Ireland vs Wales - This weekends BIG GAME...!

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Venue: Aviva Stadium Date: Sunday, 5 February Kick-off: 1500 GMT

Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC One HD & online from 1400 GMT; full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra; text commentary on BBC Sport website & mobiles.

Referee : Wayne Barnes (England)

Touch judges : Dave Pearson & Stuart Terheege (both England)

TV : Geoff Warren (England)

IRELAND : 15 - R Kearney; 14 - T Bowe, 13 - F McFadden, 12 - G D'Arcy, 11 - A Trimble (Ulster); 10 - J Sexton, 9 - C Murray; 1- C Healy, 2 - R Best, 3 - M Ross, 4 - D O'Callaghan, 5 - P O'Connell (C), 6 - S Ferris, 7 - S O'Brien, 8 - J Heaslip.

Replacements: 16 - S Cronin, 17 - T Court, 18 - D Ryan, 19 - P O'Mahony, 20 - E Reddan, 21 - R O'Gara, 22 - D Kearney.

WALES : 15 - L Halfpenny; 14 - A Cuthbert, 13 - J Davies, 12 - J Roberts, 11 - G North; 10 - R Priestland, 9 - M Phillips; 1 - R Gill, 2 - H Bennett, 3 - A Jones, 4 - B Davies, 5 - I Evans, 6 - R Jones, 7- S Warburton (C), 8 - T Faletau.

Replacements:16 - K Owens, 17 - P James, 18 - A Powell, 19 - J Tipuric, 20 - Lloyd Williams, 21 - J Hook, 22 - Scott Williams.

Notch wrote:Don't have a Plan B? Question marks over Plan A.

We just had Sexton kick down their throats. We're relying on players to figure out what needs to be done themselves.

Exactly. He has a team full of players, who take on Europe (Welsh sides dont even compete) year-on-year, and we take their best down regularly. They join Ireland, under a different coaching team, play dreadful rugby and fail. Continually. So what is the coach doing about it? The same thing. Every time.

Its not rocket-science.

Of course you're right DOD......

Seagultaf wrote:How was Mike Phillips MOM, he did have a good game but North was imense and JD2 had his best game for Wales, fantastic pace for his second try! Trimble is too slow for a wing, JD2 left him for dead.

PS Brad Davies should have got a red and will get cited and banned!

Watch the try again it was the space created by McFadden not even being a speed bump to North that created the space for that try - Trimble was left out numbered as a result

Gracious Ireland fans, thank you. I think I would be the opposite had we lost. Barnes was terrible today, letting Ireland lie all over the place at every breakdown. Davies should have seen red and I think he will get a ban. Wales now need to win next week or all this is for nothing.

I heard booing few times in the game, not just the last penalty kick that sealed it for us. I really hope we can now put to bed that the Welsh always boo kickers and the Irish don't.

We just needed to hold onto the ball for a few phases. But when they got it we were very passive in defence and at the breakdown. We stood off them, we didn't try and contest and they flattened us because we were standing off them.

As for the Trimble point; you are a parody of yourself. A solid performance by the back three, poor by the centres and average by the halfbacks.

AlynDavies wrote:I dont think Wales are giving enoughg credit to Priestland he played really well today, chips over the top, good width on his passing he took good options and varied his game to such an extent that Ireland were stretched just trying to adapt to him.

Stephen Jones would of stood deep and thumped it up field all day.

Priestland needs to work on his tactical kicking and goal kicking. he made a number of mistakes.

gowales wrote:I hope Bradley, Donncha Ryan and Connor Murray all get cited.

Ryan for what exactly? And Murray won't be cited.

biltongbek wrote:

Notch wrote:What did Trimble do wrong?

We don't want to drop one of our only physical backs. Better off to move him or Bowe into the centre.

Mate Trimble had a few great runs, but at the back when Priestland kicked deep to his side he wasn't very convincing or confident.

He did alright there, he didn't drop any balls, get himself isolated. I do remember he sliced one kick but thats about all I can remember he did wrong.

