Ireland [1] vs Scotland [7] Pool A, Match 6, RWC 2019

Ireland vs Scotland

Pool A, Match 6
Sunday, September 22
Kick Off 08:45 BST
International Stadium Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama City

Teams


Ireland


1.Healy, 2.Best (C), 3.Furlong
4.Henderson, 5.James Ryan
6.O'Mahony, 7.Van der Flier
8.Stander

9.Murray, 10.Sexton
12.Aki, 13.Ringrose
11.Stockdale, 15.Lamour, 14.Conway

Replacements: Scannell, Kilcoyne, Porter, Beirne, Conan, McGrath, Carty, Farrell

Scotland


1.Dell, 2.McInally (C), 3.Nel
4.Gilchrist, 5.Gray
6.Barclay (VC), 7.Watson, 8.Wilson

9.Laidlaw (VC), 10.Russell
12.Johnson, 13.Taylor
11.Maitland, 15.Hogg, 14.Seymour

Bench: Brown, Reid, Berghan, Cummings, Thomson, Price, Harris, Graham

Looks like the injuries are adding up for Ireland with first Henshaw now Kearny doubtful.

Both would be a huge loss for Ireland, especially if the wet weather forecast is accurate.

Scotland should have a full squad to chose from except Jamie Ritchie, who probably would only have been competing for a bench spot anyway.

Aside from a couple of positions, the Scotland team pretty much picks itself:

1. Dell
2. McInally
3. Nel
4. Gray
5. Gilchrist
6. Barclay
7. Watson
8. Thomson

9. Laidlaw
10. Russell
11. Maitland
12. Johnson
13. Taylor
14. Graham
15. Hogg

16. Reid
17. Brown
18. Berghan
19. Cummings
20. Wilson
21. Horne
22. Horne
23. Kinghorn

Most of the big selection questions are those on the bench. Berghan over Fagerson, until Zander learns to leave the handbags at home and Cummings over Toolis.

RDW wrote:Looks like the injuries are adding up for Ireland with first Henshaw now Kearny doubtful.

Both would be a huge loss for Ireland, especially if the wet weather forecast is accurate.

Scotland should have a full squad to chose from except Jamie Ritchie, who probably would only have been competing for a bench spot anyway.

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/forget-baby-oil-scotland-opt-for-an-altogether-cleaner-lubricant

Scotland are practising with shampoo so guessing they’ll be sticking to plan A then haha.

EST wrote:Aside from a couple of positions, the Scotland team pretty much picks itself:

1. Dell
2. McInally
3. Nel
4. Gray
5. Gilchrist
6. Barclay
7. Watson
8. Thomson

9. Laidlaw
10. Russell
11. Maitland
12. Johnson
13. Taylor
14. Graham
15. Hogg

16. Reid
17. Brown
18. Berghan
19. Cummings
20. Wilson
21. Horne
22. Horne
23. Kinghorn

Most of the big selection questions are those on the bench.  Berghan over Fagerson, until Zander learns to leave the handbags at home and Cummings over Toolis.

Agree with most of that but I think Hastings will be on the bench, and I'd have Harris over Kinghorn - we don't have centre cover if Kinghorn is on the bench, and Harris has played a few times on the wing already.

I think he'll pick Price over Horne too.

RDW wrote:

EST wrote:Aside from a couple of positions, the Scotland team pretty much picks itself:

1. Dell
2. McInally
3. Nel
4. Gray
5. Gilchrist
6. Barclay
7. Watson
8. Thomson

9. Laidlaw
10. Russell
11. Maitland
12. Johnson
13. Taylor
14. Graham
15. Hogg

16. Reid
17. Brown
18. Berghan
19. Cummings
20. Wilson
21. Horne
22. Horne
23. Kinghorn

Most of the big selection questions are those on the bench.  Berghan over Fagerson, until Zander learns to leave the handbags at home and Cummings over Toolis.

