Ireland v Italy 6Ns 2016

[Hippo]

Hilarious though predictable MOTM call from Keyes.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Hilarious though predictable MOTM call from Keyes.

Really? Ryan would have been in the mix for me too. McGrath and Toner too but Ryan played the full 80. Zebo also excellent so it would have been between the Munster men for me.

Obviously it's very hard to analyse that performance in light of how poor Italy were but I liked a lot of what we did. Similar plays to the ones we've been making before this game but the passing was a bit sharper, we were more willing to offload (partly because of the space afforded to us but I think it was more than just that) which allowed us put a bit more pace on things and the big thing was that we looked far better once we got in behind. We did blow some chances just have we have done in the past few games and if you create more chances then obviously you're going to take more of them but we looked more clued in after the first few phases than we had done.

Thought we were a bit lateral at times but a hugely positive performance and we're close to striking a great balance in our style of play.

[Hippo]

Hilarious though predictable MOTM call from Keyes.

Really? Ryan would have been in the mix for me too. McGrath and Toner too but Ryan played the full 80. Zebo also excellent so it would have been between the Munster men for me.

I wouldn't disagree that Ryan had a terrific game, but so did Dev, and McGrath and particularly Heaslip were out in front for me. It was never going anywhere other than due south though.

[Oldschoolsocks]

Hilarious though predictable MOTM call from Keyes.

Really? Ryan would have been in the mix for me too. McGrath and Toner too but Ryan played the full 80. Zebo also excellent so it would have been between the Munster men for me.

I wouldn't disagree that Ryan had a terrific game, but so did Dev, and McGrath and particularly Heaslip were out in front for me. It was never going anywhere other than due south though.

Thought Ryan was at least as deserving as anyone else on the field, great to see him back at his best.

To be fair though the biggest impact on the match was the ref enforcing the ruck. Three penalties for not rolling, Parrisse gets warned that the next ones a yellow, hey presto we get the quick ruck ball we need, we can dictate the tempo of the game and we actually looked pretty darn good.

[enby]

Sexton was incredibly good today, by far MOTM in my book

[Oldschoolsocks]

Sexton was incredibly good today, by far MOTM in my book

Yup he was good too.

[artaneboy]

Sexton was incredibly good today, by far MOTM in my book

Yup he was good too.

+1. The distractions of head injuries, etc., have obscured, especially to the easily distracted, his consistently excellent performances in this 6N. Back to form now.

One more week hopefully 'injury free' and we get him back for the run-in of the Pro 12...

[RoboProp]

Are we missing an enforcer though? Every game something as cheap and nasty as a Tijuana street walker targets Johnny. I'm for the Neil Back style enforcer sly inch punches that don't get seen. Opposition are getting their retaliation in first because we're not doing bupkiss

[nelly the elephant]

Hilarious though predictable MOTM call from Keyes.

I don't agree......I thought Ryan and Henshaw were both superb today..... the backrow excellent too. As alluded to above-great to see Ryan back performing so well at this level after such a long time out and the uncertainty about his future playing career.

[desperado]

Hilarious though predictable MOTM call from Keyes.

small minded comment

[fourthirtythree]

He was decent and did some eye catching stuff after an anonymous six nations so far. Against a team which was very stripped at second row.

That might seem Like nit picking but just think where Toner and Ryan would stand in the England selection. I don't think either would be within an asses roar. Both had good games today but I wouldn't read too much into it. Hopefully Ryan is onwards and upwards after his injury but I just don't see the pair of them winning much for us in the future.

[neiliog93]

If Stander had done what Heaslip did out there there's no doubt Keyes would have given him MOTM.

[Oldschool]

Hilarious though predictable MOTM call from Keyes.

small minded comment

Which? Yours or Hippo's.

