Ireland vs England

[TRF_Olyy]

Strets looks like a bird of prey.

:lol:
Top notch

 

[Jockstap]

If Reddan is fit, will this be the first time in the tournament that he and Sexton play together, because that just seems ridiculous?

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

If Reddan is fit, will this be the first time in the tournament that he and Sexton play together, because that just seems ridiculous?

Hmm yeah. I'd much rather he wasn't fit really. I think having the leinster halfback pairing back together can only be good for Ireland.

I keep changing my opinion about this game. At the moment though I'm worried and suspect Ireland might sneak it by about 5 points. If England want to get the most out of our game we have to start using our centres more I think. Make them do the hard yards before we get the ball out wide to the back three.

 

[gingergenius]

seems like the rfu likes showing the public the banter group of ashton, haskell, foden and hartley based on the success of swanny & jimmy in the ashes. good on them.

also, haskell rooming with doran-jones is never going to end well. it was doran-jones (and a young lady) who was in front of haskell's camera...

 

[shtove]

Hehe!

Interesting to see Banahan at 13, but I think he needs a magician at 12 - maybe Jonny? England are dodgy at 1/11/12/22. I don't know much about the new prop, but I did notice him getting knocked back in loose play last week.

I expect Ireland will get crushed in the scrum, but win turnovers at ruck. Our best hope is crisp lineout possession - the England midfield will be cooked and ready to carve, and the Irish pack then rumbles up to the line - very good at that. BOD to score a couple as first receiver. All depends on field position, which is why ROG should start.

Ireland could win. England may fail to lose. Depends on who's better in attack and/or defence with or without the ball in hand. Or not.

 

[Bigrig]

Ireland have given a lot of penalties away this Six Nations. Anyone figure that may come into play? Seeing as England have Flood and Wilko at the boot, they could do some damage.

 

[lalaland]

As long as we dont conceed stupid penalties and get the ball in hand quickly, we will be in there with a good chance.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Most of all I just don't want this game to disappoint in quality/excitement when it could be so good.

Shtove, Corbisiero(1) has really impressed since his debut and to my mind is not a weak link. Neither is Cueto. 12/22/13 definitely. Deacon could qualify as a weak link except for him as long as he is functional as part of a unit then thats what matters. Banahan is just odd because he has injected some energy in his few appearances, such as against Scotland last week. If used well he is not a weak link. But even being fairly quick theres just nothing elusive about a giant banana running around in midfield. However, I can see him being responsible for a try in which Sexton is on the loop and Banahan comes up too early.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

I think England have Ireland covered in most areas. However, i think the areas where Ireland are better than England the quality gap is bigger.

Front row = England
Second Row = England
Back row = Ireland
Half backs = England
Centre = Ireland
Back 3 = England

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I think England have Ireland covered in most areas. However, i think the areas where Ireland are better than England the quality gap is bigger.

Front row = England
Second Row = England
Back row = Ireland
Half backs = England
Centre = Ireland
Back 3 = England

Also, the positions where Ireland are stronger are probably the most important, as they're the ones who get the ball to (a) the backs/team in general, and (b) the wings to score tries


Nice little interview with D'arcy where he vows to "Man up" when he has to face Bananaman:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport1/hi/rugby_union/irish/9429343.stm

 

[Teh Mite]

Be the first time D'Arcy would have "manned up" in the past year instead of being a big girl.

 

[Teh Mite]

HUNRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

 

[King_D'Arcy]

"BOD himself cannot sink this ship"

 

[Teh Mite]

:lol:

 

[gingergenius]

I think England have Ireland covered in most areas. However, i think the areas where Ireland are better than England the quality gap is bigger.

Front row = England
Second Row = England
Back row = Ireland
Half backs = England
Centre = Ireland
Back 3 = England

quality gap in the back row is quite minor... i'm not even sure ireland have a better back row at all.

enjoying my rugby day so far, wake up to tahs vs cheetahs (crap game), watching cowboys vs knights atm (crap game), scotland vs italy next... can anyone tell me that's gonna be a good 'un?

 

[King_D'Arcy]

quality gap in the back row is quite minor... i'm not even sure ireland have a better back row at all.

Yeah, i was gonna say after I posted it but didnt bother. I'd still say ireland's is better but not by much at all

 

[dangandan]

it's sad but i'm really hoping for some really bad games by the players who should have been dropped by now. i have a feeling though that Declan doesn't want to chop and change at the moment because he wants these "experienced" combinations for the world cup. changing now may disrupt that plan. we'll probably see a significant overhaul afterwards. also whoever thinks Banahan is gona barge right through BOD should think again. thing about BOD is that he's got a really low centre of gravity, which makes him a great tackler. he's no weakling either and it's no coincidence he's considered an extra flanker these days. a player of Banahan's long shape would be pretty easy to mark. 1 on 1 they're probably gona be nullified by one another, it all depends on who will be better at drawing and feeding a player out or inside them. BOD gets my vote here. so nooow for the rest of the team, which is a bit more worrying...

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Yeah, i was gonna say after I posted it but didnt bother. I'd still say ireland's is better but not by much at all

By the same token even though the english back three possibly edge it, the irish trio are good enough for the difference to be pretty meaningless.

 

[gingergenius]

banahan won't barge through bod. but if rougerie can get through d'arcy that easily, then it'll be a walk in the park for QEII

 

[Peat]

Yeah, i was gonna say after I posted it but didnt bother. I'd still say ireland's is better but not by much at all

Better players but worse balance. All of the Irish players are great carriers and work hard, but there's no natural ruck merchant (Wood), there's no link man (Easter) and Heaslip's the only real jumping option in the Irish back-row while Wood's a very good one and Easter's a useful enough bloke there.

Providing the Irish back-three don't have any fatal breaches of confidence, I don't think there's much of a difference there.