Ireland Squad Nov 2018 - Who’s going to play errr England?

First topic message reminder :

Italy 3 Nov - Chicago - Ireland 54-7
Argentina 10 Nov Dublin - 28-17
New Zealand 17 Nov Dublin 16-9
USA 24 Nov Dublin - 52-14

November Total - 150-47

Frontrowers
Rory Best 112 (c)
Rob Herring 6
Sean Cronin 63
Niall Scannell 10

Tadhg Furlong 26
Andrew Porter 9
John Ryan 15

Finlay Bealham 8
Cian Healy 81
Dave Kilcoyne 23
Jack McGrath 51


Locks
Tadhg Beirne 3
Iain Henderson 40 USA
Quinn Roux 7
James Ryan 11
Devin Toner 61

Backrowers

Dan Leavy 10
Josh van der Flier 11
Jordi Murphy 23
Sean O’Brien 51
Peter O’Mahony 50 (vc)
Rhys Ruddock 20
Jack Conan 10
CJ Stander 26


Scrumhalves
John Cooney 3
Kieran Marmion 22
Luke McGrath 6

10s
Jonathan Sexton 76 (vc)
Ross Byrne 2
Joey Carbery 14

Centres
Garry Ringrose 15
Robbie Henshaw 36
Will Addison 2
Bundee Aki 10
Sam Arnold 1
Stuart McCloskey 3

Back three
Andrew Conway 8
Keith Earls 70
Rob Kearney 86
Jordan Larmour 7
Jacob Stockdale 12
Darren Sweetnam 3

Well us with 14 replacements from last week... we're kinda an outside the International window outfit ourselves this week.

It'll be interesting. USA are certainly stepping forward in the right direction. I hope we're in the mindframe to test out how sturdy the progress really is.

Whats people's view on Marty Moore. Does he have a realistic shot at getting back into the Irish fold (Most likely after the WC) or has he fallen off and is well down the rankings. He is only 27 so could make 2023.

Ulster people aren't overly impressed with him it seems. Going to Wasps really has put him back a few years. You would think playing well at Ulster would put pressure on Porters spot.

Or was leaving Ireland high and dry (until Furlong appeared) an unpardable sin

Moore is a funny one. Potentially yes he can get a recall but what he needs to do is get a run of games. He's missed a lot of rugby over the last few years due to injuries and form. If he can get through this season and the next then maybe. At the very highest he's about 5th on the pecking order.

I've been impressed by Moore. He is good in the set piece and has put himself about in the loose, made a few turnovers and more than his share of tackles. If he was in a better tight five, he would be pushing Ryan and Bealham for 3rd place, but atm certainly 5th at best.

Good win Ireland

Henderson seemed to either be trying to hard or form has dropped.

Brendan wrote:Good win Ireland

Henderson seemed to either be trying to hard or form has dropped.

I agree.  Very strange air about him...good enough to be picked obviously but he seems a shadow of the bullish guy he was a few years ago.  Looks very uncertain about himself... not just in his play, his expressions.  Perhaps he didn't expect so much competition for places in Ireland and is uncomfortable with the battle to keep proving himself.

Something isn't right.  I hope it's just him working back into better form into next year.

Thought Henderson was no worse nor better than Beirne, two rips in the tackle, made hard yards, and solid takes in the lineout. Both he and Beirne gave penalties collapsing the maul, except Hendo got a card for his.

Someone who looked to be trying too hard was Kilcoyne, the opposite of Conway who made great decisions all game.

The Great Aukster wrote:Thought Henderson was no worse nor better than Beirne, two rips in the tackle, made hard yards, and solid takes in the lineout. Both he and Beirne gave penalties collapsing the maul, except Hendo got a card for his.

Someone who looked to be trying too hard was Kilcoyne, the opposite of Conway who made great decisions all game.

I did mention both of them specifically in another thread yesterday (Beirne and Henderson) as either overplaying or underplaying... both looked uncomfortable. One looked too intense and was mistiming all over the place... Henderson looked low spirited. I don't know what's happening in coaching but his confidence looks shot. I mentioned he did some good stuff but confidence isn't brimming - and in a modern Irish side, it should be.

Hope he regains it over the next few months.

Its probably because he has been callimg the lineout and it hasnt been going that well

Conway.  Now there's a player who reminded folks that we have quite a hardnosed trickster in our ranks whenever we decide that size don't matter.

McGrath too - for me he looks the ideal Number 2 to Murray.  He gets the machine in the mindframe to play.

Henderson isn't play particularly badly, he just isn't performing to the level we know he can. That is the frustration with his performances.

What is the general opinion on Cooney's performance? I saw very little of the game.

Artful_Dodger wrote:Henderson isn't play particularly badly, he just isn't performing to the level we know he can.  That is the frustration with his performances.

What is the general opinion on Cooney's performance?  I saw very little of the game.

Cooney I thought was solid enough but won't have done anything to shake up the pecking order at no9. McGrath probably has stood out most, his distribution is noticeably quicker than has rivals and in both games he played he definitely was a catalyst for late try flurries. However I think Marmion's solid game against the ABs will be enough to hold on to his spot as Murray's understudy.

Re Henderson. I think he's come in for a bit of unfair criticism mainly due to the form of his rivals and the misfiring line out against Argentina. There's no doubt he is not at his best but I think part of that is him playing a bit closer to the ruck to accommodate Ryan and Beirne, effectively play Toners role, which hasn't got the best out of his abilities. I still think he's fairly nailed on alongside Toner and Ryan but needs a good 6 Nations as I don't think Schmidt will take 3 loose head locks. At the minute I think Beirne misses out at Roux's expense unless their is an injury.

Overall an excellent series although plenty to work on, particularly the line out.

On the positives I think we showed we have good depth at scrum half and in the pack, where some very good players will miss out on the RWC.

Conway was sensational on Saturday and has really put his hand up for Larmour's 23 jersey and put pressure on an established back 3. Addison has been unlucky so probably needs a few injuries now to squeeze in.

Ringrose was super again and has really nailed that 13 jersey alongside Henshaw, who wasn't missed such was Akis form. Behind that I don't think McCloskey did enough to convince Joe he's a serious option at 12.

In the back row, Ruddock has had a great series but is just unlucky with the players he has to compete with. O'Mahoney was super human against the ABs, and VDF and Leavy had big impacts when they played.

On the negatives - neither Carbury or Byrne were overly convincing backups to Sexton, mainly due to their defensive capabilities. Larmour was exposed a bit at 15 against the Puma's so not sure he is a serious option to replace Kearney.

Just as Sexton is mentioned there.

Nobody can see the future but he has alluded to 'one more box to tick'.  He's certainly driven and if luck holds out for him on the fitness front, he'll sweat blood to match Joe Schmidt's drive to get that chance for the Big One.

But then, regardless of results there in the WC, he'll be 34, his mentor will have gone.  I think Sexton too will be in the mood to hang up the boots.  So both Farrell and prospective Sexton replacements will really have to be thinking seriously now about 2020 an onwards.  Someone has to stand up and claim the position - just like Sexton arrogantly did in his moment.

If we can't trust Joey by the end of the WC we are in trouble. He does fine in euro games he will be fine