Joe Schmidt responds to Denis Leamy's parochial rant!!

Leamy's article prior to the Ireland game in which he claimed there was a Leinster bias which could harm our WC chances:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/denis-leamy-questions-schmidt-selection-30091421.html

Schmidts response:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/joe-schmidt-denies-having-a-leinster-bias-1.1729932

“For me, I select Irish players. If people want to differentiate, if people want to divide that provincially, that’s their prerogative,” he said. “But, as a group, we’re just trying to select the Irish national team. If people are going to be distracted by provincial loyalties, then that is something that is certainly not happening within the group.

“I think there has been a super unity within the group. It is probably always disappointing to get criticised. I can totally understand the perception. But, what I can totally guarantee is that we have all the stats, we watch all the games and we try to do as much homework as we possibly can.”

“For me, I select Irish players and Jared Payne"

Fixed it Guns  

rodders wrote:“For me, I select Irish players and Jared Payne"

Fixed it Guns  

haha I spotted that too.

Depends how you define 'biased' I suppose. He favoured Leinster players probably because they know his systems best and were the safer option. Thats fair enough as far as I'm concerned.


I would have agreed with the Zebo decision. He didn't respect the jersey enough on the American tour last year.

It's disgraceful he's been asked about this after winning a championship.

It did feel like there was a bit of conservatism on the JS selection. But also the Leinster lads had a head start that they knew if JS gave them a list of areas to improve in they knew how detailed he would review the progress in those areas whereas maybe the Z-man thought his reputation would take him straight into the side.

I don't put as much mass in players running in multiple tries in league games during the international window as proof that they are 100% for Test level as you have to consider the quality of who they are playing.

I like the fact though that we let D Ryan and Bowe get back to proper fitness levels rather than have someone at 80% on the field for key international games.

Yes there were what 15 Leinster players in the matchday squad (open to correction) for the final game of the 6N. But 5 of them are in the front row where there doesn't appear to have been much argument over the merit of Cronin/Moore/McGrath/Healy/Ross being selected That's a third of the players. I also didn't hear much about R Kearney selection, BOD, Darcy (after Marshall got concussed) or Heaslip argued that much for the final game.

It is also arguable that for the second row back row options, it was Henderson's versatility that hampered TOD, Touhy, McCarthy, D Ryan as he is a great flex option and while Heaslip played every minute, Ruddock/Murphy were getting their places in part as their needed to be '8' cover.

No one has outright said that the wings have underperformed but then you have plenty of media looking for Trimble, Bowe and Zebo to be playing even though there are only 2 positions.

GunsGerms wrote:Leamy's article prior to the Ireland game in which he claimed there was a Leinster bias which could harm our WC chances:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/denis-leamy-questions-schmidt-selection-30091421.html

Schmidts response:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/joe-schmidt-denies-having-a-leinster-bias-1.1729932

“For me, I select Irish players. If people want to differentiate, if people want to divide that provincially, that’s their prerogative,” he said. “But, as a group, we’re just trying to select the Irish national team. If people are going to be distracted by provincial loyalties, then that is something that is certainly not happening within the group.

“I think there has been a super unity within the group. It is probably always disappointing to get criticised. I can totally understand the perception. But, what I can totally guarantee is that we have all the stats, we watch all the games and we try to do as much homework as we possibly can.”

Serious limitations as a man manager if he thinks selecting 90% of his players from the one province that he previously coached isn't going to affect morale in those that were excluded. Did he not see the criticism of Gatland for selecting mainly Welsh players for the Lions   

As I get told frequently here when I use stats to support a point of view, stats can be turned to suit any argument.

I'd be very surprised if those on the inside (i.e., getting selected) would complain about provincial bias - especially when they are mostly from Leinster.

I wonder who will be the next Rob Kearney who speaks up?

What do you suggest? Would he be a better "man Manager" if he put in place a quota system solely for bereaved Munster players? Or maybe a counselling hot line?

In all fairness given that ROG appears to worship the ground Schmidt walks on surely this means that the rest of Munster must also believe Schmidt to be perfect no? It probably wont be ROG who speaks up anyway.

I'd agree that the man shouldn't have been even asked to comment on Leamy after less than a year in charge and with a Championship already under his belt.

