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Kick off is at 12.30pm.
Today's #LFC side to face @ManUtd...#MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/xKcFzLA12Q
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 10, 2018
Three changes to #MUFC's starting XI for today's game v Liverpool...
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 10, 2018
🔴 #MUNLIV ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/2OkVVmxhff
So, today’s teams are:
Man United: de Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Bailly, Young, McTominay, Matic, Mata, Rashford, Lukaku, Sanchez.
Subs: Lindelof, Lingard, Carrick, Romero, Shaw, Fellaini, Darmian.
Liverpool: Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Milner, Can, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Wijnaldum, Gomez, Henderson, Lallana, Mignolet, Solanke, Matip.
Now, the obvious BIG BIG news from today’s teams sees Paul Pogba absent from Jose Mourinho’s starting XI. The French midfielder is carrying an injury and has been replaced by Juan Mata, who has enjoyed a decent record against Liverpool in seasons of late.
#MUFC are in the building! pic.twitter.com/aE9pNIjrg8
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 10, 2018
Right, how do we see this one going then? Despite the huge rivalry that exists between these two sides, it must be acknowledged that these games between Man United and Liverpool have often failed to meet expectation. However with the prospect of second place at stake — plus all the usual bragging rights — it has all the usual promise and expectation of a great game between two highly-competitive and determined teams.
Who’s going to win this?
Poll Results:
A little over 20 minutes to go as supporters continue to make their way into Old Trafford.
Here we go, Reds! Our #MUNLIV coverage is now live!
— LFCTV (@LFCTV) March 10, 2018
📺 Follow all the the build-up, match commentary and post-match reaction from #MUNLIV ➡️ https://t.co/5inQ4EGhy2 pic.twitter.com/US2lZlStLO
Following their progression to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, a win today would cap off a stellar week for Liverpool. They would not only go second in the Premier League but leapfrog their rivals here today in the process on their own patch.
That said, the last four meetings between these sides have all ended level pegging. Add to that Jose Mourinho’s impressive home record at Old Trafford this season and it looks quite evenly matched.
Use all the cliches you need, it’s all to play for!
Final preparations. 👊#MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/89zkERTdl3
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 10, 2018
Kick-off: We’re underway at Old Trafford!
A quiet opening first couple of minutes on the pitch as Liverpool enjoy possession around the back, passing it to and fro, but it’s a raucous atmosphere off it as both sets of supporters make themselves heard this afternoon. A cracking atmosphere indeed.
Antonio Valencia is on the receiving end of a poor challenge from Emre Can, as the German defender attempts to dribble the ball out from the back through midfield. His touch is too heavy though and he collides into the Man United right back.
Emre Can of course is making his 100th Premier League start for Liverpool today. This overhead kick against Watford is undoubtedly a standout memory for the midfielder — he will struggle to score many better.
Still a very quiet opening period after 10 minutes of play. Neither side has offered a shot at goal thus far, as both sets of players still seem to be trying to suss one another out. Cagey.
Liverpool earn the game first corner and with Virgil van Dijk prodding and probing inside the area, the set-piece promises a threat. But Mohamed Salah’s cross spins across the box to no-one in particular.
GOAL! MAN UNITED 1-0 LIVERPOOL (RASHFORD 14)
14' - GOOOOAAAALLLLLLL! #MUFC 1 Liverpool 0.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 10, 2018
What. A. Finish! @MarcusRashford #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/BqjFIgEmaq
Man United have the lead! It’s route one to the extreme but you cannot deny what a stunning finish came at the end of it from the right foot of Marcus Rashford!
He gets on the end of a David de Gea kick-out punted up the pitch, cuts inside beautifully before curling an audacious strike beyond the fingertips of Loris Karius to make it 1-0. Excellent finish from the forward.
The #MUFC forward finds space behind the visitors' defence, shifts the ball onto his right foot and rifles home a magnificent goal. YES YES YES! #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/AEoEbG2B8Q
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 10, 2018
The game has exploded into life suddenly. Juan Mata almost puts Rashford in for his second in quick succession, but bearing down on goal he has the ball deflected out wide and away.
“They sense blood,” says Gary Neville in commentary, as Jose Mourinho’s men up the ante.
Chance! At the other end a fine delivery into the box from James Milner sees van Dijk head ever no narrowly wide of the post. He did so well to get away from his marker and get some serious neck muscle behind his effort, but it failed to hit the target.
