The Dew Drop Inn Virtual Rugby Pub

by Adam D Sat May 28, 2011 8:21 am

First topic message reminder :

Space reserved for opening comments from the landlady/

by Cari Mon May 30, 2011 10:25 am

Why only you and Hughie Munsty?

Can we all be optimistic about Ireland's chances too? Jebus knows I'm not about Wales!

by prop_lyd Mon May 30, 2011 10:31 am

Awesome, cheers Munsty...will have to watch that match after I get through series 1 of Blackadder!!

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 10:32 am

On the point of Best, I think he is very important to this side. A large part of the improvement of the scrum has been labelled Mike Ross but Best deserves more than a little bit of credit.

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 10:32 am

Cari,

I designate you to be the person optimistic about Wales chances!

by Glas a du Mon May 30, 2011 10:34 am

Surely Dreamer is aptly named to share that task?

by Cari Mon May 30, 2011 10:38 am

Glas a du wrote:Surely Dreamer is aptly named to share that task?

Good idea! Very Happy

by **Notch** Mon May 30, 2011 10:40 am

Hmmm, his discipline has been an issue but I'm not sure its something he can't sort himself.

The combination between hooker and tighthead is often crucial Munsty. When Best's lineout throwing is good, he's by far our best hooker. And it's good more often than it's not. Every other element of the game he's fantastic. He can deliver top quality performances in the lineout like the ones he did against England and Wales, and yet sometimes he has a poor game. It seems to be when he gets wound up on the pitch he loses his composure; there's nothing wrong with his technique at all. And to be fair to him, he's often copped a lot of flak for the lineout malfunctioning when the call has been poor or the jump mistimed but against Leinster there he threw poorly. He'd just have one game every once in a while where the darts go a bit wrong. And yet he's had games for Ireland where he's been the model of consistency in the lineout.

by mickyt Mon May 30, 2011 10:47 am

was hoping for a handy day today but our phone lines have gone down today and I have been ordered up to the MD office to get something sorted.

it's not that I can do anything since the UK control alot of this and are on the bank holiday over there.

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 10:49 am

Glas,

She's moderator on here. Already got her hands full. Optimist is a full time job.

Why didn't they take the Barbarians game somewhere else yesterday?

by AsLongAsBut100ofUs Mon May 30, 2011 10:53 am

Excellent chat last night from our Irish contingent - interestingly the Torygraph had an article along similar lines today [Daily Telegraph] about how promising the future looks - full marks to the Irish academies for cranking out these guys thumbsup

New Chiefs shirt for next season: Exeter - just click on the Chiefs logo. Glad to see the back of the 'slash', altho it looks like the away shirt stays the same

by MR. scotland27 Mon May 30, 2011 10:54 am

Morning all, bit sad this morning as there not too much rugby for a while, just a bit of cricket...... Cry

by red_stag Mon May 30, 2011 10:55 am

What do people think the various countries strongest position and weakest positions are for the World Cup.

by poissonrouge Mon May 30, 2011 10:56 am

I have pretty high hopes for Ireland in the RWC too - don't know if they can win it maybe - thats an if, but I reckon they have the beating of Australia in the pool and that would give them a easy run to the final I think.So long as they dont self destruct over the summer

by poissonrouge Mon May 30, 2011 10:57 am

Win pool C - then beat Wales (2nd pool D) then beat England or France(winner QF2?)

by MR. scotland27 Mon May 30, 2011 10:58 am

It is probably going to be BOD's last hoorah along with a few others I suspect, this may give Ireland a bit more hunger than they had for the last world cup.

by red_stag Mon May 30, 2011 11:01 am

Also statment made by Rog was something like - we've only lost 7 games in all competitions this year. We were good enough to be playing Leinster in the Heineken Cup final last week.

Is it true or is that a bit over the top? Would Munster have seriously been able to beat Perpignan away and then Northampton away?

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 11:03 am

It wouldn't be an easy run to the final, just better than what the other option is.

Well I'm confident in the knowledge As will be buying me a pint after this World Cup.

by red_stag Mon May 30, 2011 11:03 am

I wonder would Ireland be able to beat the French in a World Cup semi final. France seems to be a stumbling block for us along with NZ.

by MR. scotland27 Mon May 30, 2011 11:04 am

red_stag wrote:Also statment made by Rog was something like - we've only lost 7 games in all competitions this year. We were good enough to be playing Leinster in the Heineken Cup final last week.

Is it true or is that a bit over the top? Would Munster have seriously been able to beat Perpignan away and then Northampton away?