Leamy is entitled to his opinion but perhaps he should have applied for the Ireland job if he feels he'd have more sensitively handled the Provincial balancing act better and still win a Championship in a year when England and France were away games, coming from 9th in IRB rankings to 5th.

Plus...Leamy himself should realise the conditions set down by the competition itself.  Schmidt didn't have a lot of time to get players from outside Leinster to buy into or learn his ways.  He just hadn't the time to be teaching from the ground up, so in his first season he's bound to have trusted the players who knew him and his ways best - so that Ireland could attempt to hit the ground running as it were - which they did.

It's now up to the bulk of players from other Provinces to prove they are the players he wants and that they are genuinely prepared to do the work he is said to be giving them whilst at their Provinces.  It's no point saying Munster players are winning games their way and should be picked for their form doing so.  No - Ireland is now Schmidt's territory and the players must be capable of coming into Ireland to do it his way.  Afterall, not a lot of Leinster style play inhabited Irish gameplan theory during the tenure of the last coach.

Irish media loves controversy, bickering and moaning.  You just have to watch RTE news these last five or six years to know how much they gloat on financial misery, long winded moaning interviews by anyone with a moan to broadcast and endless hospital waiting lists stories.

So Joe - you won....but WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Why are you angering Leamy???!!!!!!!!  Answer the question!!!!!  Do not keep Leamy waiting for the answer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You're getting away with anti-Provincialisationism and we ain't gonna take it no more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GunsGerms wrote:In all fairness given that ROG appears to worship the ground Schmidt walks on surely this means that the rest of Munster must also believe Schmidt to be perfect no? It probably wont be ROG who speaks up anyway.

ROG is blowing smoke up his ass as he wants to come back to Ireland to coach and for that to happen he will need the Schmidt seal of approval.

Apart from picking Dave Kearney, Gordon D'arcy, Fergus McFadden, Jordi Murphy, Devin Toner, Martin Moore, Jack McGarth, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan and Rhys Ruddock I've seen absolutely no evidence of any Leinster bias whatsoever by Joe.

SecretFly wrote:
Leamy is entitled to his opinion but perhaps he should have applied for the Ireland job if he feels he'd have more sensitively handled the Provincial balancing act better and still win a Championship in a year when England and France were away games, coming from 9th in IRB rankings to 5th.

Leamy writes an opinion piece in the Indo. Thats his opinion and he is entitled to have it.
I don't agree that the end justifies the means (I also think his poor bench selection and substituting lost Ireland a Grand Slam).

Plus...Leamy himself should realise the conditions set down by the competition itself.  Schmidt didn't have a lot of time to get players from outside Leinster to buy into or learn his ways.  He just hadn't the time to be teaching from the ground up, so in his first season he's bound to have trusted the players who knew him and his ways best - so that Ireland could attempt to hit the ground running as it were - which they did.

Leamy has been involved with Ireland, knows more about the Provincial rivalry than either Schmidt or any of us. Its also worth noting that he is a very close friend of Rory Best so would no doubt be talking to more than just his pals in Munster who are left out of the squad.

It's now up to the bulk of players from other Provinces to prove they are the players he wants and that they are genuinely prepared to do the work he is said to be giving them whilst at their Provinces.  It's no point saying Munster players are winning games their way and should be picked for their form doing so.  No - Ireland is now Schmidt's territory and the players must be capable of coming into Ireland to do it his way.  Afterall, not a lot of Leinster style play inhabited Irish gameplan theory during the tenure of the last coach.

It seems to be that there is a coaching style clash between Munster and the rest of the provinces. Penney has a completely different philosophy to Schmidt in that he encourages the tall poppys to shine and likes to see players 'expressing themselves' playing heads up rugby. I think this is putting the Munster players in a horrible dilemma.

I'm ignoring the rest of your post because its just stupid raving!

Maybe Leinster players are responsible for teaching Joe. Afterall, they were winning HECs before him and he had to go to them to start winning them

Fair is fair - BOD taught Schmidt everything he knows. He owes Leinster slick whips his career and his reputation.

Now, how's about that for Provincialisationalism! If Leamy wants fighting talk, he'll get some.   

To be fair, I can think of a lot of Leinster fringe players who have been selected. But I can't think of one that hasn't gone out onto the pitch and justified that selection.

