Ireland v Wales 2018 6Ns

[simonokeeffe]

no offence but Marshall is a liability in big games let alone international

Its one dimensional bosh but Farrell is the only option

England served up a nice template on how to deal with Wales without even playing that well and exposed weaknesses in Anscombe and Patchell

Don't know about that. Scannell is an option, Earls too - and Ringrose is back training. Aki and Farrell is going to be crash bang wallop all the way which I'm not sure will do it against Wales and England.

If the gap is at 13 and Ringrose hasnt played a game then its Farrell for me. We are devoid of 14s enough as it is without moving Earls to his weakest position

[paddyor]

West Britain? You do know you shouldn't eat paint chips?

It's a protest against Wales being referred to as West England in another thread - total disrespect.
Pretty insulting to the Welsh. tbh.

Snowflake.

[Hornet]

No - a well deserved friendly ribbing for their lack of support for our WC bid.

Twmfatt.

[Raydollard]

Twmffat

[Oldschool]

West Britain? You do know you shouldn't eat paint chips?

It's a protest against Wales being referred to as West England in another thread - total disrespect.
Pretty insulting to the Welsh. tbh.

+1. A bit of petty casual racism TBH.

Racism is bit ott.
Don't think that was OSS' intention at all.
Sure the man doesn't even know his geography
Wales is part of the United Kingdom but not part of England.

[Oldschool]

no offence but Marshall is a liability in big games let alone international

Its one dimensional bosh but Farrell is the only option

England served up a nice template on how to deal with Wales without even playing that well and exposed weaknesses in Anscombe and Patchell

Don't know about that. Scannell is an option, Earls too - and Ringrose is back training. Aki and Farrell is going to be crash bang wallop all the way which I'm not sure will do it against Wales and England.

will it do it against Wales? is the main question.

[simonokeeffe]

John Ryan, who came on in the French game, and Stephen Archer, who has taken over as first choice tighthead prop in recent times at the province, Connacht’s Finlay Bealham and Michael Bent (Leinster) are players who have international Test match experience.

The IT doing some hard damning with faint praise

[Oldschool]

Wales conceded 0 points from the 20th minute on in their match against England.
That fact says as much about Wales physicality and defensive organisation as it does about England's attack.

[olaf the fat]

Wales are in great form considering their injury list- a really serious threat

Scotland really throw it around, considering our defensive wows in both games so far and our failure to even get close to a try against France, they could catch us out.

England being England and being at home- a massive task for us to win.

It could be 3 soft losses or 3 hard wins

[simonokeeffe]

Wales are expected to have Faletau Biggar L Williams 1/2p back for us....

[backrower8]

Front row - I'm not at all convinced that Taghd Furlong will be togging out in 2 weeks time - prime candidates are Andrew Porter and John Ryan - Joe would probably start with the more experienced Ryan and bring the more dynamic Porter on with 30 to go. LHs will be McGrath the Larger and Church in either order Hookers obviously Bestie and Nugget

Second Row - I guess it'll be one of Dev or JRyan partnering Hendo with the other on the bench

Back Row - any news on SOB? in his absence thistle be POM, DL and CJ with maybe Jack Conan on the bench?

Half backs - only debate here is actually who covers 21 and 22 - I
21 - Marmion or McGrath - for me it's McGrath everyday and twice on a Sunday
22 - Joey C? Ian K? Ross B? I like Ross Byrne but I reckon Joe has a hard on for Joey C so it'll either be Carberry or Ian Keatley

Centres - who goes here - as far as I know Ringer won't be back in time so it's a fairly straight choice for me to move Aki out 1 and bring Scannell the smaller in or Farrell coming straight in.
Farrell's shown in the AIs that he can handle the ball, while Aki won't be overjoyed with his passing yesterday both partnerships offer a big physical presence to defend against the big West English boys. I would actually go with option 2: Scannell 12 and Aki 13.

Back 3 - again no argument here RK, Keet and that young fella from the North will do just fine
.
23 - I can't see Jordan Larmour getting the nod here, but who slots in here instead?

I am done with having both POM and CJ in the same back row for Ireland. It is far too limiting a combo in terms of a lack of distribution skills in contact. POM gives us a great additional line-out option but CJ in particular means that so much of our possession goes up Cul-de-Sacs.

The contrast between CJ and Jack was night and day last Saturday. Past and Future.

Leavy, Conan, Jordi are all capable of providing the grit of POM and CJ AND the continuity needed to unlock games. Deegan is the best of all in this regard and just needs to put on some kilos, but not too much so he keeps his speed and elasticity...something that Leavy may have fallen a bit foul of. #LessIsMore

If all were fit, Jamie included, and RWC2019 uppermost in mind I would be choosing a backrow of Leavy (6), Seanie (7) and Conan (8), with JVDF at 20. Both Leavy and Conan provide lineout ability. Grit and ballers in abundance.

