Ireland team to face Scotland

With both stander and tonner possibly out (cheek and knee respectively) what should are pack be?
Should we give cooney and carberry the start?
One of the farrels into midfield?
Give Rob some game time at 15 or see how Addison goes there?

Lots of questions, only Joe has the answers

Ireland aren't a bad team because of one game. They should treat this as good World Cup prep. Imagine they lose that first game against Scotland, then they have an away game against Japan which is absolutely must win on a 6 day turnaround. How do they rally from that?

Murray and Sexton will be better for getting the minutes in and it will be important how they lead the team. Henshaw didn't have the best game, but neither did Daly in his opening flourishes at 15 for England. Is he the way you want to go, or is it an experiment you're happy to can now? Because if it's the way you want to go he needs the whole series there, then he can sit back and reflect on how he played, what work he needs to put in etc and come back stronger for the next one.

Injuries aside, I'd like to see Ireland unchanged (if I were an Ireland fan). I'd want Schmidt to say that he got the tactics slightly wrong and the team underperformed against England, however he's happy that the side he has is a Championship side and he's going to let them show what they can do against Scotland.

Stander will be out, so SOB to start and Murphy to the bench.
If Toner is out, both the Connacht lads will be in the squad, but which one starts? When Roux came on he added an edge, but immediately gave a penalty away, so Joe might go for Dillane for the first whistle instead.
Murray looks out of form and Sexton has had a staccato season. but to rest both would be a step too far. Could see Carbery starting with Murray inside him and Sexton on the bench, but Joe has enforced changes and won't want to add too many unforced ones.
For that reason there's no good reason to change the midfield unless one of them has a niggle.
Thought Henshaw did well enough at 15 to persist. He was pulled from pillar to post because England dominated the gain line and neither the wings nor Sexton could drop back to help cover.

Earls is unlikely to make it with a hip pointer (courtesy Itoje) so Larmour will start with either Conway or Addison on the bench.

Do you guys not see that Murray still isn't right physically since his return from the long term neck injury? If you look at his upper left arm it is significantly skinnier than his right arm. Unless this is how he used to be then the neck injury is still having an effect on his physical preparations.
His passing looks laboured which did Sexton no favours against England's rush defence.
As a scotsman i hope Schmidt keeps faith with him but he really shouldn't.  He should give him a break and let the Connacht lad have a go. I know the game as a contest was over when he came on but his pass was much faster and more accurate than Murray's and the backs had the chance to play on the front foot.

I'm a bit in two minds.
We know the team from Saturday can perform to a higher standard than they did, so maybe send them out again to shake off the loss and show what there capable of.
But I also want to know how some of the fringe and back up perform when they have too.
I want to see carberry cooney and Addison get some proper championship game time from the start of matches.
So it's a dilemma

As a Scotland fan nothing would please me more than seeing Cooney and Carberry next week. There is real apprehension about what Ireland could/ can/ will bring next week. If Murray and Sexton are on it then we are really, really up against it. Cooney and Carberry are very good players but they're not Muray and Sexton.

"He should give him a break and let the Connacht lad have a go."
If you mean Cooney he's an Ulster player.

Joe will start his strongest available XV and that's what he sent out yesterday minus the unjuries obviously. This Ireland team are so much better than what we saw of them and that England side are definately playing their best rugby for some time but the Ireland squad will bounce back because they have to bounce back.

Ireland were hit by a ferocity they have not seen since the he NZ game right after the Chicago win. That such a display from the opposition should come at the start of a WC year is probably to Irelands advantage. Some of the pressure is now relieved, yet they can continue to prepare and build.

Scotland away is not a game to take lightly, and Schmidt should select the side he feels is best suited to winning the game. Sure Murray and Sexton were harried into errors, but the Scots do not have the same physicality. Replace the injured then go to Edinburgh and impose your game plan on them.

Defeat yesterday was far from a disaster but losing again next week would send alarm bells ringing. I liked the team selection yesterday and am in favour of giving it another go if possible.

1) I wish we had Tadhg Beirne available yesterday and if not Iain Henderson. Maybe the lineout would have struggled but Beirne in particular could have really helped us out at the breakdown. Toner is now a doubt for next week too so that second row has gone from a position of strength to a mini crisis.

2) Rory Best is a fantastic captain but I do wonder if Sean Cronin's physicality warrants a start. On balance, I am just about going to say no at the minute. Niall Scannell may be worth a start at some stage too as he appears to be our best thrower.

3) SOB looked great off the bench and is tempting to start. On the other hand, perhaps he showed what a great 'finisher' he could be for us. It looks like he'll fill in for CJ anyway.

4) Give Henshaw another go at 15. That was a really difficult match for him to be thrown in there and he still showed glimpses of quality Kearney sadly isn't capable of anymore.

5) Conway may be more ready for this RWC than Larmour is, as exciting the latter is. Our aerial game isn't actually as good as it's made out but Conway might address that. If Earls is out he comes in for me.

6) This Scotland game is too important to drop Murray/Sexton. Wait for Italy or France for Cooney and Carbery.

4 Irish players in my fantasy team (Furlong, Murray, Stockdale, Aki) and all scored low. If joe could address that it would be grand.

Pete
Apologies for getting Cooney's club wrong, no disrespect meant. I still think Murray isn't right physically and Cooney looked a better option as a passer  of the ball. I have never thought that the sub 9 was a better bet at any time in Murray's long and illustrious tenure as Ireland's first choice 9.

How should Schmidt approach this game with the RWC in mind?
If Joe doesn't play Carbery now then when will Joey ever get the taste of serious Test rugby?
Ireland can't defend their Slam so that's no longer at stake, but the championship is still on the cards so this match is important. Joe may want to keep Sexton out of this dry-run game to keep that psychological edge up his sleeve and if Ireland win with Carbery at the helm, he will have gained an edge of his own.

Against Scotland they will have a very different set of problems to face.  Scotland will also go for high line speed but not not have the same destructive tacklers - instead you will see low tackles followed by a jackal for the ball.  In attack Scotland's forward are nothing like as effective as Englands at running thru people.
However you will have to deal with a much much trickier set of backs with moves designed to create space adn a lot of unpredictability in attack - the rapier not the bludgeon

You will also see many more offlaods.  Quick thinking will be the key to beating Scotland.
As a scotland fan I am not looking forward to it.  I think we will end up living off scraps and trying too hard.

Ah lads come on over the match thread - the kettle's on:
https://www.606v2.com/t68408-6n-2019-scotland-v-ireland-9-february