The only poor performance from one of these so-called contentious selections the whole Championship was Martin Moore when he came on in Paris and Debaty caused him all sorts of problems. I thought Debaty was allowed to get away with boring in at an an angle in every single scrum, though a more experienced tight head might have coped better- who knows? But across the tournament Moore showed loads of promise and he had a good Championship.

Everyone else was good. Much maligned players like Gordon D'Arcy and Devin Toner were outstanding in my opinion, really won over a lot of doubters (I would have doubted the credentials of both). McFadden was actually dropped from the team for a player from outside Leinster but still made a big impact every time he came onto the pitch. Probably the two least safe players going forward would be Jordi Murphy and Dave Kearney. I think a lot of people would see them dropping out of the 22 for the likes of Ferris, Bowe or Zebo. But even they did their jobs.

Sin... if the last two games of the championship from Ireland weren't 'heads up rugby', I don't know what is. Stop banging on like Munster are the only team in the world that give players license to attack. All the best sides in the world have players who can produce brilliant attacking moments and give them license to do so, but also insist that all 15 players must do the basics to an incredibly high standard.

Schmidt focusing on getting us doing the basics well first and foremost whilst slowly giving us more and more license to attack game by game is not 'tall poppy syndrome'. Its good coaching.

Rob Penney wrote:"I am loath to look beyond Treviso, but if we do and we just basically think about the ramifications of what has happened over the past three months, it is going to be Munster versus the Six Nations champions and a hardened Six Nations champions side and a quality side."

Careless comment from Penney, but maybe Munster need the chip on the shoulder to win...

Penney's completely different philosophy hasnt quite paid dividends yet has it?

In fairness he has tried to change Munster attitudes about how to play winning rugby but you cant teach old new dogs new tricks.

Sin é wrote:

I'm ignoring the rest of your post because its just stupid raving!

  You mean you're ignoring the RTE bit???  That was the best bit.     So you like RTE and the endless chit chat about hospital queues, waiting lists, death lists, waiting for death lists, lists of gunshot wound lists, health insurance lists, cronyism health insurance lists, phoney health insurance lists...... etc etc?

RTE - if the Recession doesn't kill you, we gotta a show here that just might, every day at Six!

Penny encouraged the tall poppies to shine so much they decided they didn't actually need him anymore.

Jordi Murphy on the bench but  not used in Paris! I would have had Donnacha Ryan & Henderson on the bench.

Tommy O'Donnell would have been better than Murphy on the bench against England (and not even Leinster fans can come up with a mistake he made that he was dropped completely from the squad because when he played he was good).

Then he dropped D Ryan as travelling sub for Paris game for Ruddock (Ryan has played both lock and 6 internationally) so Ruddock gets a 6Nations medal.

rodders wrote:Penny encouraged the tall poppies to shine so much they decided they didn't actually need him anymore.

Best of look to Penney - I hope he makes a fortune in Japan. Munster could never have managed to give him double what he is earning in Munster and a 3 year contract.

Luckily for us, we have a more than able coach ready to take over.

Mickado wrote:

Rob Penney wrote:"I am loath to look beyond Treviso, but if we do and we just basically think about the ramifications of what has happened over the past three months, it is going to be Munster versus the Six Nations champions and a hardened Six Nations champions side and a quality side."

Careless comment from Penney, but maybe Munster need the chip on the shoulder to win...

Maybe. It is quite sad though.

Mickado wrote:

Rob Penney wrote:"I am loath to look beyond Treviso, but if we do and we just basically think about the ramifications of what has happened over the past three months, it is going to be Munster versus the Six Nations champions and a hardened Six Nations champions side and a quality side."

Careless comment from Penney, but maybe Munster need the chip on the shoulder to win...

Well, Penney maybe trying to pick player's confidence up off the floor after the way Schmidt has treated them!

Penney is right though.  And I've alluded to it before.  Schmidt is giving Munster players their red flag for the rest of the season.  Lansdowne for round one of the fight back.  And I guarantee you, I'll enjoy it if it's a rout by the Munster boys.  Schmidt has come in and all of a sudden the player desire to 'prove themselves' has shot through the roof.  A long way from a short while ago when many Irish player's brains had stopped functioning whilst on Irish duty.

