Lead Balloon

So that was good, wasn’t it? Ireland’s bright new dawn turned out to be, er, dreadful. Absolutely dreadful. The performance was up there with the worst of the dross we have seen over the past few years, and the four tries to nil margin told the full story. It’s hard to know where to begin with the post-mortem, but we’ll try and finish on a high note.

The forwards and the backs never showed up, a discernable gameplan to actually win the game was undetectable and the error count was astronomical. The pack provided no platform – none – the lineout was ropey, and the scrum got milked for penalties by Australia. Australia! Mike Ross’ woes in the scrum brought to mind something David Baddiel said about Matt le Tissier in the mid-90s “If he can weave so much magic with Francis Benali, imagine what he could do with Paul Gascoigne [for England]”. If Ross could get turned over so badly by James Slipper, imagine what’s going to happen when Tony Woodcock comes to town.

With no platform, the backs were always likely to struggle, but the absence of anything resembling a coherent attacking pattern was a major disappointment. Lateral shunting, aimless kicking (to Israel Folau!) – it had bad and very bad. Luke Marshall provided some attacking zest, but got done by the excellent Quade Cooper for the third Wobbly try (note: better players have been done by Cooper, and we should be persisting with young talent like Bamm-Bamm). Tommy Bowe was as bad as we have seen for Ireland – one-paced, poor lines (going inside when Bob needed him to go out in the first half), uncertain decision-making (his half-hearted low clearing kick to Cooper in the first half was lapped up by the clinical Wallabies to create a 4-on-2 and put in the Honey Badger) and unsure looking.

BOD has rarely been as bad and Johnny Sexton was poor even before going off for injury, looking below 100% fit, cranky even by his usual standards and distracted. Ian Madigan had a tough day at the office in the second half, and when he failed to make 10m from a kickoff it felt like every possible error had been made by Ireland. The gap in basic skill levels right across the field was alarming – sometimes it’s hard to escape the conclusion that our players … aren’t that good.

So where do Ireland go from here? The pack looked too lightweight – getting shunted around by a pack who were the laughing stock of world rugby three months ago is very concerning – imagine if South Africa or England were up next. But they seem simply too nice. Where is Ireland’s Bakkies Botha, Brad Thorn or Lionel Nallet – where is the enforcer? Or the player to simply create chaos, a Lewis Moody, Quinny or Jerry Flannery type.  Ireland missed Fez, clearly, but thinking about more realistic option in the near future, the aggression that Donnacha Ryan might bring something we didn’t show. The second row is light, and can’t carry very well. So when the lineout isn’t functioning, they are essentially redundant. The backrow got blown out of it – Michael Hooper’s domination of the breakdown and the Wallaby targeting of O’Brien – sounds familiar? – left Ireland with nothing to fall back on. Irishi fans burn with hatred for the likes of Botha, Dylan Hartley, Jamie Cudmore, Courtney Lawes, Rodrigo Roncero et al – anyone think any opposition fans despise any of our forwards? Doubt it. We aren’t advocating cheap shots and eye-gouging or anything, but where is our nasty streak?

And as for the scrum, there is a good case for Ross to be jettisoned – he looks tired and is struggling to get with the new scrum calls. At Leinster, Marty Moore has out-performed him, and a change simply has to be considered – Deccie Fitz has done ok against BNZ in the past, and if he is fit, he could come into play. The way we have seen our props perform this season, there is more risk attached to picking Ross than benching him.

Is there any good news? Not much unfortunately – we said before the series that the performances would count for more than results, given the schedule. And after Saturday, performances aren’t in positive territory – far from it. The video review on Monday might last until Wednesday there is that much to pore over. Looking to this weekend, we expect a better performance against BNZ, where another 17 point defeat will constitute something of a moral victory. But we can’t continue to veer from the sublime to the ridiculous – Joe Schmidt needs to start putting his stamp on this team and give it some direction.  Such things were never going to happen overnight, but nor is there any excuse for simply being so flat, and giving up such soft tries.

Allowing for the fact that a beaten-up pack won’t help with putting together attacking direction (ask the Scarlets), better imagination with ball in hand is needed. Barnesy wrote some word in the Jones Gazette yesterday which helped us think about what Ireland need to do:

“How do you get from the muddle of England’s back play to the consummate handling and running like of [BNZ]? You practise, and you .. trust the talent and free it to find ways to create space. It is the application to the attacking game that enables the execution and clinical finishing that seems such a formality to New Zeland. Running the right lines is not the mystery it seems if players have the time to practice what is in front of their eyes.”

Get practising boys – the scale of the task, if it wasn’t apparent before Saturday, is apparent now.

PS. How good was the Honey Badger?  And he stayed around on the pitch for ages after the game talking to his legions of admirers.  Badger got some meat!

by whiffofcordite on November 18, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by whiffofcordite on November 18, 2013

https://whiffofcordite.com/2013/11/18/lead-balloon/

The Horror!

Joke shop selection! Honeymoon over! Schmidt out!

Those are some the balanced reactions to Joe Schmidt – gasp – dropping Conor Murray for Eoin Reddan for the visit of the red-hot (when beating up on not-England) Wobblies. You can see what he is trying to do – put some pace on the ball and run at the Wallabies, but its a big surprise – we’d have gone for Murray. Sure, Reddan might have looked spritely against a beaten side, but he’s been pretty sub-standard most of the season and he can consider himself lucky.

