SO WHERE DO we go from here?
Yesterday, Ireland began their Six Nations campaign with a hugely disappointing 23-21 defeat to Wales at Lansdowne Rd.
Afterwards, skipper Paul O’Connell said the squad would pick themselves up this Monday morning, ‘because we have to’.
Head coach Declan Kidney promised that ‘lessons would learned’ from the dramatic defeat to Warren Gatland’s outfit in Dublin, meanwhile.
Ireland face into a huge game against an in-form France in Paris on Saturday night.
So what, in your opinion, should the management change to get the campaign back on track? Let us know in the comments below.
Darcy’s time as first choice 12 is up I fear. He was simple dreadful in defense yesterday and unimaginative going forward. Back line as follows please Mr. Kidney:
9 Murry
10 O’Gara
11 Earls
12 McFadden
13 Bowe
14 Trimble
15 Kearney
I would also look at starting Ryan and O’Mahony in the pack.
Good thinking Eoin, but I fear that bulk may be needed. The welsh backs were huge compared to Irelands. At 9, 11, 12,13 and 14 they are enormous and Leigh Halfpenny is no shrinking violet.
In my day we used to say that a good big’un will alway beat a good little’un. I fear the same is true today ( BO’D excepted).
Having watched the match I honestly couldn’t believe that he took so long to bring O Gara into the field. I realise that Sexton has talent but I believe he’s not able to handle the pressure. Had O Gara been brought in earlier the end result would no doubtlessly been in our favour. Even though the Welsh were the better team in the pitch we could have still took the win.
In the match this weekend Sexton will probably start again but should he prove to be struggling he should be taken off and not in the final minutes of the game.
You do know O’Gara is the worst defensive 10 in world rugby, bringing him on to kick off and defend the last 3 minutes was a terrible decision, plus his kick off never gave his forwards a chance.
Bowe 13, O’Mahony 7, ROG 10, D’arcy RETIRE
I’d instruct Sexton to stop giving away possession for a start, too many times he got the ball in his hands and launched it down field achieving little except putting us under pressure from another Welsh onslaught. Sexton looked panicked at times.
And you don’t think that tactic was dictated to him by Kidney? Murray was doing the same. Box kicking pretty much every time…
The kick is only ever as good as the chase!
Bring back Mary McAleese, they were clearly overcome by the cuteness of Michael D.
Drop Sexton. He’s too inconsistent. Trimble a bit iffy too
Try getting More points than the other team, I find that helps!!!!
Eh Dave, I believe it is thread rather than tread. One is a stream of written communication; the other is the pattern on your tyres.
@ Burned Toast
Since you’re being pedantic, your picture shows “Burnt” toast, not “Burned toast”!
Give George hook the job he seems to know exactly what’s wrong indeed his massive career as a business man and world class coach/pundit would make him the ideal chap.
However he is too busy wiping Denis o briens arse to do the job.
Tbow in 2nd centre. earls on the wing. o’mahony at 7.
Change the manager. No ability to respond when the original gameplan not working. Also you play those who are in form, regardless of their provincial origin.
His presence – he needs to fuck off and let somebody else coach.
Tell us who the somebody else is and we can debate it.
Conor O’Shea or Joe Schmidt. There’d be no shortage of takers for working with players of this quality.
The manager.
what’s the persistent trying to play sexton off form ahead of o gara on form about. they should take a leaf out of fergies book a young scholes at 38. o gara has more to offer at his age and this lad sexton is not the done deal yet. he is wobbly, admit it! we need to introduce players slowly not catapult them into a team when they are not mentally strong enough.
Have you completely forgotten Wellington?? Sexton is first choice Irish outhalf and needs to be allowed some time there rather than constantly having to listen to the gospel of ROG from random rose tinted punters! The problem with his performance yesterday was the game plan! O’Gara would have done the same thing except he’d have missed a few tackles to boot!
Again I think the players are in form but you can’t expect provincial strategies to work at international level it is not good enough anymore to depend on kickin away the ball for field position so o gara sexton debate wouldn’t really fix the way Ireland as a team plays. There was no clear plan so I think like France the players need to come together a figure out how they want to play my personal change would be to bring redden in at 9 and for gods sake quick ball can only be provided if the ruck is protected.
First person to talk some sense on this forum!
Many have red tinted glasses on in here.
Wakeup this is IRELAND not the Munster-Leinster crap that some people can’t help but vomit out at every opportunity they get. And for that reason this or any future Ireland team will be restricted.
So it’s time to stand up and be counted supporting the green jersey.
Bye bye Mr Sexton!