So I hope the Munster guys come charging into the remainder of the season now and Penney secretly loves the affected sense of wrong done.  He'll use every drop.  And if it all works to plan, we'll have a ton of players ready to destroy anything in front of them when Ireland hit Argentina.

Sin é wrote:Jordi Murphy on the bench but  not used in Paris! I would have had Donnacha Ryan & Henderson on the bench.

Tommy O'Donnell would have been better than Murphy on the bench against England (and not even Leinster fans can come up with a mistake he made that he was dropped completely from the squad because when he played he was good).

Then he dropped D Ryan as travelling sub for Paris game for Ruddock (Ryan has played both lock and 6 internationally) so Ruddock gets a 6Nations medal.

No one who was injured going into the tournament was selected though. Schmidt focussed on players that had a good run of games prior to the tournament did he not?

He didnt even bring two times 6 nations top try scorer Tommy Bowe back into the team even though he is one of our best players.

GunsGerms wrote:Penney's completely different philosophy hasnt quite paid dividends yet has it?

In fairness he has tried to change Munster attitudes about how to play winning rugby but you cant teach old new dogs new tricks.

Our dogs are still just puppies. Penney has done a great getting a group of very young players a home QF in the Heineken Cup (not to mention to a semi last year).

Sin é wrote:

Mickado wrote:

Rob Penney wrote:"I am loath to look beyond Treviso, but if we do and we just basically think about the ramifications of what has happened over the past three months, it is going to be Munster versus the Six Nations champions and a hardened Six Nations champions side and a quality side."

Careless comment from Penney, but maybe Munster need the chip on the shoulder to win...

Well, Penney maybe trying to pick player's confidence up off the floor after the way Schmidt has treated them!

Munster players don't care how Schmidt 'treated'them. All they want to do is play for him. That's the only fact out there. They want to play with Ireland because he's made it a sexy job again

So you would have had two players on the bench who are locks/blindsides instead of an open side, and that a lock/blindside should have been 24th man instead of a blindside/number eight? Thats your best argument?

No-one needs to find a reason why Jordi Murphy came in for O'Donnell if they watched the press conferences and kept an eye on Munsters and Irelands injury updates because the question was asked and the reason was provided by Schmidt. Tommy O'Donnell returned to Munster to get some game time on the weekend of the England game, having not played very much rugby due to Six Nations. In that game he subsequently picked up an injury which curtailed his training in the run-up to the Italy game and therefore didn't end up coming back into the 23 as expected.

If thats your biggest quibble- that Schmidt should have included two players who are mainly locks and can cover 6 instead of one and a more versatile specialist back row and a 50/50 call over the second choice openside didn't go one players way after he picked up a slight injury... well there's not much of substance there is there?

Sin é wrote:Jordi Murphy on the bench but  not used in Paris! I would have had Donnacha Ryan & Henderson on the bench.

Tommy O'Donnell would have been better than Murphy on the bench against England (and not even Leinster fans can come up with a mistake he made that he was dropped completely from the squad because when he played he was good).

Then he dropped D Ryan as travelling sub for Paris game for Ruddock (Ryan has played both lock and 6 internationally) so Ruddock gets a 6Nations medal.

Sounds like Schmidt was using the (build me up) buttercup approach rather than the shiny poppy one.

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:Penney's completely different philosophy hasnt quite paid dividends yet has it?

In fairness he has tried to change Munster attitudes about how to play winning rugby but you cant teach old new dogs new tricks.

Our dogs are still just puppies. Penney has done a great getting a group of very young players a home QF in the Heineken Cup (not to mention to a semi last year).

Well lets hope he can go all the way this year and some of the younger Munster players become accustomed as to what it takes to win the Hcup.

GunsGerms wrote:

Sin é wrote:Jordi Murphy on the bench but  not used in Paris! I would have had Donnacha Ryan & Henderson on the bench.

Tommy O'Donnell would have been better than Murphy on the bench against England (and not even Leinster fans can come up with a mistake he made that he was dropped completely from the squad because when he played he was good).

Then he dropped D Ryan as travelling sub for Paris game for Ruddock (Ryan has played both lock and 6 internationally) so Ruddock gets a 6Nations medal.

No one who was injured going into the tournament was selected though. Schmidt focussed on players that had a good run of games prior to the tournament did he not?