Schmidt had a habit of picking Reddan for the big home games for Leinster, and its one he has continued in green. Murray hasn’t done a huge amount wrong, but Schmidt is playing the squad competition card, and its also clearly a horses-for-courses selection. Its also a massive risk, for not only is Reddan’s form unimpressive but has the potential to the fans hung up (again) on interprovincial rivalries.

The big guns roll back into the pack in the form of DJ Church, Paul O’Connell and Sean O’Brien – this is where Ireland look notably stronger than the Wobs and could be the winning of the game. Likewise, Luke Marshall and Johnny Sexton is an upgrade in quality and has a really nice balance.

Off the bench, Murray can make a difference, and Ian Madigan and Robbie Henshaw have been picked for their versatility. And its great to see Henshaw get rewarded for some sparkling form out Wesht.

The Wallabies are gaining confidence under Ewen McKenzie and the new team is taking shape – this won’t be easy, but it is winnable. Tingles.

Rob Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Brian O’Driscoll, Luke Marshall, Fergus McFadden; Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Mike Ross; Devin Toner, Paul O’Connell; Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip. Replacements: Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, Stephen Archer, Mike McCarthy, Kevin McLaughlin, Conor Murray, Ian Madigan, Robbie Henshaw.

by whiffofcordite on November 14, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Ireland

Posted by whiffofcordite on November 14, 2013

https://whiffofcordite.com/2013/11/14/the-horror/

Scapegoat!

If there is one man in Ireland who its easy to dump blame on, it’s Tom Court. Court joined Ulster in 2006, aged 26, with a little bit of Super Rugby experience. Back then, he played both sides, but ended up specializing on the loosehead side, and has blossomed (if that is the right word) into a very competent and useful player. He has been one of the standout looseheads in the last few years of Heineken rugby and has been a major factor in Ulster’s pack becoming the best in the Pro12.

He has wracked up a few Ireland caps as well – 32 to date – and got a Lions call-up, albeit a fortuitous one. But Court’s international career will be remembered for one thing – the demolition of our scrum at Twickers in 2012 when he came off the bench and played out of position. This narrative is hugely unfair – Court had soldiered manfully, a diligent filler-inner, providing cover from the bench for both sides of the scrum when needed, yet got dumped on when he needed support.

In a way it was understandable – Court is Australian and you won’t get anyone building him up in the media or pencilling him into the team, especially ahead of a domestic-born yeoman who agent is prominent on certain TV outlets. The man himself was dropped out of the Irish 23 for last years Six Nations for Dave Kilcoyne, but came right back in when DJ Church was on the naughty step – Kilcoyne might have been the better impact sub, but Court was clearly the better man to start.

And now Court is on his way and has joined Reading Samoa (we’ll have to stop calling them that – they are Irish-ing up to the max with iHumph, TOL, Jamie Hagan and now Court) on a 3-year contract. Our feeling is that Humph wasn’t for budging and for a man of his vintage (he turned 33 earlier this month), three years is a good deal, but it fits with how his Irish career has gone – and we wonder will Ulster not know what they had until it’s gone.

So where does it leave Ulster? And what about Ireland? Ulster first – they have two looseheads behind Court – Calum Black and Paddy McAlister. McAlister would be the better-known and was certainly the better prospect, but hasn’t returned from injury since coming on in the HEC final in 2012. Calum Black has stepped in and has done ok, without troubling Court. It would be fair to say neither are mapped by Joe Schmidt at present.

Which brings us on to Ireland. Here is how we would see the rankings of internationally mapped Irish looseheads right now:

  1. DJ Church. No competition
  2. Jack McGrath. Vaulted Killer Davecoyne in the squad pecking order due to some impressive performance this season, and was MOTM on his debut (albeit slightly romantically from Wardy – we’d have picked the much-maligned/warrior-who-never-takes-a-backward-step – delete as per prvincial leanings appropriate – POM).  Appears to be second in command.
  3. Tom Court. Sure, he might be easy to drop, but remains arguably the second best scrummaging loosehead against all but the most technical opponents.  Still in the picture.
  4. Dave Kilcoyne. The well-connected Munsterman did a good job for Ireland off the bench last year and looked to be progressing nicely, but hasn’t started the season as well. You probably haven’t heard, but Frankie is his agent.
  5. James Cronin. Highly exciting youngster, who impressed in a high profile cameo against Leinster. It will be interesting to see how he finishes the season – will he take Killer’s shirt?
  6. Marcus Horan. Wait, off that, Deccie has gone

So, as of next season, the odd man out Court will be sunning himself in Lahn. Well, in Reading. Which will leave the best four looseheads in Ireland playing in Munster and Leinster. If this were Australia, and the best four looseheads (I know, right, Australia having FOUR whole looseheads is a bit of a laugh, but bear with us) were playing at the Reds and the Brumbies, one of them would just be told, in no uncertain terms, he was a Waratah now.

The IRFU have talked a good game to date about the next step after banishing foreigners from rugger was to spread talent through the provinces better, most recently in Cummiskey’s uncharacteristically excellent interview in the Irish Times excellent November rugger magazine last week. Time to see if they will put their money where their mouth is. Peter Nucifora, if it is actually he, might have an input here too – and he probably won’t be recommending queueing them up in Munster and Leinster.

