Title Decider 2: Wales v Ireland 14 March

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WALES v IRELAND
Saturday 14 March 2015
KO: 14:30
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
AR1: Chris Pollock (NZR)
AR2: Federico Anselmi (UAR)
TMO: Graham Hughes (RFU)

*****

The bookies are keeping with their earlier predictions of no GS winner above Ireland's chances. And same for the Triple Crown.  Though they have Ireland as favourites in Cardiff but not by much.

Given the distinct love-in that we've had over the last fortnight between Irish and English fans, are Wales now the new 'old enemy'?

Keep it clean folks.

Well a bit anyway.

Ireland team:
15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 14. Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 13. Jared Payne (Ulster) 12. Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht) 11. Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster) 10. Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92) 9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
1. Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 2. Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 3. Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster) 4. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 5. Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt) 6. Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 7. Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster) 8. Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster)

Replacements: 16. Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 17. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 18. Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster) 19. Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 20. Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 21. Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 22. Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster) 23. Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster)

Wales Team: Webb, Roberts, Biggar, North, Williams, Halfpenny, Davies, Jones, Falateau, Warburton, Jenkins, Baldwin, Lee.
Replacements: R Hibbard R Evans A Jarvis , J Ball J Tipuric , M Phillips , R Priestland , S Williams

MarcusHalberstram wrote:Am I right in remembering that Jordan Murphy suffered that leg break in one too?

We lost Morgan Stoddart for good after the England game too

It comes down again to that fine line and balancing act of trying to give players some match fitness against the risk of injury. By all accounts some of the training sessions teams put guys through these days are as intense as matches anyway so injury is a occupational hazard I guess.

With group games against England, Australia and Fiji, we will need strength in depth as there are going to be injuries I'm afraid. It would be a shame to get through such a difficult group to then falter because half your team is out. That's world cup rugby however and all squads will be stretched. For Ireland I think it would be the fear of losing the odd key player like Sexton, Murray or POC as their omission does affect the balance of the team IMO even though they have good replacements.

It seems Biggar is rapidly becoming the player Wales can't afford to loose. And of course there's always Mr PinPrick Accuracy himself. They wouldn't really like to lose him either.

So yeah. We all have a few cogs that seem to hold more weight than others in the department of 'Hope'.

At this moment in time I would say Samson Lee is the one player we can't afford to lose. Unless Gatland backed tracked over A Jones we simply have no one IMO anywhere near this level who could step in.

bedfordwelsh wrote:At this moment in time I would say Samson Lee is the one player we can't afford to lose.  Unless Gatland backed tracked over A Jones we simply have no one IMO anywhere near this level who could step in.

Ha! HA!

I knew I'd draw it out of some of you!

Thanks Bedford. Back to Schmidt head office for me so that he can key in Samson into his computer.

SecretFly wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:At this moment in time I would say Samson Lee is the one player we can't afford to lose.  Unless Gatland backed tracked over A Jones we simply have no one IMO anywhere near this level who could step in.

Ha! HA!

I knew I'd draw it out of some of you!

Thanks Bedford.  Back to Schmidt head office for me so that he can key in Samson into his computer.

Fly,

If Schimidt as good as you guys think he is then he would already know this after all he sees our Regions in action often enough.

bedfordwelsh wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:At this moment in time I would say Samson Lee is the one player we can't afford to lose.  Unless Gatland backed tracked over A Jones we simply have no one IMO anywhere near this level who could step in.

Ha! HA!

I knew I'd draw it out of some of you!

Thanks Bedford.  Back to Schmidt head office for me so that he can key in Samson into his computer.

Fly,

If Schimidt as good as you guys think he is then he would already know this after all he sees our Regions in action often enough.

He's not as good as we think  That's the secret.  He's a well planned cover-story.  The true one is the network of infiltrators, spies and double agents we have situated in very sensitive places in all the top rugby nations......

Wayne Barnes has now been appointed as ref for the match after Steve Welsh (oops Walsh) pulled out.

So god knows how this game will go now, at least Barnes is likely to be as poor for both sides.

Forward passes all afternoon.

bedfordwelsh wrote:Wayne Barnes has now been appointed as ref for the match after Steve Welsh (oops Walsh) pulled out.