He didnt even bring two times 6 nations top try scorer Tommy Bowe back into the team even though he is one of our best players.

Fergus McFadden was parachuted in coming back from injury and some poor form.
Tommy O'Donnell was fit and was on the bench for a couple of games at the start of the 6 Nations.
D Ryan was dragged in because his fitness stats were so good in the game he played for Munster. Schmidt even mentioned on how good he was running the opposition lineout for 2 weeks.

He would have been able to sit on the plane to Paris as Ruddock as a travelling sub or warm the bench as Jordi Murphy did in Paris.

GunsGerms wrote:

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:Penney's completely different philosophy hasnt quite paid dividends yet has it?

In fairness he has tried to change Munster attitudes about how to play winning rugby but you cant teach old new dogs new tricks.

Our dogs are still just puppies. Penney has done a great getting a group of very young players a home QF in the Heineken Cup (not to mention to a semi last year).

Well lets hope he can go all the way this year and some of the younger Munster players become accustomed as to what it takes to win the Hcup.

Well Leinster failed last year to make the QFs, so I hope they haven't forgotten the trick.

Ulster haven't enjoyed much success in winning the Heineken Cup recently either.

If Munster make the semis again this year, I'd be very happy.

should schmidt offer a public apology to Munster for winning the six nations or should we just sack him now

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:Penney's completely different philosophy hasnt quite paid dividends yet has it?

In fairness he has tried to change Munster attitudes about how to play winning rugby but you cant teach old new dogs new tricks.

Our dogs are still just puppies. Penney has done a great getting a group of very young players a home QF in the Heineken Cup (not to mention to a semi last year).

Well lets hope he can go all the way this year and some of the younger Munster players become accustomed as to what it takes to win the Hcup.

Well Leinster failed last year to make the QFs, so I hope they haven't forgotten the trick.

Ulster haven't enjoyed much success in winning the Heineken Cup recently either.

If Munster make the semis again this year, I'd be very happy.

Munster havent made a final in years, they really are the team that needs to catch up on Leinster and Ulster. Sorry Sin put whatever spin you want on it but thats the way it is.

You Irish guys are so well balanced when it comes to these Provincial squabbles - a chip on both shoulders   

Notch wrote:So you would have had two players on the bench who are locks/blindsides instead of an open side, and that a lock/blindside should have been 24th man instead of a blindside/number eight? Thats your best argument?

No-one needs to find a reason why Jordi Murphy came in for O'Donnell if they watched the press conferences and kept an eye on Munsters and Irelands injury updates because the question was asked and the reason was provided by Schmidt. Tommy O'Donnell returned to Munster to get some game time on the weekend of the England game, having not played very much rugby due to Six Nations. In that game he subsequently picked up an injury which curtailed his training in the run-up to the Italy game and therefore didn't end up coming back into the 23 as expected.

If thats your biggest quibble- that Schmidt should have included two players who are mainly locks and can cover 6 instead of one and a more versatile specialist back row and a 50/50 call over the second choice openside didn't go one players way after he picked up a slight injury... well there's not much of substance there is there?

Jordi Murphy has played No. 7 twice in his career todate. Once against Connacht and more recently against Castres. He was taken off I think when he was responsible for letting Castres score a try. Leinster went better when Jennings came on. He is a fringe player with Leinster, mainly at 8.

POM plays right across the backrow (started during the summer at 8 for Ireland) and I think Henry has also played across the row. The only one who only plays 8 is Heislip.

Tommy O'Donnell was photographed training 4 days later with Munster when he was supposedly injured.

Enough fooling around though.

Serious question. Will POC, POM and Murray have difficulty now getting back into Munster? I mean there will be suspicions about them now surely? Too close to Schmidt for comfort..... too nicey nicey down the airport corridor shoulder to shoulder with the cup and all. Perhaps those lads might now be practical Schmidt double-agents?

Penney will have to do a full deprogramming on them so that none of the Schmidt cult schmaltz lingers in their IBM chipsets

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:

Sin é wrote:Jordi Murphy on the bench but  not used in Paris! I would have had Donnacha Ryan & Henderson on the bench.

Tommy O'Donnell would have been better than Murphy on the bench against England (and not even Leinster fans can come up with a mistake he made that he was dropped completely from the squad because when he played he was good).

