The Roar » Pot Hale

Kidney takes bold step for Ireland’s Six Nations tilt

Pot Hale — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:12:09 +0000

Despite being classed as the most conservative of the Six Nations coaches, Declan Kidney surprised a few people by naming five uncapped players along with four relative newcomers in a 32-man squad named ahead of Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations opener against Wales.

Leinster winger David Kearney, younger brother of Ireland and Lions fullback, Rob, earned himself a spot after a strong display and a try for the Ireland Wolfhounds last week in their 23-17 defeat to England Saxons.

Youngster, Simon Zebo of Munster, followed up his hat-trick for his province in the Heineken Cup, with another late score against the Saxons.

Leinster centre Eoin O’Malley, Munster back rower Peter O’Mahony and Connacht prop, Brett Wilkinson are also included.

All five have been promoted from the Wolfhounds’ squad, alongside single-capped internationals full-back Denis Hurley, lock Dan Tuohy and back rows Chris Henry and Rhys Ruddock.

Kidney is likely to announce his match-day 22 midweek for their first 6N match against Wales, and the cynics would suggest that none of the newbies will make it that far. With France as opponents to follow that match, the danger in trialling newcomers in two such critical matches when World Cup seeding places are at stake, might be a step too far for this conservative Munsterman.

However, Kidney has been known to throw the odd curve ball back at his critics, and his surprise selection of 21 year old Conor Murray to start as the test scrum half in the World Cup was the most recent example.

With Brian O’Driscoll out of the tournament with injury, and the pressing need to bring through the bones of a new generation of players, who knows, maybe “Deccie” might spring a few more surprises before the tournament is out.

32-member Ireland training squad for Wales match:

Forwards: R Best (Ulster), T Bowe (Ospreys), T Court (Ulster), S Cronin (Leinster), S Ferris (Ulster), C Healy (Leinster), J Heaslip (Leinster), C Henry (Ulster), S Jennings (Leinster), S O’Brien (Leinster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), P O’Connell (Munster), P O’Mahony (Munster), M Ross (Leinster), D Ryan (Munster), R Ruddock (Leinster), D Tuohy (Ulster), B Wilkinson (Connacht).

Backs: G D’Arcy (Leinster), K Earls (Munster), D Hurley (Munster), R Kearney (Leinster), D Kearney (Leinster), F McFadden (Leinster), C Murray (Munster), R O’Gara (Munster), E O’Malley (Leinster), E Reddan (Leinster), J Sexton (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster), P Wallace (Ulster), S Zebo (Munster).

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Article link: Kidney takes bold step for Ireland’s Six Nations tilt. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

English clubs failing because Irish have it too easy

Pot Hale — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:18:45 +0000

The Chief Executive of Premier Rugby in England wants the Pro 12 to change its qualification system for the Heineken Cup so that more English clubs can make it through to the knockout stages. It sounds ludicrous, but it’s true. That’s the gist of what Mark McCafferty said in a recent print interview when he [...]

Article link: English clubs failing because Irish have it too easy. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Irish rugby to enforce new foreign player policy

Pot Hale — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:58:38 +0000

With a population of just under six million, and competing against three other major popular sports on the island of Ireland, Irish rugby has had its hands full in developing the growth, finances and popularity of rugby over the last decade and a half following professionalism of the game. The record of the national team [...]

Article link: Irish rugby to enforce new foreign player policy. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Heineken Cup gets northern juices flowing

Pot Hale — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:53:55 +0000

After the varying disappointments of the Rugby World Cup, the European club/provincial competition gets underway again next weekend, with some of the usual suspects to lift the Cup being joined by a few more possible contenders for this season’s tournament. The format of the competition consisting of six pools of four teams is interesting. Only [...]

Article link: Heineken Cup gets northern juices flowing. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Analysis: Try time at the RWC 2011

Pot Hale — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:06:08 +0000

Will tries win the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand? A look back at the try-scoring feats of the various teams at the Rugby World Cup shows that in the big games, the whitewash has not been crossed too often as stifling defences from the top teams win out against attacking styles. The tallies [...]

Article link: Analysis: Try time at the RWC 2011. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Shock result? No, Ireland were the better team

Pot Hale — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 21:20:12 +0000

It’s time to face the facts. Australia didn’t manage to lose their game against Ireland. They were simply beaten by a better team. And all the crying into Australian beer won’t change that simple fact. The review of Australia’s performance following Saturday night’s match has been full of what went wrong for Australia, the lack [...]

Article link: Shock result? No, Ireland were the better team. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

French relish an Irish stew in Bordeaux

Pot Hale — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:02:28 +0000

France and Ireland meet this weekend in the first of a doubleheader warm up matches for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. With only two matches on their card, the French are eager to put the Irish to the sword as they’ve done time and again over the last decade. A win for the men in [...]