Ah fook it!

bedfordwelsh wrote:Wayne Barnes has now been appointed as ref for the match after Steve Welsh (oops Walsh) pulled out.

So god knows how this game will go now, at least Barnes is likely to be as poor for both sides.

Bad news for us. He's already reffed us this season and let us win. He never likes being too generous to us........ "Move away Paul. Move away, I'm not listening! I let yous win against France. Now it's another yellow for your 10 and that's final! Two stints on the sideline will teach him manners"

Looks like none of us are happy with his appointment.

Barnes will appreciate Warby's deferential attitude while not being able to understand a word of POC's larrikin chatter. Game is ours. Steve Welsh is only really interested in defeating England so wouldn't have expected much from him anyway.

I don't know what happend to the other thread about kissing the Grand Slam good bye. Simpy because Steve Walsh has pulled out and Waynee Barnes is taking over.

Is this a case of Blaming the ref before the game is played? a win for Wales/ or a loss for Ireland will be because of Wayne Barnes and no other reason......Shame pure shame.

majesticimperialman wrote:I don't know what happend to the other thread about kissing the Grand Slam good bye. Simpy because Steve Walsh has pulled out and Waynee Barnes is taking over.

Is this a case of Blaming the ref before the game is played? a win for Wales/ or a loss for Ireland will be because of Wayne Barnes and no other reason......Shame pure shame.

Basically yeah...or the other way round will work too.  There's always a ref to hide the blushes... Thankfully we won't need ref blusher.

majesticimperialman wrote:I don't know what happend to the other thread about kissing the Grand Slam good bye. Simpy because Steve Walsh has pulled out and Waynee Barnes is taking over.

Is this a case of Blaming the ref before the game is played? a win for Wales/ or a loss for Ireland will be because of Wayne Barnes and no other reason......Shame pure shame.

No I think there is every chance of Wales beating us on merit, and if so I can live with that for sure - no one is owed a slam, you have to earn it game by game.

However if a tight game is influenced by Barnes then I won't be happy. IMO he single handledly brought France back in the game in Dublin, so he may have already cost us the title if it goes to points difference.

That said I think there is actually more pressure on Wales to win this - 4 from 5 and wins over England and France would be a decent return for Ireland and enough to build on for the RWC...for Wales to lose twice at home would be a big blow for them.

The pressure is undoubtedly on the Welsh but the expectation is on the Irish…this is their chance to really take a huge leap forward and if they do it then watch out NZ.
I think with most sides in this position you would wonder if they would choke, but with Schmidt at the helm the expectation is justified. Having said that Wales will win, but only very just.

I would have thought the Irish would have been more concerned if Walsh was reffing us, his style/interpetations certainly seems to suit us more than barnes

GavinDragon wrote:I would have thought the Irish would have been more concerned if Walsh was reffing us, his style/interpetations certainly seems to suit us more than barnes

Walsh doesn't have a history of shafting us.

But if you believe English fans he has a history of being lenient to us so either way your f%^*d

GavinDragon wrote:But if you believe English fans he has a history of being lenient to us so either way your f%^*d

No he is biased against England and I do believe that there is truth in that.

He is a bit of a head case though. Apparently he has a tattoo that says he who controls himself controls the game.

Walsh loves to spoil a party, especially an English one, whereas Barnes just likes to make the biggest play of the game whatever it is good or bad.
Gethin might be the problem i think.

Barnes doesn't only shaft Ireland he also favours Wales as per the game three years ago. Maybe everything balances out in the end?

Stephen Walsh and Wayne Barnes are both exemplary referees. Any perceived bias is in the minds of beholders. They couldn't give a sh!ite about the outcome.

One hopes Cian Healy won't 'accidentally' take out Warby at scrum time again. I played loosie for 25 years, never hit the oppo 7 in the face.

Gwlad wrote:Walsh loves to spoil a party, especially an English one, whereas Barnes just likes to make the biggest play of the game whatever it is good or bad.
Gethin might be the problem i think.

That said I think it's in England's interest for Wales to win this one so that may sway Barnesies decision making more to Wales....

