Irl v Sco 6Ns 2020

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Feels slightly disappointing because of the rumours about Deegan benching but there's a lot to like about that team.

I'm not convinced Larmour will play but happy that he's deemed first choice anyway and Conway definitely deserves his chance. He's had awful luck whenever he's been given a shot so hopefully this time is different.

I was curious about what Farrell would do at centre and surprised they've gone with Bundee. He was excellent against Montpellier last week but by and large he's been in very average form all season. I know some people have been critical of Henshaw but I think he's been really good recently. He'll be very fired up when he gets on, looking forward to that.

Delighted for Dev that he's made it back into the squad. I'd have started him though, just think it's a better balance to have Henderson coming off the bench for the last half an hour.

Can't wait to see how that back row goes. Doris strikes me as someone who won't be fazed at all but it's still a big occasion so hope expectations aren't too high for him. Ditto for Kelleher off the bench, especially having not played for a while. That sub front row could have a serious impact, looking forward to seeing them.

With that pack in front of him and two ball carriers beside him in the back row I expect Josh to ruin Hastings' day.

[blockhead]

The team.
1. Healy 2. Herring 3. Furlong 4.Ryan 5.Henderson 6. Stander 7. JvdF 8. Doris 9. Murray 10. Sexton 11. Stockdale 12. Aki 13. Ringrose 14. Conway 15. Larmour
16. Kelleher 17. Kilcoyne 18. Porter 19. Toner 20. POM 21. Cooney 22. Byrne 23. Henshaw


Thornley's leaked team.
Addison; Larmour/Conway, Ringrose, Henshaw, Stockdale; Sexton (capt), Murray; Healy, Herring, Furlong, Henderson, Ryan, Stander, van der Flier, Doris. Replacements: Kilcoyne, Kelleher, Porter, Dillane, Deegan, Cooney, Conway/Larmour, Byrne

Maybe Gerry isn't so "in" anymore.

[Twist]

Interesting that Faz seemingly isn't in the Joe camp of picking bench players for their ability to cover multiple positions.

(Would also be interesting to see what happens if Larmour picks up a knock. Robbie to 15 again?)

I'd assume Conway is the fullback cover

[Twist]

No real complaints about that team. I think I understand the more contentious calls.

Murray gives us a lot of experience to back up our debutant 8, while we still have Cooney in reserve. Murray's form recently has been fine. Unspectacular, but not 'bad' by any means.

POM covers 6 and 7. I still think Deegan would be a better choice but we also need a few lineout targets for Kelleher to throw to on his debut and POM is a proven option as is Toner, obviously. You probably don't want two debutants in your backrow either.

Stander has always been a better 6 than 8. Glad to see him back where he belongs. He'll make more yards running from there than from 8, and I'm guessing it was a perceived lack of destructive carrying that counted against Rhys (still think that's a mistake).

I don't regard Aki as controversial after his performance v. Montpellier. I don't think any other 12 is in great form apart from McCloskey, and he was never going to start after not making the squad.

Herring had to start ahead of Kelleher if only for his fitness. It would be asking a lot to produce 60+ quality minutes in the 6 Nations when you've been out for that long.

[Ruckedtobits]

The team.
1. Healy 2. Herring 3. Furlong 4.Ryan 5.Henderson 6. Stander 7. JvdF 8. Doris 9. Murray 10. Sexton 11. Stockdale 12. Aki 13. Ringrose 14. Conway 15. Larmour
16. Kelleher 17. Kilcoyne 18. Porter 19. Toner 20. POM 21. Cooney 22. Byrne 23. Henshaw


Thornley's leaked team.
Addison; Larmour/Conway, Ringrose, Henshaw, Stockdale; Sexton (capt), Murray; Healy, Herring, Furlong, Henderson, Ryan, Stander, van der Flier, Doris. Replacements: Kilcoyne, Kelleher, Porter, Dillane, Deegan, Cooney, Conway/Larmour, Byrne

Maybe Gerry isn't so "in" anymore.

It's a very long time since I have been less interested in the Squad selection for an Irish team. Given the, largely media-led, narrative that the 2019 Irish Squad were completely incarcerated and then totally brain-washed by Joe Schmidt, clearly the result from the Team on Saturday is totally irrelevant, so long as the lads enjoy themselves and have a great day out of captivity.

