Ireland vs Scotland

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Ireland v Scotland

Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Sunday, 2 Feb 2014
Kick-off: 15:00

Referee: Craig Joubert (SARU)
Assistant referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistant referee: Mike Fraser (NZR)
TMO: Carlo Damasco (FIR)

A. Squads

1. Ireland

Backs:
Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster), Craig Gilroy (Dungannon/Ulster), Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster), Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht), Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster), Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster), David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster), Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster), Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster), Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) *, Luke Marshall (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster), Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster), Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92), Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

Forwards:
Rodney Ah You (Buccaneers/Connacht) *, Stephen Archer (Cork Constitution/Munster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Robin Copeland (Cardiff Blues) *, Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Robbie Diack (Malone/Ulster) *, Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster), Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) *, David Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Mike McCarthy (Leinster), Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster) *, Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) *, Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster), Tommy O'Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster), Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster), Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster)

* Uncapped player

2. Scotland

Forwards:
John Beattie (Montpellier), Kelly Brown (Saracens), Geoff Cross, David Denton, Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford (all Edinburgh Rugby), Chris Fusaro (Glasgow Warriors), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby), Ryan Grant, Jonny Gray (both Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Castres), Jim Hamilton (Montpellier), Robert Harley (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons), Kieran Low (London Irish), Moray Low, Pat MacArthur (both Glasgow Warriors), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby) Alasdair Strokosch (Perpignan), Tim Swinson and Ryan Wilson (both Glasgow Warriors).

Backs:
Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Rugby), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors), Max Evans (Castres), Dougie Fife (Edinburgh Rugby), Stuart Hogg, Ruaridh Jackson, Sean Lamont (all Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby), Sean Maitland (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Greig Tonks (Edinburgh Rugby) and Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors).

B. Head To Head

127 Played 127
57 Wins 65
65 Losses 57
5 Draws 5
203 Tries 210
104 Conversions 109
111 Penalties 131
17 Drop Goals 38
1,344 Points 1,303

C. Recent Form

24 February 2013
Scotland 12–8 Ireland

10 March 2012
Ireland 32–14  Scotland

27 February 2011
Scotland 18–21  Ireland

D. Teams

1. Ireland



15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 49
14. Dave Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster) 2
13. Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) 128
12. Luke Marshall (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 4
11. Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster) 50
10. Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92) 38
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 22
1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 42
2. Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 70
3. Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster) 34
4. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 10
5. Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt) 88
6. Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 19
7. Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster) 9
8. Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster) 60

Replacements:

16. Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 30
17. Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 3
18. Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster) *
19. Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster) 7
20. Tommy O'Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster) 2
21. Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster) 17
22. Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster) 5
23. Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 21

* Denotes uncapped player

2. Scotland




15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) 15 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
14 Sean Maitland (Glasgow Warriors) 8 caps, 1 try, 5 points
13 Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps, 1 try, 5 points
12 Duncan Taylor (Saracens) 6 caps
11 Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) 82 caps, 12 tries, 60 points
10 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) 8 caps, 1 try, 2 conversions, 9 points
9 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby) 24 caps, 3 tries, 23 conversions, 54 penalties, 223 points
1 Ryan Grant (Glasgow Warriors) 13 caps
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) 71 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
3 Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors) 23 caps
4 Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
5 Jim Hamilton (Montpellier) 50 caps, 1 try, 5 points
6 Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) 4 caps
7 Kelly Brown (Saracens) CAPTAIN 60 caps, 4 tries, 20 points
8 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) 17 caps

Replacements:

16 Pat MacArthur (Glasgow Warriors) 3 caps
17 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby) 30 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
18 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh Rugby) 23 caps, 1 try, 5 points
19 Richie Gray (Castres) 33 caps, 1 try, 5 points
20 Johnnie Beattie (Montpellier) 26 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
21 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) 64 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
22 Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby) 16 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
23 Max Evans (Castres) 37 caps, 3 tries, 15 points

Hard to know what to say about the game or how to read it other than to say just like Wales yesterday, Ireland too will have to up the standards considerably before next week.

