Team for Romania

[thecrouch]

Surely Payne can't play against Italy as he'll surely play against France. Don't think we'd want any player playing in all 4 group games.

Fair point, although the Henshaw injury and numbers not quite matching up to allow full rotation always meant that a small number of first teamers could end up starting all 4 games.

I think Heaslip and Payne will come off around half time if things are going to plan, with SOB replacing Heaslip and Cave or Earls moving to 13 to replace Payne (likely to be Earls, with Kearney playing wing or swapping with Zebo). I say that, as Cave could only be replaced at 12 by Mads (whom we understand may get a run at 9), Sexton (who will want to be off the park by then) or PJ (who is way down the pecking order at 12). If only Luke Fitz was on the bench......

Payne off, Earls to 13, Zebo to wing and Kearney on to fullback.

Cave will play 80. Madigan will play 80, Jackson will come on for Reddan and Madigan will move to 9 I'd say.

[Snipe Watson]

Surely Payne can't play against Italy as he'll surely play against France. Don't think we'd want any player playing in all 4 group games.

Fair point, although the Henshaw injury and numbers not quite matching up to allow full rotation always meant that a small number of first teamers could end up starting all 4 games.

I think Heaslip and Payne will come off around half time if things are going to plan, with SOB replacing Heaslip and Cave or Earls moving to 13 to replace Payne (likely to be Earls, with Kearney playing wing or swapping with Zebo). I say that, as Cave could only be replaced at 12 by Mads (whom we understand may get a run at 9), Sexton (who will want to be off the park by then) or PJ (who is way down the pecking order at 12). If only Luke Fitz was on the bench......

Payne off, Earls to 13, Zebo to wing and Kearney on to fullback.

Cave will play 80. Madigan will play 80, Jackson will come on for Reddan and Madigan will move to 9 I'd say.

Hardly a prophesy of Old Testament proportions. Given that Joe said as much.

[rumncoke]

Happy enough with Madman at 10 for the 1st half were I expect the game will be kick chase and harry the opposition

Would rather a passing out half coming on than a kicking one if Ireland are chasing a bonus point

Basically the team looks much as expected

Can't see the sense of Murray on the bench if Madigan is to move to 9

Kearney on the bench opens the door to a variety of possible variations in the back line and therefore makes a lot of sense




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[BaggyTrousers]

Have to say that playing Quiff for the full 80 would be madness, as would putting him in at 9 to expose him to some big thug of a backrow. Despite the disparaging comments from the Ulster faithful, Quiff is amongst the most important players in the squad given he is the best placekicker in the squad & clearly earmarked for the bench in the bigger games.

Despite what Fibber said in the team announcement, I believe yet again he was lying, Murray would not be a sensible bench man if 1) Quiff is genuinely a possible 9 choice 2) Fibber is as he keeps saying, undecided for future matches & keeping an open mind on selection.

As for Henshaw Bart, believe nothing of what you read about him or what Fibber said at the announcement, if he was fit he would at least see bench warming duties, furthermore wee whispers suggest he may be worse than Ireland are prepared to confess, but of course, quite rightly they don't want to draw a target on his back.

[bazzaj]

Gutted Fitzy is not on the team and Cave is.
I was so looking forward to the reaction on here.
Till next time I suppose.

[Samstew]

Gutted Fitzy is not on the team and Cave is.
I was so looking forward to the reaction on here.
Till next time I suppose.

Could you imagine the reaction on Fitzy's face, if he were to be playing, with those bloody big Romanian forwards coming at him and no place to hide?
Probably similar to Bastareaud running at you I suppose

[Bart S]

Gutted Fitzy is not on the team and Cave is.
I was so looking forward to the reaction on here.
Till next time I suppose.

Could you imagine the reaction on Fitzy's face, if he were to be playing, with those bloody big Romanian forwards coming at him and no place to hide?
Probably similar to Bastareaud running at you I suppose

Isn't it about time to give the Luke Fitz bashing a bit of a break? He isn't even in the squad for this game, although even if Ireland lost, I'm sure some on here would lay the blame on him.

He hasn't gouged or bitten anyone, accused any ulster player or fans of racially abusing him or punched the lights out of some Ulster fan in the stands. He'd probably get more respect on here if he did...

