Scotland 18-21 Ireland

A bad performance against a terrible team.
All started bright and rosy with Ireland battering away at the Scots on their own line, sucking in defenders for Jamie Heaslip to walk over the line untouched to score the first try after just 2 minutes.
Great scrum from the Irish pack for Eoin Reddan to trot over for a try after Heaslip peeled off the back. Absolutely awful defence from Scotland contributed to both of the tries.
Both teams seemed bereft of ideas with ball in hand, a lot of running into traffic or putting boot to ball.
In the second half Ireland started well again attacking the Scottish line while the Scots were down to 14 men. Ireland were sloppy though, they turned over the ball to Scotland and gave away a penalty not long after that, both incidents happened on the Scottish line.
Ireland kept it simple and went throught the phases, a gap was going to appear at some stage and when it did Ronan O'Gara took the opportunity with a superb hand off on Ross Ford to dot down under the sticks.
Scotland were very direct for the whole game, but that made them predictable.
Irelands indiscipline at the breakdown continues to be a major problem. They kept Scotland in the match by continually giving away penalties in their own half. Ireland should have blown this terrible Scotland team away. If Scotland had been half decent or Dan Parks had started they probably would have won this match. Ireland were bad and there for the taking, that's 2 games in this championship where Ireland have been lucky to come away with a win. I'm starting to wonder if this business of giving away penalties is a tactic that Kidney & co. have instilled in the squad. Whatever it is it has to stop now!
Declan Kidney's use of the bench is still terrible. One week he doesn't use it and then the next he empties it with the game finely balanced. What is he playing at?!
I've said it before but I really think that Kidney & co. don't know what game to play and who they need to play it.
My Man of the Match is Sean O'Brien. He made breaks all over the field and supported all the other runners too. Honourable mentions for Ronan O'Gara, Eoin Reddan and the front row.
Kidney & co. have an awful lot of work to do.

Scotland vs. Ireland Preview

This match is a must win for both sides.
Ireland are blessed that Dan Parks isn't playing in this match. Ruaridh Jackson has been picked to play a more expansive game and with all the injuries that Scotland have in the back line, this will suit Ireland. Scotland would be better off playing for set pieces to grind out penalties for Chris Paterson to convert. Scotland need this win after already losing a game at home they won't want to do it twice in a row.
Ireland need to attack Scotland out wide and try to push their massive pack from pillar to post to wear them out. Speedy delivery is essential for this, and Ireland have the opportunity of getting this due to the presence of Eoin Reddan at srum-half. The worst thing that Ireland can do is let the Scots keep it tight. Declan Kidney needs Ireland to win this after deciding that Jonny Sexton was the reason that they were losing (which is preposterous!).
This game will not be full of tries due to Scottish errors and Irish kicking. Tommy Bowe will get a try from a cross field kick.

I read a quote from Declan Kidney today that made me chuckle with bemusement.
“I’d agree with Alan (Gaffney), I thought Jonathan had a very good game the last day,” said Kidney, “but Ronan has been playing very well then too, so if you want to keep guys ticking along, it’s only right that you (reward form).
"reward form". Is Kidney joking? How can you justify that when you've selected an inferior scrum-half and second row for 2 games in a row?! The selections of Tomás O'Leary and Donncha O'Callaghan over Peter Stringer/Eoin Reddan and Leo Cullen suggest that Kidney doesn't know what form is. Another thing that suggests this, is the selection of Paddy Wallace on the bench ahead of Fergus McFadden. Wallace didn't play well against the Llanelli Scarlets at the weekend and McFadden has done well.
I'm surprised that Kidney could keep a straight face while he said that.

Declan Kidney has finally seen sense (but, I think it was injury forced!) and dropped Tomás O'Leary. But (and it's a big BUT!) he's dropped Jonny Sexton! WHAT?!!!
Kidney eventually gets around to dropping O'Leary to get quicker ball from the breakdown and then drops the best out-half we have at unleashing the backline. It just doesn't make sense.
Ronan O'Gara has been pushing hard to get a start, but Sexton hasn't been given the chance to play off a quicker scrum-half. I think he played with Eoin Reddan for 4 minutes against Italy. If Ireland want to embrace a running game Kidney and co. are going the wrong way about it.
Can you see O'Gara running for a wrap around to create gaps for the outside backs? No. And it's because it isn't the way he plays the game. He plays the territorial game beautifully, but he can't unlock defences in the same way as Sexton.
If Dan Parks starts for Scotland on Sunday we could be in for a giant game of tennis! The way Ireland's line out has been functioning lately doesn't fill me with great confidence for playing a percentage game. Scotland's pack are huge and they'll be happy to go from set piece to set piece and try to grind out a victory. We got dragged into this kind of game against Italy and I hope that it doesn't happen again.
On another note, dropping Fergus McFadden from the 22 is another decision that confuses me. He has done nothing wrong and deserves to be in the 22 at the expense of Paddy Wallace. He can cover more positions than Wallace and could be employed as a place kicker if needed.
I'm starting to get the feeling that Kidney and co. don't know what kind of game they want to play and which people they really need to apply it.

After seeing the players that have been called up to the extended squad for the Scotland match on Sunday, and there are a couple of things that have made my eyebrow raise.
Mick 'Superstar' O'Driscoll has been called up which absolutely baffles me! Donnacha Ryan has been called up, but it should be him that is called up as second row cover and Shane Jennings to cover the back row. O'Driscoll has never done anything in the green of Ireland and he's done little in the red of Munster. I can not understand his call up at all.
The fact that Peter Stringer wasn't called up initially (once again he's been called as cover for Tomás O'Leary) is madness! He is the form player at Munster and is the only Munster player that should be anywhere near the starting XV! Paul O'Connel is there because of his reputation. I have no idea why Donncha O'Callaghan is there, he's done nothing but give away penalties. Denis Leamy is too busy whinging at refs to concentrate on playing the game. David Wallace (granted he had a decent game against France) hasn't performed for a while and is not in the team on merit. Keith Earls is there due to injuries to Tommy Bowe, Andrew Trimble and Shane Horgan, he wouldn't have a sniff if they were all fit.
I don't see Declan Kidney and co. making many changes. The pack will stay the same. The only changes that might happen is Bowe coming in on the wing and Fergus McFadden switching to the other wing or the bench or, and this is a long shot, to inside centre where Gordon D'Arcy hasn't been playing to his best.
We'll keep an eye out to see what Kidney and co. decide to do in the coming days.

Started this blog after some of my friends suggested that facebook was no longer the place for me to post my Leinster and Ireland rugby match analysis and opinion.
I'll be posting later in the week about the Ireland team to play Scotland and how I feel about it.
You'll have to bear with me for a while until I get used to the whole thing.