Canada Test 12/11/16, 19:15

[Peg Leg]

Nice post Rtb. Well earned.

[Oldschool]

Nice post Rtb. We'll earned.

+1
Billy Holland is another real nuts and bolts SR very like D. Ryan.
Hope he has a great game.

[Laighin Break]

Personally would have preferred Sweetman on the bench ahead of Adeolokun but considering Munster are playing the Maori's I suppose it's understandable. I reckon Sweetman has more football and a higher ceiling than Niyi, plus I would be worried about him defensively and in the air.

To be fair both Niyi and Sweetnam are liabilities in defence. Both were found wanting in their games against Leinster this season.

[Dave Cahill]

Joe has always liked the kind of cloth that locks like Billy Holland are cut from. Not massive guys, but powerful, and with a big work ethic.


As an aside, I only found out this morning that he is Jerry Holland's son!

[simonokeeffe]

27 or 28 either way its pretty amazing being able to (nearly) field two teams comprising all internationals. If Toulon or Saracens did it you wouldn't be too surprised but an Irish province, amazing.

on closer inspection Xan is right with 27

worth remembering Ryan, Reid, Conan all capped

[outcast eddie]

Joe has always liked the kind of cloth that locks like Billy Holland are cut from. Not massive guys, but powerful, and with a big work ethic.


As an aside, I only found out this morning that he is Jerry Holland's son!

He hasn't endeared himself to the residents of Rotherham.

"I played U-20s with Seanie O'Brien, Johnny Sexton, Rob Kearney - all these lads. They're off winning Grand Slams and you're off in f***ing Rotherham or some dive like that playing 'A' rugby.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/m ... 06257.html

[jezzer]

Speaking as someone who used to go there for work, they should take it as a compliment. Nice people though.

[Xanthippe]

Pleased for Ringrose, I wonder if all the Leinster guys get a cap how many internationals will be in the Leinster squad? Answers on a postcard to....

I make it:
27 Ireland
1 South Africa
1 Fiji (yes I know that's pushing it)
2 Maori All Black
2 (3?) Ireland 7s

Poor Zane

?

[Peg Leg]

I make it:
27 Ireland
1 South Africa
1 Fiji (yes I know that's pushing it)
2 Maori All Black
2 (3?) Ireland 7s

Poor Zane

?

I think he's been kidnapped

[FLIP]

Luke Marshall getting penalised for being pushed into a jumping player is a new level of special from the IRB

[wixfjord]

Our 9-10-12 have been poor. Particularly Marmion.
PJ standing very deep too for some reason.

SOB looks very hungry, as does Ciano.

[Hippo]

Yes not overly impressed with Marmion. O'Halloran is super quick but looked uncertain a couple of times under the high ball I thought. Ringrose predictably excellent and Dillane was superb.

[Oldschool]

Our 9-10-12 have been poor. Particularly Marmion.
PJ standing very deep too for some reason.

SOB looks very hungry, as does Ciano.

Judging from Joe's post match this team spent very little time preparing for this game.
No doubt most of the time was spent preparing for the OZ game.
SOB and POM don't quite look ready for NZ but it looks like SOB is getting the call.

[neiliog93]

Don't understand the backslapping after this, I thought we were pretty poor really.

People wax lyrical about the physicality of teams like Canada but we actually dominated them in that sense - nearly every big hit of the night was by an Irish player. We drove them back when they carried and we went forward with practically every carry. Our scrum, bar one mishap, was dominant. All of that makes the fact that they scored 3 tries and we made so many mistakes even worse. Marmion and Jackson had a good platform all night and were poor in execution. Luke Marshall was Ireland's worst player, loads of little mistakes. O'Halloran, even with the tries, had a mixed bag at times IMO. Gilroy showed quick feet but didn't make much of an impact. Ringrose was generally good though, and Earls showed why he's normally an Ireland starter and the other backs of the night aren't. Different class.

SOB carried reasonably well but not at his previous level, and the usual ill-discipline and sloppy handling at times. Ditto Healy, who carried effectively yet still lower than his previous level and had one inexcusable knock-on which is typical of him. O'Mahony wasn't bad but wasn't as good as he can be either. Joe would be mad to start either of them ahead of VDF next week IMO.

One guy who really shone for me was Finlay Belham. Absolutely smashed their big prop Sears-Djuru and made a couple of other big defensive tackles. His scrummaging was solid and he had a key offload for one of the tries. Best performances of the night were Bealham and Dillane (Sean Cronin was also sharp).

All in all Joe's 'conservative' selections were vindicated by the other lads showing tonight they're not quite at the level to beat England, Aus, NZ etc.

[Oldschool]

Don't understand the backslapping after this, I thought we were pretty poor really.

