When assessing Ireland’s underwhelming performance yesterday, it’s worth noting that Cian Healy, Rory Best, James Ryan, Devin Toner, Dan Leavy, CJ Stander, Jack Conan, Joey Carbery, Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose and Jordan Larmour were all missing from the matchday squad either through injury or squad rotation. That’s seven nailed-on starters, the second-choice out-half, a … Continue reading Treading Water
Category: Conor O’Shea
Respecting The Underdog
You can lose to any given team on any given day, but considering that Italy can't buy a win at this moment in time, it's difficult to keep saying that they have a genuine chance of beating Ireland (or any Tier 1 nation for that matter) with a straight face, and that's taking into … Continue reading Respecting The Underdog
7/10
Coast To Coast Ireland’s back play took a lot of flak following their narrow win in Paris, with over-reliance on Johnny Sexton’s playmaking abilities and a lack of incision out wide from players like Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw and Rob Kearney being cited as reasons for their inability to score tries against an inexperienced … Continue reading 7/10
Ireland v Italy: Match Preview
Repeat Dose The main reason Ireland beat Italy by such a large margin last year was the way they went about their business in the first 20 minutes. They held on to the ball for multiple phases and repeatedly hammered at the Italian defence close to the ruck through CJ Stander, Seán O'Brien and … Continue reading Ireland v Italy: Match Preview
rucktackleandmaul.com 