For now, I think England look the most ready and willing to take on this Championship...after that it's a toss up between Ireland and Wales (we'll see next week where that toss up lands)

Satisfied that it was a winning beginning for Ireland, which is always half the battle when trying to settle into the campaign, but so much to tighten up on and certainly much more in the way of genuine hunger for the fight is required.

Having said that, Scotland certainly weren't onlookers and were a big part in stalling the Irish machine.  But it needs oiling and hopefully, like Wales probably will from yesterday, they'll benefit from the less than smooth beginnings.  Plenty for the video analysis to tidy up.

A lot of positives, but most pleasing for me was Dan Tuohy having a really, really good game there. Stepped into O'Connells big shoes with a few line out steals, carries and offload or two.

SecretFly wrote:Hard to know what to say about the game or how to read it other than to say just like Wales yesterday, Ireland too will have to up the standards considerably before next week.

For now, I think England look the most ready and willing to take on this Championship...after that it's a toss up between Ireland and Wales (we'll see next week where that toss up lands)

Satisfied that it was a winning beginning for Ireland, which is always half the battle when trying to settle into the campaign, but so much to tighten up on and certainly much more in the way of genuine hunger for the fight is required.

Having said that, Scotland certainly weren't onlookers and were a big part in stalling the Irish machine.  But it needs oiling and hopefully, like Wales probably will from yesterday, they'll benefit from the less than smooth beginnings.  Plenty for the video analysis to tidy up.

The second half looked fairly one-sided in my eyes, don't think Ireland have quite as much improvement to make as Wales. The Scots kept them honest first half but the Irish did enough to snuff it out and overcome them handsomely in the end. Their relentlessness and intent on the front foot must surely be cause for optimism.

Against Italy Wales were good in flashes yet again, their continuity remains an almighty cause for concern. And we struggled noticeably in the areas Ireland exploited very effectively today, not a good sign.

SecretFly wrote:

For now, I think England look the most ready and willing to take on this Championship...after that it's a toss up between Ireland and Wales (we'll see next week where that toss up lands)

What about France, are you writing them off already?

I agree that England played the best over the weekend but I can never write France off.

Nachos Jones wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

For now, I think England look the most ready and willing to take on this Championship...after that it's a toss up between Ireland and Wales (we'll see next week where that toss up lands)

What about France, are you writing them off already?

I agree that England played the best over the weekend but I can never write France off.

I never write France off.  I'm going on who is looking the most accomplished in professional drills, up-to-speed conditioning.  France were feeding off English scraps (successfully!) but they just didn't look like they had any concerted plans to take the pressure off themselves that England was exerting.  As a team, I wasn't impressed and I think they were feeling the pace as early as the first 30mins.  As individuals doing individual things though, well they'll always have slices of that through a game.  
But of course they could win the whole thing... I'm just talking about where I think the sides are on week one.  England look sharpest.

Pretty good game. Going by yesterday's hypothesis I made the following observations:
Joubert only reffed Scotland at the breakdown and penalised them off the park.
The pass for Trimble's try was forward.
Irish fans need to stop booing the legitimate decisions being made. If they can't refrain from booing then their fans on V2 should stop getting on their high horse if they hear an echo of boo in Cardiff.

Happy with Heaslip getting MOTM as he was in my fantasy team.

The Saint wrote:Pretty good game. Going by yesterday's hypothesis I made the following observations:
Joubert only reffed Scotland at the breakdown and penalised them off the park.
The pass for Trimble's try was forward.
Irish fans need to stop booing the legitimate decisions being made. If they can't refrain from booing then their fans on V2 should stop getting on their high horse if they hear an echo of boo in Cardiff.

Happy with Heaslip getting MOTM as he was in my fantasy team.

I thought you said every reffing decision was going to Ireland against Scotland.  In that scenario, surely no need for boos.....

