Ireland v Australia, Dublin, 16 Nov 2013

[vidiot]

They seemed very good against Samoa, although the Samoans make too many basic errors to succeed at test level.

Heh, heh.

 

[Bowside]

Can someone enlighten me as to Ireland's current ability?

They have a very good forward pack. But the hooker best turns to shit under pressure so the wallabies will/should target the line out. Their pack will make more metres than ours, but if Gill is playing I reckon the wallabies could be pretty effective turning over ball behind the gainline.

Their backs are small and weaker on attack than ours. But they have better goal kickers.

If the Wallabies can keep the pace of the game up (including during stoppages ie. taps off free kicks and quick lineouts), then they should win, as long as they kick the conversions.

But at the same time, Ireland know how to beat us, and are a team on the improve with their new coach.

So I'd wager that, even if the wallabies turn up to play, a win is far from a sure thing.

 

[Bowside]

Another point I might add. I would like to see Ben McCalman get a solid 30 minutes in the second half.

I was one of his biggest critics a season or two ago, his worst game in Gold probably being against Ireland at the WC when Deans picked him as an openside.

Now I'm no sports psychologist, but I reckon Bens got a point to prove against Ireland, and this weekend could be an invaluable opportunity for Link to see if he's got it in him to step up and stake a claim for further selection.

 

[I like to watch]

I just went back and read my posts.and apart from suggesting that Timani and Horwill have a rest.....Yada Yada yada...

Rule 10
PM me you have an issue you want to debate,or move on.
This thread is not for for schoolgirl cheap shots between 2 posters.
If it was about point scoring,I would have already taken you to task on many of your previous dubious posts in that other thread.
Try the ignore button, it just gets more appealing from my point of view.

 

[JSRF10]

Inside Shoulder said: ↑

Can someone enlighten me as to Ireland's current ability?​

Ireland have some decent players but too often the basic skills fall apart under pressure in big games. They still seem programmed to kick far too easily, however we are prone to producing massive performances out of the blue in recent times. Sean O'Brien and Jonny Sexton are the big threats with ball in hand, and look out for Luke Marshall in the 12 jersey if he gets a chance. Its too early in the Schmidt era to see where Ireland are going so I'd make the Wobs slight favorites for the weekend

An observation from rewatching the Irish game from Saturday Samoa made hay when the moved the ball wide quickly, Ireland seemed very narrow in defense and BOD was only too happy to rush out of the defensive line. With Coopers passing ability the Wobs could make hay out wide if they get some quick ball.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Ireland will undoubtedly be hard to beat, but I believe they won't beat the Wallabies this time with the RWC tactics. First, this time we will have a proper No 7, either Hooper or Gill. Then, we won't have Patty McCabe running hard but upright at 12 being held up and turned over time after time. On top of that, Quade is playing his best football since before the WC and will organise our attack much better this time. Finally, we have a coach who I believe is more likely to be able to analyse and counter the game plan that Ireland will probably present.

 

[Bowside]

Yep, wide and hard is the only way to go at Ireland.

Only problem for us being that our forwards are so slow/ineffective, that when we do make metres wide they might not be there to secure ball.

 

[Bardon]

I wouldn't be as complimentary about our (Ireland's) performance against Samoa as some others on the thread. In the first half the only real positives were our scrum went really well, with Jack McGrath on debut at loosehead and the impressive driving maul for our first try.

Defesively there were huge issues. There are big gaps in the Irish defense especially between BOD and D'Arcy. Samoa exploited these regularly in the first half and on occasion in the 2nd half.

The second half was more possitive all round and in attack Ireland played with much more ambition than we'd seen under Kidney. It also seems that Schmidt has been working on players supporting the ball carrier, a big feature of Leinster's play.

But with the ambition came a lot of mistakes. Offloads to no one, dropped balls etc. that the Wallaby backline will exploit.

Paddy Jakson had an OK game at flyhalf and it will be a real confidence booster for him. I'd expect him to be on the bench with Sexton starting. That will mean no room for Ian Maddigan who was very impressive when he came on.

Chris Henry went really well at 7 until he got injured. He would have been a different prospect for you guys as he's the first quality old fashioned 7 we've produced for a while. SOB will still offer a test but one you'll be familar with.

