Ireland v. Wales, Fri 13 Nov, 19.00

[RichardP]

We were outweighted by 40kg in the scrum and we did little effective mauling. Our best line-out options were very fast off the top. England will try to slow us down to beat us up and we'll need Henderson & Ryan with Doris being lifted as high as PO'M (who should be left out IMO). Stander 8, Doris 6 and Connors @ 7 - but pushing in the scrum. .

Looking forward to this now.

Our line out improved massively because of POM’s presence, he was name-checked as a contender for MOTM but you want to leave him out? Can you explain why?

[RichardP]

Anyone hear what Henderson’s ( medical condition ) was?

none. rumour is stockdale broke a team rule (covid related I think) and hendo went ballistic with him. they had a confrontation/row and farrell left them both out of the team.

rumour was floating around twitter btw. nothing in the press/meejya about it.

Although I don’t put much stock in rumours if Henderson berated a fellow player for breaking their Covid rules he should be lauded for it, not dropped. Methinks there’s more to it than that.

[wixfjord]

We were outweighted by 40kg in the scrum and we did little effective mauling. Our best line-out options were very fast off the top. England will try to slow us down to beat us up and we'll need Henderson & Ryan with Doris being lifted as high as PO'M (who should be left out IMO). Stander 8, Doris 6 and Connors @ 7 - but pushing in the scrum. .

Looking forward to this now.

Our line out improved massively because of POM’s presence, he was name-checked as a contender for MOTM but you want to leave him out? Can you explain why?

Because Doris and Stander are better and Connors is a better/more powerful option at 7.

I'd say that's fairly solid rationale.

You can argue against it, but it's logical.

[Peg Leg]

We were outweighted by 40kg in the scrum and we did little effective mauling. Our best line-out options were very fast off the top. England will try to slow us down to beat us up and we'll need Henderson & Ryan with Doris being lifted as high as PO'M (who should be left out IMO). Stander 8, Doris 6 and Connors @ 7 - but pushing in the scrum. .

Looking forward to this now.

Our line out improved massively because of POM’s presence, he was name-checked as a contender for MOTM but you want to leave him out? Can you explain why?

Because Doris and Stander are better and Connors is a better/more powerful option at 7.

I'd say that's fairly solid rationale.

You can argue against it, but it's logical.

But POM's standing jump stats?

[Flash Gordon]

We were outweighted by 40kg in the scrum and we did little effective mauling. Our best line-out options were very fast off the top. England will try to slow us down to beat us up and we'll need Henderson & Ryan with Doris being lifted as high as PO'M (who should be left out IMO). Stander 8, Doris 6 and Connors @ 7 - but pushing in the scrum. .

Looking forward to this now.

Our line out improved massively because of POM’s presence, he was name-checked as a contender for MOTM but you want to leave him out? Can you explain why?

No question that POM is a line out asset but the other backrow options are better selections. They tackle more, carry more and are better that the breakdown. Stander, Connors and Dorris are in incredible form. Ruddock has been Leinster's best player this season thus far and then you see Leavy having a stormer last night. Add Conan and JvdF and Deegan into the equation and you realise just how competitive it is. I'm a firm believer that you pick the best players to play the position and if they can do anything else that's a bonus but the fundamentals of the position are the primary selection criteria.

On the scrum, Porter was outstanding and made absolute mince meat of his opposite number. Getting the shepherd's crook before half time was pretty humiliating and I don't think it was coincidence that Roux was packing down behind him.

[fourthirtythree]

POM is a defensive lineout asset, he's not actually that much better on your own ball than others.