GOAL! MAN UNITED 2-0 LIVERPOOL (RASHFORD 24)
24' - GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL! #MUFC 2 Liverpool 0.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 10, 2018
GET IN! @MarcusRashford strikes again! #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/rPni0VBAcn
Manchester United are in dreamland! Marcus Rashford has his second of the afternoon and once again it’s a fine finish with his right boot curled beyond the reach of Karius.
It’s some calamitous defending from Dejan Lovren and Virgil van Dij as Romelu Lukaku bullies them inside the box. The ball falls on a plate to Rashford and he does so well to slot the ball under the dive of Karius, who had himself in all sorts of knots.
That’s what it means to David de Gea.
Marcus Rashford seems to be involved in everything so far this afternoon. The forward receives a yellow card for a late sliding challenge which caught James Milner late.
Chance for a third as United continue to flood bodies forward at any given chance. Space opens up in front of Romelu Lukaku 25 yards from goal, however his neat through ball aimed for team-mate Rashford running behind is intercepted at the last second.
Liverpool try to get going in the final third but frustration is breeding more frustration for Jurgen Klopp’s side. A good opening presents itself with United momentarily backs-against-the-wall, however Sadio Mane’s attempted through ball went no-where but towards David de Gea — who gathered easily.
It’s been a productive afternoon in front of goal for this man. Will he grab a third and complete his hat-trick?
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain receives a yellow card as Scott McTominay almost broke away for a counter-attack.
It was poor from the Liverpool man, who gave away possession sloppily. Seeing no other option he dragged his opposite man down and goes in the book as a result.
35: @Alex_OxChambo is booked for a late challenge on McTominay.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 10, 2018
[2-0]#MUNLIV
Close! Juan Mata almost puts this game to bed from close range. Alexis Sanchez picks the Spaniard out with a brilliant chipped cross behind enemy lines. With no marker in sight Mata attempts an acrobatic effort inside the box, but he drags it inches wide of the target.
It is turning into one of *those* performances from Lovren.
— Rory Smith (@RorySmith) March 10, 2018
Andy Robertson with a powerful low cross, but Ashley Young is on hand to clear it away. That easily could have been a way back into this game for Klopp’s side, but Young shows great awareness to clear the danger.
He really has found a new lease of life as a converted fullback over the last couple of seasons under Jose Mourinho.
There will be two minutes of additional time to come at the end of the first half.
HALF-TIME: MAN UNITED 2-0 LIVERPOOL
#MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/5bnS293w0G
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 10, 2018
HT: #MUFC 2 Liverpool 0.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 10, 2018
The Reds are in control at Old Trafford thanks to @MarcusRashford's well-taken double. #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/ITBnWGMJoV
The first half belongs to Rashford and Man Utd#MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/YQDOdX7udm
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 10, 2018
Well, what do we make of that? Marcus Rashford’s brace has Man United in the ascendency and in control of this game. It was a lax opening period before the forward’s brilliantly-taken opening goal exploded the game into life.
It was a David de Gea punt up field, but you just cannot take away the fact it was a brilliant finish from Rashford to curl the ball powerfully beyond Loris Karius.
He added a second not long later — 10 minutes later actually — following some calamitous defending from Virgil van Dijk and Dejan Lovren to allow the ball fall on a plate to the striker, with Rashford again sticking the ball beyond Karius with a good low finish.
Will Jose Mourinho’s side add to their tally after the break and make second spot in the Premier League their own, or will Liverpool turn this around?
Liverpool come out the blocks right from the off in the second half. Some tenacious work from Mohamed Salah earns his side a corner — the winger delivers the cross, but Virgil van Dijk heads over the top of David de Gea’s crossbar.
Jurgen Klopp’s side continue to press forward here in search of a way back into this game. One goal will halve the deficit but it’s proving tricky to break down their opponents so far despite the presence of Mane, Salah and Firmino — who have been uncharacteristically quiet.
A good spell from Liverpool yields a host of shots from range, all of which are blocked down. A couple of penalty shouts have also come from the away end for handball, but none are given.
Replays show a ball into the box did in fact strike the arm of Antonio Valencia, but referee Craig Pawson waved play on without a doubt in his mind.
It’s been a frustrating afternoon for the visitors as they remain two goals down with a little over half an hour remaining.
Substitution for Liverpool: Adam Lallana replaces Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
65: @officialAL20 is introduced...
