Hands In The Ruck

Moved

2007-03-20T06:48:00.000Z

I should have posted this ages ago. Hands In The Ruck has moved home, and can now be found here: http://www.handsintheruck.gerryos.net

Old Rivalry Renewed

2006-06-21T23:43:00.000+01:00

The draw for next season's Heineken Cup has been made, and Champions Munster have been drawn in the same group as their old nemesis, the Leicester Tigers.

I for one am delighted with this draw. Munster and Leicester have a long-standing and healthy rivalry, and we can be sure that when these teams meet, a memorable match is in prospect.

Who can forget the infamous Back-hand incident in the final in 2002? Or Rob Henderson taking a shortcut through Austin Healy in the revenge match the following season in Leicester, which Munster won 20-7?

Add to this two of the best sets of supporters in the entire competition and we should have at least two great games in this group. Also in the group are Cardiff Blues and Bourgoin.

In other groups, Leinster are up against Gloucester, Edinburgh and Agen; while Ulster will face Toulouse, London Irish and Llanelli Scarlets in what is probably the toughest group of the competition.

Blogged with Flock

New Zealand v. Ireland

2006-06-09T08:25:00.000+01:00

Among all the hoo-hah of the World Cup's beginning, the Irish rugby team are of course in New Zealand for the first of two tests against the All-Blacks in their summer tour, along with a test against Australia.

There are a number of commentators who are predicting that this could be when the Irish take the All-Blacks by surprise and break their duck against them. They point to Ireland's relatively successful Six Nations, when they came second to France and won the Triple Crown. Irish rugby is indeed on a high after Munster's success in the Heineken Cup and the Irish 1-2-3 in the Celtic League.

I hate to say it, but we're not going to beat the All-Blacks this time either. Why not? Well there are a number of reasons:

1. Just as the Munster team comes up as greater than the sum of its parts, the Irish team does the opposite. We have great, experienced players all over the park. For their provinces or clubs they play like gods, but when they come out onto the field in the green shirt, they just don't gel. Remember the first game in the Six Nations? The one where we nearly lost at home to Italy?

2. The back row is one of the key areas. Our backs simply have to get a good supply of fast ball from the ruck if they are going to have any chance of doing their thing. Neil Best is a rookie and is a weakness in our back row. If Eddie O'Sullivan was serious about trying to win this game, he would have the most experienced back row unit available. (That's the one that was wearing red on 20 May, in case you're wondering.)

3. These All-Blacks don't do defeat. There is no "second-string". The 15 All-Blacks that come out on the pitch on Saturday deserve to be wearing the silver fern on their chests. They want to be sure of being in Graham Henry's plans for the World Cup next year. There will be no passengers.

The good news of course is that we have Paul O'Connell and Brian O'Driscoll back, both of whom were missing for the drubbing in Lansdowne Road last November. That in itself should keep the margin down a bit.

Overall, I think we will lose by 15-20 points on Saturday and by a score in the second test. Our only hope of salvaging some pride on this tour would be a win over the Wallabies, which we are capable of.

Irish 1-2-3 In The Celtic League

2006-05-27T22:49:00.000+01:00

Munster's triumphant return to Thomond Park this evening saw them easily see off Cardiff, and complete an Irish 1-2-3 in the Celtic League. Ulster claimed the title yesterday evening with a 19-17 over the Ospreys in Wales, while Leinster consolidated their runners-up spot in beating Edinburgh 31-8 at Murrayfield.

What with Munster winning the Heineken Cup, these should be great times for Irish rugby. But will they translate to the national side?

Heineken Cup: Try Of The Season

2006-05-22T22:19:00.000+01:00

This little beauty from Barry Murphy, in the Munster v. Sale match.

Sometimes A Picture Says It All...

2006-05-21T21:30:00.000+01:00

(But, being unable to keep my mouth shut on this one, I have posted my thoughts here.)

Here We Go Again

2006-05-20T14:26:00.000+01:00

Here I am, sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Jerez de la Frontera, the sun splitting the stones outside. Meanwhile in Cardiff, it's 35 minutes to kick-off. My stomach is in knots.

I have no doubts about the ability of this Munster team. I believe that they will win the Heineken Cup today. I won't be able to see it, but I'll get the first 30 minutes or so from RTÉ Radio on the internet, before I have to head for Seville Airport and the journey home.

My wife (in Dublin) and her brother-in-law (in Cardiff) are both texting me regularly, so I will have plenty of updates when I'm en route.

COME ON MUNSTER!!!!!!!!!!!

Why I Believe Munster Will Win...

2006-05-14T21:56:00.000+01:00

I know that one should never count one's chickens before they are hatched, and the pride comes before a fall and all that. However, sometimes you have to just say what you think.

I'm confident that Munster will win the Heineken Cup next weekend, (my jinx notwithstanding.)

Now on paper, both Munster and Biarritz are pretty close. If anything, Munster probably have a small advantage in the forwards, and Biarritz a corresponding edge in the backs. The Tribune did a detailed analysis of both teams in its 24-page special supplement today, and both teams came out even-stevens.

Here's why I think Munster will win:

1.Preparation
Declan Kidney is a master tactician. He gives nothing away while absorbing everything about his opponent. He identifies the main threat, and works out how to neutralise him early. When Munster came up against Sale in Thomond Park, we all were told that Sebastian Chabal & co were going to put Munster's pack to shame. What happened? Chabal caught a ball, and at the same time Paul O'Connell caught Chabal and drove him back about 20 metres. Job done. Similarly, before Munster v.Leinster, Felipe Contepomi was going to make fools of Munster. Instead, Denis Leamy reduced the Argentinian to a quivering wreck who couldn't hit a fat cow's arse with a banjo. Dmitri Yachvilli had better be clutching his teddy bear tightly on Friday night, because he won't be shown much love on Saturday.

2. Mental Attitude
As I said, on paper, the two teams are well matched. However, what really matters is up here (taps temple with forefinger.) Munster have been here before, twice. And both times before they left the title behind. After the semi-final win over Leinster they refrained from doing a lap of honour for the fans. "We haven't won anything yet" was the reason. They know that the job hasn't yet been done. History records the winners, not the runners-up. Runner-up isn't good enough for Munster.

3. "No-one beats Munster twice"
Munster hold grudges. They hate being beaten, even moreso when they feel that they could have won. They examine the game where they lost, analyse it, parse it, until they learn why they lost. And then they wait. Until they come up against that team again. And they fucking clobber them. Ask Sale, Gloucester and Leicester, all of whom have had their arses kicked on the rebound by Munster. Munster lost to Biarritz in the quarters of the Heineken Cup last season. This will be the first time the teams have met since then.

4. The fans
There is one reason why Munster have a 100% record in Thomond Park in the Heineken Cup - the fans. The silence for the opposing place kicker is much more intimidating than jeers and catcalls. The crowd are right on top of the hooker at lineout time and calls get misheard. But the crowd don't just put the opposition off - they lift the men in red. When they come out to warm up well before the game, everyone is there to cheer them on. When "The Fields" starts up, the whole crowd joins in. (As a man from Connacht, I am particularly proud that Munster fans use this song as their anthem.) Next Saturday, there should be a huge majority of Munster fans in Cardiff. The capacity of the Millenium Stadium is about 77,000. Allow 10,000 for Biarritz and 7-10,000 for neutrals. That means there should be about 60,000 Munster fans there. A sea of red. The Fields ringing around. Thomond comes to Wales.

