All posts in category Ireland

Ireland’s World Cup 30 – Summary

So, after an exhaustive 2 week process, we have whittled Ireland’s RWC hopefuls down to 2 sets of 30 – Deccie’s and ours. Somewhat suprisingly, given Deccie’s chronically odd selections, we have 26 names in common.

We have amended our thoughts silghtly at hooker after a vigourous debate below the line – Jerry should go if his is fully fit and firing, just like Fez and blog friend and favourite Rob Kearney.

The disgreements are as follows:

  1. Dan Tuohy-Donnacha Ryan. Given Dan has missed the cut for the initial 43 man squad, he must be out of the reckoning. Given this, its a choice between Ryan and Kevin McLaughlin (and Biiiiiiiiiiiiiig Bob Casey if life were funnier). Ryan is probably better suited to second row than Locky, so we tentatively agree with Deccie at this stage of the selection process.
  2. Denis Leamy-Shane Jennings. This is a straight choice between a classic openside and a brawling spoiler who can play 6 and 8. Jennings is coming back from injury but adds something extra to the loose forward division whereas Leamy can’t get past James Coughlan into the Munster team. This looks a no-brainer, but Deccie and Denis go back a long way. 
  3. Tomás O’Leary-Isaac Boss. Speaking of going back a long way, Deccie loves Tomás so much, he gave him his HEC debut at outside centre back in the day. As soon as O’Leary’s pass wasn’t absolutely abysmal, he displaced Strings as first-choice Munster scrummie. And when O’Leary’s pass is functioning, he is a pretty good player. Unfortunately for all, it isn’t right now. And he is injured. Boss has most of O’Leary’s qualities and is in form and should go. But we all know he won’t.
  4. Paddy Wallace-Fergus McFadden. Here we have another Deccie favourite against an in-form and upcoming rival. Wallace, as we have said before, takes a lot of heat, but is a quality distributing 12 and has the potential to add a different dimension to our centre play. But he is out of form and coming back from injury. McFadden has had a good season, albeit often not at centre, and just about deserves to go ahead of Paddy. Ooooooooooooooohh James Downey has had an even better season, but is off the radar, and probably doesn’t have the calibre anyway.

We welcome any additional thoughts, and full squads are below:

Deccie WoC
Prop Cian Healy Cian Healy
Prop Mike Ross Mike Ross
Prop Tom Court Tom Court
Prop John Hayes John Hayes
Hooker Rory Best Rory Best
Hooker Sean Cronin Sean Cronin
Hooker Jerry Flannery Jerry Flannery
Second Row Paul O’Connell Paul O’Connell
Second Row Donncha O’Callaghan Donncha O’Callaghan
Second Row Leo Cullen Leo Cullen
Second Row Donnacha Ryan Dan Tuohy
Back Row Stephen Ferris Stephen Ferris
Back Row David Wallace David Wallace
Back Row Jamie Heaslip Jamie Heaslip
Back Row Sean O’Brien Sean O’Brien
Back Row Denis Leamy Shane Jennings
Scrum Half Tomas O’Leary Isaac Boss
Scrum Half Eoin Reddan Eoin Reddan
Scrum Half Conor Murray Conor Murray
Fly Half Ronan O’Gara Ronan O’Gara
Fly Half Jonathan Sexton Jonathan Sexton
Centre Gordon D’Arcy Gordon D’Arcy
Centre Brian O’Driscoll Brian O’Driscoll
Centre Paddy Wallace Fergus McFadden
Outside Back Tommy Bowe Tommy Bowe
Outside Back Keith Earls Keith Earls
Outside Back Luke Fitzgerald Luke Fitzgerald
Outside Back Andrew Trimble Andrew Trimble
Outside Back Rob Kearney Rob Kearney
Outside Back Geordan Murphy Geordan Murphy
by whiffofcordite on June 28, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Deccie Kidney, Ireland, RWC11

Posted by whiffofcordite on June 28, 2011

https://whiffofcordite.com/2011/06/28/irelands-world-cup-30-summary/

Ireland’s World Cup 30 – Inside Backs

The penultimate post in the series looks at the fly-half and centres quandry.  Egg Chaser will wrap things up on Friday by looking at the back three.

How many will go? Two fly halves, three centres.

Who is certain to travel? It will come as little surprise to Ronan O’Gara, Jonny Sexton, Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy when Deccie informs them that they are going down under.  These four can purchase their copy of Ki Te Whaoiao’s An Introduction to Maori Culture and Society.

Who is scrapping out for the last spots? Dedicated outside centre cover is thin on the ground.  If the unthinkable were to happen to Brian O’Driscoll and he should miss a game it is likely that one of the outside backs, probably Tommy Bowe or Keith Earls would step in to the breach.