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 10, 2018
➡️ Lallana
⬅️ Oxlade-Chamberlain
[2-0]#MUNLIV
Jurgen Klopp will hope the creative flair of Adam Lallana can get Liverpool going in the final third with time running out. Mane, Salah and Firmino have been off their game and failed to produce any sort of the magic which has been their hallmark this season.
Liverpool have produced 10 shots so far, but none of which you could say have properly tested David de Gea between the sticks.
GOAL! MAN UNITED 2-1 LIVERPOOL (BAILLY OWN GOAL 66)
GET IN!!! COME ON LADS! #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/M3NIWn0dji
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 10, 2018
Liverpool are on the scoresheet! Klopp’s men have halved the deficit but it’s another Man United name on the board. A disastrous flick from Eric Bailly sees the defender turn the ball into his own net.
It was a low, dangerous cross from Sadio Mane along the left wing and, attempting to clear his lines, the Ivory Coast international only succeeded in beating his own goalkeeper with an awkward slice of the ball.
Substitution for Man United: Marouane Fellaini replaces Marcus Rashford.
68' - Here comes our first change of the afternoon! @MarcusRashford rightly receives a standing ovation as he makes way for @Fellaini, who is on for his 150th appearance for #MUFC. #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/5DxLIYJblj
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 10, 2018
Now then, this certainly will be an intriguing last 20 minutes. United had done so well to shut their opponents out and limit their chances at goal, but seemingly out of nothing Liverpool are firmly back in the thick of this.
Meanwhile Marcus Rashford is brought off to a standing ovation. He will not get a derby day hat-trick and is replaced by the more defence-minded approach of Marouane Fellaini in the middle of the park.
Mourinho wants to see this out as a 2-1 win.
Eric Bailly is the first United player to score an own goal at home against #LFC since John O'Shea in September 2004.
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) March 10, 2018
Live: https://t.co/6mMBxk1vg2 #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/RvZHbs1azk
Heated tensions now as Dejan Lovren and Marouane Fellaini clash twice with some rough challenges from the Liverpool defender. Jurgen Klopp is clearly animated on the sideline and exits his technical area shouting and waving his arms. The German is told to clam down by the referee and play continues.
Substitution for Liverpool: Georginio Wijnaldum replaces Trent Alexander-Arnold.
80: Trent makes away for Gini...
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 10, 2018
➡️ Wijnaldum
⬅️ Alexander-Arnold
[2-1]#MUNLIV
A half-chance for Man United as the hosts earn a free-kick. The ball is crossed into the box and duly recycled before being crossed a second time — Juan Mata almost gets on the end of it but his effort is blocked down by a host of Liverpool bodies inside the penalty area.
The game is finely balanced but still quite slow and stop-start. This will suit Mourinho as he attempts to wear down the clock with another substitution, but Jurgen Klopp is still instructing his side to go for the jugular and grab what would be a late, late equaliser here.
Substitution for Man United: Jesse Lingard replaces Juan Mata.
88' - @JuanMata8 makes way for @JesseLingard. #MUFC #MUNLIV
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 10, 2018
Liverpool still pressing forward with three minutes to go. They are pushing all men forward in search of a leveller. A late corner is earned and Loris Karius asks his manager’s permission to join the attack, but he is told to stay put.
Three corners in quick succession for Liverpool. The tension inside Old Trafford is unrelenting with a minute to go now.
FULL-TIME: MAN UNITED 2-1 LIVERPOOL
Rashford's first-half brace proves the difference. #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/uHwU3sr6D1
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 10, 2018
FT: #MUFC 2 Liverpool 1.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 10, 2018
What a win! #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/c0DTvn0Lvg
FULL-TIME Man Utd 2-1 Liverpool@MarcusRashford inspires the Red Devils to an excellent victory at Old Trafford #MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/I4wrNBlL7i
— Premier League (@premierleague) March 10, 2018
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I’d like to thank the Ulster fans, who whilst no doubt disappointed to have no representation in the team, have behaved with perfect decorum and good grace. It’s awesome to see them row in behind Ireland as true fans rather than whinging on social media for days. There are some lessons in that for others
.
@Daniel O’Keeffe: so we don’t need that rubbish song Irelands Call on Saturday so ??
@tom o neill: I’m not sure why you’re bringing anthems into this conversation, a topic that I personally feel Irish rugby should not touch with a barge pole. The Irish team proudly represents all traditions on our shared island of Ireland.
It’s a testament to the commitment and good character of Ulster fans, that despite Hendo and Stu both having strong claims to be in the 23, I have seen no outrage or claims of provincial bias.
