Why don’t Ireland see how great nick Timoney is I know there is a lot of competition at back row but I think he deserves at least a shout he is one of the best players at Ulster at the minute and they don’t care about him at all it’s getting on my nerves

Thought the lineout’s huge success went a little under the radar.

Admittedly was a little overly safe at times, but to win 23/23 lineouts (at least that’s what the app is saying) is a really positive return. Sheehan looked as assured as always, and the likes of Conan were superb in the set piece. The lineout was just very consistent for the whole 80mins.

Watching back Beirne’s try, that was an absolute beauty of a set play, with Lowey baked in behind Tadgh and popping out at the last second. That is the sort of play that Goodman has become so renowned for and having clean ball is a huge winner for us today.

I thought he had a good game today. Missed one kick he should have got for sure, and wasn’t perfect in general play but I thought he did very well overall.

I’m seeing a lot of people rushing in to explain how he was terrible today and Crowley MUST start the next game.

My feeling before today was that they are pretty close and either one could start. Absolutely nothing I saw today changed that.

Title says it all. Scotland Italy is up now but just got home and am rearing to watch the England match and there’s no sign of it

Look, I don think that first half was particularly good but we stayed in touching distance and we never looked beaten, however the way we played in the second half was remarkable, for a side with nothing in attack two/three months back, we scored 3 second half tries despite the English having been so secure in the first half. I am impressed with Porter, Ringrose, JVDF, Ryan, Doris in particular.

Something not talked about is that our lineout was far more efficient today than it has been, and yes, it wasnt put under threat by the balance of the pack the lads faced, only Itoje and Martin were realistic Lineout disrupter options until Chessum and CCS came on.

We also didnt take a self absorbed view of our attack tonight either, we only looked to go wide only after commiting the centre field English defence and then we went wide without fucking the depth up as we did in the autumn and with purpose and we also cut the middle of the park open which checked the drift of the English. Kudos to Crowley who came on and Kicked England into submission. Those up and unders were so effective at nullifying the English rush Defence that had Prendergast on his backside for large parts of the game. Murley was shaky for the English and we managed to involve him in the game when he didnt want to be involved, thats smarts that Crowley brought on.

I think Hansesn looked back to some semblance of his 2023 form and fuck, even Henderson didnt look gassed when he came on. Conan has lost a bit of pace, same with Aki but they have still got that rampaging aura about them. Clarkson and Bealham looked decent and didnt give an inch at scrum time. That being said I still have doubts over Baird who wasnt neccesarily bad but looked off it and was outshone by the Curry twins and Earl. I just feel we should go for a far more abrasive 6 in future, one who gets to the gainline and fights for the inches in defence. Baird is a great option on the bench but hes not got the psycho that say, Aldritt or Curry has. Anyway, we looked back to our best in large prts of the 2nd Half and I just wanted to test the waters about how everyone else feels.

Great to get the win as in the first half we were pretty poor in the last third & butchered quite a few chances.

Dan Sheehan was superb when introduced. Predergast really poor in my opinion. We don't need a no look pass every time you get the ball. Kicking was really poor.

Thought Crowley looked very good when he came on.

The changes won us the game.

Sorry lads he's a legend but Cian Healy is becoming a liability. Lawrence skipped by him.

England rugby fans are already starting with the ref was on irelands side

The Doris tackle he was clearing dipping and curry was bent not much in it

What was your opinion on him I thought he was good 👍🏿

Has anyone suggested Dan Sheehan at 10 yet?

General conversation

Three great players who were fundamental to the win today. A lot of criticism here about them and their selection. All answered today. Great team performance. No bad performances out there today. Onwards and upwards. Come on Ireland 🇮🇪

No digest of this afternoon?

Prendergast didnt show enough in my opinion.

Lowe was world class.

I didnt think sheehan could look any better but he bossed that second half against tired legs.

Baird looked really good running on the outside.

Keenan is so vital its sickening i honestly think if we dont soak up that pressure late first half that game looks alot different.

Bealham looked sharper than usual and good in the scurm albeit against genge.

Healy and henderson offer nothing why are they still there.

That’s it, that’s the post. Crowley is the future 🤷‍♂️

Is the fly half debate still not allowed?

