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Rugby autumn internationals

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Jürgen4PM

Jürgen4PM

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Anyone else looking forward to them?


Saturday, 06 November 2010
England v New Zealand, 14:30
Ireland v South Africa, 17:30
Wales v Australia, 14:30

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Saturday, 13 November 2010
England v Australia, 14:30
Ireland v Samoa, 14:30
Scotland v New Zealand, 17:15
Wales v South Africa, 14:30

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Friday, 19 November 2010
Wales v Fiji, 19:30

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Saturday, 20 November 2010
England v Samoa, 14:30
Ireland v New Zealand, 17:30
Scotland v South Africa, 14:30

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Saturday, 27 November 2010
England v South Africa, 14:30
Scotland v Samoa, 14:30
Wales v New Zealand, 17:15

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Sunday, 28 November 2010
Ireland v Argentina, 14:30
 
Always look forward to 'em. I fell instantly in love with the game when I was introduced to it at school at 10/11 and have never felt different.

You fellas will have a couple of big absences to cope with.
 
Yeah it's not looking good for us mate, I've just seen that Davies is out along with Byrne, Halfpenny, R Jones and Roberts.

Fancy your lads chances of winning one or two?
 
Cheeky get. ;D

Losing Moody and Flutey won't help us, but we have options for both positions. If anything I'm more concerned about the captaincy if Moody doesn't make it, especially if that lets Borthwick back in.
 
I'm going to be interested to see how many people turn up for the Ireland games, the IRFU have been hammered in the media for increasing ticket prices again in the midst of a recession. €85 a game for the cheapest ticket. And they initially wanted to sell the tickets as a package of four, no individual tickets being available.

Anyway on the field I think we're on a downward curve (right in time for the World Cup again) and either NZ or the Boks will give us a good hiding. That is unless some of the younger guys really step it up, I'm not sure how much more we can rely on O'Driscoll for one.
 
I'm inclined to agree with you Rosco that this could be a season of readjustment. I have an inkling that now Boss is plying his trade in the south he might get more of a chance at number 9, which has been a problem area. I'm worried about the front 5 too. Any signs of emerging talent there Ross? Ulster are playing that many South Africans now our own up and coming players aren't on show enough for me.
 
I haven't been keeping up with much lately to be honest, but Mike Ross looks capable enough if we need him. Some of our players seasons are really only beginning too, O' Connell hasn't played since the Six nations.

Sean O'Brien has had a bright start to the season and he could break into the starting fifteen this year, but he's another flanker.
 
[quote author=Rosco link=topic=42454.msg1207152#msg1207152 date=1288246594]
I'm going to be interested to see how many people turn up for the Ireland games, the IRFU have been hammered in the media for increasing ticket prices again in the midst of a recession. €85 a game for the cheapest ticket. And they initially wanted to sell the tickets as a package of four, no individual tickets being available.

Anyway on the field I think we're on a downward curve (right in time for the World Cup again) and either NZ or the Boks will give us a good hiding. That is unless some of the younger guys really step it up, I'm not sure how much more we can rely on O'Driscoll for one.
[/quote]

Is Sexton ready to take up the challenge of being your resident superstar?
 
I hope he is JJ.

I don't think we need a superstar at ten though, we've got enough talent in the outside backs (Kearney, Fitzgerald, Trimble, Bowe etc) that all we really need is someone who can move the ball well. Sexton does it well and his kicking is quite good too. He seemed to cope well enough, for the most part, with the pressure last season so if he can do that again I think we'll have someone we can rely on for a few years yet.

The centres are a bit of a concern though at the moment
 
I'd rather play a western style saloon door in the centre than O'Gara. It would be more effective defensively.

We've got some options but I don't know about the balance, at 12 the main two are D'Arcy and Wallace. Neither are my idea of what an inside centre should be, but D'Arcy is a lot closer to it than Wallace. At 13 we've got O'Driscoll and Earls. And I think O'Driscoll doesn't have the legs anymore to play wide, Earls is still unproven for me but he's brilliant with ball in hand - defensively he can be a bit patchy though. I've been in favour of moving O'Driscoll to 12 for quite a while now, he's strong defensively, will make a few yards on a crash ball when needed and has great hands to bring the rest of the backline into the game. Not to mention a very good short kicking game. He's a different player now to the one that burst on the scene in Paris with a hattrick and I think it would suit him better and suit the team better if he was to move inside.

I had a look at the squad that's been picked, following Doc's question earlier, I forgot about Sean Cronin, hooker. Best will probably start the big games and Cronin might hopefully get a look in during the others. I've seen him play a little bit and he looks handy, no obvious weaknesses - although it's impossible to judge his scrummaging though unless you've actually played against him. I don't really know anything about Varley, the other prop in the squad.

Devin Toner has been talked about for years as the next big thing in the second row, mainly because he's 6'10. I haven't seen enough to really know if he's any good.
 
From a Southern Hemisphere viewpoint, NZ are great as usual, Australia are better than they were, South Africa have been lame.

NZ's problem is too many good players, they don't know their best team. Australia are good in the backs, but will get bullied by England in the forwards, South Africa is guess work.

Realistically, I doubt NZ will lose a game, Australia & SA will break even. That's pretty much the way it always is.

Come the WC, all 3 will be in the semi finals, dependent on the draw.