Compare and contrast with the response of fans of another province because Frisch decided he wanted to nip home for a short visit.
@Daniel O’Keeffe: agreed, lots of talent that isnt getting its opportunity on the international stage due to poor provincial coaching
@Daniel O’Keeffe: any chance to take a dig :-)
@Mark Murphy: I posted back row my entire life. I might be in the worst 100 rugby players in the country, but POM and I have always agreed, if you can give someone a rib tickler at the bottom of a ruck them you take it.
@Daniel O’Keeffe: POM and yourself… You couldn’t have chosen a better role model, that’s for sure.
@Mark Murphy: both mediocre at best talents. I can only hope he follows my lead into retirement. He’s better at gardening than I am, but I’ve managed to convince Durex to start researching the Munster fanbase to inform their new extra extra sensitive condom range.
@Daniel O’Keeffe: while they’re at it perhaps they could come up with a prawn sandwich flavor prophylactic sheath for yourselves to enjoy?
@Mark Murphy: I’m not sure I need a flavoured prophylactic Mark, anything I put in my mouth, I’m very sure isn’t diseased. Maybe if you had hadn’t didn’t god knows how many generations at the auld inbreeding, ye could have the same confidence?
@Daniel O’Keeffe: you can never be too careful with that rent a fan crowd up there… Just saying… Safety first!
@Mark Murphy: right you are Mark. Nothing worse than seeing a back row giving away a penalty for dropping to his knees around the tackle. That Coombes is a right divil for it.
We may pick this up on Sunday, I need to give my full attention to the Scots ( and Saffa Scots) until then. There is one lad on twitter who keeps doubling or quits every time we play screaming “Finn is the best”. I’m afraid I might have Special Branch make a visit for exploiting a Scot of near human intelligence at times. Bis bald.
@Mark Murphy: ps that prawn cocktail riposte was top notch. I didn’t think you’d have as good a response to the durex dig as that. I reckon it’ll be a good URC and European Cup knockouts here in the comments section.
@Daniel O’Keeffe: haha!!
Harsh on Henderson, the line-out improved when he came on against England
@Noel Roe: Thought he might get a start alright.
@Noel Roe: Someone had to be dropped for the 5-3 bench and Baird is ahead at the moment in terms of impact
@Paul Ennis: as a 6, certainly. Baird as an international lock, however, is not something we know that much about. It seems clear that Leo Cullen sees him primarily as a 6 now (although that may be at least partly to do with Leinster’s pipeline in the respective positions)
@Noel Roe: Henderson should be starting if performance is meaningful. What does showing loyalty to players who don’t perform say to the wider squad?
hmmm whereas usually I do think there should be accountability for a poor performance, in this instance it’s the right call and expecting the pack in particular to bounce back this week. Let’s go Ireland. Side note, how on earth is Nash clear to play, surely that is dangerous.
@Carmine Lorenzo: balacoune should b in
@Gary Galligan: Nope Nash there on merit. And he’s obviously been medically cleared so that’s not an issue
@Gary Galligan: RB is not on form at the moment and hasn’t been playing for Ulster either.
@Carmine Lorenzo: astounded he’s included. Couldn’t move after the knock last week. Mad he’s somehow cleared to play again???
@Brenda Collins: yea. I am no medic but….
@Brenda Collins: Do you seriously not understand he has access to a full medical team? The players job is to play, the coaches job is to pick the strongest team available and the medical determine who is fit. With the wellbeing of the player the highest priority.
@Carmine Lorenzo: yeah agreed , no clue how Nash got cleared in this day and age
@Gary Galligan: no, he offers nothing in defence and drifts out of the game. He has gone backwards over the last 2 seasons
@bee bop: if the players well being is the highest priority then Nash would be stood down regardless of what the medics said. He was prone on the pitch, visibly distressed. The test they undergo are far from comprehensive. Sometimes coaches should just do the right thing and not use the cover of the medics.
@Gary Galligan: Methinks this is a tongue in cheek comment?
@Gary Galligan: He’s too old for the under 20s
@stu nolan: hahahaha “regardless of what the medics said”. Have fun collecting your Darwin award.
@Brenda Collins: Yeah it was an almighty whack. Freeman is one of those 100kg+ and over 6 foot wingers. I know medically he’s been cleared, but I think surely there must be a longer stand down if you fail a HIA. It just smacks of inconsistency seeing as Frawley also failed a HIA and he’s been stood down and gone back to Leinster. Regardless, I suppose we must have complete faith in the medical teams and trust them that they and the management have the player’s best welfare at heart. I predict Nash to get a brace of tries this weekend ;)
@stu nolan: unless you have a medical background and experience of Head and brain injury and assessment they I would imagine the experts who have passed Nash may just know a little more than you on this matter.
