Lock Stock and One Smoking Barrel Part 3: Ireland Savage England.

7 responses to “Lock Stock and One Smoking Barrel Part 3: Ireland Savage England.”

1. John

   March 21, 2011

   Wise up mote! Way too many consecutive comments there – if you want to send in an article regarding Ireland’s performance in the Six Nations send it in and if it’s readable I’ll post it but really catch yourself on with the number of comments.

   I’ll reply to your comments individually once I’ve had my tea!

   Reply
2. the mote

   March 21, 2011

   Further Thoughts to ponder
   Firstly
   The Irish pack suffer in the first game against Italy in the set scrum due to the fact the referee allowed the Italian props to bore and bind illegally the referee penalised in England for those offences early in the match and they only got away with it when Court game on when the referee assumed the scrum dropped and the Irish front came up because Ireland had changed props.

   Secondly
   Ireland suffered in the first three matches due to lack of clarity as to how the referees were refereeing the ruck giving away too many point scoring penalty opportunities which cost us the game against France

   Thirdly
   If Kaplan had paid attention and disallowed the Welsh try ( as he should have ) Ireland would be have been playing for the Triple Crown on saturday

   And lastly
   This is not going to please the Paddy Wallace fan club but I would like to see Cave playing outside Spence next season because I believe that Paddy is not the future of Irish Rugby at the age of 32 and I consider Cave is currently the second best 13 in Ireland at this time and Spence could develop into the next Irish 12.

   O Driscoll has basically got 1 maybe 2 more seasons at International level provided his Ham strings stay the distance D’Arcy is currently a player of mixed form and is a similiar age to O’Driscoll I don’t see Earls as a 13 and McFadden will challenge Cave for the 13 shirt but there is really a shortage of 12s.

   Reply
3. the mote

   March 21, 2011

   England will always be in a better place than Ireland on the Rugby pitch not because they have better players but because they have more players many of which are of a similiar standard .

   And while the English media talk of the current English side as being a young team the fact is most are not that young but have few caps for England due to the chopping and changing of the English team since 2003 which reflects the fact that many of their players are of similiar standard.

   England like Ireland put in one real performance during the 6n against Italy when Ashton was being spoon fed gaps by Tindall

   Johnstons biggest problem is he lacks centres and a reliable centre duo and they will find success difficult with out Tindall . In the World Cup they will be a hard side to beat because of their forwards but the team will not be world beaters either.

   Reply
4. the mote

   March 21, 2011

   The point I was making was up until the game with England tt wasn’t just individual performance was problem it was the fact we were playing Internationals where half the pack were not match ready and the backline was a mismash of players who were either coming back from injury and /or uncomfortable as a unit. Mcfaddan is not a first choice winger for Leinster fitzgerald is not a first choice full back for leinster Earls is a pacey individual but lacks awareness of players around him.

   The alternatives

   Flannery injjured-Buckley tried and found wanting- Touhy injured- Toner and Cullen both “one trick ponies” great lineout players of little influence in the loose – Ferris injured – Ruddock and Faloon untried and untested at International level and both have yet to prove they are the equal never mind better than Wallace

   Backs Kearney injured- Murphy injured- Cave injured-Bowe injured- Trimble injured – Paddy Wallace plays a different mode of defence to Leinster midfield and therefore not a desirable choice of first preference.

   Spence not yet his time and best retained for the future.

   I don’t think Kidney had any other option than to play the incumbents .

   Reply
   1. John

      March 21, 2011

      @mote – In reply to your comments
      With the French defeat Ireland were always going to win bugger all this championship.
      Irish injuries – there are always going to be injuries in rugby especially when we have a coach who is going to wheel out the old guard when not fit rather than give younger players an extended run
      Front Row – Court and Cronin should have been used in at least three full games this series.
      Second Roy- Toner and Cullen should have been used in at least two full games each in this series.
      Backrow – Faloon should have been blooded, Henry should have had at least one full game at 8. Ruddock blooded.
      Scrum half – Isaac boss should have had a least two full games.
      McFadden, Darcy, Wallace and O’Driscoll should all have had equal game time in the centres.

      There are 4 warm up games which should be used to finalise the team, now we will be using them looking at alternatives because we haven’t looked at any unforced variations over the last two years.
      — oOo —
      Ireland have been in a better place than England for the last three years.
      England have realised this and tried to change accordingly.
      — oOo —
      Your further thoughts to ponder are just bollocks. Referee’s are part of the game and Ireland’s failure to do their research or even to respond to what was in front of them throughout the match was lamentable. Wales would more than likely have scored anyway the lineout was just co-incidental as the momentum was with Wales at the time.

      I agree about Cave but he won’t get a look in with the current Ireland set up unless D’Arcy and O’Driscoll are both injured.
      — oOo —
      Finally I reiterate what I said about the comments. They should generally be short, concise and to the point in this section. If you want to include a full match analysis then sit down write it out and email it to me and if it’s legible, coherent and relevant then I will publish it. This goes for any contributor, not just mote 🙂

      Reply
5. John

   March 21, 2011

   The likelyhood is that quite a few will be injured between now and the world cup which makes it all the more baffling as to why no alternatives have been tried over the last 12 – 18 months.

   Ireland have always been able to match teams for one off games. It’s relatively easy to pull one big performance out of the bag now and then – just look at Ulster over the last 10 seasons. It’s doing it match after match that will be the problem for Ireland and Kidney’s reluctance to use any alternatives unless forced to has compounded the problem as the present incumbents know they can stay in place with one good performance in three.

   Reply
6. the mote

   March 21, 2011

   ThIs 6n gives the viewer much to think about some may dispair like yourself and others may take a realistic approach and consider the facts

   Forwards

   Ireland went into the six nations with Ferris sidelined by injury and O’Connell Best and Heslip short of match fitness and Wallace only really capable of playing 60 minutes. not being over blessed with alternatives basically 3 players starting were only firing on three cylinders and a forth ending on three .

   Backs both the first and second full backs Kearney and Murphy. were injured as were two of the contenders for the wings Trimble and Bowe and d’Arcy and o Driscoll I believe had missed a few games through injury and Fitzgerald’s form was extremely mixed.

   Definitely not the way to enter a 6 nations.

   During the course of the games the fitness levels and mental approach of the forwards improved and Kidney ended the series with his best available backline and as you so rightly point out the England game provides motivation like no other and these factors I think provided the basis of the performance on Saturday which was helped by the lack of Tindall in the English backline Banahan is a really a poor substitute while having a good top speed he lacks acceleration and can’t time a pass he is not a centre he is a wing.

   I believe that the Fitzgerald bubble has burst while he has a great deal of talent he is prone to panic and Marshall like monents of enthusiastic stupidity definitely not the most desirable traits for an International player.

   Earls has a very motivated approach to his game combimed with pace but if Paddy Wallace has a habit of failing to pass and lack awareness of players around him Earls has it in spades( as they say in bridge circles) due to his ability to cover wing and fullback he is a natural for the bench instead of Wallace

   Going into the World Cup Irelands major worry and requirement is to ensure that the squad remains injury free.

   With a fit full squad we can match and give most teams a game and get results the weakness is the lack of depth to the squad when games are played in quick sucession and we are unable to rest players.

   Reply

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