Italy v Ireland 2017

[Oldschool]

Scotland damaged our confidence last week and today didn't restore it. Mostly in relation to out defence.
Hard to put a finger on it exactly but when a team goes at us we look vulnerable particularly from broken play.
Even against Italy today we looked capable of coughing up a try when our kick chase was poor, particularly on those dodgy dink balls.
Joe didn't look overjoyed so I think he knows there is a confidence issue for some of the players.
Joe could do worse than give serious consideration to switching Henshaw and Ringrose round for the rest of the 6Ns but that would be a very brave call.
VDF has to play at 7, we are missing the defensive cover a genuine 7 gives you - that's what people mean when they talk about balance. Heaslip provides it a little as does POM but neither Stander or SOB give you that kind of input.
I will bow to requests to refrain from being "boring" other than to say ignoring a problem won't make it go away.
One wonders will others be able to show similar restraint. Here's looking at you GM and M1.
Congrats to hat-trick man Gilroy.
To end on a really positive note. Well done to CJ on his hat-trick and MOM.

[Dave Cahill]

Thought Tracy was very good when he came on. Doesn't have the basics of Scannell but better carrying impact.

They both add something to the mix which is great - the impact off the bench was excellent. Obviously Gilroy did his funky thang, but the rest of the bench did really well also - helped lift that 40 to 60 slump that Irish teams sink into.

[neiliog93]

This type of performance would have been more valuable without try bonus points, as it all came down to points difference. Still a very good performance and you can only play what's in front of you. I agree that concerns over our defence persist.

[Golf Man]

Stander a step above everyone - heaslip class in first half. Ring rose excellent. Murray & Jackson really good . Hope we can carry this through to the next game

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[fourthirtythree]

Stander was kind of unplayable.

England will be looking forward to making his acquaintance. Can't wait!

[Oldschool]

Stander was kind of unplayable.

England will be looking forward to making his acquaintance. Can't wait!

Be careful what you wish for, Scotland found an answer.
France are next up and that will be a more realistic examination. Let's see what answers or questions they provide first and how well we respond.
In the meantime a Wales v England draw would a wish come true.

[fourthirtythree]

Oh it's just that I'm watching England Wales now and I'm looking forward to our match. Not that I'm ignoring or assuming France.

[simonokeeffe]

Oh it's just that I'm watching England Wales now and I'm looking forward to our match. Not that I'm ignoring or assuming France.

dont underestimate Wayne Barnes's ability to shaft us, even with us holding back tactically today, I have jitters

[Oldschoolsocks]

Fabulous leadershipping from the captain in the lead up to the last try.

+1, that was just RUTHLESS

Anyone know what was wrong with Heaslip right at the end? Didn't look happy out at all when clapping the vanquished from the pitch.


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[Uncle Monty]

I'm no lip reading expert but Heaslip seemed to say something along the lines of "well f**k them then" (from what I could see on the telly box) before heading towards the tunnel at the end of the match. Perhaps the Azurri weren't adhering to the acceptable post match etiquette by staying in their huddle and making the Irish players wait??

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Stander's carrying is incredible.

Delighted for Scannell, thought he was brilliant.

We should pretty much never try a grubber kick again but apart from that we were excellent yesterday. As bad as Italy were, we played som great stuff.

From what I've heard Kilcoyne won't be selected any time soon.

[Oldschoolsocks]

Stander's carrying is incredible.

Delighted for Scannell, thought he was brilliant.

We should pretty much never try a grubber kick again but apart from that we were excellent yesterday. As bad as Italy were, we played som great stuff.

From what I've heard Kilcoyne won't be selected any time soon.

What have you heard LRIP?


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[suisse]

I'm sure there'll still be a discussion elsewhere for Heaslip to be dropped. But for those who really understand the game, what a brilliant performance he put in yesterday. again. He made a lot of right decisions as captain, his offload to Ringrose was superb, a great penalty won at the breakdown, and an awful lot of strong carries. CJ is a giant as well. That third try was very similar to one he got in Paris for Munster. He just barged his way through everyone from 25 meters out. I hate the PP rule, but we are still lucky to have him. There's no way POM should come into that team. "Back row balance" were the real buzz words of the week. Felt it was overplayed.

The only real criticism I have is we are still very predictable off first phase ball. Numerous scrums in the first 10 minutes, but 90% of the time, we feed Henshaw to truck it up the middle. It took us a very, very long time to score that inevitable first try. And when we tried to go left before Zebo spilled the ball in goal, pretty much every pass was a poor one to the receiver. It is fine against Italy, but I don't think Wales and England will be worried about us off scrums inside the 22. We scored 9 tries yesterday. But we seriously need to more clinical in those attacking areas. Surely they see this too? What exactly do they work on in training?

