Ireland v Italy 6Ns 2016

[neiliog93]

We won't lose. Italy won't score more than 15 points. Ireland might just about reach 30.

My prediction - Dire first half with Ireland taking 3-5 penalty opportunities. Two Irish tries in the 3rd quarter will mean Ireland sit on the rest of the game allowing Italy to rally and narrow the deficit a bit. Size of win doesn't matter as we can't gain any ranking points - it'll be a case of ensuring no injuries for the Scotland game.

Absolutely bang on the money, I actually laughed because it's pretty much exactly what I envisaged. Except I don't think Italy will rally at the end. Even with that, I'd predict something like a 31-15 victory for Ireland.

[Ruckedtobits]

Margin will be 27+.

Italy have limited packs, more limited half-backs, a decent 1.5 centres and good back three. Ireland will score at least 4 tries.

[Dave Cahill]

People give Gilroy stick about his poor defending, but he's a lot more sure of himself than Healy.

Gilroy is a different kind of poor defender. He will make his tackle - if he's there, and thats the problem. Take a look back at the Ulster - Scarlets game from a few weeks ago. Watching Regan King send runners cascading around him was akin to watching a psychopath pull the legs off a spider. Double bubble for Schmidt as the chaos caused screwed up Darren Cave too

[munster#1]

Very disappointed with the squad selection at all. Looking at the team, I am in no way excited to watch this match.

For me, Dillane, has to start, McCloskey should play 12, and Henshaw is a 13 all day long.

Furlong should be on the bench in place of white,
Healy has no place being in this squad given how the other options are playing, and Jackson ahould be ahead of Madigan, especially if McFadden is in the squad.
On that, how is McFadden even in a training squad, let alone a match day squad.

This game should be about developement, not playing it safe. The championship is well out of our reach, and we should be able to put that Italian team away with even 50% of our first choice players.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Did the IRFU blank out the likes of Stander, VDF and Zebo when they named the team? And do bench players not really count? When people aren't happy with certain selections they tend to put the blinkers on and miss all the positive stuff.

[Oldschool]

Very disappointed with the squad selection at all. Looking at the team, I am in no way excited to watch this match.

For me, Dillane, has to start, McCloskey should play 12, and Henshaw is a 13 all day long.

Furlong should be on the bench in place of white,
Healy has no place being in this squad given how the other options are playing, and Jackson ahould be ahead of Madigan, especially if McFadden is in the squad.
On that, how is McFadden even in a training squad, let alone a match day squad.

This game should be about developement, not playing it safe. The championship is well out of our reach, and we should be able to put that Italian team away with even 50% of our first choice players.

Ryan to start is the right decision. Dillane needs to be blooded from the bench in a methodical, formalised way. He's very inexperienced.
Furlong is playing one of the toughest positions and he 's very young - No need to rush him.
Healy - Have to agree with you, it's a very debatable call.
Madigan - At a guess Joe has decided that Madigan is part of the future and is backing his judgement that with extended exposure in the 10 jersey in France he'll come good.
McFadden is a missed opportunity to pick Ringrose or McCloskey on the bench.
Italy pushed us all the way in the RWC and just maybe Joe wants to send a message to the players that this is a tough and series assignment and he's not taking Italy lightly so neither should the players. Good psychology IMHO.

[neiliog93]

Very disappointed with the squad selection at all. Looking at the team, I am in no way excited to watch this match.

For me, Dillane, has to start, McCloskey should play 12, and Henshaw is a 13 all day long.

Furlong should be on the bench in place of white,
Healy has no place being in this squad given how the other options are playing, and Jackson ahould be ahead of Madigan, especially if McFadden is in the squad.
On that, how is McFadden even in a training squad, let alone a match day squad.

This game should be about developement, not playing it safe. The championship is well out of our reach, and we should be able to put that Italian team away with even 50% of our first choice players.

Hard to disagree with any of that. Zebo was also terrible for Munster last week, which further strengthens the argument to play Payne at 15 in his strongest position. Furlong has definitely struggled in this 6 Nations, but so has Nathan White. One of them is 34 with zero chance of making the next RWC, the other is 23 and potentially world class in the future. I could understand selecting White as a safe option IF he were doing a solid job and outperforming Furlong, but he's NOT. So picking the younger guy, even if he's also struggling a bit, makes more sense.

[Fireworks]

Very disappointed with the squad selection at all. Looking at the team, I am in no way excited to watch this match.

For me, Dillane, has to start, McCloskey should play 12, and Henshaw is a 13 all day long.

Furlong should be on the bench in place of white,
Healy has no place being in this squad given how the other options are playing, and Jackson ahould be ahead of Madigan, especially if McFadden is in the squad.
On that, how is McFadden even in a training squad, let alone a match day squad.

This game should be about developement, not playing it safe. The championship is well out of our reach, and we should be able to put that Italian team away with even 50% of our first choice players.

Ryan to start is the right decision. Dillane needs to be blooded from the bench in a methodical, formalised way. He's very inexperienced.
Furlong is playing one of the toughest positions and he 's very young - No need to rush him.
Healy - Have to agree with you, it's a very debatable call.
Madigan - At a guess Joe has decided that Madigan is part of the future and is backing his judgement that with extended exposure in the 10 jersey in France he'll come good.
McFadden is a missed opportunity to pick Ringrose or McCloskey on the bench.
Italy pushed us all the way in the RWC and just maybe Joe wants to send a message to the players that this is a tough and series assignment and he's not taking Italy lightly so neither should the players. Good psychology IMHO.

