Ireland

jcahill1 says...

@curates_egg

Sorry my bad thought that was your starting "young team" for the tournament.

Posted 21:14 20th May 2012

adamk says...

Lads let's not forget this is just the Baa-baa squad. The NZ squad will be far more conservative/boring/Kidney-esque... :(

Posted 10:54 17th May 2012

curates_egg says...

@olearyc5 I hear you loud and clear on Fez and a backrow of Muldoon, Henry and O'Mahony would be fresh too. Although is henry not also carrying a knock?

Am not sure about Sherry though. Have not seen enough of him but haven't been convinced by what I have seen. When Strauss is naturalised later this year, it will be an interesting position for Ireland. Strauss was the best hooker in Ireland for 2 years but for some reason has forgotten how to throw a ball into the lineout. I think he needs to go back down south over the summer and get some lessons of his family members...come back and then nail down the number 2 spot.

Posted 13:34 16th May 2012

olearyc5 says...

@tombomb

I don't agree with your views on Spence and Sherry. Sherry's lineout has been poor but I think he is a fantastic prospects and great in the loose. Spence is a bit more then a bosh merchant, good tackler, runs good lines. I hope he makes the squad because he could learn so much from O'Driscoll about defensive positioning.

In terms of your suggestions to bring, Henderson, Luke McGrath and JJ Hanrahan are all going to the JWC. And its too early for them. And Toner, Jack McGrath and Madigan all play or Leinster so can't be named yet. Having said that, of those three Toner and Madigan have a chance to go down under. As might Jamie Hagan possibly. Although Im not personally convinced about Madigan.

@curates egg

I'd agree with most of your team for the barbarians, but I wouldn't put in either Ferris or Best. They will have had a long season and Ferris especially is susceptible to injury. I think it would be good for the development of Sherry and a released Leinster player to play. I would also have Spence over Cave, as I think of the two of them, Spence has a better future.

On a different note, Conor Murray needs a strong tour, otherwise I'd drop him. Don't get me wrong, he's very good. But he's very slow and could benefit from being dropped like Tommy Bowe was a number of years ago.

Posted 10:29 16th May 2012

Norm says...

Good to see some of these caps but lets wait and see if the lifting of the conservatism remains after the barbarians game is over. I fear then we are back to the DOC etc etc

Blametheref

Sense in what you say, Downey solid defensively but why build for this test series, cause that is all he would do. No pointing building for a post Darcy and BOD world with a guy the wrong side of 30 and you know my thoughts that he is not all that beyond eing able to stand up defensively and crash bang into the opposition midfield.

Posted 08:51 16th May 2012

jcahill1 says...

@ Curates egg.

If Kidney ever picks that team I will personally crown you Prince Curates egg XIV.

And Court over Healy, really?

Posted 22:10 15th May 2012

tombomb says...

having Donncha O'Callaghan/unseen work= doesn't do anything. Nevin Spence=bosh merchant Mike Sherry= butterfingers just show's kidney's inept knowledge of modern day rugby there are better player's than these player's in the province's and young guy's he should be bringing down to nz to make these player's better because after all he is supposed to be a coach. namly devin toner,iain henderson,ian madigan,jj hanrahan and jack mc'grath and may even luke mc'grath. yes these guy's are young but i think they all have what it takes to be very good international's.

Posted 21:09 15th May 2012

ciaran1792 says...

1 Healy 2 Best 3 Ross aka (unsung hero) id also give Fitzpatrick game time with 30 mins left. 4 Dan Tuhoy he earned it 5 Toner as line out option and Ryan if you want to try physicality. 6 Ferris 7 I would consider Henry if he cuts out the errors for example The sin bin against Munster and the gifted try in 2010 to the Ausies on the tour down under O'Mahony would be the safe option in my opinion. 8 O'Brien with Heaslip as an impact sub the for the second all blacks test switch it around. 9 Paul Marshal with Isaac boss on the bench 10 Sexton (note Kidney if you are reading this play him flat attacking the gain line not deep like you would O'Gara you spastic it doesent take long to notice his strengths 11 Zebo 12 McFadden 13 BOD 14 Earls or Dave Kearney 15 Rob Kearney with the recruitment of a attacking coach Joe Schmidt. Who offered to be a backs coach that before the 6 nations this year. If we wanna beat the all blacks then its time to get serious an pick the most cohesive squad possible and the most destructive its a shame Luke Fitzgerald got injured or he would be one of the first on the team sheet.

Posted 19:52 15th May 2012

blametheref says...

A bit stupid to overlook Downey yet again, has anyone told Kidney that he will be a Munster player by that stage? If NZ play Sonny Bill at 12 in any of the tests Downey would be a good option to have if other plans aren't working for Ireland, or injury, during the 3 tests. The 12 channel is NZ's favoured spot for carving opposition and launching attacks. Downey's bone crunching tackling could be key to actually seeing Ireland actually win a test; but we won't win a test as Kidney seems to want to disregard the prowess of the best attacking team in world rugby in the 12 channel...Not only this, but Downey has had a good season with Northampton and wasn't found wanting in the recent Premiership Semi Final and made the only try of the game, in fact he was one of the best players on the field in the role of the reliable workhorse who won't let you down, Ireland need one or two workhorses.

Posted 19:08 15th May 2012

staph_glorious says...

DropZone62,

That looks something of a radical selection. Given that it's a three-test series in New Zealand, I would hope to see a full-strength selection first up, with that result determining the rotation policy for the latter two. So, beginning with something like

Healy, Best, Ross; Ryan, O'Callaghan; Ferris, O'Brien, Heaslip; Reddan, Sexton; Trimble, Earls, O'Driscoll, McFadden; Kearney,

and then looking to blood Fitzpatrick and perhaps Marshall at some stage, test out a backrow which sees Henry operate at openside with O'Brien (or O'Mahony) moving to eight, promote a new lock (Tuohy/Toner) to join Ryan, and try out a BOD-less midfield that doesn't see Sexton play centre. It should also be noted that an entire front-row replacement could make the bench, in which case Ryan and Tuohy's utility, paired with their performances of late, would make them fixtures in the match-day squad.

But again, as it was for the Six Nations, it is not the coach's selections that demand scrutiny, but the team performance. There's little to be gained in simply adding fresh hands to a rudderless ship.

Posted 17:32 15th May 2012