5. Paul O'Connell
O'Connell has had a phenomenal season, and has established himself as easily the best second-row forward in the world. We all know of his alleged superhuman feats (he presses the earth down when doing press-ups, Superman has Paul O'Connell pyjamas, he sleeps with the light on because the dark is afraid of him, etc.) He is a force of nature in himself. Like Roy Keane, a fellow Munsterman, coming second-best is not enough. He wants Munster to win this Heineken Cup, not just for himself, but for his team mates like John Kelly, John Hayes and Anthony Foley, who after putting everything into their careers, may never have the chance of major honours again. He wants to win it for the legions of fans who break the piggybank every season in their quest for glory. I'd hate to be the poor fucker standing in his way, I really would.

I really don't give a fuck what any rugby commentator more knowledgeable than I says about the technical ability of both teams. Munster want it more than Biarritz. That will be the difference.

Citing Shambles

2006-05-08T22:42:00.000+01:00

The ERC did itself no favours last Friday, when it emerged that it had breached its own rules regarding the respective nationalities of match referee and the citing commissioner in the case of Benoit August. The Biarritz captain and hooker was cited for a dangerous tackle on Bath's Danny Grewcock in the Heineken Cup semi-final between the two teams on 22 April. Because the referee (Alain Rolland) and the citing commissioner (John West) were both from the IRFU, the case was dismissed.

From the television pictures it looked like a clear case of gouging, as August's fingers clearly made contact with Grewcock's eyes. However, the ERC charged August with "illegal tackling", which carries a maximum penalty of 6 months suspension. (Gouging can earn a player a 2 year suspension.) As a result of all this bungling, August escapes all sanction and is free to play against Munster in the Heineken Cup final on Saturday week.

He better not pull that stunt on any of the Munster boys, or he'll have to be tunnelled out of Cardiff directly back to Biarritz...

Gerry The Jinx

2006-04-24T23:52:00.000+01:00

Allow me to reveal a little something about myself. No team that I support has ever won any major Championship during the time that I have supported them.

To illustrate:
Mayo: Last All-Ireland victory was in 1951, fifteen years before I was born.

Irish Rugby Team: Last won the Championship in 1985, but I wasn't really following rugby then, so I never really noticed it. Triple Crowns don't count.

Irish Football Team: Qualified for European Championship in 1988, and the World Cups of 1990, 1994 and 2002, but even though it felt like it at the time, they never actually won any of these.

QPR: Last bit of silverware to make it to the trophy ~~room~~ cabinet at Loftus Road was the League Cup in 1967, I think.

Munster: OK, they won the Celtic League in 2003 and the Celtic Cup in 2005, but it's not the Heineken Cup, is it?

I am hoping that this awful record will finally be broken on 20 May 2006, with Munster at last lifting the Heineken Cup in Cardiff. Unfortunately, I won't be there. The likelihood is that I won't see the game live at all, as I will be travelling back from Southern Spain.

On the other hand, maybe that's a good thing, and the jinx won't work.

Munster's Might Prevails

2006-04-24T23:36:00.000+01:00

Well, the doubters were silenced. Munster put Leinster to the sword yesterday afternoon at a sun-blessed Lansdowne Road, in a devastating display of sheer strength and passion. They now go on to the final of the Heineken Cup in Cardiff on 20 May, where hopefully they will prevail over Biarritz.

So much of the coverage going into yesterday's match was about the firepower of the Leinster back line. This back line was the embodiment of champagne rugby, we were told. But who needs champagne rugby when you can have Shaun Payne rugby? (OK, OK, so Payne wasn't the man of the match yesterday or anything, but I've been saving that one up for a long time and might never get the chance to use it again.)

One things for sure - I would not like to play cards against Declan Kidney. All week he kept a straight face and talked as much as any interviewer wanted but said nothing. He may as well have been discussing the price of yearlings at Charleville Mart. But he hatched a brilliant game-plan to stop Leinster's galacticos. First of all, set Denis Leamy on Contepomi to fuck with his mind. When the Rock of Cashel has done his work, attack up the middle and force O'Driscoll and D'Arcy to commit to tackles. Mind the fringes. Let Paul O'Connell get on with just being Paul O'Connell. And be patient.

And so it worked. After nine minutes they had rumbled over for the first try of the game. On the south terrace, we all nearly lost the head. The guy next to me asked who scored. I wasn't sure and said I thought it was Jerry Flannery. Then the announcement came over the Tannoy that it was Leamy. "Ah, fuck it anyway", says my neighbour, ripping up a betting slip for dramatic effect. "I had a fiver on O'Connell to score the first one."

I have been to matches with great atmosphere before, but this was really special. The red army was in place well before kick-off and were there to greet with full voice the Munster team out onto the pitch. For their warm-up. All around was a sea of red, with the odd blue and yellow island. The Fields of Athenry rang out loud and true several times before, during and after the match.

The two tries at the end were just rewards for the gargantuan effort put in by the Munster team. They should have scored after a period of sustained pressure on the Leinster line earlier in the half. ROG leapt over the advertising hoarding just in front of where I was, swiftly followed by Donners. I tried to get a couple of decent photos of that, but in the ensuing melée, my camerawork went somewhat awry (see below.)

Of course the job isn't finished yet. Nothing has been won except the latest round of bragging rights. Munster must now go and do it all again in Cardiff in a little under four weeks time. They will have a dilemma about who to play at 13. Hopefully Marcus Horan will be back by then, although Federico Pucciariello did a fine job in his absence.

Onward and upward. Come on the Munster!!

Liginds, Boy! De Whole Feckin' Lotta Dem!

2006-04-23T23:02:00.000+01:00

I'm just back after a long day that started with a three-hour drive up from Cork this morning. What a win by Munster! I'm too knackered right now to attempt to articulate my thoughts on the game, but will have a crack at it in the next day or so.

All-Ireland Semi-Final - A Preview

2006-04-20T21:56:00.000+01:00

The world has gone mad. Every season, Munster and Leinster meet at least twice, but never before has there been such excitement in the run-up to the meeting of Ireland's two major teams. Tickets are changing hands for unbelievable sums of money. (Hat-tip for that nugget to Simon.)

The difference this time of course, is that the winner of this particular inter-pro will advance to the final of the Heineken Cup, European club rugby's most glittering prize. Munster have been there twice before, in 2000 and 2002, finishing runners-up both times. In 2000, they lost by a single point to the Northampton Saints (9-8). In 2002, they lost 15-9 to the Leicester Tigers (exception being Neil Back, who was a Cheatah in that particular match.) The furthest Leinster have been so far is the semi-final.

So, what can we expect on Sunday? Given that these players make up the bulk of the Irish international side, the key personnel on both teams know one another very well. The old cliché of it being the Munster forwards versus the Leinster backs may not ring true. Munster have a decent back line that can do damage to any team on its day, and Leinster's front eight had the better of Toulouse on 1 April.

I'd reckon that it will not be a great game to watch. In fact, it could be a real dog of a game. Both teams will be cautious, and may not be inclined to toss the ball around too much. For both teams, the prospect of losing is unthinkable. Little will separate the teams at the final whistle, no more than a score. This is a staring contest writ large, and God help whoever blinks first.

