Six Nations: Wales - Ireland Post Match Discussion

First topic message reminder :

Wales 22 - Ireland 30

Wales:
Tries - Cuthbert (47 min), Halfpenny (58 min), Mitchell (75 min)
Convs - Halfpenny 2/3
Pens - Halfpenny 1/1

Ireland:
Tries - Zebo (10 min), Healy (23 min), O'Driscoll (42 min)
Convs - Sexton 3/3
Pens - Sexton 3/3


Match Stats:
http://www.espnscrum.com/six-nations-2013/rugby/match/133782.html

bedfordwelsh wrote:

Taffineastbourne wrote:Biggar has not one ounce of flair.He poses no threat to the oppo's back row.If our centres are one dimensional it falls to the 10 to vary things.
Some folk cannot see this which is sad.If we keep picking plodders we will slip below Italy.

But why change Biggar change the centres

Who can bring something different in the centre?Henson is not fit.Have any other centres got good hands and feet?I know that I have not seen any lately.

But can Hook do it from 10, if he was that good he would have made th 10 shirt his own over the years.

BUT it wouldn't surprise me if Howley drops Biggar in a ' see told you I was right' way

DOD wrote:

BelfastDickVet wrote:

DOD wrote:I just don't think he is a better scrimmage than kilcoyne this year

Hahahahaha well you are probably alone there mate. Kilcoyne isn't half the scrummager court is (on the loose head side) that doesn't mean kilcoyne isn't a fantastic player but is more testament to how well big Tom is playing. The England match would suit big Tom better than killer. But I feel that kilcoyne will be on the bench as he is a beast in the loose, like Healy he is basically an extra back row who will tackle until his arms fall off, which is fair enough.

Disagree , Court is very ordinary without Afoa playing. Luckily the management disagree with you.

do you have evidence of this or is it just an inflammatory statement? in fact i would say i have seen the opposite.

he did fine against the near first choice munster pack with a largely second/third choice ulster pack when he came on down there there over Christmas. he got a penalty straight away with our third choice tight head. there are other example of this as afoa has been rested for a couple of games this season and court has held up fantastically well. Also Court destroyed Brian Mujati in the away Northampton game, who is regarded as one of the best tightheads about.

i too will defend ulster players blindly and claim they are better than their provincial counter parts, that's the who point of being a true fan. i am not trying to have a pop or start an argument.

Killer is a fantastic player but court has him topped in the scrumaging area and some would also argue at least matches him in the loose, Ireland are very lucky that we have three top class looseheads, its a shame we aren't as fortunate with tightheads.

bedfordwelsh wrote:But can Hook do it from 10, if he was that good he would have made th 10 shirt his own over the years.

BUT it wouldn't surprise me if Howley drops Biggar in a ' see told you I was right' way

If you are so keen on keeping Biggar who can spark the centres?For the life of me I cannot see any options.We have an option at fly half.With Walker fit we have another wing option.Putting Byrne at f/b and Halfpenny on the wing is an option.Hook and Patchell are options at 10.At centre the cupboard is pretty bare.

Taffineastbourne wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:But can Hook do it from 10, if he was that good he would have made th 10 shirt his own over the years.

BUT it wouldn't surprise me if Howley drops Biggar in a ' see told you I was right' way

If you are so keen on keeping Biggar who can spark the centres?For the life of me I cannot see any options.We have an option at fly half.With Walker fit we have another wing option.Putting Byrne at f/b and Halfpenny on the wing is an option.Hook and Patchell are options at 10.At centre the cupboard is pretty bare.

Biggar played to the best of his ability and did okay (chargedown aside). He's a much better player than Priestland at this level. He offers nothing in attack though so if the centres aren't doing much and the forwards are getting out muscled what's he supposed to do?

Hook looked comfortable for the few minutes that he was on - heads up rugby, looking both ways and throwing pinpoint passes off both hands - but the management refuse to go that route.

We could tinker around in the backs bringing in Byrne and moving Halfpenny to the wing instead of the defensively challenged Cuthbert, but with such an underpowered pack it isn't going to make much difference.

I don't think that Biggar played badly but the team did.The backs are offering very little variety and so as Ireland showed they are easily defended against.Surely we must look for alternatives or am I missing something?

Feckless Rogue wrote:Would Ireland have won this without BOD playing?

Pertinent question since it's probably his last 6 Nations.