England are going to score at least 80 points on Italy. It could well be 100. They're f%~king terrible and the only thing they offer now is a weekend in Rome.

[Fan with smartphone]

Would like to see the offload stats, but there seemed a shift in emphasis there and I think that's good. Maybe moreso after the game was won, but still. Some of the play was quite like the chiefs/highlanders where they offload in preplanned little triangles. Ringrose, Henshaw, O'Brien and of course stander looked so dangerous around that. The difference from Scotland (accepting the opposition and mental state) showed how much easier it is to ball carry through a gap than through a defender. That's the way forward for this team and whilst it's easier to do when bullying Italy, I think any team would have found it hard enough to deal with. That's the challenge for the next month I suppose. The next 3 games certainly are big in terms of where Ireland are going strategy and personnel wise. And of course can't afford any slips if thinking of the championship.

[wixfjord]

I'm sure there'll still be a discussion elsewhere for Heaslip to be dropped. But for those who really understand the game, what a brilliant performance he put in yesterday. again. He made a lot of right decisions as captain, his offload to Ringrose was superb, a great penalty won at the breakdown, and an awful lot of strong carries. CJ is a giant as well. That third try was very similar to one he got in Paris for Munster. He just barged his way through everyone from 25 meters out. I hate the PP rule, but we are still lucky to have him. There's no way POM should come into that team. "Back row balance" were the real buzz words of the week. Felt it was overplayed.

The only real criticism I have is we are still very predictable off first phase ball. Numerous scrums in the first 10 minutes, but 90% of the time, we feed Henshaw to truck it up the middle. It took us a very, very long time to score that inevitable first try. And when we tried to go left before Zebo spilled the ball in goal, pretty much every pass was a poor one to the receiver. It is fine against Italy, but I don't think Wales and England will be worried about us off scrums inside the 22. We scored 9 tries yesterday. But we seriously need to more clinical in those attacking areas. Surely they see this too? What exactly do they work on in training?

England are going to score at least 80 points on Italy. It could well be 100. They're f%~king terrible and the only thing they offer now is a weekend in Rome.

I'd agree generally on the first phase ball, but jaysus what a weapon Henshaw is. He's Jamie Roberts like in the carry but with the added benefit of a step and a pass. The guys is absolutely worth his weight in gold, and he's such a leader too.

We definitely need to sharpen up though, there was a lot of poor passing and bad decisions. That grubber kick through is going to give away an intercept try one of these days.

I was really impressed with Ringrose yesterday too. Since H/T in the Scot game he has really grown into that defensive role and made some brilliant decisions yesterday.

[suisse]

I'd agree generally on the first phase ball, but jaysus what a weapon Henshaw is. He's Jamie Roberts like in the carry but with the added benefit of a step and a pass. The guys is absolutely worth his weight in gold, and he's such a leader too.

We definitely need to sharpen up though, there was a lot of poor passing and bad decisions. That grubber kick through is going to give away an intercept try one of these days.

I was really impressed with Ringrose yesterday too. Since H/T in the Scot game he has really grown into that defensive role and made some brilliant decisions yesterday.

Agree on Henshaw but I feel we shouldn't use him all the time. Why not put Stander at 8 off some offensive scrums and let him carry off the base? There was also a lot of space on the left wing yesterday and both Kearney and Zebo had room. A quick Heaslip transfer to Murray would take out their 9, giving us a lot of space to work in either Rob or Zebo.

Early in the first half, off a maul that was stopped quickly by Italy, Murray had a grubber repelled and then Henshaw did the same thing immediately. I thought Murray looked completely out of ideas and both kicks were ineffective. The Italians just booted the ball down field and we lost about 30 meters.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Stander's carrying is incredible.

Delighted for Scannell, thought he was brilliant.

We should pretty much never try a grubber kick again but apart from that we were excellent yesterday. As bad as Italy were, we played som great stuff.

From what I've heard Kilcoyne won't be selected any time soon.

What have you heard LRIP?


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That he won't be playing for Ireland any time soon

[Oldschool]

Stander's carrying is incredible.

Delighted for Scannell, thought he was brilliant.

We should pretty much never try a grubber kick again but apart from that we were excellent yesterday. As bad as Italy were, we played som great stuff.

From what I've heard Kilcoyne won't be selected any time soon.

What have you heard LRIP?


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That he won't be playing for Ireland any time soon

Is the reason due to perceived lack of technical ability.
A simple yes or no would suffice as it's understood you may not be at liberty to divulge any further information.

[Oldschoolsocks]

I heard whispers of bad attitude, can't remember where thpugh


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[LeRouxIsPHat]

Just that he didn't take too kindly to not being picked and was castigated for it.