No they were fairly abysmal during the chance they had to get far in the Heineken, and they also blew their chance to win the amlin challenge cup as well, very arrogant from ROG in my opinion.

by **Notch** Mon May 30, 2011 11:05 am

red_stag wrote:What do people think the various countries strongest position and weakest positions are for the World Cup.

Ireland's strongest position- 6.
Weakest position- 9.

Munster could have been good enough to win against Saints away in a one-off game, but they weren't good enough to register an away win against a few weaker sides in the group stages so it's a moot point.

by poissonrouge Mon May 30, 2011 11:05 am

OK - out on a limb here
My prediction/hopes

Pool 1 - NZ win France runnerup
Pool 2 England win Argentina/? Scotland runner up
Pool 3 Ireland win Australia runner up
Pool 4 SA win Wales runner up

QF1 Ireland
QF2 England/?France
QF3 SA
QF4 NZ

SF1 Ireland
SF2 NZ

Final - (big if) IRELAND

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 11:28 am

Just looking at some of the players off contract at Stade Francais.

Ollie Philips, James Haskell, Juan Leguizamon, Mauro Bergamasco and Hugo Southwell.

Some good players there.

by red_stag Mon May 30, 2011 11:29 am

The semis I'm predicting are Ireland, France, NZ and South Africa. I don't expect Ireland would beat France or NZ.

by MR. scotland27 Mon May 30, 2011 11:30 am

It think Aus definitely have a better chance of making the semi's than SA, they are also a more exciting team to watch in general as well.

by red_stag Mon May 30, 2011 11:33 am

Scotland, they are more exciting (IMO best backlien in World) but in World Cup knockout I'd back SA. Drew Mitchell will be a loss to them.

by **Ozzy3213** Mon May 30, 2011 11:36 am

MBTGOG wrote:Just looking at some of the players off contract at Stade Francais.

Ollie Philips, James Haskell, Juan Leguizamon, Mauro Bergamasco and Hugo Southwell.

Some good players there.

London Irish are in talks with Haskell after the Fourie deal fell through. Not sure we can afford him though.

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 11:38 am

Mitchell is a blow but it is at inside centre where Australia will be hoping someone comes through.

Ioane is a fine replacement for Mitchell.

by **Notch** Mon May 30, 2011 11:39 am

MBTGOG wrote:Just looking at some of the players off contract at Stade Francais.

Ollie Philips, James Haskell, Juan Leguizamon, Mauro Bergamasco and Hugo Southwell.

Some good players there.

Aironi should break the bank to try and get Mauro Bergamasco. Bringing more stars of the national team into the region can only be good for them. Add Bergamasco to Masi and Orquera, and things start looking good.

It'll be interesting to see who goes and who stays. Some of those may have ben waiting to see if Stade made the Heineken- I'm thinking of Haskell in particular.

by red_stag Mon May 30, 2011 11:40 am

Pete he'd be a great signing. Tell you what wouldn't mind seeing him at Munster for that matter. IMO we need an experienced backrow. Sadly we need our last NIQ slot for a centre. In an ideal world we wouldn't have Borlase.

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 11:45 am

Haskell would be a fine fit for Irish with Gibson on the other flank.

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 11:48 am

Notch,

When you see this, Dominic Gallagher has been selected for the Irish U20s. I know you're worried about Ulster backrows. Keep an eye out for this fella.

by red_stag Mon May 30, 2011 11:51 am

Is he the lad in college with your brother Munsty that you were on about?

by **Notch** Mon May 30, 2011 11:55 am

Yes I've heard of Dom Gallagher, I'm looking forward to seeing him play again. The coverage of the U20s is on Sky isn't it?

We don't seem to have much luck with backrows. We've produced a lot of good backrows, but... Roger Wilson and Neil Best left, David Pollock had to retire, Ferris has had a horrible record with injuries. Guys like Chris Henry and Willie Faloon I would have seen as good squad players covering the real stars of our backrow but our backrow is cursed!

I honestly thought at this stage our flankers would be 6. Ferris and 7. Pollock, as good a combination as you'd find anywhere. Pollock retired, and we all hope Ferris does not follow...

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 11:58 am

He is Stag. My brother has played with and against a lot of the top young backrows coming through and I've never heard him speak as highly about a player as Gallagher.

Notch,

It has been a shame with what has happened at Ulster back row wise but at least it means something is going right.

by **Notch** Mon May 30, 2011 12:03 pm

Yeah, but I think the backrow well is drying up now. Things tend to come in cycles. Right now there are loads of good backs, a few good front rows (Macklin, McAllister and Annett) nothing in the back five of the pack.

Did you see the thing I posted about Ulsters Giant Challenge?

http://www.ulsterrugby.com/news/9374.php

We're desperate to get big guys who could play lock, number 8 etc.

So the importance of guys like Dominic Gallagher and Ian Henderson doing well for the U20s is obvious.

by **Ozzy3213** Mon May 30, 2011 12:04 pm

Haskell would be a good signing for us Munsty, as we really need a ball carrier in the back row now that Steffon and George Stowers are gone.

Hope it comes off, but am not holding my breath!

by red_stag Mon May 30, 2011 12:05 pm

I still can't believe Munster haven't bought a backrow in last few years. We are struggling there.

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 12:06 pm

Notch,

There's enough there to keep that backrow going well for a little bit yet until the next lot come through. What about Dave McGuigan? What happened to him?

Oh and yes it is on Sky Sports, S4C and also the iRB website. The iRB do actually promote it very well. Some good minds in charge of this competition.

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 12:08 pm

Stag,

I think it's because they've not been given the chance. I'd like to have seen O'Mahoney and O'Donnell get more games in the past year but.......

To be fair, Coughlan has come through in the past few years Wink

by **Notch** Mon May 30, 2011 12:12 pm

Yeah, McGuigan- did very well in Schools Rugby. He's definitely a decent prospect. There'll be a few years before guys start coming through again. The guys we have now will need a few years to get up to speed with the physicality.

I often think of Scott La Valla, and wonder about him. There's the NIQ issue but he's definitely the sort of athlete we would need. Not to sure about the rest of his game.

I like Coughlan a lot. He works incredibly hard, is consistent, tough and has good hands and is a good footballer. I think he's one of the unsung heroes of the ML season.

by red_stag Mon May 30, 2011 12:14 pm

O'Donnell got 12 Magners League games this year. These guys are too fresh. We needed to bring in someone on a 2 year deal like George Smith or Luke Watson and I think we missed out badly.

by Glas a du Mon May 30, 2011 12:18 pm

red_stag wrote:Scotland, they are more exciting (IMO best backlien in World) but in World Cup knockout I'd back SA. Drew Mitchell will be a loss to them.

Stag! Call him something else will you, you almost gave me a heart attack!

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 12:19 pm

12 games but only started 5.

Notch,

Don't want to use my brother too much as a reference but LaValla being another Trinity player, it works. He says that he is a fantastic athlete but not a good footballer.

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 12:23 pm

Watching the Barbarians game. They're talking up Paul Hodgson, who in my opinion is having a shocker.*

*Using present tense as I'm watching it "live".

by **Notch** Mon May 30, 2011 12:24 pm

MBTGOG wrote:12 games but only started 5.

Notch,

Don't want to use my brother too much as a reference but LaValla being another Trinity player, it works. He says that he is a fantastic athlete but not a good footballer.

Certainly my impression of him when he played for the Ravens.

by Glas a du Mon May 30, 2011 12:24 pm

Stag, I really struggled with your strong/weak positions thing with Wales. For example, you'd say we were weak at 8, yet only on ball carrying and Faletau waits in the wings. We are strong at prop, but an injury or two and we'd be very weak. The way Gatland selects his team we are weak at 9 but we have a number of top quality 9's in reality, likewise 12 and 15, it's just that Gatlands limited game plan and selection criteria is not allowing players like Peel, Leach and Hewitt to prosper.

by MBTGOG Mon May 30, 2011 12:32 pm

Notch,

Hasn't McComish signed for Ulster? What do you think of that? Quite underwhelming I would have thought.

by Mick(TEFC) Mon May 30, 2011 12:35 pm

Weakest position in the French squad is the coach.

Stade Français have so many players off contract because there is a strong possibility that they'll be in ProD2 next season.They should have appeared before the DNACG (financial watchdog) last Friday,but were given a reprieve(unlike other clubs) until tomorrow.With a deficit of at least 4m Euros, proof will have to be shown that the new Canadian consortium is willing to throw money at them.With former French coach/Sports Minister for Le Nabot,Bernard Laporte, in charge of sorting this out,things look a little bleak.La Rochelle are eagerly awaiting the result!

by red_stag Mon May 30, 2011 12:38 pm

Mick it seems that French rugby is extremely unstable financially. Is there a danger that in a few years the whole league will bankrupt itself.

by Cari Mon May 30, 2011 12:49 pm

Ariiigh, woss occurrin?

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