His tactical kicking is still better than Stephen Jones or James Hook though

viewtothegym wrote:Done that without Gethin Jenkins,Alun Wyn Jones,Luke Charteris,Dan Lydiate,Matthew Reese and Lee Byrne.

Not wum but i have always said Ireland will struggle because with out the overseas players Munster Leinster and Ulster are pretty average.

Utter drivel. Irelans problem is the quality of the coaching not the quality of the players.

Gatland has shown he has Kidney round his little finger

valjester wrote:

gowales wrote:I hope Bradley, Donncha Ryan and Connor Murray all get cited.

Ryan for what exactly? And Murray won't be cited.

Ryan gave a cheap shot on Adam Jones in the ruck. Murray slid in with his knees into Jonathan Davies.
If they're gonna be consistent about it they should be cited as well.

Notch wrote:We just needed to hold onto the ball for a few phases. But when they got it we were very passive in defence and at the breakdown. We stood off them, we didn't try and contest and they flattened us because we were standing off them.

As for the Trimble point; you are a parody of yourself. A solid performance by the back three, poor by the centres and average by the halfbacks.

I refer to Biltons comment. solid sure but nothing else didnt go looking for work, game seemed to pass him by, also Bowe was caught for two tries so cant say solid, Kearney was Solid, Trimble was passive and Bowe although creating the first try was poor in defense.

Well done Wales.

Totally gutted but as much as it pains me to say it we lost to a better drilled, more organised side with a better gameplan.

I have no complaints with the selection, Kidney picked the best side available. We simply couldn't live with Wales power and size in their 3/4s and struggled to contain them in their own half.

I thought we played better than in the RWC QF and had numerous chances to close out the game but ultimately Wales always looked more threatening.

Clancy got it wrong on the breakdown I felt. Numerous times we isolated the carrier but he called us to release rather than allow the turnover or give the penalty. Davies should have got a red card and the Ferris tackle was good.

Wales were deserving of their victory though. They had a great gameplan and I haven't seen an Irish side as dominated physically in the past two games since England won the GS in 2003.

valjester wrote:

gowales wrote:I hope Bradley, Donncha Ryan and Connor Murray all get cited.

Ryan for what exactly? And Murray won't be cited.

For his cheap shoulder charge on Adam Jones, Burger broke his arm with a similar charge on the Lions tour and got a 3 match ban. Diddn't deserve the punishment handed out by Brad Daviers though!

I dont care how well SOB did todaty - he didn't do the job of a 7 and that is the position he was selected in .

Same backrow next week will result in the same outcome ...simple

George Hook is talking sense for once

Notch wrote:

biltongbek wrote:

Notch wrote:What did Trimble do wrong?

We don't want to drop one of our only physical backs. Better off to move him or Bowe into the centre.

Mate Trimble had a few great runs, but at the back when Priestland kicked deep to his side he wasn't very convincing or confident.

He did alright there, he didn't drop any balls, get himself isolated. I do remember he sliced one kick but thats about all I can remember he did wrong.

He may not have dropped balls, but allowed a number to bounce . Not a sign of a confident wing.

AlynDavies wrote:I dont think Wales are giving enoughg credit to Priestland he played really well today, chips over the top, good width on his passing he took good options and varied his game to such an extent that Ireland were stretched just trying to adapt to him.

Stephen Jones would of stood deep and thumped it up field all day.

Preistland's running of the game was superb - the patience on attack is something that Wales have developed with Rhys at 10.

His tactical kicking was ok, some poor kicks and some very good ones

His place kicking was abysmal, but Halfpenny should get the nod from now on, so that's alright.

Hook looked clueless off the bench at FB, so Preistland's position is more than safe (in fact, he is now as important as A.Jones for the way Wales want to play - we wouldn't have won with Hook at 10)

Whatever Trimble was he wasn't passive - he sort work and made some decent runs.

