Ireland

staph_glorious says...

No worries, blametheref. It's a comment I can get behind too!

Next up, it will be O'Driscoll molded to a 'traditional' openside for the twilighty-twilight of his career.

Posted 20:22 22nd January 2012

blametheref says...

I agree with the Toner arguement, in that he should be at least on the bench as a line out option. Because usually if ireland's line out goes bad we get beaten and the option of bringing on a line out expert is one that shouldn't be overlooked when we need to regain our own throw ball or to pressurize opposition ball, he's also becoming a good ball carrier of late too

Posted 12:17 21st January 2012

blametheref says...

@Staph

Sexton in the centre!!! One of the world's best out halves and you think he should be used as a bolt hole, to shore up a deficency in a position and ROG's poor defence. The only current performing real world class player Ireland have as we speak is Sexton, he would be chosen for the AB's, Australia, France and South Africa if he was able to play for these countries. In my view, Sexton is the future of Irish rugby and I would hate to see a Mike Gibson being done to him. Gibson, a natural full back for his club NIFC, was a brilliant fly half and was shunted to 12 to make way for lesser mortals, the result, Ireland won nothing even though Gibson gave his usual world class performances...

Posted 12:03 21st January 2012

tombomb says...

danielmakk i think so too haha. staph_glorious and sebbb = declan kidney in disguise (staph_glorious i think jack mcgrath is a great young prospect and i think you've come to the conclusion that because jack mcgrath has had little game time and is third choice loose head for leinster that he's not good enough to play for ireland he took tom court to the cleaner's a couple of weeks ago when ulster played leinster 'if your good enough your old enough' i say that's forward thinking. at the moment in regards to craig gilroy and jack mcgrath it's ' if you good enough but your inexperienced we don't care)

Posted 16:05 20th January 2012

olearyc5 says...

Does anyone else wonder why 4 blindside flankers are in the 22 man Wolfhounds squad; McCarthy, Ruddock, McLaughlin and Muldoon?

Hope they finally put either McLaughlin or Ruddock in the second row. I think Ruddock could be the next O'Connell.

And on that note- Ferris in the 2nd row leaving 6. O'Brien 7. David Wallace(when he's back), and 8.Heaslip.

Need to see a real 7 soon, Heaslip seems like our best, followed by O'Connell and Best.

Finally, I thought Richardt Strauss was eligible as of December, surely he should be in the Wolfhounds?

Posted 10:49 20th January 2012

staph_glorious says...

Jack McGrath plays 256 minutes of first-team Leinster rugby over the past three seasons, and this ought to buy him an Irish squad place?

Remember, it's the national team for which you're selecting, not the Make A Wish foundation.

Posted 08:34 20th January 2012

Lucasrg says...

I think this year Irland, after France has some serious chances to get the title. Pretty solid and experienced team. I feel that only France is stronger, while for me Wales is a big "?".

Posted 22:02 19th January 2012

melkdave says...

Well no surprises but im disappointed that J.Downy isnt in any of the squads and G.D'arcy is he still hasnt shown any real form imo for years and just dosent break the gainline much now .A bit to conserative and like the Ulster coach im disappointed Kidney hasnt introduced a few new faces

Posted 20:08 19th January 2012

Carpelone says...

Hi all.

I may agree that the selection is not an exciting one, but I see too much negativity here.

Too much passion generally leads to:

i) utter pessimism (this phase);

ii) unjustified optimism (after winning with Wales);

iii) Wound licking (at the end).

Enjoy the game and be proud of your boys.

Posted 17:46 19th January 2012

spike19 says...

Can anyone on this blog justify with good reason the following.

The selection of Jennings over O'Mahony

The selection of O'Callaghan over Tuohy

The selection of Wallace over Fitzgerald

The selection of Cullen over Toner

Posted 16:40 19th January 2012