Agree with most of that but I think Hastings will be on the bench, and I'd have Harris over Kinghorn - we don't have centre cover if Kinghorn is on the bench, and Harris has played a few times on the wing already.

I think he'll pick Price over Horne too.

I think this is the reason he has brought P.Horne though, gives him flexibility from the bench at 10/12 and he is a massive Toonie favourite. I could easily see Harris being included over Kinghorn, and Price/Horne Jnr is a bit of a coin flip although Price probably a frontrunner.

Harris presumably travelled for his versatility, I think he'll be on the bench in the big games. He covers centre and wing. All of our back three options can cover full-back so I suspect Kinghorn will start the Russia game and feature little else if Hogg stays fit. Johnson and Taylor should be the centre pairing. I think Thomson is pencilled in as 8 for the tournament in Townsend's head. Gilchrist and Gray will start. Laidlaw presumably also, Russell definitely. I think the only big call is whether to go with Graham or Seymour. I think the latter will get the call for Ireland on account of his aerial ability.

EST wrote:Aside from a couple of positions, the Scotland team pretty much picks itself:

1. Dell
2. McInally
3. Nel
4. Gray
5. Gilchrist
6. Barclay
7. Watson
8. Thomson

9. Laidlaw
10. Russell
11. Maitland
12. Johnson
13. Taylor
14. Graham
15. Hogg

16. Reid
17. Brown
18. Berghan
19. Cummings
20. Wilson
21. Horne
22. Horne
23. Kinghorn

Most of the big selection questions are those on the bench.  Berghan over Fagerson, until Zander learns to leave the handbags at home and Cummings over Toolis.

I'd have Wilson starting ahead of Barclay, imo he's looked off the pace during the warm-ups and we can't afford to have a passenger in the back-row.

Think Price's experience edges Horne Jnr.

Need a massive performance from the pack.  If we can get parity up front I fancy Russell, Graham & Hogg to do more damage than the Irish lot.

reallybored wrote:

EST wrote:Aside from a couple of positions, the Scotland team pretty much picks itself:

1. Dell
2. McInally
3. Nel
4. Gray
5. Gilchrist
6. Barclay
7. Watson
8. Thomson

9. Laidlaw
10. Russell
11. Maitland
12. Johnson
13. Taylor
14. Graham
15. Hogg

16. Reid
17. Brown
18. Berghan
19. Cummings
20. Wilson
21. Horne
22. Horne
23. Kinghorn

Most of the big selection questions are those on the bench.  Berghan over Fagerson, until Zander learns to leave the handbags at home and Cummings over Toolis.

I'd have Wilson starting ahead of Barclay, imo he's looked off the pace during the warm-ups and we can't afford to have a passenger in the back-row.

Think Price's experience edges Horne Jnr.

Need a massive performance from the pack.  If we can get parity up front I fancy Russell, Graham & Hogg to do more damage than the Irish lot.

I think Barclay looked decent against Georgia and sluggish against France. There's two ways of looking at it in my opinion; on the one hand it might show he's getting up to speed with game time, on the other that he's dropped off a bit against the big teams. I'd lean towards the former based on the caveat that he was, to all intents and purposes, assaulted by a lumbering French forward in his first appearance and everyone looked slow in that game.
What's more if this game is viewed in isolation then Barclay is the obvious pick over Wilson. Ireland are streets-smart and savvy. So is Barclay. Wilson is supposed to be but that doesn't seem to be the case. He's very good at winding up the opposition but I don't think that really works against Ireland. He's also a calming influence on the team, which, purely from a spectator's perspective, I can't see Wilson is. On the big occasions our flash players tend to get overexcited and try to win matches on their own. If Barclay and Laidlaw can keep a firm hand on the wheel, allowing MacInally to focus on his game and the referee then that's the best option.

Go well Scots! Beat the Irish up and show everyone how average they are.

Cool, we get two watch an ex Crusader and ex Blues man for this match.

Taylorman wrote:Cool, we get two watch an ex Crusader and ex Blues man for this match.

Who? Blade Thomson is an ex-Hurricane.