When you have a 10,12,13 who are so outplayed the wingers are always going to be feeding off crumbs

biltongbek wrote:

AlynDavies wrote:I dont think Wales are giving enoughg credit to Priestland he played really well today, chips over the top, good width on his passing he took good options and varied his game to such an extent that Ireland were stretched just trying to adapt to him.

Stephen Jones would of stood deep and thumped it up field all day.

Priestland needs to work on his tactical kicking and goal kicking. he made a number of mistakes.

Both Priestland and Jamie Roberts were clearly not match fit. With 1/2p taking the kicks, both will be stronger performers next week.

geoff999rugby wrote:Whatever Trimble was he wasn't passive - he sort work and made some decent runs.

When you have a 10,12,13 who are so outplayed the wingers are always going to be feeding off crumbs

Nail on head. I've seen better centres in the AIL.

I'd also say that I thought it was a great game and we watched the two best sides in the tournament today.

Wales have raised the bar and we are just falling short of it right now.

geoff999rugby wrote:Whatever Trimble was he wasn't passive - he sort work and made some decent runs.

When you have a 10,12,13 who are so outplayed the wingers are always going to be feeding off crumbs

My critisim of Trimble is nothing to do withy his skill or effort, he simply lacks gas for an international wing. JD2 caught him from behing on one occasion and for his second try left him for dead. Pick him at 13 with Earls who looks a tad quicker on the wing.

Seagultaf wrote:

biltongbek wrote:

AlynDavies wrote:I dont think Wales are giving enoughg credit to Priestland he played really well today, chips over the top, good width on his passing he took good options and varied his game to such an extent that Ireland were stretched just trying to adapt to him.

Stephen Jones would of stood deep and thumped it up field all day.

Priestland needs to work on his tactical kicking and goal kicking. he made a number of mistakes.

Both Priestland and Jamie Roberts were clearly not match fit. With 1/2p taking the kicks, both will be stronger performers next week.

Roberts had a quite game but thats to be expected after not play for so long.

Preistland limping put in a better performance at FH than SJ or Hook could manage (or have managed in the last 2 seasons)

The fact is that the sum of the parts for a team is better than individuals. Wales have good units all over the field. Our Backrow is unbalanced. Our midfield is poor and some individuals arent playing well.

Bowe in midfield, with McFadden at 12 or Wallace (or even Downey and I dont like Downey at all)
Cronin at hooker
Ryan instead of DOC (or even POC)
Kearney and Zebo on the wings
POM in at 7 , move SOB to 8 or else drop Ferris.

great climax to a good game- alot of basic errors made by both teams- however they played rugby, good advert for the 6n's

To be fair Hooky looked good for someone being played out of position. I thought he had some nice touches and distributed well. But he shouldn't start at 10 anytime soon whilst Priestland is fit and firing.
And I don't want to see Stephen Jones starting another match for Wales unless we are down to the bare bones.

Seagultaf wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:Whatever Trimble was he wasn't passive - he sort work and made some decent runs.

When you have a 10,12,13 who are so outplayed the wingers are always going to be feeding off crumbs

My critisim of Trimble is nothing to do withy his skill or effort, he simply lacks gas for an international wing. JD2 caught him from behing on one occasion and for his second try left him for dead. Pick him at 13 with Earls who looks a tad quicker on the wing.

Trimbles gas had absolutely nothing to do with that try so your point is irrelevant.
The fact you say pick him at 13 shows clearly you lack of awareness of the strength of respective Irishmen.
Bowe is slower than Trimble by the way.

WillyGilly wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:Whatever Trimble was he wasn't passive - he sort work and made some decent runs.

When you have a 10,12,13 who are so outplayed the wingers are always going to be feeding off crumbs

Nail on head. I've seen better centres in the AIL.

There was good and bad from everyone. I thought D'arcy and McFadden played well but ultimately they were always going to struggle against bigger, more powerful players. North bounced McFadden for the try but otherwise he did as well as could be expected.

Apart from one poor sliced clearance kick I though Trimble did well, with some strong running and a couple of good kicks and one excellent take in the air. Bowe had a bit of a nightmare in defence but scored one try and created another.