Fly I was talking about the tries that were never tries being disallowed. If the Welsh were doing that there would be hundreds of posts criticising Wales already. As for the game, I came to a different conclusion, however I then applied the hypothesis from the Wales v Italy thread and came out with the above conclusion.

If Jackson's stupid kick at the end comes back to haunt us....

If you're a bit sensitive to Irish fans booing then maybe give next weekend a miss  

Engine#4 wrote:If you're a bit sensitive to Irish fans booing then maybe give next weekend a miss  

I'm really not mate. It's a case of fans being sensitive to the Wales supporters booing. Surely Great Gats and JD2 wouldn't get booed now would they, that never happens in Irelad .... #sorry #notsorry.

Don't feed the troll.

Can someone explain the calls for O'Mahony for MOTM then? I thought Heaslip played exceptionally well, not a bad response from somebody who finds himself under fire from the Ireland supporters. If POM played better then I can only guess that he did a lot of the 'unseen work'.... Danny Lydiate eat your heart out, the 6 Nations has a new invisible man .

Isnt that troll feeding off troll. Like a snake eating its own tail..

The numerous turnovers, try saving tackle and strong carries didn't go unseen...

Heaslip as MOTM was undoubtedly the sponsors' choice.

The Saint wrote:Can someone explain the calls for O'Mahony for MOTM then? I thought Heaslip played exceptionally well, not a bad response from somebody who finds himself under fire from the Ireland supporters. If POM played better then I can only guess that he did a lot of the 'unseen work'.... Danny Lydiate eat your heart out, the 6 Nations has a new invisible man .

Must have had your eyes closed every time a ruck was formed then. POM was all over Scottish ball. I counted at least 3 or 4 turnovers he made, plus some powerful carries and tackles along with the rest of the Irish back row. Heaslip also had a good game but POM edged it in terms of individual performance imo.

Heaslip won it 'cause POM didn't do enough required booing and the sponsors noticed his lack of zeal.

It was pretty unseen to me. Connor Murray had a great game too. Ireland's first choice front row look very strong. Pretty confident Lydiate can walk all over them next week still.

SecretFly wrote:Heaslip won it 'cause POM ddn't do enough required booing and the sponsors noticed his lack of zeal.

  Lack of booing... No no, there was plenty of that!

The Saint wrote:It was pretty unseen to me. Connor Murray had a great game too. Ireland's first choice front row look very strong. Pretty confident Lydiate can walk all over them next week still.

??? - Adequate, no more.

Ireland deserve winners in the end. Slow to get going though i thought. Heaslip by far the best person for the MOM, award. That should put themin the lead on points different.

3 games of the first weekend all home wins. Wander if this will be the norm through out the 6ns? I do think apart from France, all other teams need to get better, perform better if they want to have a chance of winning the title this year.

mystiroakey wrote:Isnt that troll feeding off troll. Like a snake eating its own tail..

No trolls here lads, the Saint does have a point in that the Welsh are always lambasted for booing when in reality it happens to some degree everywhere. The home crowd want to help their team win be it by trying to influence the officials or put off the opposition. In my eyes both offences are the same.

SecretFly wrote:

The Saint wrote:It was pretty unseen to me. Connor Murray had a great game too. Ireland's first choice front row look very strong. [b]Pretty confident Lydiate can walk all over them next week still.[b]

Don't you mean tackle over them? Can't remember the last time Lydiate broke the gain line   

[/quote]

I actually thought Ireland showed the most promise of all the teams this weekend.

They displayed cohesive play at the breakdowns, and a lot of enthusiasm and energy to really take control like no other team did this weekend.

Their defensive system was never really challenged and they marked the recievers very well. Unless one of the other teams become more deceptive, accurate and creative in attack I don't see them conceding many tries.

Sexton looked the most dangerous and polished of all the flyhalves on display this weekend and Murray looked decent.

I like the way they spread their attackers wider and run at pace from deep with someone coming from depth into the channel, it isn't the most deceptive but it does create mismatches.

