RWC 2019 Warmup Games

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I forgot about it until you mentioned it but that's a good point about Best. IIRC he rallied and played alright against New Zealand, but apart from that he's either been injured or out of form since the Grand Slam. That's a long time, especially for a 37 year old.

Murray Kinsella is saying that POM will start at 7 this weekend. In theory I'm not against him playing there because he might end up there in Japan at some stage, but I don't like the idea of him doing it in Wales after coming off the embarrassment of Twickenham. He says Beirne is starting at 6, which I'm in favour of, but I hope that Rhys gets a shot off the bench too. Maybe have Rhys and Jordi on the bench with Beirne covering the second row.

I'm worried about this weekend. As GT said on Second Captains, It feels like Wales are on a roll and it's Gatland's last home game, plus they've had a week off. I don't expect a win but it says a lot about how bad this calendar year has been that I'd be over the moon if our reaction amounted to a half decent performance for 50 minutes and then get the main guys off in case it all goes to sh!t again.

[mildlyinterested]

Dunno why POM appears to be do undroppable.

[cormac]

I forgot about it until you mentioned it but that's a good point about Best. IIRC he rallied and played alright against New Zealand, but apart from that he's either been injured or out of form since the Grand Slam. That's a long time, especially for a 37 year old.

Murray Kinsella is saying that POM will start at 7 this weekend. In theory I'm not against him playing there because he might end up there in Japan at some stage, but I don't like the idea of him doing it in Wales after coming off the embarrassment of Twickenham. He says Beirne is starting at 6, which I'm in favour of, but I hope that Rhys gets a shot off the bench too. Maybe have Rhys and Jordi on the bench with Beirne covering the second row.

I'm worried about this weekend. As GT said on Second Captains, It feels like Wales are on a roll and it's Gatland's last home game, plus they've had a week off. I don't expect a win but it says a lot about how bad this calendar year has been that I'd be over the moon if our reaction amounted to a half decent performance for 50 minutes and then get the main guys off in case it all goes to sh!t again.

Doesn't seem to have been mentioned anywhere in the Irish press but the reports out of Wales would suggest that there's an agreement between the coaches that they will both field "experimental" teams this weekend, with the following week's match likely to feature stronger teams.

Would make some sense as it's the last chance for some players to prove themselves ahead of the squad announcement.

[Flash Gordon]

Dunno why POM appears to be do undroppable.

Gatland didn't think he was. That was after a test match where he played at 6 and made one tackle! People talk about his leadership qualities but I'd rather have a leader that is an outstanding contributor on the pitch. Roaring and shouting is not being inspirational in my view, making 25 tackles or kicking 25 points or making 100m is inspirational.

There are question marks against other senior players too obviously and the captaincy is a big question if Rory didn't play.

[FLIP]

Dunno why POM appears to be do undroppable.

Gatland didn't think he was. That was after a test match where he played at 6 and made one tackle! People talk about his leadership qualities but I'd rather have a leader that is an outstanding contributor on the pitch. Roaring and shouting is not being inspirational in my view, making 25 tackles or kicking 25 points or making 100m is inspirational.

There are question marks against other senior players too obviously and the captaincy is a big question if Rory didn't play.

It's not like we have a player who has captained Ireland stuck behind POM or anything either

[backrower8]

The 42 is suggesting a team of 8 Munster, 3 Connacht, 2 each from Ulster & Leinster.

Jack Conan predicted to be flanked by two out of position flankers - Beirne @ 6 & POM @ 7! With Killer doing his merry-go-round impersonation at scrum time. Lucky Jack!!

Aki said to be lined up for his 3rd start! How bad is Henshaw?

Killer Scannell Ryan
Henderson JR
Beirne Conan POM (C)

Marmion Carty
Stockdale Aki Farrell Conway
Addison

A very iffy selection on paper.

[hugonaut]

A few weeks ago I thought the squad was largely set in stone but after last weekend and with the news that Franks has been dropped by NZ I had a rethink about what squad we might go for, particularly the back row.