We were simply dominated by a better and more powerful side.

Sorry Rodders I though D'aRcy and McFadden were poor

The difference in performance between the three provinces and the national team is staggering.

What can we do about Welsh dominance of the midfield though? Maybe nothing. We have nobody to match their size. But we do have players that are capable of beating them up front. We've failed to do that in the last two games now.

We should have held onto the ball more and kicked less. When we held onto it we could score tries. We're no Scotland in that respect. When we did kick we should have been kicking for touch every time. Our lineout was far better than theirs. It's an advantage we used to exploit to the full in years past. We used to score so many tries off first phase ball from the lineout.

The teams are quite evenly matched, but Wales are imposing their strengths on us and we're failing to impose our game on them. We needed some new idea's for this game. There were no new idea's. None at all. That's why I think all eyes are turning to Kidney and what on earth he's up to.

gowales wrote:To be fair Hooky looked good for someone being played out of position. I thought he had some nice touches and distributed well. But he shouldn't start at 10 anytime soon whilst Priestland is fit and firing.
And I don't want to see Stephen Jones starting another match for Wales unless we are down to the bare bones.

Hook kept trying to create for himself, he ran into contact and got isolated a few times rather than passing to create an overlap - Luckily the welsh backs/forwards got there quick enough for him not to give away a few penalties.

POM and Kearney Jr. aren't bad calls at all DOD. Inject some fearless, youthfull exuberence into the team. Both are playing well enough.

It's been obvious for years we'd have trouble in midfield when D'arcy and BOD went into decline. But there was nothing done about it.

roddersm wrote:

WillyGilly wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:Whatever Trimble was he wasn't passive - he sort work and made some decent runs.

When you have a 10,12,13 who are so outplayed the wingers are always going to be feeding off crumbs

Nail on head. I've seen better centres in the AIL.

There was good and bad from everyone. I thought D'arcy and McFadden played well but ultimately they were always going to struggle against bigger, more powerful players. North bounced McFadden for the try but otherwise he did as well as could be expected.

Apart from one poor sliced clearance kick I though Trimble did well, with some strong running and a couple of good kicks and one excellent take in the air. Bowe had a bit of a nightmare in defence but scored one try and created another.

We were simply dominated by a better and more powerful side.

I thought that Kearney was obviously sublime, but outside of that none of the others were spectacular. Trimble was solid but nothing beyond that, made no mistakes but was as involved as you'd hope although that obviously has a lot to do with those inside him. Bowe and Darcy were really poor, Bowe's positional sense is woeful at times. Darcy missed North twice in the build up that try and generally, best try aside, took the wrong option to often and the ball always dies with him. McFadden was alright but he was bounced a number of times and caught out positionally as well, which is a worry as that has happened every time he has played for Ireland.

geoff999rugby wrote:Sorry Rodders I though D'aRcy and McFadden were poor

I agree with this sadly. I feel really sorry for McFadden. In all honestly from what I have seen of him I have never believed he is up to the standard of being an international class player. Maybe he would be somewhat like Jennings- a good provincial player but just shy of being good enough to play consistently for Ireland. That said I would like to see him be given a chance. Not on the wing. Not at 13, but in he position he is best at which is 12. He is not a 13, rarely plays there for Leinster so why on earth do we believe he can make the step up to international level to play out of position. it is sheer lunacy.

There aren't many positives from today. Going through the team I though Healy did ok as did best. The scrum was solid enough. O'Callaghan was fine, though Ryan did well when he came on. O'Connell was the best player in the pack. There will be plenty of talk about the backrow all week and I have said my piece on it. It failed once again as a unit and the whole is much inferior to the sum of its parts. Murray showed his inexperience once again but did as well as could be expected with some pretty dreadful ball. Sexton again makes me wonder does he have the rugby brain to be an international class 10. I've said my piece on the centres. Bowe made the try, took his other one well but was dreadful in every other respect. Trimble's weakness has always been when having to chase and defend ball kicked over his head. He horribly sliced one but otherwise did quite well. Kearney by quite some distance was Ireland's best player and showed that he is playing better than he did prior to the last Lions tour. His kicking out of hand is better generally, and he now tries to run into space not into a crowd.