Maitland

Oh, theres another one...hard to keep track...

My side for Ireland

Dell
McInally
Nel
GG
JG
Barclay
Watson
Thomson
Laidlaw
Russell
Maitland
Johnson
Taylor
Graham
Hogg

Brown
Reid
Fagerson
Cummings
Wilson
Price
P Horne
Seymour

The common consensus seems to be that Graham has played his way in front of Seymour? I don't think the little man could have done much more, I would definitely play him - he has looked so sharp.

He adds an x factor that Seymour, whilst solid, doesn't have at the moment. Seymour would make a good bench option though, his experience would count for a lot vs ireland.

NeilyBroon wrote:He adds an x factor that Seymour, whilst solid, doesn't have at the moment. Seymour would make a good bench option though, his experience would count for a lot vs ireland.

Difficult one. With Ireland possibly peppering our back three with high balls all day long, do we want to have little Darcy in the firing line for that?

Having said that, he is a fearless wee bugger so may be the only one of our players who would go to meet the ball instead of waiting for it to come to him.

What any coach wants is to be in a position where "the players pick themselves". I do think that Darcy Graham has made a very convincing case for inclusion in the  23 against Ireland.
If we look at bsando's selection and apply the "pick themselves criteria;


Dell yes, but mainly because Shrek hasn't bee tearing up any trees
McInally Most definitely
Nel As above
GG Hmm
JG Hmm
Barclay  Not back to his best yet, but with only four fit back rows he'll be in the 23. Although after this game I wouldn't be surprised if Bradbury is called up: either Barclay or Thompson is giving the medics sleepless nights but I'm not sure who.
Watson Oh yes, yes indeed.
Thomson as we really only have one number 8 in the squad, I think he'll start
Laidlaw Making Herculean efforts to be less Frodo and more Aragon, will start.
Russell  Has already picked himself for the 2020 Six Nations.
Maitland On great form
Johnson  Lacks international experience but should start
Taylor     Has he looked better than "Better defensively than Not A Pony"? Will probably start on potential rather than form.
Graham   In the form of his life, but may be impact sub as Seymour is playing well and is more solid under the aril bombardment.
Hogg       Has picked himself for the next World Cup, Lions tour, Six Nations and next season's Bake Off.

Brown If he's fit. A big if. But can play 7, which may be needed.
Reid
Fagerson
Cummings has been the form lock in the warm ups. Played very well against the Ladyboys at Parkhead, could be worth a start.
Wilson I would start him, but neither he nor Barcs have been totally convincing.
Price  I think we might see Wee George, unless Toonie thinks the heavy going  would slow him down.
P Horne Has he been more convincing than "Better defensively than Not A Pony"?  
Seymour If we don't have Furra Linee on the bench we need a 10, so it's Haircut. Who could atone for his butchering a try in the Pro 14 final.

tigertattie wrote:

NeilyBroon wrote:He adds an x factor that Seymour, whilst solid, doesn't have at the moment. Seymour would make a good bench option though, his experience would count for a lot vs ireland.

Difficult one. With Ireland possibly peppering our back three with high balls all day long, do we want to have little Darcy in the firing line for that?

Having said that, he is a fearless wee bugger so may be the only one of our players who would go to meet the ball instead of waiting for it to come to him.

Could be an issue, but I think he has shown that he can deal with it. Worth remembering that Seymour was responsible for the balls up against Ireland in the 6N which lead to their first try.

Yeah I opted for Seymour as bench cover for his experience rather than Kinghorn or Harris. Also his ability to cover 14/11 while Horne can cover FH /12 and Maitland can cover FB. I think Graham has done enough to start at 14, his defence has also been excellent. In fact he is surprisingly feisty and physical and his ability to step may be the key to unlocking the aggressive Ireland defence.

mikey_dragon wrote:Go well Scots! Beat the Irish up and show everyone how average they are.

