Ireland v Wales Sat 2.15

[Ruckedtobits]

Great win and a superb MOTM performance from Andrew Conway, despite the nonsense of Quinlan's award.

Plenty of really excellent displays across the team and no unit let us down in this hard-fought victory. Congrats to the defensive discipline in a game where we got very little from the Ref. Larmour scares the life out of me in our 22 but he must scare opponents to death in their 22.

I enjoyed that game and plenty for the highlights reel including, Henshaw, Conway, Larmour and Earls.

I should also have included Herring in the highlights as he constantly made important contributions and his basics, particularly his throwing, were excellent.

[Oldschool]

Cooney and Byrne on the pitch five minutes and try scored.
Imagine what they could do in 80 minutes.
D'Arcy put it very well, it depends on what colour glasses you're wearing.

[RichardP]

If another scrum half had played as well as Murray did today, the hospitals of Dublin would be full of people who had masturbated themselves in a coma because of it

Classic! Well done sir.

[OTT]

If another scrum half had played as well as Murray did today, the hospitals of Dublin would be full of people who had masturbated themselves into a coma because of it

He was magnificent. Delighted for him, delighted we have him.

[RichardP]

Murray's box kicking is going to hurt us in the second half. It's going to give Wales opportunities to counter attack, something they're good at.

Sorry, what was that?

[OTT]

Matt Williams,jesus wept.

[tingman]

If another scrum half had played as well as Murray did today, the hospitals of Dublin would be full of people who had masturbated themselves into a coma because of it

Oh come on!

[tingman]

A much improved performance. Lots more commitment, aggression and great defence. Bench was impactful - would love to see more of Kellegher.
Cant say much more other than we made Wales look ordinary.

[Oldschool]

If another scrum half had played as well as Murray did today, the hospitals of Dublin would be full of people who had masturbated themselves into a coma because of it

He was magnificent. Delighted for him, delighted we have him.

No he wasn't.

[Twist]

Physicality was great throughout but I was especially happy with the improvement in our scrum in the second half


In general we looked more cohesive than last week. Fewer passes overrun, fewer handling errors (I think), fewer runners running into trouble without support. We improved biggly.

Thats 5 match points and no LBP for the Grand Slam champions.

[wixfjord]

If another scrum half had played as well as Murray did today, the hospitals of Dublin would be full of people who had masturbated themselves into a coma because of it

Yep, he was really good.

Still more to go, but passing was good, put men in space and kicking was generally on the money, particularly when going for length.

[Peg Leg]

Ireland by 11, pity North not still at 13 though.

Almost.

[fourthirtythree]

Ireland by 11, pity North not still at 13 though.

Almost.

Don't think North would have been bounced by Henshaw 3 times before Larmour did him like a kipper though.

[neiliog93]

Murray was much faster getting to the ruck, much faster to get the ball our after arriving at the ruck, and his pass itself was much faster and more accurate. Made a big difference.

[Ruckedtobits]

Stander is very important defensively for Ireland but careful review of his technique shows he often uses his elbows for his initially poach. This gets him into a very strong position but Poite interprets this as "not supporting his body weight". Virgin commentators may not like it, but that's the laws of rugby.

Ireland did a lot of good things today and improved their own scrum and maul. Henshaw and Larmour carried really effectively in attack and made yards. Bundee carried well and committed opponents whilst making gain line on almost every carry. Conway was smart with every possession and Stockdale was effective in both attack and defence.

Comparative analysis between Murray & Cooney is impossible as they were on the pitch as very different times of the game. Opinions about Murray's performance are still widely divergent but we won a very important game and bonus point whilst he partnered Sexton. Cooney certainly increased the tempo slightly when he arrived but Wales, by that point, had become desperate to attack from anywhere and thus increasing the tempo was possible.

Very happy with the win and now we have to go to Twickenham and figure out a way to compete with their pack of ogres. Not easy, but really enjoyable if you can pull it off

[wixfjord]

Opinions about Murray's performance are still widely divergent but we won a very important game and bonus point whilst he partnered Sexton.

I don't really think they are, you've one looper who has clearly nailed his colours to the mast for the last year.

And pretty much everyone else who watched without that bias is saying he was much improved.

[OTT]

I think the point that was being made about Murray by some people (I haven’t really commented on him but I understood where people were coming from) was that he had become a bit laborious at the base of the ruck, added to this his passing had got slower which was effecting us trying to attack. The passing is the same thing that people use to beat up McGrath with some of it fair but some of it a bit OTT (no pun intended ) imo. After this performance Murray absolutely excelled in getting the ball away quick and his passing was crisp and fast. If people can’t admit that then they were never being genuine about where they were coming from in the first place.

As a side defensively he was absolutely brilliant today which is something we would miss terribly if he wasn’t playing.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Opinions about Murray's performance are still widely divergent but we won a very important game and bonus point whilst he partnered Sexton.

I don't really think they are, you've one looper who has clearly nailed his colours to the mast for the last year.

And pretty much everyone else who watched without that bias is saying he was much improved.

I agree with you but I wasn't/amn't sure if the cheer when Murray went off was to applaud his performance or just delight at Cooney coming on. I'm about 70% sure it was the former but not certain...

Cooney's pass to Ross Byrne in the lead up to the try was a beauty.

[dropkick]

Great day at the office for Farrell. Whatever about tactics and player selections, the team look happy, motivated and preformed under pressure. Getting the top 2 inches right is half the battle.


They attacked Wales in a variety of ways which stretched the Welsh defence. The players looked comfortable and even enjoyed it. Instead of a standard clearance from near their own line, Sexton made a break, passed to Conway and his banana kick landed near the Welsh 22m line. It won't always pay off but overall it adds more unpredictability to the attack which in turn makes it harder for the opposition.


A few weeks ago I said I didn't want Henshaw in the team but I thought he was the best player in the pitch today when he was on. There was way more variety to his game than trucking it up and it was like watching himself and Aki play for Connacht again. Mike Catt already having an influence.


They tightened things up in the last quarter which turned out to be the right thing to do.


Not a perfect performance but they have momentum now going to Twickenham.


As for Wales, their attack looked very slick at times but I think that they'll miss the steel Gatland installed into them which I will not miss.

[wixfjord]

I'd love to see Leinster mixing Robbie and Ringer around in the centre more from attacking positions.

Robbie won't ever be a distributor but he can be very effective at 13 and likewise Gary is good at stepping in as a playmaker.

Larmour is growing all the time into that role. Still has a bit to go in terms of distribution but that will come.

The try was reminiscent of a few tries he has scored in Leinster blue, particularly one he scored against Wasps at home last year - step off the right back inside of a defender tracking across.