We think / have been told that while Healy and McGrath are contracted through next year, both Munstermen will be out of contract at the end of the year – Cronin will surely enjoy an upgrade on whatever he is on now if his upward curve continues, but how would Frankie feel about his other client being offered, say, a central contract … with Ulster. Can you imagine Dave Kilcoyne fitting in in Belfast? With Munster currently in some financial woe, perhaps that might be his best option. Unless he goes to London Irish too.

by whiffofcordite on November 14, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in HEC, Ireland, Leinster, Munster, Tom Court, Ulster

Posted by whiffofcordite on November 14, 2013

https://whiffofcordite.com/2013/11/14/scapegoat/

First Box Ticked

So the Schmidt era is off and running – the scoreline was certainly more impressive than the overall performance – Samoa might have been fed a 50-burger by the Big Bad Boks in their last game, but South Africa added 20 points in 20 minutes after Oooooooooooooooohh Alesana Tuilagi got sent off for straight-arming Jean de Villiers’ twin brother, but before that you need to go back to 2009 when France won 43-5 for a similar result against Samoa.

As for the performance itself, Ireland maintained their intensity for 80 minutes, played with increasing accuracy and precision. After an underwhelming first 40, Ireland got some patterns going in the second half and purred away. Sure, they were helped by injuries to key opponents, but you still have to go out and take advantage of it. Seeing an Ireland team finish strongly was an alien experience as well, and the replacements kicked the team on, as opposed to muddling it up. Positive.

In terms of selection, the irony is that the more progressive a pick was, the more of a success it was.

PJ at outhalf had a solid game, linked play well, kicked his goals in an assured fashion, and used his boot increasingly well tactically as the game went on. The Kildare Lewis Moody might seek contact as much as Shontayne Hapless, but he got through a mountain of work and was certainly more prominent than his more heralded colleague on the other wing. Sure, this might be as much as you can expect from him at this level, but that doesn’t mean  there is no place for it – he’s unlikely to be first choice when everyone is fit, but is a pretty good reserve to have.

At loosehead prop, Jack McGrath was responsible for giving Ireland a really good platform up front and was given man of the match on debut (albeit rather romantically from Wardy) – not bad. He reminded us of the impact (in a different way admittedly) another young Leinster loose-head prop made on Ireland debut a few years back. Who knows, this whole “competition for places thing” might even catch on. Chris Henry started the game well, and Ireland’s backrow even looked – whisper it – balanced until he was forced off with injury. His international career has been bedevilled by poorly-timed injuries and it’s a real shame, for he adds a different element to the other flankers in the squad.

Peter O’Mahony had a great game on the other flank.  Our main beef with him is that he can go long stretches of the game without involvement, but he showed a great nose for the action.  For the last try, he sniffed the turnover on the cards and quickly got into the role of scrum half and moved the ball at the first opportunity.  And Sean O’Brien, well, he’s just Sean O’Brien.

Pleasenst surprise of the day was Eoin Reddan, who we expected may be about to adopt the sort of role Chris Whittaker had for Australia – sitting on the bench for 80 minutes in every game.  But for all Murray’s brilliance, Eoin Reddan – on his day – is still the quickest in the country at getting the ball to 10, and has a role to play in the last 20 minutes of test matches.  Expect to see him around the 60 minute mark again against Australia.

On the other side of the ledger, the “sure we know what they can do” selections didn’t work – Mike Ross was under pressure for most of the game, Mike McCarthy looked too cumbersome for this level and gave away silly penalties, and Gordon D’Arcy was all over the place. Considering all three were picked for solidity, it was effectively a waste of three picks. How much worse could Ireland have been if say Marty Mooradze, Dan Tuohy and Stuart Olding were picked. For the Wobblies game, Luke Marshall and Paul “Minister for Passion” O’Connell will come in, but we’ll still be stuck with Ross. Thankfully, the Australia scrum won’t give him much bother, but then its straight into BNZ with the options either to pick him again, or dump in Deccie Fitz or Moore at the deep end.

However, the worst aspect of the entire day was the venue. When Ireland were under pressure in the first half, far from getting behind the team, the crowd spent its time engaging in Mexican waves, even while Tusi Pisi was lining up a shot at goal. Imagine if we were playing in, say, Twickenham, and the crowd cheered a wave while Johnny Sexton was lining up a kick – the horror! Then there was the sand section – the last game on this pitch was a couple of weeks ago when the soccer team played Kazakhstan, and the weather has been pretty clement – couldn’t we have prepared a better field of play? When the Palindrome was a library in previous times, we have always been assured that the Mass time kickoffs never suited us, and we preferred a drink-fuelled evening start. Well, we had one of those, and the crowd were disengaged and distracted.

Anyway, we don’t have the answers to that, but its mighty annoying.

Looking forward to Oz, it would be nice to see the upward curve continue – another cohesive and inventive performance will do that, break the cycle of one decent show a series, and give us something to build on for BNZ. The result itself will probably be dictated by how much space Quade Cooper gets and how we deal with it – if our defence plays like it did in the first half, we’re going to see Israel Folau and co dotting down multiple times. Consistency of performance has eluded this team for a long time, and that has to be priority one. If we lose, let us at least hope that we have made the Honey Badger and co work for it.

by whiffofcordite on November 11, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Australia, Ireland, Joe Schmidt, RWC15, Samoa

Posted by whiffofcordite on November 11, 2013

https://whiffofcordite.com/2013/11/11/first-box-ticked/

She’s Lost Control

Joe Schmidt’s first team, picked to deal with what will be a tough Samoa side on Saturday, looks to be more or less on message.  Usually in the November series there’s one game which allows the coach to use a raft of fringe players: think Kidney’s first game in charge against Canada, when he gave Keith Earls his first cap and Stephen Ferris announced himself as a blindside ready for test rugby, or Fiji last year when some Ulster players finally got a chance to show their ability.  That isn’t really the case this series, because Samoa have ascended to the ranks of the second tier, but nonetheless, Schmidt has taken the opportunity to give some matchtime to those around the fringes.

