Summer’s here, it’s World Cup year and that means… well, that means we can’t think of anything that rhymes with beer to signify that Ireland’s second tier players are hoping to climb the depth chart with some impressing displays in Georgia.
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the game. E-mail Sean@the42.ie, tweet @the42_ie, post a message to our Facebook wall, or leave a comment below.
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Hello, fans of summer rugby.
I’m here to talk us through the Emerging Ireland’s progress in becoming fully fledged ‘emerged’ Ireland players.
You may have already seen the team named by Allen Clarke yesterday (click through if you want the extra details around it), but here it is in full along with the XV named by our Azzuri friends.
EMERGING IRELAND: Tiernan O’Halloran (Buccaneers/Connacht); Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster), Eoin Griffin (London Irish), Stuart McCloskey (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Matt Healy (Lansdowne/Connacht); JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians/Munster), Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster); Denis Buckley (Corinthians/Connacht), Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Stephen Archer (Cork Constitution/Munster), Ben Marshall (Old Belvedere/Connacht), Billy Holland (Cork Constitution/Munster), Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) (capt), Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster), Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster).
Replacements: Dave Heffernan (Buccaneers/Connacht), Andrew Warwick (Ballymena/Ulster), Finlay Bealham (Corinthians/Connacht), Andrew Browne (Galwegians/Connacht), Eoghan Masterson (Corinthians/Connacht), John Cooney (Terenure College/Connacht), Rory Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), Peter Nelson (Malone/Ulster).
EMERGING ITALY: Alberto Chiesa (Cammi Calvisano) (capt); Filippo Guarducci (Marchiol Mogliano), Roberto Quartaroli (Rugby Viadana 1970), Giovanni Massaro (Fiamme Oro Rugby Roma), Gabriele di Giulio (Cammi Calvisano); Carlo Canna (Fiamme Oro Rugby Roma), Simone Marinaro (Fiamme Oro Rugby Roma); Federico Zani (Petrarca Padova), Luca Bigi (Petrarca Padova), George Iacob (Petrarca Padova), Federico Ruzza (Rugby Viadana 1970), Filippo Gerosa (Rugby Viadana 1970), Matteo Corazzi (Marchiol Mogliano), Emiliano Caffini (Femi CZ Rugby Rovigo Delta), Maxime Mbanda’ (Cammi Calvisano).
Replacements: Oliviero Fabiani (Zebre Rugby), Giuseppe di Stefano (Fiamme Oro Rugby Roma), Pietro Ceccarelli (Macon Rugby), Alessio Zdrilich (Cammi Calvisano), Mirko Amenta (Fiamme Oro Rugby Roma), Simone Parisotto (Valsugana Rugby Padova), Giovanni Benvenuti (Marchiol Mogliano), Sebastian Negri (Hartpury RFC).
There’s captain Rhys Ruddock along with the men he’ll come face to face with over the next week: Uruguay’s Santiago Vilaseca, Georgia’s Levan Datunashvili and today’s opponent Alberto Chiesa of Italy.
Kick-off is not until 2pm, so take a bit of time out to catch up on the rest of this morning’s rugby news here, including how Ireland Women are getting on on their quest to gain an Olympic Seven place.
Not in to news? Here’s what we’re hoping to see from Allen Clarke and Girvan Dempsey’s side in the upcoming three games.
Here we go, anthems time.
The teams are out on the field. What are you expecting from Ireland today? A win, a big win?
Ireland decked out in white shirts, white shorts and green socks for this one.
KICK-OFF:
We’re treated to a rally of kick tennis before Conway fields a high ball and opts to spin wide. Healy makes the break and Ireland stretch the play back to the right before the ball is knocked on.
Powerful blue scrum and Maxime Mbanda peels off the back to make yards upfield. Ireland play out of their 22 before Hanrahan unleashes a superb kick from just outside.
Italy managed to get the ball before support arrives in the far right corner, but Ireland come back strong and Italy are caught offside just outside their 22.
PENALTY! Ireland 3 Italy 0 (Hanrahan ’5)
No problem for the soon to be Northampton man. Straight in front of the posts.
Italy unlucky not to make more of a nice break from di Giulio. The out-half linked well with his centre and delivered a deft chip towards Ireland’s corner.
Too far on too hard ground for his chasers and Ireland’s line-out is solid.
Jack Conan lays the platform for the exit with a solid carry through traffic.
Good work from Denis Buckley to force a scrum penalty on halfway. Hanrahan kicks play up to within 10 metres.
Herring’s throw misses the target, but Ireland pounce on the ball, attack off broken play and it leads to….
TRY! Ireland 8 Italy 0 (Griffin)
Hanrahan missed the resulting conversion, but we’ll forgive him as it was a well-timed pass that put Eoin Griffin through the gap.
Lovely to see Ireland flourishing in broken play, scrambling on to the front foot despite the malfunctioning line-out.
