6N 2017: Wales v Ireland, 10 March

WALES v IRELAND
10 March 2017
KO: 20:05 GMT
Principality Stadium, Cardiff

Live on [ITV, RTE, SC4, FR2, DMAX / BBC (H)]

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges: [tbc]
TMO: [tbc]

A. Head to Head

124 Played 124
50 Won 67
7 Drawn 7
67 Lost 50
1,477 Points 1,381

B. Recent Form

7 February 2016
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
16 – 16 draw

29 August 2015
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
10 – 16 to Wales

8 August 2015
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
21 – 35 to Ireland

14 March 2015
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
23 – 16 to Wales

8 February 2014
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
26 – 3 to Ireland

2 February 2013
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
22 – 30 to Ireland

5 February 2012
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
21 – 23 to Wales

8 October 2011
Regional Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand
22 – 10 to Wales

C. Teams

WALES 


Halfpenny; North, J Davies, S Williams, L Williams, Biggar, Webb, Evans, Owens, Francis, Ball, A Jones, Warburton, Tipuric, Moriarty.

Replacements: Roberts for S Williams (67), S Davies for Biggar (80), G Davies for Webb (67), Smith for Evans (67), Baldwin for Owens (72), Lee for Francis (70), Charteris for Ball (63), Faletau for Moriarty (67).

IRELAND


Kearney; Earls, Ringrose, Henshaw, Zebo; Sexton, Murray; McGrath, Best, Furlong, D Ryan, Toner, Stander, O'Brien, Heaslip.

Replacements: Bowe for Kearney (70), Jackson for Sexton (19), Marmion for Murray (46), C Healy for McGrath (59), Scannell for Best (80), J Ryan for Furlong (80), Henderson for Toner (63), O'Mahony for Stander (63).

The stats show 2 fairly evenly matched teams.

Wales' form is probably a bit more indifferent than Ireland's - but both groups of players are pretty evenly matched and Wales are at home.

Will probably come down to how they are prepared, i.e. coaches. So it is advantage Ireland in that department.

From a purely selfish point of view, I hope Wales get their sh*t together and beat Ireland.

Going to be a hard game though.

Not looking forward to this thread!

Ireland had a shaky start to the tournament admittedly, but have since gone on to thump Italy (Wales left it late to beat them), beat a much fancied France team, beat the All Blacks in the recent past (WTF?!), won away in SA (Wales have only come close in recent years), and are generally in a much better place than Wales at the moment IMO.

Ireland favourites for me, much as they were for me before the tournament too.

https://www.606v2.com/t65267-the-irish-23-v-the-welsh-23
The gulf in quality between the sides is clear, the result should be too.

We havnt started any of our games particularly well and Wales should be coming out like mad men wanting to erase the Scotland game.
If we let them get a few scores up we could be foooooked.
But if we repel them and start to build a score. I can see Wales trying to to force the wide game and racking up the errors.
I think if we can get Webb and bigger frustrated and yapping at Barnes he will be quick to march them back .

Still I think it's to close to call

Wayne Barnes .

Wayne Barnes   .

Wales by 50

mikey_dragon wrote:Wayne Barnes .

I think he's a good ref. We just struggle to adapt to him. Which I hope we have learnt this time
But one thing I do know is if players start questioning him he's quick to walk them back by 10. And Webb and bigger recently seem to voice there oppinions to the ref quite a bit.

Bigger will too busy arguing with AWJ to mouth off to the ref

Howley is set on picking the same 23, we all know that from one of his previous press conferences. What a pathetic man, well of his depth.

I would make a few changes as I believe the time is now. The next gen. need exposure right now. I'm not part of the SD hype but I think he deserves a start whilst Biggar deserves to be demoted, and because of that I'm shifting the back-row.

Williams, Halfpenny, JD2, S.Williams, Stef Evans, Sam Davies, Webb - Faletau, Warburton, Moriarty, AWJ, Ball, Francis, Owens, Rob Evans.
Subs bench; HIBBARD, Smith, Lee, Charteris, Tipuric, Gareth Davies, Biggar, Owen Williams.

Isn't the 6N cruel though. We hope Scotland win and they hope we lose. Brotherly love

carpet baboon wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Wayne Barnes .

I think  he's a good ref. We just struggle to adapt to him. Which I hope we have learnt this time
But one thing I do know is if players start questioning him he's quick to walk them back by 10. And Webb and bigger recently seem to voice there oppinions to the ref quite a bit.

How is he on the not engaging in the ruck rule?

George Carlin wrote:
A. Head to Head

124 Played 124
50 Won 67
7 Drawn 7
67 Lost 50
1,477 Points 1,381

Is that right? Ireland have won 67 matches, Wales have won 50?

You know it ain't Luckless, you devil you.

I do think Ireland will win, and win comfortably. Ireland 15/20 points.

SecretFly wrote:Isn't the 6N cruel though.  We hope Scotland win and they hope we lose.  Brotherly love

England losing helps Ireland's championships though???

