Positives & Negatives: Ireland V Scotland

[for dog and ulcer]

Positive- O'Gara took his kicks well and steadied the ship when he came on- a nice riposte to those like myself who thought his days were over.

Can't think of any other positives other than lack of long term injuries. Was Ferris on? Oh yes- saw him once.

[cables]

Can anyone confirm with me - bit were ROG (tactical) and Kearny (injury) the only subs made?

Buckley had 1 minute of actual playing time just prior to the final whistle. He packed down at tighthead for the final scrum.

Boggy has got the wrong end of the stick and is talking about the crooked scrum feed and the rest of us are talking about the lineout.

BB is quite clearly talking about the throwing into the lineout - just like everyone else.

[againstthehead]

BPH at what point did I say Rory wasn't guilty?
The crooked throws could well have been a deliberate attempt to keep the ball away from Hamilton and Kellock they could have been thrown exactly where Rory wanted and he was trying to get away with it. Same as the long throws, which we didn't use all season, keep the ball away from Hamilton and Kellock.

lol, u must be taking the p***?????????? perhaps throw a couple of inches to your side, but once u've been caught once, then sort sort ur s*** out. Rory was at fault for the throwing IMHO - end of. Yes, he was aksed to throw to the back too much but his throws to the front were crap too. No excuses.

[Ardglass2]

The lineout problem was as much POC and DOC as Best - they were not delivering either. Best was poor but so were they. Cullen should have been on for DOC as a lineout specialist. The lineout had fallen apart before the crooked throws. That was a sign od desperation.

[Jackie Brown]

Thought apart from the lineout which was a collective failure Best played well round the park. The main reason our linout feel apart was the Scots had done their homework and it's a big part of their game. Fair play to them, they had the potentil just wish they hadn't shown it against us. Ferris was anonymous

[Bart S]

Best really let himself down yesterday after 2 good perfromances. Have to disagree with Jackie in that I thought his contribution around the park was poor as well. Got involved but did nothing of quality.

He's still a decent backup but we really missed Fla's quality. What was he thinking....

[Bart S]

Thought Wally was the only one of our backrow who tried to compete with the Scots. Their unit has played well this year and they, rather than the Irish boys should be getting the plaudits this year.

ROG did well when he came on and helped steady the ship. Only positive I saw.

[scrum5]

Ireland were probably as bad yesterday as I have witnessed over the last decade but it is difficult to judge players on 1 game so hopefully I can be balanced and objective in what I write.

We have major problems in the scrum, Healy is young and still learning and is/ will be the long term future but yesterday he was well beaten by Euan Murray which resulted in Rory having to take the pressure of Murray boring in to him as well as the pressure exerted by Ross Ford, Rory got very little help from either prop. John Hayes has probably 30 caps to many and this is no reflection on the Bull but those who cannot/ will not invest time and effort in a tighthead prop, whither it be Declan Fitzpatrick, Mike Ross, Tom Court, John Andress or even Mushy

The lineout was a shambles and Rory has to take responsibility for his part as do POC who calls the throws and all those who either lift or jump, one of the best lineouts in world rugby had a bad day yesterday and it happens but why was Cullen who is a lineout specialist not introduced to jump at 2 and take pressure of POC and Rory

Backrow went M.I.A yesterday, Ferris and Wallace tried a bit but Heaslip was non existent a really disappointing performance from a World Class player..

Sexton and O'Leary had poor games, Sexton was replaced by O'Gara but not after he had showed some bottle in putting over a penalty, but O'Leary should also have been replaced by Reddan...

Both centres were poor yesterday, don't think I can remember a game when Darc/BOD missed so many tackles, but injuries picked up in the game could explain this..

Back 3 looked dangerous when they got ball in hand and Tommy took his try well enough but they were starved of possession, Murphy will have nightmares about his attempted tackle on Beattie for the Try but the truth be told he should never have got anywhere near the line in the first place...

While all the players who graced the field yesterday should be ashamed of their performances, apart from ROG who steadied the ship and put over his kicks, the management should also shoulder the blame. Rugby is now a 22/23 man game with fresh players coming on to change a game when it is not going well or to solidify a match winning position, NOT IRELAND, Tony Buckley got a minute or so, Cullen, Reddan, Jennings and Cronin got nothing and considering we where struggling were those 4 players would cover it makes it all the more infuriating, they might not be the best players in the world but they should have been given the chance... it is this inability of not using the bench, 1st under EOS and now Kidney that is detrimental to Irish Rugby that is killing us and it sends out a message to those on the bench ( at least in my view it does ) that you are not good enough to play and barring injury you will not get a game

I know we have a smaller pool of players to choose from and why the loss of Leemy and Fitzgerald to injury and the moronic actions of Fla hurt us so much, but surely we need to have impact players on the bench and the guts to play them when it is obvious that those on the pitch are not performing.......

