Spring Tour:New Zealand vs Ireland - 1st Test. (09/06/2012, 08:35 GMT)

[TRF_Olyy]

Really? is that it? - A tackle, a couple runs, a drive to the line and a couple passes - that qualifies as greatness?

When you're an Irish prop?
Yes.


Having said that, he's a Sale player now, so you wanna fight about this or.....?

 

[killer08]

if we had ferris poc and bowe id reckon we could win, i just hope conor murray doesnt start

 

[dan the man nz]

i agree, with those players back ireland would have a bloody good team. and although the all blacks have around the same number of injuries of thier own (kahui,jane,mealamu,kaino), i reckon it won't show as much as it will with the irish because of our depth. i do expect a victory, but if conditions are poor and the irish fowards put in a great shift, who knows. very exciting..

 

[killer08]

R Kearney, f McFadden, bod, k earls, Simon Zebo, j sexton, c Murray. C Healy, r best, d Fitz, d touhy, d Ryan, p o M, s o Brien, jheaslip found this on twitter can anyone confirm? interesting but some things are like wtf, zebo kidneys new pet, surely trimble ahead of both zebo and mcfadden for the wing? i hope this isnt real

 

[Darwin]

I can confirm that is indeed the official side (http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/news/article/-/13890162/ireland-blood-two-new-caps-against-abs/):

Ireland : Rob Kearney, Fergus McFadden, Brian O'Driscoll (captain), Keith Earls, Simon Zebo, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray, Cian Healy, Rory Best, Declan Fitzpatrick, Dan Touhy, Donnacha Ryan, Peter O'Mahony, Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip. Reserves: Sean Cronin, Ronan Loughney, Donncha O'Callaghan, Kevin McLaughlin, Eoin Reddan, Ronan O'Gara, Darren Cave.​

A few surprises for me. I'm interested to see how Fitzpatrick goes at tighthead. Given they are missing O'Connell, I would have thought they would have started O'Callaghan, though I understand he hasn't been in form for quite a while now (a few years?). Looking forward to seeing more of O'Mahony, as he impressed me off the bench in the 6 nations. I'm somewhat confused about the backline selections. Earls at 12? McFadden on the wing? I would have though McFadden was more a natural 12 and Earls more of a natural wing (perhaps this has been reported incorrectly?). Interested to see how Zebo goes given the discussions about him thus far. I would have though Trimble would have started on one wing...

 

[Thingimubob]

R Kearney, f McFadden, bod, k earls, Simon Zebo, j sexton, c Murray. C Healy, r best, d Fitz, d touhy, d Ryan, p o M, s o Brien, jheaslip found this on twitter can anyone confirm? interesting but some things are like wtf, zebo kidneys new pet, surely trimble ahead of both zebo and mcfadden for the wing? i hope this isnt real

Agree that Trimble deserves a start , but Zebo definitely does too! The guy has been electric for Munster this year and is a cracking finisher, definitely worth his shot imo!

 

[Dizzy]

Im sorry guys, call me blunt but as a Kiwi, we always expect our All Blacks to win and I think the All Blacks are going to dominate throughout the match in a one sided affair.

 

[Tribesmen-ce-123]

I can confirm that is indeed the official side (http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/news/article/-/13890162/ireland-blood-two-new-caps-against-abs/):

Ireland : Rob Kearney, Fergus McFadden, Brian O'Driscoll (captain), Keith Earls, Simon Zebo, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray, Cian Healy, Rory Best, Declan Fitzpatrick, Dan Touhy, Donnacha Ryan, Peter O'Mahony, Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip. Reserves: Sean Cronin, Ronan Loughney, Donncha O'Callaghan, Kevin McLaughlin, Eoin Reddan, Ronan O'Gara, Darren Cave.​

A few surprises for me. I'm interested to see how Fitzpatrick goes at tighthead. Given they are missing O'Connell, I would have thought they would have started O'Callaghan, though I understand he hasn't been in form for quite a while now (a few years?). Looking forward to seeing more of O'Mahony, as he impressed me off the bench in the 6 nations. I'm somewhat confused about the backline selections. Earls at 12? McFadden on the wing? I would have though McFadden was more a natural 12 and Earls more of a natural wing (perhaps this has been reported incorrectly?). Interested to see how Zebo goes given the discussions about him thus far. I would have though Trimble would have started on one wing...

Very glad that O Callaghan isnt in the starting 15, hes been mediocre for a number of years now, and was holding back Donnacha Ryan's place in the squad for a while, whos more deserving off of club form anyways. Wouldnt have Zebo starting ahead of Trimble mind you, but at least we'll see what made of against the best side in the world.

 

[munstermuffin]

Delighted a few lads are simply going to sink or swim. This is what we need

 

[coonor]

Atleast this team has eyes on the future and form, however I think by just switching Earls and McFadden it would have been a lot better. I haven't seen much of Earls at 12 but I don't think he has the passing skills or defence needed, saying that he proved me and most others wrong during the 6 Nations and I hope he proves everyone wrong again. If he plays well consistently at 12 it could be massive for Munster aswell. As the team is now, I don't know whether McFadden is better than Trimble on the Wing but atleast there's youth. Imagine if Gilroy was on the wing instead of McFadden, the attacking threat would brilliant.

