Great matches for Ireland and Munster this weekend!

 I was the Aviva Stadium for the Ireland (up and coming) v Canada match, and it was a great family evening out, with a stack of kids running around. And everyone got their moneys worth, 11 tries, 8 new caps, and fireworks before and during the match, and even at half time!


It was a scratch team, quite a lot of new combinations, so there were a few rough edges. we shot out to a 14 point lead, let them back into the game and then pulled away in the second half. There was a few guys trying too hard - POM and SOB are still a few games short of reaching their old sharpness. A few guys were probably playing slightly above their level, but they must have learnt a lot. You feel like Joe Schmidt has used this game to pick his 2019 World Cup squad.

Some guys are showing great progress, Tiernan O'Halloran is an awesome player, Ultan Dillane is already there, and Ringrose is just flying. Marshall made one mistake, but he is just such a competitor, he's always going to be in the frame.

Absolutely fair play to Canada too, for coming and playing their hearts out.

I also got my son a Green is the new Black T-shirt at the match, €15 its for free, with all proceeds to the Dublin Simon community, you can also get them online at dublinerdoodles.com

On Friday, Munster so turned up, really putting the Maori All Blacks to the sword. How sound were the Maoris making a special jersey for the match as well, and presenting to Anthony Foley's kids? 

In the other matches, South Africa were very poor against England... they are in all sorts of problems.  Scotland were unlucky to lose to the Wallabies, and Wales came up with a close victory against Argentina. Alwyn Jones is worth about 10 points to them.

Munster 27 Maori All Blacks 14
Saturday 12th November
International Match
Italy 10 68 New Zealand FT
Scotland 22 23 Australia FT
England 37 21 South Africa FT
France 52 8 Samoa FT
Wales 24 20 Argentina FT
Ireland 52 21 Canada FT

All the young guns for Canada!

 

So so much rugby on this weekend, I'm off myself with my son to Ireland v Canada where I'll get to see up and coming Ireland. Really pleased with the starts for  O’Halloran, Ringrose and Holland, and to have James Treacy, Dan Leavy, Jack O’Donoghue and Niyi Adeolokun on the bench. All exciting players, and deserving of game time against Canada. If you work hard, you get the recognition.  I'm  looking forward to the match, which we should win handsomely.

The pick of the weekend matches is really England v South Africa - amazing to think that England hasn't beaten them for ten years. Well... up until this weekend that is. South Africa have packed their side with huge players, their default  position is pick a bigger player, so we shouldn't expect a feast of running rugby from the Boks, if we ever get that. At least they have Pat Lambie at flyhalf. It's going to be another tough day at the office for the Boks.

The other competitive fixture will be Wales v Argentina, where it easily be another another forgettable day for Wales. I'd expect they had a big boot up the bum during the weekend, and the team does look fresher. I don't know if their heads in the right place yet though.

And finally, we have Munster v the Maori All Blacks tonight, which should be a hugely enjoyable fixture. The memories still linger of the All Blacks last match against Munster, and the haka they did before the game.


Ireland: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jack O’Donoghue, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Billy Holland, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Niyi Adeolokun

Friday 11th November

International Match

Barbarians 19:30 Fiji
Munster 19.30 Maori All Blacks

Saturday 12th November

International Match

Italy 14:00 New Zealand
Scotland 14:30 Australia
England 14:30 South Africa
France 16:45 Samoa
Wales 17:30 Argentina
Ireland 19:15 Canada