@Gary Galligan: against Duhan VDM?? No chance. Same reason Larmour was unlikely to be picked had Nash not made it – would probably have been Ringrose.
@chris mcdonnell: interestingly World Rugby’s own chief medical advisor resigned over the HIA and return to play protocols being farcical.
The Irish medical team are starting to develop a habit of leaving concussed players out there longer than they should be (e.g. Frawley at the weekend, Loughman previously against the Maori being a high profile one).
@chris mcdonnell: because a medical professional has never made a mistake before? More importantly, why take a risk? What’s there to lose giving the lad more time to recover from a knock that took him out of the game? The robustness of the HIA process is not exactly watertight, and is pretty arbitrary.
We could all see what happened to Nash, how he was after, how he was stopped from playing on. I can’t say I didn’t see the collision and aftermath, then shrug and say “but hey, the medics must be 100% certain he’s grand”.
You would hope th IRFU would be more enlightened on this.
@stu nolan: so we should discard medical experts and go by how it looked on TV
@Gary Galligan: are you having a laugh
Harsh on McCloskey
@Gary Galligan: if we started the full ulster 15 you’d say the next 8 would be on the bench.
@Gary Galligan: Yes but it would have been even harsher to leave Ringrose out
@Paul Ennis: Exactly. His flexibility to play wing is also a massive benefit. Probably the only reason we could’ve done with him over Henshaw last weekend.
Don’t know how O’Mahony is holding his place. Was anonymous last weekend and gave a brainless yellow card away for the second time in the campaign.
Baird makes that back row much quicker.
O’Mahony to do the last 20-25 minutes.
He will be subbed early anyway if he’s not yellow carded by then.
Frawley is hard done by.
Harry Byrne hasn’t really set the world on fire. I’ve been listening to people talk about Byrne and how high his potential is for the last 4 years but have yet to see him string a set of games that would give you encouragement.
@Jimmy Bean: the whole pack (and pretty much the whole team) were way off it last week not just O’Mahony. Also O’Mahonys yellow was a team yellow after an accumulation of penalties as far as I remember?
@James Donnelly: The yellow card was for cynically killing the ball on the ground on the first ruck directly after a line break to just outside our 22.
It’s not the decider between ether he should start or not, but let’s agree on common facts so we can have that debate in good faith.
@Jimmy Bean: How quick we are to jump on one poor performance and claim POM should be dropped. He will make up for it this weekend.
@Paul Ennis: he will definitely be well rested, so I expect a good performance from him.
@Jimmy Bean: I think AF’s management philosophy is built on trusting and empowering players. Part of that evidently involves allowing them a chance to redeem themselves after last week’s under-performance (let’s also remember that they lost by a single point; it was a bad day at the office but not a catastrophe). But I’d say AF has made it clear that a similar performance failure this week will not be tolerated.
In any case, I suspect after this 6N we’ll see some permanent departures (Healy, Murray, maybe POM)
@Jimmy Bean: If you read the article you’d see Frawley is not available. POM wasn’t alone in making little impact and if you picked a team based on that it’d be quite different.
@Paul Ennis: he’s usually ( and incorrectly ) thrown under the bus first if things don’t go right.
Very harsh on Henderson who was very good when he came on last week, one of rte few bright spots. We look very light at lock cover now, and lineout options late in the game
@Andrew Donohoe: I think the 2 penalties cost him.
@chris mcdonnell: and a poor carry into contact which allowed a turnover (albeit it was a poor pass to him in first instance)
@Andrew Donohoe: Baird and Conan in bette form for club and country.
@Andrew Donohoe: Would have preferred him to Conan.
As we were expecting. No drama. Just need to put Twickers in the rear view mirror. This may not be the starting XV v SA!
@John Morris: Hansen will b there no doubt huge miss
@John Morris: I’m pleasantly surprised by the rationality of these comments.
Great to see Harry Byrne in the squad. He is a very talented player who has had a fair amount of injuries. Hopefully he will see an injury free run of games and realise his true potential.
@Tom Reilly: I’d prefer Frawley as he covers more positions.