[Spiffsson]

Gutted Fitzy is not on the team and Cave is.
I was so looking forward to the reaction on here.
Till next time I suppose.

Could you imagine the reaction on Fitzy's face, if he were to be playing, with those bloody big Romanian forwards coming at him and no place to hide?
Probably similar to Bastareaud running at you I suppose

Isn't it about time to give the Luke Fitz bashing a bit of a break? He isn't even in the squad for this game, although even if Ireland lost, I'm sure some on here would lay the blame on him.

He hasn't gouged or bitten anyone, accused any ulster player or fans of racially abusing him or punched the lights out of some Ulster fan in the stands. He'd probably get more respect on here if he did...

It's probably not really Lukkie-bashing at this stage. More of a automatic, knee-jerk standing joke on the Joe/Fitz relationship. Once a typical Ulsterman gets something embedded in his noggin it can be hard to shift. Most still feel that Trimble should be there ahead of Fitz and it still grates, especially since Fitz has been nothing special but has been talked up in the Mexican media to high heaven, which adds some fuel. Expect this kind of thing to continue until Ireland are out of the RWC.

[bazzaj]

Gutted Fitzy is not on the team and Cave is.
I was so looking forward to the reaction on here.
Till next time I suppose.

Could you imagine the reaction on Fitzy's face, if he were to be playing, with those bloody big Romanian forwards coming at him and no place to hide?
Probably similar to Bastareaud running at you I suppose

Isn't it about time to give the Luke Fitz bashing a bit of a break? He isn't even in the squad for this game, although even if Ireland lost, I'm sure some on here would lay the blame on him.

He hasn't gouged or bitten anyone, accused any ulster player or fans of racially abusing him or punched the lights out of some Ulster fan in the stands. He'd probably get more respect on here if he did...

Bart honestly wtf do you think you are doing bringing reasoning and common sense on here.
We may not have Fitzy to pick on this week so I would like to propose Bart as his second for the UAFC slaughter pile.
BURN HIM!!!!

[BaggyTrousers]

There is a feckin' irritating pattern emerging on this forum. It goes like this:

1) Some feckers, possibly even me, get irritated at something or someone, FibberJoe or his glove puppet Fitzwankstain for example, and give it plenty in reaction to the perceived issue or clown.

2) Some gowlbeg, in an attempt to stifle discussion and merriment, says something along the lines of "guys, is not not about time ...... yadda yadda yadda" or "I think it's a bit crass to ......yadda yadda yadda"

3) Some utter ballix ............... often Snipe or Shan, occasionally Jizzer ........... interjects, " Now look you, don't you be coming on here spouting such amazing good sense" (when everyone knows they mean utter shyte), cue everyone rolling around the floor clutching their stomachs & guldering with laughter at this ageless witticism.

So here's a thought:

4) some other gowl, say me, comes on and says " Would you ever go and fu@k yourself, the purpose of this forum is discussion, not have some self-appointed sheriff come on asking people to cease discussing things***. Look in the rules and regs, there are a few things not welcomed - like telling someone they are a meddling arsewipe for example - but nowhere does it ban banter, gowling, rank stupidity or simply puerile or outrageous comment on people or things in the spotlight, rugby or otherwise.

Here's a wee suggestion, if a thread is going somewhere you are tired of or just don't like, don't read it. Alternatively make your point and move on.


*** always assuming said sheriff is not actually operating in the guise of a moderator.

[Russ]

For me the gap between Sexton and any other contenders for the 10 jersey right now is huge. whilst I would pick PJ ahead of Madigan in a straight contest for the 10 jersey, It makes sense for him to get more gametime at 10 if he is the bench option, rather than PJ.

From what I've read Henshaw should be fit for the Italy game and he and Jared will be the starting combination as expected. Cave and Fitzgerald are fighting it out to be the back up centre, particularly covering the 12 position, in case either Henshaw or Payne can't start one of the remaining games. Cave gets his chance to impress this week.

Realistically Luke Fitz has a better chance of making the matchday squad than Darren due to his versatility, but Darren should still be looking to put in a big display on sunday to make him 1st choice back up, if either Henshaw or Payne can't start.

Just because some says a player is versatile doesn't make him versatile

[Russ]

Gutted Fitzy is not on the team and Cave is.
I was so looking forward to the reaction on here.
Till next time I suppose.