Their pack looked good and by memory there was only one skew lineout throw.

France looked OK on attack, England disjointed as soon as the ball went wide and Wales were poor at the breakdown.

I think Ireland has a chance this year.

The Saint wrote:Can someone explain the calls for O'Mahony for MOTM then? I thought Heaslip played exceptionally well, not a bad response from somebody who finds himself under fire from the Ireland supporters. If POM played better then I can only guess that he did a lot of the 'unseen work'.... Danny Lydiate eat your heart out, the 6 Nations has a new invisible man .

    

Maybe if you spent more time watching the rugby and less time trolling on these boards you might have seen something.

By the way, can the mods do something about "The Saint" constantly bringing Wales up in threads that have nothing to do with Wales? It is rather tedious at this point.

The two tries that never were went to the TMO straight away, the booing during this is almost pantomine stuff. Once in the TMO is involved there's no influencing the officals.

Another crap comeback as per Rory. And thank you Engine.

Fly, I thought Murray was very good and totally outplayed his opposite number. BOD had a quiet game.

Picking up where Biltong left off:

One thing that plagued the Kidney years was the sheer number of errors. Kidney was criticised for taking the creativity out of Ireland but the issue was a lack of accuracy rather than a lack of ambition, for me.

Today Ireland weren't anything to write home about but we made very few handling errors in attack, the kicking game and equally the kick chase (kudos to Trimble) were of a consistent standard and most significantly of all the defence was very solid and also very disciplined. Conceding just 3 points was an excellent return in the first half considering Scotland's possession and territory, albeit helped by a lack of cutting edge in the Scottish attack.

Ratings:

1. Healy 6.5
2. Best 6
3. Ross 6
4. Toner 7
5. Tuohy 7
6. POM 8
7. Henry 7
8. Heaslip 7

9. Murray 6.5
10. Sexton 7.5
11. D Kearney 6.5
12. Marshall 6.5
13. BOD 6
14. Trimble 6.5
15. R Kearney 7.5

The Saint wrote:Another crap comeback as per Rory. And thank you Engine.

Fly, I thought Murray was very good and totally outplayed his opposite number. BOD had a quiet game.

If you judged that as Murray being very good then there is a lot of hope left for us because he can be an awful lot better than that.  The old adage I suppose applies, "you can only beat what's in front of you".  But there is another 30% in Murray, that extra 30% is what I want to see on display through the entire 6N, not just one or two carefully selected games.

theslosty wrote:One thing that plagued the Kidney years was the sheer number of errors. Kidney was criticised for taking the creativity out of Ireland but the issue was a lack of accuracy rather than a lack of ambition, for me.

Today Ireland weren't anything to write home about but we made very few handling errors in attack, the kicking game and equally the kick chase (kudos to Trimble) were of a consistent standard and most significantly of all the defence was very solid and also very disciplined. Conceding just 3 points was an excellent return in the first half considering Scotland's possession and territory, albeit helped by a lack of cutting edge in the Scottish attack.

I think the fact that we are totally unsatisfied by this performance shows how far the team has come in the short amount of time Joe has been here. I think we would have been quite happy with that if it was last year.

Biltong wrote:I actually thought Ireland showed the most promise of all the teams this weekend.

They displayed cohesive play at the breakdowns, and a lot of enthusiasm and energy to really take control like no other team did this weekend.

Their defensive system was never really challenged and they marked the recievers very well. Unless one of the other teams become more deceptive, accurate and creative in attack I don't see them conceding many tries.

Sexton looked the most dangerous and polished of all the flyhalves on display this weekend and Murray looked decent.

I like the way they spread their attackers wider and run at pace from deep with someone coming from depth into the channel, it isn't the most deceptive but it does create mismatches.

Their pack looked good and by memory there was only one skew lineout throw.

France looked OK on attack, England disjointed as soon as the ball went wide and Wales were poor at the breakdown.

I think Ireland has a chance this year.

Biltong.