One man who is likely to go as cover for Dorce and the two fly-halves is Paddy Wallace.  A couple of high profile mistakes and the images of his face being mashed in the 2009 Six Nations have made Paddy a bit of a punchbag among Irish rugby fans, but the truth is that he is a classy distributing centre, and one of the best passers of the ball in the country.

He was in Eddie’s 2003 and 2007 squads as a reserve out-half (the reserve in 2007), and his ability to cover 10 and 12 and offer an alternative ‘second five-eighth’ option at 12 gives Kidney another way of playing.  So far so good.  But the truth is that he is not even close to being an international 10.  If Sexy and ROG were both to get injured, Ireland may as well pack up and go home – the notion that Wallace should be brought to cover this remote eventuality is a nonsense.  Even more nonsensical is the idea that Wallace covers full-back.  A certain esteemed Irish Times journalist has repeatedly peddled this line, and it has been used to justify Paddy’s selection as half-time orange provider throughout the Six Nations, but it is hard to think of any attributes of a modern 15 that Wallace possesses.

So his value should be measured on his ability at 12.  And we like Wallace as a 12, but he has not had the best of seasons with Ulster or Ireland.  Menwhile, Fergus McFadden offers cover across the three-quarter line and is coming off the back of a superb season with Leinster, even if he is not yet a consistent starter in the big games.  Tigerish in contact, with enough gas to play on the wing, and the ability to place-kick, he should be taking his place on the plane in September.

A final option, and an increasingly fashionable one, is playing a big man at 12 to bosh up the middle.  After all, didn’t BOD mesh wonderfully with Jamie Roberts on the Lions tour?  The man to play this role for Ireland would be Ooooooooooooooohhh James Downey.  WoC was surprised to see Downey show reasonable hands for Northampton in the HEC semi-final, and felt we had perhaps underestimated him.  The feeling remains that he is probably not quite up to international level, though this is one option that would have been worth exploring before now.  Downey didn’t make the 43-man training squad this week, so the ship has probably sailed.

We think Deccie will plump for Wallace, with the fly-half cover working in his favour, but it is possible (particuarly in light of Shaggy’s injury) that Fergus could still make it as a utility back, more of which anon…

Any bolters? Nevin Spence had made a bolt with a string of impressive performances for Ulster, and is unfortunate to be ruled out through injury.  His time will come.

Should go: Ronan O’Gara, Jonny Sexton, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Fergus McFadden
Will go: Ronan O’Gara, Jonny Sexton, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy, Paddy Wallace

by whiffofcordite on June 20, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Brian O'Driscoll, Fergus McFadden, Gordon D'Arcy, Ireland, James Downey, Jonny Sexton, Paddy Wallace, Ronan O'Gara, RWC11

Posted by whiffofcordite on June 20, 2011

https://whiffofcordite.com/2011/06/20/irelands-world-cup-30-inside-backs/

Moments of the Season Part 1

In keeping with the end of season theme, we’re going to take a look at our favourite moments of the season.  First, Egg Chaser takes us through his, tomorrow Palla Ovale follows suit.

Chris Ashton’s length of the field try against Australia. Australia, fresh from beating the All Blacks in a remarkable game of running rugby, landed in Twickers in November. Its fair to say WoC probably weren’t the only ones expecting the Wallabies to be the only team playing fast and loose, but in an incredible match, they were beaten at their own game.There had been flutterings of something happening for England in Australia in June, but the anthracite-clad red rose announced itself this day, with the highlight Ashton’s try. It established Ashton as a star, and signposted a gloriously unexpected positive attitude, the type of which we had not seen in an English team since 1990.



The best two teams in Europe collide. Coming to Lansdowne Road for the final game of the 6 Nations, England needed a win to complete a first Grand Slam since 2003, when it was also finished off (in style) in Dublin. Less than a minute into the game came the first scrum, something Dylan Hartley was clearly relishing, judging by the way he shoo-ed away the physio. Cue Mike Ross mincing the England scrum, a quick tap penalty by Sexton, Banahan’s outside shoulder exposed by Earls, and 80 metres gained by Ireland. The English platform had been decimated, and Ireland never looked likely to lose afterwards.

Reality dawns on the Northern Hemisphere. Following the rather dowdy and generally low-quality Six Nations, the Crusaders and the Sharks came to Twickers as refugees from the Christchurch earthquake. To stunned Northern Hemisphere fans made comfortable by the likes of Mad Dog Jones deriding the Super XV as basketball, this was a serious shock to the system. The players here seemed to be playing a different sport to that which “graced” Murrayfield and the Millennium Stadium. Not only did we see wonderful running lines and a series of deft and intelligent offloads by Daniel Carter and Sonny Bill Williams, we witnessed a display of powerful scrummaging from the Crusaders and ferocious rucking. Simply incredible.

