606v2 HAS PICKED the best Irish RWC 22: What are your thoughts on the team/possible strategies?

The team has been picked by us, the 606v2 community by vote and the results are

1 Healy
2 Best
3 Ross
4 POC
5 DOC
6 Ferris
7 Wallace
8 Heaslip
9 Reddan
10 Sexton
11 Trimble
12 Darcy
13 BOD
14 Bowe
15 Earls

Court, Flannery, Cullen, SOB, Stringer, ROG, Kearney*

* poll was a 3 way draw and decided by eenie meanie minie mo.

Ok so start talking.

Do you like the team?
If not who would you have and where and more importantly why??
What sort of game plan should this team implement?
Where our our strengths and weaknesses?
Where can we exploit the Wallabies and where can we be exploited by them?
Is there anyone you feel could win us the game or get targetted?
Do you think Kidney will pick this team? Even close to this team?

My strategies as such would be:

To keep the ball in hand and most importantly out of the hands of the Aussies. We need to generate quick ruck ball that will help us get beyond the gain line which inturn helps us create quick ball again. I would suggest punching it up in the middle many times before thinking of going wide. Punching it up can consist of anything forwards crashing it up a few metres off the ruck to wingers taking inside balls off the centres.
I think attacking off first phase is important but we can't rely on scoring tries through first phase moves even if the Aussies are a bit weak against them. We need to use set plays to our maximum advantage by attacking Cooper's channel but having pre-asigned players there ready to clear Pocock out, they should know where the contact area will be before the move starts and know they need to get their quickly.
I think kicking should be kept to a minimum and when employed every effort should be made to see the ball goes into touch.
In defence the wrap tackle should be used as much as possible to slow down the ball, negate Pocock to an extent and also allow our defence to fan out.

What do people think???


Edit, I've added a couple of poll options regarding the bench makeup per the OP's request. Sorry I don't think I can move them up the order in the list without interfering with existing votes in. - KRD

Happy with all selections:

I voted that we try keep ball in hand in attack. That we come up hard in defence and do not over commit to rucks. Wrap tackles and compete at mauls.

Part of me thinks it would make more sense to stand off the Aussies so that they can't wrong foot us but the idea of leaving Cooper and others in space is a bit too scary I guess they have to be closed down.

I think the worst thing we could do is over commit to a ruck and not get the ball.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Part of me thinks it would make more sense to stand off the Aussies so that they can't wrong foot us but the idea of leaving Cooper and others in space is a bit too scary I guess they have to be closed down.

I think the worst thing we could do is over commit to a ruck and not get the ball.

If we are going to rush up on cooper we have to make sure that everyone in the team knows whats going on. The ben alexander try came from a break by cooper that was caused by pienaar rushing up and being stepped. If we are going to rush him we have to make sure that two people do it so he can't step and run 60metres up the pitch.

Look what Australia did to the SA drift defense. Drift defense gives them too much space. A rush defense is risky but our best option. As Val said it will need a lot of concentration.

It will need everyone buying into the system 100%. I think it is the right option too. I think they need to be suffocated.

I am not sure we should employ to many shooters though, it seems like the kind of scenario where if holes are left there will be Aussies who will exploit it more often than not. They have proven quite good at going over or around shooters.

No shooters. A fast line defense with our covering players ready for chip kicks and grubbers.

Reddan employed as a sweeper behind the defensive line or should he marshall Genia????

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Reddan employed as a sweeper behind the defensive line or should he marshall Genia????

Tomas O'Leary

red_stag wrote:No shooters. A fast line defense with our covering players ready for chip kicks and grubbers.

There will be shooters, under kiss we have always employed this tactic, and bod tends to shoot out of the line no matter what team he is playing for.

Sin é wrote:

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Reddan employed as a sweeper behind the defensive line or should he marshall Genia????

Tomas O'Leary

Tomas isn't in the 22 Sin I'm afraid. He very nearly wasn't even in the 30man squad.