Generationally bad game

Why are they not living for goal!!! They’d be up 6ptx by now

10 minutes to kick off and the Aviva is half empty. IRFU needs to start selling tickets to actual supporters and forget all these plastic fans.

I love the lions tours but since ‘17, they haven’t felt the same for me. Obviously the South Africa covid tour was a mess and this year taking on a relatively weakened Oz team doesn’t have the same feel. In general, the gap has closed between north and south. I’m watching Italy v Scotland at the moment and was thinking how interesting it would be if they were included in selection. Imagining a northern hemisphere team that could include obviously lots of French players but also the likes of Cappuozzo and Menoncello seems more exciting than what the lions tour is as it stands. Obviously blending together the SH teams would be really interesting too. There’s also (at least online) quite a bit of animosity (too strong a word but you know what I mean) between the NH and SH. I think this could be the equivalent of the Ryder cup. Let me know what you think!

What’s the reason for the aviva being unavailable for Leinster Champions cup game?

No caption needed!

Got offered tickets last minute to the match tomorrow. Will be bringing a 4 month old for his first game, hopefully of many!

As the title says, any experience of similar and could lend advice? We have Ear Defenders, Isolated Seats at the aisle, willingness to leave, etc.!

Main question is nappy bag. Aviva FAQs say handbags only. Anyone experience first hand how they react to slightly bigger bags when you have a baby?

He is an absolutely unreal player...I wish he was Irish.

Just wondering why when you go into the 6N app and then select the store (to buy merch) why is Ireland not listed? All of the other 5 are. Whats going on?

Hi lads,

we are back bringing out some rugby content in the new year especially ahead of Six Nations. Our interviews with Devin Toner and Hugh Cooney seemed well received here so thought we would just drop this preview for the Six Nations if anyone fancies a listen. Give us a cheeky aul follow on spotify if you enjoy.

Cheers again,

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6A8DvuFIC02uZQjVj0Z9jr?si=eb945ed31dff4ebb

There has been a lot of toxicity going around this sub lately. The mods want to draw a line under it.

For the duration of the Six Nations there will be no posts or comments allowed on the following topics:

• IRFU/Leinster bias
• Blue Media
• Munster/Ulster/Connacht underperforming/whinging
• Prendergast/Crowley debates that are solely along provincial lines
• Advocating for withdrawing support of Ireland
• Hating on Ireland or other provinces

This will be reviewed after the Six Nations. Obviously a little bit of interprovincial rivalry is welcome but it has become too negative of late.

As everyone knows, young French players get far more opportunities at senior professional rugby than Irish players. They have 26 more professional teams than us (without counting the their 3rd division which is also pro/semi pro) as and each of those professional teams also play far more games than our 4 teams do a year, between 8-12 extra games.

To give an idea of the sheer gulf I'll compare in terms of senior appearances our grand slam winning 2021/2022 6 nations squad (3 years ago) that beat England with the French squad that lost to England in the most recent world cup final, most of whom are still teenagers and many are u20 again this year.

Irish 2021/2022 squad: 227 appearances

French 2023/2024 squad: 359 appearances

Plus there were French players who were u20 eligible but already with the senior team.

Now of course they're still very young but not one of that Irish u20 group could be considered first choice at club level yet, quite a few French u20's are first choice at top clubs and a couple even become full internationals aged 19-21. Those who aren't getting first team game are getting plenty at Espoirs level, I guess we have the AIL doing some of that heavy lifting for us.

We have produced several grand slam teams at u20 levels recently, not ordinary groups but grand slam winners. But there may be a little concern that these groups aren't fully transitioning into senior level top performers at the rate you'd expect from such talented groups.

Even if we go back as far as our 2019 grand slam winning group, only 2 are full regular rish internationals, Craig Casey and Ryan Baird, neither yet nailed on starters for Ireland. Only John Hodnett, Stewart Moore, Dave McCann and Niall Murray could be considered more or less nailed on starters in their provinces by now, with Ahern and Tierney Martin being the other two closest to that.

(Edit, Wycherly, Clarkson and H Byrne from that group have also been capped but aren't also first choice for their province/club)

Are these groups a case where they're more than the sum of their parts and their cohesion and playstyle make them better than they are as individuals or are we struggling to really convert perfectly talented guys into players of full international ability?