Being a Munster supporter, naturally I hope that the men in red prevail. They have a lot in their favour. For a start, they are regarded as the underdogs going into the game, which is exactly where they like to be. Secondly, a good chunk of their squad have been here many times before. Anthony Foley, Paul O'Connell, Peter Stringer, Ronan O'Gara, David Wallace, John Hayes, John Kelly, Anthony Horgan...these guys know what it's like in this sort of game. As do many others in the squad. Thirdly, Declan Kidney was Leinster coach last season, so he'll know a few trade secrets about the opposition. Fourthly, the Munster fans are, as everyone knows, the best in the business.

And finally, I cannot think of anyone who would want to stand in the way of Paul O'Connell in his quest to win a major championship.

I've managed to score a ticket, and fully expect to have no voice whatsoever by Sunday evening.

COME ON MUNSTER!!

Joy To The World...

2006-04-20T21:37:00.000+01:00

...got me tickets last night.

Heh heh.

All-Ireland Semi-Final To Come

2006-04-02T22:49:00.000+01:00

What a day for Irish rugby. First up, Leinster make April Fools of Toulouse, and then Munster grind out a victory over Perpignan to set up and all-Irish semi-final.

I was at the Munster game, and it has to be said that they were not at their best. The maul never really got going, and the backs just didn't spark. Paul O'Connell was the master of the line-out, yet Munster still managed to lose a few of their own throws. But in the post-match interviews, Declan Kidney, O'Connell and Jerry Flannery all readily conceded that this was an under-par performance by the men in red. Still, it's better to win playing badly than to lose while playing well, and God knows Munster have done that a number of times in the last number of seasons.

Leinster, in contrast, had a magnificent game against Toulouse. The four tries were superbly taken and even though Yannicks Nyanga and Jauzion managed to save some face for the home side late on, the men in blue held out to "do a Munster" on the aristocrats of French rugby. I know it's too late saying it now, but I had a feeling in my water this week that Leinster were going to do a number on Toulouse. (My wife will confirm that I did indeed predict it.) It was because of the loss by Ireland to France in Paris. After that match, every Irish player would have felt that they could and should have won. So having another chance to have a go at a significant part of that French team would mean that Brian O'Driscoll wouldn't have had to say too much to motivate his team-mates in the pre-match huddle.

Denis Hickie's try was something to behold. I was watching the match in Crowe's in Ballsbridge, in a pub full of Munster supporters. As he made his charge up the line and did the lovely little one-two with D'Arcy, the shouts of "Go ON, ya boy, ya!" got louder and louder. And when he touched down, well, the place just went mental.

So now we have an All-Ireland Semi-final to look forward to. There will be a fierce scramble for tickets for Lansdowne Road on 22 April. It just shows how the professional era has helped lift Irish rugby. Most of Ireland's elite players play their club rugby here. Now there will be an inter-provincial match as the semi-final of one of the world's most prized club rugby tournaments. Who would have thought, ten years ago, that you'd pack Lansdowne Road for an inter-pro at the end of April?

An Irish team will be in the final on 20 May, whatever happens. Whoever wins on 22 April deserves the support of all Irish rugby supporters in the final.

The One That Got Away (Again)

2006-03-21T23:18:00.000Z

Ireland's Triple Crown win was a great achievement, but we should have been celebrating greater things.

Now that the Six Nations is over for another year, it's time I gathered my thoughts on the whole thing.

On the face of it, Ireland had a good tournament. We won the Triple Crown and finished in second place overall, behind France on points difference. The players came through unscathed for the most part (Denis Leamy should be fit for the Munster-Perpignan match.) So far so good.

But was it such a triumph? Six Nations 2006 will hardly go down in history as a vintage year. No team stood out, and several of the matches were pretty poor fare. To win the Triple Crown, Ireland had to beat a Welsh team that was missing a huge chunk of its first-choice starting XV and had just lost its coach; a Scotland that is only now emerging from a sustained period in the wilderness; and a rudderless, disorganised England. Remember that on the first weekend, Ireland made heavy weather of Italy, and got a few favours from the ref. If they had lost to Italy that day and then gone on to win the Triple Crown, would we have celebrated so noisily?

Then there was the French match. For fifty minutes, Ireland were utterly inept, gifting at least five of the six tries the hosts had scored by that point. It was only as they were in a huddle behind the posts, with the conversion of David Marty's second try whizzing over their heads, that they managed to get act together. The next thirty minutes saw them score four converted tries and come within two scores of pulling off the greatest comeback of all time. The question was asked several times afterwards: If they could do that in the last 30 minutes, why did they have to wait till then, when the game was out of reach? Given that only one French try could actually be attributed to Gallic flair, and all the rest down to Gaelic error, this match went into the column entitled "The One That Got Away." And ultimately, so did the tournament.

Finishing second and winning the Triple Crown has for sure taken away the pressure Eddie O'Sullivan was feeling after the Autumn series débacle. He is now secure in his position as national coach until after the World Cup next year. But in truth the Irish team has been standing still for some time now. Since the Five Nations became Six in 2000, Ireland have come twice four times (two of those times losing out on points difference), and third three times. There have been four Grand Slams in that period, two for France and one each for England and Wales. Not wanting to sound ungrateful or anything, but Ireland should have won the championship at least once in that period, certainly in the last three seasons. Winning two Triple Crowns in three years is all well and good, but they are not the Championship. They were relevant back in the day when the tournament was only contested by Ireland and the British nations, and a Triple Crown was also a Grand Slam, but things have moved on and that prize has lost its value. It's a pity that there is a Triple Crown trophy now, because it takes the eyes off the main prize that is the Six Nations Championship.

Ireland's next outing will be the tour to New Zealand and Australia in the summer. Make no mistake, we will get hosed by the All-Blacks in the two tests. Back in the autumn, Ireland had nothing to offer against New Zealand when they came to Dublin. OK, we were missing O'Connell and O'Driscoll, our two most influential players, but would they in truth have managed to prevent the All-Blacks scoring 45 points, had they been there? Bad and all as it was being hammered by New Zealand, we also managed to lose to the worst Australian side to visit these shores in a generation.

There was an interesting interview with Paul O'Connell in the Irish Times on Saturday. I've long been of the opinion that he should be the captain instead of O'Driscoll, as I believe that he is much more a leader of men. The best quote of the interview was this one: "I haven't achieved anything yet. With the quality of players we have now, we want to win Triple Crowns, sure, but we want to win championships and Grand Slams too, and believe it or not, World Cups. At the end of our careers, when we look back, if we haven't won something substantial, and more than once, we'll be disappointed."

Ireland had probably the most experienced set of starting players in the Six Nations this year. I don't have all the numbers to hand, but just looking at the match last Saturday, Ireland started with 590 caps in total, or just short of forty for every player on the team. England started with 367, or 24.5 per player.

It begs the question: Just when are they going to realise their potential, and how?

Poll Results

2006-03-19T23:12:00.000Z

The polls that I had in the sidebar for the duration of the Six Nations are (obviously) now closed.

The results were as follows, and were spot on:

Six Nations Review To Come

2006-03-19T22:57:00.000Z

Just back from a weekend in Mayo. I haven't had a chance to gather my thoughts yet on the events of the weekend. It was an excellent performance by Ireland, their best in the campaign. At the 77th minute, I thought all Irish luck had been used up the day before in a field in Gloucestershire, but thankfully there was one more trick up their sleeve.

Twickenham, 6 March 2004

2006-03-16T22:38:00.000Z

Ahead of the match on Saturday, I thought I'd post my reminiscences of the last England-Ireland match in Twickenham, 6 March 2004.

I was invited to come to the match by a business contact, and having thought about it for all of about 0.005 seconds, accepted the offer. I'd never been to Twickenham before. There were about a dozen or so of us in the group, a good mix of Irish and English, so plenty of banter.

Game on. Ronan O’Gara misses a sitter of a penalty in the fifth minute and I think “Shit! It’s going to be one of those games.” But then Ireland start picking off the English lineout at will. ROG slots home two penalties, both more difficult than the one he missed earlier. Shortly afterwards, a defensive mix-up lets Dawson in for a soft try. A few more penalties on either side and we go into half-time 12-10 up. At this point, confidence is building up in the camp.

I was coming back from the jacks to my seat for the start of the second half, when I realised that play had already begun, and worryingly enough there was a pile of both white and green shirts by the corner flag of the Irish tryline. When the replay was shown we all knew it wouldn’t stand. Well, when I say "knew", I mean "hoped". "NO TRY" comes up on the big screen.

A short time later it happened. D'Arcy breaks and makes 50 metres. The ball comes back and across to the right. Horgan brings it into the 22. It changes hands a couple of times and a ruck forms five metres from the English line. Stringer to D’Arcy to O’Driscoll to Howe to Dempsey... It was at that moment when Girvan Dempsey took Tyrone Howe’s pass and we realised that he was going to get to the line before anyone got to him. "TRY" flashes up on the big screen. Irish euphoria all round. ROG nails the conversion from the touchline. 10-19. One more penalty for England leaves the score at 13-19, and the final ten minutes go on for what feels like ten years. Mark Regan, who has replaced the quivering wreck that is Steve Thompson, thinks he has scored in the corner, but thankfully big Mal O’Kelly has dealt with him and the magic words "NO TRY" flash again on the big screen. I’m looking at the score board counting up 40 minutes and at 39 minutes am thinking that there is going to be at least 6 or 7 minutes of stoppage time. I didn’t realise that they were stopping the clock during the game, so when it turns 40 and play breaks down, the ref blows time and Ireland have beaten the world champions in their first game in their own back yard since the World Cup.

Fair dues to the English fans, they weren’t shy about coming over to anyone in a green shirt and congratulating them. We all ended up on the piss in Soho till late, still wearing our green jerseys. What a night. What a win.

Let's hope something similar happens on Saturday.

Got Me Ticket!

2006-03-15T22:52:00.000Z

Got me ticket for the Munster-Perpignan match today.

(You'll notice I've made a couple of subtle changes to the image, just in case some langer tries to copy it and print it off.)

Steady Eddie and Andy the Axeman

2006-03-14T18:38:00.000Z

Andy Robinson and Eddie O'Sullivan have named their respective teams for the England-Ireland match at Twickenham on Saturday.

O'Sullivan has kept faith with the same starting XV as last weekend, and his only change is to restore flanker Johnny O'Connor to the bench.

Robinson, in contrast, has wielded the axe on the side that capitulated so dismally to France in Paris last Sunday, making seven changes in all.

Gone from the starting line-up are Charlie Hodgson (who was replaced at half-time in Paris, suffering from a hamstring injury), Josh Lewsey, Mike Tindall, Matt Dawson, Steve Thompson, Julian White and Danny Grewcock. All but Hodgson and Lewsey will have places on the bench. In their places come Andy Goode, Tom Voyce, Stuart Abbott, Harry Ellis, Lee Mears, Andy Sheridan and Simon Shaw.

This could be interesting...

Full teams as follows:

England:
15 Tom Voyce (Wasps)
14 Mark Cueto (Sale)
13 Jamie Noon (Newcastle)
12 Stuart Abbott (Wasps)
11 Ben Cohen (Northampton)
10 Andy Goode (Leicester)
9 Harry Ellis (Leicester)
1 Andy Sheridan (Sale)
2 Lee Mears (Bath)
3 Matt Stevens (Bath)
4 Steve Borthwick (Bath)
5 Simon Shaw (Wasps)
6 Joe Worsley (Wasps)
7 Lewis Moody (Leicester)
8 Martin Corry (Leicester, Captain)

Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson (Northampton), 17 Julian White (Leicester), 18 Danny Grewcock (Bath), 19 Lawrence Dallaglio (Wasps), 20 Matt Dawson (Wasps), 21 Dave Walder (Newcastle), 22 Mike Tindall (Bath).

Ireland:
15 Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
14 Shane Horgan (Leinster)
13 Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster, captain)
12 Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster)
11 Andrew Trimble (Ulster)
10 Ronan O'Gara (Munster)
9 Peter Stringer (Munster)
1 Marcus Horan (Munster)
2 Jerry Flannery (Munster)
3 John Hayes (Munster)
4 Malcolm O'Kelly (Leinster)
5 Paul O'Connell (Munster)
6 Simon Easterby (Llanelli)
7 David Wallace (Munster)
8 Denis Leamy (Munster)

Replacements: 16 Rory Best (Ulster), 17 Simon Best (Ulster), 18 Donncha O'Callaghan (Munster), 19 Johnny O'Connor (Wasps), 20 Eoin Reddan (Wasps), 20 David Humphreys (Ulster), 21 Girvan Dempsey (Leinster).

Scottish Threat Seen Off

2006-03-12T23:12:00.000Z

I was in Cork for the weekend, and didn't have a chance while away to post my thoughts on the Ireland-Scotland match.

The final result of 15-9 didn't really reflect the reality on the day. The weather played a major part of that, as it made passing difficult. It was disappointing that Ireland didn't manage to turn a lot of the possession they had into tries, but a win is a win, and we have to be grateful for that. The fact that Scotland managed to spend large periods of time offside with impunity was another factor to contend with. (Incidentally, The Observer awarded Man of the Match to Jason White. Why??)

I felt that this was a more assured performance by Ireland all round. This was their best opening quarter so far in the championship, and crucially, this time they scored first. Some individual performances were much better as well. Geordan Murphy was much improved on previous outings and he ran some intelligent lines and mixed things up well. Malcolm O'Kelly had a good game too, nicking a number of Scottish lineout throws and giving their hooker the yips. The Irish back row was immense, in terms of tackling, turnovers and carrying. Paul O'Connell showed again just why he is probably the best second row in the world with an awesome display both at the set-piece and around the park. I thought Peter Stringer had a fine game as well.

So we look forward to the climax next weekend. Ireland are poised to take their second Triple Crown in three seasons, and the runners-up spot in the Championship. In the unlikely event of France losing to Wales, Ireland would have a chance of the Championship itself. If England are as God-awful as they were in Paris today, then Ireland should beat them next week in Twickenham. Even if they improve by 10%, then they should still be there for the taking. Ireland have improved a lot since the stuttering opening-day win against Italy, whereas England have gotten worse since the day they saw off Wales with ease.

It's all to play for, lads. It's all to play for.

Help A Rugby Player In Need

2006-03-10T00:33:00.000Z

One of Ireland's best-known bloggers, Gavin Sheridan, tells us of his cousin Victor, who suffered a dreadful injury while playing for Longford RFC.

Please take the time to read it.

Preview: Ireland v. Scotland

2006-03-09T22:20:00.000Z

Ireland's next encounter in this year's Six Nations is against a rejuvenated Scotland, on Saturday in Lansdowne Road. Whatever happens during the 80 minutes of play, this match will also have the significance of being the last Six Nations match to be played at the old stadium before it is redeveloped. Our final match of this series is in Twickenham, and our first home game next year, against France will be in the considerably more salubrious surroundings of Croke Park.

At the start of this year's tournament, few gave the Scots much of a hope of doing anything. I include myself in that. In my tournament preview, I predicted Ireland would lose to Wales and win easily over Scotland. In the event, Ireland managed a relatively easy win over Wales last Sunday week. Scotland come to Dublin on the back of a morale-boosting Calcutta Cup win in Edinburgh. They also saw off France on the first weekend of the competition. Yet they lost to Wales, but the mitigating circumstance there was the sending off of Scott Murray.

So can Ireland beat Scotland? Well, yes they can. But a few things have to go right for them:

- They must start well. In Ireland's three games so far, they have conceded the first score. If you don't have the ball, you can't score. They have to secure possession early on and not allow the Scots to make the running in the first quarter.

- The forwards will have to do a lot of hard graft. The set piece will be crucial. Having Paul O'Connell back is a huge boost, as once again we have a natural leader in the pack. Against Wales and France, the maul was kept in the holster for far too long. This is six-eighths of the Munster pack, with a Munster scrum-half directing the maul, so this is a potent weapon. If they can wear their opponents down and maybe even drive a try or two over, then the game will be theirs for the taking. The back row must also be quick to the breakdown to secure possession. As one rugby journalist put it recently - forwards win games, backs determine by how much.

- Make the passes stick. So far, Ireland has turned over far too much ball, and a lot of this is down to basic handling errors. Knock-ons and passes into touch must be kept to a minimum.

- ROG has to be on top of his game. The place kicks have to go over and the kicks to touch have to land correctly. When O'Gara plays well, Ireland play well.

- Intelligent running by the backs. The English backs got no change from the strong Scottish tackling a fortnight ago. But they tended to run straight lines and just got swallowed up by the cover. Our backs are good at breaking cover.

-They cannot afford to be thinking about a potential Triple Crown decider in Twickenham the following week. They are playing Scotland on Saturday at 3.30. Once that one is over, then they can turn their attentions to England.

So overall, I'm fairly confident. Ireland have beaten Scotland in every game since 2002. Even though they look more like the Scotland of old, I don't think that they are as strong as Ireland.

Hopefully, Ireland will leave Lansdowne Road on a Six Nations high.

Too Easy For Ulster Against Third-String Munster

2006-03-03T23:00:00.000Z

An almost full-strength Ulster easily overcame a patchwork Munster in the Brass Monkeys Challenge Cup at Ravenhill tonight. The Northerners ran in five unanswered tries to go top of the Celtic League. The final score was 27-3. Munster's sole score came from the boot of Paul Burke in the first half. The bonus point won tonight gives them two points to spare.

Munster's cause was not helped when they lost both Barry Murphy and Ian Dowling to injury. Murphy looked to be in considerable discomfort as he was stretchered off midway through the first half. Hopefully it's not a serious injury, as he is making a name for himself as an effective centre, and is working well with Trevor Halstead.

Celtic League Weekend

2006-03-03T09:01:00.000Z

There are no internationals this weekend, and so the Celtic League has a full programme. In Ireland it is an inter-pro weekend, as Munster travel to Belfast on Friday evening to take on Ulster, while on Sunday, Connacht will come to Donnybrook to meet Leinster.

Ulster are pretty much at full-strength for tonight's top-of-the-table clash, with just Andrew Trimble away due to international commitments. Munster are missing almost all of their pack, Anthony Foley being their only first-choice front-eight player at No 8. Just three points separate Munster and Ulster, so the result tonight will have a major bearing on how this season's contest unfolds.

Full squad details here.

The match is live on Setanta Sports, and kick-off is at 7.35pm

Ireland Keep Ahead Of The Joneses

2006-02-26T21:57:00.000Z

Ireland's 31-5 win over Wales today was a much-needed boost. That they restricted the Welsh to one score in total was heartening. Now they are on four points along with England, France and Scotland.

Ireland appeared to have learned a good few lessons from the debacle in Paris. Their defence was excellent today, and even when they didn't have the ball, they looked like never letting the Welsh in to score. There was the one occasion when they were caught flat-footed and Mark Jones got the better of Andrew Trimble, but on another day the bounce of the ball might have favoured the Ulsterman.

Ireland's slow start was a worry at first, and it took about ten minutes or so before they got any meaningful possession. The set piece held up pretty well, even in the absence of Paul O'Connell. The line-out functioned effectively, and although the scrum looked a bit shaky at times, the front eight held on for most of the match.

The turning point was the loss to Wales of out-half Stephen Jones. In partnership with Duane Peel, they were the only Welsh players with any creativity. His replacement, Gavin Henson, was utterly hopeless. He kicked when he should have passed and every now and then he attempted a breakout himself only to be completely smothered by the Irish cover. As one of the RTÉ panelists commented, his girlfriend Charlotte Church would have been about as effective as he was.

There is still some room for improvement from Ireland. We could have won by a much bigger margin. Once again there were too many handling errors and some indiscipline at the breakdown, resulting in turnover ball to the Welsh. O'Gara had a good game, but missed a couple of place kicks that he would normally put away with his eyes closed. Stringer had a fine game, capping it with a last minute try. Shane Horgan deservedly won Man of the Match for a barnstorming performance on the wing. In Fact, Ah have a tribute to the Drogheda man here. Marcus Horan was stretchered off late in the game, but thankfully it looks like his injury is not serious.

So, it's the reborn Scots next. Having seen off England at Murrayfield, their tails will be up when they come to Dublin on Saturday week. If Ireland can mount that sort of defence again then it shouldn't be too massive a task to keep them at bay.

Ireland v. Wales - Preview

2006-02-25T21:32:00.000Z

Six Nations 2006 is developing into the most open contest in years. As I write, five of the six teams are still in with a shout of the championship. There will be no Grand Slam winner this year, as England's loss to Scotland this evening means that every team has lost at least one game. Ireland are the only team left who can win the Triple Crown, as we have yet to play the three British nations, and Wales have lost to England, who in turn have lost to Scotland, who in turn have lost to Wales.

Tomorrow's game is very hard to predict. Wales have been through the wringer in the last couple of weeks, with the departure of their coach Mike Ruddock, and the loss of their influential captain Gareth Thomas. I'm really sorry that Thomas will play no further part in the Six Nations, as he is a great player. Also missing tomorrow is the other Welsh sharpshooter Shane Williams, which leaves their attack somewhat blunted.

We, of course, are missing Paul O'Connell, our most influential forward. This could mean that there is a lack of leadership in the pack, particularly now that Anthony Foley seems to be out of the frame altogether. Who else is there? Easterby? He has captained the side a few times and he's captain of Llanelli, but I don't think he has the sheer presence of O'Connell in the front eight. This could be crucial, as in order to get the upper hand in the match, the Irish forwards will need to boss their Welsh counterparts. If the Irish pack can come up with a decent supply of quality ball, then our backs should be able to finish the job. Particularly if they show the sort of flair that was on display during the second half of the French match. Having Trimble, who is still relatively unknown, on the wing could make the difference.