Go well Georgia! Beat up the Welsh and show how average they are,

You see what I did there!

jimbopip wrote:
Barclay  Not back to his best yet, but with only four fit back rows he'll be in the 23. Although after this game I wouldn't be surprised if Bradbury is called up: either Barclay or Thompson is giving the medics sleepless nights but I'm not sure who.

What’s this?

Think I'm in the minority in the Seymour camp. I think I may be wrong as well. Andy Nicol seemed to think that Seymour was in with a chance of missing out. Then again not sure if he is a man with connections that go further than Inverdale's chestwig

Seymour has been a bit meh recently.

Even looking at the last game against Georgia, he was given a perfeclty acceptable pass for an easy score early in the game and he jsut dropped it.

A player of his calibre simply shouldnt be doing that!

He's still beter than Keith Earls though (its all too amicable in here)

reallybored wrote:

jimbopip wrote:
Barclay  Not back to his best yet, but with only four fit back rows he'll be in the 23. Although after this game I wouldn't be surprised if Bradbury is called up: either Barclay or Thompson is giving the medics sleepless nights but I'm not sure who.

What’s this?

Mr Bored, I may be adding 2 +2 and getting a llama but ….

Mabawsa was never going to play in the Ireland match. The Samoa one will probably be too soon for him. The lad has just had a titanium plate inserted into his cheekbone then flown across 8 time zones : the SRU medicos work on the rule of thumb that it takes a full day for every time zone you cross to fully recover from the jet lag. So, mabawsa will most likely miss half the pool matches. Bradbury is already out there. The obvious solution would be to bring Bradbury into the squad asap.

So why are they flying Mbawsa out? I think someone isn't 100% healthy and there's no point in sending Bradbury home to ask him to get on the next flight back.

My candidates? The fear is that if the Replicant takes a head knock against Ireland his tournament is over. Similarly, Barcs looked "sluggish" against France perhaps he is carrying a knock and they're giving him until the last possible second to recover.

As I say, I have no evidence to back any of this up but Toonie does bring out the inner Kremlinologist in me.

Ruaidhri O'Connor reporting that the game is in doubt.
World rugby claim different.

Who knows!!!

If the match doesn't go ahead it goes down as a draw. Two/three points lost for Ireland?

Two points each: Japan most likely on five after thumping Russia. Then Japan play Ireland knowing a 3-0 win would put them seven points ahead of Ireland with two games to go.

Scotland would then have Samoa, Russia and Japan. By the time we play Japan they may have already qualified.

I honestly dont know how this would impact the group.

Is it a case of dropped points for one team or guaranteed points for both???

It really will make bonus points al lthe more important going forward IF the game is rained off!

There's a forecast that gives it to be light rain so it looks like it'll go ahead.

I can't lie though, there was a little part of me that was thinking at least we'd get points from the game, with it going ahead there's a great big chance we get nothing, zilch, zero.

Of all the games to go down as a 0-0 draw this is probably the best for both of them in terms of tournament progression however obviously. For the world cup as a spectacle it's a disaster. Scotland and Ireland will be one of the stand out games from the group stages.

I'm good with the draw.

Latest reports are that the weather is improving and although wet for the game nothing serious.
At one point they were concerned that a massive thunder/lightning storm could force the game off but that seems to have disappeared.

Pete330v2 wrote:Ruaidhri O'Connor reporting that the game is in doubt.
World rugby claim different.

Who knows!!!

If this game is cancelled because of the weather I can’t stress enough how big a disaster that will be! Nothing to do with me having tickets, it’s for some other reason entirely!

tigertattie wrote:Seymour has been a bit meh recently.

Even looking at the last game against Georgia, he was given a perfeclty acceptable pass for an easy score early in the game and he jsut dropped it.

A player of his calibre simply shouldnt be doing that!

He's still beter than Keith Earls though  (its all too amicable in here)

Keith Earls agrees.

The lack of contingency or thought given to the possibility of the game between Ireland v Scotland (or indeed any game) being called off shows yet again the incompetence of World Rugby. Should the weather be allowed to devalue the whole competition, and make the outcome a matter of luck? Really??