With all this talk of a natural 7, is that not Chris Henry? POM looks a class act too. I agree that your centre's are awful especailly Darc.

I am also worried about our reliance on Adam Jones and Priestland, our two best players and if either gets cropped then we are in trouble. I think Mitchell is a good deputy but Gatland does not . Hook is terrible, simply awful. We are clearly desperate. Stephen is our next best but way too slow for the game. For a country that is meant to have some 'fly-half factory' we are seriously thin.

Ours is the best midfield in the tournament, well probably joint with France. JD should stay at 13 should somethink happen to Roberts (which it probably will), with Beck coming in at 12.

I just want to say how pleased I am for Jonathan Davies. He's had plenty of Welsh critics saying he's not up to Test rugby but he proved them wrong once and for all today.

luckless_pedestrian wrote:I just want to say how pleased I am for Jonathan Davies. He's had plenty of Welsh critics saying he's not up to Test rugby but he proved them wrong once and for all today.

+1, ever since the world cup.

luckless_pedestrian wrote:I just want to say how pleased I am for Jonathan Davies. He's had plenty of Welsh critics saying he's not up to Test rugby but he proved them wrong once and for all today.

Just got back from my pub. Glad I am still walking, actually. But I have to agree JD played very well. Not just banging up the jumper stuff, but a nice all round game. Good on him.

I am still confident for France.... I think that Ireland have enough to put them under some pressure. Just as long as D'Arcy isnt in the centres

Morgannwg wrote:With all this talk of a natural 7, is that not Chris Henry? POM looks a class act too. I agree that your centre's are awful especailly Darc.

Chris Henry is not really a 7 but a converted 8. That said i think he has been Ulster's best player this season alongside Darren Cave. I'm not sure if my fellow Ulster fans agree with that.

The sad thing about the centres is there is no real alternative. We could switch them both out- start Paddy Wallace and Keith Earls. I see that making no difference in terms of beefing up our defence and little difference in attack, because good attack at this level seems to be about support lines, awareness, ambition and pace. We haven't shown any of those attributes when we're on the ball for a while regardless of who fills the shirts. We'd probably be having the same old moan next week.

Moving Trimble or Bowe inside to 13 might at least beef up the defence, 12 is a bit of a toss-up. I remain not such a fan of D'Arcy tbh.

eirebilly wrote:I am still confident for France.... I think that Ireland have enough to put them under some pressure. Just as long as D'Arcy isnt in the centres

Gosh billy have you been smoking/drinking the good stuff? If so share it around so we can balm in your misplaced optimism.

WillyGilly wrote:

eirebilly wrote:I am still confident for France.... I think that Ireland have enough to put them under some pressure. Just as long as D'Arcy isnt in the centres

Gosh billy have you been smoking/drinking the good stuff? If so share it around so we can balm in your misplaced optimism.

I just dont think that France were that good yesterday...

France are never that good in the first game because they only get like a half a week to prepare. Trust me they will get a lot better as the tournament goes on.

France were as good as they needed to be.

Woooo! That was epic!! I honestly didn't expect Wales to win. Well done to the boys though, commiserations Ireland. Chuffed to bits for Tommy getting a try on his 50th cap. his hands were a bit greasy to start though. I thought Chilli had a super game as well. Fantastic game all round.

I just have blind faith in Ireland

I think you need some more creativity in the centre. I really don't see what D'arcy brings to the side other than "experience". You already have enough ball carriers in your back row, where as in Wales we are the opposite with our centres being the main ball carriers.
Paddy Wallace is obviously not the answer but someone like Luke Marshall at Ulster would be good.

france are as good as a coin flip, everyone knows that

You know, now Ive calmed down, the worst thing that could have happened for Irish rugby today, is for us to have scraped an undeserved win. The mediocrity would have been justified.

Nightmare.