If it was the Kiwis, you can bet Sexton, O’Connell, Healy and O’Brien would all be playing, but instead we’ll be looking at Jackson, Toner, McGrath and Henry.  It’s a nice shake-up and, crucially, all the players brought in are in good form.

Jack McGrath has been excellent for Leinster this season, where the role of reserve loosehead is seen as a vital one, because they rarely play Healy for more than 55 minutes at a time.  He’s deservedly jumped ahead of David Kilcoyne in the queue – it’s a call that might aggrieve Munster fans, but Kilcoyne just hasn’t hit the form he had last season yet.  If he can get back to that level, he’ll undoubtedly be in the coach’s thinking.  When it comes to test rugby, if the call is between two inexperienced players, form should be the decider.

The tight five will have its work cut out for it, though, and outside McGrath’s dynamism and Best’s workrate, it isn’t the most mobile unit.  That said, Devin Toner is a richly deserved pick.  For a player who plays an honest, clean game, he has taken an awful lot of flak down the years, mostly, we think, becaue he doesn’t have ‘good face’.  It should be to the surprise of nobody that his progress has been incremental, but at 27 he now looks a test player, or a handy squad player at least.  Sure he’ll never have the sense of mania that Paul O’Connell can bring to a game, but for the crucial business of restart and lineout catching, he’s the next best thing, and his handling of the ball is surprisingly good.

The Mikes Ross and McCarthy can be considered fortunate starters.  Ross is struggling badly with the new scrum calls, which have thrown the understood scrummaging hierarchy on its head, and McCarthy has looked unfit for Leinster.  Dan Tuohy was a hard-luck story under the old coaching regime, and he’s entitled to feel hard done by again now, because his recent form has been sensational.  As for Ross, it seems an inevitability that his waning performance arc will cross over that of Marty Mooradze’s rising one at some point in the next twelve months; it’s not if, but when.  Probably just too soon though for this series.

Heaslip captains the side for this match, but Paul O’Connell has been announced as Ireland captain.  It’s a shrewd move by Schmidt. For a start, nobody in the land could argue O’Connell won’t do a great job.  It also puts to bed some of the ‘previous’ Schmidt has had with O’Connell, and should help to keep the group united in the event that – as seems likely – Munster don’t have a huge representation in the team.

Another positive call is Chris Henry, and it was nice to get some insight into why he’s been picked, with Schmidt citing his improved release-and-jackal technique, which has proved penalty-expensive if not at its best in the past.  How refreshing to have a coach who gives a little bit of technical detail to the public and show appreciation their understanding of the game, as opposed offering crumbs such as ‘fellas have put their hands up’. Henry looks a likely beneficiary of the new regime, because Schmidt appears to rate him highly, and has tended to see him as the key man to game-manage when he played in opposition to Leinster.

Madigan’s luckless start to the season continues, but Jackson is unarguably the right pick, for the same reasons as Jack McGrath is at loosehead.  The only contentious call in the backline is at first centre where Gordon D’arcy is preferred to Luke Marshall.  Egg isn’t happy about it, not one bit; we could go through the ins and outs of what each will bring, and mention D’arcy’s experience, but let’s face it, he’s in because of the beard.  How can you leave out a man with such a beard?

For once, this feels like an Irish game to look forward to, and probably is for the players too.  In recent years, it felt like the Leinster and Ulster players were happier in their provincial set-ups and that playing for the test side was an onerous experience for them.  In the last Six Nations the players looked like the weight of the world was on them.  The pendulum looks to have swung, for the Leinster players anyway.  They have hardly looked full of joy when playing O’Connor-ball over the last two months, and returning to Joe Schmidt’s methods will surely energise them, and should have the same effect on the rest of the panel who are experiencing his coaching for the first time.

And, finally, what of Schmidt’s no doubt very deliberately chosen words about having ‘lost control’ of Johnny Sexton?  Intriguing for sure, but were they aimed at his paymasters in the IRFU, who failed to contract the player when Schmidt was his coach at Leinster and was powerless to effect the situation?  Or was it a cautionary note to the likes of Sean O’Brien and Donnacha Ryan who are being courted by French clubs?  Probably a little of both.  The message is clear to all, though: we’re better off with our best players playing in Ireland.  Our own take is that with the size of French club squads, they don’t play that much more, but in the case of Johnny Sexton there has been something of a perfect storm; this being a Lions season combined with injuries to other fly-halves at his club has resulted in him having very little rest and playing an awful lot of matches.  For sure though, we’ll all be better off if O’Brien, Ryan and Murray are playing in Ireland next year.

by whiffofcordite on November 8, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Ireland, November Series, Samoa

Posted by whiffofcordite on November 8, 2013

https://whiffofcordite.com/2013/11/08/shes-lost-control/

Two Man Rucks and Other Stories

Joe Schmidt’s reign as Ireland coach properly kicks off on Saturday with a game against Samoa.  It’s the first of three tests in what is a daunting series.  Even determining what constitutes a passing grade for the series is hard work.  Ireland should beat Samoa.  Yes, Samoa are a much improved team these days, and yes, they’re even ranked higher than Ireland in the tabes, but with home advantage and better preparations, even if it’s a struggle Ireland start that game as favourites.  Lose that one and it’s a bad start.

