Positives and negatives: Ire V Wales

[againstthehead]

Positives
- backrow immense: thought wallace played a blinder
- POC very good all over the park
- Best- good darts and played like an extra backrow player
- TOL: looked much sharper today
- Ireland must be one of the most clinical sides in the world. We manage to play most of the game in our own half with little possession but every time we enter the opposition half we come away with points - amazing...
- Defence: solid as a rock

Negatives
- tough game for sexton: missed a few kicks
- scrum: looked shakey at times
- kick kick kick. but that's a function of the modern game and not really a negative for ireland per se.
- wales total pish.

[Freddie Benson]

agreed tbh ath

Think kick is the plan in own half and then use the lineout and defence to force turnovers in good field position, then unleash the speed demons.

[Snipe Watson]

Possibly those who have been bleating on about TOL will realise why he is the best 9 in Ireland and wind their necks in.

[Shan]

Positives
- backrow immense: thought wallace played a blinder
- POC very good all over the park
- Best- good darts and played like an extra backrow player
- TOL: looked much sharper today
- Ireland must be one of the most clinical sides in the world. We manage to play most of the game in our own half with little possession but every time we enter the opposition half we come away with points - amazing...
- Defence: solid as a rock

Negatives
- tough game for sexton: missed a few kicks
- scrum: looked shakey at times
- kick kick kick. but that's a function of the modern game and not really a negative for ireland per se.
- wales total pish.

Regarding the bold Tomás I think he was a fair bit better than you're making out.He played a blinder today I thought. Although there is always room for improvement for any player I think he was deservedly MOTM. Some of the Stringer lovers on MF are still moaning about his passing but I didn't see much wrong with it today. Perhaps I am watching with blinkers but I suspect it is more likely others are fond of cliched claptrap.

Agree on the kick fest of modern rugby. I have to say I find it aggravating in the extreme if there is more than two or three aimless kicks in the same passage of play. There is just too much of this "langer it up the middle" crap. Why don't they at least attempt to turn the fecking defender or back him into a corner if they are going to persist with it. If I was a lawmaker I'd do away with this not being able to kick direct to touch. Give me a series of lineouts any day rather than ping-pong. At least the lineout is a fundamental of the game which aimless kicking is most assuredly not.

I'd add that Earls showed today just what he can do. He looked dangerous every time he got the ball. He has a great approach to the game and doesn't fear taking on anybody. Also regarding the kicking, I recall him taking on one kick with real purpose rather than just as a way of getting rid of unwanted possession. I thought at one point he was going to nab the hat trick and we would have heard things like "a star is born"

Agree with the rest of your post.

Anyway it is mostly good. We are comfortably ahead of everybody except France and the 3 SH teams. Our challenge now is to bridge that gap to the top 4. This won't be easy over the next year or so as we have no conveyor belt churning out top class forwards and our scrum is not up to it against the best as we saw v France.

[bogboy]

ToL still has a slow pass and is therefore not the best scrum half in Ireland that said Spinger has a faster pass but he is a one trick pony.

My own belief is that Boss is the most underrated Scrum half in Ireland

hate this type of thread because it actually achieves nothing since a game of rugby is a stand alone event a good performance by a player in one game guarantees nothing ---a good performance by a team does not guarantee a similiar result in the next match. thus positives and negatives from a performance mean very little in the overall assessment of a teams progress .

With regard to this 6 nations in my view Ireland have not really progressed much since last year

Thus my assessment is France have improved Ireland have maintained a simialar level as last year
England are work in progress and have improved slightly as the competion has been played
Wales have gone backwards but do possessed a backline which could improve when Hook and Roberts sort out their collective problems. Scotland are work in progress but until they find an outhalf and centre who can time a pass to enable a team mate beat his opposite number will struggle to win games. Italy lack the depth to really progress much beyond frustrating the opposition.

irelands problems have been and still are we know what the basic first squad is capable of achieving but have little knowledge of the ability of players to fit into that squad especially in the forwards .

[Bart S]

The scrum does remain a worry. Look at how the talented australian team suffered in big matches because their scrum was blown off he park and therefore they couldn't get any decent possession. That's how a very limited england team were able to beat them in Marseille during the last RWC.

