Heaslip returns - still no Ferris.
The Ireland team to play France in the first RBS 6 Nations Championship game at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday (kick-off 3pm) has been named.
Ireland head coach Declan Kidney has made one change to the team that started against Italy last Saturday, with the fit-again Jamie Heaslip returning at number 8.
Sean O’Brien moves to blindside flanker and Denis Leamy is named among the replacements in place of Shane Jennings. David Wallace, who touched down against France last year, completes the starting back row.
Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll is within touching distance of yet another career milestone – the Championship try-scoring record that has stood since 1933. O’Driscoll is one try short of equalling Ian Smith’s record.
IRELAND (15 – 9) Luke Fitzgerald, Fergus McFadden, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Keith Earls, Jonathan Sexton, Tomas O’Leary. (1-8) Cian Healy, Rory Best , Mike Ross, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Sean O’Brien, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip. (16-22) Sean Cronin, Tom Court, Leo Cullen, Denis Leamy, Eoin Reddan, Ronan O’Gara, Paddy Wallace.
Only one change after the disapointing display against Italy – it’s getting to the stage where I’m seriously losing interest in the senior side. With injuries and an historic lack of opportunities for developing players it’s not as if there are a lot of alternatives to discuss.
The way things are going, BOD equalling the championship try scoring record is all Ireland will have to shout about for this one. The only other factor they have in their favour is the French temprament – but even that is not as reliably unreliable as it used to be!
I predict a big loss for Ireland as not even, the self proclaimed saviour agaisnt Italy, Mr Ronan O’Gara, will be able to pull this one out of the fire.
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9 Responses to “Ireland team for France”
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Looks like it is harder to get out of the poisoned dwarf’s team than into it. Another opportunity missed.
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Was planning on heading to the pub for this one but upon seeing the team, I think I’ll stay at home and scrub the kitchen floor in time for the Ulster match coming on!
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Raging – I think that you have hit the nail on the head there mate. After a shocking display I dunno how some of the players have kept their places. It appears that regardless of how you perform your place is guaranteed unless you’re injured.
Well done Parky – That will earn you some brownie points at least.
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The factor here is not who was picked so much as who could not be picked which I think made the selection so predictable .
It would appear Trimble’s hand is not ready for the fray. And while D’Arcy had a mare of a game against the Italians ball failing to go to hand it appears DK is hoping that soundness of hand returns and to be honest my own view is that a D’Arcy BoD partnership is a sounder option in defence as they both play in the Leinster drift defence . Wallace tends to play a rush defence which the French when lying deep know how penetrate.
McFadden on the wing last week seemed– a bit like McIlwaine for Ulster when being picked out of position — a player out of his comfort zone.While McFadden is a promising player his selection at this time is not merited by his limited experience — He is an Understudy to BoD and a fill in for injuries in the Leinster squad not a first name on the play sheet.
Even the the Turnips of Munsterfans have serious reservations regarding Thomas Ohno Leary which in my view is DK’s major failing in the team to face the french.
My views on Cullen on the bench still stand and I would have prefered to see a mauling player rather than a line out man
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“That will happen once we hang on to the ball. That evolves after playing for one or two games together, and that’s why I’ve left the team as it was, let them get used to one or two nuances, the way guys carry ball, intuitive stuff that you get from playing together over a period of time.”
Quote from Deccie K yesterday apparentlly. How much getting to know each other do they need when it was almost the entire Leeinster backline playing together for feck’s sake!!!! The back 5 were all bar one, (SO’B) from Munster!!!.
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Bp every coach has to say something when they announce the team to the press to what extent they actually believe what they say is always open to debate.
I wouldn’t expect him to come out and say the alternatives to the players selected didn’t appeal to me.
But Ireland at the moment without recourse to Murphy Kearney Bowe Trimble Ferris and Touhy have very few alternatives because Ryan is the second row equivalent of Mc Fadden — an inexperienced understudy and we have no real alternatives to Wallace at openside at the moment.
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My head along with everyone else is telling me that Ireland are looking at being on the wrong end of a heavy defeat, although my heart will always hope for a reverse!!
I must confess first of all that this is coming from a ‘girlie back’ but what does Tom Court have to do to get a start for Ireland and before you all reply “it’s because he can play both sides of the front row”, I know he can, but as our starting props were given a lesson by the Italians what will the French front row do to us!!! Would it not be preferable for our hooker and at least one of the props to have a better understanding as Rory and Tom have???
As for the backs I feel that Darcy cannot possibly have another mare as bad as last week so I’m happy to see his partnership with BOD continue but as for McFadden starting again surely we must have a better winger out there!!
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Basically what the Italian Front Row do is bore ing which results in either the hooker having to come up or the prop go down especially if the wing forward is not pushing .
Due to Wallace not being as fast as he once was he seldom pushed in the scrum -to enable him to break early ie recan not react as fast nor cover the ground as fast and basically a half yard slow than two years ago that half yard is the difference betwen a tackle and and missed tackle at International level.
The Irish front row got mangled due a combination of a failure in refereeing and insufficent support by their own players.
I expect the scrums England v Italy to a series of dropped scrums because both front rows bore into the hooker and nightmare to referee
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