No

We did lots of shoite, Ireland were much better at the breakdown(but we got much better), overall I really enjoyed the game both teams. That what 6 nations is about. im battered, good night gents.

Taffineastbourne wrote:I don't think that Biggar played badly but the team did.The backs are offering very little variety and so as Ireland showed they are easily defended against.Surely we must look for alternatives or am I missing something?

I thought we did okay in the backs. North made a lot of yards, JD2 ran well, just let himself down with two horrendous passes, Halfpenny looked solid. Ireland with O'Driscoll, D'arcy and Kearney are a vastly experienced and strong defensive backline.

It depends on injuries but I think Hibbard, Kohn and Tipuric would make a huge difference in terms of providing a 'platform'. Coombs gave it 100% but just isn't an international. Neither is Shingler. I'd put Ryan Jones in too at 8, with Faletau coming off the bench when things start to open up later in games, but that might be a bit too radical for Howley.

I'd play Hook at 10 too. We're not in a position to put 'tactical selections' ahead of having our absolute best possible XV on the pitch.

"just let himself down with two horrendous passes" -- You could put together a great DVD of all the awful so-called passes that JD has thrown, from club and international play. He cannot run and pass accurately. He deserves to be dropped, but won't be. And there's the rub -- we don't have other players to step in. So he can keep throwing those non-existent passes. He'll still get picked.

Ospreydragon wrote:"just let himself down with two horrendous passes" -- You could put together a great DVD of all the awful so-called passes that JD has thrown, from club and international play. He cannot run and pass accurately. He deserves to be dropped, but won't be. And there's the rub -- we don't have other players to step in. So he can keep throwing those non-existent passes. He'll still get picked.

Cannot run accurately???

He is an awful passer though. Should probably not attempt any, just go to ground and lay the ball back when tackled. That's what all the others do.

Surprised by calls for North to be dropped - he made more yards than any other player on the pitch, by a mile (or, specifically, by 26 yards).

I meant he cannot run, and pass accurately while running!

Oh, yeah, I see what you mean. He is a genuinely good open field runner though - and is always solid in defence. Shame about the passing, but I think the side would weaken if Roberts/Davies was split up.

Just wish they'd try a straightforward Roberts to Davies offload. Just once even.

Casartelli, The current back line is unbalanced. It needs some people who can pass, and people who can sidestep and use great footwork. Too many players play very similarly, and have the same glaring weaknesses.

Aren't they the same ones that won the 6N and almost made a RWC final though?

Backline isn't perfect, but the current problems are up front.

"Aren't they the same ones that won the 6N and almost made a RWC final though?" -- Yes, but they are not good enough to beat SH opposition (at the moment).

My problem is with coaching/selection. Other players (I know some are injured at the mo, which makes things worse) have got to be brought in and given a chance to show what they can do. My main gripe is with poor selections -- sticking with players who are clearly out of form out of some sense of loyalty, or choosing them based on past achievements.

A coach should always look to pick a side (23 players) where some players can offer something entirely different. Tipuric is the form 7 and should have started, for example. I think too many of the players feel their place is secure. That's never a good thing for any side.

Casartelli wrote:

Taffineastbourne wrote:I don't think that Biggar played badly but the team did.The backs are offering very little variety and so as Ireland showed they are easily defended against.Surely we must look for alternatives or am I missing something?

I thought we did okay in the backs. North made a lot of yards, JD2 ran well, just let himself down with two horrendous passes, Halfpenny looked solid. Ireland with O'Driscoll, D'arcy and Kearney are a vastly experienced and strong defensive backline.

It depends on injuries but I think Hibbard, Kohn and Tipuric would make a huge difference in terms of providing a 'platform'. Coombs gave it 100% but just isn't an international. Neither is Shingler. I'd put Ryan Jones in too at 8, with Faletau coming off the bench when things start to open up later in games, but that might be a bit too radical for Howley.

I'd play Hook at 10 too. We're not in a position to put 'tactical selections' ahead of having our absolute best possible XV on the pitch.

There was nothing really wrong with Coombs or Faletau to warrant dropping them. Those that want to find errors will of course, but both did okay for what they had to do. Play Paul James and Tipuric from the off and we have a different ball game today. Hibbard in too (if fit v France) and I would be happy. My biggest gripe is Jenkins looked overweight today and needs to get back to the Blues and playing again. How he started over Paul James today is beyond me.

