WE’RE GONNA GO out on a limb here and say that Ireland’s tight five is a cut above what the green and gold will present tomorrow.
With that in mind we’ve shred up our original key battlegrounds in favour of something a little looser.
This fixture is one that Ireland have enjoyed over the past decade and it always throws out an intriguing contest. So, after the new coaches on either side of the fence named teams with a mix of fresh blood and experience, here’s where we think the keys lie.
Advertisement
Sean O’Brien v Michael Hooper
Hooper introduced himself to the world a year ago as a glorious carbon copy of David Pocock in the win over England at Twickenham. 12 months on, the mask has slipped a little, but Hooper remains a quality openside and that skill-set is absolutely key to a pack that would otherwise find itself backpedaling.
Chris Henry’s hamstring injury means there is now no genuine competition in the Ireland back-row, but it does deliver us the first choice trio (until Stephen Ferris rolls the stone away). The debate over O’Brien’s abilities as a ‘traditional’ seven are long over, but the challenges keep on coming and if Eoin Reddan’s selection is to be vindicated, then the scrum-half will need efficient service so that he can give the same to Jonathan Sexton.
Jonathan Sexton v Quade Cooper
Speaking of the Racing Metro out-half, he’ll be lining up opposite one of the few men in world rugby who make him look like ‘a kicking 10′.
Joe Schmidt described his former Leinster out-half as “flat” a week out from the win over Samoa and duly left him out. Tomorrow will be Sexton’s first outing for Ireland since the Six Nations defeat to England. On top of that, it will be his first cap as an outsider, having not been playing with half the back-line on a weekly basis. Reddan’s selection should ease the transition, but we expect some teething problems as Sexton gets back in the groove.
Quade Cooper is a month into his second chance at life as a Wallaby and back with Will Genia. Formidable as this pairing is, their last meeting with Ireland and England have shown that they can be pressured into mistakes.
Luke Marshall v Matt Toomua
This head to head pairing have a combined age of 45 and both will be targeting one another to make a name for themselves on the big stage.
Toomua is a true second-five-eighth in that he is actually an out-half. While Marshall has also been converted from the number 10 slot, his transformation was always by design and Joe Schmidt’s hope must be that the Ulster prodigy’s extra bulk can give him an extra dimension to (literally) take him over Toomua.
Personally, I am looking forward to 4 match-ups:
Kepu vs Healy: Can Cian outmuscle Kepu?
Cummins vs Bowe: Should be a cracker – both live wires
Genia vs Reddin: Genia has been a bit off recently, but on his day he is a match-winner
Kuridrani vs O’Driscoll: The Ozzie is 6in taller, 9kg heavier and 12 years younger. Can the wily old master teach the kid a thing or two?
Unlike last weekend this will be a test of where this Irish team is at ,all be it without some of our first team players ,its going to be a massive game for Toner and Marshall
“Gick sport” Great comment Super Joe; really contributes to the subject, I’d say you were thinking about it for a while. In fact; you probably feel really intelligent now, after coming up with that, even after a long weeks work! Give your self a pat on the back mate, you deserve it.
You won’t mind me asking what age you are?
I’m just curious, although, to be honest, I’m even more curious about how you’re going to reply to my comment. I’ll have the pen and paper at the ready; to take note of any of your unlimited wisdom which you may impart…
FAI take action after three First Division clubs field ineligible players
3 mins ago
0
HOUSE FULL
65 years on, Cork and Tipp meet in another league final in another world
23 mins ago
1
chance missed
Evan Ferguson endures tough night as Wolves take big step towards safety against West Ham
20 hrs ago
9
Sign in or create a free account
To continue reading create a free account
Or sign into an existing account
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 161 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.Privacy Policy
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 110 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 143 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 113 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 134 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 74 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 46 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 92 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 99 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 72 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 53 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 88 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
Lets just hope the soccerball doesn’t ruin the surface
Sure what harm would them bunch of ballerinas do to the grass
Personally, I am looking forward to 4 match-ups:
Kepu vs Healy: Can Cian outmuscle Kepu?
Cummins vs Bowe: Should be a cracker – both live wires
Genia vs Reddin: Genia has been a bit off recently, but on his day he is a match-winner
Kuridrani vs O’Driscoll: The Ozzie is 6in taller, 9kg heavier and 12 years younger. Can the wily old master teach the kid a thing or two?
Roll on Saturday!
In fairness and im a munster man. But bod has made bigger and stronger and heavier look normal
What does being a Munster man have to do with anything?
Lesley how are you a Munster man? Your from Balymun & live in Kildare… You are pathetic. Utter Troll
You seem to be forgetting O’Mahoney’s breakdown work. He works like a seven on the deck and frees up the Tullow Tank to do more destructive work.
Maybe try and not look at the game in such a narrow perspective that only a 7 does work on the ground
Unlike last weekend this will be a test of where this Irish team is at ,all be it without some of our first team players ,its going to be a massive game for Toner and Marshall
Gick sport
Was going to correct your spelling, SuperJ, but looked up “gick” before I did – it exists -even features is a Roddy Doyle book!
You are a grumpy old sod, aren’t you, SuperJ.
You may not like rugby, but there are those of us who do and we like to talk smack about it (as my daughter say) especially before a BIG match.
IRELAND!!
Is there any way of blocking these bell ends from commenting?
Rocky I’m asking the same thing about you…. Muppet
“Gick sport” Great comment Super Joe; really contributes to the subject, I’d say you were thinking about it for a while. In fact; you probably feel really intelligent now, after coming up with that, even after a long weeks work! Give your self a pat on the back mate, you deserve it.
You won’t mind me asking what age you are?
I’m just curious, although, to be honest, I’m even more curious about how you’re going to reply to my comment. I’ll have the pen and paper at the ready; to take note of any of your unlimited wisdom which you may impart…
25, a top tradesman & a brilliant wind up merchant!!
It’s not rocket science, I like to get under people’s skin look at my profile pic!
You are a good wind up merchant, I’ll give you that mate. Have a good weekend and enjoy that rugby!
Prodigy is a strong word to describe a centre with great potential.