Ireland

hayj05 says...

@ paddy91317 - Cocky fan boys lol?

Didn't realise you were in the starting line-up & not actually a fan of the Irish side.

Of course we are going to be cocky (confident & expectant by my definition), we have a team that lives & dies for the jersey & a team that has never lost to Ireland.

I'm not underestimating Ireland at all & I'm not saying they can't win but it's not easy being humble when you support a team like the AB's. If you open your mind you would be able to appreciate that.

Posted 12:40 07th June 2012

bryans says...

The scrum will get destroyed, so all this talk about combinations in the back line could be pointless !

Posted 12:31 07th June 2012

fozza says...

I can see a few people have already jumped on the supposed mismatch of SBW and Keith Earls so don't need to say anything more there. I don't know fitzgerald very well, but that frightens me that a debutant prop is being thrown in to face the All blacks. Still, here's hoping it's competitive at least!!!!

Posted 11:45 07th June 2012

adamk says...

I'm a firm believer that Kidney is an absolute joke-merchant. We've been begging him for years to pick a non-conservative team, and now he's gone and done that - but picked the wrong team for this game! Kidney had plenty of opportunity to pick the best team... If he wanted to 'experiment' he could've done this (provided he brought the right team):

15. R Kearney

14. F. McFadden

13. D. Cave

12. B. O'Driscoll

11. K. Earls

10. J. Sexton

09. E. Reddan

08. J. Heaslip

07. S. O'Brien

06. P. O'Mahoney

05. D. Touhy

04. D. Ryan

03. Fitzpatrick

02. R. Best

01. C. Healy

-------

16. S. Cronin

17. T. Court

18. DOC/McCarthy

19. K. McLaughlin

20. Marshall

21. Madigan

22. D. Kearney/Gilroy

Note on selections:

Let's face it, we all know BOD, whilst in prime form, have developed all the attributes of a 2nd 5/8 lately - an ability to break the gain line, a lovely short pass and offload, able to read an attacking gain line and stop it dead, and as always he's king over the ball and utterly regardless for his own safety at the breakdown. He hasn't the gas to make those line breaks anymore, and his long pass has imo suffered. He should be tried at 12. Plus it also makes way for D. Cave who is the next best successor for the 13 jersey imo.

Also it puts Earls back in his most dangerous position - wearing 11 imo. With a bit of space the man is lethal, but defensively he's suspect at 13, never mind 12. Has he ever played 12 before? Not that I can recall. He did a good job at 13 for the 6N, but I think Cave would do better.

Sexton and Reddan need to start together. It's no coincidence that our best games (Aus 2011 and Eng 2011) had these two at the helm. Putting Sexton and Murray together is like putting Cooper with Mike Phillips. They cancel each other out.

The pack picks itself - although I'm still worried about DOC on the bench, and I'd have D. Kearns because he can cover FB also.

Posted 11:44 07th June 2012

DaveJ says...

I like that Kidney has for a change decided not to be entirely conservative and gone with some form selections. I think last week against and baa baa's showed that Kidney cannot be too generous in handing out new caps or risk getting absolutely demolished by the All Blacks. If we had Bowe fit to put in centre at either 12 against SBW or 13 and have Drico in 12 (with earls or on the wing and Mc fadden on the bench), Ferris on instead of O Mahony and of course Ross in the scrum I reckon we could have put a good game to New Zealand. I agree that this is possibly the first form selection we have seen (subject to a lot of injuries) but I don't think this will be enough to trouble to depth and quality of the all blacks. Psychologically losing plays like O Connell, Ferris and Bowe is crushing. For me the Jury is still out on Zebo, I think his handling and defense are very below par but I agree with giving him this shot to prove himself - the ultimate test to answer his critics (me included). If Zebo doesn't stand up it's time to give Gilroy his day in the sun.

Posted 11:34 07th June 2012

Norm says...

