Well, the Irish Training Squad has been announced. Some notable additions, and some equally notable omissions. What do you think?
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all, and best wishes to the Boys in Green this evening in Twickenham.
"Low, lie the fields of Athenry,
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing,
We had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry."
The Ireland Team to play England at Twickenham on St. Patrick's Day in the final game of the 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship has been named.
There is one change to the starting XV which took the field last weekend with Sean O'Brien returning, having recovered from the skin infection which ruled him out of that game. Peter O'Mahonymoves to the replacements.
Keith Earls and Cian Healy will both win their 30th caps on Saturday while Donncha O'Callaghan joins Paul O'Connell on 85.
Ireland Captain Rory Best will become Ireland's most capped hooker on his 59th appearance on Saturday.
IRELAND Team & Replacements (v England, 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Twickenham, Saturday, March 17, kick-off 5pm local time):
15 -Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
9 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt)
3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 - Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Replacements:
16- Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht)
19 - Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 - Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
21 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 - Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Best of luck to the boys in Green today. Can they make it a clean sweep, after last night's excellent results - Ladies 20 - 0. Under 20s, 26 - 0. ?? Hope that hasn't jinxed us for this evening! Kick-off at 6.00 p.m. (5.00 p.m. Irish time). I posted the team sheet last night.
From www.irishrugby.ie
Ireland Team To Play Scotland
Rory Best will captain Ireland for the third time when he leads the team out against Scotland this weekend
The Ireland team to play Scotland in the penultimate round of the RBS 6 Nations at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 5pm local time) has been named.
In the absence of the injured Paul O'Connell, Rory Best has been named as captain and he will lead out the team for the third time.
Best, whose brother Simon also captained Ireland, previously took on the captaincy duties for Ireland in their summer tour wins over Canada and the USA in 2009.
"It's a great honour to captain your country. It's something growing up that you dream of doing," said the Ulster hooker.
"It's very unfortunate what has happened to Paulie, but I was obviously very honoured when Declan (Kidney) asked me to captain the side.
"We know we'll have to be on the money against Scotland. It will be a massive challenge for our defence."
Donncha Ryan will start his first RBS 6 Nations game in the second row, having featured as a replacement in five previous games in the Championship.
Connacht's versatile forward Mike McCarthy, who made his Ireland debut in the GUINNESS Summer Series last August, has been promoted to the replacements bench.
Meanwhile, Eoin Reddan will partner Jonathan Sexton at scrum half in place of the injured Conor Murray with Tomas O'Leary added to the bench.
IRELAND Team & Replacements (v Scotland, 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, March 10, kick-off 5pm):
15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
9 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt)
3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 - Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Replacements:
16 - Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht)
19 - Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 - Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
21 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 - Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Well, certainly better than being beaten! Don't want to resort to blaming ref but think he didn't have a very good game. Will wait for match report to see what the penalty count was.
A win would have been nice but a draw in Paris will do!
Fingers crossed, 'Up the Greens'
Best of luck to the boys in Green today. Allez les Vertes!
The Irish team for the game in Paris has been named. No changes from last week's selection. Good continuity or bad conservatism? Here is the team sheet:
IRELAND Team & Replacements (v France, 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Stade De France, Sunday, March 4, kick-off 4pm local time/3pm Irish time):
15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
9 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt)
6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 - Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Replacements:
16 - Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
19 - Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 - Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Good result last weekend. For those who are interested, here is the link to the Irish Times match report. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0227/1224312441806.html
Ireland v Italy today. Best of luck to the boys in green. Here's the team (unchanged from last week's fiasco in Paris):
IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt), Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster), Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster).
Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Tom Court (Malone/Ulster), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster).
I second that, and Best of Luck to the team. Thanks for the dates Sheila.
A late change to the Irish rugby team ahead of Sunday's game. Best wishes to Keith Earls and his family and hope his baby makes a full recovery. McFadden takes his place, and Kearney (the younger) has been called up to Replacements Bench. http://www.irishrugby.ie/news/25527.php
Here is the fixtures list. Sorry the layout is not great, as I copied from a Word document.
And the link to the Irish Rugby website: http://www.irishrugby.ie/rugby/six_nations_results_and_fixtures.php...
Date Home Time Away Venue
(GMT)
4 Feb 2012 France 2:30 Italy Stade de France
4 Feb 2012 Scotland 5:00 England Murrayfield
5 Feb 2012 Ireland 3:00 Wales AVIVA Stadium
11 Feb 2012 Italy 4:00 England Stade Flamino
11 Feb 2012 France 8:00 Ireland Stade de France
12 Feb 2012 Wales 3:00 Scotland Millennium Stadium
25 Feb 2012 Ireland 1:30 Italy AVIVA Stadium
25 Feb 2012 England 4:00 Wales Twickenham
26 Feb 2012 Scotland 3:00 France Murrayfield
10 Mar 2012 Wales 2:30 Italy Millennium Stadium
10 Mar 2012 Ireland 5:00 Scotland AVIVA Stadium
11 Mar 2012 France 3:00 England Stade de France
17 Mar 2012 Italy 12:30 Scotland Stade Flamino
17 Mar 2012 Wales 2:45 France Millennium Stadium
17 Mar 2012 England 5:00 Ireland Twickenham
Yes Sheila on the ball up the boys in green!
Irish team has been announced for the game against Wales. Here they are:
IRELAND Team & Replacements (v Wales, 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Aviva Stadium, Sunday, February 5, kick-off 3pm Irish time):
15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
9 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt)
6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 - Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Replacements:
16 - Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
19 - Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
20 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 - Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
I'd prefer McFadden to Keith Earls in the centre.
Best wishes to the Boys in Green!
I would have to disagree with you there Phil. Perhaps you have not been following the Heineken Cup? We had all four Irish teams in the Heineken Cup, three of whom are also in the top six of the RaboDirect league. Leinster has won the Heineken Cup twice in the last couple of years. We have three teams in the H-Cup quarter finals, compared with 1 Welsh, 1 Scottish, 1 English and 1 French. Last year's ERC final saw Leinster produce some of the most exciting rugby played, anywhere.
I don't think it matters. If you watch rugby on TF2/TF4 you know already that it is only exciting when the French have the ball.