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Six Nations
Wales v Ireland
Ahead of the game I strongly advise you to spend some time going through this analysis from Murray Kinsella on how Ireland have manufactured their tries during 2020.
https://www.the42.ie/analysis-ireland-tries-2020-5342685-Feb2021
The breakdown shows that 84% of all Irelands tries came from set pieces inside the opposition 22. Not exactly a surprise that Ireland are completely reliant on possession and territory deep in the opponents half but it does highlight how poor Ireland have been in open play, transition and counter attack.
Ireland Team
The Ireland team has been named and with Caelan Doris worryingly unavailable due to symptoms of concussion Andy Farrell has opted to move CJ Stander back to No 8, POM to 6 and bring in Josh van der Flier to openside. Tadhg Beirne starts in the second row and Rob Herring gets the nod at hooker. James Lowe starts on the left wing despite having played no rugby in over 2 months.
Rob Herring, one presumes, got the starting jersey on his lineout ability and this will be vital given how Murray Kinsella outlined the importance of the set piece. The backrow combination has been tried before and I don't think has worked effectively as a unit. It places too much of a reliance on Stander to be the heavy ball carrier. I'm delighted to see Tadhg Beirne get a chance to show what he can do at international level given his form this season but from a personal point of view I think the pack may have had a better balance if Beirne played at 6, POM at 7 and Henderson was in the second row.
Having Garry Ringrose back is a huge boost to Ireland. He is the key for the Irish backline attack in unlocking defenses without having to batter them into submission. Hugo Keenan has made huge strides in the last six months or so and hopefully he will now be given the authority to use transition ball to counter attack against teams rather than just run it back to a supporting pod to set up the next phase.
James Lowe's Flatulence
Squad Selection
While no one doubts these are top quality players who will give their all for the team and jersey, you do have to wonder if this selection is going to cause David Nucifora a few problems. You'd imagine that Nucifora and the IRFU are in the process of agreeing contracts with the provincial players (except the Ulster players who all seem to have been signed up in double time) and the optics of selecting non first choice provincial players like Kelleher, Connors, Gibson Park etc over other provincial nailed on starters may hinder any inter provincial moves Nucifora may be planning. A penny for Jordi Murphy's thoughts at the moment.
Likewise the selection of Lowe and Furlong back into a team with virtually no game time at provincial level raises the age old question of is harder to get out of the Ireland team than it is to get into it.
Connacht fans can also feel slightly aggrieved given their representation in both the wider squad and team versus Wales. The likes of Carty, Blade, Marmion can't have been too far away from the wider squad and I think Dillane and Heffernan can consider themselves unlucky not be involved in the matchday 23 given the impact they can provide from the bench.
Due to resourcing, Connacht, can't match the other provinces like for like on the pitch and to compensate they do tend to play a different more open style of play which has worked very well for them. I do wonder if their players are even further hindered at international level in that they have to adapt, learn and be trusted by the coaches to play a type of rugby that maybe they are not so familiar with.
Wales
Normally on a Six Nations weekend in Cardiff the pre match talk is about the roof being open or closed or whatever grenade Warren Gatland has lobbed into the press conference. This week however Josh Adams decided to bring us all something new - getting kicked out of camp for attending a gender reveal party.
I expected better of Josh Adams and from the Welsh team to be honest. At least Andy Powell can tell a funny story about driving down the M4 in golf buggy but poor Josh will be doing well to make his story popular on the after dinner circuit in 15 years time.
To be fair the Six Nations covid bubbles don't sound like much fun. Stuck in hotels full time pretty much for 6 weeks away from family and its not like they can socialize amongst themselves as a group. They are limiting contact between players in the squad to less than 15 mins to avoid close contact situations and losing multiple players from the same covid outbreak.
While Wayne Pivac's side haven't had the best run of form in recent times they are a side on the up and I certainly don't expect Ireland to have an easy time of it. I think they have lovely balance in the back row with the return of Dan Lydiate and his daisy cutting tackling technique which could set up a lot of jackal opportunities for Tipuric and others. Ireland may well look to try exploit George North defensively at 13 but I'm fairly sure he's seen the Johnny Sexton loop move a few times already.
Six Nations Fever
I don't know why but there just isn't the same buzz about the start of the six nations. Even for the Autumn Nations Cup it felt somewhat exciting to have live rugby and a few new teams. I think while sports fans are glad to be able to see live games and on terrestrial tv (we'll get into the pay per view debate another day) there does seem to be a bit of a general apathy to the tournament this year. Personally I put it down to the lack of fans and the excitement that builds from travelling to and attending games but I do think for Irish fans some of it comes from the team and their performances as well. Defeat on Sunday could make for a long tournament for a lot of people.
Other Rugby News
Contract News
Great to see Andy Friend sign on with Connacht for another two years. On the @MasterofNone podcast he mentioned that a central part of him staying out west was a committed financial backing from the IRFU. Listen to the whole podcast here
Ian Keatley has been settling in with his new team mates at Glasgow after his mid season move from Benetton but his old team mates and coaches haven't been letting him forget his past.
Fla even reckons he's going to go all Ric Flair on us
Rugby briefs
To relegate or not to relegate that is the question.....
Dupont doesn't waste time at the crossbar challenge
Teddy Thomas is looking for a new club
Turning back the clock
As its Six Nations time in Cardiff here's two memories to keep you going till Sunday