Understand murray selection for physicality but still would have gone for Reddan. Also preferred BOD into 12 and leav Earls at 13. Look forward to seeing how 1-8 goes. Looks like a potentially longer term pack with the obvious addition of Ferris. Possibly would have liked SOB back to 6 with O'Mahoney at 7. Not a classic 7 but closer to it than any of the others, plus still have the fear that we underuse SOB at 7.

I am realistic and of course hope for an upset but would settle for a strong performance which gels this team together a bit and initiates a bit of momentum.

Posted 10:57 07th June 2012

melkdave says...

Ouch Earls at 12 ,his defending is as bad as D'arcys ,i was hoping that either BOD or Cave would play 12 myself ,while Earls started on the wing ,where imho he is a class player.Though id still prefer J.Downey to be in the squad and starting lol,maybe next year(i hope).Atleast Cave is on the bench .Nice also to see Touhy starting instead of DOC ,well overdrew imo,and Zebo,and why Murray instead of Redden ??I would have thought any advantage would be grasped ,and a team combination at half back is one imo .Ross didnt make it then as Fitzpatrick is starting,lets hope he can scrummage as his sure to be really tested,and to be honest is a worry as Ross is the rock the irish scrum is built on.Lots of potential weaknesses imho in the irish team ,just hope that NZ cant take advantage .But even so i think this team is alot better than the 6Ns ones,except for the loss of Ross

Posted 10:39 07th June 2012

blametheref says...

"When you're playing the world champions in their own back yard in the first game after the World Cup, you have to be on top of your game." ...What a profound statement from Declan Kidney! Does anyone remember Marietta biscuits? Dry, uninteresting, boring...Declan Kidney, along with Robbie Deans have to be the Marietta biscuits of rugby coach speak...has anyone told Declan Kidney that to beat any team you've got to be on top of your game. To me, this statement is making safe excuses already and lacks the swagger and belief a coach should be putting out there publicly if in fact the team have come to really win and the coach really believes that...Though the All Blacks have earned every cent of the respect they deserve, Ireland, through their coach are already showing too much respect (trepidation) from a match point of view...

Posted 09:57 07th June 2012

seapointer says...

brave selection and big calls made by kidney and when you look at it, its close to the best 15 we have.....having said that am i missing something - Trimble and D'arcy ? are not even on the bench and no where have i heard they've been injured

Posted 09:34 07th June 2012

blametheref says...

Don't know what to make of this team, especially starting with the slower delivery of Murray at 9 to Sexton when you've got the pacy Earls outside at 12, weird! Sexton is going to spend his day defending instead of doing what he does best, attacking. Surely with this surprising centre partnership quick ball would be the order of the day...Ireland have the majority of our best successes with the BOD/D'Arcy partnership at 12 and 13, so why change this against the best team in the world in the first test?? Earls, one of Ireland's best finishers is now turning into a utility back and out of position and against SBW too, the only positions he hasn't played are scrum half and 10. If Ireland were going to take on the AB's with conviction they would have started with the fast Reddan at 9, D'arcy at 12 and Earls on the wing instead of the "reliable" McFadden who simply doesn't score enough tries. O' Mahony is more a 7 and should be played there to allow Sean O' Brien play in his most effective position of 6, maybe the plan is to swop them from time to time. Ireland may regret not bringing Devon Toner, at least on the bench, to compete with the huge Retallick in the line out which it now looks the AB's will dominate. As regards the scrum, Ireland are in for a potential mincing as tight head is a big problem area, but the good thing for Ireland is Nigel Owens is the ref and he will allow play continue if it's at the 8's feet instead of resetting. One thing Ireland do have with this pack is mobility and pace out wide so maybe that's the plan, to run the AB pack around for 80 minutes solid. The only schizophrenic thing about this plan, if it is the plan, is the crucial bad pairing of Murray with Sexton. As usual, Kidney in his mind already has O' Gara coming on and it could be embarassing watching SBW running in tries mowing down 12's who aren't 12's and ROG...Kidney!!

Posted 09:27 07th June 2012