Article link: French relish an Irish stew in Bordeaux. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Snedden may want to kiss Samoan shoes

Pot Hale — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:33:08 +0000

Whatever the concerns the New Zealand Rugby Union may have about their prospects in the upcoming Rugby World Cup, it’s probably nothing compared to Rugby World Cup CEO, Martin Snedden, and his colleagues. They have been quietly praying that their targets for ticket sales would recover amidst the aftershocks of Canterbury and the ongoing tremors [...]

Article link: Snedden may want to kiss Samoan shoes. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Leinster heart should make Deans look twice

Pot Hale — Tue, 24 May 2011 17:51:01 +0000

Earlier this year, Robbie Deans decided to travel to Europe to watch a couple of the Wallabies World Cup pool opponents in action – Ireland and Italy. As some scribes thought at the time, he didn’t see much to worry about with Ireland scraping home against an Italian side that could easily have won with [...]

Article link: Leinster heart should make Deans look twice. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Northern refs dominate World Cup selections

Pot Hale — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 14:08:55 +0000

With the likely dominance of the southern hemisphere teams at the business end of the tournament, the IRB have cleverly planned for an abundance of northern hemisphere refs to be available for the quarters, semi-finals and final. The bets have opened on who will will ref the final. The 10 refs selected for the RWC [...]

Article link: Northern refs dominate World Cup selections. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

When Super Rugby came to Twickenham

Pot Hale — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:14:12 +0000

Last Sunday, at 1600 GMT, the rugby world sat down as one and was treated to the best game of rugby played anywhere in the last two years. Or maybe in the last one hundred and twenty-two years, going by reports from all quarters. Within five minutes, after conceding an early sloppy try, the New [...]

Article link: When Super Rugby came to Twickenham. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Leinster set the tone for the Super 15

Pot Hale — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 14:54:55 +0000

In the final pool round of the Heineken Cup, Leinster, 2009 winners, smashed Racing Metro 36-11 with a five-try hammering of the Top 14 team at the French outfit’s home base. Outside centre Brian O’Driscoll celebrated his 32nd birthday with the last try of the game to become joint leader of the all-time try scoring [...]

Article link: Leinster set the tone for the Super 15. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Italian beef to add more spice to Six Nations

Pot Hale — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:45:29 +0000

Italy announced their squad for the Six Nations earlier this week with Treviso’s Australian born fly-half, Kristopher Burton, drafted back into the Nick Mallet’s training squad of 24 to replace Craig Gower, who is out with a long-term knee injury. In good form this season, Burton will contest Brive’s Luciano Orquera for the starting spot [...]

Article link: Italian beef to add more spice to Six Nations. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Ireland should try to keep NZ under 50

Pot Hale — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:08:09 +0000

With the team announcements for this weekend’s clash between Ireland and New Zealand to happen today, the Ireland XV who run out on the field on Saturday should set their sights somewhat lower, according to some fans, to keep the losing margin below 50. Following last week’s woeful match against Samoa, which Ireland undeservedly won [...]

Article link: Ireland should try to keep NZ under 50. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

It’s North versus South in the big rugby Tests

Pot Hale — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:09:00 +0000

The opening weekend of the Autumn Internationals proper sees six teams from the south take on six from the north. And no doubt it will be another sweeping victory for the southern teams as their rocket-fuelled boots take them past their leaded-hooved northern counterparts. A veritable pizza topping display of New Zealand elan, Aussie brio [...]

Article link: It’s North versus South in the big rugby Tests. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Northern Hemisphere to win the first round battle

Pot Hale — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:46:51 +0000

It’s less than 48 hours to kick-off the first of the November Internationals series when Wales take on Australia at the Millennium. At the same time, in another part of Britain, England will be quietly chewing their knuckles as they prepare to take on the All Blacks.

Who will step up in the Autumn Internationals?

Pot Hale — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:59:47 +0000

The Autumn Internationals take on an added hue of colour this year as the European teams, as well as Argentina, Samoa and Fiji, look to see how far they’ve traveled under the new law interpretations compared to their experienced SANZAR colleagues.

Rugby World Cup: who really wins?

Pot Hale — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:21:30 +0000

When the idea of a Rugby World Cup was mooted, eventually it was the Australasian axis aided by France who had to drag the remaining Northern Hemisphere unions kicking and screaming to the voting table. South Africa joined the proponents and an Englishman eventually broke the deadlock by changing his mind. The terrible beauty of [...]

Article link: Rugby World Cup: who really wins?. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Celtic dawn for the Italians

Pot Hale — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:50:40 +0000

It’s only the first week of the Magners League this weekend, the annual rugby union competition involving professional sides from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, and it’s off to a cracking start. A glance at the table even after the first round has a few surprise names at the top. 1 Connacht Rugby 1 5 [...]