I think we will have to be very careful when shooting out of the line, the Aussies can be very dangerous when these holes open up inbetween defenders vertacaly as opposed to horizontally.

Dissapointed there was no 23rd man poll, or even a what airline do we want our boys to fly out on poll.

hahaha don't tempt me sir!

British Airways. They would all have their own individual screens and a flatbed.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

Sin é wrote:

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Reddan employed as a sweeper behind the defensive line or should he marshall Genia????

Tomas O'Leary

Tomas isn't in the 22 Sin I'm afraid. He very nearly wasn't even in the 30man squad.

I think we will have to be very careful when shooting out of the line, the Aussies can be very dangerous when these holes open up inbetween defenders vertacaly as opposed to horizontally.

The reason why Tomas O'Leary will be on the plane in the first place and starting against Australia is because he is streets ahead of everyone else when it comes to defense.

Agreed he is streets ahead of everyone else in defence. The reason he won't be starting against Australia (IMO) is because everyone else is streets ahead of him in passing and doing the basic job of a scrumhalf.

The (606v2) team has been picked already and TOL isn't it

Moving on...please...

If there are shooters in the team we'd want the inside defence to be coming up pretty hard on Cooper anyways, don't let him go on a mazing diagonal run by keeping the line flat and coming up together.

Pete why is it moving on. We are talking strategy and specifically marshalling Genia and our defensive systems. Surely various players defensive abilities are worth discussion.

cos I really don't wanna go back here...

https://www.606v2.com/t9661-606v2-picks-the-best-irish-rwc-22-starting-scrumhalf

lads I'm calling it a day on this, hope you enjoyed and continue to for as long as you wish. Oiche mhaith

We need to be carefull at the rucks as such to have enough/the right kind of players to negate Pocock but not to over commit to them.

We need the choke the aussies of space and starve them of ball or at the very least slow it bown from going to the backs.
<--

Cheers Pete, great series

[quote="pete (buachaill on eirne)"]cos I really don't wanna go back here...

https://www.606v2.com/t9661-606v2-picks-the-best-irish-rwc-22-starting-scrumhalf

lads I'm calling it a day on this, hope you enjoyed and continue to for as long as you wish. Oiche mhaith[/quote]

Many thanks

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:Agreed he is streets ahead of everyone else in defence. The reason he won't be starting against Australia (IMO) is because everyone else is streets ahead of him in passing and doing the basic job of a scrumhalf.

The (606v2) team has been picked already and TOL isn't it

Moving on...please...

If there are shooters in the team we'd want the inside defence to be coming up pretty hard on Cooper anyways, don't let him go on a mazing diagonal run by keeping the line flat and coming up together.

Pete - the Eddie O'Sullivan of 606! Only play 22 players.

O"leary made the plane. Why bother bringing him if you don't intend to use him when he is needed for his pace and defence?

red_stag wrote:Cheers Pete, great series

+ 1 Nice 1 pete!!

No more from me on Irish selection! I just hope whoever we select that we play our best stuff and do ourselves justice this time!

Not happy with the fact that we are leaving the in form player in Europe on the bench for someone who missed half the year through injury and is only back now.

Still, we are Irish and I've come to expect stuff like this.

...But, yeah, Tomas O Leary has great defense...

Looks like Tomas O'Leary & Jerry Flannery (who according to Les Kiss is training really well) will be starting against Scotland.

Les Kiss discussing Scotland & England as well as other stuff.

Les Kiss on ruggamatrix

http://www.ruggamatrix.com/
RuggaMatrix - Show 124 - Getting Serious

He says the Munster/Leinster guys have had less rest than some of the others and are week behind due to the Magners final- does that mean that he'll look at Ulster/Connacht/Exiles in next Saturdays game as well as the likes of O'Leary, Flannery? I'll be interested to see how the really big name players are handled in the selection for the Scotland game.