1. Kerry continue good form
KERRY HAD A place in the Division 1 semi-finals virtually sealed prior to yesterday’s trip to Roscommon, but they got the job done to make it three games unbeaten.
Peter Keane estimated after the game he used 30 players over the first three weekends of action. He’ll be particularly pleased with the form of young midfielder Diarmuid O’Connor, who broke forward for three points and made a good case for sealing a starting spot alongside David Moran for the championship.
Paudie Clifford, drifting out from the full-forward line, played the link role well once again and got his hands on plenty of ball. Paul Geaney’s fitness continues to improve and he alternated well between the full- and half-forward lines.
“I don’t think we looked at it as if we were in a semi-final. We looked at it as a game we wanted to get more game-time into players,” said Keane afterwards.
“We made six or seven changes to the team so I think we were anxious to get fellas in and Tom started today and Stephen O’Brien started today and Mike Breen got his first start.
“Subsequently Joe O’Connor made his debut and capped it off with a fine goal towards the end. So we’re getting more game time into players’ legs and that’s what we were looking for.”
2. Water breaks affect Roscommon
Roscommon led by 0-4 to 0-3 at the first water break and kicked five of the first seven second-half scores to trail by 0-13 to 0-12 by the second one. But on both occasions, Kerry steamed cleared during the ensuing quarters.
They hit six points 15 minutes into the second quarter and 1-2 in the eight minutes after the second water break. When they sensed Roscommon were beginning to gain some momentum, Kerry had the class and threat up front to widen the gap between the sides.
Anthony Cunningham was disappointed with the nature of their final quarter showing.
“A lot of the lads would have learned a lot today,” he said. “A lot of the play we would have matched Kerry or had them on the back foot, disappointed with the last quarter, we can’t dress it up any other way. It’s a learning process for a lot of our younger players.”
3. Tyrone and Armagh clashes loom
Keane has stressed in recent weeks that one of his main priorities is to get through the league without picking up major injuries, so there’s a danger that comes with facing Tyrone two weeks out from their championship opener against Clare.
The Kingdom will have home advantage in the clash against Tyrone in two weeks as they’ve played at home just once in the three games, while the Red Hand had two games in Omagh during the round robin phase.
Tyrone’s draw with Monaghan on Saturday sent them through ahead of Armagh on scoring difference. Fergal Logan and Brian Dooher’s side don’t open their Ulster campaign against Cavan until three weeks after Kerry play Clare, so they’ll certainly be targeting a strong performance here.
Roscommon’s bid to avoid the drop sees them face Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh in a shootout to stay up. A toss will decide home advantage as both counties have played twice at home so far.
“They showed great spirit today and wanted to work, a lot of very good play, it builds us but we’re fighting for Division one survival, it’s the biggest game of the year for us, that will help us,” said Cunningham.
He added that the performance against Kerry will bring “confidence to players and training on Wednesday night will be honest. [We'll] pick up the good points from [the] Kerry [game] as well. That’s why we want to be in Division 1, exactly that and we really know there is going to be a savage battle.”
4. Selection issues
Killian Spillane didn’t make the 500km round trip to Roscommon after picking up “a bit of a nick” during the week in training according to Keane.
They also opted not to risk Jack Barry after his recovery from injury, while James O’Donoghue has returned to the training field and may come into contention in the weeks ahead.
Interestingly, Kerry goalkeeping coach Brendan Kealy deputised as sub keeper for the third straight game.
Keane was able to leave regular starters Sean O’Shea, Paul Murphy and Gavin White on the bench until the second-half, while Jason Foley gave another solid outing at full-back. The team is starting to take shape with Kerry’s attacking options looking particularly strong as their Munster opener looms.
“The most important thing is to be ready for championship,” noted Keane. “That is the priority.”
5. Roscommon response from Galway defeat
The Rossies were reasonably happy with their performance against Dublin, but their standards dropped in the six-point loss to Galway.
The Tribesmen were always going to respond after the hiding they took from Kerry, but Cunningham was disappointed with the nature of the round 2 defeat to their Connacht rivals.
This was a much-improved display and they played a good brand of football with Murtagh brothers Ciaran and Diarmuid kicking 0-6 between them. Conor Hussey and Shane Killoran also had their moments, while Conor Cox kicked a couple of nice scores.
Without playing a sweeper, they crowded out the Kerry attack at times with their half-forwards dropping deep, though at times their fouling let them down.
Still, playing in a group alongside Kerry and Dublin will have brought Roscommon on a great deal over the past few weeks.
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Didnt relaize he wss crippled, did they stop in lourdes on the way home , ffs 12 years later and still going on about it
@ger gavin: The Kiwi’s make a much bigger deal out of it than even the Irish do. It’s because they know they were in the wrong, but because they won’t apologise for it they just keep denying any wrongdoing.
@Dave Barry: the kiwis make a big deal out of it as it’s their national sport. They admit openly it was a bad tackle but to say it was intentional is hard to believe. As an ex rugby player, it’s very difficult to tackle someone nevermind intentionally hurt them.
