Tour to NZ 2022

[wixfjord]

I would assume that Treadwell is there as the next most obvious TH lock option after Hendo.

If McCarthy had played better against Maoris he could've gotten in.

Treadwell did ok coming on last week and is a pretty different player to Baird, so clearly it's a selection based on needing a bit more scrum, maul and ruck power.

Coombes and Aki would've been two that I would start personally. Ringer wasn't good last week and I think Coombes is a guy who should be given an opportunity as he has the size and impact to be a test player. I thought he was good against Maori also.

[wixfjord]

The calls for Joey Carbery to start have been widespread once again. There’s no doubt it would be a good experience for him with the World Cup looming next year but it’s worth remembering that he has featured quite a bit for Ireland recently.

Carbery has played in all 11 of Ireland’s last 11 games since the summer of 2021, starting five of them against Japan, USA, Argentina, France, and Italy.

He has played 455 of the available 880 minutes of game time across that run of 11 games. It’s hardly a picture of someone not getting exposure at Test level, even if plenty of that game time was down to Sexton being unavailable.

One also has to ask bluntly if Carbery truly deserves to be Ireland’s starting out-half. In all honesty, he has not been performing at the level Sexton has. He’s 26 now and while injuries have certainly stunted his progress, he’s not a kid. The onus is on him to displace Sexton.

https://www.the42.ie/ireland-second-tes ... /#comments

So we now know that Murray K, Dememted Mole and Hugonaut are the same person!

[The Doc]

The calls for Joey Carbery to start have been widespread once again. There’s no doubt it would be a good experience for him with the World Cup looming next year but it’s worth remembering that he has featured quite a bit for Ireland recently.

Carbery has played in all 11 of Ireland’s last 11 games since the summer of 2021, starting five of them against Japan, USA, Argentina, France, and Italy.

He has played 455 of the available 880 minutes of game time across that run of 11 games. It’s hardly a picture of someone not getting exposure at Test level, even if plenty of that game time was down to Sexton being unavailable.

One also has to ask bluntly if Carbery truly deserves to be Ireland’s starting out-half. In all honesty, he has not been performing at the level Sexton has. He’s 26 now and while injuries have certainly stunted his progress, he’s not a kid. The onus is on him to displace Sexton.

https://www.the42.ie/ireland-second-tes ... /#comments

So we now know that Murray K, Dememted Mole and Hugonaut are the same person!

Well... The last two are the same. So no surprise there



Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

[wixfjord]

The calls for Joey Carbery to start have been widespread once again. There’s no doubt it would be a good experience for him with the World Cup looming next year but it’s worth remembering that he has featured quite a bit for Ireland recently.

Carbery has played in all 11 of Ireland’s last 11 games since the summer of 2021, starting five of them against Japan, USA, Argentina, France, and Italy.

He has played 455 of the available 880 minutes of game time across that run of 11 games. It’s hardly a picture of someone not getting exposure at Test level, even if plenty of that game time was down to Sexton being unavailable.

One also has to ask bluntly if Carbery truly deserves to be Ireland’s starting out-half. In all honesty, he has not been performing at the level Sexton has. He’s 26 now and while injuries have certainly stunted his progress, he’s not a kid. The onus is on him to displace Sexton.

https://www.the42.ie/ireland-second-tes ... /#comments

So we now know that Murray K, Dememted Mole and Hugonaut are the same person!

Well... The last two are the same. So no surprise there



Sent from my LE2123 using Tapatalk

Ah I'm aware of that, but didn't realise he was moonlighting as Murray K as well. All makes sense now...

[riocard911]

lol!!!

[Ragsy]

I would assume that Treadwell is there as the next most obvious TH lock option after Hendo.

If McCarthy had played better against Maoris he could've gotten in.

Treadwell did ok coming on last week and is a pretty different player to Baird, so clearly it's a selection based on needing a bit more scrum, maul and ruck power.

Coombes and Aki would've been two that I would start personally. Ringer wasn't good last week and I think Coombes is a guy who should be given an opportunity as he has the size and impact to be a test player. I thought he was good against Maori also.

Ringrose has skills neither Aki or Henshaw have, I would not have dropped him. Where would you play Coombes, as Doris does not deserve dropping, so it would have to be O’Mahoney with Doris at 6?

[wixfjord]

I would assume that Treadwell is there as the next most obvious TH lock option after Hendo.

If McCarthy had played better against Maoris he could've gotten in.