O’Mahoney at 7, O’Gara at 10, Ryan at 4, Earls at 13.
Agreed – with O’Brien at 8, McFadden at 12
a new number 12, balance in the backrow, ryan at 4, reddan and sexton playing together
Stop kicking away hard earned ball – put Bowe in at 12 McFadden on wing or Earls,he is winger and not a centre.
Whoever is picked can they please play what they see in front of them? Drop this coaching by numbers and rehearsed moves all the time. Their creativity seems to be coached out of them and there never seems to be a plan B
on the money, well said.
Bowe to centre. Earls to the wing. I think Heaslip needs a kick in the arse. I’d put o’brien in at 8..his natural position. James Coughlan has been Munsters player of the season so far, so he would get the 7shirt. D’arcy for his defensive frailties has to go.
Everybody says how bad Ronan O’Gara is defensively, well it worked for 10years when there was no Sexton and hes still a cut above Sexton now. D’arcy isnt good enough anymore
Stop giving away stupid fouls with seconds to go? What an idiot
Move Ferris to the second Row , start O’ Mahony at 7 and do not start O’ Gara . The French will murder him . Sexton was offensively good yesterday . Also pray for a miracle !
sorry about the thumbs down, i agree with you 100%,
Robert Giles
Someone who can fight for the ball on the ground needs to start – maybe Muldoon but probably O’Mahony. Ryan ahead of O’Callaghan. Composure at half back ie. Rog. Use our pick and drive game around the fringes more to get France defence turned then go wide or kick in behind, don’t just go wide for the sake of it, or kick aimlessly to a back 3 twice your size. It’s like Ireland never gained the right to fling the ball wide. On the backfoot they aimlessly kicked garryowens,they played like Ireland in the 1990′s without the intensity.
Himself…..
Bowe at 13. Fergus to the wing. Reddan in
There are too many inconsistencies with Ireland performances over the past couple of years. I’d love to get inside Jamie Heaslips head and find out what the hell is wrong with him when he puts on the green shirt. As for Declan Kidney, who does he think he is, Giovanni Trapattoni? What’s so wrong with picking a team on form? If I was Deccie my team for next Saturday would be…
15 Rob Kearney
14 Simon Zebo
13 Tommy Bowe
12 Andrew Trimble
11 Keith Earls
10 Johnny Sexton
9 Conor Murray
1 Cian Healy
2 Sean Cronin
3 Mike Ross
4 Donnacha Ryan
5 Paul O’Connell
6 Sean O’Brien
7 James Coughlan
8 Rhys Ruddock
That’s not a bad team selection Paul Ryan ..with one exception..Ronan O Gara instead of Johnny Sexton. Ronan has nerves of steel and when the game is tight and depending on precision kicking from the number 10 there is NO BETTER MAN than OGara.
Sexton is obviously a quality 10, has won two european cups and a grand slam.Murray was doing a lot of box kick when it would have been better to pass to the 10 to clear. Darcy should be dropped with McFadden and earls in the centre. Bowe would be wasted in the centre, need him running the angles.
What will kidney do now. He wnt on the record that Ryan was ‘good but not good enough’ and he had to be forced to pick Ross by public opinion so I cant see much change.
If we want change then we have to start with the Coach.
Cronin deserved 20 mins. Ryan deserves a start. Backrow needs a change. Murray can stay but Reddan deserves 20 mins. Sexton should stay. Centres are a basket case – McFadden / TBow seems best combo for me but unlikely. Trimble either needs to be given the ball or dropped.
Biggest change has to be gameplan! How do we make real inroads against a big French pack and an even bigger backline? if we cant answer it before we go onto the pitch then we certainly wont answer it on the pitch!!
Sexton gets blame for not taking penalty in first few minutes. Then gets abuse for taking a shot at goal in the last few minutes.
What some of you forget it’s the captain who makes the decisions.
O Connell had a stinkers as a captain yesterday. First few mins ahead of sexton at a kick off and didn’t listen to ref when called back. Butchered a clear overlap for a certain try , missed a shocking tackle in the move before Wales last try and worse decision choose not compete at the lineout for the last try when they only had one lineout jumper on the pitch.
Ah forget all this let’s blame darcy and sexton
You do know POC would have discussed it with sexton,ask him if he wanted to,Sexton said yes,nothing more POC could do..What i see here is a Leinster supporter looking for a Munster scap goat
I must say this thread is most dispiriting. People need to watch the game with their own eyes and not have their opinions handed to them from George Hook’s inaccurate whinings. Jamie Heaslip was Ireland’s outstanding player, he made more yardage over the gainline than any other forward and superbly won a penalty on the deck. But because Hook mouths off after the game about him (he since rolled back and called for Ferris to be dropped instead), and tells us that O’Mahony and some schools player called Brewer are the panacea to our problems, those with their red-tinted glasses lap it up.
