Andy Farell's Reign of Terror

[ronk]

There are 3 Irish back 3 players who are special attacking threats who get extra attention from defence coaches: Larmour, Lowe and Stockdale. You could argue for Carbery, Lowry and Zebo too.

To play them together, Stockdale needs to be a fullback or someone has to switch wings. Now is a great time to be experimenting. Theres a lot to like about Stockdale at 15 but it neutralises his ability to win at the edge (his best matchup) and costs us in defence.

I’d love the Stockdale experiment to come good but it looks like we’ll have to accept that we won’t get those 3 on the pitch together as our strongest team.

Stockdale’s siege cannon boot is really useful though. I’d probably try and rotate him more in open kicking and exit scenarios with Keenan/Daly but leave him on the wing for phase play and set piece.

[brenno]

I know it's like a broken record now, but watched most of the Ulster game v Edinburgh and once again Cooney had a superb game at 9 and his pointed exclusion from the Ireland squad becomes more baffling by the day. Passing, kicking excellent, scored two fine tries and overall looked as good if not better than any 9 in the country.

I still can't see what JGP has that Cooney doesn't have in spades and for me he's either no. 1 or 2 scrum half in the country. But then seen Nucifora has given Farrell and co the vote of confidence, so nothing likely to change

[LeRouxIsPHat]

We're a mess and I think we're in desperate need of the break after this weekend for everyone to clear their heads and try and start afresh after Christmas. The Welsh game has to be the blueprint for how we move forward. They were terrible but the style we had was evident and it suits us. There were options off 9 and 10, players ran hard, there were tip on passes, offloads, and a willingness to counter attack. I'm very pessimistic about improving things in the 6N but we do have players to come back and if we get some outside help for the coaches then we've got a chance of doing it. RTB's idea of getting McFarland to help with the maul etc is a brilliant one IMO. I don't care if any coaches feel undermined, they clearly need help.

In terms of selection I'd try and get some guys into the squad who are feeling really good about their games and playing with smiles on their faces. The squad must be a horrible place to be right now and I'd say that guys like Rhys, Leavy, and Cooney walking in and getting a fair shot would give everyone a boost. John Andrew is another playing really well in a position where we need to add depth.

I'm optimistic about the medium term though, partly because we have players coming through in pretty much every position and partly because I expect the coaching ticket to change, either by adding Lancaster or removing the current group entirely. I said on page one of this thread that I was worried about a lack of a forwards coach now that Easterby has moved to defence and it does look like there's a gaping hole there. As poor as Catt's performance has been, he hasn't had a solid platform to work off. I've been worried about Kelleher's throwing for years but I didn't actually think that he was the issue in Twickenham. The lifts for a couple of his "overthrows" were incredibly slow and our handling and protection of the ball in the air has been abysmal when we have caught it. Some of that, along with not keeping the ball away from Itoje or not matching up on opposition ball to stop mauls at source, has been shockingly poor and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that club players would run the lineout better. To me that's indicative of a team that's trying to remember what the plan is instead of playing the rugby match in front of them. For all the talk of the coaches and various poor performers across the squad I've probably been most disappointed with James Ryan. His discipline, lineout calling, and poor handling have been all been below par and I think the captaincy (and possibly his return from injury) has had a negative impact. I've no worries about him in the medium or long term but I think he could do without learning to be Ireland captain at a time when the team is a mess and his own game is struggling.

I really am excited about all the players we have coming through but the problem is that very few will be ready for the spring, it's the following autumn or 2022 when I think our squad will be in good shape again. To that end I think we should be looking to have this pack start next autumn.

Porter
Kelleher
Furlong
Henderson
Ryan
Baird
Leavy
Doris

That looks like a world cup winning pack to me. I said last year that Porter should move back to LH after the world cup but the way the last year has worked out I'm glad he stayed put, but it has to happen in the medium term. I've also said the same about Baird playing 6 and everything I've seen this year confirms that for me. We don't have any really obvious candidate to be the long term 6 (although Josh Murphy has been brilliant recently and I'd happily have him in the squad) and adding his size and lineout ability there will solve two big problems for us. It also frees up space in Leinster for Charlie Ryan and Jack Dunne, as well as Ahern (who will have a similarly fast rapid rise through the ranks IMO) for Ireland.

[Blue not red blood]

Shocking lack of vision again in team selection.
Am prepared to give the coaching ticket a bye so far but if I see CJ looking for contact at every carry or Ligind hanging out on the wing then thats it.

Got to get back 3 into game as often as possible

[chrismcc]

Shocking lack of vision again in team selection.
Am prepared to give the coaching ticket a bye so far but if I see CJ looking for contact at every carry or Ligind hanging out on the wing then thats it.