Ireland go to the maul off the latest Italian penalty. They don’t dwell long after the collapse and go wide. McCloskey offloads well in traffic, but the overlap isn’t there and Andrew Conway is bundled in to touch as he attempts to step through three defenders.
We go back for yet another penalty, though, and an early yellow card for the Azzuri loosehead.
SIN-BIN:. Federico ZaNi
After the sin-binning Ireland knocked the line-out on, we’ve been bogged down in scrums and ‘who’s replacing the loosehead’ ever since…
TRY! Ireland 13 Italy 0 (Conway ’24)
Made in Munster.
JJ Hanrahan delivers a lovely cross-field kick into the arms of Andrew Conway, this time his step and finish yields a try.
Hanrahan is unable to convert again, another tough angle.
TRY! Ireland 20 Italy 20 (McCloskey ’27)
Scintillating break from Hanrahan.
The Kerryman brok the line in his own half a blazed a trail deep in to the Italian 22. Once caught, he released a fine pass to McCloskey. The centre, like all good one, busting a gut to stay on the 10′s shoulder.
If you’re not watching this yourself, rest assured we’ll try and get some footage on the site for you today. So far, the Georgian RFU’s feed has only given highlights of Eoin Grffin’s try – a decent try, but the worst of the three so far.
The penalty count just swinging back close to parity now as Ireland begin to lose a bit of discipline. Jack Conan pinged on the edge of Italy’s 22 there.
HALF-TIME! Ireland 20 Italy 0
Matt Healy broke away and looked to have put the perfect kick chase in, but his second touch off the left was too heavy and the ball boomed 40 metres and across the end line.
After a not too brief stream malfunction, we’re back up and running in the second half.
Slow start to the half with Ireland having to battle out from their own line, but a penalty on halfway gives a platform in the 22.
Not straight.
That’s a killer. Italy opt for line-out though, so the position is still decent.
Hanrahan passes up a penalty 30 metres out, directly in front. Proper order, this game is about margin of victory no. No sense in being coy.
The line-out is not our friend again. So more of this…
We’ve got an all new Irish front row now and Eoghan Masterson has replaced captain Rhys Ruddock.
Here comes John Cooney in to the game. Luke McGrath has had a good game, particularly good service for the opening try.
Conway is also coming out, Peter Nelson on in his stead with Tiernan O’Halloran shifting to the right wing.
Aaaaaand as the action slows to a crawl the replacements keep on coming. Andrew Browne on for Billy Holland.
Right, rugby: Italy have aline-out in Ireland’s 22. Those remaining on the field will be taking immense pride in that zero against Italy’s name.
The Azzuri penalised for handling on the ground. Hanrahan clears and that gives us time to tell you all about A REPLACMENT!
McCloskey off, Scannell on.
Ireland making a late bid for a fourth try here, but Italy’s defenders are fanning wide well and denying Matt Healy the space he loves to thrive in.
Ireland win a penalty on the 22, so we’ll go again from the maul.
TRY! Ireland 25 Italy 0 (O’Halloran ’80)
More positives than negatives to take from the game, the win could of went to either team, and remember Lancaster is in his third season Joe’s in his first so Ireland have plenty of room for improvement. To run New Zealand so close and narrowly lose to a very good English side in Twickenham in your first six games is good going in my book, onwards and upwards the future is looking good for Irish rugby.
I don’t think Lancaster cares if he wins the six nations. He only has eyes for the World Cup with a group of talented “young” players.
Ireland only seem to want to win the six nations with the backbone of what has been there for ten years.
Can’t see the Italian game bringing in much new blood. Maybe Ryan on the bench but I don’t think much else.
Watch Lancaster at the final whistle….he cares
Ken he cares but your right to an extent! Lancaster has one eye on the World Cup
Ken you’re right. He cares enough, but more so in how it sets up preparation for the World Cup.
Nations such as England and France have their eyes on a bigger prize, the World Cup, and tend to use the Six Nations as a platform for that. It’s really a glorified training exercise for them.
Ask French and English rugby fans if they would rather have four Grand Slams or one World Cup, and most will opt for the latter.
Lessons learned. Overall, it was an excellent match and the English really were something else to watch. We’ll pay the French with Saxon coin in a few weeks time.
A draw would have been a fairer result. Joubert decisions in the end let us down. A clear penalty not given near the end was crucial.
I’m really disappointed that this overheated babble about Joubert has distracted from Irish weaknesses and English strengths on the day. That tackle looks a lot worse when you watch it on endless replay. The man’s a pretty fair ref and this traditionally isn’t a sport where we moan about the ref in the first place.
Fergal, yes Ireland had some problems on the day, notably sextons kicking. In the end however, it came down to a bounce of the ball and refereeing errors. England by no means were better than Ireland. Plus it is very much in Irelands hands still to win the This tournament outright.
It’s not so much the Farrell tackle that is the issue re Joubert. It is the hand use in the scrum (used by a white player to flick the ball back) and the ridiculous positions of the English players when we mauled inside their 22. Watch it again. Each should have been a penalty to us but Joubert chose to not notice these blatant infringements happening right in front of him, which is unacceptable.
