Ireland v Wales 24/02/2018 14:15

First topic message reminder :

So, Wales have gone with Dan Biggar, Liam Williams & Leigh Halfpenny for the game against Ireland. George North & Gareth Anscombe drop to the bench, and Rhys Patchell & Josh Adams drop out of the match day squad. Not bad decisions in my opinion, though I think I might have had Patchell on the bench over Anscombe... and possibly switched Halfpenny & Williams- I just think Williams offers more threat from fullback than Halfpenny does.

Wales Team:
Halfpenny (Scarlets); L Williams (Saracens), S Williams (Scarlets), Parkes (Scarlets), S Evans (Scarlets); Biggar (Ospreys), G Davies (Scarlets); R Evans (Scarlets), Owens (Scarlets), Lee (Scarlets), Hill (Dragons), AW Jones (Ospreys capt), Shingler (Scarlets), Navidi (Cardiff Blues), Moriarty (Gloucester).

Replacements:
Dee (Dragons), W Jones (Scarlets), Francis (Exeter Chiefs), B Davies (Ospreys), Tipuric (Ospreys), A Davies (Scarlets), Anscombe (Blues), North (Northampton).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/43127349

Ireland Team:
Kearney; Earls, Farrell, Aki, Stockdale; Sexton, Murray; Healy, Best (capt), Porter; James Ryan, Toner; O'Mahony, Leavy, Stander.

Replacements: Cronin, McGrath, John Ryan, Roux, Conan, Marmion, Carbery, McFadden.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/43152956

We've been boycotted.  

Ain't no love like their used to be in this old competition.

Is collapse not guns? I've said before on here I don't rate team accomplishment s as a judge for players anyway. Personally don't rate sexton as a player to rival Wilkinson some will. Think that ford and Farrell whether you think the latter as a ten will go on to better over their career. Next guy that looks a little special is smith. Watch this space.

Love his weekend as scotland england is the match I always look forward to due to history and personal friendships and at the moment wales ireland is a damn good match up.

I've been more and more impressed with Sexton in this last year or so than I've been at any time in his career.  I don't really care how he's rated by anyone outside, or by Gatland or any of that.  

All I know is that he is a clear and present figurehead for the team, not just for his obvious 10 work but because he's heart and soul into a full on performance always.  He gets stuck in to defending, he's barking and whining and intense when other players are thinking too much about Schmidtactics and forgetting their own personal part in the by-numbers strategies.
He's the soul of this Ireland team by the force of his personality.  The players feel more comfortable with him around. (They may call him a bollix under their breath for his moans and whines  - but they want him there)
He's become a special Irish player for me.  I always hoped he would become so but it's only recently that I've really come to appreciate how good he is for us.  I hope he gets another four or five years - I just get the sense he's not had his best days yet.

For me, I would have either of Sexton or POM as captain. Rory Best is a very good player but I don't feel he is forceful enough with referee's whereas Sexton and POM are. A captain that can be influential on referees is worth their weight in gold these days.

eirebilly wrote:For me, I would have either of Sexton or POM as captain. Rory Best is a very good player but I don't feel he is forceful enough with referee's whereas Sexton and POM are. A captain that can be influential on referees is worth their weight in gold these days.

I can tell you Best is one of the best at influencing the ref. He asks them questions calmly when no one is really watching, but it's the subtle way he phrases his questions.
Just watch him today

Sexton annoys refs too much to be captain and I doubt he could rein it in

No, Rory is grand for Captain.  You don't need to be official Captain anyway in a team like Ireland that always has a smattering of 'old head' pseudo Captains floating around all over the field.
The only thing I realise in the Sexton v Rory thing is that Rory tends to be cautious when Sexton is more impulsive about decisions as regards taking points or going for the corner.  Sexton mostly wants to impose dominance if Ireland are playing well - sometimes Rory overrules him and says it's 3 points instead.

carpet baboon wrote:

eirebilly wrote:For me, I would have either of Sexton or POM as captain. Rory Best is a very good player but I don't feel he is forceful enough with referee's whereas Sexton and POM are. A captain that can be influential on referees is worth their weight in gold these days.

I can tell you Best is one of the best at influencing the ref. He asks them questions calmly when no one is really watching, but it's the subtle way he phrases his questions.
Just watch him today

Do you think so? For me he is easily dismissed by the referees. Maybe its just me but I prefer Captains to be constantly in referees ears which is what Sexton and POM do.

SecretFly wrote:No, Rory is grand for Captain.  You don't need to be official Captain anyway in a team like Ireland that always has a smattering of 'old head' pseudo Captains floating around all over the field.
The only thing I realise in the Sexton v Rory thing is that Rory tends to be cautious when Sexton is more impulsive about decisions as regards taking points or going for the corner.  Sexton mostly wants to impose dominance if Ireland are playing well - sometimes Rory overrules him and says it's 3 points instead.

Best is cautious, I do believe that. Sexton and POM like to take the risk for maximum points. I like that

I guess it's more that you have to know when to get in the ear of a ref as all refs are different in how they react to a more vocal or continuously complaining ref captain.  Poite for example:  he doesn't like players hounding him all the time and if they keep it up with the whines then that can have a negative effect on how Poite might ref the rest of the game.  Ref personality needs to be studied before over-doing the vocals with them.