Treadwell did ok coming on last week and is a pretty different player to Baird, so clearly it's a selection based on needing a bit more scrum, maul and ruck power.

Coombes and Aki would've been two that I would start personally. Ringer wasn't good last week and I think Coombes is a guy who should be given an opportunity as he has the size and impact to be a test player. I thought he was good against Maori also.

Ringrose has skills neither Aki or Henshaw have, I would not have dropped him. Where would you play Coombes, as Doris does not deserve dropping, so it would have to be O’Mahoney with Doris at 6?

I love RInger, but he was poor last week and Aki isn't a step down on him on current form.

I would have Coombes in ahead of Doris, who was pretty anonymous last week.

POM was clearly one of our better forwards last week.

Doris hasn't had a great season and I would like to see Coombes given a shot against a top tier side.

You can't select a test 23 based solely on form, but when you have good options to come in that won't be a step down I think there needs to be some impact for weak performances. Lord knows we've all called for POM to be dropped after phoning it in for lots of games in the last few years.

[TMC]

Doris hasn't had a great season and I would like to see Coombes given a shot against a top tier side.

Agree Coombes deserves a shot but saying Doris hasn't had a good season is a tad revisionist.

He did ok against the same opposition last November. Won a triple crown. He wasn't great by his standards at the weekend and the end of Leinster's season was very disappointing but lots of Irish players of old would give their left nut for a season like that.

[wixfjord]

Doris hasn't had a great season and I would like to see Coombes given a shot against a top tier side.

Agree Coombes deserves a shot but saying Doris hasn't had a good season is a tad revisionist.

He did ok against the same opposition last November. Won a triple crown. He wasn't great by his standards at the weekend and the end of Leinster's season was very disappointing but lots of Irish players of old would give their left nut for a season like that.

Fair, saying he didn't have a good season is a bit harsh. His form has fallen off a lot towards the end of the year though and he hasn't had the same impact in big games that he was having. His issue with knock ons and handling errors has been a recurring one too.

I think based on last weekend he probably shouldn't start on form personally.

[Ruckedtobits]

Bench looks a bit stronger than last week. Great to have the sub front row back. Hopefully Healy is good to go. The only one i’m unsure about is Treadwell but we are quite ‘skinny’ in the second row at the moment. Not sure exactly what he brings. Is he particularly good in the set piece?

Would have liked to see Baird, Coombes and Larmour get a place on the bench for a bit more impact but Aki went well last week and it’s hard to drop one of Doris, VDF, POM and Conan at the moment as they’re going well as a unit.

Agree re Treadwell, Baird would have been the better option. Coaches must see something in training, think Molony, Thornbury or Ahern if he was fit would have been better options to bring if we are looking to spread the net. No disrespect to AOC but Treadwell cant shift him from the Ulster team but he is good enough to bench for the national team? Doesn't stack up.
Coombes V Conan on recent form is for me a clear decision for Coombes. I think Coombes is absolutely worth a look at starting at 8 in a full strength side.
Larmour at least offers something different, Bundee being brought on meant shifting two others last weekend, fine against a weaker team, an unnecessary risk against New Zealand. Bundee for me starts or he doesn't make the 23, a bit like McCloskey. Earls is a significant omission for me, maybe the beginning of the end for one of our greatest wingers. Its a real pity Baloucoune injured for this tour, but expect to see him pressing for the first team come the world cup

Nothing from Coombes v Maori warranted his elevation. He needs to produce his highest quality game, plus a bit, to disturb the current pecking order. Alternately, if he isn't 'explosive' enough for international back-row, try him instead of Treadwell as bench option for 2nd row / back-row.

[wixfjord]

Bench looks a bit stronger than last week. Great to have the sub front row back. Hopefully Healy is good to go. The only one i’m unsure about is Treadwell but we are quite ‘skinny’ in the second row at the moment. Not sure exactly what he brings. Is he particularly good in the set piece?

Would have liked to see Baird, Coombes and Larmour get a place on the bench for a bit more impact but Aki went well last week and it’s hard to drop one of Doris, VDF, POM and Conan at the moment as they’re going well as a unit.