@TL55: I think there’s a philosophy question about what you want your replacements for; are they there to provide injury cover and insurance (which is an inherently defensive mindset), or are they there to give you offensive weapons that can make a game-changing impact? Last week we definitely went for the latter. I don’t think that was necessarily a mistaken decision, but as it played out a more defensive 5/3 would probably have won us the game.
@Brian Corcoran: English pack was on top.
@Ciaran Kennedy: agree – the English pack was undoubtedly dominant. But did our 6th forward (Baird) have any impact on the game? I’d argue not really. In retrospect, I don’t think having only 5 forwards would have materially weakened us.
Meanwhile, having only 2 backs definitely did. Losing Nash after 5 minutes meant we had to rearrange our backline, which significantly reduced our attacking & counter attacking threat. Once Frawley also got injured, we were into Plan C in the backs, which I think hampered both our attack and defence.
Glad to see a 5/3 split but it’s a pity we can’t make room for Henderson as he’s better second row cover than baird. Honestly I’m pretty disappointed Andy Farrell hasn’t tried to develop many new players this campaign, especially since he won’t be around next year during the lions. Hopefully Simon Easterby can still do a good job but it’s not ideal
@Rainbows In the Dark: you call for Henderson over baird but you are disappointed that farrell hasn’t tried to develop new players? Doesn’t really make sense
@chris mcdonnell: It makes perfect sense. Baird’s not an international second row and we need cover there. I’m not saying leave Baird out of the team, I’m saying to keep him as a backrow. And in regards to development I’m not talking about bench spots, I’m talking about starts for people like Baird and Ahern
How bad does POM need to play to lose his place. How many more yellow & red cards! He has been useless this campaign
@conor carroll: You obviously didn’t bother to watch the French game when he was outstanding and also good in the Wales game but le’ts just instead wildly overgeneralize ” useless in this campaign”
@conor carroll: who left the door open in your creche you tool
@John Ludgate: He was poor against Wales
@conor carroll: i think he’ll struggle to start in SA tour if his form continues but he has just enough in the bank and is AFs captain to get the start. He’s also a much better 6 than Darge and will get at that soft Scottish underbelly, against a fired up England with 3 second rows he was made redundant
5/3 better bench split. It was brave and daring by Andy to go 6/2, but English tackles made sure we were snookered. Once bitten………!!
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: More to do with the strength of the Scottish pack and replacements I’d say.
@Stanley Marsh: Scotland seem to be able to pull out the stops for the big games, so won’t be too bullish until the final whistle goes!
Lovely hurling
I’d like to see McCarthy and Beirne go the full 80 – Baid on for POM at 45 mins and Conan on for VDF or Doris at 55 (along with RK and FB and GR)
@Andrew Slazenger: beirne is can constantly ran out for 80 mins, if anything he could do with a break.
All the players from the other provinces are the reason we lost, they all should be dropped for players from my province
If Ringrose fit he should be starting ahead of Henshaw. Nothing against Henshaw, but Ringrose offers more in attack and defence
So no consequences for failing to perform?
Great message to the rest of the squad and those outside – doesn’t matter what you do or how badly those in front of you play, the team is fixed.
@teuO6nLS: sorry, not biting
@Arjuna: biting on what exactly? Poor performances should really have consequences or we’ll never build the necessary squad depth.
Compare to NZ and South Africa who drop players when they don’t perform rather than only waiting for injuries to give someone else a chance
Big opportunity for Harry Byrne , perhaps a last minute winning drop goal is on his cards ?
@Owen ODonoghue: no chance, he’ll be hiding away on the wing if we need someone to step up and get a drop goal
@Niall English: More bewildering guff. Back to your mother’s basement with you.
@Niall English: hahaha poor Harry! i’d rather have Sam P on the bench to honest
Suspect it will be a while before we see 6/2 again. Is Ross Byrne injured?
@Michael Murray: he just came back from injury he played a few games for leinster.
@Michael Murray: it wasnt the reason we lost. If Frawley was ok probably would have been used again
@Michael Murray: I would say if frawley was fit we would still go 6 -2 ,
@Michael Murray: Disagree. 6/2 is highly effective if utilised correctly (which it wasn’t last week) and if (crucially) you have a little bit of luck! The main reason we’ve never really used 6/2 before is because of questions over Sexton’s durability. Granted, he almost always lasted 80 but was a bit too risky to not have a sub fly-half.
@Michael Murray: 6/2 only makes sense when you have a coaching team willing to use the replacements early. Ours seem to be committed to no changes until after an hour at which point the advantage of the extra forward on the bench is gone