International rugby is very difficult. Winning at international rugby requires skill and courage, but above all it requires discipline. Discipline requires good preparation and high concentration. Good luck with that.

[Twist]

The team.
1. Healy 2. Herring 3. Furlong 4.Ryan 5.Henderson 6. Stander 7. JvdF 8. Doris 9. Murray 10. Sexton 11. Stockdale 12. Aki 13. Ringrose 14. Conway 15. Larmour
16. Kelleher 17. Kilcoyne 18. Porter 19. Toner 20. POM 21. Cooney 22. Byrne 23. Henshaw


Thornley's leaked team.
Addison; Larmour/Conway, Ringrose, Henshaw, Stockdale; Sexton (capt), Murray; Healy, Herring, Furlong, Henderson, Ryan, Stander, van der Flier, Doris. Replacements: Kilcoyne, Kelleher, Porter, Dillane, Deegan, Cooney, Conway/Larmour, Byrne

Maybe Gerry isn't so "in" anymore.

It's a very long time since I have been less interested in the Squad selection for an Irish team. Given the, largely media-led, narrative that the 2019 Irish Squad were completely incarcerated and then totally brain-washed by Joe Schmidt, clearly the result from the Team on Saturday is totally irrelevant, so long as the lads enjoy themselves and have a great day out of captivity.

International rugby is very difficult. Winning at international rugby requires skill and courage, but above all it requires discipline. Discipline requires good preparation and high concentration. Good luck with that.

Is that in reference to Andy Farrell or the players involved?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

There's 5 personnel changes and one positional one from the team that started against NZ. Best, POM, Henshaw, Earls, and Kearney are the ones to who've gone, and Henshaw is the only one who has age on his side so would have been a straight form choice IMO. Although I don't know if Earls is injured or not, he's been carrying something recently.

Looking at the team again there aren't too many "system" players just there to execute the game plan, you'd back more of them to use their talent and play what's in front of them rather than just setting a platform. No guarantee it works of course, and it won't be perfect anyway with new coaches and players working together for their first game. It's exciting though!

[Oldschool]

Feels slightly disappointing because of the rumours about Deegan benching but there's a lot to like about that team.

I'm not convinced Larmour will play but happy that he's deemed first choice anyway and Conway definitely deserves his chance. He's had awful luck whenever he's been given a shot so hopefully this time is different.

I was curious about what Farrell would do at centre and surprised they've gone with Bundee. He was excellent against Montpellier last week but by and large he's been in very average form all season. I know some people have been critical of Henshaw but I think he's been really good recently. He'll be very fired up when he gets on, looking forward to that.

Delighted for Dev that he's made it back into the squad. I'd have started him though, just think it's a better balance to have Henderson coming off the bench for the last half an hour.

Can't wait to see how that back row goes. Doris strikes me as someone who won't be fazed at all but it's still a big occasion so hope expectations aren't too high for him. Ditto for Kelleher off the bench, especially having not played for a while. That sub front row could have a serious impact, looking forward to seeing them.

With that pack in front of him and two ball carriers beside him in the back row I expect Josh to ruin Hastings' day.

Think Farrell has handled the first phase of transition fairly well.
He's moved RK out straight away, this was low risk for a number of reason, age, injury risk and contract status to name just a few.
As we all know RK has been a thorn in the side of some fans (and quite a few of his opponents too) since he had the audacity to question the automatic right of Munster players to an Ireland jersey.
The message to the plebs, I'm not Blue Andy.
His next move was to move POM from automatic choice to bench.
This is where he needs a little bit of luck ie the starting BR need to have a stormer, that will silence the dissenting voices and all going well Deegan might make the bench at some stage.
It's interesting that Farrell chose the more nuts and bolts 8 over the "porn star" again a sop to the ahem. Remember the ongoing chagrin at Heaslip's selection.
Selecting Murray and Sexton is without a doubt a risk but again he's avoided controversy for his first game in charge and that's important.
If all goes well he can afford to give both Cooney and Byrne a decent bit of game time off the bench with a view to starting them against Italy.
The pre match banana skins have been avoided so fingers crossed for Saturday.

[artaneboy]

Team I'd go with for Saturday -

Healy, Herring, Furlong, Ryan, Henderson, Stander, VDF, Doris, Murray, Sexton, Stockdale, Henshaw, Ringrose, Conway, Larmour
Kilcoyne, Kelleher, Porter, Toner, Deegan, Cooney, Byrne, Earls

Unlikely to see that side but that would be my choice.