1. Healy 2. Best 3. Ross 4. O’Connell 5. Ryan 6. Ferris 7. Jennings 8. Heaslip 9. Murray 10. O’Gara 11. Trimble 12. McFadden 13. Bowe 14, Earls 15. Kearney.
The fact is Kidney is putting round pegs in square holes. O’Brien is not a 7 and it’s time to drop that experiment. McFadden is a 12, not a 13, Earls is a winger, not a centre. He also needs to figure out what type of game he wants to play. He has players who can dominate set pieces and he has a back line most coaches would give their right arm for. His choice of 9 and 10 needs to follow the following logic; if you are playing to the set piece and a forward dominated game (like yesterday called for), you play your best tactical kicker with an aggressive scrum half who can protect him. This means O’Gara and Murray. If you want a running game to open up lines for hard running centres and back three, you play Sexton and Reddan who will get you quick ball. The big problem as I see it is we have plenty of carriers but no-one to get us dirty ball. Jennings, Ryan and Heaslip are good at this, but Ferris and O’ Brien are not. This doesn’t allow our carriers the platform that they need to put the opposition on the back foot. The clear logic of any game is you play to your strengths and this team are not doing that at the moment.
O’Mahoney at 7, O’Brien at 12, Bowe at 13, Earls at 11. If other teams are going to send human battering rams at our back line, we should have one hitting the gain line at full tilt.
o’brien at 12?!? no chance in he’ll
Take a chance on Zebo or Kearney… They’re young and fearless with pace, nothing to lose at this stage, time to try something new.
himself
Sorry geariod the captain makes the call. He might ask sexton if he fancys it but the decision is with the captain.
This is not a Munster Leinster thing.
Lots of leinster players were poor yesterday but then again maybe there was only 3 or 4 players who played at an acceptable level.
I’m a Leinster fan and would pick sexton every time IF Ireland played with Leinster’s game plan, the fact Ireland play with a kick and chase game plan is the problem.
Picking sexton over o’gara should be a sign that kidney wants Ireland to use fast hands and create miss matches and space for our back 3 which sexton does very well.
Kidney was a real top class coach from the early 2000′s until the grand slam but the game has moved on and he hasn’t. Ireland has ha nothing but maybe two good results since the GS.
Time for new ideas.
We need to get obrien, ferris and more of heaslip on the ball. Get them running at defences and commiting at least 2 defenders even 3 and try get some quick ball out to the finishers earls and bowe. That’s where we get go forward ball. We have a great back row but don’t seem to use it to it’s potential. I think reddan in would help due to his understanding with not only sexton, but most of the backline along with most of the back row. Also I agree with leaving sexton in. Rog won’t be there long and we need to build for the world cup. Sorry for typos on the phone. That’s my 2 pence worth.
Ireland team vs France…. 1.Healy 2.Best 3.Ross 4.Ryan 5.Toner 6.Ferris 7.Heaslip 8.O’Brien 9.Muarry 10.Sexton
11.Zebo 12.Downey 13.Earls 14.Trimble 15.Kearney…..
Subs
Buckley
Cronin
O’Connell
Coughlan
Reddan
O’Gara
T.Bowe
There will be no changes but I’d like to see
Healy Best Ross
Ryan O’Connell
O Mahony Coughlan O’Brien
Murray & Sexton
Mc Fadden & Earls
Trimble Kearney Bowe
Ferris
Heaslip
Cronin
Court
ROG
O Malley
Reddan
I’d go with that except I think Heaslip should start. He played well overall.
@ richard crompton, everybody is entitled to an opinion. You should move to north korea mate!
Tomas oleary in, nevin spence in, omahony in
My God, if ever someone ever wanted an illustration of what garbage the average punter speaks look no further than this thread!!!
Drivel after drivel.
The saying that sums this shower up, ” A**holes are like opinions, everybody has one”
Simple fact is, no team could adjust to losing a talent like O’ Driscoll, its his defense which was so important to Ireland.
Conor Murray is not fit for the jersey yet, why not play Reddan with the guy he plays with to such success for leinster, then bring rog on with 20 to go and seal up the game?
Ireland’s attack still looked dangerous on the front foot but France’s backline are just as powerful as the Welsh- Malzueu, Rougerie, Fodana oh sweet Jesus they will murder Darcy abd Earls!
Let us pray, monsignor let us pray!