Ireland v Italy

[TRF_Olyy]

Just seen an update from Schmidt,
Said the swelling is too bad to really see what's fully wrong atm but they're hopeful he'll be back for the Wales game if not the England game.

 

[bushytop]

Just seen an update from Schmidt,
Said the swelling is too bad to really see what's fully wrong atm but they're hopeful he'll be back for the Wales game if not the England game.

Still, it sounds better than what it must've looked like at the time.

 

[Leinster Fan]

If Carbery does get back and is playing that well should we be looking at him to start at 15?

 

[profitius]

If Carbery does get back and is playing that well should we be looking at him to start at 15?

He's a 10 now. Not a good time to switch him although he would likely be our best 15 if played there.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

He's a 10 now. Not a good time to switch him although he would likely be our best 15 if played there.

Seems like a pretty good reason to play him at 15 then.

 

[big ginger 8]

Kearney is still absolutely a better 15 for this Ireland team.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Kearney is still absolutely a better 15 for any team.

Ftfy

 

[bushytop]

Kearney is still absolutely a better 15 for this Ireland team.

Personally, I'd go with Kearney as he is just SO solid defensively, almost peerless under the high ball and a more than decent open field runner... the second playmaker at 15 thing that NZ have been trying is muddying the waters for everyone's thinking in my humble opinion.

Because NZ are trying something, 'we' (other tier one nations) should also be trying it... it hasn't worked for them (yet, it may go on to be successful though) and it would be a risk for Ireland to try it this late in the game.

 

[munstermuffin]

Kearney is still absolutely a better 15 for this Ireland team.

Issue is more Larmour doesn't look too convincing at thid level at 15. More a winger. And Kearney will be the starter but at his age and injury profile it is madness to not have a solid back up

 

[big ginger 8]

Personally, I'd go with Kearney as he is just SO solid defensively, almost peerless under the high ball and a more than decent open field runner... the second playmaker at 15 thing that NZ have been trying is muddying the waters for everyone's thinking in my humble opinion.

Because NZ are trying something, 'we' (other tier one nations) should also be trying it... it hasn't worked for them (yet, it may go on to be successful though) and it would be a risk for Ireland to try it this late in the game.

In fairness I don't think the second playmaker thing is a new development and having one at 15 makes a lot of sense but it doesn't have to be. I think there's also the element of always wanting the more 'exciting' player. I think when Ringrose is fit he also can being that bit of playmaking and so if he's there I wouldn't really see the argument for a playmaking 15 for us anyway, especially when Murray on form does a lot more playmaking than most non-French nines.

Issue is more Larmour doesn't look too convincing at thid level at 15. More a winger. And Kearney will be the starter but at his age and injury profile it is madness to not have a solid back up

The issue is more that we're comparing Larmour to the best positional fullback of the last decade at least. Unsurprisingly Larmour has looked better the more game time he gets at 15 the better he looks there and has clearly improved in a lot of areas.

The original point was also about Carbery starting at 15, not as a back up. Still, given he hasn't played there for a good while, I don't know why he would automatically be a 'solid back up'.

 

[bushytop]

In fairness I don't think the second playmaker thing is a new development and having one at 15 makes a lot of sense but it doesn't have to be. I think there's also the element of always wanting the more 'exciting' player. I think when Ringrose is fit he also can being that bit of playmaking and so if he's there I wouldn't really see the argument for a playmaking 15 for us anyway, especially when Murray on form does a lot more playmaking than most non-French nines.

Oh definitely, it's always been around although the second playmaker was always more of a centre thing (although there are exceptions... ) it just seems en vogue when NZ try something in particular.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Larmour was fairly solid yesterday, not fantastic going forward but that can happen to anyone playing 15.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Larmour looked good yesterday, showed a lot of maturity to set up both Kearney and Conway's tries, a lot of players in that situation (including Larmpur this time last year) would probably have gone themselves. It was only Italy but he did look very solid with the exception of one or two dodgy moments which everyone had.

I genuinely think that if Carbery hadn't gotten injured against Fiji in 2017 he'd be Leinster's first choice fullback (tbh Cullen/Lancaster have always been far less attached to Kearney than Joe) right now. I don't think it's the time to parachute him in right now but I think we'd be mad not to at least keep him playing there open as an option.

 

[big ginger 8]

Larmour was fairly solid yesterday, not fantastic going forward but that can happen to anyone playing 15.

I thought the way he set up Kearney's try was really impressive. He made a very difficult readjustment (in fairness probably partially necessary due to overrunning) look really easy and made it an easier finish.

 

[munstermuffin]

In fairness I don't think the second playmaker thing is a new development and having one at 15 makes a lot of sense but it doesn't have to be. I think there's also the element of always wanting the more 'exciting' player. I think when Ringrose is fit he also can being that bit of playmaking and so if he's there I wouldn't really see the argument for a playmaking 15 for us anyway, especially when Murray on form does a lot more playmaking than most non-French nines.



The issue is more that we're comparing Larmour to the best positional fullback of the last decade at least. Unsurprisingly Larmour has looked better the more game time he gets at 15 the better he looks there and has clearly improved in a lot of areas.

The original point was also about Carbery starting at 15, not as a back up. Still, given he hasn't played there for a good while, I don't know why he would automatically be a 'solid back up'.

I'm not saying Joey should automatically be back up 15 just a real option. On Larmour I'm not basing it on anything in comparison to Kearney just in general he has been average as a 15 for Ireland. Maybe he can get better. And I'm not saying he shouldn't be our 2nd choice 15 just he doesn't seem to be as electric there as was once hyped. Bit on wing he does offer a little extra spark. Bit again maybe he is still getting comfortable with positional aspects of international game