Article link: Celtic dawn for the Italians. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

The big test in June is actually for the IRB

Pot Hale — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:20:59 +0000

All of us are anticipating in different ways the month-long series of Northern Hemisphere/Southern Hemisphere Test matches coming up in June, which kicks off this Saturday with the Wales Vs South Africa match in Cardiff. But the biggest test of all has gone largely unremarked upon by commentators and bloggers in recent weeks. And the [...]

Article link: The big test in June is actually for the IRB. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Weakened All Blacks ready to face Ireland

Pot Hale — Mon, 31 May 2010 14:31:45 +0000

It’s a tale of two injury lists lengthening by the day for Ireland and the All Blacks. But something tells me that Steve Tew won’t be making any complaints about Northern Hemisphere teams sending weakened squads to tour down south this June. After a rash of injuries and some judicious resting of players after a [...]

Article link: Weakened All Blacks ready to face Ireland. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Southern hemisphere teams lick their lips for June

Pot Hale — Tue, 18 May 2010 04:05:53 +0000

Oh yes! It’s that time of year again, when the foot-dragging, mud-chewing northern behemoths turn up in your local town – whether that’s South Africa, Sydney or somewhere in New Zealand. You can hear the groans as southern hemisphere fans realise that the games will actually be on during waking hours, and they can’t use [...]

Article link: Southern hemisphere teams lick their lips for June. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Northern Hemisphere is heading south

Pot Hale — Sun, 16 May 2010 14:01:37 +0000

2011 could see Northern Hemisphere players heading south of the equator in large numbers following a new agreement reached by NZRU with their Super 15 franchises. Next year New Zealand will have to find 20 new professional players as Super 15 squads expand from 28 to a minimum of 30 and maximum of 32. Every [...]

Article link: Northern Hemisphere is heading south. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Clash of the rugby Hemispheres for 2012

Pot Hale — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:55:22 +0000

The prospect of a highly-attractive “clash of the hemispheres” game to determine the world’s best club side is set to be introduced in 2012, much to the delight of Northern and Southern rugby fans. A play-off between the winners of the Heineken Cup and what will by 2012 have become the Super 15 has been [...]

Article link: Clash of the rugby Hemispheres for 2012. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Name your European Cup All Time Stars

Pot Hale — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:06:19 +0000

Italy's Mauro Bergamasco, left, is tackled by Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll in their Six Nations rugby union international match at Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

To mark the fifteenth year of the greatest club competition in the world, ERC Rugby has managed to get a panel of Usual Suspects together to nominate players and coaches for various gongs, including being part of a H Cup Dream Team.

Paying tribute to Ireland’s centenarian

Pot Hale — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:06:19 +0000

This Saturday afternoon, Brian O’Driscoll will captain Ireland for the 63rd time and earn his 100th cap for his country as he runs out onto Croke Park to play against Wales. The Irish centre has been playing for over a decade in the professional era, and has won many plaudits (and some brickbats) for his [...]

Article link: Paying tribute to Ireland’s centenarian. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

France, Ireland meet in early 6 Nations Crunch

Pot Hale — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:44:15 +0000

Nearly a decade ago, the powers that be in the broadcasters covering the 6 Nations decided that the final match in the Championship should always be the France Vs England match. ‘Le Crunch’ as one headline famously dubbed the match between the two Northern heavyweights. They’re the two biggest teams in the 6 Nations went [...]

Article link: France, Ireland meet in early 6 Nations Crunch. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Leinster get their man, but is he the right one?

Pot Hale — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:23:37 +0000

The winning Aussie reign is coming to an end at the home of the European Champions, Leinster. Current head coach, Michael Cheika, completes his five-year contract at the end of this season. In his place will come the relatively unknown New Zealander, Josef Schmidt, the current assistant coach at Clermont Auvergne, where Vern Cotter is [...]

Article link: Leinster get their man, but is he the right one?. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Plenty of tries on the feast of St Stephen

Pot Hale — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:22:15 +0000

St Stephen’s weekend featured 11 derby matches across Ireland and Great Britain with little Christmas spirit on show for some clubs who were given festive hammerings by their local rivals, and served up a feast of tries for their fans. St Stephen’s Day kicked off with matches in the Magners League and Guinness Premiership featuring [...]

Article link: Plenty of tries on the feast of St Stephen. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Heineken Cup flowing, even when it’s snowing.

Pot Hale — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:03:35 +0000

The turnaround ties in Round 4 of the Heineken Cup were played this weekend, despite several snow blizzards, frozen pitches, postponed games and icy terraces. And fortunately the tries kept coming too after an initial bout of stodgy rugby. The back-to-back period of the Cup is regarded as the most critical for teams in setting [...]

Article link: Heineken Cup flowing, even when it’s snowing.. Written by Pot Hale, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion