posted May 16, 2008

I agree with what Knox said about Howlett... the guy is not being used in Munster. The ball rarely goes past Mafi and Tipoki when it get past O Gara, nevermind out to the wing.

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posted May 16, 2008

Generally I agree with what you are saying.

With Trimble I just get the impression he has reached a plateau and hopefully Williams will be able to bring him on a bit further and DK as well.

The ROG/Humphries debate has always excercised minds and its been a good competitive area in the past.

Heres hoping ROG steps up to the plate for the next three games. They have nothing to lose in NZ/AUS so it might work out for them (I can hope anyway).

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posted May 16, 2008

Diom - he has scored three tries in 10 games with more to come. From what I have seen they are working him more and more into games and he has had a lot more influence on games especially the HC games (Clermont, Wasps, Gloucester and Saracens).

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posted May 16, 2008

IMO rog is the best OH in the NH. In high pressure situations he would be my first choice OH in the world.
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This is exactly the kind of delusion Knox was talking about!!
Was the RWC'07 not a high pressure situation?

It pains me to say it, but England alone have at least three OHs who are better than ROG! He's one dimensional, unathletic (relatively speaking) and bottled it when Ireland needed him at the RWC!

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posted May 16, 2008

Belfast, how did O'Gara bottle it at the world cup? The whole team was atrocious, the forwards failed to secure any kind of platform, the backs, apart from O'Driscoll, looked totally impotent and all of this resulted from a completely ridiculous approach to the world cup by the management. O'Gara was very poor at the world cup but there is nothing any other outhalf in the world could have done to change Ireland's fortunes.

O'Gara has 'bottled' it at times in the past for Ireland; France in Paris in 2006 is a good example, as is his complete loss of discipline against Wales in 2005. As I've said earlier, on those occassions, O'Sullivan failed by not making a change. The trouble is that this is not the O'Gara we've seen in the past couple of years, since Munster won the HC. He hasn't bottled it on big occassions since then; in fact, it was O'Gara who almost single handedly brought us back into the game against France in 2007 - at the time, in the first match at Croke Park, following a disasterous start, there could not have been more pressure and yet it drew out one of O'Gara's finest performances.

Unlike most Ireland fans, I see Hook as the Lions out-half come next season. I don't think O'Gara is the best outhalf in the Northern Hemisphere and his drop in form since last season is a very deep source of worry that few Ireland fans will ignore if it continues through the summer and autumn. That said, a lot of the flack O'Gara takes is totally misrepresented by fans whom, I fear, don't see a lot of the good things he does on a rugby pitch.

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posted May 16, 2008

RE the lions OH...after the June and November tests it will be interesting to see how the main protagonists go (Hook, ROG, Cipriani and Wilkinson).

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posted May 16, 2008

It will be an interesting outcome. Ultimately, my own opinion is that Wilkinson is past it. He'll be doing well to break back into the England side if Cipriani can maintain the form he showed against Ireland. That said, Cipriani is inexperience and has made a fair few errors. O'Gara's main issue may come from the fact that the Ireland pack could go be going backwards at a rate of knots but he'll need to improve in my opinion. I'd say Hook is in pole position at the moment; he should finally take over from Jones in a fulltime manner over this summer, is playing in a team that is doing well and, all things equal, is likely to be the one that comes out of the next season on top.

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posted May 16, 2008

The only thing with Hook is his game management. Cipriani has that already. Even Gatland started Jones for the Irish and French games because he knew it was his best option.

The only thing about the June tests for Ireland is that they have nothing to lose will be complete underdogs and could possibly cause an upset. Unfortunately (as Keith Wood has been giving out for years) this suits the Irish mentality.

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posted May 18, 2008

Just a couple of comments to restore a little balanced reality here and remove the sensationalism
· Knox comments were well off the mark by anyone who really understands rugby, as exemplified by the fact that Howlett has had the opportunity to play only 7/8 – 4 tries in some of the conditions (a number of deluges) and difficulty of game (away QF/SF) has been a great performance. He has been utilised effectively in both scoring and creating chances. As well as some excellent defensive reading of the game.
· Munster (for anyone who watches them) have regularly been playing more than a 10 man team when the conditions prevail (e.g. against Clermont and Gloucester away, but they play to the conditions……what sensible outhalf would try and play an expansive game from inside his own half in the pouring rain)
· Both wingers scored the two tries against Gloucester, including Howlett.
· The Munster and ROG knockers tend to focus on the times that ROG has not been at his best e.g. the RWC 07 when Ireland as a whole under performed and I agree against Wales in 05). However ROG has performed superbly over 8 years at the top with Munster and Ireland (100% kicking at Cardiff in the HC final under immense pressure) where he has always been a high performer and with Ireland in particular - well noted for getting Darcy and BOD in space with accurate skip passing. ROG ahs often rebounded to a poor start with a superb remainder to the game –a something his predecessor DH certainly would not do – remember England v Ireland in the first game after the world cup where he missed an easy kick early on and then went on to play superbly
· How good was O’Gara against Wasps in their 19-3 win…. where Munster had to play 10man rugby to suit the conditions.
· Hook is a better centre than OH, but to say he is better than ROG is a little naive and he has only shown flashes of excellence.
· Re Cippriani; I thought he was superb against Munster at Thomond right through the game as he was against Ireland. With a little bit more international experience (not much mind, he will be No 1 in the world if he keeps the small bit of arrogance in check)
· All successful teams get knocked because they are successful, but one would hope credit is given where due and credence not given to the more sensationalist comments without any foundation. Knox comments might be written on the wall of the Munster dressing room in Cardiff I suspect……

To be fair to all players, a sense of balance should prevail.

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posted May 18, 2008

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/dont-let-knox-hype-hide-valid-criticisms-1379130.html

My sentiments exactly.
Why shoot the messenger?
We should be looking at the IRFU structure itself. That is where the real problem lies. It's not healthy in the professional era.
How do we dismantle it in its present form? Or is that too cheeky a question?

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