Ireland v Scotland 6N's 2016

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Compared to his Ulster form he was very average but in the context of making his international debut in against England in Twickenham and playing between two guys he'd never played with before I thought he went well.

I get Hugo's point about him hanging around rucks but that's not all on him either. Sometimes you look up and see a gap that needs to be filled near the ruck and a prop blowing hard on his way back into the line and it's better to stay put and hope they don't move it to that space where the prop is waddling back to/be aware that you've to cover across if they do move it there.

[Ruckedtobits]

Although not a fan of the genre, I can't believe the pre-match Head- to-Head ratings
produced by John O'Sullivan in today's IT. Whilst you'd expect a little green hue in any comparative, his normally objective eye seems to be on the blink.

Certainly wouldn't have Best ahead of Ford or Ryan ahead of Richie Grey. Always room for debate but lets not lose total credibility!

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Haven't read them but I don't see a whole lot wrong there. Personally think Ford is a poor player and Richie Gray is hardly a world beater. Great when he first came on the scene and has played well recently but he's not so good that it's totally wrong to have Ryan down as being better.

[johng]

Rory Best is waaaay better than Loss(t) Fo(wa)rd

[artaneboy]

Haven't read them but I don't see a whole lot wrong there. Personally think Ford is a poor player and Richie Gray is hardly a world beater. Great when he first came on the scene and has played well recently but he's not so good that it's totally wrong to have Ryan down as being better.

Have to agree on both points. Being genuinely objective as possible, most of our starting 15 are better on paper (and grass) than their Scots equivalents.

Of course it doesn't always translate- because it's a team game- and players often aren't competing with their oppos; Props for instance.

[kermischocolate]

Haven't read them but I don't see a whole lot wrong there. Personally think Ford is a poor player and Richie Gray is hardly a world beater. Great when he first came on the scene and has played well recently but he's not so good that it's totally wrong to have Ryan down as being better.

Ford is terrible and Richie Gray played his best rugby for Glasgow back in the day.

Johnny Gray on the other hand...

[fourthirtythree]

Not a day to be trusting the D. Ref is quite whistle happy. Which suits us mostly now as we have possession...

[fourthirtythree]

So: no stupid kicks in future?

[Ruckedtobits]

That peformance by Jamie was stunning. Regardless of statsalthough they should be sensational) he seemed to be everywhere in attack and defence. As good as any previous game in green jersey

[Oldschoolsocks]

That peformance by Jamie was stunning. Regardless of statsalthough they should be sensational) he seemed to be everywhere in attack and defence. As good as any previous game in green jersey

Amazing what a proper 6 and 7 can do to free up a number 8.

[Logorrhea]

Jamie and CJ carried like monsters but I think its more a reflection in Scotlands defensive mindset. They lost pretty much every collision.

[ronk]

Smart player had a smart game, carried really well

[Oldschool]

Smart player had a smart game, carried really well

Welcome back.

[simonokeeffe]

Ryan seems back to his old self

[enby]

Ryan seems back to his old self

yeah he has been very good, especially yesterday. He really has fitted in seamlessly and like Jamie gets through a ton of the necessary unglamourous work.

Zebo just is no full back and the experiment of playing him at 15 should be terminated. Where was he for the Hogg and Gray tries? It was right to try him with Rob K out and with the need to play Payne in the centre. He is a good fielder of kicks and does worry the opposition with ball in hand but his positional play in defence is abysmal. He offers more on the wing than Trimble and that is where his long term future should lie.

Rory Best has had a poor tournament and Joe must be thinking about a change

[simonokeeffe]

Ryan seems back to his old self

yeah he has been very good, especially yesterday. He really has fitted in seamlessly and like Jamie gets through a ton of the necessary unglamourous work.

Zebo just is no full back and the experiment of playing him at 15 should be terminated. Where was he for the Hogg and Gray tries? It was right to try him with Rob K out and with the need to play Payne in the centre. He is a good fielder of kicks and does worry the opposition with ball in hand but his positional play in defence is abysmal. He offers more on the wing than Trimble and that is where his long term future should lie.

Rory Best has had a poor tournament and Joe must be thinking about a change

I think Best had a poor game rather than tournament
Will be interesting how long he remains captain for though

Agree though Zebo much more suited to wing, if he was even asked to play there more for Munster you could understand him at 15 for Ireland

Problem is all our wingers bar Bowe (who wont make 2015) are best on the left
Earls probably 14 for 2019

[jezzer]

A lot of very good performances, but Zebo was generally muck all game and Trimble didn't have the greatest outing either. I don't know what percentage of the time Zeebs took the wrong option, but it was over 75%, not to mention his iffy positioning in defence.

Murray was really excellent. Centres were decent. The whole pack was very good, bar TOD who I thought was decent at best. Stander and Heaslip outstanding. The front five were all very solid and accurate.

Oh well. We gave the 6N a good rattle and some players got very valuable exposure while we went for every game. Summer and autumn will be brutally hard. Watching the Super 18 or whatever it is now, I'm struck by how much further ahead NH defences are than a lot of SH teams, but our attack is really waaaay behind.

[Oldschool]

One of the real negatives of this game was EOS.
Thought he was very negative and very repetitive in his criticism of Joe.
He was obviously well briefed by Hook before he left the building.

[simonokeeffe]

One of the real negatives of this game was EOS.
Thought he was very negative and very repetitive in his criticism of Joe.
He was obviously well briefed by Hook before he left the building.

didnt see much of it, but EOS and Shaggy appear to hate each other

not a fan of DOB butting in to agree with people/make himself sound smart

[Dave Cahill]

One of the real negatives of this game was EOS.
Thought he was very negative and very repetitive in his criticism of Joe.
He was obviously well briefed by Hook before he left the building.

didnt see much of it, but EOS and Shaggy appear to hate each other

not a fan of DOB butting in to agree with people/make himself sound smart

Not half as much, not even one scintilla of a miniscule fraction of a splinter of a percentage as much as EOS and Hook hate each other.

Well to be more accurate, Hook hates EOS, I doubt Eddie even remembers his name.