[Uncle Monty]

I am done with having both POM and CJ in the same back row for Ireland. It is far too limiting a combo in terms of a lack of distribution skills in contact. POM gives us a great additional line-out option but CJ in particular means that so much of our possession goes up Cul-de-Sacs.

The contrast between CJ and Jack was night and day last Saturday. Past and Future.

Leavy, Conan, Jordi are all capable of providing the grit of POM and CJ AND the continuity needed to unlock games. Deegan is the best of all in this regard and just needs to put on some kilos, but not too much so he keeps his speed and elasticity...something that Leavy may have fallen a bit foul of. #LessIsMore

If all were fit, Jamie included, and RWC2019 uppermost in mind I would be choosing a backrow of Leavy (6), Seanie (7) and Conan (8), with JVDF at 20. Both Leavy and Conan provide lineout ability. Grit and ballers in abundance.

Then all you'd have to do is find a way of getting rid of those pesky Ulster players at second row and hooker and you'd have the makings of a decent pack.....

[Ruckedtobits]

Scannells should both be in the Squad mix for 12 and 2. Review the damage that Scarlets did to both Munster and Leinster back-rows at the pointy-end of last season before you decide who should fill 6 and 7 jerseys. Front-row is our biggest advantage against them if Porter starts. Ryan benching because he has not recovered last season's scrum form playing second fiddle to Archer.

Aki could do a job at 13 beside Scannell at 12 - the left peg could be useful to J 10. Aki and Farrell could build on Argentina game but Welsh centres and intruding wingers, are a bigger threat. Anscombe is our biggest advantage in Welsh back line.

Nothing simple in this selection but Wales will travel with confidence, regardless of what they say publicly. They consider only Sexton can think on his feet and our other 22 want Joe to do all the thinking for them.

They've no respect.

[fourthirtythree]

Re the Scannells, it's worth noting the mincemeat made of our lineout by France which should be a positive mark for the hooker. I'm a big fan of Rory Scannell but I don't get the impression that Schmidt is.

[Oldschool]

Wales are expected to have Faletau Biggar L Williams 1/2p back for us....

It might be War(ren) Games but that would be a lot of heavy hitters and experience coming back into the Welsh team.
Biggar coming back, would probably have the biggest impact on their chances.
The bookies might have to re-evaluate their odds.

[jimbobjoe]

Re the Scannells, it's worth noting the mincemeat made of our lineout by France which should be a positive mark for the hooker. I'm a big fan of Rory Scannell but I don't get the impression that Schmidt is.

I think Joe likes a big 12. Andrew Goodman always stands out as a Joe 12. He was fine with most parts of the game but mostly he was big and defensive and strong if crash ball was needed.

[CiaranIrl]

Wales are expected to have Faletau Biggar L Williams 1/2p back for us....

It might be War(ren) Games but that would be a lot of heavy hitters and experience coming back into the Welsh team.
Biggar coming back, would probably have the biggest impact on their chances.
The bookies might have to re-evaluate their odds.

I'd never bet against Ireland, but Wales are +10 for this right now, which is outrageous value.

[johng]

Scannells should both be in the Squad mix for 12 and 2. Review the damage that Scarlets did to both Munster and Leinster back-rows at the pointy-end of last season before you decide who should fill 6 and 7 jerseys. Front-row is our biggest advantage against them if Porter starts. Ryan benching because he has not recovered last season's scrum form playing second fiddle to Archer.

Aki could do a job at 13 beside Scannell at 12 - the left peg could be useful to J 10. Aki and Farrell could build on Argentina game but Welsh centres and intruding wingers, are a bigger threat. Anscombe is our biggest advantage in Welsh back line.

Nothing simple in this selection but Wales will travel with confidence, regardless of what they say publicly. They consider only Sexton can think on his feet and our other 22 want Joe to do all the thinking for them.

They've no respect.

Nothing is a good selection with henshaw ringer and payne out. But I think we need a 13 more than a 12. Scannell is a 10/12 and not in amazing form.

I think a big lump of a 13 for the slugfest that will be the welsh game and re evaluate afterwards.

13s are thin on the ground right now.

[Ruckedtobits]

The mid-field against the Scarlets pair isn't a slugfest but a game of "three thimbles, two coins". They move the ball with such mastery at half-back and mid-field, with wingers Evans and North running dummy lines and trailer lines that they always seem to have pace in possession. Although Schmidt has always fancied physical centres since his Clermont days, just picking players for their physical presence isn't enough for this Welsh attack.

I'm confident we will have more ball than Wales but I'm less confident we will use our share as effectively as they do with their percentage of ball. If we have McGrath, Toner, Henderson, Stander and Leavy available, we'll have a good enough maul to worry them. But in attack we must be patient and use ball cleverly, but not at all costs

A big match for us and Joe, but just another opportunity for Gats, his Rugby League
Defence Coach Edwards, and Stephen Jones pushing the moves from his willing touchline runner carrying the vital instructions.

[johng]

That's all true but I don't think Scannell and Aki at 13 is the answer either. There is no good answer but I think leaving. Aki at 12 is a better one