I'll give it to Kidney that the pack selection is good and hopefully it pays off. I believe i'm right in saying that no one starting in the pack is above 30 years old and BOD is the only player above 30 in the backs. That's something I don't think anyone could have said about an Ireland team for a long time.

I still wouldn't say this selection is absolutely correct but in reality I'm more concerned with our style of play because that is what has really let us down. If we play off 9 like we did throughout the 6N we won't get anything out of these games, but if we play off the 10-12-13 channel (the same as Leinster and Ulster) we certainly have the attacking threat to cause an upset. So long as we stay strong in the forwards, which is harder said than done.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I'm pretty happy with that team given the circumstances. With Ross, O'Connell and Ferris out of the pack and Bowe out of the backline, it was always going to be extremely difficult. At least Kidney didn't go with his fall back option of experienced players who've tried and failed repeatedly against New Zealand. I think Ireland will be crushed but I'd like to see them play attacking rugby. My only quibble is Murray starting instead of Reddan but the positive is that all but O'Driscoll of the starting XV will be available for the next World Cup.

 

[mulldog]

I happy enough with Ireland selection, at least Kidney is starting to show a bit of imagination!

On Fitzpatrick at tight head, I think he we be alright on sat! He's small for a prop and has a good center of gravity as well as narrow shoulders which is hard to scrummage against. If he gains parity at the scrum it will be a very good outing, I doubt that he will last the whole 80 however!!

 

[Big Ewis]

Hey, where's Nonu ?!...

 

[nickdnz]

Hey, where's Nonu ?!...

Not in 22. He's getting some rest. Been playing pretty much nonstop since S15 last year.

 

[osullie6]

Ireland : Rob Kearney, Fergus McFadden, Brian O'Driscoll (captain), Keith Earls, Simon Zebo, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray, Cian Healy, Rory Best, Declan Fitzpatrick, Dan Touhy, Donnacha Ryan, Peter O'Mahony, Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip. Reserves: Sean Cronin, Ronan Loughney, Donncha O'Callaghan, Kevin McLaughlin, Eoin Reddan, Ronan O'Gara, Darren Cave.​

A few surprises for me. I'm interested to see how Fitzpatrick goes at tighthead. Given they are missing O'Connell, I would have thought they would have started O'Callaghan, though I understand he hasn't been in form for quite a while now (a few years?). Looking forward to seeing more of O'Mahony, as he impressed me off the bench in the 6 nations. I'm somewhat confused about the backline selections. Earls at 12? McFadden on the wing? I would have though McFadden was more a natural 12 and Earls more of a natural wing (perhaps this has been reported incorrectly?). Interested to see how Zebo goes given the discussions about him thus far. I would have though Trimble would have started on one wing...

Well Kidney has officially surprised me, and pleasantly too. Like I said yesterday when rumours of this line-up were going around I don't agree with all of the decisions made (Murray ahead of Reddan, Zebo ahead of Gilroy etc.), but I'd support it as a selection due to the change of mindset it shows on the part of the Irish coaching staff. For too long they've been inflexible and conservative in relation to both selection and game-plan, and hopefully this change in selection policy indicates a change of game-plan as well.

In relation to O'Callaghan, he is no longer a first choice starter at club level, so in spite of all his experience I don't think his inclusion in the starting fifteen would have been justified.

You're right in that the backline configuration does look a little odd. However, given that a number of the players selected have played and can play in multiple backline positions (McFadden -11,12,13,14- Earls -11,13,14,15- O'Driscoll -12,13- Sexton -10,12-) I'd imagine they might move around between positions during the match.

Trimble probably didn't deserve to be dropped but must have just missed out.

The backline is both exciting and worrying at the same time. With the inclusion of Earls and Zebo it's one of the paciest we've put out for quite a while. However both Earls and Zebo have had their defensive abilities questioned in the past, so we'll just have to see how they get on.

 

[killer08]

maybe BOD is gonna be passing inside balls to earls, small and speedy might get through

 

[munstermuffin]

Think it more BOD will wear 13 but play 12. Also people give out about Murray ahead of Reddan but fact is Murray will be around longer than Reddan. Also Gilroy isn't on tour and again not a dig at the lad but yes he got 2 tries last week against Baa-Baas but his display is been hugely exaggerated. Henry is man I think is unlucky.

 

[Peat]

MM - On the Reddan logic, would you agree with a hypothesis that Madigan should be ahead of ROG on the same logic?

Also, the Gilroy argument is based on a lot more than the Baabaas game, and I've seen a lot more people telling me he looked the part out there than I've seen talking him down.

Henry's probably not fully fit tbh. He hasn't been for a while and picked up a knock in the Baabaas game.

 

[Patchey]

The All Blacks look pretty unstoppable with that line up I think. Ireland have potential but I personally wouldn't back them to win any, maybe push New Zealand close and certainly not be a walk over.

Any Kiwis know why TJ Perenara hasn't been selected? I only get to watch Super Rugby highlights up here but from what I've seen he is very promising.

 

[TheCharacter]

TJ is being given more time to hone his skills and gain more experience in first class rugby. He is obviously an immense talent and will certainly be an AB in the near future. I assume the selectors decided that Smith has also had a great season and is the rookie they brought in to the squad to partner Weepu, the incumbent.