Irish Player Rating

First of all want to say thanks to how gracious and sound the Aussie fans have been on here, you guys will know your players more than me so will leave you do your team if you wish.

Thanks also to all the neutrals who shouted for us in Auckland and also on here.

NB: 5= average, 1=worst performance you have ever seen and 10= best performance you have ever seen

Also know we are in celebration mode but will try keep this more grounded and rational


HEALY: 8.5
Scrummaging was outstanding, both on out put in and there put in. He also offered a lot around the pitch and was obviously missed against the USA. His defence was fantastic in terms of amount of tackles but also the manner of them. He was very good at holding up players a lot and was involved in a lot of those choke tackles. He also carried well, didn't make the breaks we know he can but was still very destructive. Would also add that he was very good at competing for ball on the ground, winning one very good turn over off a POC tackle

BEST: 7.5
Showed some serious industry in the tight exchanges. He seemed to be in an enormous amount of rucks. Another who was excellent at holding players up in the tackle. His lineout throwing was much improved and he was part of a huge scrummaging effort. What surprised me even more were some of the fantastic lines he ran in particular off Sexton and he was using the offload to great effect to keep the play moving and the ball away from Aussie defenders.

ROSS: 7
A huge effort in the scrum and won us a large number of penalties in the scrum. He got around the pitch well enough without making a huge impact but made his tackles and hit a lot of rucks. Rarely got hands on the ball but needless to say without his scrummaging power and skill Ireland would not have won this game. I also think it was a testament to his fitness that he was a pillar defender at a large number of rucks and therefore couldn't be exploited outwide by Aussie speedsters.

O'CALLAGHAN: 6.5
Huge improvement in his performance this week as the game was made for him basically. He was very physical and enjoyed how confrontational it was. The fact that the choke tackle was used so much is an attributed to his determination to slow down the Aussies. His tackling and rucking were ferocious but again wasn't really used in the lineout. And didn't carry that often either so literally lived in the trenches and made sure he got his hands good and dirty.

O'CONNELL: 7.5
Fantastic performance in the tight, and ruled the Irish lineout with Jamie Heaslip. Carried much better than he has in the past 5 months or so and was running some good lines off Sexton in the first half. Huge physicality and an unbelievable level of tackling not necessarilly the amount but how strong they were and how he didn't yield the advantage line. He was exploited by Cooper twice with regards to pace but added so much to the Irish performance.

FERRIS: 7.5
A wrecking ball. He is just so strong. His defence was outstanding in its offensive attitude he doesn't just look to tackle he looks to drive the attacker back. He carried effectively a number of times and made good yards on a number of occasions. On top of that his rucking was out of this world, be it managing to defend Irish ball or disrupt Aussie ball. He is such a huge asset to this Irish team and we will be depending on his strength at the ruck and in defence.

O'BRIEN: 8
Huge match from this guy. He was one of our chief ball carriers be it picking good lines off offloads or short pops he was constantly making yards and sucking in tacklers. He really gave us front foot ball. On top of that his work in defence was brilliant, he stayed a bit wider than the rest of the backrow due to his pace and he saved us on Genia's break for the line. He also put in a good showing at the breakdown. Great performer and is worth his weight in gold.

HEASLIP: 5.5
Very quiet again especially at the back of such a dominant scrum. he gave away a silly penalty and wasn't carrying too much ball. Was called into the lineout a lot and did well there but he wasn't carrying as much as he could and wasn't in the loose linking forwards and backs as he can do so well. We rarely got to see his athleticism and invention but he did the basics, just very little else.

REDDAN: 6.5
Pretty good game and had snappy service and on top of that he marshalled the pack really well a la Stringer. He was really good at keeping the Irish going forward once we'd started going forward. Some poor kicking but he made up for it with some great tracking back in defence almost O'Leary like. He was a very solid influence to all those around him and was good seeing him and Sexton together.

SEXTON: 6
Even with Reddan at 9 he did seem to lack his HCup form. He ran the show really well in the backs and in bringing the forwards into the game, but his positional kicking while being exceptionally long was quite poor. Up and unders were quite good however.Obviously goal kicking was a problem again and this can't continue if we are to progress in the country. His defence was excellent and at 12 he looked solid too. He was brilliant at bringing the line up and made his hits well and was good at initiating the choke tackle.

EARLS: 5.5
Another who was missing for large parts of the game but showed fantastic feet at moments in the first half but then faded. Got caught out positionally with some kicks from Cooper but his defence in other areas was quite good. Didn't show his counter attacking skills and didn't pop up in the line as often as one would like.

DARCY: 5.5
One of his best games in a while. He did get beaten in defence a few times and some of his carries were quite ineffective. He did pass the ball more often though at the right times I felt and that is a big boost. Showed more effort and endevour at ruck time and when the choke tackles were set up he was good at getting his hands in there early, good kick for touch also which is not something you see from him that often.

O'DRISCOLL: 6
Was nice to see him make some breaks, off offload from Best and also showed some serious hands to put O'Brien through a gap on a loop variation. He did seem to continue to fall off a number of tackles but was good at ruck time and his kick chase was excellent. His positional defending was quite good in that he knew when to come out of the line and when not to. I'd like to see more runners running off him as he still has fantastic decision making.

BOWE: 5.5
Played pretty well but like Earls would have been good if he had gone looking for more ball. Was good at restarts and would really have capped things if he has been able to run the distance against JOC. His defence was fine but didn't really get as involved as he should have.

KEARNEY: 6
Played some good stuff after a bad start with a high tackle and missed a high ball but he went and started challenging in the air a lot more. He joined the line and linked with other players on switches and cut backs inside quite well and it was a nice added dimension. He showed some good defence also at times to make tackles in the line after kick chases.

BENCH:
ROG: 6.5 much better place kicking than Sexton, good at getting the team going forward more so than before. Not great tactical kicking
Murray: 6 did very well when he came on, one or two small errors but overall a good showing and added a lot of physicality in defence

Rest weren't on long enough

POSITIVES:
Great scrum, really was a huge improvement, won us penalties and also gave us a positive platform and made it easier to upset Australia
Defence was simply outstanding
Good use of bench, didn't go overboard on it but was astute his tactics
Ball retention was good we went through a lot of phases, challenged them on the advantage line
Lineout was fairly positive didn't loose many at all and put enough pressure to cause crooked throws
Ferris and O'Brien and POC are outstanding.
Mentallity and agression

NEGATIVES:
Sexton goal kicking
Irish backplay showed glimpses of new lines being run but not enough dummy runners still
BOD still does not look 100%


What do other people think? Any disagreements? Anything that should be different?
Who were you most impressed with and who do you think still needs a rocket up the backside?
What needs to be changed for the next game and quarters etc.

Well done to Ireland it's a great day

Tommy...just 5.5?!

Gotta be worth 7...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKM4z-WAu9I

Didn't really get about that much I felt. Looking back at it, I wish he had kicked it infield.

Very easy to say from my sofa however

Wouldn't have been as exciting though Pete

Hmm I don't know about exciting I think you are more concerned with your eye candy!!!

Awww come on, don't tell me you weren't shouting as Tommy ran up the pitch!

I'll give the whole Irish pack 8/10. You guys do not realise how important their performance was today. some players may not have looked as impressive or effective as others, but each guy did what ireland needed to do as a collective.

Yes your backs did the defending and you kicked your goals.

But the reality is, any sub par perfromance by your forwards today and you would have seen a rampant Ozzie back line.

Yeah I agree with biltong on the 'we would have seen a rampant aussie backline. Still think Heaslip was quite quiet and I've watched the game twice now.

And yes Cari of course I was, it was quite a brave call considering there was a 2 man overlap, well done Tommy

Tommy got the right mark,Donncha was everywhere today man,worth more than Paulie. It's not his fault he isn't used in the lineout. D'Arcy was probably worth about a 6. Even though we won there are some average enough ratings there,but I would deem them quite correct which is a bit odd!

I also thought that DOC played well today. Sexton was very good in the first half as well.

When i first saw the ROG Sexton 10-12 setup i liked it very much and today really showed that they can work well together. Not a starting option but certainly one to use when the game tightens up.

Heeley 8.5

Best 7

Ross 7

POC 9

DoC 8.5

Ferris 8

SOB 8.5

Heaslip 7.5

Reddan 8

Sexton 7.5

Earls 6.5

D'Arcy 6

BoD 9

Tommy 7.5

Kearney 9

Has Donncha got a twin......... he was all over the park certainly seemed to have a better performance than POC

O'CALLAGHAN: 7.5
O'CONNELL: 7.0
FERRIS 7.0

Healey 9
Best 8
Ross 8
DOC 7.5
POC 8
1F 8.5
SOB 9
HEASLIP 7
Redden 7
Sexton 6 (lost 1 point for poor kicking)
Bowe 6
D'Arcy 7
BOD 6
Earls 6
Kearney 6

Murray 6
ROG 7
Court 6
Trimble 10

What a performance from Best i was very impressed with him today. re. heaslip i think the reason he was so quiet was because with ferris and o'brien playing on the flanks the dynamic of the back row changes and so with it so does heaslips role.

Today was all about the forward effort. It was good to see D'Arcy making a positive impact for the first time in a long time, and O'Driscoll made some great tackles but really the outside backs didn't get a chance. The tactics were clearly to keep the ball tight, and they were executed perfectly.

Jesus Pete you're a tough critic!

Healy 9
Best 8
Ross 8
POC 8
DOC 8
Ferris 8.5
SOB 8.5
Heaslip 6
Reddan 6.5
Sexton 7
Earls 6.5
D'arcy 7
BOD 7.5
Bowe 7
Kearney 7

ROG 7.5, Court 6, Trimble 6, Murray 8

Pete think you're a bit harsh in some of your ratings, the pack was immense and although the backs didn't do much going forward they were good in defence.

HEALY: 9
Simply immense, workrate is that of backrower and has improved a lot in the scrum, still young so will hopefully improve and become even better.

BEST: 8.5
Probably the second best Irish player, his best ever game for Ireland, players like a seven when it comes to the breakdown, beautiful hands as well.

ROSS: 8
The scrum went well, thats his primary job but he also made his tackles including one on beale who looked like he was through a gap.

O'CALLAGHAN: 7
Always plays well in the big games, wish he would do it consistently.

O'CONNELL: 8
Pure class, has been in brilliant form even in the warm ups when everything was falling apart. Really brings the pack together and takes us to another level. Involved in everything and his form is crucial for us doing well.

FERRIS: 8.5
His defence and workrate are brilliant, probably didn't make as many tackles as sob but constanly drives people back in the tackle.

O'BRIEN: 8
Brilliant, great workrate, showed he can play 7 with ferris.

HEASLIP: 7
Quieter than his backrow colleagues but still very good, involved at all the rucks bit like doc he does the unglamorous work so that fez and sob can carry.

REDDAN: 6.5
Good, some mistakes but nice tempo and strong defence.

SEXTON: 6
Poor from tee again but a good game overall mixed his game up well and made his tackles. Worked well at 12 with rog.

EARLS: 6
I thought he was good besides the mistake at the beginning, which I'm still convinced he had his foot in touch when he caught it, limited ball to attack with but did well when he got the chance and presented it back well.
DARCY: 6
Best game since argentina last year, still some mistakes but overall a good performance unfortunately looks like hes injured again.
O'DRISCOLL: 6
Solid, does what he does, stood up when we needed him.
BOWE: 6 Again solid, thought he should have kicked inside when he intercepted but god I thought he was going to score.
Kearney; solid, slotted it back in easily and I think beale took him by surprise but after that mistake he was really good.


BENCH: Everyone who came on did well imo.