[CiaranIrl]

A quick comment on McFadden: I felt that the way the game panned out really justified his selection. Not only did he play pretty well with a smart try scoring pass and an important, smashing tackle, but the versatility argument was backed by the need for blood substitutions. It would have really hurt our momentum if we had to reshuffle the entire backline just to deal with blood injuries. Having someone on the bench that can slot in anywhere is fantastic from a continuity perspective.

[Ruckedtobits]

Hilarious though predictable MOTM call from Keyes.

small minded comment

But factually correct, based on his history!

[Ruckedtobits]

If Stander had done what Heaslip did out there there's no doubt Keyes would have given him MOTM.

+1

[Oldschoolsocks]

If Stander had done what Heaslip did out there there's no doubt Keyes would have given him MOTM.

+1

Now c'mon, Ralph Keyes is the Irish record holder for most points scored in a test match, surely he's not just some biased hack from down south.

[Hippo]

If Stander had done what Heaslip did out there there's no doubt Keyes would have given him MOTM.

This is exactly what I meant, only put much better.

[simonokeeffe]

Heaslip or Ryan were standouts for MOTM

Zebo got caught defending narrow again

Toner called a lot more ball on himself and went after opposition ball a lot more too which was great to see

Payne will be 13 for summer tour, and probably the Autumn barring injury, what will be interesting will be when Ringrose ascends to 13 for Ireland (outside Henshaw), my guess next year's championship, which I think is going to happen rather than McCloskey nailing down 12. Still would love McCloskey as 23 though. When Joe sees Ringrose as ready I think we'll see Payne looked at for 15 more, its Kissy's decision where to play him next season for Ulster but therell definitely be some coordination there

[hugonaut]

A quick comment on McFadden: I felt that the way the game panned out really justified his selection. Not only did he play pretty well with a smart try scoring pass and an important, smashing tackle, but the versatility argument was backed by the need for blood substitutions. It would have really hurt our momentum if we had to reshuffle the entire backline just to deal with blood injuries. Having someone on the bench that can slot in anywhere is fantastic from a continuity perspective.

Very well said. I agree with you 100% and was going to mention just the same thing in my latest paean to A Ferg Supreme.

HIAs and blood bins are now parts of practically every test game - it's not just a case of a] a player going off injured for the rest of the game or b] making a deliberate tactical substitution. You'll frequently enough have players going off for 6 or 10 minutes [as we had yesterday].

When you've got one player covering four/five positions [your outside back sub] then there is a trade off between having an 'impact' sub on the bench who only plays one position, and leaving yourself a hostage to fortune. McFadden came on for 8 minutes for Trimble [No14], 4 minutes for Henshaw [No12] and 9 minutes for Payne [No13] ... and every time he just slotted in to the position of the injured player, with nobody else being discommoded.

Beyond that, his 10 tries in 31 tests [15 starts] is a very respectable strike rate, and the fact that it's actually 12 in 32 is even better. I've made this point before on the DM blog, but that neither he nor any of the other players who played and/or scored against Fiji in Thomond in November 2012 is credited with their accomplishment [this game: http://www.irishrugby.ie/rugby/fixtures ... s/5303.php ] sticks in my craw when it comes to mind.

The game wasn't a Wolfhounds fixture - Jamie Heaslip captained the side, and he was the national captain that year - and it was played against a national side. That it was played at Thomond was because the IRFU didn't think they could sell out a Lansdowne Road fixture against Fiji on the back of a stodgy 2012 Six Nations, and their deal with Aviva means that they can't play a home test match anywhere but Lansdowne.

The tries scored by Rob Kearney, Shane Horgan, Drico and Keith Earls [2] in the corresponding fixture three years earlier [this game: http://www.irishrugby.ie/rugby/fixtures ... s/5254.php ] - played against the same opposition, at the same time point in the season, in a provincial ground [the RDS] - go on their test records, while Craig Gilroy's hat-trick and Fergus McFadden's brace don't go on theirs, solely because of a commercial deal the IRFU did with a sponsor in the interim. It's a bit of an injustice.