Personally I wouldn't have Kleyn and still like the idea of Beirne traveling, but obviously it doesn't look like Joe is a fan. Given that Joe seems to like the idea of Kleyn there it's hard to see him not taking a 4th second row to do the basics (notionally at least), but the three second rows are all 80 minute men and I don't think it's beyond the bounds of possibility now that he just takes those three and then six back rowers. But assuming he does just take five, and on the proviso that Conan plays this weekend and looks in decent condition, then I'd go with POM, Josh, Rhys, Conan, and Jordi. So CJ would drop out entirely because we have adequate cover and I think a second choice 8 like him might be a bit redundant if Jack does end up being a starter.

I'm sure a lot of people would drop POM but he's still an important leader in the squad, and that brings me on to a new concern I just thought of. Best, POM, and Sexton are the three main leaders in the team. Best and POM should very much be in danger of being dropped, and Sexton is carrying an injury. It's entirely possible that none of our three main leaders will be in good shape when we pitch up against Scotland. We really are in desperate need of two good performances against Wales IMO because if we don't feel good about ourselves then things could really unravel very quickly at the World Cup if our leaders aren't firing and we have others who aren't fit (Healy and Earls carrying injuries too) and in form.

All the leadership group [bar RK] have been in a trough, form-wise, in 2019. To the best of my knowledge, the group is comprised of Best, O'Mahony, Stander, Murray, Sexton, RK.

O'Mahony is arguably in the best form of them in test rugby terms over 2019; he was named MOTM in the games against Italy and Scotland. I thought those calls were a bit iffy, but he certainly put in a decent stint in those games. Obviously he was very quiet against France and then had a horror against Wales, but he has played at least a couple of decent tests this year.

For me, Beirne should certainly travel. He's the prototypical 5/6 that you'd look for in a World Cup squad. It would be madness to leave him behind. He might be the best blindside in Ireland! I remember sticking up the links to his profile on the Munster website in comparison to O'Mahony's [the Munster Player of the Year, if I recall correctly], and he outperformed him in practically every metric. If you look at him as a bench option, he gives both impact and versatility. I'd have him involved in every matchday squad.

It'll be interesting to see if O'Mahony can function effectively as an openside if he's selected there against Wales. He's not quick, but he's clever and good over the ball. I wouldn't expect an openside to be necessarily a damaging carrier [although our tow most recent long-term opensides – SOB and Wally – were both among the best to ever do it for Ireland], so I think O'Mahony's lack of carrying ability is less of an issue there.

[hugonaut]

The 42 is suggesting a team of 8 Munster, 3 Connacht, 2 each from Ulster & Leinster.

Jack Conan predicted to be flanked by two out of position flankers - Beirne @ 6 & POM @ 7! With Killer doing his merry-go-round impersonation at scrum time. Lucky Jack!!

Aki said to be lined up for his 3rd start! How bad is Henshaw?

Killer Scannell Ryan
Henderson JR
Beirne Conan POM (C)

Marmion Carty
Stockdale Aki Farrell Conway
Addison

A very iffy selection on paper.

I think we're always going to think an Irish team with 8 Munster-contracted players in it is a very iffy selection! It makes sense to start a provincial front row together though, same at halfback.

Don't think that Beirne is out of position at blindside at all. I think he can really thrive there, and he certainly has good experience there. In his last season at the Scarlets he played 16 games in the backrow [11 @ No6, 5 @ No8] and 13 in the second row [9 @ No4 and 4 @ No5]. He actually played far more games in the backrow in his second season at the Scarlets than he did in his first season there. That [to my mind] shows that the more Pivac saw of him, the more he like him as a backrower.

[wise7]

Not a mention from the coaches as to how they might in some way be responsible for the showing on Saturday. Nothing about getting the prep wrong. It is all down to the players who didn’t perform. England and Wales have had the same amount of time over the Summer to get to where they are now. England playing their 3rd competitive test in as many weeks with Ireland playing only their first. ( Playing against the Italian B team was a waste of time and nothing learned from that). Joe's game plan has been rumbled back in the 6N and there is no evidence to suggest he has changed much. His blind loyalty to players who are not delivering is now coming back to haunt him as he has squandered opportunity to blood more young players and build depth going into the WC. The defence on Saturday suffered from a complete systemic failure with players not looking too sure of their individual and collective roles. Why is Farrell not taken to task by the media over this?. The lineouts were a shambles and again why is it all down to the players when clearly not enough prep work was put in and why does Easterby not have to account for this?.
Why does the media give Joe such an easy ride and question nothing of him as to his performance. In any 'real World’ scenario he would be accountable to his employers for the shambolic performance in the 6N and his preparation over the Summer would also be scrutinised before it is allowed to advance to a state where it has become too late. It seems to be an Irish trait that we idolise national coaches and place them on a pedestal far above and beyond criticism and accountability. There was this old story about an emperor who had no clothes...

