Ireland v Argentina 2017

[Fred Funk]

Ok game 3

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[paddyor]

Injury permitting, the same starting 15 and bench bar Keatley for Carbery and maybe bringing McCloskey in for Sweetnam. Apparently trying Henshaw at 15 was a live option until we made a balls of things against Fiji.

[outcast eddie]

GT predicting Byrne on one wing, Stockdale on t'other and J Ryan in the row. With Conway off the bench that's a considerable attacking force in the back three.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3301491

[CiaranIrl]

Will be great to see Ryan and Henderson together. It has the look of a second row for the next decade.

[simonokeeffe]

Will be great to see Ryan and Henderson together. It has the look of a second row for the next decade.

With Toner starting twice it looks preplanned from weeks ago too

Not like Dillane shone v Fiji either

[FLIP]

Not playing Toner would be a mistake. Ryan and Henderson are dynamic ball carrying second rows, you need your nuts and bolts scrum maul lineout second row to be able to get and maintain possession.

[Dexter]

Not playing Toner would be a mistake. Ryan and Henderson are dynamic ball carrying second rows, you need your nuts and bolts scrum maul lineout second row to be able to get and maintain possession.

No player starting all three games is the reported plan, so he'll be on the bench in that case.

[Oldschool]

Not playing Toner would be a mistake. Ryan and Henderson are dynamic ball carrying second rows, you need your nuts and bolts scrum maul lineout second row to be able to get and maintain possession.

Toner's value to the team is seriously underestimated by many.
Joe et al know better.
Starting Ryan and Henderson may be on the cards but it would be a calculated risk.

[flustered]

Henshaw out...

[jimbobjoe]

Henshaw out...

Word on the tweet is Farrell to start at 13. I would've preferred a McCloskey/Aki 12/13 combo

[flustered]

Henshaw out...

Word on the tweet is Farrell to start at 13. I would've preferred a McCloskey/Aki 12/13 combo

Please no! Not a Farrell fan (yet) McCloskey at 12 with Aki at 13 for me (Interchangeable) - Carbery 10 and Sexton 12 would be great

[Oldschool]

Henshaw out...

Word on the tweet is Farrell to start at 13. I would've preferred a McCloskey/Aki 12/13 combo

Please no! Not a Farrell fan (yet) McCloskey at 12 with Aki at 13 for me (Interchangeable) - Carbery 10 and Sexton 12 would be great

If true anout Henshaw then Adam Byrne may lose out.

[Barry]

IRELAND: R Kearney; Byrne, Farrell, Aki, Stockdale; Sexton, Murray; Healy, Best (capt), Furlong, James Ryan, Henderson, O’Mahony, O’Brien, Stander.

[the spoofer]

IRELAND: R Kearney; Byrne, Farrell, Aki, Stockdale; Sexton, Murray; Healy, Best (capt), Furlong, James Ryan, Henderson, O’Mahony, O’Brien, Stander.

Less than 50% from Leinster, Joe out!

Bench has 6/8 Leinster products.

[jimbobjoe]

Thatpack is full of the hard carry - would've loved to see Stander at 6 and Conan at 8 for this one though.

[paddyor]

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"I'm playing with an intelligent group" Ireland captain Peter O'Mahony on the current set up

Wishcasting?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Really happy with the experimentation this November. It hasn't been quite how I'd have liked it (would have played Joey at 15 against SA and not played Murray and Sexton in one of the two bigger games) but it's still been great. I'd have been happy enough with the experimenting we've already done on the right wing (not that Conway was an experiment as such but you get the idea) but for Adam to get a start as well is great news. James Ryan starting is great too, and he's doing it in a really strong pack and with an experienced replacement on the bench. All very sensible and we could be much better for it when the 6N arrives. To have also seen Porter, McCloskey etc is all good news as well. I hope Luke gets a good 20-30 minutes on Saturday regardless of how the game is going.

Have a feeling Adam Byrne has been penciled in for this game for a long time and that he's been preparing accordingly. Defence is obviously the big concern but fingers crossed he's done all his homework and can be solid, anything more than that would be a bonus IMO. Even if he doesn't go well it'll be worth a shot so that he can iron out any flaws during the rest of the season. Argentina's attack against England was an unstructured mess but they still have the ability to tear us apart like they did two years ago...which I'm hoping we get some revenge for to be honest.

Against England they really just seemed to rely on Landajo breaking, Hernandez pulling a rabbit out of a hat. or the back three running the ball back when the game loosened up. They didn't seem to have any plan in place and constantly looked lost in midfield where you had forwards running lines and not sure if they were getting the ball or not, and Hernandez giving up on the players outside him and just going himself. It led to a lot of dropped balls, turnovers, and players being isolated. They kicked poorly too and I'm sure they won't be as poor in that regard again. If we defend like we did against SA and really hound the first receiver then I don't think Argentina will cope. Hernandez will be better than Jantjes at getting the ball away but I'd still back our cover defence to snuff out anything dangerous. Defensively they were very slow to reorganise once England got any momentum and it was only some unusually poor English play that kept the game alive.

[desperado]

Hope Henshaw's hamstring injury is minor; we could do with him for the back to backs against Exeter. Wishing him a speedy recovery. Based on Joe's previous fondness for big (in this case huge) centres I can see where the Farrell selection is coming from. I haven't seen anything from Farrell to suggest international class though. I hope I'm wrong and he has a great game. Any other options? I know the following weren't named in the squad in October but Is Scannell injured (3 caps) ? has Joe seen enough of L.Marshall (over his 11 caps including playing in all 3 games on summer tour); is ROL's defence letting him down (wasn't the squad/15 mins on summer tour). If D is a key attribute for Joe; Adam Byrne can consider himself lucky based on defensive performances so far this year.

[Logorrhea]

Cant argue with it really. Some players luck, others unlucky, but at least we get to see them in a tough fixture surrounded by quality players.

Will be more interesting viewing with so many sub-plots to consider

[Ruckedtobits]

Aki has to play beside J10, regardless of Henshaw's injury. Aki and Jonny must get used to each other. That rules out playing McCloskey at 12 and Bundee at 13, hence Farrell, the only other 13 in camp.