Then he dropped D Ryan as travelling sub for Paris game for Ruddock (Ryan has played both lock and 6 internationally) so Ruddock gets a 6Nations medal.

No one who was injured going into the tournament was selected though. Schmidt focussed on players that had a good run of games prior to the tournament did he not?

He didnt even bring two times 6 nations top try scorer Tommy Bowe back into the team even though he is one of our best players.

Fergus McFadden was parachuted in coming back from injury and some poor form.
Tommy O'Donnell was fit and was on the bench for a couple of games at the start of the 6 Nations.
D Ryan was dragged in because his fitness stats were so good in the game he played for Munster. Schmidt even mentioned on how good he was running the opposition lineout for 2 weeks.

He would have been able to sit on the plane to Paris as Ruddock as a travelling sub or warm the bench as Jordi Murphy did in Paris.

I dont think Ryan was missed much to be honest. POC and Toner were outsanding as was anyone else who was given game time.

dummy_half wrote:You Irish guys are so well balanced when it comes to these Provincial squabbles - a chip on both shoulders   

Enjoy the ride. I know we certainly do.

GunsGerms wrote:

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:Penney's completely different philosophy hasnt quite paid dividends yet has it?

In fairness he has tried to change Munster attitudes about how to play winning rugby but you cant teach old new dogs new tricks.

Our dogs are still just puppies. Penney has done a great getting a group of very young players a home QF in the Heineken Cup (not to mention to a semi last year).

Well lets hope he can go all the way this year and some of the younger Munster players become accustomed as to what it takes to win the Hcup.

Well Leinster failed last year to make the QFs, so I hope they haven't forgotten the trick.

Ulster haven't enjoyed much success in winning the Heineken Cup recently either.

If Munster make the semis again this year, I'd be very happy.

Munster havent made a final in years, they really are the team that needs to catch up on Leinster and Ulster. Sorry Sin put whatever spin you want on it but thats the way it is.

Most recent results have Munster getting to a semi. Neither Leinster or Ulster managed that last season. Munster have lost least games this year as well I think across all comps, so I'm happy enough with that progress.

GunsGerms wrote:

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:

Sin é wrote:Jordi Murphy on the bench but  not used in Paris! I would have had Donnacha Ryan & Henderson on the bench.

Tommy O'Donnell would have been better than Murphy on the bench against England (and not even Leinster fans can come up with a mistake he made that he was dropped completely from the squad because when he played he was good).

Then he dropped D Ryan as travelling sub for Paris game for Ruddock (Ryan has played both lock and 6 internationally) so Ruddock gets a 6Nations medal.

No one who was injured going into the tournament was selected though. Schmidt focussed on players that had a good run of games prior to the tournament did he not?

He didnt even bring two times 6 nations top try scorer Tommy Bowe back into the team even though he is one of our best players.

Fergus McFadden was parachuted in coming back from injury and some poor form.
Tommy O'Donnell was fit and was on the bench for a couple of games at the start of the 6 Nations.
D Ryan was dragged in because his fitness stats were so good in the game he played for Munster. Schmidt even mentioned on how good he was running the opposition lineout for 2 weeks.

He would have been able to sit on the plane to Paris as Ruddock as a travelling sub or warm the bench as Jordi Murphy did in Paris.

I dont think Ryan was missed much to be honest. POC and Toner were outsanding as was anyone else who was given game time.

Who said he should have been starting ahead of POC or Toner? I said he should have been there instead of Jordi Murphy (a fringe Leinster player) with Henderson (who can cover blindside & lock as well).

He wasnt taken off against Castres he stayed on and scored the try in the last minute or 2. Murphy can play 6,7 or 8. Schmidt has said before he thinks hes a 7.

Anyway if your major gripe is his selection of 1 replacement in a championship winning team Id say you have no gripe at all.

I'd give it to the Autumn Internationals and then this comes to a head. A coup removes JS prior to the 6Ns when the IRFU announce that Axel and ROG as the new coaching ticket. New coaching set up selects Munster pack for the 6Ns with Murray at scrum half. Sexton gets the nod from Racing Metro solely due to his family links back to the Kingdom. Ulster centres take over the Darcy/BOD mantle with Payne getting the nod at fullback while Zebo and Bowe take the wings (people remember the time before JS was coach when Trimble was useless in green and fear he has regressed back to that level in the post-JS era).