After the AIs, I think we all knew this was going to happen. We're in a fight for the spoon and need to target the Scotland game. France and England are a level above Ireland and will stuff us.

No creativity in the backs. Outmuscled up front, with a dodgy lineout. Terrible coaching. No hwyl until the game was effectively over.

But we knew that going in.

Kearney- very solid
Gilroy- missed a couple of tackles but didn't cost us. Defended well all round. Kicking and decision making needs to improve

BOD- massive respect for that performance. I didn't think he had it in him
D'arcy- massively important as showed with his injury. McSharry next please

Zebo- absolute genius potentlly. Missed some tackles but has to be inked in IMO.

Sexton- good first half. Would have hoped for more in the 2nd
Murray- gets better and better. Clear 1st choice

Heaslip- good and solid if not standout
O'Brien- awesome tackle stats and only a couple of mistakes
POM- did enough to keep the shirt IMO. Carried well and though he tired I think he had a good game

Ryan and McCarthy- massive massive work rate if not flashy.solid pairing

Healy- outstanding again
Best- my motm. Wrongly carded and everywhere. Has to be frontrunner for the lions
Ross- solid effort but tired badly

Fitz and kilcoyne- hard to say. Scrum was being man shamed when they came on. The former seriously needs fitness
Henry- solid. Tackled well
Doc, reddan- didn't really see enough to rate
Earls- nightmare. Seemed to miss a lot. Just wasn't his day and our defensive solidity left with d'arcy although bests card came soon after so may be harsh on him.

Good result and much more can be taken from that than Argentina. Still not great and we shouldn't be under the cosh to such an extent in the entire 2nd half but fair play for making it so difficult. Our attacking play still isn't great though.

Standulstermen wrote:Kearney- very solid
Gilroy- missed a couple of tackles but didn't cost us. Defended well all round. Kicking and decision making needs to improve

BOD- massive respect for that performance. I didn't think he had it in him
D'arcy- massively important as showed with his injury. McSharry next please

Zebo- absolute genius potentlly. Missed some tackles but has to be inked in IMO.

Sexton- good first half. Would have hoped for more in the 2nd
Murray- gets better and better. Clear 1st choice

Heaslip- good and solid if not standout
O'Brien- awesome tackle stats and only a couple of mistakes
POM- did enough to keep the shirt IMO. Carried well and though he tired I think he had a good game

Ryan and McCarthy- massive massive work rate if not flashy.solid pairing

Healy- outstanding again
Best- my motm. Wrongly carded and everywhere. Has to be frontrunner for the lions
Ross- solid effort but tired badly

Fitz and kilcoyne- hard to say. Scrum was being man shamed when they came on. The former seriously needs fitness
Henry- solid. Tackled well
Doc, reddan- didn't really see enough to rate
Earls- nightmare. Seemed to miss a lot. Just wasn't his day and our defensive solidity left with d'arcy although bests card came soon after so may be harsh on him.

Good result and much more can be taken from that than Argentina. Still not great and we shouldn't be under the cosh to such an extent in the entire 2nd half but fair play for making it so difficult. Our attacking play still isn't great though.

Jesus Stand do you not think that nightmare is being extremely harsh on Earls? I know that I am a strong defender of him, but the abuse (not by you, or on here) he gets off people is ridiculous, his mistakes are highlighted and clung onto by people, whereas other players get away with much more. He made one mistake, straight after coming on when he tried to rush out and he was caught, it was a bad mistake, but it is one that happens with the defensive system that Ireland plays. As I've said before I feel sorry for him because he is being screwed around by moving position so often, he came on at 12 for Darcy, despite having played all season at 13, and having trained all week at 13, he makes one mistake, and I've read all over the internet people calling for him to be dropped out of the Ireland squad for ever. People are calling for McFadden, declaring him defensively sound, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary. Earls hasn't made a defensive mistake since the Welsh game in the RWC, he coped with everyone in last year's Six Nations. If selected next week he will do fine. I wouldn't select him because he's not a 12, but I'm sure him and BOD will do a good job if asked. I believe D'arcy will be fit though.


Agree with the rest of your comments, although as good as POM was today, I would start Henry next week. Henry is capable of doing the job SOB did today freeing up SOB to carry, and POM offers a much bigger impact of the bench than Henry.