Might I add that a slip in this game would put us in the danger zone of falling out of the top 8 in the rankings with a WC draw at the end of the year and not many places to pick up points between now and then. I would agree with many of the points made if this really was a dead game but the result really matters. I would also accept that even with a load of changes we should deal with Italy but the result of a slip is so serious that safe hands are being sought. McFadden is a safe pair of hands. If Italy are in touch towards the end of the game and we need a backs sub would you prefer the safe hands or the prospect for the future who has not experienced that pressure.

I would hope we will see experiments and changes for the tours but right now safe hands are important.

[Kinger83]

There's also the point to consider that the IRFU budget each year for a 4th place finish, which nets us €2 million. So there's pressure from that angle to keep the books balanced.

To say we may as well not be concerned with the result and just use the games to blood new players is not the way the IRFU view it.

[desperado]

Not sure McFadden is a safe pair of hands on form to date this season.

[flustered]

Healy replaced by Bealham on the bench.

There are lots of safe pair of hands who are an awful lot better than McFadden (at this level)

[neill_m]

Tight hamstring for Healy, not being risked.

[Fireworks]

Healy replaced by Bealham on the bench.

There are lots of safe pair of hands who are an awful lot better than McFadden (at this level)

That is quiet possible but some of the alternatives being suggested were the younger guys who do not have the experience at this level if it gets tight. I would have no problem with someone else in McFaddens seat if they have that experience. He is far from the most exciting option but I can understand picking someone like him for this game.

[flustered]

If it gets tight....we are defending back to back Championships (I know we wont win this one) and are the home team against an Italian side short of their best hooker, they have a new half back pairing and are not great in the backs (Campagnaro aside) imo. We should not be looking at this as a tight game, the following week against the Scots maybe yes!

[ChrisUppy]

Healy replaced by Bealham on the bench.

There are lots of safe pair of hands who are an awful lot better than McFadden (at this level)

That is quiet possible but some of the alternatives being suggested were the younger guys who do not have the experience at this level if it gets tight. I would have no problem with someone else in McFaddens seat if they have that experience. He is far from the most exciting option but I can understand picking someone like him for this game.

What does it say about our mentality when our bench back cover is chosen because he's "a safe hand"?. That we are expecting our back sub come on when we are defending a tight lead in a match that is essentially a dead rubber against a second tier side?. I would have hoped we would be much more ambitious than that. And in the context that six of the next seven matches are against SH sides, where there is (I would have thought) an obvious need to broaden the playing options in the squad.

Added to that is the fact that he's not really even that safe these days given his form and recent disciplinary record, it is a very very odd selection.

[Oldschool]

If it gets tight....we are defending back to back Championships (I know we wont win this one) and are the home team against an Italian side short of their best hooker, they have a new half back pairing and are not great in the backs (Campagnaro aside) imo. We should not be looking at this as a tight game, the following week against the Scots maybe yes!

Joe knows we are well capable of being muck when we are favourites - We proved it the last time we played Italy.

[Fireworks]

Healy replaced by Bealham on the bench.

There are lots of safe pair of hands who are an awful lot better than McFadden (at this level)

That is quiet possible but some of the alternatives being suggested were the younger guys who do not have the experience at this level if it gets tight. I would have no problem with someone else in McFaddens seat if they have that experience. He is far from the most exciting option but I can understand picking someone like him for this game.

What does it say about our mentality when our bench back cover is chosen because he's "a safe hand"?. That we are expecting our back sub come on when we are defending a tight lead in a match that is essentially a dead rubber against a second tier side?. I would have hoped we would be much more ambitious than that. And in the context that six of the next seven matches are against SH sides, where there is (I would have thought) an obvious need to broaden the playing options in the squad.

Added to that is the fact that he's not really even that safe these days given his form and recent disciplinary record, it is a very very odd selection.

What it says is that we have learnt from history and will not take the easy ones for granted. We should beat them well but we have in the past had trouble we these type of open goals. If we were in the same position next year then I would agree that it is a bad selection.

I also wonder has anyone including the journalists writing about it considered that they do not have the whole story. Joe and the other coaches have detailed data on the performance of all of those available to them plus outlooks on potential injury risks and wear.

[Ruckedtobits]

I find it difficult to give any credibility to most of they Journos or key-board warriors who are selecting players who are either defensively weak or / and not in Training Camp. Anybody who thinks that Joe is trying to do anything other than win tomorrow, in the most convincing manner possible, has no idea about professional sport.

And that's probably all that needs to be remembered.

[Peg Leg]

I find it difficult to give any credibility to most of they Journos or key-board warriors who are selecting players who are either defensively weak or / and not in Training Camp. Anybody who thinks that Joe is trying to do anything other than win tomorrow, in the most convincing manner possible, has no idea about professional sport.

And that's probably all that needs to be remembered.

Well that and the fact that he hates munster.

[Twist]

That's three times they've caught us defending too narrow. Twice they got a tries from it (the other being the near-miss in the first couple of mins)