I agree with you on Ireland having a chance this year, I said as mutch after the Ais, or rather after the game against the Abs last year.

But this is just the first week end. So lets not get too carried away and wait for the final week end.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

theslosty wrote:One thing that plagued the Kidney years was the sheer number of errors. Kidney was criticised for taking the creativity out of Ireland but the issue was a lack of accuracy rather than a lack of ambition, for me.

Today Ireland weren't anything to write home about but we made very few handling errors in attack, the kicking game and equally the kick chase (kudos to Trimble) were of a consistent standard and most significantly of all the defence was very solid and also very disciplined. Conceding just 3 points was an excellent return in the first half considering Scotland's possession and territory, albeit helped by a lack of cutting edge in the Scottish attack.

I think the fact that we are totally unsatisfied by this performance shows how far the team has come in the short amount of time Joe has been here. I think we would have been quite happy with that if it was last year.

You're probably right. I still think now that BOD is past his best we need a new injection of flair into the backline, Zebo is not being considered but Fitzgerald might make it for next week. Fitz is also a strong tackler which could come in handy against the Welsh backline.

I thought Sexton looked a little bit more like himself today, which is also encouraging.

majesticimperialman wrote:

Biltong wrote:I actually thought Ireland showed the most promise of all the teams this weekend.

They displayed cohesive play at the breakdowns, and a lot of enthusiasm and energy to really take control like no other team did this weekend.

Their defensive system was never really challenged and they marked the recievers very well. Unless one of the other teams become more deceptive, accurate and creative in attack I don't see them conceding many tries.

Sexton looked the most dangerous and polished of all the flyhalves on display this weekend and Murray looked decent.

I like the way they spread their attackers wider and run at pace from deep with someone coming from depth into the channel, it isn't the most deceptive but it does create mismatches.

Their pack looked good and by memory there was only one skew lineout throw.

France looked OK on attack, England disjointed as soon as the ball went wide and Wales were poor at the breakdown.

I think Ireland has a chance this year.

Biltong.

I agree with you on Ireland having a chance this year, I said as mutch after the Ais, or rather after the game against the Abs last year.

But this is just the first week end. So lets not get too carried away and wait for the final week end.

Accepted, but to win the Six Nations you need a confident start, and for me Ireland had the most confident and composed start. I am not saying they will win, I am merely saying they have a shot, and if they continue to rule the breakdowns (which in my view is the most important facet of modern day rugby) they have a realistic shot.

England now has an uphill battle, Wales and France are obviously still in it. And between. The three teams that won this weekend, Ireland had the best control at the breakdowns.

Biltong wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:

Biltong wrote:I actually thought Ireland showed the most promise of all the teams this weekend.

They displayed cohesive play at the breakdowns, and a lot of enthusiasm and energy to really take control like no other team did this weekend.

Their defensive system was never really challenged and they marked the recievers very well. Unless one of the other teams become more deceptive, accurate and creative in attack I don't see them conceding many tries.

Sexton looked the most dangerous and polished of all the flyhalves on display this weekend and Murray looked decent.

I like the way they spread their attackers wider and run at pace from deep with someone coming from depth into the channel, it isn't the most deceptive but it does create mismatches.

Their pack looked good and by memory there was only one skew lineout throw.

France looked OK on attack, England disjointed as soon as the ball went wide and Wales were poor at the breakdown.

I think Ireland has a chance this year.

Biltong.

I agree with you on Ireland having a chance this year, I said as mutch after the Ais, or rather after the game against the Abs last year.

But this is just the first week end. So lets not get too carried away and wait for the final week end.

Accepted, but to win the Six Nations you need a confident start, and for me Ireland had the most confident and composed start. I am not saying they will win, I am merely saying they have a shot, and if they continue to rule the breakdowns (which in my view is the most important facet of modern day rugby) they have a realistic shot.

England now has an uphill battle, Wales and France are obviously still in it. And between. The three teams that won this weekend, Ireland had the best control at the breakdowns.

Totaly agree with you. 