The second half was incredibly disappointing, the aggression of the first half seemed to disappear completely almost as if they believed that the game was already won. If we want to beat England we will need to perform for the full 80, and not invite England to attack us as much as Wales did in the second half. With the amount of pressure we were under, a yellow card was always going to come, Best was unlucky to be pinged for that particular incident but someone was going. Against England we need to be at 15 for the full 80.

And speaking of yellows, what did Murray get sinbinned for? He probably could have been done earlier for a deliberate knockon but I didn't see what he did to deserve a yellow.

I must say that the MS crowd seemed very respectful to the kickers yesterday.

Were the boo-boys and cowgirls saving their pennies for England or were they stunned then rapt in turn into silence during a great game?

I dont know if it is me but, the welsh team yesterday in the first half seemed a little (not sure how to put this) Lethargic i believe the word is...however in the second half they seemed a lot more lively...If you can remember a few years back Wales seemed to not play any rugby for at least 50/60 minutes and then come alive in the game, and sneak a win.

Are Wales playing that type of game now under Howleys leader ship?

Ok haven't commented so far so here goes.

Drop the coach. Howley is useless. He ha a coaching manual where you play by numbers and there are pages missing. In the second half Wales threw that away and they were much much better. If we had one or two people with a cool head we had enough chances to have scored 4 or 5 trues in that half.

Gethin Jenkins and Smiler should not have started. Gethin is just not natch fit which is understandable after his season. Paul James would have given their scrum much more of a grilling and then Gethin cancome on for 20 mins and runaround like an idiot. I hope Hibbard is fit next week because he will do the same and Owens is a good call as sub. He carried really well when he came on.

Was impressed with Coombes. For a guy who is unfashionable shall we say he got through a lot of work.

BAckrow. Sam has to be dropped. Tipuric did more is his first 2 mins on the field than Sam has in 5 matches. Thers is absolutely no reason other than sheer stubborness not to start your best 7.

The Backs. Firstly they are obviosuly not buying in to the attack plan or defensive plan because they are leaking stupid tries and watching England attack yesterday make syou realise the difference in the quality of back coaching. How Howley gets these gigs is beyond me.

I would like to drp Mike Phillips aftare seeing the England and Scotland scrumm halves provide quick ball and be extremely dangerous runners it makes Mikes play look like a slow freeze frame. However there is no one snapping at his heels and demanding the shirt.

Biggar cost us 2 tries yesterday. The brain dead charge down and the try at the start of the scond half where he tries to run it out from the goal line instead op booting it 40 yards. I don't care if Howley said lets run the ball at half time, there is a time and a place and that was not it. Hook was given 7 mins to save the day again which is about enough time to warm up.

Roberts. I can't remember the last good game he had. I think it was the Lions tests in the lat series. He offers nothing at all and I think we need a ball player there not another crash ball merchant. Davies had a poor game yesterday but he usually offers a lot more than Roberts so it's Roberts I would chop.

Cuthbert is good in open space but defensively he is a liability. He lost his man for the first try yesterday. Dropped.

I would move Halfpenny to the wing and bring in Byrne at fullback. he is a big attacking threat and has a huge left boot. He is very much on form in France (like Hook) but that seems to count against them for some reason.

We again started a gam,e at a snails pace and as usual we need to be almost out of the game before we wake up. With som eintelligence we had the opportuinities to score 5 tries yesterday. But a combination of poor decisions and handling and it has to be said some outstandu=ing defence by Ireland made it too big a gap to make up.

Well done Ireland. Please beat England next week.

Doctor Nick - your comments are spot on in my view. It all feels very 2007.

Given that the tournament is effectively over for wales and theres no world cup rankings to be concerned about maybe howled should throw caution to the wind and make bold decisions by dropping the players who have been considering their places safe. They always say in interviews that there are battles for every place but the same players are rolled out each time regardless of their last performance. The only changes he made were due to injuries at 4,6 and 10, the rest of the team was same as always. I think he should make changes just for the sake of creating competition for places as well as to try and change things up cos currently its not working. Both props are of the pace, Phillips too slow as always, warbs off form of old, centre partnership is doing nothing, wings need to look to get involved more since the ball never makes it that far, north is good at finding opportunities when he goes looking but cuthbert seems happy to sit on his wing and wait for service and his defensive position is often poor.
James. Hibbard/rees. Mitchell
coombes. Kohn
Ryan toby tips
L williams biggar
hook. s williams
walker 1/2p north

Doc,

The problem is we all know they won't get rid of Howley as he is only interim anyway so no one will come in knowing they will be replaced when Gatland gets back.