The inform backrower in Ireland at the moment is Peter O'Mahony at 6 and he's already go the look of a future Irish captain. Jamie Heaslip should be at 8 and he had a good game against Samoa without being spectacular.

POC came off the bench to play his first game for Ireland since the 2012 6Ns. He looked sharp and should start. Toner and McCarthy did well as a pair and Toner's work rate has increased since he made his debut.

The front row will probably be Healy, Best & Ross. Jack McGrath was man of the match against Samoa so he should see some time off the bench in place of Healy. As mentioned Best suffers with his throwing and that could be an area the Wobs attack.

In the backs Connor Murray should start with Eoin Reddan coming on with about 20 minutes to go to speed the ball up. In the centres it will be D'Arcy and BOD, neither of whom had great games against Samoa. BOD did produce one delightful flick between his legs to keep the ball alive for a try. But he was flying out of the line and leaving very big gaps, offloading when it wasn't on and forcing his passes at times.

D'Arcy was more solid but didn't offer much in attack and I'd prefer to see Maddigan there.

On the wings McFadden was industrious as ever and was rewarded with a try. Tommy Bowe picked up an injury and is a doubt so Dave Kearney may well start after scoring 2 tries on his debut against Samoa. If both Kearney and McFadden start then we'll have issues defensively on both wings which Australia can exploit.

Rob Kearney should be the full back and you guys know what he can do.

The noises out of the Ireland camp, started by Schmidt is one of the most honest assessment of his own team's performance by a test head coach, is that the performance wasn't good enough against Samoa. There are things to work on in all areas of our game.

I'm not sure that we'll address them significantly enough to be ready for the Wobs at the weekend. Schmidt's first game was a step in the right direction but changes always create issues in the first few games. I think most of Ireland would be happy if we give you guys a game at the weekend.

 

[Bairdy]

Ireland will undoubtedly be hard to beat, but I believe they won't beat the Wallabies this time with the RWC tactics. First, this time we will have a proper No 7, either Hooper or Gill. Then, we won't have Patty McCabe running hard but upright at 12 being held up and turned over time after time. On top of that, Quade is playing his best football since before the WC and will organise our attack much better this time. Finally, we have a coach who I believe is more likely to be able to analyse and counter the game plan that Ireland will probably present.

That is a jinx if I've ever seen one

 

[tranquility]

We need to win.

Benn - Squeak - Kepu
Simmo - Timani / Douglas
Fardy Mowen Gill

TPN - Slipper - Alexander - Horwill - McCalman -

Backs pick themselves. Badger stays on the wing. Lilo and Tomane on the bench.

If it's raining consider starting Nic White.

 

[Dan54]

The same words could be used of the Wallabies. Perhaps that's the point and I missed the irony but for me if the Wallabies don't step their game up from last Saturday, I don't expect them to win.

Yep Hawko, but Schmidt has had the Irish for 1 game, Link has had Wallabies for a year, so I really think Wallabies would be settled in by now. I will be honest it was also a little dig at people who have said that Link hasn't had time etc etc, as I think he has had plenty of time to bed in his playing style. But still Aussies are higher up ladder so you would think it they would be favourites.

 

[JSRF10]

If it's raining consider starting Nic White.

Weather forecast is for 8 degrees with little wind, exactly what the Wallabies would want for this game. Joe Schmidt may be leading a rain dance with the Ireland front row during the week.

 

[Gnostic]

Weather forecast is for 8 degrees with little wind, exactly what the Wallabies would want for this game. Joe Schmidt may be leading a rain dance with the Ireland front row during the week.

I am not sure about that. Given the state of all the pitches that we have seen I would think the Irish would want a solid footing under their scrum to impress their dominance upon Pollock. They would want no excuses like the ABs have come up with this week regarding the Stade surface.

As an aside some of the surfaces in world rugby are a disgrace when they are dedicated Rugby grounds like Millennium. The Italian surface last week can be excused to some degree being primarily a soccer pitch. It just isn't good enough, remember in 2007? when both Dunning and Kepu were strechered off the field with season ending knee injuries because of the loose surface.

 

[BPC]

They seemed very good against Samoa, although the Samoans make too many basic errors to succeed at test level.