SecretFly wrote:You know it ain't Luckless, you devil you.

I really don't. If I had to guess, I'd say Wales would have the most wins, but I wouldn't be certain. I'd say the last 20 years or so have seen more Irish victories.

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

SecretFly wrote:You know it ain't Luckless, you devil you.

I really don't. If I had to guess, I'd say Wales would have the most wins, but I wouldn't be certain. I'd say the last 20 years or so have seen more Irish victories.

You're right on both counts. The numbers were mixed up. You have the 67.

I said before the tournament that a win in Rome could easily be our only win of the tournament, and I really don't us winning this match or in Paris either. The whole Team Wales setup is years out of date. You can smell the decay at the Vale of Glamorgan from here.

I think Ireland should go to this match as slight favourites but come on.. Wales are far from a bad side and more than capable of beating an Ireland team who plays their best.

People were waxing lyrical over Wales' defeat vs. England saying it was the best performance they've seen in years. A disjointed performance vs. Scotland doesn't make them bad all of a sudden. It exposed a lot but for me the leadership loss of Warburton needs to be considered... for me the best captain in world rugby.

They should be able to take on Ireland upfront, the battle of the backrow should be fierce and if they go hammer and tong at Ireland then there is no reason why they won't be right in the mix come 70 mins.

I think of their 2 remaining matches this is the one they're more likely to win. Ireland look like they have few weaknesses to target, decent pack, big ball carrying but perhaps a few questions in the lineout. I'd bring in Charteris to start certainly.

One thing they need to worry heavily about though is the high ball. Kearney, Zebo... they're masters of it. Its probably North's greatest weakness.

Partly because it's next up, but only partly, I'm worrying a bit more about this one than about the last waltz in Dublin.

I' m very happy with our pack and our half-backs, but the back three concern me at the moment, particularly defensively. Ireland need to start fast, really take it to Wales up front, where I think we should have an advantage and allow Murray and Sexton to dictate matters as they did for the middle part of the French game.

At the same time, I do slightly worry about the sort of havoc that Williams and North might be able to wreak if Wales are a bit more expansive than they have been lately. I'd like to see a far more cohesive defensive effort all round and if we get that, I can see us having enough to win by about 7 to 10. If we're not on the money from the first whistle, though, it could be a deeply frustrating afternoon.

I hope Wales do try to go wide a lot, mainly as I don't think jd2 can pass.

fa0019 wrote:

One thing they need to worry heavily about though is the high ball. Kearney, Zebo... they're masters of it. Its probably North's greatest weakness.

This is ancient text you're reading though, fa. Is it the Hieroglyph version?

We're really not that great at the high ball game anymore. Kearney is a shadow of his former self at the kicking and catching Garryowen stuff - and I seem to recall Wales beat the schidt out of us (or someone) at that a while back with Bigger collecting everything and Halfpenny not being far behind him. Now I think Wales have cooled off on that game as well but, overall, I wouldn't try to use it so much.

Ireland need to know where there is space and get the ball out to those spaces much earlier. Again, some years ago we were spreading (or were capable of) spreading it wide quickly when it was on to do so; now we seem to have gone back to ultra caution-caution narrow stuff up the middle. We just have to find a few more lethal gameplan options when in attack because, now, we might be hard to beat, we might defend well enough, but we're too predictable in attack.

Wales are usually very good under the highball, but against Scotland the likes of Halfpenny, Biggar and Williams were atrocious. Visser beat them all to it.

mikey_dragon wrote:Wales are usually very good under the highball, but against Scotland the likes of Halfpenny, Biggar and Williams were atrocious. Visser beat them all to it.

Yes, but you do need someone like Visser who has the pace and va va voom enthusiasm to compete. I don't think Ireland have such a player anymore (or at least in the usual team). Kearney can sometimes mimic the old days but more often than not they are isolated games and moments.

Wayne Barnes has been in touch, said he can't wait for a nostalgic weekend in Wales with all the lads.

I think there is going to be controversy.  I think Best and Sexton are going to be asking Wayne to explain a lot of his decisions and reffing practices.

Best:  "Hold on a second - just give me time to ask you this again.  Yeah, so I know they have another lineout where they only have to put in one decoy guy but all our team have to be in the line.... that's not really what's puzzling me.  It's the ball. ---  You're certain none of us can touch it when it's in play?  15 minutes into a game and five of my lads on a red card....  *the old classic Bestie shrug of the shoulders and wince*  I think you're bein' a wee bit hard on us ref."

Card him!

mikey_dragon wrote:Wayne Barnes .

Fook sake, I'll bet if Biggar and AWJ can't decide between a lineout and shot at goal he'll give them the option of both.

rodders wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Wayne Barnes .

Fook sake, I'll bet if Biggar and AWJ can't decide between a lineout and shot at goal he'll give them the option of both.

