Scotland v Ireland. 2:30 pm. Saturday 21st March.

[JB1973]

POM was really poor against Wales.

Not sure if he had an injury in that game, he seemed to be carrying his arm from early on in the match.

Does seem harsh on Zebo and McGrath to be dropped after last week, neither played especially badly and I thought Mcgrath had a good game.

Zebo/Earls would both seem to be a better bench option for you guys than Jones?

Also not sure how Best retained his place ahead of cronin, seems a strange call that

The Scottish team looks decent enough, I fancy an Ireland win but could be a close game.

[MylesNaGapoleen]

Does seem harsh on Zebo and McGrath to be dropped after last week, neither played especially badly and I thought Mcgrath had a good game.

Zebo/Earls would both seem to be a better bench option for you guys than Jones?

Also not sure how Best retained his place ahead of cronic, seems a strange call that

The Scottish team looks decent enough, I fancy an Ireland win but could be a close game.

agreed....about zebo and mcgrath being dropped. thought zebo didnt have a great game but perhaps schmidt has a different game plan that suits the others coming in better,
cronin is always great coming off the bench...guaranteed to make an impact. no probs from me with best starting and cronin coming in mid way through the second half.

[enby]

I think that Joe is right to shake things up a little. Bowe is steeped to stay in all the same. I'm not a huge SZ fan but I really enjoyed his judo style throw of the English winger to the Irish pack in the lead-up to Henshaw's try. Luke is probably a better player so I don't see a huge problem with him replacing Zebo but maybe it should have been at Bowe's expense. The continued presence of Jones on the bench is a mystery

[MylesNaGapoleen]

answering my own question here but...Jerome Garces is the ref for the irish game on sat

[simonokeeffe]

No out and out weakness in Scotland XV bar maybe the 7/9/10 defensive channell, Cowan especially missed a lot of tackles against England
just we have better players, and they have weak bench especially in forwards

Ruddock unlucky too to miss out but wasnt in squad for Wales/Scotland, Joe likes the guys training together, IMO he brings more (crucial) brute force than POM

Think we have learnt a few things from Joe('s view) this 6n

Luke is a wing only at international level
Henderson is 2nd row
Payne & Henshaw centres

[Flash Gordon]

Don't understand it myself and the whole "three left footers in the back three" thing.

Wait! Are you saying that Zebo, Kearney and Bowe all play for Wanderers?

No but Jones would be keen on the old soup......to be honest I think the criticism of Jones is harsh. He's a very good player in my opinion who captained Munster to a convincing win over us recently. You could question a few of the selections in the backs - Kearney has been quiet, Bowe has done nothing, Henshaw is out of position, Payne has been unspectacular and when Madigan has come on he's looked flakey.....Fitzgerald is a very very good player but his distribution is poor and Earls similar. Even Johnny and Murray who are arguably two of the best half backs in world rugby had poor games vs Wales.

There are a lot of questions over our backline but my principle issues would be our play patterns and the center partnership not Felix Jones place on the bench.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I know we're going for a championship, but I'm pretty disappointed that Mike Ross will have started every game in this six nations. Fair enough Moore has got a decent amount of time, but his first start in an important game is likely to be at the World Cup. Hopefully he's played enough that it won't end up being a big deal but I think it's a mistake.

[simonokeeffe]

answering my own question here but...Jerome Garces is the ref for the irish game on sat

thought he was out injured?

[Grumpy Old Man]

Don't understand it myself and the whole "three left footers in the back three" thing.

Wait! Are you saying that Zebo, Kearney and Bowe all play for Wanderers?

Felix went to Andrews and can therefore do no wrong.

Thank you Google Translate

[rooster]

Payne would be better at 15 with Henshaw 13 and Madigan 12

I fully agree with you on Payne at 15 - not sure it's good for Ireland or for Kearney himself to have him as an undroppable player. It's almost sacrilegious to say but I don't think he's been playing all that well, mind you I don't think we've seen the best of Tommy Bowe this season either.

I don't think we have seen Bowe play well since his injury before he returned from Wales.
On the experiences of Payne at Ulster he is a top class fullback but average outside centre, just does not have the room to express himself, Kearney also has not been at his best and a run with Payne at fullback with Rob on the bench which can still let Payne go to centre if needed might well focus Robs mind a bit, it's rarely good to have any player just assuming that he will get his shirt.

[suisse]

POM was really poor against Wales.

He was. I thought he had an awful game. But you're not allowed to say these things about him.

As Hugonaut said earlier, he hasn't had a great championship at all despite being the only constant member of the back row. Maybe his selection should be under threat now.