The Great Aukster wrote:The lack of contingency or thought given to the possibility of the game between Ireland v Scotland (or indeed any game) being called off shows yet again the incompetence of World Rugby. Should the weather be allowed to devalue the whole competition, and make the outcome a matter of luck? Really??

Hasn't that rule been around for the last few world cups?
I agree it's a bit of a pain but how else can they do it?

Rescheduling isn't an option. So what else can they do

carpet baboon wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:The lack of contingency or thought given to the possibility of the game between Ireland v Scotland (or indeed any game) being called off shows yet again the incompetence of World Rugby. Should the weather be allowed to devalue the whole competition, and make the outcome a matter of luck? Really??

Hasn't that rule been around for the last few world cups?
I agree it's a bit of a pain but how else can they do it?

Rescheduling isn't an option. So what else can they do

Hold it somewhere dry, like Ireland?

World Rugby as a governing body decided to hold the RWC in Japan during typhoon season. Japan's typhoon season ranges from May to October each year, peaking in August and September.

Pete330v2 wrote:World Rugby as a governing body decided to hold the RWC in Japan during typhoon season. Japan's typhoon season ranges from May to October each year, peaking in August and September.

The same world rugby that ranked Ireland and SA as representing the the same security threat to fans as a potential RWC host.

What if the WC final itself is called off?

"We are sorry to inform you that due to inclement weather, the historic World Cup Final between Ireland and Australia has been cancelled.  Thank you for sharing the Wold Cup experience with us at Japan 2019."

World Rugby - they sure got it in for us!

rodders wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:The lack of contingency or thought given to the possibility of the game between Ireland v Scotland (or indeed any game) being called off shows yet again the incompetence of World Rugby. Should the weather be allowed to devalue the whole competition, and make the outcome a matter of luck? Really??

Hasn't that rule been around for the last few world cups?
I agree it's a bit of a pain but how else can they do it?

Rescheduling isn't an option. So what else can they do

Hold it somewhere dry, like Ireland?

Yeah coz Ireland has one of the driest climates on Earth, especially in October!!!

tigertattie wrote:

rodders wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:The lack of contingency or thought given to the possibility of the game between Ireland v Scotland (or indeed any game) being called off shows yet again the incompetence of World Rugby. Should the weather be allowed to devalue the whole competition, and make the outcome a matter of luck? Really??

Hasn't that rule been around for the last few world cups?
I agree it's a bit of a pain but how else can they do it?

Rescheduling isn't an option. So what else can they do

Hold it somewhere dry, like Ireland?

Yeah coz Ireland has one of the driest climates on Earth, especially in October!!!

If the final was played in South Africa you may have had to lock your wallets in safety deposit boxes, but you would have had great weather

I think the worst weather I have ever seen at a RWC match was the SA v France semi final in 1995. I dont think any game before or since has come closer to being called off. No guarantees even in SA.

That was in June in Durban.

I dont think its the rain that would be the issue with a typhoon but more the lightening or the crazy winds.

Teams announced early tomorrow morning our time?

Exciting times... first game can’t come round fast enough.

tigertattie wrote:

rodders wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:The lack of contingency or thought given to the possibility of the game between Ireland v Scotland (or indeed any game) being called off shows yet again the incompetence of World Rugby. Should the weather be allowed to devalue the whole competition, and make the outcome a matter of luck? Really??

Hasn't that rule been around for the last few world cups?
I agree it's a bit of a pain but how else can they do it?

Rescheduling isn't an option. So what else can they do

Hold it somewhere dry, like Ireland?

Yeah coz Ireland has one of the driest climates on Earth, especially in October!!!

20 degrees and sun splitting the sky here tattie, not a Typhoon in sight!

Anyone else fancy Scotland here and think Ireland will keep their powder dry until the QF?

No, Ireland will strangle the life out of Scotland. It could get ugly for them. At least a two score win.

Ireland are going to beat SA in the quarters. Im convinced.