Also, there's the maul. O'Connell's absence here could be telling, as it is he who is always at the centre of the maul, whether for Ireland or Munster. But they need to get it going early in the match to see if it's an option. The scrum should hold up better this time.

So overall, I'm cautiously optimistic. As long as the Irish game plan isn't too rigid, and they can stifle the Welsh half-backs, then a win shouldn't be beyond them.

Branching Out

2006-02-22T23:32:00.000Z

I have been invited to contribute some content to Irish Rugby Now, a site run by David O'Neill of Dave's Rants.

So be sure to nip over there as well! I'll get started with some stuff in the run up to the Welsh match on Sunday.

Irish Team For Welsh Match

2006-02-22T23:09:00.000Z

Eddie O'Sullivan named his side today for Sunday's Six Nations match against Wales at Lansdowne Road.

Marcus Horan returns in the front row after missing the French match due to illness. Donncha O'Callaghan comes into the second row in place of Paul O'Connell, who misses the match due to a shoulder injury. Andrew Trimble gets the nod over Ulster team-mate Tommy Bowe on the wing. Bowe is dropped from the side altogether. Mick O'Driscoll and Girvan Dempsey are named on the bench. Shane Byrne is on standby in case Jerry Flannery has any problems with an ankle injury he picked up recently.

So no real surprises there, then. Trimble came on for Bowe in Paris last Saturday week and in truth, he should have been on from the start. He looked very sharp and got in for a sweet try following a blistering run by O'Driscoll. He's a decent player in defence too, which will help to keep the Welsh speed merchants at bay.

Team in full is:
G Murphy (Leicester); S Horgan (Leinster), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, captain), G D'Arcy (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster); R O'Gara (Munster), P Stringer (Munster); M Horan (Munster), J Flannery (Munster), J Hayes (Munster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), M O'Kelly (Leinster), S Easterby (Llanelli), D Wallace (Munster), D Leamy (Munster).

Replacements: R Best (Ulster), S Best (Ulster), M O'Driscoll (Munster), J O'Connor (Wasps), E Reddan (Wasps), D Humphreys (Ulster), G Dempsey (Leinster).

O'Connell and Thomas Out

2006-02-21T18:54:00.000Z

Ireland and Wales have both lost influential players ahead of their Six Nations clash at Lansdowne Road this Sunday.

Paul O'Connell's shoulder injury hasn't healed sufficiently to allow him to start, but it is hoped that he will be available for the Scotland match on 11 March. The most likely second row will be Donncha O'Callaghan and Malcolm O'Kelly, with Mick O'Driscoll on the bench.

Wales, whose squad is already heavily depleted through injury, lose their talismanic captain and full-back Gareth Thomas for the rest of the tournament. Thomas is suffering from an injury to an artery in his neck.

Full Time: France 43-31 Ireland

2006-02-11T15:11:00.000Z

Jaysus, me nerves!! That was a true "Game of two 'alves."

After an unbelievably awful first half, Ireland managed to start playing in the last 30 minutes. Where in the first half when passes were missed and knock-ons committed, here they managed to hold onto possession, and ran in four converted tries.

With ten minutes to go, Ireland were 12 points down, and it could have been. They spent most of that last ten minutes camped in the French 22.

In the end it was too much to hope for. In the immortal words of Red in The Shawshank Redemption: "Hope is a dangerous thing. Drive a man insane. It's got no place here. Better get used to the idea."

The Ireland of the last 30 minutes was very different from the Ireland of the first 50. It looks like they just decided to rip up the script and play to their strengths. And it worked.

So that gives some hope for the visit of Wales in a couple of weeks.

My prediction was half right. In the first half they got the hosing I expected, but fair dues to the Irish players for not giving up.

Half-Time: France 29-3 Ireland

2006-02-11T14:19:00.000Z

Dear, oh dear!

I Want To Be Wrong

2006-02-10T21:19:00.000Z

Being a blogger usually means that you want to be right. You go online and publish your opinions, and if you're wrong, someone usually pulls you up on it. Being wrong is embarrassing.

But tomorrow, I really want to be wrong.

I'm convinced that Ireland are going to get trashed by France. I have come to this conclusion for several reasons.

First of all, since the last two games of last season's Six Nations, the Irish game plan has been woejus. There has been no flair, no invention and no indication that the huge amount of talent available is being allowed to shine.

Secondly, the French have a lot to prove. They lost to Scotland last week, and so will want to redeem themselves in front of their home crowd.

Thirdly, our scrum will collapse. Reggie Corrigan and Jerry Flannery have never packed down in an international front row together in a game like this before. That will tell.

Fourthly, the French nearly always manage to turn it on when Ireland are in town. The last time we beat them there in 2000, we had several unknown and very talented players. O'Driscoll scored a hat-trick that day. Now all our guys are well known to them, particularly the backs. So 2000 is unlikely to happen again. (Unless Tommy Bowe manages to pull off the performance of his career, that is.)

Come on Ireland - make me look foolish. It's all I ask.

Sacre Bleu!

2006-02-05T22:48:00.000Z

Well what about that then? Scotland, having only won two games in the last three Six Nations tournaments, see the French off in a thriller at Murrayfield. Fair play to them.

Is this the beginning of a Scottish renaissance? Or is it just an example of the French not turning up, as they sometimes do? Remember that Scotland almost beat France last year in Paris, and only a last gasp try by Damien Traille saved the day for the home team.

So what does this mean for Ireland? First of all, it means that we are in for the mother and father of all hidings next week. Going to Paris for the first home game of the season, after the French have been beaten the week before is not an enticing prospect. The French team must save face in front of their home crowd, and rarely do they have two poor showings in a row. Given that Ireland's play is devoid of both inspiration and originality, all they can do is try to stem the blue tide that will attack relentlessly all day.

The second thought to consider is how the Scots will perform after this superb opening. They have Wales away next week, the Calcutta Cup clash takes place a fortnight later in Murrayfield, and they come to Lansdowne Road on 11 March. By the time they arrive here we should be able to see if this is a true rebirth, or if this win was just a flash in the pan.

Must Do Better

2006-02-04T22:15:00.000Z

Ireland's win over Italy in Saturday's Six Nations clash was utterly unconvincing. There were times during the match when it looked like the unthinkable might happen and Italy would prevail. In times past, a match against Italy would bring the prospect of a hard first 60 minutes up front, with the Azzuris' only threat coming from their forwards, leaving the last 20 minutes for Ireland to cut loose and run in a decent number of tries.

Today the Italian backs looked a good match for their more stellar Irish opponents. Half-backs Pez and Griffen ran the show for a lot of the game. Pez's break left the Irish defence flat-footed and allowed Bergamasco in for a well-taken try.

Ireland were lucky. Tommy Bowe's try was doubtful to say the least, and there was also the suggestion that the ball was dropped before it was grounded for the first try.