Not bad. Got the tough calls right- Murray, Doris, Conway and just missed the surprise opting for Aki over Henshaw. Chapeau.


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[blockhead]

Kinda disappointed Cooney didn't get the nod. He has been outstanding from the moment he turned up in Ravers. And remember he was playing in a basket case of a team for most of it and stood out behind a very poor pack. If anything he was Ulster's only positive for a while there.
He might get a rousing reception when he comes on at the weekend. Maybe even a bit of "Cooney, Cooney,Cooney" from the crowd.

[paddyor]

Kinda disappointed Cooney didn't get the nod. He has been outstanding from the moment he turned up in Ravers. And remember he was playing in a basket case of a team for most of it and stood out behind a very poor pack. If anything he was Ulster's only positive for a while there.
He might get a rousing reception when he comes on at the weekend. Maybe even a bit of "Cooney, Cooney,Cooney" from the crowd.

I’m not as sold on him as many but I will say he’s made some career for himself. Stepped into Pienaars shoes and won the Ravenhill crowd via Connacht as a “reject” from Leinster. The move seems to have been the making of him.

[johng]

Maybe even a bit of "Cooney, Cooney,Cooney" from the crowd.

Ram sam sam, a ram sam sam
Cooney Cooney Cooney Cooney ram sam sam
Haykayay yipi yaykayé
Ahou ahou a nikichi

[The Doc]

Maybe even a bit of "Cooney, Cooney,Cooney" from the crowd.

Ram sam sam, a ram sam sam
Cooney Cooney Cooney Cooney ram sam sam
Haykayay yipi yaykayé
Ahou ahou a nikichi

Getting through the cheap Lidl stuff from Christmas?

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[johng]

Must be the effects of dry January

[Oldschool]

Must be the effects of dry January

Not a lot of people know this but weatherwise, historically the month of January has one of the lowest, if not the lowest, levels of rainfall in a month, in Ireland.

[Oldschool]

Kinda disappointed Cooney didn't get the nod. He has been outstanding from the moment he turned up in Ravers. And remember he was playing in a basket case of a team for most of it and stood out behind a very poor pack. If anything he was Ulster's only positive for a while there.
He might get a rousing reception when he comes on at the weekend. Maybe even a bit of "Cooney, Cooney,Cooney" from the crowd.

I’m not as sold on him as many but I will say he’s made some career for himself. Stepped into Pienaars shoes and won the Ravenhill crowd via Connacht as a “reject” from Leinster. The move seems to have been the making of him.

Cooney's rise up the pecking order has a lot to do with not just his own form but the loss of form of Murray, in particular.
It's simply an acknowledgement of the fact that Murray's form has nosedived and we all know the reason why.
Didn't see his performance against Ospreys but it's been used as a justification for his selection by some.
To put that into context Ospreys are the worst team in this year's Pro14 and HCC so what did anyone expect?
It's certainly not the yardstick that should be used for selection.
The only way we're going to find out what Cooney is capable of is to play him and then we'll know.
In the cameos he's had so far he's looked capable.

[johng]

Must be the effects of dry January

Not a lot of people know this but weatherwise, historically the month of January has one of the lowest, if not the lowest, levels of rainfall in a month, in Ireland.

Think you might need to google the phrase "Dry January" OS.

[leinsterforever]

That backrow looks a vast improvement on POM, JvdF, Stander. I'd say that'll go a long way to making things better. Doris is a better footballer at 8, which is pretty important, given how much play goes through the 8, and having two physical guys alongside him will allow van der Flier to focus solely on doing openside stuff.

[Peg Leg]

Must be the effects of dry January

Not a lot of people know this but weatherwise, historically the month of January has one of the lowest, if not the lowest, levels of rainfall in a month, in Ireland.

Are you Donald Trump?

[wixfjord]

That backrow looks a vast improvement on POM, JvdF, Stander. I'd say that'll go a long way to making things better. Doris is a better footballer at 8, which is pretty important, given how much play goes through the 8, and having two physical guys alongside him will allow van der Flier to focus solely on doing openside stuff.

100%, it's a huge improvement on paper.

Doris is a perfect foil for CJ who is also moved to his best position.

While not the lineout threat of POM, if he carries in his Leinster form he's good in this area, brings as much of a breakdown threat, better close in carrying and far more physical than POM.