Irish Rugby

[spurs mental]

At the moment, could probably not be much better.

Just beaten South Africa, and finished the season unbeaten. :dance: Six Nations and Grand Slam too.

Bring on the World Cup 2011. Must have big ambitions for it now.

Oh, and Johnny Sexton, what an introduction to international rugby. Cracking performance against the world champions, kicking all 15 points.

 

[TheChosenOne]

A delight to watch !

 

[werty]

Not to mention the current Heineken Cup and Magners League champions. We have strength in depth now and plenty of experience. Pity the World Cup isn't this year.

Kearney is a beast.

 

[al_pacino]

Ireland were really good, and both teams should be congratulated for playing good runnung Rugby.

 

[werty]

I didn't think South Africa did much running, except when they got into our 22. Steyn was kicking long all day and Kearney ate everything up. When their other No.10 came on(his name escapes me) they ran it a bit more, but in general they played a kicking game. And a kicking game to Kearney isn't a smart thing to do, because he's excellent under the high ball.

My only concern with Ireland is our scrum. South Africa destroyed it in the first half and it wasn't until they moved Smith to loosehead that we started to get it even.

 

[spurs mental]

Not to mention the current Heineken Cup and Magners League champions. We have strength in depth now and plenty of experience. Pity the World Cup isn't this year.

Kearney is a beast.

I'm pretty sure, if the World Cup was in the next few months, we would go extremely far in it. Definitely good enough to get to the final.

Hopefully there'll be a couple more special players coming through in the next year. Kidney seems to like giving good youngsters a go, like Sexton and Earls.

He seems to have given the players that extra mental edge we sort of missed under O'Sullivan.

 

[Bromavinci]

Cant fault the state of Irish rugby at the moment, but the key is the 6 nations as a barometer of aspirations for the WC. I do think they were lucky against both Australia and South Africa but at the very top level, that can be all you need sometimes.

The front row is a concern, although Healy looks like he will develop into a long term player, like Clohessy did and Hayes currently, and Flannery is handy enough BUT will Hayes still be capable in 2 more years? Probably..

Sexton has emerged as a genuine option and will push O'Gara for the No. 10 for a while. 12 is a concern, I dont really rate Wallace, and D'Arcy is handy enough but not brilliant. 13 - well BOD, 'nuff said. Plenty of options for the back three and Kearney can lay claims to being the worlds best 15 at the moment. Also plenty of oomph in the back row and O'Connell and Callaghan are more than good enough. There is a small concern at the depth at 4 and 5 I feel. O'Leary / Reddan / Stringer at 9, all good enough.

As long as O'Connell / O'Driscoll / Kearney are fit then the spine is there. There is depth but not alot of it and injuries could scupper things.

The most important thing at the moment is to build on this fantastic year and get the scrum sorted (well, its the front row really).