London Irish vs Cardiff Blues - THE TEAMS

First topic message reminder :

London Irish: Delon Armitage; Topsy Ojo, Jonathan Spratt, Shontayne Hape, Adam Thompstone; Adrian Jarvis, Darren Allinson; Clarke Dermody (capt), David Paice, Faan Rautenbach, Nick Kennedy, Matt Garvey, Bryn Evans, David Sisi, Alex Gray.

Replacements: James Buckland, Alex Corbisiero, Paulica Ion, Bob Casey, James Sandford, Tom Homer, Steven Shingler, Paul Hodgson.



Blues: Leigh Halfpenny; Alex Cuthbert, Casey Laulala, Gavin Henson, Chris Czekaj; Dan Parks, Lloyd Williams; Gethin Jenkins, Rhys Thomas, Taufa'ao Filise, Bradley Davies, Paul Tito (capt), Michael Paterson, Sam Warburton, Xavier Rush.

Replacements: Ryan Tyrell, John Yapp, Scott Andrews, Maama Molitika, Josh Navidi, Richie Rees, Ceri Sweeney, Richard Mustoe.

Referee: Mr Neil Paterson (Scotland)

pretty dull match so far

Good kicking by Parks. LI look fed up with it already lol.

Cuthbert and Czekaj poor so far.

I don't see why people call Cotter biased ... he's been taking cheeky pops at Parks all match

The hype surrounding Cuthbert is completely over the top. Hes having a shocker tonight. Play him against the Irish and he'd be slaughtered

gowales wrote:The hype surrounding Cuthbert is completely over the top. Hes having a shocker tonight. Play him against the Irish and he'd be slaughtered

Think he's already being slaughtered by the Irish

I think Gatland will play this against Ireland

15. Byrne
14. Halfpenny
13. JD2
12. Roberts
11. North
10. Priestland
9. Phillips

20. Williams
21. Hook
22. Henson

I meant the real Irish

The feed... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

BritishLion wrote:I think Gatland will play this against Ireland

15. Byrne
14. Halfpenny
13. JD2
12. Roberts
11. North
10. Priestland
9. Phillips

20. Williams
21. Hook
22. Henson

I agree

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

back again

No wonder Edinburgh are topping this pool

Byrne is playing well so may aswell have quality on the wings no point taking risks.

If Priestland plays like he did before his world cup injury then Roberts will be useful and JD2 has the gas.

Hook is doing well in France and should be involved.

The only mystery is will it be Henson, Scott Williams or Ashley Beck on the bench. Gatland won't risk a youngster with no experience against Ireland in Dublin.

With Byrne seemingly coming back into some form it seems the 'safer' bet but I hope he doesn't just cast Cuthbert (or Brew) aside.

Not sure he will pick Hook and Henson on bench but who knows.

Has Gareth Edwards ever smiled while attending a Cardiff / Blues match?

BritishLion wrote:Has Gareth Edwards ever smiled while attending a Cardiff / Blues match?

Has he ever had reason to

I don't think Brew has the X factor and his "super" performances aren't regular enough.

He is like a lot of other powerful quick promising black players who can run the 100 metres impressively, but lack a lot of other skills such as Ojo, Varndell and Sackey etc..

I feel sorry for Jonathan Spratt. Massive talent but very unlucky with injuries. Same as David Bishop. He was leagues ahead of his brother, but never fully recovered from his leg injuries.

better from Irish: Allinson has a couple of darts, and they draw the penalty.

I agree and i actually rate all those guys listed higher than Brew.

I don't get why as soon as Irish have a penalty they start playing like they don't want the try. In fact lots of league teams do this.

London Irish really bringing the Blues down to their level. And the Blues level is not very high...!

Tom Prydie is getting good sevens experience and will be involved again soon.

He is 6'4 and will start to fill out in the next year or so he will be a beast like North, but he is quicker and can kick for miles.

Id like to see him develop into a fullback

oh FFS why don't you go for the try?!?!?!

Kicking for miles isn't particularly useful. Lots of scrums from the point of kick.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:oh FFS why don't you go for the try?!?!?!

I reckon Irish will leak a try in the last few minutes and lose ... and it'll be their fault

Ye he may very well be a great full back.

I still think Matthew Morgan is the real deal. Lots of coaches say they have never seen anything like it and you can see how ridiculously quick he is.

I always wished Arwel Thomas had come on the scene a few years later. He was class, but played in a shockingly poor team and he was pretty lightweight and the game wasn't pro enough in Wales to bulk him up.

mind you the Blues have just done the same thing KickAndChase. Poorly handled restart from Irish, but don't think I agree with that penalty decision...

No nor do I - tackled player played it on the floor when the ruck was pushed back anyway.

I don't mind so much when it's outside the 22. When you're deep inside it you're unlikely to lose the advantage unless you hit a clear scoring opportunity.

why am i now watching arabian tennis?

i hoped for better from the blues. we're not out of it but if they dont up the tempo irish will nick the win.

no idea, it's the US Open final I think.

Al Jazeera sport?? WTF?

Lol ... is Al Jazeera sport really playing Cardiff Blues v London Irish? Really?

I think they are showing camel racing next.

Welsh team vs English/Irish team reefed by a Scot on an Arabian channel. Epic

Welsh team vs English/Welsh team actually

Spratt
Allinson
Shingler
Ed Siggery

the list goes on..

we're all going to get extridited for watching this

Jihad!!

The game is back!

Praise Allah! Allah is great!!

Laulala is EPIC.

that's a lovely try

Some gas on King Warburton to keep up with him.

The most blatant knock on ignored by line judge and ref leads to a try.

Laulaula, brilliant

Warburton excellent in support.

Does anyone else think Halfpenny should be Wales first choice kicker??

He is clearly the best.

Does my head in that they always pick the 10 to take kicks by default. Makes no sense why.

trebellbobaggins wrote:The most blatant knock on ignored by line judge and ref leads to a try.

That was phases ago

You seriously want to go back all that way?

refs are not perfect - But that try was good.

Blame the weak LI tackling.

BritishLion wrote:Tom Prydie is getting good sevens experience and will be involved again soon.

He is 6'4 and will start to fill out in the next year or so he will be a beast like North, but he is quicker and can kick for miles.

Tom Prydie is playing well for Swansea and he's also still in school from what I gather, so their putting the breaks on him a bit to give him a chance to develop properly. I think he would be a good signing for the Dragons on the right wing.