Hilary – the hand in the scrum DID NOT happen right in front of Joubert, he was on the other side of the scrum – it was only on the reverse TV angle we could see it, not the angle from Joubert’s side. It happened on the side that, mon dieu, Mr. Poite was policing!
Joubert has form as a home towner. Remember his disgraceful performance in the World Cup final, absolutely robbed France.
This year’s 6 Nations is turning into the BOD farewell tour. Would any other serious rugby nation allow this to happen? I admire BOD hugely both as a player and as a person however Ireland is 18 months away from a World Cup that he will not play in. This means that the first opportunity his successor will get to play in a meaningful match is 6 months before the tournament takes place. Maybe his successor isn’t Irish-qualified yet hence the desire to run BOD out there no matter what?
@Keano
Completely agree with you. It certainly seems like the long goodbye. O’Driscoll has been the best player ever to wear the green but he seems to be calling the shots in terms of him playing or not.
He missed training last week because he was sick. Yet he starts. POC was sick before Scotland game and didn’t play.
Is it more about breaking records or been the best choice at outside centre?
@ Frank
Is that all you can contribute?
The comments section is for people’s opinion. How about you say you don’t agree rather than calling someone an idiot?
O’Driscoll was sick at the start of the week, where as O’Connell took ill the night before the match and didn’t sleep, what an idiotic comparison to make completely undermines the legitimacy of your argument.
@Sean
All I’m saying is, if a player other than O’Driscoll was in the same situation I think the chances of them playing would be far less.
Is there pressure on the management team to pick him even if he is not 100% as it is his last 6 nations?
As I said O’Driscoll has been the best ever player to wear the green shirt but he is not going to be around for long more. Is it right to pick him to start if not 100%.
Is all conjecture anyway none of us where there when these decisions were made.
@Mark no matter how you put your point across no matter how correct you are people will think you an idiot.
The 11th commandment is Brian O’Driscoll is god, can not be replaced, is infallible, he can walk on water.
Ireland may win the 6 nations but as is the story every RWC the other nations will take the big spoils.
Brian O’Driscoll should have graciously stood down in 2013.
Joe Schmidt missed an opportunity to build a squad for the RWC by focusing on winning the six nations.
@ Chris
Well done. Personal abuse because you disagree with my views. Sorry for offending you. I’ll leave one this with the Moderators.
7 comments in and no mention of Zebo!?!
Whoops!
So refreshing to hear actual opinions from the Irish manager, a welcome change from Kindney’s waffling
What? Ireland lost? I never would have known with the lack of coverage!! Surely The Journal doesn’t need to milk this story anymore? How are the Italians, who’s a threat, will the French game be a championship decider?
It hasn’t even been a week since the match. It’s still fair game for commentary and reporting.
I know it’s been less than a week but I can’t understand why Sexton and Murray’s brain farts during the game need to be reported on over and over again. Surely The Journals lazy attempt at a witch hunt could be time better spent offering alternatives to how Ireland can still win the championship?
England butchered three try opportunities .????
The harsh reality was that if England had a 10 with a bit of vision; who wasn’t so play-by-numbers; we’d have played as well as we did and lost by 10-15. Right now, in attack we are playing against our opponents AND our own midfield; compounded by a lack of pace out wide which might compensate.
If me Granny had balls she’d be my Grandad, you could make the same sort of arguments for Ireland, if our centers threatened the line as well as they defend or if our 10 played to his full potential we may have won by 10 points, we lost by a score in a tight game against the English side that we played on the day, they are the facts, any if’s are completely pointless.
That 53rd minute scrum had England in trouble and going backwards… Murray missed a tackle and then got his defensive line wrong… two many missed tackles (22?)..
Do we really have to keep picking over the entrails of this game, its getting tiresome, its over finished,lets move on we have work to do, lets focus ahead to Italy and the French game which although formidable is not as daunting a task as in prevous years.
There were positives, both the scrum and line out were perfect as of won all our own throws and feeds. We are probably the strongest in the 6 nations by some distance in that area at the moment. But the negative is that we just didn’t seem to be threatening enough in the backs. I know we’re missing Earls Bowe Fitzgerald and Zebo and Marshall at 12 might make a difference re go forward ball. But we just didn’t look dangerous in those areas against England.
Actually think it’s an excellent article and nice to see JS give us some real insights and reality into his thinking …
Lot to be positive about… Lot to work on but I feel the team are a different mindset now
French game is actually a huge one now for both sides but again we are away n while French looked a shambles we all know how they turn these situations around
Agree with the comments on BOD n really feel we are wasting development time for his replacement …. That’s not a critisism of bod btw …
Despite the bod topic i would not buy into Ireland don’t have an eye on the WC….looking at the potential of this side n a hot therm hemisphere tournament I would imagine JS is very aware of it….. Think we tend to forget how short a time he is in the job
Yawn……get over it…..
In the past now lads…on to the next match..