Ireland v Georgia

[JB1973]

I thought Kilcoyne and Foley were your stand out players, both must be in with a shout for the aussie game

[Oldschool]

Was at the game, haven't watched it back yet. Impressions were that Foley deserved his MOTM. Jones was the best of the back 3. Diack best of the back row. Scrum is in trouble. Madigan is clearly 2nd choice OH. Marmions service seemed slower than Reddans, he did well for Jones 2nd try.

Did anyone else notice that Foley whipped off the MOTM medal almost as quickly as it was put on him. Sexton did the same thing last week. I noticed it then as it almost seemed rude and I kept an eye out for it yesterday.

Speaking of noticing things and an insight into the Munster mentality.
Foley also said he thought he would have been capped two years ago - how's that for entitlement mentality and here's me thinking I was just being paranoid.

[Edna Kenny]

Was at the game, haven't watched it back yet. Impressions were that Foley deserved his MOTM. Jones was the best of the back 3. Diack best of the back row. Scrum is in trouble. Madigan is clearly 2nd choice OH. Marmions service seemed slower than Reddans, he did well for Jones 2nd try.

Did anyone else notice that Foley whipped off the MOTM medal almost as quickly as it was put on him. Sexton did the same thing last week. I noticed it then as it almost seemed rude and I kept an eye out for it yesterday.

Speaking of noticing things and an insight into the Munster mentality.
Foley also said he thought he would have been capped two years ago - how's that for entitlement mentality and here's me thinking I was just being paranoid.

I don't think he was showing any entitlement, he was clearly happy to be playing and giving an interview in front of 40k people. The guy has ambition which is exactly what we need. I think the taking off of the medals is a team thing, I believe they consider that personal accolades shouldn't be celebrated so he was presumably buying into that.

[munster#1]

Mad to think that Foley was on the verge of leaving munster a couple of seasons ago, before being convinced to stay.

At the time I heard he had gone to visit a number of clubs.

Now he looks likely to be the corner stone of the munster second row for the next few years, and possibly Pocs replacement in green.

How many dave Foley's have been lost due to not moving on early enough?

[blockhead]

Whatever happened to Nagle?

[ceemec]

Whatever happened to Nagle?

Retired and left the country to work in a company in Washington DC.

[ronk]

Good win with some good performances. Some good play from Foley, he's improving well. Also decent performances across the backrow. Kilcoyne showed up well in the loose. Madigan was excellent, I thought. A real key play for us and capable of moment of match winning brillance without a significant error count.

I thought D'Arcy was poor but he has games like that every so often. Jones was obviously the pick of the back 3. Zebo did well at a few things and certainly is hitting rucks a lot harder than he used to. Not sure if his overall commitment and attitude are adequate still.

Rodney was a nice surprise, he was better than I expected for longer than I expected.

Yeah, Rodney has got some quick hands and feet! I remember seeing him play for Connacht in Donnybrook against an Ireland XV in the build-up to RWC11 and he really impressed when he got his hands on the pill. He's got a lot of quickness in his movements for such a big man.

I'm forcibly reminded of Stan Wright when I see him play. Same position, same build, same sort of attitude, similar background. Worth remembering that Stan was already 28 when he played his first game for Leinster and Rodney just turned 26 last month. If he gets good coaching and really applies himself to becoming a hard-scrummaging tighthead, there's no reason he can't have a very reasonable career. Definitely got the physical tools at 188cm and 123kg.

I had been thinking about Stan too. Ah You has been a pro for a while but like Stan he's a guy who could flourish with a taste of higher level rugby. Tightheads are funny athletes because so many of them aren't natural athletes in the same way as most of the other guys.

Lots of them become props because they're carrying weight or they don't have much speed. So they have to make a big transformation and the thing is that it's a bigger commitment than most other positions because the really top ones have to push themselves harder than most of the other guys in the team ( from a lower base).

It's one thing to see who has the potential to step up with higher intensity, it's another to see who can push themselves to that level.

We see it plenty and it's one of the reasons so many tightheads make huge gains after a few unremarkable years while others do the opposite. Ah You didn't just look like he was enjoying himself out there against Georgia, he had that look of someone who realises that he got a shot through luck but that he actually has a chance to belong at that level.

Stan improved through training, but then he reached a level, he went and did extra training above a beyond even what Cheika was forcing the team to do to make it to the stage where he became such a legend.