Got to get back 3 into game as often as possible

How do you feel about box kicks from anywhere on the park

[Blueberry]

Shocking lack of vision again in team selection.
Am prepared to give the coaching ticket a bye so far but if I see CJ looking for contact at every carry or Ligind hanging out on the wing then thats it.

Got to get back 3 into game as often as possible

Well then let that be that then - CJ has no comprehension of how not to look for contact, never has never will...........his idea of a step is something you do to go upstairs...........not getting at the guy but he is entirely one dimensional in his carrying, it's what he does.

Ligind is due 5 or 6 Angry Face incidents V Scotland so he should spend less time puffing on the wing.

Mind boggles with the Stockdale call............exactly how many games will it take Farrell to figure out that Stockdale isn't a fullback.....????

[Blueberry]

Dominant pack performance, Doris exceptional carrying and Porter had a super game too. Sexton had a good game, constantly makes us look more dangerous and out wide Earls was at his best. Keenan continues to put in fault free performance.

Not sure what we learn though as Scotland pack powder puff and penalty machine.

Interesting to see VDF when on, serious number of tackles. Issues continue with Stockdale at FB, strong carries but should on the wing. Keenan fine at FB.

Our backrow needs to be VDF Doris and Ruddock, perfect balance for me. Connors, Leavy, Stander and POM can try and push for a place then.

Herring arguably gives us a solid thrower but little else.

[Ruckedtobits]

The current status of the Irish team is not as high as the players perceive nor as low as some journos postulate. The reality is that a number of international coaches understand how to expose Ireland's defence but only a limited number have the players to do it. Equally, a number of coaches believe they know how to contain Ireland's attack but perhaps only four have the capacity to do it by design.

In terms of specific shortcomings, for as long as we continue with a 2:13 defensive format between the 22m lines (i.e. two men covering the backfield) we should expect to see any linebreaker target Stockdale who appears to have little sense of defensive positioning and not enough lateral mobility to make one-on-one tackles as a backfield defender. At the top level of rugby, you only need to find one flaw in the opposition's defence to win games.

In attack, our pack have become blunted through loss of the detail of clearouts so beloved of JS and despised by the players. Players like Stander Ryan and Healy who were such effective carriers and clearers now seem mediocre in both roles because the entire pack have lost the minute focus on how and when to enter & execute the attacking and defending breakdowns.

Robbie Henshaw was Ireland's outstanding player today and his effectiveness in both attack and defence is under-valued.

Andy Farrell is experienced enough to objectively analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the team, their performances and their coaching. Whether he is ruthless enough to change the personnel who are not delivering on performance - both players and coaches- remains to be seen.

[tomthefan]

I wonder if it's possible to arrange for all the people who want to attend 6N games next year to have covid vaccinations so we can have full houses and full revenue?

[Peg Leg]

I wonder if it's possible to arrange for all the people who want to attend 6N games next year to have covid vaccinations so we can have full houses and full revenue?

Simple logic test should answer this:
You can do one of these two things,
A) Visit your elderly parent in their nursing home.
2) Ireland Vs France on Valentines day.

It's a toughie alright

[blockhead]

15 Games played in the "Andy Farrell's Reign of Terror" since last a comment was posted upon this thread.

Games Won = 12
Games Lost = 3
Points For = 559 or (37/game)
Points against = 224 or (14.9/game)
Tries for = 69 or (4.6/game)
Tries against = 23 or (1.5/game)

Scored less than 20 points in a game twice, the first two games
If we were in a league we would have have 58 points on the board (we'ed be 2 points behind Montpellier with 5 games in hand, although Leinster would have us looking nervously over our shoulder)
9 TBPs + 3 LBPs

Good on ya Fez!

[blockhead]

15 Games played in the "Andy Farrell's Reign of Terror" since last a comment was posted upon this thread.

Games Won = 12
Games Lost = 3
Points For = 559 or (37/game)
Points against = 224 or (14.9/game)
Tries for = 69 or (4.6/game)
Tries against = 23 or (1.5/game)

Scored less than 20 points in a game twice, the first two games
If we were in a league we would have have 58 points on the board (we'ed be 2 points behind Montpellier with 5 games in hand, although Leinster would have us looking nervously over our shoulder)
9 TBPs + 3 LBPs

Good on ya Fez!

Sorry, Faz is of course whom I was praising.