We all know Warburton won't get dropped, Tipuric could have had a MOM 2nd half performance made try saving tackles and scored a hat trick and Warburton would still start.

They may move him to 6 but they won't drop him.

Sin é wrote:

Thomond wrote:Les Kiss is in charge of our defence, it's his scheme, which I don't have a massive deal with, in a game that isn't as open as the second half was it should yield positive results.

We have the personnel to get the most out of it.

The rosary beads are already out for Mike Ross. Is anyone willing to do a dela with the devil?

Les Kiss is the attack coach. Anthony Foley is the defence coach.

Les looks after first phase defence and Ant manages the entire rest of it. Not sure why the split it up like that but that is the way Kiss talked about it

So are people hoping to see this team against France?

01 Paul James
02 Richard Hibbard
03 Adam Jones
04 Andrew Coombs
05 Ian Evans
06 Sam Warburton
07 Justin Tipuric
08 Toby Falatau
09 Lloyd Williams
10 James Hook
11 George North
12 Jonathan Davies
13 Scott Williams
14 Leigh Halfpenny
15 Leigh Byrne

red_stag wrote:So are people hoping to see this team against France?

01 Paul James
02 Richard Hibbard
03 Adam Jones
04 Andrew Coombs
05 Ian Evans
06 Sam Warburton
07 Justin Tipuric
08 Toby Falatau
09 Lloyd Williams
10 James Hook
11 George North
12 Jonathan Davies
13 Scott Williams
14 Leigh Halfpenny
15 Leigh Byrne

Thats the pack I would definately go for yeah but not the backs. Before yesterday people were banging on as to why Lloyd Williams was in the squad then a good 20 minutes and he's starting.

I would go for

Phillips
Biggar

North
JD
Sc Williams (but Roberts is un droppable it seems)
Halfpenny

Byrne

Pete's 2cents on Ireland

Kearney- solid if nothing else. Would love to see him enter the line the way he does for Leinster

Gilroy- was ok, made some very good decisions to come in and make ball and man tackles. If he gets some more space he can do damage

BOD- looked excellent. His defence was confrontationally better, he's small but didn't lose yards in contact. Great hands, great awareness.

Darcy- excellent defence and thankfully moves did not die with him not passing the ball

Sexton- played well I thought particularly in the first half, his defence is insanely good. When on the backfoot however he needs to find corners more

Murray- is getting better and better and better. Basically back at his pre-World cup form. Excellent game.

Heaslip- I thought was fantastic. Workrate was just silly and is a monster at dealing with the gainline, be it stopping Welsh or getting over it

SOB- mamoth game in terms of tackling, largely quiet on the floor. Threw in to the lineout. LEGEND

POM- Looked blunt but in a good way, sheer aggression. His discipline was much better than in previous games too

McCarthy- Quite like Heaslip does not do much eye catching but he is brutually effective on the gainline again. Scrummed well too

Ryan- Has run our lineout well. Didn't see his mobility much but he is a hard bugger and he really went in to the coal mines and fought

Ross- is simply crucial to us winning or not. Scrummed really well against a Lions frontrow.

Best- how many choke tackles was he involved in. I talk about workrate of Heaslip and McCarthy. Best tops it. Some motor beating in his chest.

Healy- taking on arguably the Lions TH. Great in the loose as well and is possibly the best in his position in the world.

Other-

-Scrum was great until Fitz and Kilcoyne came on
-Lineout was good but we did not disrupt them as much as I'd like
-Kiss has introduced dummy runners which I am delighted about
-Our bench looked EXCEPTIONALLY weak Henry apart

red_stag wrote:So are people hoping to see this team against France?

01 Paul James
02 Richard Hibbard
03 Adam Jones
04 Andrew Coombs
05 Ian Evans
06 Sam Warburton
07 Justin Tipuric
08 Toby Falatau
09 Lloyd Williams
10 James Hook
11 George North
12 Jonathan Davies
13 Scott Williams
14 Leigh Halfpenny
15 Leigh Byrne

James, Hibbard, Jones, Kohn, Evans, Warbs, Faletau, Tips, Phillips, Hook, Halfpenny, Roberts, Davies, North & Byrne.

Coombs didn't do anything wrong but Kohn is a proven 2nd row with the best team in the brutal English league. He's also massive.