Of course the opposite is true in the case of New Zealand.  Ireland have a habit of raising their game against the BNZers, but never win.  Ever.  Last time they came to Dublin, Ireland produced one of their better games under Kidney and only lost by 20.  The Kiwis are on a different planet right now (well, it is almost exactly halfway between world cups, so they’re bound to be coming to a peak) and any sort of performance against them will count as a positive.

But what about Australia?  They look more or less hopeless.  Awful against the Lions, weak-willed for much of the Rugby Championship, but there was that seven-try purging of Argentina and game Bledisloe Cup game to suggest that they could still have the goods to swat away a mid-pack team like Ireland.  But then they reverted to mush against England and in the process lost to a very inexperienced test side.  Momentum is probably the keyword here.  If Ireland can get off to a good start against Samoa, then expectations will build and the public will begin to feel we can take the Wobs.  Play poorly against Samoa, though, and we’ll start to get that sinking feeling.

We’re going to be optimistic, though.  The players should get a lift from the new coach coming in, and we have enough faith in Schmidt as a coach to believe he can deliver two wins in his first two games.  We think the Samoa game will be tight, and possibly hard to watch, but this Australia team is there for the taking, with the caveat that if we give Quade Cooper enough ball, he will hurt us.  Ireland’s injury troubles aren’t that dreadful.  Zebo and Earls are a loss, but they can put out their preferred front and back rows (mostly – but Fez ain’t gonna be back any time soon).  For sure, they need O’Connell and Sexton starting, and at their best, but neither is even close to ruled out yet.

Almost more important is the performance level.  With that in mind, on Against the Head on Monday night, a rare thing happened.  Rare for RTE anyway.  The panel provided some insightful, technical analysis.  For those used to the bluster of George Hook, and the subsequent requirement for everyone else to get dragged down to his level, listening to Eddie O’Sullivan – ever a man with an eye for detail, whatever you make of him – explain Schmidt’s predilection for the two-man ruck and what it means for the team was a breath of fresh air.  Few committed to the ruck means lots of runners and options out wide and in midfield, which is how Leinster repeatedly scythed opposition defences open.  But of course, it requires that said two individuals have to absolutely obliterate the ruck to ensure quick ball.  Fail to remove a David Pocock type jackalling over the ball and the rest of the chaps are standing in line waiting for the ball, and can’t get there before it’s too late.  Of course!  RTE tend to shy away from this sort of thing, obviously afraid it’s too technical for their audience, but the opposite is in fact the case.  Eddie made it crystal clear what the implications of putting two in the ruck are, and suddenly something that lots of people may not notice, or take for granted, becomes something to keep an eye on in the upcoming games.  Go Eddie.  And step forward habitual ruck-smashers Rory Best, Paul O’Connell and Jamie Heaslip for key roles in this department this November.

We’re all familiar by now with the aerial image of Ireland against New Zealand when there were multiple Irish forwards, and a back, and their fly-half ruck inspecting when there was not even one Kiwi in the picture.  It showcased a confused, tactically inept team.  We’re expecting different things from Schmidt’s Ireland – tactical cohesion and a playing style the players will enjoy, and profit from.

After the horrendous year Ireland have had so far, we’ll take it. If it’s good enough to beat Samoa, and at least make Australia win the game, that’s about par. If we can beat Australia, it will be a great platform to take into a Six Nations which looks pretty open. Three home wins there is currently baseline (oh, how the mighty have fallen) but that is where we have found ourselves.

In terms of personnel, Ireland look well able to play Schmidt’s high-tempo offloading game – the likes of O’Mahony, Jackson, Bowe and Murray should be comfortable with it, and we already know the Blue Meanies can do it. Following Ireland has been a frustrating experience in recent years, and playing for them hasn’t seemed to be much more fun – turn that around, get the new stadium finally rocking, win some games playing good rugger, and maybe even unite the fan base. No pressure Joe!

by whiffofcordite on November 6, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Ireland, Joe Schmidt, November Series

Posted by whiffofcordite on November 6, 2013

https://whiffofcordite.com/2013/11/06/two-man-rucks-and-other-stories/

Captain Fantastic

There is plenty of speculation about who the Milky Bar Kid will hand his armband to. For some, it seems particularly relevant as it gives Schmidt the chance to prove he isn’t inherently biased towards the Blue Meanies and pick someone who isn’t from the Pale. This is nonsense of course, but doesn’t make it any less important. Deccie’s well-meaning attempt to position Ireland for RWC15 by picking Jamie Heaslip  as last season’s captain [Aside: Deccie always picked Leinstermen as Ireland’s permanent captain – BIAS!] didn’t quite work out, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong to do it. We might be late to the party in planning for the tournament, but that should be our horizon here. So who are the contenders?