It seems that despite the nice friendly words for the cameras after the game, Schmidt too shares my reading of the game.

Heaslip: " Huge improvements will be needed for next week.  Joe had a couple of choice words for us in the changing rooms afterwards, and I'm sure there will be more on Monday night.  Our poor analysts will be working on that and won't see the Super Bowl.  It will be a huge challenge to go up against a team that's won this championship two years in a row."

Job done...nothing more against a relatively poor Scottish team. I wouldnt give anyone more than a 6 out of 10. We lacked creativity in the backline and only for Sextons individual break at the end of the first half leading to the first try it would have been fairly poor fair. Second half was at least someway encouraging but nothing more. We made less mistakes definitely but that was down to lack of ambition.

As for MOTM I guess POM was the more obvious but in all honesty I dont think he did anything more than I would expect. Heaslip was ok but nothing special. my take would be as follows..

Kearney..he huffs he puffs and except for the try which was v good he was ordinary.
Kearney (D)...hrpuffinstuff mark 2.
BOD (Who?)
L Marshall...biff bang bosh (but in fairness didnt get any help)
Trimble...honesty...
Sexton...my MOTM
Murray....ok
Healy...one break made him slightly better than expected...
Best...always plays to a certain level but not one of his best games.
Ross...a Bus without wheels.
Touhy...fine but wont be within an asses roar with a fit POC
Toner...got around the park and did what was expected of him
POM...nothing more than was expected but turned over more ball for us.
Henry...ok...but again nothing special. Made his tackles..only one turnover.
Heaslip...ok..Denton outlplayed him in the first half though.
Subs...nothing special.

Unless Wales play to the same level as they did yesterday then that performance wont get us anything...

SecretFly wrote:

Nachos Jones wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

For now, I think England look the most ready and willing to take on this Championship...after that it's a toss up between Ireland and Wales (we'll see next week where that toss up lands)

What about France, are you writing them off already?

I agree that England played the best over the weekend but I can never write France off.

I never write France off.  I'm going on who is looking the most accomplished in professional drills, up-to-speed conditioning.  France were feeding off English scraps (successfully!) but they just didn't look like they had any concerted plans to take the pressure off themselves that England was exerting.  As a team, I wasn't impressed and I think they were feeling the pace as early as the first 30mins.  As individuals doing individual things though, well they'll always have slices of that through a game.  
But of course they could win the whole thing... I'm just talking about where I think the sides are on week one.  England look sharpest.

Despite how brilliant England were apparently they lost to a poor french performance???? Hmm exactly the type of momentum the French thrive on. The big bad Rosbiefs out of the way and lots of things to improve on. Cant see them doing anything but improving to be honest.

Okay ME... we'll see.  On that performance against England, they'll need a hefty improvement on the "what the hell are we doing???" stats.  They looked befuddled and rushed for most of the game.... off the cuff splendour getting the victory in the end.

They didn't look a team though so there we go - another team that needs to improve plenty on team dynamics to push on.  It might happen but on this weekend's evidence it isn't there yet.

And nope, I didn't say England were brilliant, I said they look the most accomplished in organisational terms this weekend.  They did because nobody else can certainly claim that title.

SecretFly wrote:Okay ME... we'll see.  On that performance against England, they'll need a hefty improvement on the "what the hell are we doing???" stats.  They looked befuddled and rushed for most of the game.... off the cuff splendour getting the victory in the end.

They didn't look a team though so there we go - another team that needs to improve plenty on team dynamics to push on.  It might happen but on this weekend's evidence it isn't there yet.

And nope, I didn't say England were brilliant, I said they look the most accomplished in organisational terms this weekend.  They did because nobody else can certainly claim that title.

The brilliant quote was more based on some of the other comments/commentators. I think they will improve....as they will believe they can win every other game.

Hogg is a very slippy 15. Some player. Got away with two sneaky trips too. One on Trimble and one on DK right in front of the linesman.

Speed is useful in many ways...... quickness of the hands deceiving the eye and all that.