Biggar is a good player but trying to 'control the game' from 10 while we're being overpowered in the 2nd and backrows doesn't make any sense. We have to at least try and throw something at the opposition, rather than just hang in there until the game opens up.

greytiger wrote:I must say that the MS crowd seemed very respectful to the kickers yesterday.

Were the boo-boys and cowgirls saving their pennies for England or were they stunned then rapt in turn into silence during a great game?

There were plenty of fog horns going off when Sexton was kicking even though the majority were respectful.

Great game, delighted with that result. First half was the best Irish performance in a long time but Wales showed in the second half how dangerous they are and we were lucky to hang in there.

Rory Best was sensational and BOD put in huge performance. His shooting defense on Davies probably was the difference and Gilroy and Zebo saved at least a try a piece using the same tactic. In the second half our defense lost shape with Earls, who missed a few crucial tackles particularly the one on Cuthbert and then the subsequent sin binnings but credit to Wales for going up through the gears.

This will be a very tight championship so Wales are not out of the picture yet. If we can get a result next week against a very powerful English side then we will be in a great place....

Wales aren't out of it at all. I can see England beating France, Wales beating England, France beating Ireland and Ireland beating England leaving the tournament wide open.

Pete you forgot about ZEEEEEBBBBOOOO!

Our scrum had collapsed a few before Kilcoyne and Fitzpatrick came on, and don't forget that we were down to 7 forwards at that point...

Murray has responded well to the criticism he took in the opening round of the Heineken Cup.

Ireland gave a good lesson on playing rugby, making it look simple. I thought Healy, Best, Heaslip and O'Driscoll were outstanding. I had my doubts about BOD but he's still got it, and it will be a real shame to see him hang up his boots (assuming he does that after this season). The Irish backs got in close behind our big wingers out wide, which is exactly the way to expose them. Gilroy and Zebo looked much better than their opposite numbers.

Congratulations to Ireland. Not a bad bet for the championship with that start, but need to improve for France and England when they come to Dublin.

Murray was superb, played phillips of the park...which is a huge turn around from the previous two meetings between the sides. Could well have played himself into a Lions jersey.

Sexton had a great game too. Zebo was electric and the threat of him and Gilroy really led to uncertainty in the Welsh blitz defence...which was all over the shop at times.

Great team performance yesterday. Delighted.

red_stag wrote:Murray has responded well to the criticism he took in the opening round of the Heineken Cup.

His game has improved in most ways. His passing though is still weak.

Ospreydragon wrote:"Aren't they the same ones that won the 6N and almost made a RWC final though?" -- Yes, but they are not good enough to beat SH opposition (at the moment).

My problem is with coaching/selection. Other players (I know some are injured at the mo, which makes things worse) have got to be brought in and given a chance to show what they can do. My main gripe is with poor selections -- sticking with players who are clearly out of form out of some sense of loyalty, or choosing them based on past achievements.

A coach should always look to pick a side (23 players) where some players can offer something entirely different. Tipuric is the form 7 and should have started, for example. I think too many of the players feel their place is secure. That's never a good thing for any side.

Totaly agree with you there about certain players believing that they cannot be dropped no matter how bad they play.

I'm pleased with Murray, he's been playing well. As Guns says still not the snappiest pass (for a 9) but the rest of his game is ticking over nicely.

Jeez lads, I am astounded by the reaction of Irish fans. Ireland were totally tactically inept in the second half, as poor as we have been over the past season seasons. Listen, the players were brave. No one could question their bravery and backs to the wall defense. But tactically Sexton had a dreadful, dreadful second half. He was and is superb when his team is on the front foot. The first half may have been as good as he has ever played for Ireland. In the second half he was absolutely abject. His tactical kicking and inability to take control of a match when his team is under pressure just demonstrates why he will never be a truly word class player. That second half was made for ROG in his pomp- kick the corners and relieve pressure on his team. Sexton abjectly failed to do so and just increased the pressure on his 14 man team. Sorry, that is not good enough.

What makes it even worse is that that game was tailor made for ROG in his pomp. Even the 2011 vintage would have done the job. The fact that he was not called off the bench in a game Sexton had utterly lost control of says so much about the standard of ROG's game and his selection on the bench.

"Sexton had a dreadful second half"

Ridiculous comment. Ireland spent virtually the whole second half defending becuase the Welsh pack dominated. All Sexton could do was defend and he was colossal in defense. Under the circumstamces he was immense and every write up today reflects that. All I can say is thank god Rog didnt come on because we would have lost.