Look we are lucky to have all 3 provinces competitive for the first time ever. All anyone is saying is that it is not helpful that EVERY SINGLE one of the 50/50 calls go Leinsters way.

There isnt a huge gulf in the 3 provinces so much so that 75% come from Leinster and in the LONG RUN this strategy will fester and while not a problem now it might not be the best way of going into a WC.

Im sure that this will sort itself out over the summer tour and AIs. In the mean time all players have the opportunity to prove themselves over the coming weeks.

Notch wrote:It's disgraceful he's been asked about this after winning a championship.

Did you read the article, Notch?

It was published on March 14th - BEFORE the game.

Be honest, everyone, Leamy is just publishing what a lot of people have noticed - not just in Ireland either. Leamy also says
You have to presume Joe Schmidt knows what he is doing and if they win the Championship tomorrow, there can't be much argument about it. He has gone with players he has worked with and is familiar with, guys he believes can execute the game plan he wants.
which is precisely what some of the posters on here have said.

The headline is provocative - that is what newspaper sub-editors do so that people will read the article.

Or how about this
Yet, I think what rankles with Munster people – and I suspect a similar view might be held by some folk up in Ulster – is that guys who aren't first choice in Leinster are still good enough for the national squad.

In fairness, that may also reflect the strength that Leinster have at the moment.
...

Schmidt has gone with players he is very familiar with and victory in Paris would justify those tight calls.
...

But the circle will need to be widened and having not done that in this Six Nations campaign, it narrows the opportunities.

Yet, you can understand the reasoning behind a lot of Schmidt's calls and at the outset of the competition it would have been a goal to be heading to Paris on the final weekend still in contention for the Championship.

Are we still complaining about what Leamy has written?

The Irish Times article begins:

A touch of parochialism landed on Joe Schmidt’s porch yesterday. It was only a matter of time. With the simple clarity of the teacher he once was, the Irish coach dealt with accusations of loving Leinster too much with bemused but cool detachment.

He was obviously asked about it in a press conference yesterday.

Leamy writing his piece before the France game is terrible timing and even worse than waiting until the game has been played. However, one suspects he wouldnt have written it after the game and probably regrets writing it now. Just a fairly pointless observation from Leamy as Schmidt has alluded to in his response.

Guns did you actually read Kias article - what particular piece gets you so offended - for once will you just calm down and stop being so defensive!!!

BlueMuff wrote:Guns did you actually read Kias article - what particular piece gets you so offended - for once will you just calm down and stop being so defensive!!!

Haha, had a good laugh when I read this. Ironically you seem to be the angry one yourself.

What particular part of my response has you so hot and bothered?

SecretFly wrote:Enough fooling around though.

Serious question.  Will POC, POM and Murray have difficulty now getting back into Munster?  I mean there will be suspicions about them now surely?  Too close to Schmidt for comfort..... too nicey nicey down the airport corridor shoulder to shoulder with the cup and all.  Perhaps those lads might now be practical Schmidt double-agents?

Penney will have to do a full deprogramming on them so that none of the Schmidt cult schmaltz lingers in their IBM chipsets

I'd say POC was just delighted to be back with his people in Munster.He was at training on Tuesday and is looking to be involved against Treviso at the weekend. Judging on the body language, I'd say that at best Schmidt & POC have just about an ok working relationship. The scenes after the 6Ns win in France reminded me of the Roy Keane's iconic handshake with Mick McCarthy after Ireland beat Holland to qualify for the world cup.

https://www.google.ie/search?q=joe+schmidt+paul+o%27connell&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=RcwpU6WoBYPNhAenqYDABw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1249&bih=897

Oh dear another conspiracy theory.

Did you know that Joe Schmidt is actually a cyborg that was made in Blockrock college as part of the young scientist competition a few years ago. His voice recognition software is programmed only to understand Leinster accents.

"back with his people" - this is great stuff.

GunsGerms wrote:Oh dear another conspiracy theory.

And what would I be conspiring to - overthrow the IRFU?   

POC was recently talking about the Dave Kearney kick - said he still thinks he shouldn't have been cited which is what Schmidt was calling for.