Gwlad wrote:One hopes Cian Healy won't 'accidentally' take out Warby at scrum time again. I played loosie for 25 years, never hit the oppo 7 in the face.

I'd bet Healy has done a lot of things on a rugby field that you (or any of us on here) have never managed to do.

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Gwlad wrote:One hopes Cian Healy won't 'accidentally' take out Warby at scrum time again. I played loosie for 25 years, never hit the oppo 7 in the face.

I'd bet Healy has done a lot of things on a rugby field that you (or any of us on here) have never managed to do.

So true. Not once in my life have I stamped on Dan Cole, more's the pity.

Griff wrote:Not once in my life have I stamped on Dan Cole, more's the pity.

Interested as to why you would want to?

LondonTiger wrote:

Griff wrote:Not once in my life have I stamped on Dan Cole, more's the pity.

Interested as to why you would want to?

Banter.

LondonTiger wrote:

Griff wrote:Not once in my life have I stamped on Dan Cole, more's the pity.

Interested as to why you would want to?

Isn't that on everyone's bucket list. :-D

profitius wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:

Griff wrote:Not once in my life have I stamped on Dan Cole, more's the pity.

Interested as to why you would want to?

Isn't that on everyone's bucket list. :-D

Replace Cole with Ashton and maybe .

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Gwlad wrote:One hopes Cian Healy won't 'accidentally' take out Warby at scrum time again. I played loosie for 25 years, never hit the oppo 7 in the face.

I'd bet Healy has done a lot of things on a rugby field that you (or any of us on here) have never managed to do.

ANd your point is?

Gwlad wrote:

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Gwlad wrote:One hopes Cian Healy won't 'accidentally' take out Warby at scrum time again. I played loosie for 25 years, never hit the oppo 7 in the face.

I'd bet Healy has done a lot of things on a rugby field that you (or any of us on here) have never managed to do.

ANd your point is?

...that you don't kick a man when he's down??

have been away cycling this weekend!

however, i just saw the interesting pro12 results this weekend!

did the welsh clubs really complete a clean sweep on the provinces?

does provincial rugby have that little strength in depth while 6N is on, or does Wales just have lots?

does this mean anythinf for the weekend? will the boys in red feel that little bit inspired?

quinsforever wrote:have been away cycling this weekend!

however, i just saw the interesting pro12 results this weekend!

did the welsh clubs really complete a clean sweep on the provinces?

does provincial rugby have that little strength in depth while 6N is on, or does Wales just have lots?

does this mean anythinf for the weekend? will the boys in red feel that little bit inspired?

Hmmm....how to respond..... so many questions.

Good, hope you enjoyed
Yes, interesting
Absolutely
Neither - as it's only a league for child's play anyway.  Nothing serious ever happens that would influence anything of a deeper nature that might be strong .
No - different weekend, different game.
France already inspired them sufficiently

really looking forward to the game. so much history (gatland and lions), so much potentail (for 606 trouble), so much excitement (with the pre-match fireworks at MS ), so much to play for (Slam vs potential 6N title for Eng/Wal/Ire)

and if the breakdown is clean, there might be some fantastic rugby to savour too.

a big good luck to all the fans.

Yeah.  I'm relaxed before the storm all weekend.  Tomorrow will be the first tingle of nerves as I begin to build up anticipation.

Rorke's Drift once more.  The Welsh singing Men of Harlech as we crash our shields and sneak through the long grass.

IMO, if wales shunned all the fireworks, all the pre-match entertainment, all the everything. The atmosphere and tension would be epic. And obviously no tunnel brinkmanship either Gatland.

use the artifices for matches which need the buildup. this one doesnt. the england one didnt.

quinsforever wrote:IMO, if wales shunned all the fireworks, all the pre-match entertainment, all the everything. The atmosphere and tension would be epic. And obviously no tunnel brinkmanship either Gatland.

use the artifices for matches which need the buildup. this one doesnt. the england one didnt.

I agree, but this game is 2.30 on Saturday so I doubt the roof will be shut (as long as it's not pouring down) and I doubt there will be a light show. Just a guess. But we tend to save that for the night time/after dark games (which I appreciate we can also replicate with the roof shut to a certain extent).