In general I do agree that Ireland did a lot of things worringly bad in the 2nd half though its very hard to look good with 14 men for 20 minutes.

valjester wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:Kearney- very solid
Gilroy- missed a couple of tackles but didn't cost us. Defended well all round. Kicking and decision making needs to improve

BOD- massive respect for that performance. I didn't think he had it in him
D'arcy- massively important as showed with his injury. McSharry next please

Zebo- absolute genius potentlly. Missed some tackles but has to be inked in IMO.

Sexton- good first half. Would have hoped for more in the 2nd
Murray- gets better and better. Clear 1st choice

Heaslip- good and solid if not standout
O'Brien- awesome tackle stats and only a couple of mistakes
POM- did enough to keep the shirt IMO. Carried well and though he tired I think he had a good game

Ryan and McCarthy- massive massive work rate if not flashy.solid pairing

Healy- outstanding again
Best- my motm. Wrongly carded and everywhere. Has to be frontrunner for the lions
Ross- solid effort but tired badly

Fitz and kilcoyne- hard to say. Scrum was being man shamed when they came on. The former seriously needs fitness
Henry- solid. Tackled well
Doc, reddan- didn't really see enough to rate
Earls- nightmare. Seemed to miss a lot. Just wasn't his day and our defensive solidity left with d'arcy although bests card came soon after so may be harsh on him.

Good result and much more can be taken from that than Argentina. Still not great and we shouldn't be under the cosh to such an extent in the entire 2nd half but fair play for making it so difficult. Our attacking play still isn't great though.

Jesus Stand do you not think that nightmare is being extremely harsh on Earls? I know that I am a strong defender of him, but the abuse (not by you, or on here) he gets off people is ridiculous, his mistakes are highlighted and clung onto by people, whereas other players get away with much more. He made one mistake, straight after coming on when he tried to rush out and he was caught, it was a bad mistake, but it is one that happens with the defensive system that Ireland plays. As I've said before I feel sorry for him because he is being screwed around by moving position so often, he came on at 12 for Darcy, despite having played all season at 13, and having trained all week at 13, he makes one mistake, and I've read all over the internet people calling for him to be dropped out of the Ireland squad for ever. People are calling for McFadden, declaring him defensively sound, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary. Earls hasn't made a defensive mistake since the Welsh game in the RWC, he coped with everyone in last year's Six Nations. If selected next week he will do fine. I wouldn't select him because he's not a 12, but I'm sure him and BOD will do a good job if asked. I believe D'arcy will be fit though.


Agree with the rest of your comments, although as good as POM was today, I would start Henry next week. Henry is capable of doing the job SOB did today freeing up SOB to carry, and POM offers a much bigger impact of the bench than Henry.

The second half was incredibly disappointing, the aggression of the first half seemed to disappear completely almost as if they believed that the game was already won. If we want to beat England we will need to perform for the full 80, and not invite England to attack us as much as Wales did in the second half. With the amount of pressure we were under, a yellow card was always going to come, Best was unlucky to be pinged for that particular incident but someone was going. Against England we need to be at 15 for the full 80.

And speaking of yellows, what did Murray get sinbinned for? He probably could have been done earlier for a deliberate knockon but I didn't see what he did to deserve a yellow.

Val

i genuinely dont think im being harsh on Earls. it reminded me of the france game at lansdowne (i think) pre the RWC. Nothing went right for him. I dont think its an accurate representation of where he is at, and as i say zebo and gilroy missed tackles too but i remember seeing the 9 tackles missed stat come up in the 2nd half and thinking the previous play would have accounted for 3 of them, the most obvious of which was earls. I have less sympathy because he has made his own bed to an extent with his comments about being a 13 (which he clearly isnt imo). I have yet to rewatch it but the impression i got was that nothing went right for him.

Also his shooting up for cuthberts try was dire. i dont know where he was going. I wouldnt drop him. His versatility off the bench is invaluable but if D'arcy isnt available i would have McSharry in (or Marshall if he was fit) in a heartbeat.

Im not sure on the backrow. In the same way i dont think Henry should have been dropped im not sure you can drop POM after that. I thought he was impressive and very physical.