People wax lyrical about the physicality of teams like Canada but we actually dominated them in that sense - nearly every big hit of the night was by an Irish player. We drove them back when they carried and we went forward with practically every carry. Our scrum, bar one mishap, was dominant. All of that makes the fact that they scored 3 tries and we made so many mistakes even worse. Marmion and Jackson had a good platform all night and were poor in execution. Luke Marshall was Ireland's worst player, loads of little mistakes. O'Halloran, even with the tries, had a mixed bag at times IMO. Gilroy showed quick feet but didn't make much of an impact. Ringrose was generally good though, and Earls showed why he's normally an Ireland starter and the other backs of the night aren't. Different class.

SOB carried reasonably well but not at his previous level, and the usual ill-discipline and sloppy handling at times. Ditto Healy, who carried effectively yet still lower than his previous level and had one inexcusable knock-on which is typical of him. O'Mahony wasn't bad but wasn't as good as he can be either. Joe would be mad to start either of them ahead of VDF next week IMO.

One guy who really shone for me was Finlay Belham. Absolutely smashed their big prop Sears-Djuru and made a couple of other big defensive tackles. His scrummaging was solid and he had a key offload for one of the tries. Best performances of the night were Bealham and Dillane (Sean Cronin was also sharp).

All in all Joe's 'conservative' selections were vindicated by the other lads showing tonight they're not quite at the level to beat England, Aus, NZ etc.

You've pretty much called it exactly as it was.
And the three lads you mentioned were excellen.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Bealham is such an unexpected bonus for us. I'd still be nervous if he had to start next week but he's been great and I wouldn't have imagined that a couple of seasons ago. Mad to think that Marty Moore (and Mike Ross) isn't in the squad and yet nobody is complaining. His emergence gives us depth that I didn't think we could have in a position that I thought would take a long time in which to achieve it. In my head I was thinking that we'd just have Furlong and Moore and that we'd be in trouble because both of them are injury prone, but things look much rosier now. That said, I hope Marty isn't ostracised completely, he's too good not to be involved and his presence could make us very very strong.

It's similar with Dillane, didn't see him being this good so soon. He's been brilliant every time he's put on the green jersey and it's a position that we're very short of numbers right now. I know it was only Canada but it was great that he showed he can have an impact from the start as well as off the bench.

Didn't think Marmion was as bad as everyone else did but the halfbacks and Marshall were still very disappointing. We lost our structure very easily and were too reliant on individual moments or mistakes from Canada.

We desperately need a scrumhalf to emerge a la the first two guys I mentioned. Thought Luke was very good when he came on but it wasn't exactly a tough test.

Aside from the two big TMO calls I really liked the look of the ref. The Marshall call was a joke but the TMO was the one who pushed for it and it's difficult to let those things go when you're a new ref on the scene. I disagreed with the Holland call (and it's something that happens all the time but gets ignored) but it was still fair enough that he made it. He communicated well with the players, allowed a contest at the breakdown, and wasn't too fussy.

[jezzer]

LRIP and Neilóg have really nailed it so not much to add.

Seanie, POM, Jackson, Cronin, Healy and Earls are the only established starters who only have good form to prove and not ability at this level.

Their ability was abundantly clear vs Canada. Earls and Seanie in particular looked the most talented players on the pitch. But have to agree with the others that they didn't play their way into "must start " status for NZ2.

Earls brilliant break where he put a Canuck on his back with a handoff and stepped around two guys like they weren't there is exactly the bit of magic I think we need in the second test. Can we risk the less stellar stuff he showed on Sat against NZ. Hmmmm, hopefully training will go well for him.

Jackson is back to his hiding at depth and crabbing ways. Marmion was really not good. You know you were dogging it when McGrath comes on and ups the intensity 7 notches. Someone please stick a Child of Prague in Murray's kitbag.

Healy, Cronin, Bealham, Dillane, SOB is a fantastic bench for a game like this coming up. If we're up, they have huge workrate and plenty of experience bar Bealham. If we're down, theres a huge attacking mentality and ability to unleash on the oppo.

A couple of daft intercepts aside, our handling in the face of the oppo backline continues to be right up th er e with the best.

Our maul, which was so good against NZ, was shite. Shows how important personnel is in the maul.

[fourthirtythree]

Isn't the Child of Prague to stop it raining or something?

We are in trouble without Murray alright...

Our maul, without Toner, is always shite.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Our defensive maul is very inconsistent, same at Leinster.

[FLIP]

Earls brilliant break where he put a Canuck on his back with a handoff and stepped around two guys like they weren't there is exactly the bit of magic I think we need in the second test. Can we risk the less stellar stuff he showed on Sat against NZ.

We really can't in my eyes. Everything Earls does is boom or bust, and you can't afford any busts against NZ.