The 2005 Grand Slam game at the MS vs Ireland was great - roof open, glorious sunshine, I even caught the sun in one of many beer gardens that day in Cardiff. More of that please, and less of the pantomime. The England game was like an episode of Gladiators. Awooooga!

Good one.  Each player on both sides should have their individual boxing-style introductions to further up the schmaltz.
"And Now................. in the Green corner............... the undisputed, the undeniable, the supreme being of bludgeon and blood; the Powerful and Pompous Player of Pain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Eooooooinnnnnn Redddddaaaaannnnnn!!!!!!"

"Aaaaaaaaand in the red corner, representing Wales, Engerland, weighing in at 280 pounds, the king of the skies, the boiler room chief, the lineout maverick: Luuuuuuke 'The Roof Inspector' Charterissssssss!"

I wonder what Wales' tactics will be. I'm guessing they will play with a bit more width than usual and try and really test the Irish defense out wide rather than up the middle which is easier for us to defend as demonstrated v France.

Ireland had a lot of success in the maul v Wales last year but it has been much documented that Wales maul defense this year has been quite good. I wonder what gaps Schmidt will look to exploit this time?

Interestingly if it comes down to kicks I think Ireland will win. Sexton has a better kicking percentage than 1/2penny this campaign and Ireland concede fewer penalties on average than all other teams. Wales would have definitely lost to France if France had a kicker with a decent average.

Do you think that Schmidt will move away from the kicking game then Guns or stick with what's working first?

Well I can definitely see that Gatland has his jumpers primed and up-to-speed for an Ireland aerial assault, going on the dramatics of Welsh catchers to date.
But I wouldn't at all then be surprised that Ireland's stats for the next game might show relatively little kicking.
I think if Wales set themselves up for going wide then I think Ireland will punch harder through any softening middle - Perhaps even using some 'offloads' to achieve it!!!

Against France we saw a very rare beast: Wales using the driving maul, and actually doing it well. We've never been masters of that but it worked well and we got points from penalties for France bringing it down and made quite a few yards. Not sure if that's just to do with France being all over the place as a team? But would like to see it used again. Ireland will be much at stopping it though I'm sure.

Also, we've never managed to cope with your 'choke tackle' thingy. You know, where you hold us up off the floor so we can't form a ruck and then you get the turnover. We're rubbish at executing them ourselves too.

One thing I've mentioned before re. tactics is that Wales seem to try to draw other teams into playing at our slow pace. We seem to want to take the fizz out of the game, truck it up slowly and the BANG, when the opposition have been lulled into a false sense of security or are nearly asleep after phase 10 (assuming we've still got the ball) the we'll snipe around the fringes, or get a winger cutting through from deep, or the kick through. But that takes discipline to get through that many phases and to truck up to the right part of the pitch. It also requires securing the ball every time.

Worked well against France. However, we don't seem to be able to draw Ireland into this game. We can't take the fizz out of them. In the last 2 games we've literally just been blown away by the ruck speed and intensity of Ireland. We can't cope unless at our own pace. So Ireland should be looking to blast the rucks, turn us over with choke tackles, play for territory and pressure our creaking lineout. Wales need to surprise Ireland more with changes from the norm and to try to increase the speed and intensity of our phase play which might stop us getting turnover as easily in the past against the men in green.

Well that weekend went well - the Irish players all got used to getting shafted by the officals in Wales and Wayne Barnes got plenty of practice in penalising players for legitimate breakdown work.....

I warned you not to put the full 30grand on the Irish win, rodders. I said something might come up. But nope - you had to be the big spender....

Ireland name a 36-man training squad for rounds 4 and 5 without Gordon D'Arcy. Now that D'Arcy can't make the wider training squad even with Luke Marshall and Stuart Olding both unavailable, that must be it for his international career no?

Ireland training squad for rounds four and five of Six Nations

Forwards (20)
Michael Bent (Dublin University/Leinster)
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster)
Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Mike McCarthy (Leinster)
Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Tommy O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Dan Touhy (Ulster)

Backs (16)
Isaac Boss (Terenure/Leinster)
Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster)
David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster)
Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
Jared Payne (Ulster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92)
Simon Zebo (Cork Con/Munster)