GunsGerms wrote:"Sexton had a dreadful second half"

Ridiculous comment. Ireland spent virtually the whole second half defending becuase the Welsh pack dominated. All Sexton could do was defend and he was colossal in defense. Under the circumstamces he was immense and every write up today reflects that. All I can say is thank god Rog didnt come on because we would have lost.

In general I do agree that Ireland did a lot of things worringly bad in the 2nd half though its very hard to look good with 14 men for 20 minutes.

Guns

As our ten (and a Lions ten in waiting) he has to carry the can to a certain extent for the fact we spent the entire 2nd half in our own territory. Not only him but he is a leader and our on field tactician.

GunsGerms wrote:"Sexton had a dreadful second half"

Ridiculous comment. Ireland spent virtually the whole second half defending becuase the Welsh pack dominated. All Sexton could do was defend and he was colossal in defense. Under the circumstamces he was immense and every write up today reflects that. All I can say is thank god Rog didnt come on because we would have lost.

In general I do agree that Ireland did a lot of things worringly bad in the 2nd half though its very hard to look good with 14 men for 20 minutes.

Sorry I can't join in the ill deserved love in of the Irish players and have to be realistic about the performances. Sexton was brave, his tackling outstanding. No one can doubt that. But his decision making was poor. His kicking from hand was abject. A good outhalf, when your team is under pressure, would have relieved some of the pressure with his kicking and he had plenty of opportunities. Sexton kicked aimlessly down the pitch to a Welsh back three that any tactically astute player would realise that with a man down you do not want to give a head of steam and opportunity to counter attack. You are confusing bravery with tactically astuteness. Sexton had the first in bucketloads, and utterly lacked the later. The lack of tactical awareness, common sense and learning from your mistakes in a match could also be levelled against Gilroy who I thought had a poor match (again, he was brave) and O'Brien who did ok (massive tackle count, didn't carry the ball that well and gave away at least two stupid bone headed penalties).

I too am furious about Irelands second half performance. Nothing annoys me more than seeing a team taking it's foot off the gas when it should be going for the jugular. Whatever Kidney and Heaslip had to say at half-time, I'd rather they say it to our opponents from now on.

I don't think O'Gara of the present day had any business coming on in the second half- they were already making enough metres with ball in hand. And lately his kicking from hand for Munster has been every bit as aimless as our kicking in the second half; bar one or two nice touchfinders a game he's still eating out on he generally punts it as aimlessly as most.

GunsGerms wrote:"Sexton had a dreadful second half"

Ridiculous comment. Ireland spent virtually the whole second half defending becuase the Welsh pack dominated. All Sexton could do was defend and he was colossal in defense. Under the circumstamces he was immense and every write up today reflects that. All I can say is thank god Rog didnt come on because we would have lost.

In general I do agree that Ireland did a lot of things worringly bad in the 2nd half though its very hard to look good with 14 men for 20 minutes.

Sorry can't agree with this. Certainly true that Wales played better in the 2nd half but IMO part of the reason for that is that Ireland sat back and defended and kept kicking everything away aimlessly, same as SA in autumn and other matches in past that I'd mention if my memory wasn't shot.

Any Irishman happy with that 2nd half needs to take another look. It's fine to be happy with our good defence but we shouldn't be happy that we put ourselves in the position that we had to constantly defend. It's a mindset/tactical thing. If there had only been a few points in it at HT then we would have kept pushing in the 2nd and IMO there is no way Wales would have had the possession they had.

On the backrow Rory Best does the job of a #7 for Ireland. I was really in favour of Henry before the game but I can see the logic of the O'Mahony, O'Brien, Heaslip pairing.

I don't think Earls did particularly well yesterday. It's a chicken and egg scenario - was that because he came on and we had to deal with Murray and Best both getting yellow cards? Or was it that his performance was a factor in the Welsh comeback.

Personally I think a little from Column A and a little from Column B. There's no denying he was at fault for Cuthbert try but apart from that did as well as anyone.

Sexton (and also Gilroy) made some ridiculous kicks in that second half. Too long for chasers to challenge the kick, not into the corner where we could attack the Welsh lineout. Sexton must assume responsibility for this.

Ireland spent the whole second half defending because Ireland's discipline broke down. Thought they did really well to keep Wales out even though down a man for half the second half. Important players to be down as well as in the lineout wasn't really an attacking option without a Hooker and the physical presence of Murray around the scrum/defending would have made it even more difficult.

Hope Wales take heart from their 2nd half performance and give France a game next week.