[Oldschool]

Learnings
It's a word that Andy Farrell uses a lot.
So no surprise when you hear some of his/our Triple Crown winning players using it.
In fact it's a good sign, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

However it's slightly surprising when you hear some of the women players using the word.
It suggests, perhaps, that Andy is trying to contribute something to the war effort in the women's game.
Great if that is happening and nudge nudge nod nod wink wink if it isn't.

[The Doc]

Learnings
It's a word that Andy Farrell uses a lot.
So no surprise when you hear some of his/our Triple Crown winning players using it.
In fact it's a good sign, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

However it's slightly surprising when you hear some of the women players using the word.
It suggests, perhaps, that Andy is trying to contribute something to the war effort in the women's game.
Great if that is happening and nudge nudge nod nod wink wink if it isn't.

It started before Farrell... Heaslip used always use it. And it's a sign of nothing more than a poor vocabulary. There is a word already... Lessons. Stop verbing nouns

In fairness someone has obviously got to Heaslip. He's reverted back to English these days

Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

[Oldschool]

Learnings
It's a word that Andy Farrell uses a lot.
So no surprise when you hear some of his/our Triple Crown winning players using it.
In fact it's a good sign, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

However it's slightly surprising when you hear some of the women players using the word.
It suggests, perhaps, that Andy is trying to contribute something to the war effort in the women's game.
Great if that is happening and nudge nudge nod nod wink wink if it isn't.

It started before Farrell... Heaslip used always use it. And it's a sign of nothing more than a poor vocabulary. There is a word already... Lessons. Stop verbing nouns

In fairness someone has obviously got to Heaslip. He's reverted back to the Queen's English these days

Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

Andy must have really rated Heaslip - That's another learning for us.

[Oldschoolsocks]

Learnings
It's a word that Andy Farrell uses a lot.
So no surprise when you hear some of his/our Triple Crown winning players using it.
In fact it's a good sign, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

However it's slightly surprising when you hear some of the women players using the word.
It suggests, perhaps, that Andy is trying to contribute something to the war effort in the women's game.
Great if that is happening and nudge nudge nod nod wink wink if it isn't.

It started before Farrell... Heaslip used always use it. And it's a sign of nothing more than a poor vocabulary. There is a word already... Lessons. Stop verbing nouns

In fairness someone has obviously got to Heaslip. He's reverted back to English these days

Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

Not sure if I agree with you on that Doc.

I see a lesson as something that you learned from someone else and a learning as something you learned from experience.

[The Doc]

Learnings
It's a word that Andy Farrell uses a lot.
So no surprise when you hear some of his/our Triple Crown winning players using it.
In fact it's a good sign, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

However it's slightly surprising when you hear some of the women players using the word.
It suggests, perhaps, that Andy is trying to contribute something to the war effort in the women's game.
Great if that is happening and nudge nudge nod nod wink wink if it isn't.

It started before Farrell... Heaslip used always use it. And it's a sign of nothing more than a poor vocabulary. There is a word already... Lessons. Stop verbing nouns

In fairness someone has obviously got to Heaslip. He's reverted back to English these days

Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

Not sure if I agree with you on that Doc.

I see a lesson as something that you learned from someone else and a learning as something you learned from experience.

Makes the phrase "life lessons" look a bit stupid so.

I'm sure your interpretation is what they mean. But it's nonsense. "Lessons" doesn't imply how something is learned. But some obviously are linking it to school.

"Learnings" isn't a word.

Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

[Oldschoolsocks]

It started before Farrell... Heaslip used always use it. And it's a sign of nothing more than a poor vocabulary. There is a word already... Lessons. Stop verbing nouns

In fairness someone has obviously got to Heaslip. He's reverted back to English these days

Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

Not sure if I agree with you on that Doc.

I see a lesson as something that you learned from someone else and a learning as something you learned from experience.

Makes the phrase "life lessons" look a bit stupid so.

I'm sure your interpretation is what they mean. But it's nonsense. "Lessons" doesn't imply how something is learned. But some obviously are linking it to school.

"Learnings" isn't a word.

Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

Well if it’s not a word now it will be soon, that’s how English works (I think).

Anyhoo I’ve no problem using words that probably don’t exist yet and other people understand what I mean. That probably makes me an early adopter?

[leinsterforever]

Well if it’s not a word now it will be soon, that’s how English works (I think).

Anyhoo I’ve no problem using words that probably don’t exist yet and other people understand what I mean. That probably makes me an early adopter?

Speaking of, is "anyhoo" a real word? It bugs me hearing it. I've noticed it in the Simpsons, so I think it must be an American thing. Surely the word is "anyhow"?

[leinsterforever]

Maybe it was Erasmus who brought "learnings" into the rugby lexicon. I think him using it was the first I heard of it. English probably isn't his first language.