Ireland v South Africa AI 2017.

[domhnallj]

Apologies if this has already been said - what time is the team announcement and is it on the IRFU TV?

[Dave Cahill]

Apologies if this has already been said - what time is the team announcement and is it on the IRFU TV?

13.45 and yep - live on facebook tbp

[olaf the fat]

Is the third one "Come Out Ye Black and Tans" or "Go On Home British Soldiers"?

Most are happy with 2, but dont forget to recognise the the lads from a Unionist background in Ulster.

[Peg Leg]

Is the third one "Come Out Ye Black and Tans" or "Go On Home British Soldiers"?

Involuntarily laughed out load at that. Lots of dirty looks from my fellow conference attendees.

[simonokeeffe]

15. Rob Kearney
14. Andrew Conway
13. Robbie Henshaw
12. Bundee Aki
11. Jacob Stockdale
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Conor Murray

1. Cian Healy
2. Rory Best (captain)
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Iain Henderson
5. Devin Toner
6. Peter O’Mahony
7. Sean O’Brien
8. CJ Stander

Replacements:

16. Rob Herring
17. Dave Kilcoyne
18. John Ryan
19. James Ryan
20. Rhys Ruddock
21. Kieran Marmion
22. Joey Carbery
23. Darren Sweetnam

[wixfjord]

Good side, bench looks a bit green though. Would worry about that front row coming.

Hugely excited to see Ryan and Stockdale.

[wixfjord]

Might see a fairly limited game plan given it's first game, the relatively new combinations in backline and the fact we have plenty of kick chasers in our squad and SA may be weak there.

[simonokeeffe]

Earls being injured messes up the bench too. Stockdale covering 13 presumably. McGrath will be back

Big show of faith in James Ryan

RK and POM need big games

[mildlyinterested]

James Ryan

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Delighted for Conway. I've said this a few times but I felt really bad for him a few years ago when he was playing an A game in Donnybrook and left out of whatever big game Munster had that weekend. It was just a miserable sight and I hope he goes well.

I don't like the Kearney and POM calls but I can see the logic in them. We're bedding in two new wingers and a new centre partnership so can see why we want a tried and tested option at fullback. And I think POM's style could work well with the rest of the pack doing the dirtier work and him doing well out wide against a big SA pack that might struggle to get around the place. Plus there's his lineout ability. Both very lucky to be in though, especially POM with the competition from Ruddock (not sure about the injury status of the others).I really don't like that Joey is covering ten from the bench because it means that we won't see him at 15 unless Rob is injured, and possibly even if there are two injuries back there. To not develop that attacking option from 15 is a big mistake IMO.

It shouldn't be a shock but it's amazing how highly thought of James Ryan is already. Barely played for Leinster and we're not desperate for him to play and yet our fairly conservative coach still sticks him in.

To my mind there are 6/7 guys who are in poor form or haven't played much recently so it'll be interesting to see how they get on. Really looking forward to seeing Aki and Henshaw again.

[simonokeeffe]

15. Andries Coetzee (Lions)
14. Dillyn Leyds (Stormers)
13. Jesse Kriel (Bulls)
12. Damian de Allende (Stormers)
11. Courtnall Skosan (Lions)
10. Elton Jantjies(Lions)
9. Ross Cronje (Lions)

1. Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks)
2. Malcolm Marx (Lions)
3. Coenie Oosthuizen (Sharks)
4. Eben Etzebeth Capt. (Stormers)
5. Lood de Jager (Bulls)
6. Siya Kolisi (Stormers)
7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (Stormers)
8. Francois Louw (Bath)

Replacements:
16. Bongi Mbonambi (Stormers)
17. Steven Kitshoff (Stormers)
18. Wilco Louw (Stormers)
19. Franco Mostert (Lions)
20. Uzair Cassiem (Cheetahs)
21. Rudy Paige (Bulls)
22. Handré Pollard (Bulls)
23. Francois Venter (Cheetahs)

Boks have a second row at blindside, 7 in their money, and an openside at no8 who should be serving a ban for gouging. Boxkicking may be the way to go.