Agree re Treadwell, Baird would have been the better option. Coaches must see something in training, think Molony, Thornbury or Ahern if he was fit would have been better options to bring if we are looking to spread the net. No disrespect to AOC but Treadwell cant shift him from the Ulster team but he is good enough to bench for the national team? Doesn't stack up.
Coombes V Conan on recent form is for me a clear decision for Coombes. I think Coombes is absolutely worth a look at starting at 8 in a full strength side.
Larmour at least offers something different, Bundee being brought on meant shifting two others last weekend, fine against a weaker team, an unnecessary risk against New Zealand. Bundee for me starts or he doesn't make the 23, a bit like McCloskey. Earls is a significant omission for me, maybe the beginning of the end for one of our greatest wingers. Its a real pity Baloucoune injured for this tour, but expect to see him pressing for the first team come the world cup

Nothing from Coombes v Maori warranted his elevation. He needs to produce his highest quality game, plus a bit, to disturb the current pecking order. Alternately, if he isn't 'explosive' enough for international back-row, try him instead of Treadwell as bench option for 2nd row / back-row.

Coombes was the best Irish player on the field against the Maori. Constantly got over gainline, scored a try and assisted another.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

The chat about Doris and what I said about the Irish lads who toured with the Lions just made me wonder if there are any Leinster players whose form hasn’t dipped a little bit in the last couple of months. Josh is still playing well but I wouldn’t say he’s been as good as earlier in the season, even blowing the try on Saturday is a good example of not being quite as sharp. Robbie has arguably improved recently but that was after a clear dip IMO.

Not sure if a 4th test is planned for November but I hope nobody is involved in all three tests that are pencilled in for now. The policy this season and the fact that it’ll be a year out from the World Cup means it’s unlikely that we won’t be playing close to the first choice 23 every week but I really think that’d be a mistake, particularly with the forwards.

[paddyor]

I love RInger, but he was poor last week and Aki isn't a step down on him on current form.

I would have Coombes in ahead of Doris, who was pretty anonymous last week.

POM was clearly one of our better forwards last week.

Doris hasn't had a great season and I would like to see Coombes given a shot against a top tier side.

You can't select a test 23 based solely on form, but when you have good options to come in that won't be a step down I think there needs to be some impact for weak performances. Lord knows we've all called for POM to be dropped after phoning it in for lots of games in the last few years.

If we dropped players for one bad performance you'd have a different starting 15 every 2 or game. I don't think he was all bad and cfrucially didn't go into his shell after the Reece try.

[wixfjord]

I love RInger, but he was poor last week and Aki isn't a step down on him on current form.

I would have Coombes in ahead of Doris, who was pretty anonymous last week.

POM was clearly one of our better forwards last week.

Doris hasn't had a great season and I would like to see Coombes given a shot against a top tier side.

You can't select a test 23 based solely on form, but when you have good options to come in that won't be a step down I think there needs to be some impact for weak performances. Lord knows we've all called for POM to be dropped after phoning it in for lots of games in the last few years.

If we dropped players for one bad performance you'd have a different starting 15 every 2 or game. I don't think he was all bad and cfrucially didn't go into his shell after the Reece try.

You also can't just keep playing guys who aren't playing well when there's a high quality test level replacement either.

You'd expect a test centre to not 'go into his shell' after a poor offload created a try for the opposing team.

But he was also caught badly for Savea try and his handling wasn't good (which seems to be a recurring theme).

It's ok to say a Leinster player didn't have a good game and should be rotated out. Bundee added some much needed power when he came in too.

[hugonaut]

I would have Coombes in ahead of Doris, who was pretty anonymous last week.

POM was clearly one of our better forwards last week.

Doris hasn't had a great season and I would like to see Coombes given a shot against a top tier side.

I would have gone with Coombes for this selection as well. Nothing personal against Doris at all, I have just thought over the last three or so days that it would be really, really interesting and worthwhile to try Coombes out against a quality side.

He's a player, along with Baloucoune, who I think would make the step up to test match rugby well. I empathise with those who are frustrated that those lads haven't been selected a few times along the way. Some of the other players that provincial fans have made a fuss about recently I don't rate as capable of performing as a high quality international at the moment [your Warwicks, your Wycherleys etc.] and I think that most calls for their selection are transparently motivated by blind provincialism or stupid anybody-but-Leinster-ism.

But I think Coombes is really good and has quite a lot to his game. He gets so much gainline in matches, but to counter that he hasn't played against anybody good this season bar two matches against Ulster and one against Castres in Pierre Fabre. He did well against Toulouse 15 months ago, but ... one game, 15 months ago. I'm really interested to see if he can step up in the same sort of way as Dan Sheehan has. I think he would, but you'd want to see him get the chance rather than just speculate about it.