We won't beat teams like the AB's by giving them as much possession as we are to teams in the 6N's. They'll wion enough ball of thier own so we nee to try and starve them of possessoin to make them force the game and create errors. Until we sort that out, I can't see us beating the big 3 and definitely not away.

Would definitely add Earls to the positives today. He was a class act.

Shan - with Earls, Wally , POC and TOL all on top of their game today it bodes well for your team in the HEC!

Shame for Rory Best that the Lions tour isn't this year as he'd be a cert for the plane and would probably have ended up in the 22 with Fla. Has done well given his relative lack of match practice.

[Shan]

Shan - with Earls, Wally , POC and TOL all on top of their game today it bodes well for your team in the HEC!

Shame for Rory Best that the Lions tour isn't this year as he'd be a cert for the plane and would probably have ended up in the 22 with Fla. Has done well given his relative lack of match practice.

I hope so Bart. In particular for the sake of confidence it was great to see Earls(young) and TOL(out of sorts until the England game because of being rushed back IMO) performing so well.

Agree about Best.He has had two very good games in a row now and hopefully a third to come against Scotland.

[BPH]

I can't see us beating the big 3 and definitely not away.

To be fair, we beat and drew with 2 of the big 3 just over 3 months ago

Your "not beating them away" comment, however, is correct

[againstthehead]

I can't see us beating the big 3 and definitely not away.

To be fair, we beat and drew with 2 of the big 3 just over 3 months ago

Your "not beating them away" comment, however, is correct

at home....

I reckon we could beat 1 of the top 3 in a RWC but to win a RWC you'd probably have to beat 2 on the bounce and I'm not sure if we have the squad to do that.

Yes, Earls was excellent. Should have been in my positives

[bogboy]

Why are Ireland scoring trys ?

My explaination is that Sexton lies deeper than RoG and runs at back rows with the added dimension of Bowe being therefore able to come at pace either inside Sexton or outside him --- then add the recognised threat of BoD .

the bonus factor is BoDs ability to time his pass and set players up to score.

Earls trys are made by the timing of the pass and Earls's pace and attitude -- let him see the line and he'll go for it but with out the timing of the pass Earls to me is a player would suffer the same fate as the English and Scottish centres and the Irish would score fewer trys -- due to the fact that Earls lacks an awareness of players round him ie he either dies with the ball or kicks ahead.

he is an effective finisher provided the opportunity is made for him but he fails to create opportunities for others.

[HwoodMike2umate]

Positive - i saved money cause the bar underneath Hill 16 wasnt open
Negative - i was thirsty cause the bar underneath Hill 16 wasnt open.

[ArticDonkey]

Ferris and Best were outstanding in the tackling dept amassing more tackles than any other players. Wallace was awesome too, should have been MOFTM, played like one of the worlds best 7's. TOL was very good, but aimlessly box kicked way too much giving them too much possession although it didn't matter in the end..

[fuzzylogic]

by ArticDonkey » Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:46 pm

TOL was very good, but aimlessly box kicked way too much giving them too much possession although it didn't matter in the end..

I think thats actually a feature of Irelands game plan now. They seem happy to hoist kicks in the air and send Bowe/Earls/Kearney up after them and if they dont win the ball back then they are happy to defend and soak up whatever the opposition are throwing at them.

Thats all well and good against England, Italy, Scotland etc but it was badly exposed against the French!

[Snipe Watson]

With the exception of Poitrenaud, everyone is kicking. The new interpretation of the breakdown may just sort that out when it has a chance to bed in.

[Ulster throw in]

Earls trys are made by the timing of the pass and Earls's pace and attitude -- let him see the line and he'll go for it but with out the timing of the pass Earls to me is a player would suffer the same fate as the English and Scottish centres and the Irish would score fewer trys -- due to the fact that Earls lacks an awareness of players round him ie he either dies with the ball or kicks ahead.

I agree with you to a point but I think you are being a tad harsh on Earls. I think he is too small for the modern game, but then I though that about TheWelsh Midget winger too and both have generally proved my theory wrong. That said I think your comments above would be more relevant if DK persisted at putting him in the centre. The French made him look like a schoolboy when he played centre.