Good ratings Valjester but i feel that Sexton gets more than a 6, i would give him a 7.5. I thought that he was excellent today (kicking aside).

valjester wrote:
BOWE: 6 Again solid, thought he should have kicked inside when he intercepted but god I thought he was going to score.

Actually Val I think Bowe did really well to angle towards the touchline and not kick as there was no Irish support anywhere near but 3 covering ozzies who could have counterattacked.

That intercept was incredible and the final nail in Australia's coffin and whilst a try would have been the icing on the cake it was the fact that Bowe prevented a certain Australia try and took play back into the Australian 22 that was significant. Amazing play by Bowe.

roddersm wrote:

valjester wrote:
BOWE: 6 Again solid, thought he should have kicked inside when he intercepted but god I thought he was going to score.

Actually Val I think Bowe did really well to angle towards the touchline and not kick as there was no Irish support anywhere near but 3 covering ozzies who could have counterattacked.

That intercept was incredible and the final nail in Australia's coffin and whilst a try would have been the icing on the cake it was the fact that Bowe prevented a certain Australia try and took play back into the Australian 22 that was significant. Amazing play by Bowe.

Not a forward kick to the corner but a good old fashioned kick inside towards the post, there were three Irish players sprinting with all the aussies running towards bowe. Not really criticising him though as I believe you should always back the decision that the players makes unless it is ridiculously stup*d.

eirebilly; On sexton I think 6 is fair. He had an above average display but his kicking was poor and we didn't really create anything. The pack won the match for us.

I agree that the pack won Ireland the match Valjester but i feel that Sexton also got the the backs working well in a very difficult match for attacking play. His defence was also excellent.

I thought Sexton had a very good game, place kicking aside. He really drove the tempo and instigated a lot of attacking play, even in our own 22, which kept the Australian defence on their toes.

I think they were really surprised at the pace we played at and a lot of that was down to Sexton and also Reddan.

Great game, really enjoyed it. Not an Irish fan (although cheered them on today of course) but even I think some of Pete's marks are harsh.

Healy - 9. World Class today
Best - 8. Excellent at the breakdown and in open play
Ross - 8. Great in the scrum and defensively
DOC - 7. Was just about involved at every breakdown.
POC - 7. Leader of the pack and led them by example.
Ferris - 8. Getting back to his best, hope he can carry on after the tournament
Heaslip - 6. Still off par but good at the lineout
SOB - 8. Wasn't convinced he could play that well at 7 on the international stage. I was wrong.
Reddin - 6. Did okay but kicking was poor
Sexton - 7. Good in open play. Kicking was poor but he is not the first in this tournament.
Earls - 5. Didn't seem very involved.
Darcy - 6. Missed some tackles but better than recent form
BOD - 6. Is he 100% fit?
Bowe -7. Looked for work more than Earls, can't be blamed for getting caught before the line.
Kearny -6. Solid in defence but nothing really going forward (although to be fair the Aussies didn't kick much for him to run with).

Murray - 6. Quick service for a big guy. Great prospect.
ROG - 6. Steadied things down and helped close the game out. Kicking from hand not as good as usual.

Was really impressed and glad Ireland won. Other than Trimble for Earls I would say that is your strongest team (although Darcy's injury may force a change at 12). Always feel Earls would make a decent impact sub with his speed and illusiveness, coming on as teams tire towards the end of games.

sitting in my back garden in Sydney (first warm weekend of the year) reflecting - and nursing a mighty hangover.

Looking back on the match this reminds me of the thriler in Manilla - no finess or style, just a brutal toe to toe slug fest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_y7FiCryb8&feature=related.

A game of inches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyWXKeBsNk

Australia really missed Pocock for this one I feel.

What next for both teams.....................

The forwards were fantastic!

The scrum's performance was centred on Ross so, while Healy and Best were more noticable around the park, ross deserves equal billing for his scrummaging.

No one with a number higher than 8 on his back deserves a ranking higher than any of the forwards.