He only got nine minutes against Japan this time last year, and the game against the USA was a washout – Zebre would have put 40 or 50 points on the Eagles. I was happy that the fixture was organised and went ahead, but from an Irish perspective its value as a test match was next to worthless. Everyone looked good that game, but it's like looking good against the Southern Queens. For example, Farrell has put James Hume into two Six Nations matchday squads and a Maori game since then [on the back of good Ulster form] and Hume was useless in the first two when put into the game in comfortable positions, and was mediocre in the third before getting injured.

[riocard911]

I too would have liked to see Coombes at eight as I also thought he was the best Irish player in the Maori match. The guy is stand-out Test-level material. Get him out there asap would be my take.

[paddyor]

You also can't just keep playing guys who aren't playing well when there's a high quality test level replacement either.

You'd expect a test centre to not 'go into his shell' after a poor offload created a try for the opposing team.

But he was also caught badly for Savea try and his handling wasn't good (which seems to be a recurring theme).

It's ok to say a Leinster player didn't have a good game and should be rotated out. Bundee added some much needed power when he came in too.

Counterpoint: You can and it's what most coaches do, Gatland was notorious for it and he's been the most successful coach in the NH for a decade. This is one game. Farrell won't care for his Leinster form.

Like whats your criteria for dropping someone? Plays badly win lose or draw? Or do you have a double standard where playing badly in a win doesn't count?

Aki took his try well, but 2 carries for 2 metres with 2 tackles and 2 passes isn't my idea of much needed POWAH. Agree about Coombes btw, while Ringrose had 2 particualrly bad moments, he also score a try and helped make Earls one. Doris was largely anonymous by comparison.

[wixfjord]

You also can't just keep playing guys who aren't playing well when there's a high quality test level replacement either.

You'd expect a test centre to not 'go into his shell' after a poor offload created a try for the opposing team.

But he was also caught badly for Savea try and his handling wasn't good (which seems to be a recurring theme).

It's ok to say a Leinster player didn't have a good game and should be rotated out. Bundee added some much needed power when he came in too.

Counterpoint: You can and it's what most coaches do, Gatland was notorious for it and he's been the most successful coach in the NH for a decade. This is one game. Farrell won't care for his Leinster form.

Like whats your criteria for dropping someone? Plays badly win lose or draw? Or do you have a double standard where playing badly in a win doesn't count?

Aki took his try well, but 2 carries for 2 metres with 2 tackles and 2 passes isn't my idea of much needed POWAH. Agree about Coombes btw, while Ringrose had 2 particualrly bad moments, he also score a try and helped make Earls one. Doris was largely anonymous by comparison.

Ah relax yourself for feck sake

I think Ringer was poor last week and I think we need to freshen things up, so would've started Aki, who I think would give us a different and more direct option.

I've no issue with him starting, as he's a cracking player, but I think the team needed a few guys switched up to keep people on their toes and Aki & Coombes could've added that energy.

It's much of a muchness, but my perspective is that Aki/Ringer is such a close call that it would be beneficial to switch them.

[Ruckedtobits]

Last weekend we produced about 55 mins of highly competent football. Unfortunately, we also displayed 15 minutes of lost focus and mistake ridden dross. Of our 55 mins decent content, about 15 was excellent and definitely dis-commoded our hosts and we scored two superb tries.

Can we eradicate the poor 15 minutes and stretch the excellent 15 to 30 minutes? If we can, and I certainly believe it's possible, we can make the 2nd Test a real contest. There has been some excellent analysis of what we did very well (particularly from Murray Kinsella) but perhaps a little too much finger-pointing at who made mistakes during the bad 15 mins and how costly the mistakes were.

I hope that Farrell, PO'C and Catt have focused the Squad this week on the parts where we were good, but not precise enough, to create chances but not take them. Of the tries we conceded, possibly only one was a result of unstoppable NZ brilliance, the others were uncharacteristic mistakes from Ireland. Equally, it wouldn't take anything extraordinary for more of our attacking play to be converted to four or more tries.

I believe that next Saturday will be hugely dependent on Ireland regaining our confidence to attack NZ, like in the first quarter but also defend against them in the manner we did last November. It is possible but it will need leadership and belief.

[paddyor]

ROC on OTB really jumped the shark, should have stopped when he said maybe larmour at 15. Gets on to birches article….