Clement Poitrenaud not scoring against Clermont. If any passage of play symbolised French rugby over the last decade, it’s this one. Indeed, if any player symbolises French rugby over the past decade, it’s Clement Poitrenaud – a man who mixes the sublime with the ridiculous, sometimes within seconds of one another – just like here. Toulouse covered 105 metres in just six marauding phases, a mesmeric series of play full of offloads, line breaks and runners flooding the support channels, all in a visceral and powerful lunge at Clermont’s throat. Poitrenaud touched the ball 3 times in this magical 45 seconds, once to draw in 2 tacklers to a prop, again in a brilliant half-break to commit 2 more men before offloading to Servat, and the third time to drop the ball when all he needed to do was fall over to make this the try of the century. Which almost made it better.
by whiffofcordite on June 9, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Chris Ashton, Clement Poitrenaud, Crusaders, England, Ireland, Mike Ross, Sharks, Super XV, Toulouse

Posted by whiffofcordite on June 9, 2011

https://whiffofcordite.com/2011/06/09/moments-of-the-season-part-1/

Going backwards

Last week we handed out our Team FAIL gongs. Now, we present the Individual awards. Step forward the weak-willed, the constantly injured, the thuggish and the just plain useless.

On a fairly disastrous Irish tour to NZ and Australia last June, Ed O’Donoghue played against the Barbarians and NZ Maori and acquited himself well. Ed was coming off a good season for Ulster and had secured a move to Leinster. However, in a season where Leinster’s second row was beginning to creak with Trevor Hogan retiring, Devin Toner not really stepping up and Leo Cullen not getting any younger, Ed disappeared. Completely. He isn’t even listed in the programmes any more.

To be truthful, Delon Armitage never totally endeared himself to Whiff of Cordite, with his ridiculous chest thumping and 2009 “tackle” on BOD. This season, however, having lost his hold on the England 15 shirt, we expected him to put the head down. However, he has turned into a poor mans John Terry – when not screaming at officials, he was punching Stephen Myler off the ball. Whatever happened to professionalism?

Whiff of Cordite was at Croke Park in March 2010, fully expecting an(other) Irish Triple Crown to be wrapped up with victory against Scotland. Especially when we scanned the Irish back row and saw the names Ferris, Wallace and Heaslip. But the best back row forward on the pitch that day was John Barclay, and he ended last season as the front-runner for the Lions openside shirt. This season, the expected kick on has not happened. Showing minimal leadership qualities for an underperforming side that desperately needed them, Barclay checked out mid-way through the 6 Nations.

Speaking of Scotland players who seem to have given up, what about Euan Murray? As sanctimonious as ever, Euan’s performance in the 6 Nations was nothing short of embarrassing. Never mind his powder-puff propping, his lack of responsibility and poor attitude saw him ditched mid-way through the tournament by an exasperated Andy Robinson. Another Lions front-runner this time last season, he would struggle to make the plane right now.

On the topic of stroppy tight-heads, Tony Buckley also seems to have thrown in the towel. Back in October, with John Hayes on the verge of actual retirement (as opposed to retirement from scrummaging), Mike Ross not even on the radar and Tom Court playing primarily at loosehead, the Ireland tighthead shirt was Mushy’s for 3 years if he made even the slightest effort at fitness and application. Nine months later, his place on the RWC11 plane is uncertain and he is on his way to a flailing Sale Sharks side. With Andy Powell. And Sam Tuitupou.

Rocky Elsom arrived in the Northern Hemisphere in November on the back of leading a pretty successful Tri-Nations for Australia and a Hong Kong Bledisloe Cup ambushing of NZ. He departed, having decided abusing the touch judge was the best way to rally his weak-scrummaging troops in Italy, as one of the leading men in a Brumbies side expected to challenge for the Super Rugby playoffs. Player power then struck 3 games into the season with Andy Friend departing amid rumours the senior players wanted Stephen Larkham installed. Since then, Rocky has mystifyingly yet to tog out, the Brumbies sink to new lows virtually every week, and the Australian fans don’t want him in the team.

Oh, and has Mike Phillips been on strike recently? After walking out on his 3 year Ospreys contract? The Ospreys have got a lot of heat from WoC recently, but we are on their side on this one.

by whiffofcordite on May 16, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Australia, Brumbies, Delon Armitage, Ed O'Donoghue, Euan Murray, Ireland, John Barclay, Leinster, London Irish, Mike Phillips, Munster, Ospreys, Rocky Elsom, RWC11, Scotland, Tony Buckley

Posted by whiffofcordite on May 16, 2011

https://whiffofcordite.com/2011/05/16/going-backwards/

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