Just another All Black ‘accident’. All respect done for these thugs who seem to not be able to win big games anymore without these ‘accidents’ After the Irish game where the last 3 ‘accidents’ happened, World Rugby came and strengthened the rules. Why? If they were just accidents.
@Range Rover: My reading of it at the time is the same as it is now. They went out to target O’Driscoll, not to injure him, but to “lay down a marker.” I know any kiwi will deny it, but he was the captain, it was two minutes in and he was barely involved in the ruck. We weren’t born yesterday. The thing that left a bad taste in my mouth wasn’t what happened on the pitch, it was the lack of response from the authorities. Accidental or deliberate, a spear tackle is illegal. The IRB were, as always, deaf, dumb and blind where their golden boys are concerned however.
Let’s stop calling these guys the all blacks. They are new Zealand. Calling them the all blacks puts them up on a pedestal. The Australians never defer to them like that. I’m no lover of the lions but Nz need to be beaten. When they put on that Jersey the kiwis think they are above the law. They spear tackle o Driscoll and it galvanised them! Piss off
@Paul K Murphy: not sure about that, whatever the scenario calling them New Zealand is a step down from the All Blacks. Which tells it own story about the deliberate mystique perpetuated over the ages about this team with supposed superhuman qualities.
Anything that eats into that illusion is a good thing for me. They get enough psychological advantage from the haka, what we call them then is our own choice and the more down to earth the better
@Paul K Murphy: the problem is that rugby at test level to use the old cliche is a game of incredibly fine margins. So any advantage no matter how small is worthy of serious consideration. Enough for Australia and the lions in 2005 to decide against calling them the All Blacks anyway.
How effective those bans were is debatable. The lions obviously got blown away but you would have to say Australia excelled against them in the 2015 WC final. And who knows in that moment in time in the build up to the final maybe that was of some psychological help for them
@Aaron Buckley: they’re a bunch off shameless cheats….let’s just turn them over first
It was wrong. But I think people should stop whinging about it now. If someone brought up a similar incident from the Heineken Cup from 12 years ago they would be told to stop being a little b*tch and move on.
@Ned Flanders:
It’s not the tackle or the players which concerns fans, it was the cover up afterwards.
This was never addressed and continues today. The all blacks in Dublin last should have got two red cards (tackles on Zebo and CJ) and a red/yellow for Henshaw.
An all black has not got a red card since 1967.
It is not just Ireland every team gets this, SA and Aus complain continually about this
@Jack Dermody: and the crucial point with the BOD tackle is no one was even cited for it afterwards. Two big men picking another man up without the ball and piledriving his neck and head into the ground from a height is the most dangerous thing you can do possibly in any sport. It was only BOD twisting himself to take most of the impact to his shoulder that saved him.
Shockingly illegally took out the lions skipper and the two boys played on the series not a bother
@Jack Dermody:
there is no doubt they are reffed differently. The refereeing of 2011 WC final was for me the biggest scandal in rugby.
@Jack Dermody: I think the simple act of NZ captain, Umaga, and Mealamu, going over to BOD while he was being stretchered off to say a straightforward “sorry, mate” might have partly defused the negative reaction afterwards. They didn’t have either the respect or the balls to do so, which immediately deleted my regard for them as persons, notwithstanding their status as players.
The only way to deal with that tackle was to wallop the bejasus out of mealemu and umaga on the pitch. They should never have walked off it. In this that lions team failed miserably. Similarly with nz in Dublin last November. If ref isnt going to take action then act yourself and fight fire with a firestorm. Lions & Ireland were too effin nice.
You got to love the All Blacks. Even after all this time there is no regret or even an admission of partial responsibility. The end justifies the means. This is why they are perennial winners and we only ever surpassed them once.
It was malicious, vindictive and almost criminal. Try to picture two men doing that to someone on the streets. It’s about the most dangerous thing you could do to someone and the fact that two were involved, not one, defeats any argument that it wasn’t deliberate. The All Blacks also wreaked havoc in Lansdowne Road and that was the last time I left a comment on the Journal. What disappoints me the most is that the management and players didn’t see it coming and didn’t know how to answer them. They’re a proud nation, the New Zealanders, but we’ve got to wise up to their pre-planned strategy of winning at all costs. I agree that the last two major tackle changes in World Rugby have come about because of New Zealand thuggery. The next time we play them, and the Lions, let’s not be naive and match them for physicality. Bob Dwyer still maintains that Duncan McCrae did nothing wrong in 2001. It’s not as if we can’t see it coming anymore. Oh, and an apology is what’s required from the All Blacks, not trying to justify the unjustifiable to this day. If they had done so, we wouldn’t still be talking about it. I won’t hold my breath.
Their tough, physical guys….other players will have to be tougher and tackle twice as hard….all them south Africans are massive men but they have to be willing to break their gut!!