[LeRouxIsPHat]

WALES TEAM TO FACE IRELAND, SATURDAY AUGUST 31 (KO 14.30, CHANNEL 4)

15. Hallam Amos (Cardiff Blues)
14. Owen Lane (Cardiff Blues)*
13. Scott Williams (Ospreys)
12. Owen Watkin (Ospreys)
11. Steff Evans (Scarlets)
10. Jarrod Evans (Cardiff Blues)
9. Aled Davies (Ospreys)
1. Rhys Carre (Saracens)*
2. Ryan Elias (Scarlets)
3. Samson Lee (Scarlets)
4. Adam Beard (Ospreys)
5. Bradley Davies (Ospreys)
6. Aaron Shingler (Scarlets)
7. James Davies (Scarlets)
8. Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues) (CAPT)

16. Elliot Dee (Dragons)
17. Rob Evans (Scarlets)
18. Leon Brown (Dragons)
19. Jake Ball (Scarlets)
20. Ross Moriarty (Dragons)
21. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Blues)
22. Rhys Patchell (Scarlets)
23. Jonah Holmes (Leicester Tigers)

That certainly looks like less of a challenge for our lineout. Obviously not as powerful as England either so I'd expect a big improvement but still don't think we'll win.

[jimbobjoe]

Relatively weak Welsh team for Saturday https://www.the42.ie/ireland-wales-gatl ... 3-Aug2019/

Hopefully a chance to get some confidence back

15. Hallam Amos
14. Owen Lane
13. Scott Williams
12. Owen Watkin
11. Steff Evans
10. Jarrod Evans
9. Aled Davies

1. Rhys Carré
2. Ryan Elias
3. Samson Lee
4. Adam Beard
5. Bradley Davies
6. Aaron Shingler
7. James Davies
8. Josh Navidi (captain)

Replacements:

16. Elliot Dee
17. Rob Evans
18. Leon Brown
19. Jake Ball
20. Ross Moriarty
21. Tomos Williams
22. Rhys Patchell
23. Jonah Holmes

[johng]

You haven't seen ours yet with just 2 x leinster starters

[johng]

IRELAND: W Addison; A Conway, C Farrell, B Aki, J Stockdale; J Carty, K Marmion; D Kilcoyne, N Scannell, John Ryan, I Henderson, James Ryan, T Beirne, P O'Mahony (capt), J Conan.
Replacements: R Best, A Porter, T Furlong, D Toner, J Murphy; L McGrath, G Ringrose, D Kearney.

OK Now you have

[johng]

Carty goes down after 5 minutes and we're bollixt

[jimbobjoe]

Ringrose, Addison or Marmion covering 10???

[Dexter]

Ringrose, Addison or Marmion covering 10???

Why didn't they put R Byrne at 22? Looks bad for him IMO.

[the spoofer]

Ringrose, Addison or Marmion covering 10???

Why didn't they put R Byrne at 22? Looks bad for him IMO.

Injured I believe.

Ruddock?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

The halfback situation is dire right now.

Three outhalves injured (just going off the post above) and Murray, who was in desperate need of games to recapture his form, will only have played about half an hour of rugby before we play Wales next week.

It'll be interesting to see how Stockdale does this weekend. There were loads of problems with our midfield defence so I had sympathy for him because he was left exposed, but he really didn't help himself and that's not exactly a new thing. I'd like to see him rush up but drift slightly instead of going all out for the man and ball tackle.

[Dexter]

Ringrose, Addison or Marmion covering 10???

Why didn't they put R Byrne at 22? Looks bad for him IMO.

Injured I believe.

Ruddock?

Ah ok, hadn't heard that. Maybe Ruddock will play next week? Maybe not, who knows - I would have him near the final squad, personally.

[Oldschool]

Dunno why POM appears to be do undroppable.

You are not alone and it's a fair bet you're in a crowd.
Basically POM's game seems to be to hang around until the play comes his way so he's more of an auxiliary something.