Some Bloke Called Brian.  He has done the state some service, they might say. But he’ll be gone in nine months, and is only coming back from injury.  His leadership is so great it’s almost hard for the captain to be in charge, as Heaslip found last season, but this being his last year, there is surely no point in handing the armband.

Paul O’Connell. Favourite, due to his totemic pack leadership credentials, but an injury doubt for the first game, which doesn’t help his chances. Many of his best recent performances – think first Lions test – haven’t come as captain and he seems to function best as a leader, but not the leader. You’ll get his on-pitch leadership anyway, so it probably matters less to him than to some outside the camp.  Would be a fine choice in any case.

Jamie Heaslip. Divided opinion when appointed last year – some considered it a brave choice by a previously unimaginative coach, some a foolhardy choice  of an “absolute knob” (C. George). Undoubtedly, it didn’t work out, amid a team imploding on-field and off. Healsip didn’t help himself by wearing headphones absent-minded and naive post-game comments. But surely remains a respected leader within the team, and his relationship with Schmidt is presumably stronger than that he had with Kidney, which always looked like an uneasy alliance.  Schmidt used him as captain any time Cullen wasn’t around, and if O’Connell is injured, Heaslip probably becomes the favourite. He is also incumbent, so choosing Heaslip won’t be as controversial for Schmidt as it was for Deccie.

Rory Best. The stalking horse. Besty has been mentioned by precisely nobody, but he is who we would appoint. He is already part of the squad’s leadership corps, has plenty of experience, and has recovered from last season’s half-annus horribilis. Best will be around past RWC15, and has played a key role in husbanding some of the exciting youngsters at Ulster who are also now exciting youngsters in green (Henderson, Jackson, Marshall, Gilroy). A fine man, whose character is reflected by his reaction to being omitted from the initial Lions squad – he used the opportunity to recall the memory of the tragic Nevin Spence, and opined there was more to life.

Peter O’Mahony. Munster captain, and an important member of the squad. Has been excellent in red this season, and we will hopefully see him concentrating on 8 from here on, although that muddles things at national level where he’s most likely to play at 6. But he’s only bedding into the role with Munster, and handing him the national captaincy on top of that may seem like too much burden all at once. Still, he is presumably Frankie’s choice, and that has to count for something right?

Sean O’Brien.  Not an obvious choice as he looks more wrecking ball than strategist, but his game has matured recently, highlighted by his outstanding breakdown work in recent months.  Unduobtedly a key player for the incoming coach, and arguably now the best player in the country, but is he ready to lead it?  Probably not, but a possible wild-card nonetheless.

Paddy Wallace. Go on Joe, for a laugh. The righteous indignation would have us rolling in the aisles.

by whiffofcordite on November 4, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Brian O'Driscoll, Ireland, Jamie Heaslip, Joe Schmidt, Paul O'Connell, Peter O'Mahony, Rory Best, RWC15

Posted by whiffofcordite on November 4, 2013

https://whiffofcordite.com/2013/11/04/captain-fantastic/

Say Hello to 2015

England’s game against Australia will make for intriguing viewing this weekend, not least because of the age profile of the side England have selected.  The team has an average age of sub-25 and there’s no one in the entire matchday panel older than 28.  The average number of caps is 14.  Neutrals should probably hope for an Australia win, because if this England team wins the hype will be unbearable.  World Cup Glory beckons!  Bring on the Kiwis!  SWING LOW!

Having said that, if this England team does beat an admittedly patchy Australia side, they can afford a little cautious optimism.  This is a side built with 2015 in mind.  For anyone who hasn’t seen it, it looks like this:

M Brown (Harlequins); C Ashton (Saracens), J Tomkins (Saracens), B Twelvetrees (Gloucester), M Yarde (London Irish); O Farrell (Saracens), L Dickson (Northampton), M Vunipola (Saracens), T Youngs (Leicester), D Cole (Leicester), J Launchbury (Wasps), C Lawes (Northampton), T Wood (Northampton), C Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), B Vunipola (Saracens).

Excitement abounds around the two Vunipolas.  As George Hamilton might say, the Vunipola brothers are not related.  Billy is a livewire carrier, possibly the No.8 England have been looking for since Nick Easter, er, got ignored for some reason.  And in the scrummaging merry-go-round it appears that Mako has benefitted from the new laws.  A liability at set piece in the Lions tour, if indeed he can show this to no longer be the case in the New Scrummaging World, then he can have a long test career.  Or up until the scrum engagement changes again, at least.

They’ll miss the unflappable Geoff Parling at lineout time for sure, but the second row combination of Launchbury and Lawes is bound to generate excitement.  There will be no quicker, more athletic second row in the November series, but are they men of substance?  Lawes is a product of massive overhype, but has spoken of maturing and no longer looking to make rugbydump hits, but play for the team. The jury’s still out.

On the flanks, we’d still prefer to see a little more specialisation.  Robshaw and Wood are grafters.  Both will make some yards, slow down some ball, make some tackles.  Wood will take a few lineouts.  Fine men and good players they undoubtedly are, but neither is outstanding at any one facet of the game.  He may have his detractors, but Tom Croft will be missed.  He gives England an explosive running threat out wide and coupling his absence with that of Manu Tuilagi, there’s a massive line-breaking threat removed from the side.