The irony!

 

[FingalRaven]

I am not sure about that. Given the state of all the pitches that we have seen I would think the Irish would want a solid footing under their scrum to impress their dominance upon Pollock. They would want no excuses like the ABs have come up with this week regarding the Stade surface.

As an aside some of the surfaces in world rugby are a disgrace when they are dedicated Rugby grounds like Millennium. The Italian surface last week can be excused to some degree being primarily a soccer pitch. It just isn't good enough, remember in 2007? when both Dunning and Kepu were strechered off the field with season ending knee injuries because of the loose surface.

The Millennium stadium is a multi purpose arena. A rugby match one week, a Wales soccer game mid week then Song's of Praise the next week. They are constantly resurfacing the pitch meaning that it never knits properly to the surface underneath. The artificial pitch that Cardiff are using this year seems be a trial run for replacing the grass in the Millennium Stadium.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ru...-plastic-pitch-time-2015-Rugby-World-Cup.html

Modern stadiums are great for spectators but very poor growing conditions for grass due to poor air circulation and reduced sun light. Look at the European soccer stadiums, as the stands have risen higher and higher, the quality of the pitches have declined. Most of them have to replace pitches all too regularly. AFAIK the ground staff at the San Siro have to use huge fans to try to replicate air flow as well as using lights and they still struggle to deliver a decent surface.

Looking at the Samoa game, two thirds of the Lansdowne pitch appears to be recently resurfaced in the last month or two.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

The Cardiff Arms Park surface looked pretty miserable on Sunday Morning, almost like a regional Australian surface from the mid 80's, not the usual lush verdant surface I am accustomed to seeing from that part of the world.

 

[Quick Hands]

The irony!

No, simply putting things in context. Yes they looked good, but the context being that their opposition made a lot of mistakes. Therefore to make a more definitive judgement, we have to see them against a better team, in this case the Wallabies. The same in fact could be said of the Wallabies and Italy - the Wallabies looked good, but their opposition made a lot of mistakes and we need to see them against better opposition in order to make a more informed judgement as to their progress.

If I'd have just said that Ireland looked good, everyone would have responded with, "but Samoa made lots of mistakes", so the qualification to the comment makes perfect sense and is not intended as irony at all.

 

[Quick Hands]

The Millennium stadium is a multi purpose arena. A rugby match one week, a Wales soccer game mid week then Song's of Praise the next week. They are constantly resurfacing the pitch meaning that it never knits properly to the surface underneath. The artificial pitch that Cardiff are using this year seems be a trial run for replacing the grass in the Millennium Stadium.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ru...-plastic-pitch-time-2015-Rugby-World-Cup.html

Modern stadiums are great for spectators but very poor growing conditions for grass due to poor air circulation and reduced sun light. Look at the European soccer stadiums, as the stands have risen higher and higher, the quality of the pitches have declined. Most of them have to replace pitches all too regularly. AFAIK the ground staff at the San Siro have to use huge fans to try to replicate air flow as well as using lights and they still struggle to deliver a decent surface.

Looking at the Samoa game, two thirds of the Lansdowne pitch appears to be recently resurfaced in the last month or two.

The stands a Millennium allow little sunlight onto the ground and the grass struggles to grow - lack of photosynthesis. The groundsman at Docklands in Melbourne has been quoted as saying that you can't grow grass, you just manage its death (or words to that effect). Most of these covered or partially covered grounds seem to have the same problem.

 

[Quick Hands]

I
Defesively there were huge issues. There are big gaps in the Irish defense especially between BOD and D'Arcy. Samoa exploited these regularly in the first half and on occasion in the 2nd half.

I think most of Ireland would be happy if we give you guys a game at the weekend.

And yet Samoa could only kick 3 penalty goals and never really looked like scoring a try.

A touch of the blarney to secure underdog status.

 

[wamberal]

Keep it tight, go forward, suck 'em in, and then go wide. Kick to the wings, not down the centre of the field, when they kick it to us, make them regret it by running it back at them with flair and ambition.

Contest every lineout, and every restart. Don't give them an easy inch.
We are fitter, and more match hardened, by a lo-o-o-o-o-ong way.