Scotland will not score many tries, but at some point Hogg will score a wonder try. He made me very nervous every time he had the ball.

Scotlands defence for the two tries we did get in the second half left something to be desired. They didn't get their maul defence set and they let Kearney slip through way too easily, so I'm not getting carried away. But I do feel very encouraged- we were in second/third gear and we looked very organised and clinical. Lots of room for improvement and we're doing all the basics well.

Notch wrote:Scotlands defence for the two tries we did get in the second half left something to be desired. They didn't get their maul defence set and they let Kearney slip through way too easily, so I'm not getting carried away. But I do feel very encouraged- we were in second/third gear and we looked very organised and clinical. Lots of room for improvement and we're doing all the basics well.

If we knew we were in 2nd/3rd gear then there is hope that the players know they have the higher gears (and accuracy with those gears!) to take care of better sides than Scotland.  
If then it was 2nd/3rd gear (to perhaps hide the true intentions of the team from Wales) then I have to say Schmidt is a great actor because he didn't look too convinced that Ireland was in the right gear and did genuinely seem relieved that Ireland managed to find a higher one in the second half than the one used in the first half.
If it was 2nd/3rd gear then that's disappointing that the Irish team again try to manage gears through a tournament rather than to attack it with vicious intent from the beginning.  I hope we don't see another low gear game against the likes of Italy.  It presumes too much apathetic superiority and it has been responsible for much of our downfall in recent years.

So you might be right about gears being used selectively for certain games, Notch - but if so, that disappoints me.  It's an old habit that can easily catch up on us.  Start as how you mean to go - create the right rhythm at the beginning and keep to it.

I'm not saying we went out there to deliberately try and play in second or third gear SF. More that we just did. We can and should play much better next week!

I don't think we were holding back, it just took us a little time to get our game going after a few months away which is fairly normal.

Notch wrote:I'm not saying we went out there to deliberately try and play in second or third gear SF. More that we just did. We can and should play much better next week!

I don't think we were holding back, it just took us a little time to get our game going after a few months away which is fairly normal.

Which game was that Notch...our scintillating attacking rugby? That game was all about Scottish ineptitude as you pointed out.

Notch wrote:I'm not saying we went out there to deliberately try and play in second or third gear SF. More that we just did. We can and should play much better next week!

I don't think we were holding back, it just took us a little time to get our game going after a few months away which is fairly normal.

Ah...............  I'm just tired of Ireland and their gears, Notch.  Massive improvement needed before next week (as indeed Wales need massive improvement too)  But which side will actually achieve it?  
Next week is a very dicey prospect now and it is dicey because our players looked nervous again.  If they don't genuinely believe in their ability then we'll struggle again.  They've got to start believing from the get-go.  There is no time for belief warm-ups in this contest. 80 minutes is too short for belief warm-up periods.

SecretFly wrote:

Notch wrote:I'm not saying we went out there to deliberately try and play in second or third gear SF. More that we just did. We can and should play much better next week!

I don't think we were holding back, it just took us a little time to get our game going after a few months away which is fairly normal.

Ah...............  I'm just tired of Ireland and their gears, Notch.  Massive improvement needed before next week (as indeed Wales need massive improvement too)  But which side will actually achieve it?  
Next week is a very dicey prospect now and it is dicey because our players looked nervous again.  If they don't genuinely believe in their ability then we'll struggle again.  They've got to start believing from the get-go.  There is no time for belief warm-ups in this contest. 80 minutes is too short for belief warm-up periods.

There was me thinking it was the previous Coach was the problem..at least that is what everyone was saying....or maybe its like with the current Government where they blame the previous shower for all the problems.

Just controlling possession and territory- defence well organised, set piece working well. Generally all the foundations are in place. I agree we need to improve and I was very happy to hear that Schmidt had a few choice words on the performance, but for me there are more positives than negatives.

Mainly positives up front. If our forwards continue in that vein we'll be in it with the best teams in the NH.