In the back division, England have been scratching around for years for a top class 12 (since Greenwood retired, arguably) – Stontayne Hapless never really ticked the boxes.  Billy Twelvetrees is big and strong, but also a smart footballer and a good offloader.  He could be that man.  Joel Tomkins plays outside him, and Marland Yarde is the latest speedster off the rank to be given a go on the wing.  A new one seems to explode on the scene every year before their form goes into a tailspin and disappear from view.  Will he be the new Tom Varndell/Paul Sackey/Ugo Monye/David Strettle/Topsy Ojo/Christian Wade?

With all the youthful verve on display, the key question might be: are Lee Dickson and Owen Farrell the men to put them into space?  Dickson is keeping Fotuali’i on the bench at Northampton, which counts for a huge amount, but we have never been especially impressed by him.  He tends to do a lot of flapping around the base, and can be seen waving his arms for eons before passing the ball.  Better than Ben Youngs?  Really?  Owen Farrell is a hardy competitor, but the feeling remains that until Freddie Burns makes an unarguable case for selection, England still lack a real playmaker for the role.

Anyway, the future starts here.  Possibly.  Maybe.  England have prematurely celebrated any number of false dawns since 2003.  Remember when they won in Paris with a very youthful Toby Flood and – brace yourself – Shane Geraghty cutting the French to ribbons?  The press corps got very excited. It didn’t last.

by whiffofcordite on November 1, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in England, England's missing heroes, Oooooooooooohhh, RWC15, Uncategorized

Posted by whiffofcordite on November 1, 2013

https://whiffofcordite.com/2013/11/01/say-hello-to-2015/

All The Rugby

“They didn’t play any rugby” Matt O’Connor, of Connacht, who Leinster had just narrowly beaten, 26th October 2013.

Leaving aside the unedifying nature of the Leinster head coach’s remarks about Connacht and turn that on its head. If Connacht didn’t play any rugby, then Leinster played all the rugby on the night, right? Sheesh – if that was all the rugby Leinster will play, they are in trouble. Saturday seemed to herald reality setting in around the Oar Dee Esh – Leinster are really in transition now, both in terms of personnel and gameplan. And grace of the head coach, but that’s another matter.

We have blogged about this recently, but it seems more real now after two successive home games in which Leinster played desperate rugby against two limited teams (apologies to our Western friends and any freaks who follow us in Castres).

The Scooby Doo ending after the Milky Bar Kid swanned off to Lansdowne Road to be biased in favour of Leinster players (© C. George, Cork) was that Matt O’Connor would come in, hand local favourite Ewan “Ian Madigan” Madeegan the keys to the house and continue to play the intelligent and incisive offloading and running game that Schmidty used to conquer Europe. After all, when he was hired, ‘continuity’ was the keyword bandied around by the bigwigs upstairs.  Sure, results might decline a little, but we’ll still get to the HEC/RCC (delete as per status on the financial-oblivion-o-meter) knock-out stages and the Pro12 playoffs, they said.

Now, they might still do that, but it seems they will be doing it the down and dirty way. There was a lot of pointing at Leicester Tigers try-scoring record and the surprising sight of Oooooooooh Manu Tuilagi eschewing running into someone to find actual space  when O’Connor pitched up in D4 – but the Tigers are the masters of the pragmatic and are fundamentally a team of tough forwards. O’Connor’s Leinster will be using route one as their base, and possibly adding baubles when the appropriate time comes.

And this is rankling a bit with the D4tress faithful [Aside: can one be faithful if not from Munster? Maybe faithful but not brave. Or something. JOKE] who have gotten fat on a diet of spellbinding tries and Europe-conquering under Schmidty. Don’t forget, when Cheika came in with a mandate to toughen up the pack who had been eaten up by the Liginds, there was plenty of discontentment about the grim style he adopted, even while it was acknowledged that his job was to start with the forwards. And the 2008 league win would have been a platform for absolutely nothing had they lost to Munster in *that* game in 2009.

They were rank outsiders for that game for a good reason. They had played a huge amount of dross in Europe that year – a limp defeat in Castres and a dire try-less drudge against Embra in their final game. The reason Leinster had to travel to the Stoop for the quarter-final was that they had qualified as the lowest-ranked group winner, in spite of a perfect start where they were on ten points after two tricky games – and then when they got there, the combination of manic defence, Quins butchery and a minor miracle got them through. The Liginds were a far superior team that got ambushed. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The functional league win and Stoop game have become part of the narrative, but it’s easy to forget how unhappy many Leinster fans were with the rugby being played by Cheika.

It’s easy to sympathise with O’Connor – he has an impossible succession job: his best player has left, his best remaining player is being heavily linked with a move to France, and the best player in Leinster’s (and Ireland’s) history has a maximum of twelve-ish games left in blue should he stay fit. Tough gig by anyone’s standards. But no-one at all expected Leinster to end up playing like this so quickly. Hopefully it’s a passing phase (the first this season in blue – lolzers) but it’s funny how quickly a decline can kick in – 21 months after the Munster Rolls-Royce cruised over the Galactico Ospreys side, they were a rabble being beaten senseless in Toulon and looking way, way over the hill. Leinster fans will hope that, if they do plumb the depths of those results, they at least do it while playing decent rugby. Right now, that doesn’t look a good bet.

by whiffofcordite on October 30, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Bish Bash Bosh, HEC, IRFU, Joe Schmidt, Leinster, Managerial Merry-Go-Round, Matt O'Connor

Posted by whiffofcordite on October 30, 2013

https://whiffofcordite.com/2013/10/30/all-the-rugby/

Schmidt’s Ireland

Joe Schmidt named his first proper squad yesterday and, as usual with these things, it was hard to infer much from the panel, with the big decisions being made closer to the matches themselves.  As always, it was a case of trying to recognise who wasn’t there that might be considered unlucky, and trying to map these to a narrative.

