on in the 1st half.

Was v impressed with ROG when he came on, but then the conditions being what they were, twas exactly his sort of game.

[Standulstermen]

I actually dont think Rog was that impressive when he came on but he was a marked improvement on Sexton.I genuinely am at a loss to explain what is going on with ireland.

we have a young fly half who has led his team to two Heineken Cups (playing 2 very different style of Rugby) and looked exceptional against better opposition than the US. he just seems to be lackng any form or confidence for ireland. ROG must start.

I dont think the relative ease of the kicks Sexton missed can be underplayed. saying he is the issue is glossing over many many flaws but 12 points left on the field isnt acceptable.

[valjester]

Sorry but Murray was awful out there. I feel for the kid because he was exposed at times (certainly when Joubert decided the US could come in at all angles) but he was poor. He will learn from it though i just feel that we should have given him this game in the warm ups and not the RWC.

This isnt me blaming him for our entire performance or anything this is just saying he had a bad game. Sugar coating it and blaming others will do nothing for the guy.

I agree re Sexton. he has to be dropped imo. Irrepsective of the missed points trying an up and under on the opposition 22 in those positions is just dumb.

Our centres are (along with halfbacks) the weakest part of our team. The issue of 12 has been well documented but the elephant in the room is that 13 is becoming a problem position for us.

Bowe had a shocker and still got 2 tries. Earls was ok but out of position a few times. Trimbles decision to kick at the end was bloody baffling. Out of those 3 i would go Trimble and Bowe. The reality was that outside of Ferris we had no forward that could consistently break the gain line on his own. Heaslip did it in the first half a few times then became anonymous. We badly miss Healy and SOB as carrying options.

I watched the game again and I agree with nearly everything you say. The second time around I have to admit that I thought that poc had a decent game and along with ferris was our best player. Murray had a shocker and his inexperience really showed but he got no protection at the breakdown. If we don't clean up that part of our game we will taken apart by australia and pocock in particular in that area of the game. Sexton was poor but I'd start him with reddan next week because I still believe he is a better option than rog.

Bod was terrible and something I really noticed the second time around is that he is clearly not fit. First time around I thought earls's postioning was all over the place but now I'm not sure if that was his fault because for large parts of the game he was standing beside bod as if though he had been told to cover for him. He seemed to be in the centres and then having to rush back to the wings. It was shocking how poor bod was, darcy has to go but thats nothing new, bod has usually made his tackles but he missed a few and conceded lots of ground other times as well as earls having to cover for him a few times. The first time I saw earls in the centre I thought it was a mistake but bod didn't yell at him to get back to the wing which he normally would. It is really worrying that next week we are going to have an off form and not fully fit bod in the centres against the best attack in the world. I'm not looking forward to it at all.

[Glas a du]

You can't drop BOD!

[Standulstermen]

I would need to rewatch the game but i could well believe what you are saying Val. If BOD isnt fit then he shouldnt play. not an easy thing to do to the best Irish player of all time, but no player is bigger than the team.

Thats an IF though. The issue at the ruck annoys me. against England we were sending in 2/3 too many guys to clear it out and the scrum half was having to wait while each of them trundled over the ball before delivering.

Today we seem to be better at initially clearing the tacklers but then we had noone running in to stand over the ball and keep it in the ruck which led to a tough time for our 9's.

[Standulstermen]

You can't drop BOD!

We can and should IF he isnt fit

[rodders]

I'm not sure there's anything wrong with BODS fitness he's just past his best. He really struggled against Emerick in defence.

He also booted the ball away, a good kick to be fair, when we had a 3 on two. If the IRFU think he can play until 2013 then they are in cloud cuckcoo land.D'arcy was worse and is simply no longer international standard, nor is Donnacha O'Callaghan.

Heaslip was poor again and I think there is a real case for playing SOB at 8 alongside Ferris and Jennings against Australia.

I think Earls was better than some have suggested, making a couple of linebreaks and Bowe redeemed himself with two excellent tries and would have got a hatrick but for a sloppy reverse pass from the abysmal D'arcy. Murray too did ok and I don't think Sexton was that bad either.

The set piece was superb against a big american park and O'Connell and Best were excellent. Jennings had and influential game and Ferris was immense.

The back play was better than in any of the warmups and we should have had at least two more tries against a brave but cynical USA side.

I think overall it was a decent enough start and I think if we can qualify from this group then we have a great chance against an average SA side in the QF.

[Standulstermen]

Jesus Rodders thats fairly positive from you.

Regarding the US pack. They were shocking. I dont care what size they are, when Tony Buckley dicks your scrum like that you know you are bad. Earls was ok but he was badly out of position at least twice in the first half. Against the US it meant that we were pegged back. Against Oz or SA for that matter it means tries conceded. Remember Trimble against France in 07.

[valjester]

I'm not sure there's anything wrong with BODS fitness he's just past his best. He really struggled against Emerick in defence.

He also booted the ball away, a good kick to be fair, when we had a 3 on two. If the IRFU think he can play until 2013 then they are in cloud cuckcoo land.D'arcy was worse and is simply no longer international standard, nor is Donnacha O'Callaghan.

Heaslip was poor again and I think there is a real case for playing SOB at 8 alongside Ferris and Jennings against Australia.

I think Earls was better than some have suggested, making a couple of linebreaks and Bowe redeemed himself with two excellent tries and would have got a hatrick but for a sloppy reverse pass from the abysmal D'arcy. Murray too did ok and I don't think Sexton was that bad either.

The set piece was superb against a big american park and O'Connell and Best were excellent. Jennings had and influential game and Ferris was immense.

The back play was better than in any of the warmups and we should have had at least two more tries against a brave but cynical USA side.

I think overall it was a decent enough start and I think if we can qualify from this group then we have a great chance against an average SA side in the QF.

Doc and bod still can be international standard, they just don't have any consistency anymore. Poc and ferris were immense today but we need they rest of the team to get their act together.

Something has to be done about the centres. There is no pace there and its going to cause problems for us in defence and attack. I though earls had a decent game today and could have had two tries if things had went his way. He is unfortunate that he will miss out next week as bowe is vital and trimble is needed because the backs are so small without him, and of course because trimble is good form. I'm wondering is it worth taking the risk and chucking him in to the centre alongside bod because darcy is finished, mcfadden isn't ready imo and paddy will be used as a bosh merchant instead of actually letting him play his game.

[valjester]

Jesus Rodders thats fairly positive from you.

Regarding the US pack. They were shocking. I dont care what size they are, when Tony Buckley dicks your scrum like that you know you are bad. Earls was ok but he was badly out of position at least twice in the first half. Against the US it meant that we were pegged back. Against Oz or SA for that matter it means tries conceded. Remember Trimble against France in 07.

Earls positioning was always going to be a bit off considering the amount of different positions hes trying to learn the defensive system for. Trimble on for murphy seems a pretty clear indication that earls is fullback cover in the 22, as well as 13 and wing. He needed help from his full back or captain yelling at him, there doesn't seem to be any communication in the team which is worrying. I thought murphy had a poor game as well tbh and his positioning was off a few times, hopefully kearney is back in next week as he always seems to play well against the aussies.

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