Ireland

blametheref says...

A good win but Ireland's 2nd half performances and especially the substitutions have been a problem right through this 6 Nations. Having O' Leary on the bench hasn't worked, though I thought he would have put in a good performance, he was ponderous. Boss has to be on the bench against England, as if we're chasing the game he can do something different if paired with Sexton who should be allowed finish a game at 10 for once...Peter O' Mahony did well but needs to watch giving penalties away. Ireland can now use Sean O' Brien differently by switching him to 8 if need be or even starting him at 8...I cringe every time I see Sexton being shunted to 12 as it is not a solution, either is McFadden a solution, and because Kidney has done nothing about this scenario and also how Ireland deal with big centres we are at a huge self-made disadavantage against England. Dealing with Tuilagi is going to be a big problem, or more to the point "the problem". The difference between these sides is that as opposed to last year under the dictatorial Johnson, England have a genuinely great team spirit which Stuart Lancaster knew was missing and has been superb in building through trust and nurture. Compare this to Kidney's team where to me it looks like the players get on together but the coach has instilled a fear of losing factor into the equation where it looks like the players play as if they are more concerned about their individual performances than playing as a team. Sexton and Best showed on Saturday what Ireland need, belief in their co-players. By breaking rank to go the corner when 6 behind instead of slotting an easy 3 points, Sexton showed Kidney why Leinster have won 2 Heineken Cups, by trusting ability and your team mates over safety first. It was a master stroke, as Sexton knew that Ireland were giving Scotland far too much respect at that critical juncture of the match.

Posted 09:50 12th March 2012

maria14 says...

@Hermes if the tackle occurs on or over the try line or if the tackle moves into the try area the tacklers is not obliged to release the player.

i felt it was not double movement, worse case senerio was a 5m attacking scrum for the ball being held up.

Posted 08:11 12th March 2012

Hermes says...

Also in the tmo decision. The tackler did not role away or release& get to feet before playing the ball. If it was deemed not to be a try it should have been an Irish penalty.

Posted 01:19 12th March 2012

curates_egg says...

Notable that the players Kidney only picked when he had no choice (Reddan and Ryan) made such a positive impact. The decision to bring O'Leary, which completely disrupted Ireland's game, was yet another slap in the face by Kidney to those who really want to get behind an Ireland XV. Great performance from the players - again a questionable performance by the management.

As for the TMO incident - the Tommy Bowe try was a definite try. Law 15 (g) "If a player is tackled near the goal line he may immediately reach out and ground the ball on or over the goal line to score a try or make a touch down". There is, in fact, no such thing as "double movement" in rugby union, as is frequently pointed out (it is a rugby league rule). However, the tackled player cannot move forward beyond what his momentum takes him and he must release the ball once tackled and held, with the obvious exception of the rule cited above.

Posted 08:29 11th March 2012