David Kilcoyne – loosehead is more or less locked up by Cian Healy, but the role of first reserve is very much open.  Kilcoyne won rave reviews (slightly overboard in our opinion) last season and forced himself into contention but has had a subdued start this campaign, and was notably lacklustre in the Edinburgh defeat.  His starting place at Munster could even be under threat from the explosive James Cronin.  Jack McGrath is preferred and it’s a form call which is good news, while the Is Tom Court In Or Out Of Favour This Week—o-meter’s dial has once again taken a huge swing, this time to the ‘Yes’ side.

Andrew Trimble – his abysmal showing against Leicester can’t have helped his chances but he improved in Montpellier and scored a try.  Nonetheless, it’s starting to feel that for all Trimble’s obvious qualities he has never really imposed himself at test level in spite of getting plenty of chances.

Luke Fitzgerald & Craig Gilroy – neither are listed as injured, but both are coming back from injuries.  One suspects that these are both on Schimdt’s radar and if they can prove their match-fitness over the coming fortnight they will be brought in.  Ireland could certainly do with them.  With Simon Zebo injured, the back three options lack a little pizazz, and both these two would provide a bit of – Gerry Thornley moment – an X-factor.  Put it another way: Dave Kearney and the Kildare Lewis Moody will not put the frighteners up any of the southern hemisphere sides.  The good news for Schmidt is that Keith Earls is playing like a dervish and has the look of a man making up for lost time after last year’s disastrous campaign.

Kieran Marmion & Paul Marshall – these two constitute the chasing pack trying to oust the older hands Isaac Boss and Eoin Reddan.  Those hoping for a progressive selection from Schmidt are entitled to be disappointed that Marmion hasn’t been picked, while Paul Marshall looks set to be one of those players who falls just short of test level despite being a good provincial player.  Besides, Isaac Boss and Eoin Reddan are not done yet.  Boss has been in very good form for Leinster this season, and while Kidney never wanted much to do with him, it was always likely that Schmidt would see him as an option.  Eoin Reddan showed his first glimpse of good form since an awful injury at the weekend, and remains the best option to change things up if Murray has an off day.

Donncha O’Callaghan – second row is the area most affected by injury, with Donnacha Ryan and Iain Henderson both out of the series.  It’s a dire loss.  We suspect they’d both have been in the 23, so it leaves a couple of test spots up for grabs.  Mike McCarthy would be the obvious choice, but he looks palpably unfit for Leinster.  Devin Toner is the form option and is having a brilliant season, but isn’t a good dovetail for Paulie.  It leaves Dan Tuohy looking like a possible wildcard.  After some fairly ordinary performances last year, his return to his most abrasive form against Montpellier looks timely indeed.  Given the paucity of outstanding options, Donncha O’Callaghan can count himself unlucky.

Elsewhere there was good news for Connacht’s Robbie Henshaw, who made the cut.  Seen by many as a future 13, he’s most likely in the squad to provide back-up to Rob Kearney, who is the only other full-back selected.  In the backrow Kevin McLaughlin is rewarded for his good form.  He’s another player who Kidney never rated especially highly, but has always been a firm favourite of Joe Schmidt, especially in away games.  Finally, James Coughlin makes the cut in what looks a somewhat curious selection, despite our longstanding admiration for him.  Having been demoted to the bench against Gloucester and had to watch Peter O’Mahony’s man of the match performance, it appears his career may be about to start winding down.  The time to pick him was surely two years ago when he was playing out of his skin.  Roger Wilson – another whose form this campaign bears little relation to last year – would have been a better pick, but it should be immaterial.  Heaslip will start and should anything happen to him – it never does, though – Peter O’Mahony should be the first line of cover.

The way the fixtures lie leaves little room for experimentation.  The Samoa match would be the obvious one to rotate in a few new faces, but because it comes first it’ll probably be treated as a dry run for the following games.  Besides, Samoa these days cannot be treated as a second-grade test.

A test team of Healy, Best, Ross, Tuohy, O’Connell, O’Mahony, O’Brien, Heaslip, Murray, Sexton, Earls, Marshall, O’Driscoll, Bowe and Rob Kearney looks likely.  The personnel will be familiar, but the acid test will be whether Joe Schmidt can transfer the same sort of gameplan that worked so well at Leinster to test level.  A fan of repetition until moves are ingrained in the muscle memory, his challenge is a lack of time with the players.  Under Kidney, at times it was impossible to work out what they were trying to do, so just getting the team a playing identity will be a starting point.  Schmidt’s Leinster were also notable for looking like they were having fun – all smiles and laughs at try time (except for His Royal Crankiness at 10 of course).  Ireland looked weary and woebegone in Kidney’s latter seasons, so injecting some energy and adventure will be something Schmidt should be well able to do.  Everyone who has worked with him has spoken of learning new things on a daily basis.  The only way is up.

by whiffofcordite on October 24, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Ireland

Posted by whiffofcordite on October 24, 2013

https://whiffofcordite.com/2013/10/24/schmidts-ireland/

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