One thing is for sure. Next week, we are going to be shat upon from an almighty height in Paris. Nothing has changed since the autumn. The passion of the Munster forwards and the artistry of the Leinster backs just wasn't on show today. Ireland coughed up two line-outs before winning one on their own throw. Brian O'Driscoll lost the cool twice and was lucky to stay on the field.

On the positive side, David Wallace demonstrated why his selection was justified. He was immense around the park and managed a number of key turnovers. Save for an early dose of the yips, Jerry Flannery had a decent game. No key players were injured.

Looking at the England-Wales game, it's hard to see how Ireland will get past either of them. Man for man, in theory, there is nothing between the best Ireland have to offer against the best England and Wales have. But both England and Wales operate as a team, which is something Ireland don't do.

I stand by my prediction - Ireland to finish fourth.

And They're Off!

2006-02-01T23:22:00.000Z

And so here we are again, at the beginning of the best and oldest international rugby tournament in the world, the Six Nations.

The tournament started life in the 1880s as "The Home Championship", contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. France joined in 1910, were chucked out in 1931, rejoined in 1939 for one season, and came back again in 1947. Italy made it Six Nations in 2000.

Looking back on my preview of the 2005 Six Nations, I had high hopes. We had England and France at home, and could surely put enough past the other three teams away from home. A Grand Slam was seen as possible. But alas it didn't happen. We got past Italy and Scotland handy enough, and managed to see off England at Lansdowne Road by exactly the same score as we'd beaten them in Twickenham the year before, 19-13.

Then the wheels fell off. We lost 19-26 to France in Lansdowne, and a week later, the Welsh beat us 32-20 in Cardiff, and ran off with the Grand Slam.

The cheeky fuckers!

THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OUR GRAND SLAM!!

I'll never forget that day. My wife was at work and we had visitors coming over for dinner that evening. So I had to tidy the place up. I was fuming that Ireland could have capitulated so easily and almost tore strips out of the carpet with the hoover. I was mopping the floor of the kitchen going "Fuckin'fuckin'fuckin'fuckin'fuckin'fuckin'fuckin'..."

Completely irrational, of course, but understandable. We even had a very enjoyable evening with my wife's sister and her husband, though Kieran and I didn't actually discuss the rugby all that much. We were both too disgusted.

So this year, I should be confident. Munster and Leinster make up the bulk of the Irish team and both teams have their tails up, having qualified for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. Our two talismen, Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell are both back from injury and playing ferocious rugby. David Wallace is in the team.

But I'm not confident. The Irish national set-up is very different to the provinces. Declan Kidney and Michael Cheika allow their player to show their natural flair. They allow risk taking and like for players to use their heads. That doesn't happen in the national scheme of things. Witness the Autumn internationals. Here the team stuck to a rigid game plan that only allowed for damage limitation. They knew they were not going to beat the All-Blacks, so why try? The best they were hoping for was to try to keep the All-Blacks score down to an acceptable level. In the end it didn't happen, and only for Marcus Horan's last minute try, Ireland would have suffered the ignominy of a whitewash.

We will lose both our away matches. England will emerge from their post-World Cup ennui this year, and our two match winning run against them will come to an end. France will beat us, as usual. What is it about the French? They often play indifferently against Wales, England and Scotland, but when it comes to Ireland, they are ruthless and clinical. As Kevin Keegan said about Man Yoo once "I'd LUV IT if we beat them!" but we won't.

We should see Scotland and Italy off without too much drama. How badly we lose to France will determine how we fare against Wales. Two years ago we beat them comfortably, but that is unlikely to happen again, even with their injury and suspension problems. I'm worried about this one.

So overall, my prediction is that we will come fourth, our worst standing in the Six Nations since Italy joined.

1. France - Champions but probably not Grand Slam
2. England - Triple Crown
3. Wales
4. Ireland
5. Scotland
6. Italy

A Bit Of A Tidy Up

2006-01-31T23:18:00.000Z

I haven't posted to this site for a while, but will put it to use for the Six Nations, starting this weekend. I'll do a preview of the tournament over the next few days and take it from there.

Come on the Irish!!

O'Sullivan Must Go

2005-11-19T22:12:00.000Z

The Irish rugby team are bereft of ideas, motivation and passion. They lost badly today to a very ordinary Australian side. This is only the latest in a series of bad losses, first to France, then to Wales (Lord help us!), New Zealand and today to Australia. I'm sorry to say this but someone has to take responsibility for this dreadfully poor run of results. And that can only be one man: the national coach, Eddie O'Sullivan.

Here we are in November 2005, with the 2007 World Cup less than two years away. In 2003, we just made it to the quarter-finals, and then were blown away by France. We have never progressed past the quarter-final stage in the five World Cup tournaments played so far. It seems that this is the limit to the ambitions of the Irish rugby world. At the rate we're going, we won't even get that far in 2007.

Look at the last two games. Look at how Plan A didn't work. Look at how there was no Plan B. Three times today, we had the Australian line at our mercy. Three times we failed to score. And once when there was a sustained period of Irish pressure in the Aussie 22, we coughed up the ball, for them to run the length of the park and score. Look at the basic mistakes. Missed tackles. Needless turnovers. Missed touch-kicks.

We have good players. Good players don't become bad players overnight. OK, BO'D, PO'C and DH are missing, but they were all present and correct when we lost to Wales in Cardiff in March.

The high-point of Eddie O'Sullivan's tenure was Ireland's storming of Fortress Twickenham on 6 March 2004. That was a day when Ireland played great rugby. We bullied them off the ball on their own set-piece, scored the penalties when it mattered, and put together one of the most beautiful sequences of passes by a set of backs to put Girvan Dempsey over in the corner. It was a great day, and I was there.

But that day is over. We won the Triple Crown that year, but France won the Championship. Then last season, Wales sneaked in and won the Grand Slam. In one of those two years, we should have won at least the Championship. Judging the current form, we have no hope in the 2006 Six Nations. We will lose to England, Wales and France, and probably struggle against Scotland and Italy.

If we are to have any hope of progressing beyond the group stages of the next World Cup, there needs to be a genuine competition for places in the side. There's a few lads who think that the green shirt with their number on it is their's by right. They need a few lads snapping at their heels to keep them sharp. Eddie isn't doing this. He's bringing in new players only if he has to. He's run out of ideas. He should step aside.

Trimble To Give His All To The Irish Cause

2005-11-18T11:03:00.000Z

It's hard to get enthusiastic about Saturday's match, after the comprehensive hosing Ireland got last week at the hands of the All-Blacks. The Aussies are in town this weekend, and while we have a better record against them (stats not to hand), I think we're headed for more disappointment.

The Irish team is as follows:
15. G Murphy (Leicester); 14. S Horgan (Leinster), 13. A Trimble (Ulster), 12. G D'Arcy (Leinster), 11. T Bowe (Ulster); 10. R O'Gara (Munster), 9. P Stringer (Munster); 1. M Horan (Munster), 2. S Byrne (Saracens), 3. J Hayes (Munster), 4. D O'Callaghan (Munster), 5. M O'Kelly (Leinster), 6. S Easterby (Llanelli, captain), 7. J O'Connor (Wasps), 8. D Leamy (Munster).

Replacements: R Best (Ulster), S Best (Ulster), M McCullough (Ulster), N Best (Ulster), K Campbell (Ulster), D Humphreys (Ulster), G Dempsey (Leinster).