[janeymac08]

POM was really poor against Wales.

He was. I thought he had an awful game. But you're not allowed to say these things about him.

As Hugonaut said earlier, he hasn't had a great championship at all despite being the only constant member of the back row. Maybe his selection should be under threat now.

POM was being whistled out of competing at the breakdown v Wales. Still, he had 5 lineout takes v Wales (to Toner's 2, POC 1) - 11 in the tournament to Toner's 12.

He carried as much as Murphy v Italy. More than O'Brien v France. More than twice as much as Murphy v England (SOB injured) and tackled more than Heislip v Wales.

He is making most teams of the tournament so far.

[offshorerules]

Statistics, the last refuge.......

[offshorerules]

Delighted for Luke. It must have been an incredibly challenging few years for him.

[Tonic Wine]

Kearney is great in the air and has a good kicking game but is stale in attack.
Felix doesn't have international speed either.My preference would be for Zebo at 15.
Zebo was rag dolled a few times against wales.I don't think joe allows him enough freedom.
Big question marks remain about Tommy Bowes pace.Is it gone? Trimble is going to give him a real run for his position.
Joe is really backing Jared Payne.Earls has been in great form.Considering our 13 only passes about 5 times a game.
I hope luke can mix it up.
Id like to see Cronin and Henderson get a shot.We would have serious ball carriers then

[Fireworks]

I am confused by Jones still being on the bench but I am happy to go back to the old dictum "Joe knows best". Still in my opinion Fitz should have been in the 23 shirt a few games ago and it is a bit tough on Zebo getting dropped. It is tough for Joe trying to build a centre partnership and a squad in the middle of the 6n where experimentation can spell disaster. The 12/13 combo need time to work together but I would have thought that the experimenting could be done later in the games with a bit of shuffling however this is difficult if none of the alternatives are on the bench.

This will be a tough game but one we should win. If we playt at the same level as we did against Wales and cut out some of the errors we would destroy them.

[Golf Man]

I am confused by Jones still being on the bench but I am happy to go back to the old dictum "Joe knows best". Still in my opinion Fitz should have been in the 23 shirt a few games ago and it is a bit tough on Zebo getting dropped. It is tough for Joe trying to build a centre partnership and a squad in the middle of the 6n where experimentation can spell disaster. The 12/13 combo need time to work together but I would have thought that the experimenting could be done later in the games with a bit of shuffling however this is difficult if none of the alternatives are on the bench.

This will be a tough game but one we should win. If we playt at the same level as we did against Wales and cut out some of the errors we would destroy them.

I agree that Fitz should have been at No.23. The tough to bed in a centre partnership thing I don't buy - its a simple and everyday fact of the job for an international coach - especially this one who knew when he started that the 12/13 would have to be replaced. Schmidt has done what most international coaches do and been conservative in selection. Personally I think he lingered a little too long with Darcy, and he has definitely been hampered a bit with injury => having Fitz and Earls available for last summer and the autumn games would have been a real help. Possible problem now is that Henshaw and Payne have become kind of established and its very difficult to see him starting again with a new partnership. I'd be pretty hopeful that the two could develop a lot - they certainly have the talent to but not sure its really getting the best out of both them - Payne in particular (for example I think we would get more out of Earls with the current gameplan that we do from Payne)

[offshorerules]

Could we please all work hard to avoid the Earls to 13 debate all over again? Think of the children!

[jezzer]

Could we please all work hard to avoid the Earls to 13 debate all over again? Think of the children!

Tonic Wine makes a good point though. If your 13 isn't going to pass it anyway, you might as well have Earls in there. Somebody posted our pathetic offload numbers. Dare I say it, the gameplan reeks a bit of sabermetrics. Which is OK to a point, provide you don;t become a slave to the "system".

Payne looks uncomfortable at 13 so far. We're crying out for some linebreaking ability and Earls is proven as Ireland's best exponent. He's proving it for Munster while Ireland is crashing up predictable one-outs against the rocks.

I'd have him on the left wing for sure. Jones at 23 is a luxury we shouldn't be affording, to be honest. Payne covers 15 pretty damn well (unless Joe doesn't rate him as a FB in the Ireland plan...). Ditto Zebo when he was picked. Even Madigan at a pinch. Given how pedestrian our midfield has looked, we need to be starting Earls with Fitz at 23, imo. Plenty of options there for some impact.

[RoboProp]

Don't understand it myself and the whole "three left footers in the back three" thing.

Wait! Are you saying that Zebo, Kearney and Bowe all play for Wanderers?

Until Zebo can pull his socks up he is not Chap material