Player wise, NZ have a plethora, Aus best players are Quade Cooper & Kurtley Beale who will both probably be playing RL after the WC, Cooper has replaced Giteau as the main man, SA are strong up front, so-so in the backs.
 
Doc - did you watch Ulster last weekend? I read some very positive stuff about five or six younger players laying down some good markers in the game
 
Well it looks like the IRFU have solved the problem that everyone was worried about, how do you satisfy demand for a 55,000 seater stadium when you know you can sell 80,000 tickets. They outpriced everybody. Well done lads. Apparently there are loads of tickets floating about, and we've done well against the Boks when they visit.

15. Rob Kearney
14. Tommy Bowe
13. Brian O'Driscoll
12. Gordon Darcy
11. Luke Fitzgerald
10. Jonathan Sexton
9. Eoin Reddan
8. Jamie Heaslip
7. David Wallace
6. Stephen Ferris
5. Mick O'Driscoll
4. Donncha O'Callaghan
3. Tony Buckley
2. Rory Best
1. Cian Healy

Replacements:

16 - Sean Cronin
17 - Tom Court
18 - Donnacha Ryan
19 - Denis Leamy
20 - Peter Stringer
21 - Ronan O'Gara
22 - Keith Earls/Andrew Trimble/Paddy Wallace


There's a lot to like about that team, I love the back three and the back row. I've been a Reddan fan for a long time, I think he's got the most complete game of all our 9's, so happy to see him start. I don't see the point in playing Mick O'Driscoll - we already know he's a solid player but not one we'd ideally have starting. Devin Toner should have been tried.
 
SBW making his debut for the All Blacks this week. Great player, interested to see how he gets on. He's 6'4, 17 stone, playing outside centre. Certainly got the size, his defence is ridiculous (some of his previous big hits are legendary). He's fairly quick but not sure he has the pace for an absolute top quality centre, he was a forward in RL, usually lock. Might not fit a la Farrell, this is the prob with cross code conversions. The bloke doesn't lack confidence (he is a boxer as well) but he hasn't played RU down under yet, moved from France this year.
What I will say, having watched Rugby of both codes for 30 years, he is one of the hardest blokes ever.
Hape's a good player himself but I bet he gulped when he saw the team selection.
 
[quote author=Rosco link=topic=42454.msg1210006#msg1210006 date=1288690615]
Doc - did you watch Ulster last weekend? I read some very positive stuff about five or six younger players laying down some good markers in the game
[/quote]

Yes Ross, there are some cracking young players coming through. Whitten and Spence look good. Marshall at 9 looks a diamond, but with a SA internationalist in at that position he's going to struggle for games.
 
Tough opening to the Ireland v SA game. They've had a lot of possession, but our forwards are matching up well physically with the Boks pack, we're knocking a lot of them back in the tackle.

Our back line looks rushed at the moment though and we're making a lot of errors
 
We were dreadful for most of the game. Ferris was our standout player by a mile. Reddan was poor once again.
 
That match threw up more questions than it offered answers. ROG must be in line to start next week, Reddan will probably be dropped too. Buckley didn't help himself much.

And only 40,000 turned up.
 
[quote author=Rosco link=topic=42454.msg1212789#msg1212789 date=1289130460]
That match threw up more questions than it offered answers. ROG must be in line to start next week, Reddan will probably be dropped too. Buckley didn't help himself much.

And only 40,000 turned up.
[/quote]

The pricing issue is a disgrace. Someone deserves to lose their job.
 
The IRFU refused to announce the official attendance yesterday, that's just the estimates from the newspapers today.

Both the FAI and IRFU got it horribly wrong, and unless they change it pretty quickly they'll find themselves playing in front of dwindling crowds.

If only 40,000 turn up to see South Africa, what will it be like for Samoa next week ? Even the All Blacks game is not a sell out yet.
 
He has never impressed me at test level. This lad Marshall at Ulster looks like a future star (but with Piennar there now his chances have been limited), but for me Boss is the best 9 in the country followed by Stringer.
 
You're far better placed than I am to compare the various contenders, but from what I've seen of him I'd agree Boss is a good player.
 
Wrong thread, but it wasn't worth starting another.

Neil Best is having an excellent season at Worcester. He stormed the pre-season fitness tests ahead of everyone else and, without yet getting an individual MOTM award, has been among their top three players in every single game. If he was playing like this in the Premiership he'd have to come into consideration for the Ireland squad.
 
The official attendance at the ireland game was 35, 715. Awful.

Best has little our no chance of appearing in an Ireland squad, the back row competition is already strong and Leinster seem to be churning out good back rowers every year
 
I'm not sure what went wrong with Best. He had a monstrously good Autumn series a few years ago, dominating southern hemisphere sides with unbelievably aggressive rucking and then suddenly he was in the wilderness. It is a complete mystery to me.
 
Wasn't he suspended for a while? That can take the edge off a player's momentum if the suspension lasts long enough.
 
How did SBW play? England & Wales were on at the same time & I watched Wales v Oz.

My Dad mentioned something about empty seats at the Wales & Ireland games and ticket prices. Pathetic really, need sorting.
 
SBW was solid (in every sense) but hardly the Lomu Mark 2 one might have expected from some of the pre-match write-ups.
 
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