[Dave Cahill]

Is my maths right or wrong, did Georgia spend a significant chunk of the game understrength? There were the two yellow cards, which is 20 mins, but on 62 mins a player was stretchered off and I don't think he was replaced? There was certainly a lengthy discussion about it between JP Doyle and the son-in-law whilst the injured Georgian was receiving treatment. If he wasn't replaced that would have meant that for a total of 28 mins in the game they would have been down a man and for 8 of those minutes, two men

[nc6000]

Is my maths right or wrong, did Georgia spend a significant chunk of the game understrength? There were the two yellow cards, which is 20 mins, but on 62 mins a player was stretchered off and I don't think he was replaced? There was certainly a lengthy discussion about it between JP Doyle and the son-in-law whilst the injured Georgian was receiving treatment. If he wasn't replaced that would have meant that for a total of 28 mins in the game they would have been down a man and for 8 of those minutes, two men

According to the Ultimate Rugby app on my phone Georgia made 9 substitutions. Looks like their outhalf had to come back on in the 62nd minute to replace the guy who replaced him 13 minutes earlier.

[Oldschool]

Good win with some good performances. Some good play from Foley, he's improving well. Also decent performances across the backrow. Kilcoyne showed up well in the loose. Madigan was excellent, I thought. A real key play for us and capable of moment of match winning brillance without a significant error count.

I thought D'Arcy was poor but he has games like that every so often. Jones was obviously the pick of the back 3. Zebo did well at a few things and certainly is hitting rucks a lot harder than he used to. Not sure if his overall commitment and attitude are adequate still.

Rodney was a nice surprise, he was better than I expected for longer than I expected.

Yeah, Rodney has got some quick hands and feet! I remember seeing him play for Connacht in Donnybrook against an Ireland XV in the build-up to RWC11 and he really impressed when he got his hands on the pill. He's got a lot of quickness in his movements for such a big man.

I'm forcibly reminded of Stan Wright when I see him play. Same position, same build, same sort of attitude, similar background. Worth remembering that Stan was already 28 when he played his first game for Leinster and Rodney just turned 26 last month. If he gets good coaching and really applies himself to becoming a hard-scrummaging tighthead, there's no reason he can't have a very reasonable career. Definitely got the physical tools at 188cm and 123kg.

I had been thinking about Stan too. Ah You has been a pro for a while but like Stan he's a guy who could flourish with a taste of higher level rugby. Tightheads are funny athletes because so many of them aren't natural athletes in the same way as most of the other guys.

Lots of them become props because they're carrying weight or they don't have much speed. So they have to make a big transformation and the thing is that it's a bigger commitment than most other positions because the really top ones have to push themselves harder than most of the other guys in the team ( from a lower base).

It's one thing to see who has the potential to step up with higher intensity, it's another to see who can push themselves to that level.

We see it plenty and it's one of the reasons so many tightheads make huge gains after a few unremarkable years while others do the opposite. Ah You didn't just look like he was enjoying himself out there against Georgia, he had that look of someone who realises that he got a shot through luck but that he actually has a chance to belong at that level.

Stan improved through training, but then he reached a level, he went and did extra training above a beyond even what Cheika was forcing the team to do to make it to the stage where he became such a legend.

Ah You scrummaging is not good enough.
So question is can it be improved and how long will it take.
It also raises the question of prop ranking.
Where do Archer and the Ulster THs rank and in what order.
As an aside where would you rate Connacht LH Buckley and early days but whither Hagan.

[Dave Cahill]

Is my maths right or wrong, did Georgia spend a significant chunk of the game understrength? There were the two yellow cards, which is 20 mins, but on 62 mins a player was stretchered off and I don't think he was replaced? There was certainly a lengthy discussion about it between JP Doyle and the son-in-law whilst the injured Georgian was receiving treatment. If he wasn't replaced that would have meant that for a total of 28 mins in the game they would have been down a man and for 8 of those minutes, two men

According to the Ultimate Rugby app on my phone Georgia made 9 substitutions. Looks like their outhalf had to come back on in the 62nd minute to replace the guy who replaced him 13 minutes earlier.

Thanking you, wasn't sure if the 22 was replaced eventually. I think JP told Bradley to check with the 5th offical (iirc thats the IRB match rep)

[Morf]

Listening on ref radio JP D certainly mentioned that Georgia had used all subs and would be down to 13 when player was stretchered and man in sin bin.

[Made Of Ale]

So has Kolelisvhili been cited then? I can't find any evidence on the internet that he has. And isn't the time limit 48 hours after the match? Please correct me if I'm wrong, I hope I am...

[neiliog93]

Doesn't seem to have been cited. Georgia were down to 13 men, I have a Georgian friend who was quick to remind me of that (and it's all over their fb rugby page).

[Morf]

Doesn't seem to have been cited. Georgia were down to 13 men, I have a Georgian friend who was quick to remind me of that (and it's all over their fb rugby page).

Was in Sth premium level with a great view and counted them regularly and only noticed with not long left that they were back to 14.