Glad to see Andrew Trimble of Ulster get the nod.

More disappointment for holders of North Terrace tickets this weekend, as it remains closed due to fire damage. This just emphasises the need there is to tear down the tumbledown shack that is Lansdowne Road and build the new stadium. Hopefully the plans will proceed on time, but I reckon there's a NIMBY or two lurking in D4 to throw a spanner in the works.

Anyway, my prediction for tomorrow: Australia with 10 to spare.

Piss-Poor Ireland Just Escape All-Black Whitewash

2005-11-13T21:03:00.000Z

Depressing. That's how I can only describe it.

Ireland were humiliated by the All-Blacks yesterday. They were played off the park. If these guys were the second-string A-Bs, then it's just as well we didn't face the first-string. (I don't believe they were, by the way. Such is the ferocity of competition for the right to don the black jersey, that any player who does so is sure to be out of the top drawer.)

The fitness levels, the skill, the speed, the ability to offload before the tackle, the crispness of the passing, the resloute defence, ... all there in spades in the New Zealanders, and all lacking in the Irish. They gave away some really soft tries yesterday, and the match video will not make for pleasant viewing for the team next week.

If it wasn't for Marcus Horan's last minute try, the humiliation would have been complete. We can't afford too many more days like this one. Ireland have now lost three on the trot (I'm not counting the Japanese tour in the summer.) Plus the Irish involvement with the farcical Lions tour in the summer. It can be hard getting out of a losing rut. Ireland are in one at the moment and it's getting deeper with every match.

The Team To Face The All-Blacks

2005-11-09T00:16:00.000Z

Eddie O'Sullivan has named his Ireland team to face New Zealand next Saturday in Lansdowne Road:

15 – Geordan Murphy
14 – Tommy Bowe
13 – Gordon D'Arcy
12 – Shane Horgan
11 – Anthony Horgan
10 – Ronan O'Gara
9 – Peter Stringer
1 – Marcus Horan
2 – Shane Byrne
3 – John Hayes
4 – Donncha O'Callaghan
5 – Malcolm O'Kelly
6 – Simon Easterby
7 – Johnny O'Connor
8 – Denis Leamy

Replacements:

16 – Rory Best
17 – Simon Best
18 – Matt McCullough
19 – Neil Best
20 – Kieran Campbell
21 – David Humphreys
22 – Girvan Dempsey

Fair enough as regards the backs. Shane Horgan takes the bruiser role in the centre, which hopfully will allow D'Arcy to show us some of his nimble footwork. Tommy Bowe gets his fourth cap, and hopefully it will add to his further development. The half-backs pick themselves.

In the forwards, Marcus Horan is now making the No 1 shirt his own. If Frank Sheahan and Paul O'Connell were fit, then an all-Munster tight five would be the order of the day. The back row puzzles me a bit. Easterby at 6 is fine, as is O'Connor at openside. Why did he drop Foley in favour of Leamy at No 8? Surely he's going on form, and Leamy is more of a flanker than a No 8? He'll regret not having Foley's experience here.

Easterby is a good choice for captain, as he is well used to the role at Llanelli. However without O'Driscoll's totemic presence or O'Connell's raw passion, real leaders will be lacking on the Irish side.

New Zealand are on a mission at the moment. Graham Henry has said that his objective is to have at least two world-class players available to him for every position on the park in time for the World Cup in 2007. It's hard to believe that New Zealand haven't won the World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987. If they don't win in 2007, the wait will stretch out to 24 years or more. That will be too much for many New Zealanders to take. They see themselves as the pre-eminent rugby nation on earth, and they have to start putting this anomaly to rights. Thus they are like England were in the run-up to the 2003 World Cup.

Our dismal record against New Zealand (P17, W0, D1, L16) will continue this weekend. Our only hope of salvaging pride is to keep the Kiwi'a winnig margin to the lowest they record on tour.

Goldenbooted Gobshite

2005-11-07T00:27:00.000Z

The Sport Monthly section of Sunday's Observer featured a cover story about Gavin Henson. Why should there be such interest in the perma-tanned, golden-booted, Charlotte Church-shagging Henson? He is a good player. But he is not an exceptionally good player. He was found out big time in the second Lions test in the summer.

When Wales played England in the Six Nations in Cardiff in February, Henson landed a penalty from just inside his own half. This is supposed to be a mark of his greatness. I saw Mark McHugh do the same for Ireland A against England A in 2003 in a wet and windy Donnybrook. Ronan O'Gara did it in the pissing rain last weekend against Castres.

If Henson was a great player, he would have effortlessly replaced Brian O'Driscoll in the centre after BOD was injured in that tackle. Henson wasn't even on the bench for that match, and Woodward only put him into the team for the second test under severe media pressure. He was worse than useless that day.

Of course, he has a book to flog. In it, he makes this allegation against Brian O'Driscoll:

'As I was on the ground, O'Driscoll came in and tried to "jackal" - a term we use to mean stealing the ball from your opponent on the ground. But instead of just trying to rip the ball clear, he also decided to pull my hair and tried to gouge my eye for good measure. "How do you like that, you cocky little fucker?" There was a real flash of anger in his eyes. It was intense.'

I'd reckon BOD's legal advisors might be looking closely at that one.

If the Observer wanted to write about a real quality Welsh player, they should have picked Gareth Thomas or Michael Owen.

The All Blacks Are Coming

2005-11-06T23:06:00.000Z

Having seen the current Six Nations champions Wales humbled 41-3 by New Zealand in Cardiff today, I reckon there are a few twitchy sphincters in the Irish camp ahead of next week's match at Lansdowne Road. This year is the centenary of the first great tour by a New Zealand side to Ireland and Britain, and the current crop of All Blacks want to emulate the feat of their ancestors and complete a Grand Slam of Test matches. Judging by today's performance, that looks very achievable.

This is the first match by a full-strength Irish tream since their desperately disappointing end to the Six Nations when they lost first to France and then to Wales. (I still haven't figured out how as mediocre a team as Wales managed to win the Grand Slam.) New Zealand have played several times in that period, whitewashing the Lions in June and then winning the Tri-Nations.

New Zealand remain the only test team to have never been beaten by Ireland. The only Irish team to have beaten the All-Blacks is of course Munster, who famously whitewashed them 12-0 in 1978. I don't expect that record to change next weekend, and predict that the All-Blacks will prevail with 20 points to spare.

Eddie O'Sullivan is not helped by the number of injuries to key players, most notably Paul O'Connell, Denis Hickey, Alan Quinlan, Frank Sheahan and captain Brian O'Driscoll (how did that one happen, can anyone remember?) Simon Easterby and Shane Horgan are both nursing injuries, but hopefully they will be available for selection by the time the team is announced.

My starting XV would be as follows:

15 Geordan Murphy
14 Anthony Horgan
13 Andrew Trimble
12 Gordon D'Arcy
11 Shane Horgan or Tommy Bowe
10 Ronan O'Gara
9 Peter Stringer
1 Marcus Horan
2 Shane Byrne
3 John Hayes
4 Malcolm O'Kelly
5 Donncha O'Callaghan
6 Simon Easterby or Denis Leamy
7 Johnny O'Connor
8 Anthony Foley

I've been watching Trimble play for Ulster and he's an impressive young player, fast and strong. I think this could be a good time to see his international potential.