Ireland v Romania, 27/9/15

[Golf Man]

I don't remember Payne running hard and straight up the middle once yesterday. Maybe he did but he certainly didn't do it often, would expect a big change in that department in the next couple of games and he'll be more effective then. Plus if he has Sexton and Henshaw inside him then they should be able to hold defenders better and we'll see more of his good distribution out wide.

I wouldn't be surprised if Earls and Rob K are just ruled out immediately because of their knocks and we go with DK, Bowe, and Zebo in the back three, and Luke at 23.

Why would Earls be ruled out- he came back on - or did he pick up some other injury?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

He did but he said he got a whack in the neck and I can just see it being tight and having to rest for a day or two so they just go with the others because the options are good. Just speculation on my part.

[Logorrhea]

Thought it was a good performance. We went form being too narrow to being too expansive (unless you are George Hook who still thought Ireland were too narrow). Its amazing how you simply cant please the analysts.
Solid performances all round though again, the bench seemed to disrupt more than it did to assist which shouldn't really happen.

He did but he said he got a whack in the neck and I can just see it being tight and having to rest for a day or two so they just go with the others because the options are good. Just speculation on my part.

Nahh he's fine. He went off to complete concussion protocols. It was just precautionary.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I'm willing to put money (because I know the bet won't be seen through) on hearing the words "Keith Earls sat out training today" this week.

[Logorrhea]

lol fair enough

[All Blacks nil]

Earls continues his great form since his comeback. Both tries brilliantly taken, his first in particular an outstanding display of pace. Don't think any other Irish player would have scored that try in that manner (i.e. untouched) from a standing start. Earls is a finisher, knows where the line is and which lines to run, attacks space and has real gas.
He is ticking all Joe's boxes as well, with a team leading rucking performance v Canada, solid defence and success in the air. Ireland's leading try scorer in World Cup history, lets hope he adds a few more as the tournament hots up.

Good to see Tommy Bowe put that English performance behind him. Zebo with 3 more assists is proving a real playmaking option and has at least copperfastened his place in the MD23. Henry had a great game at openside and it was good to see Healy play 60 minutes.

[hugonaut]

Nahh he's fine. He went off to complete concussion protocols. It was just precautionary.

He needs to sort out his tackling. That's twice in the last three games that he has tackled somebody in space with his head on the wrong side and gone down injured. Probably can't be fixed up immediately, but certainly something he needs to keep working on.

[jezzer]

Thought Earls was excellent. One of the better winger performances in the RWC so far from any player.

Payne... He's a fullback playing centre and he looks it. He doesnt have the footwork in the phonebooth of the 13 slot in modern pro rugby and he doesnt have the experience of running a centre's lines. When we have a guy like Earls outsode him and/or Fitz inside him, we dont miss the linebreaking of a 13. But witu Henshaw inside and Kearney or Bowe outside, we're very straight line, hard running and rely on disguising our plays to find holes.

Madigan was the classic mixed bag. Reddan continues his Indian Summer and was close to motm for me.

Hraly looked rusty, three knockons wasnt a good idea to Convince Joe to start him. Strauss was great and White solid.

I thought Toner was excellent. Scratching my head at some of the comments. Ryan was OK, Murphy was OK. Sean O Brien is a bit like Tommy Bowe right now, trading off past glories. He and Tommy have a lot of credit in the bank, but Seanie is Warburton to Henry's Tipuric.

We kicked less stupid ball away, we ran better lines, but the pack looked like they were saving themselves a bit, which is fair enough. We had huge swathes of possession, but another barren patch after halftime where we looked like we were struggling for rhythm when the subs started coming on.

Very happy so far with how we're developing. France will be a massive step up in physicality though. Its a totally different challenge that needs a totally differentbgameplan, so what we've seen so far isnt a great guide.

[Ruckedtobits]

Thought Earls was excellent. One of the better winger performances in the RWC so far from any player.

Payne... He's a fullback playing centre and he looks it. He doesnt have the footwork in the phonebooth of the 13 slot in modern pro rugby and he doesnt have the experience of running a centre's lines. When we have a guy like Earls outsode him and/or Fitz inside him, we dont miss the linebreaking of a 13. But witu Henshaw inside and Kearney or Bowe outside, we're very straight line, hard running and rely on disguising our plays to find holes.

Madigan was the classic mixed bag. Reddan continues his Indian Summer and was close to motm for me.

Hraly looked rusty, three knockons wasnt a good idea to Convince Joe to start him. Strauss was great and White solid.

I thought Toner was excellent. Scratching my head at some of the comments. Ryan was OK, Murphy was OK. Sean O Brien is a bit like Tommy Bowe right now, trading off past glories. He and Tommy have a lot of credit in the bank, but Seanie is Warburton to Henry's Tipuric.

We kicked less stupid ball away, we ran better lines, but the pack looked like they were saving themselves a bit, which is fair enough. We had huge swathes of possession, but another barren patch after halftime where we looked like we were struggling for rhythm when the subs started coming on.

Very happy so far with how we're developing. France will be a massive step up in physicality though. Its a totally different challenge that needs a totally differentbgameplan, so what we've seen so far isnt a great guide.

+1
Great summary of what I saw also.

Only difference in viewpoint maybe that I don't think that, possibly bar the Samoans, there is no step-up in how hard the Romanians hit, certainly compared to France. Saw the comments of 6 French players after their game against Romania (on French TV). Each of them remarked on the physicality of that game, compared to their two games against England. Picamoles, in particular, said that he was glad that Romania were not in 6Ns because, compared with Italy, France would expect to lose at least 3 players to injury against a Romanian team. Nicolas Mas said that their Front-row were comparable to the strongest SA front-row.

Without counting any chickens, yesterday was good preparation for Italy and France. However, the speed of breakdown ball is so critical to the tempo of our game and that must continue to be our objective

[nc6000]

That was a great weekend in London for the Romania game. I can't believe we filled Wembley for this game and set a RWC record. Our Cat C tickets turned out to be in the premium section with had great facilities.

[Vamos los azules]

That was a great weekend in London for the Romania game. I can't believe we filled Wembley for this game and set a RWC record. Our Cat C tickets turned out to be in the premium section with had great facilities.

Cracking weather too for watching the earlier matches in the fan zone. It was my first time at Wembley and I was impressed, even in the cheap section, so premium must have been fairly fancy.

[nc6000]

That was a great weekend in London for the Romania game. I can't believe we filled Wembley for this game and set a RWC record. Our Cat C tickets turned out to be in the premium section with had great facilities.

Cracking weather too for watching the earlier matches in the fan zone. It was my first time at Wembley and I was impressed, even in the cheap section, so premium must have been fairly fancy.

Padded seats and drink holders no less.