[neiliog93]

Strong team, unless he's injured they've dropped Ruan Dreyer after his scrum travails (most penalised prop in Super Rugby 2017 and was regularly beasted in the Rugby Championship). Oosthuizen is a bit of CJ, very powerful man but visibly overweight and actually not the best scrummager. Same for Wilco Louw on the bench. Mwatwawira might be a little bit rusty too. I think we might be able to unsettle them at scrum time, as we did in 2014.

[CiaranIrl]

The second rows and blindside (PS du Toit) are monsters. I suspect that this will be a brutal, punishing game. I fear for Johnny in particular. 4/6 odds on 'will there be a yellow card looks a good bet!

[neiliog93]

Composite team:

1.Healy 2.Marx 3.Furlong 16.Best 17.Beast 18.Oosthuizen

4.Etzebeth 5.Henderson 19.de Jager

6.Du Toit 8.Stander 7.SOB 20.Kolisi

9.Murray 10.Sexton 12.De Allende 13.Henshaw 14.Lleyds 21.Cronje 22.Pollard 23.Kriel

11.Skosan 15.Coetzee

[LeRouxIsPHat]

You really think their back row is better than ours?

[ronk]

Big show of faith in James Ryan

Once the squad was picked he was up against Dillane and Treadwell. He wasn’t giving up that much in age or experience.

Out of the squad it was really only Holland and Molony as more experienced options. Beirne would be a tough call.

There’s a gaping age gap in the Irish lock depth chart.

[dropkick]

Big show of faith in James Ryan

Once the squad was picked he was up against Dillane and Treadwell. He wasn’t giving up that much in age or experience.

Out of the squad it was really only Holland and Molony as more experienced options. Beirne would be a tough call.

There’s a gaping age gap in the Irish lock depth chart.

Sine POC (38 years old) there has been Toner, Donnacha Ryan and Henderson (25) as first choice locks. Theres a 13 year gap between POC and Henderson so in that 13 years we produced Donn Ryan and Toner as international standard locks! There might be one or two others that I'm not thinking of but its a poor number of locks.

There seems to be more coming through these days. Ryan, Dillane and Treadwell are very young yet and there are others waiting in the wings like Cillian Gallagher, Wycherley etc who could be good enough. Beirne is another man who could feature.

[paddyor]

Composite team:

1.Healy 2.Marx 3.Furlong 16.Best 17.Beast 18.Oosthuizen

4.Etzebeth 5.Henderson 19.de Jager

6.Du Toit 8.Stander 7.SOB 20.Kolisi

9.Murray 10.Sexton 12.De Allende 13.Henshaw 14.Lleyds 21.Cronje 22.Pollard 23.Kriel

11.Skosan 15.Coetzee

De Allende hasn't been good for a while.

[ronk]

The bigger the stars career, the bigger the hole the following players fall into and the bigger the gap.

I noticed it with Roy Keane, there was no replacing him gently while he was still around. All the players signed or developed as continuity planning bombed. In the end he was replaced after he left by a different style of player (Carrick) who never had to fill his role.

Same with BOD, none of the younger players made it. Ringrose really came through after he left and never waited.

Never having that pressure is one reason Billy Holland is still around while apparently better prospects are gone.

There were promising locks, it didn’t work out for them. Other countries have great locks who broke through young.

We’re now transitioning into that model supplemented by Toner, who’s a one off.

[neiliog93]

Composite team:

1.Healy 2.Marx 3.Furlong 16.Best 17.Beast 18.Oosthuizen

4.Etzebeth 5.Henderson 19.de Jager

6.Du Toit 8.Stander 7.SOB 20.Kolisi

9.Murray 10.Sexton 12.De Allende 13.Henshaw 14.Lleyds 21.Cronje 22.Pollard 23.Kriel

11.Skosan 15.Coetzee

De Allende hasn't been good for a while.

Yeah but he's still better than Aki. I almost went for Kriel ahead of Henshaw, but the former's weaknesses in defence went against him. I know Henshaw has a few fanboys on here, but Kriel is a more dangerous attacking centre.

I think that Stockdale's size and strength could overpower Lleyds, especially if he builds up a head of steam.