Babbling 'brook

Who cares? I would expect Baird to be involved before long (possibly even off the bench this weekend), but if Ross doesn't play, then that'll be because Johnny stays healthy and Crowley proves he can do an adequate job in the replacement minutes - both of which would be good news for Ireland. If Mc...

In the backline, I'd like to see something like: Keenan, Hansen, Henshaw, McCloskey, O'Brien, Murray, Sexton, with Casey, Byrne, Earls on the bench. Would take Keenan and Sexton off early in the second half if possible. Earls to the wing to give O'Brien some minutes at fullback. I think that sort of...

The primary, or at least the priority, objective in a World Cup is to win every game as well as you can. The Squad has been selected to give the Coach the best chance of doing this. It has not been selected to develop players for the future. It has not been selected to give players experience for a...

If neither of Kelleher or Sheehan will be fit for the first game, do you still pick both of them, knowing that we need two Hookers in every squad? Would we go with Healy at 16 with Herring starting?

Only in Ireland could there be so much uproar about the identity of our 6th choice back row.

Would love to see Jamie Osbourne start at 13 against England. He could be the best back up to Ringrose. It seems like a bad idea to bring 3 12s and 1 13 in the squad.

Props 6: Andrew Porter, Cian Healy, Dave Kilcoyne, Tadhg Furlong, Finlay Bealham, Tom O’Toole Hooker 3: Dan Sheehan, Ronan Kelleher, Herring (maybe Stewart instead) Lock 4: James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne, Iain Henderson, Ryan Baird Back row 4: Caelan Doris, Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Peter O’Mahony, ...

It's also worth considering the way the fixtures fall. We have three games in three weeks at the start, and they are essentially an easy game followed by a tricky game that we should win followed by a massive game. Then we have a two week break before the Scotland game. It's worth thinking through ...

It's also worth considering the way the fixtures fall. We have three games in three weeks at the start, and they are essentially an easy game followed by a tricky game that we should win followed by a massive game. Then we have a two week break before the Scotland game. It's worth thinking through t...

Sheehan, Kelleher, Herring Furlong, Bealham, Porter, Healy, O'Toole Ryan, Beirne, hendo, McCarthy, Baird Doris, JVDF, Conan, POM, Coombes JGP, Murray, Casey Sexton, Crowley, Byrne Henshaw, Ringrose, Aki, Lowe, Hansen, Keenan, JOB, Frawley I think the last place in the 33 is between Stockdale, earls...

Not entirely sure what Blade can do that Luke McGrath can't do twice as well.

riocard911 wrote: ↑July 4th, 2023, 8:04 pm NZ had 10 points after 3 games and England 9, so how come the Poms advance and not the Kiwis? I'm obviously missing something here....

They have 10 points. One win (4) two draws (4) two try bonus (2).

There are games where I don't know who I'm going to want to win until I'm watching the thing, but as I was watching it, I was desperate for Toulouse to win. Practicality be damned - was great to see them suffer what we suffered. I didn't watch it but checked on the score and my heart sank when I sa...

There are games where I don't know who I'm going to want to win until I'm watching the thing, but as I was watching it, I was desperate for Toulouse to win. Practicality be damned - was great to see them suffer what we suffered.

I don't understand why you only have 6 props in the preliminary squad when you need 6 props in the final squad, yet you pick 20 backs when you need 14 or 15. I can't see them not having a back up for every position in a 23 in the final 33 man squad. It must surely be 9 front row, 4/5 second rows, 5/...

Hasn't Osborne only had one long term injury this year? Played every game the first half of the season aswell. Yeah, but he had a knee ligament injury this year, and if you're going to employ moneyball style data to that, then there is a much higher risk now that we'll see him missing games through...

Hasn't Osborne only had one long term injury this year? Played every game the first half of the season aswell. Yeah, but he had a knee ligament injury this year, and if you're going to employ moneyball style data to that, then there is a much higher risk now that we'll see him missing games through...

On paper the backline looks absolutely fine,but it's the reality of their injury profile that makes next season concerning. It's simply naive to expect Frawley, Harry Byrne, Larmour, Tommy O'Brien, Lowe, Osbourne etc to be fit when we need them. There were times we had a 6-2 split this year just bec...

After a while thinking that Tom O'Toole was getting into Ireland squads based on long term I thought he looked good in the 6N. I wouldn't be quick to drop him. I could see Kleyn making a training camp, and he might kick on from there. But I'm seeing him as an outside bet. Hodnett makes a strong cas...

I think Frisch has a great chance of breaking through into the squad. He's French on a world cup tour in France for one thing, but more importantly, he plays 13, where we have an obvious gap for the 4th center slot,. He is playing really well and he has a point to prove. I'm not sure you could want ...