Tommy Bowe did exactly that right thing when he realised he wasn't going to make the try line.

An Irish try would have made no difference to us but an Auzzie one could have given them a LBP.

No need to score, just make completely sure that the Aussies couldn't counter attack.

Brilliant!

Goosestepper wrote:sitting in my back garden in Sydney (first warm weekend of the year) reflecting - and nursing a mighty hangover.

Looking back on the match this reminds me of the thriler in Manilla - no finess or style, just a brutal toe to toe slug fest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_y7FiCryb8&feature=related.

A game of inches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyWXKeBsNk

Australia really missed Pocock for this one I feel.

What next for both teams.....................

Hey Goosestepper...

If I remember right the Thrilla was the great final rematch (the 2nd)... so technically this was more like the Madison Sq Garden encounter (I'd refrain from calling it the 1971 Champions "Fight of the Century"!!). So maybe the Thrilla will come when we meet for a rematch in the Big Final

I would say Ireland are more the Joe Frazier and Australia the Ali though... Ali famously said half-way through: "Joe, they told me you we're all washed up!" And as he swung his famous left hook to Ali's ribs Frazier replied "They Lied".

That definitely sounds familiar to Irish fans and players!

MrsP wrote:Tommy Bowe did exactly that right thing when he realised he wasn't going to make the try line.

An Irish try would have made no difference to us but an Auzzie one could have given them a LBP.

No need to score, just make completely sure that the Aussies couldn't counter attack.

Brilliant!

Exactly!

Pocock being out was a big blow, but don't forget we were missing the fantastic David Wallace. I actually think we struggled at the breakdown a bit in the 1st half because of this. Not that I'd criticise our back row of course!

I like that comparisson Nos - The Irish team could well take that message on board. The more I think about it the more I think they need to discover a nasty streak a la Martin Johnson.

Really hope there was no Champagne or massive celebrations in the Irish camp last night.

Now if Dublin can just take care of those big headed Kerrymen all will be good in the world

Goosestepper wrote: Now if Dublin can just take care of those big headed Kerrymen all will be good in the world

Coooooommmmeeeee oooooonnnnnnnn, youu boys in blue!

For me t'will be the greatest sporting weekend in memory if they do!!

I think I misunderstood... You Irish and in Sidney?

yep -
Sunny Sydney today

Goosestepper wrote:yep -
Sunny Sydney today

Night from me goose... closing the window on a cold wet Dublin night!! Enjoy the glorious morning after!!

(This exchange has reminded me of those odd nights in the cub scouts decades ago when we used to use ham radios to exchange three lines with people around the world... seemed like an extraordinary thing at the time!!)

No worries Nos - tomorrow will be a brighter day

eirebilly wrote:I agree that the pack won Ireland the match Valjester but i feel that Sexton also got the the backs working well in a very difficult match for attacking play. His defence was also excellent.

Got the backs working well.... our backs did very little. This match was dominated by the packs. Points very hard to come by and hard won penalties should be converted.

I wonder if Nos has recovered from the weekend yet?

I wonder if he will ever recover from that weekend?

I think Sexton got the attack working well rather than the backs. Simple things like that POC coming around the corner and pop outisde, the lovely interchange of the wrap move with Sexton-BOD-SOB. Things like that Sexton does much better than ROG. He also had a nice little run out from the 22 when the ball came back dodgy.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:I think Sexton got the attack working well rather than the backs. Simple things like that POC coming around the corner and pop outisde, the lovely interchange of the wrap move with Sexton-BOD-SOB. Things like that Sexton does much better than ROG. He also had a nice little run out from the 22 when the ball came back dodgy.

It was ROG who started the little run out of the 22.

Jeez Pete, hope you aren't marking my lad's leaving cert next year, you're a bit harsh on some of the lads. Agree with most of the ratings of the backs tho think BOD was worth a 7 but think you could add 1 pt to your ratings for the forwards - SOB, Ferris, POC, Healy, Ross all worth 8, Best, DOC 7.5, Heaslip 7