And if we opt for the posts, he'll award 1.5 points before the kick and add the other 1.5 if it's successful.

rodders wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Wayne Barnes .

Fook sake, I'll bet if Biggar and AWJ can't decide between a lineout and shot at goal he'll give them the option of both.

And award points if we miss the posts. Good ole Wayne!

Paddy Power are offering evens on him yellow carding the entire Irish side on the 70 minute mark.

rodders wrote:Paddy Power are offering evens on him yellow carding the entire Irish side on the 70 minute mark.

As it's in Cardiff, we'll still lose.

Griff wrote:

rodders wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Wayne Barnes .

Fook sake, I'll bet if Biggar and AWJ can't decide between a lineout and shot at goal he'll give them the option of both.

And award points if we miss the posts. Good ole Wayne!

And if it hits the posts and gets knocked back into the field of play, that's a penalty try to you guys.

rodders wrote:Paddy Power are offering evens on him yellow carding the entire Irish side on the 70 minute mark.

He will be trying to give Wales a chance of winning.

I think its going to be a low scoring game. Both teams have problems with their attack. In other words both have a blunt attack. It'll be a great atmosphere but the quality of rugby won't be too exciting.

majesticimperialman wrote:

rodders wrote:Paddy Power are offering evens on him yellow carding the entire Irish side on the 70 minute mark.

He will be trying to give Wales a chance of winning.

Your posts are so boring.

3 questions for Wales fans:

1. What can Howler do to change things up in a meaningful way?
2. What will he actually do?
3. Are you aware that Tom Jones just played the Dubai Jazz Festival last week and that the man can still sing?

George Carlin wrote:3 questions for Wales fans:

1. What can Howler do to change things up in a meaningful way?
2. What will he actually do?
3. Are you aware that Tom Jones just played the Dubai Jazz Festival last week and that the man can still sing?

1)Resign taking McBryde,Jenkins with him.
2)Nothing
3)Yes,Tom has never allowed himself to be coached by people with no relevant,credible musical coaching experience.

On the playing side drop North,Davies G,Biggar,Baldwin and JD2 and replace with Evans,Aled D,Davies S,Hibbard and Williams O,put Liam W to 15 and 1/2p to 11/14.On Faletau, both Shingler and Young T merit places before him.Finally,play Charteris and remind him that we'd like to see him play more like an enraged elephant rather than a meek and mild giraffe.On attitude,offer any Welsh player who has wendyball tendencies that they'll have to drink a pint of water from the River Taff for chopsing to the referee.

Why don't Wales move jd2 to the wing? It helps his inability to pass but can still make good lines of running and is a good defender

George Carlin wrote:3 questions for Wales fans:

1. What can Howler do to change things up in a meaningful way?
2. What will he actually do?
3. Are you aware that Tom Jones just played the Dubai Jazz Festival last week and that the man can still sing?

3. Yes, don't you watch the Voice on a Saturday evening?! The judges often sing together on the show. He's still got it. I also hear he's started seeing Elvis Presley's ex.

On the other 2 questions, I have no idea.

1, I feel he has to go along with the rest of the coaching staff. That probably includes Edwards too, though he is probably the best of a bad bunch.
2, He'll probably stay and Wales' stock will continue to fall, probably resulting in a disappointing World Cup and then a huge rebuilding job over the next cycle, when we haven't exposed form players and the faves like Roberts etc retire.
3, Not surprised.

Can see this going either way.
Tough to call.
Obviously hope we beat Wales, heading into last game, clinching the title after hopefully beating England.

If Wales win and Scotland can beat England, will make for a very interesting final round.

But c'mon Ireland let's win the last 2 games.

I had a ticket for Cardiff, but annoyingly couldn't go as started new job and a couple of lads are off on the Friday.

Don't worry folks, Joe will have a plan to negate Barnes' influence on the game.
There's a grassy knoll in Cardiff somewhere and surely they have a book depository.

carpet baboon wrote:Why don't Wales move jd2 to the wing? It helps his inability to pass but can still make good lines of running and is a good defender

Would be gassed by all in defence though.

carpet baboon wrote:Why don't Wales move jd2 to the wing? It helps his inability to pass but can still make good lines of running and is a good defender

Because it would confirm that dropping BOD in the 3rd Lions test for JD2 was a terrible decision and not based on Rugby reasons.

The chickens are home to roost though as BODs illegitimate love child Gary Ringrose is here to make JD2 pay.

To be honest I hope jd2 starts at 13. Ringrose should destroy him all day

rodders wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:Why don't Wales move jd2 to the wing? It helps his inability to pass but can still make good lines of running and is a good defender

Because it would confirm that dropping BOD in the 3rd Lions test for JD2 was a terrible decision and not based on Rugby reasons.

The chickens are home to roost though as BODs illegitimate love child Gary Ringrose is here to make JD2 pay.

Are you mad rodders?

Would BOD have danced through the Aussie defence like JD2 did? Would he have made all those try saving tackles and scored that hat-trick?