[bigchiefally]

Rory had a nightmare and a couple of things needed to happen.

- sub him and bring on Cronin
- thrown to front of lineout rather than call more awkward ones that he wasnt doing correctly
- bring on Cullen

Rory does take a lot of the blame, and his case for being in ahead of Flannery has taken a big blow but the blame isnt all his own.

Scrum was crap, but to be honest for Ireland, Leinster and Munster anytime the scrum isnt going backwards at a rate of knots things are considered good.

Despite losing I really enjoyed the game, very entertained.

[mikerob]

This is Liam Toland's take on the line-out. Looks like a combination of smart play by the Scots, Ireland weren't willing to concede the attacking ball off the top by throwing to the front, and inaccuracy for the higher risk throws.

The lineouts were very telling. For the first time in this championship Ireland found themselves battling in the air. How did the Scots manage to upset Rory Best and co so much? Firstly they made the key tactical decision to put as much distance between Paul O’Connell and John Hayes. The very first Scottish lineout, inside two minutes they shortened it and put Allan Jacobsen to the tail. Hayes followed and for the first time in years an opposition hooker threw intentionally to O’Connell’s zone. O’Connell’s height for hire was in the wrong place. Time and again the Scots moved Hayes to the tail and time and again they won ball where he wasn’t.

They applied similar logic on Ireland’s throw. This time they followed Hayes and stacked jumpers in his zone. To be fair to Best several of his throws were spot on but the Scots were in the air. It’s a very lonely place to stand on the Croke Park touch line knowing that the air space is very limited. This forced him to the tail and with it high percentage stakes that fell Scotland’s way. Leo Cullen’s bird’s eye view from the stand could have helped.

[ColinM]

Intelligent observation there from toland.

I said on Saturday that the Scots got it right and Best started throwing badly. Whether he was throwing crooked on purpose or not I dont know. On at least 2 first half occasions he threw correctly but the Scottish jumper was up higher and in front of the Irish jumper. Maybe in some instances Best could see that happening just as he was throwing the ball and took the chance of getting away with a slightly crooked throw raher than losing a lineout.

Either way its a collective blame. POC should have seen them following hayes, and started throwing it to 1F being lifted by Healy or even POC/DOC lifting Heaslip. Plain and simple, spot what they're doing to mess you up and start mixing things about.

[for dog and ulcer]

This is Liam Toland's take on the line-out. Looks like a combination of smart play by the Scots, Ireland weren't willing to concede the attacking ball off the top by throwing to the front, and inaccuracy for the higher risk throws.

The lineouts were very telling. For the first time in this championship Ireland found themselves battling in the air. How did the Scots manage to upset Rory Best and co so much? Firstly they made the key tactical decision to put as much distance between Paul O’Connell and John Hayes. The very first Scottish lineout, inside two minutes they shortened it and put Allan Jacobsen to the tail. Hayes followed and for the first time in years an opposition hooker threw intentionally to O’Connell’s zone. O’Connell’s height for hire was in the wrong place. Time and again the Scots moved Hayes to the tail and time and again they won ball where he wasn’t.

They applied similar logic on Ireland’s throw. This time they followed Hayes and stacked jumpers in his zone. To be fair to Best several of his throws were spot on but the Scots were in the air. It’s a very lonely place to stand on the Croke Park touch line knowing that the air space is very limited. This forced him to the tail and with it high percentage stakes that fell Scotland’s way. Leo Cullen’s bird’s eye view from the stand could have helped.

Liam Toland is always very perceptive. Seems like a very good analysis of what happened- the match reminded me so much of the EOS era in that nothing changed- just to wait and hope it got better seemed to be the strategy. I note that even Martin Johnston decided to make tactical changes earlier in the England game.

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

interesting thought - POC isn't Ireland's danger man in the lineout
hayes is...

[AndyB]

Only positive from Saturday was that it was the last game at Croke park. At least now we won't have to listen to commentators' guff about the so-called Croke Park factor.

Let's get back to playing rugby in a rugby ground.

[Ulster throw in]

I would agree with much of what is already stated above re scrum and lineout.

However to me long before that there was basic problems which led to a lack of confidence later in the match, that may have affected the lineout etc.


The handling errors in the first half were awful. However Darcy in particular, but was certainly not alone, was not at the races when it came to tackling the oposition. He missed numerous tackles and looked unfit for the game. He should not have been selected and Wallace should have started in his place. I say that without the rose tinted glasses of an Ulster man but purely based on what played out on the day.

Having to play Kearney at full back due to Murphy being injured was unfortunate. Kearney's decision to go to ground in the final minute was very niave. Having said that he probably didnt fancy having to watch yet another bad lineout performance by his team mates.

Was very hard to watch in all truthfullness.