Could you imagine the reaction on Fitzy's face, if he were to be playing, with those bloody big Romanian forwards coming at him and no place to hide?
Probably similar to Bastareaud running at you I suppose

Isn't it about time to give the Luke Fitz bashing a bit of a break? He isn't even in the squad for this game, although even if Ireland lost, I'm sure some on here would lay the blame on him.

He hasn't gouged or bitten anyone, accused any ulster player or fans of racially abusing him or punched the lights out of some Ulster fan in the stands. He'd probably get more respect on here if he did...

No. But he is sh1t

[againstthehead]

Team announced

15. Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)
14. Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
13. Jared Payne (Ulster)
12. Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
11. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
10. Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
9. Eoin Reddan (Old Crescent/Leinster)

1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2. Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster)
3. Nathan White (Connacht)
4. Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
5. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
6. Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
7. Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster)
8. Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster) captain

Replacements
16. Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
17. Jack McGrath (St Mary's College/Leinster)
18. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)
19. Paul O'Connell (Young Munster)
20. Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster)
21. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
22. Paddy Jackson (Dungannon)
23. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)

Mmmm, interesting Henshaw still not back. Hard not to read too much into that one. Cave getting a run a 12 with Payne may indicate that Cave is next in line as I'm sure Joe will want to be giving the next in line a decent run with Jared.

If Romania come to the party physically then they could cause this side a few problems for 50 mins.

[thecrouch]

Surely Payne can't play against Italy as he'll surely play against France. Don't think we'd want any player playing in all 4 group games.

Fair point, although the Henshaw injury and numbers not quite matching up to allow full rotation always meant that a small number of first teamers could end up starting all 4 games.

I think Heaslip and Payne will come off around half time if things are going to plan, with SOB replacing Heaslip and Cave or Earls moving to 13 to replace Payne (likely to be Earls, with Kearney playing wing or swapping with Zebo). I say that, as Cave could only be replaced at 12 by Mads (whom we understand may get a run at 9), Sexton (who will want to be off the park by then) or PJ (who is way down the pecking order at 12). If only Luke Fitz was on the bench......

Payne off, Earls to 13, Zebo to wing and Kearney on to fullback.

Cave will play 80. Madigan will play 80, Jackson will come on for Reddan and Madigan will move to 9 I'd say.

Hardly a prophesy of Old Testament proportions. Given that Joe said as much.

I am Joe.

[Spiffsson]

There is a feckin' irritating pattern emerging on this forum. It goes like this:

1) Some feckers, possibly even me, get irritated at something or someone, FibberJoe or his glove puppet Fitzwankstain for example, and give it plenty in reaction to the perceived issue or clown.

2) Some gowlbeg, in an attempt to stifle discussion and merriment, says something along the lines of "guys, is not not about time ...... yadda yadda yadda" or "I think it's a bit crass to ......yadda yadda yadda"

3) Some utter ballix ............... often Snipe or Shan, occasionally Jizzer ........... interjects, " Now look you, don't you be coming on here spouting such amazing good sense" (when everyone knows they mean utter shyte), cue everyone rolling around the floor clutching their stomachs & guldering with laughter at this ageless witticism.

So here's a thought:

4) some other gowl, say me, comes on and says " Would you ever go and fu@k yourself, the purpose of this forum is discussion, not have some self-appointed sheriff come on asking people to cease discussing things***. Look in the rules and regs, there are a few things not welcomed - like telling someone they are a meddling arsewipe for example - but nowhere does it ban banter, gowling, rank stupidity or simply puerile or outrageous comment on people or things in the spotlight, rugby or otherwise.

Here's a wee suggestion, if a thread is going somewhere you are tired of or just don't like, don't read it. Alternatively make your point and move on.


*** always assuming said sheriff is not actually operating in the guise of a moderator.

There's only wan problem with that Bagster. You don't know what's in a thread or where it's going until you read it. After that it's too late not to read it because you've already read it.
And fer Gawd's sake man wud yis stap gangin up on Luke-ma-no-hands Fitzferfekkall ! Sure isn't Fibber just trying to rehabilitate the poor wee sowl after a tragic past.
(You know he's not on Saturday's squad because he's being held back for the big ones.)