Sure, that is a major part of the game these days Fly, understanding the referee.

I do not mind Best as Captain but would prefer a more either Sexton or POM to lead.

This has been one bizarre Ireland v Wales build up thread.  
Strange days indeed.  

As my grandfather used to joke: "It's either for good weather or bad weather".  

There is a lot of anxiety in the air about this one.  
Yet I think that if Ireland are menacing enough, if they can get into a mood and into performance levels they'd bring to a game against New Zealand, then we can have smiles on our faces by evening.  
But this game MUST include emotion as much as technique.  The players have to know when to inject adrenalin into this contest.  It's not a game that will be won by just going through the procedures and trusting to the 'system'.  There'll have to be a few sparks of individual bullishness or creativity to get us in the mood to repulse anything the Welsh have planned.  A correct mood has to come hand in hand with the clockwork systems and the hitting of 'performance' markers.

I do not like it when the Welsh fans are quiet on here, a definite air of confidence seems to be surrounding them...

eirebilly wrote:I do not like it when the Welsh fans are quiet on here, a definite air of confidence seems to be surrounding them...

Yes, billy...it is either an air of confidence...or maybe a degree of fear too.

Neither sets of fans of these two sides can claim they are comfortable about the result. It's a nail-biter for coaches and fans alike, both sides. So maybe just a mood of 'say nothing and hope...hope...hope'. In other words, a mood of don't jinx anything by saying too much

But it has been the strangest Ireland v Wales thread in my memory of such threads.

Most of the Welsh posters have left in recent years. There's only a handful left and one of those has been banned for banter. Don't think it's an air of confidence at all.

I'm just referencing a strange thread, Oracle.  I understand that many people (Irish as much as Welsh) have left here in recent years.  I'll be away for my long mid-year spell when this 6N ends.  The dynamic of the site has changed, and it's to be understood too with all the alternative social media outlets now available.

However, the Scotland Welsh thread was stuffed with debate and argument after counter arguments.  
Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought there was a good smattering of Welsh posters in there for the week or so in advance of the game - although I do know and accept for certain that Scottish posters have become the dominant chattering-class on these threads - so any thread involving Scottish teams is generally the most talky these days.  They're at a level where maybe the Irish and Welsh were at maybe five or six years ago.

The Oracle wrote:Most of the Welsh posters have left in recent years. There's only a handful left and one of those has been banned for banter. Don't think it's an air of confidence at all.

Ye have left us Irish having to fight amongst ourselves, very poor showing indeed

eirebilly wrote:

The Oracle wrote:Most of the Welsh posters have left in recent years. There's only a handful left and one of those has been banned for banter. Don't think it's an air of confidence at all.

Ye have left us Irish having to fight amongst ourselves, very poor showing indeed

In the words of that Great Welsh poet, PhillBB - appalling, pathetic, disastrous, despicable and a sham!
...oh sorry, forgot the most important word: 'disgraceful'.

Anyways, best of luck to both teams. Hopefully it will be a cracking match.

As much as I prefer the ITV coverage over the BBC, I do miss not having advertisement breaks.

Kearney emotional!

Why wasn't sexton singing?

Cmon boys

How'd he miss thar??

Excellent restart and take from Farrell. Must admit to never being overly convinced by Farrell but when he has played for Ireland, he has been decent.

Sexton misses the kick but Wales push a break, scrum Ireland in good position.

RDW_Scotland wrote:How'd he miss thar??

Kicked from the tee, should have dropped it

Beautiful pass Sexton, try Stockdale

What a pass!

Great try

Is it normal for Rob Evans to be wearing long sleeves?

BamBam wrote:Great try

Is it normal for Rob Evans to be wearing long sleeves?

Looks like a long sleeved under shirt - must be feeling the cold!

Nothing wrong with it, just stood out as being odd! Undershirt makes more sense

Although he should have his membership card to the front rowers union revoked for a few weeks

Aki is a powerful 12 but he does drop a lot of balls going into contact. Not a great pass mind.

Wales giving away more penalties in 13 minutes than they did in the whole game against England!

Oh dear, Sexton very poor with the boot today.

All Ireland just now but sexton's kicking letting Wales off - could prove costly for Ireland

Very unlike Sexton to be missing these. Is there a backup kicker on the pitch?

Sexton is overrated

Missed kicks and ball stripped by a scrum half - is Sexton actually fit?

Fairly questionable to ping us for holding when Murray wasn’t supporting his body weight by the looks.

Ireland have started much better.

Looks confused to me.

Sexton may be having an off day with the boot but my god, he is on with his line breaking.

Devin toner at every ruck is taking players out way beyond the breakdown.

Boom

Steff got away with a high shot there.

Can’t believe we are winning.

Shingler is such a beast nowadays.

RiscaGame wrote:Steff got away with a high shot there.

Can’t believe we are winning.

Yeah did look like a high tackle.

Another ripped ball and Wales straight up the pitch to score!

I don't think he grounded that...

Great try in the end and I actually think Aki is lucky to be on the field, that was a deliberate knock on. No try and I think he sees a yellow card...

Man up, that wasn't high!

The kiwi Ref should have gave the kiwi a yellow.

The crowd is quiet. Soulless stadium.