Ireland XV to play Argentina: 15 Rob Kearney; 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Darren Cave, 11 Simon Zebo; 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan; 1 Dave Kilcoyne, 2 Rory Best, 3 Mike Ross; 4 Devin Toner, 5 Paul O’Connell; 6 Rhys Ruddock, 7 Chris Henry, 8 Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 James Cronin, 18 Jack McGrath, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Noel Reid.

Two LH's on the bench. To be frank I think McFadden should be at 12 and Cave at 13. Good to see Herring getting a chance on the bench.

Both connacht players left out of match day squad for Saturday's game

connachtexile wrote: Anyone know what time and channel they are showing the second Ireland vs Argentina game couldn't see it in the listings.

Sky Sports 2. Coverage at 1930.

Anyone know what time and channel they are showing the second Ireland vs Argentina game couldn't see it in the listings.

Delighted to see Mick Kearney in there

Emerging Ireland squad vs Russia is:

15- Johne Murphy (Young Munster/Munster)*
14- Craig Gilroy (Dungannon/Ulster)
13- Eoin Griffin (Galwegians/Connacht)*
12- Stuart McCloskey (Dungannon/Ulster)*
11- Andrew Conway (Blackrock College/Munster)*
10 - Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster)
9 - Paul Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster)

1- Callum Black (Malone/Ulster)*
2- Niall Annett (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)*
3- Michael Bent (Dublin University/Leinster)
4- Mick Kearney (Clontarf/Connacht)*
5- David Foley (UL Bohemians/Munster)*
6- Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster)*C
7- Tommy O'Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)
8- Robin Copeland (Cardiff Blues)*

Replacements:
16- James Tracy (UCD/Leinster)*
17- John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster)*
18- Billy Holland (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
19- Sean Dougall (Dolphin/ Munster)*
20- Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster)*
21- JJ Hanrahan (UL Bohemians/Munster)*
22- Brendan Macken (Blackrock College/Leinster)*

That's a pretty strong team from 1 to 22.

RogueXV wrote: Sure it may be debatable whether Rodney can make the permanent step up to international level but I don't know how appropriate it is to judge him on less than 10 minutes of little more than a mop up job. Yes, he needs to take his opportunities when they are presented, but I'd like to see him given 20-30 minutes with maybe the game more in the balance.

Mentally he probably hasn't had the best preparation for the stage he ended up on, but for me he should have been fresh enough for the amount of time spent on the pitch to realise he should have been closer to the ruck. Saying that it's a team game and he wasn't beaten for the try it was conceded by the whole team. Defensively they had already left for the changing rooms.

The upside is that he has the "first cap energy drain" over with, the anticipation of winning his first cap will have taken a lot out of his ability to perform. Hopefully he gets another shot, it's the perfect environment for a prop and at the very least it'll clarify how much work (and where) he has to do...

Marmion was unlucky on the break, should have popped to Trimble or dummied but I like the fact he has the confidence at a higher again level to have a go (and I suspect Joe will too..)...

Sure it may be debatable whether Rodney can make the permanent step up to international level but I don't know how appropriate it is to judge him on less than 10 minutes of little more than a mop up job. Yes, he needs to take his opportunities when they are presented, but I'd like to see him given 20-30 minutes with maybe the game more in the balance.

Attempting a bit of a counterargument here; In Marmion's defense I think we've seen Murray make a break like that plenty of times for Ireland, to the point where I have wondered in the past if its something Joe has given the sh's to attempt. If you don't score its the wrong decision but I don't think it was a bad idea.

Ah You, he's going to get nailed over the next few days especially if he doesn't perform in the next game. But I wonder as a late call up was he not possibly a bit jet lagged? The other possibility is having played every game this season (a big jump from 7 the previous season!) he's just a bit ragged. The latter is not an excuse you can get away wtih as an international, but its a reasonable possibility.

I agree with everything Mary has said.
I know there's a lot of love for Rodney on here, but I have failed to see it. He has improved hugely, but I wouldnt consider him top class. Hopefully he will continue to improve and prove me wrong.

As far Marmion, there was definitely a bit of white line fever when he went for the try, but considering it was his debut, and he has scored similiar tries like that for us, I will forgive him.
I fear Redden will start next week. Hopefully not though

mary hinge wrote;
"Unfortunately Rodney looked exactly as he is, not cut out for rugby at international level. While it's always nice to see a Connacht player be capped for the national side, one would really have to question Schmidt's decision to expose Rodney at this level. With Kilcoyne and Bent, they just aren't up to it internationally."

Personally i think this is exactly what Rodney needs the improvements he has made to his game in the past 12 months have been exceptional, now that he has been exposed to international level he has seen what is required of him to make the next step in his career. Now it is up to him and he has proven this last season he is now willing to put in the hard work necessary to make the next step. Good Luck Rodney

Marmion does look the real deal as we all know, and hopefully will start next weekend to give him further invaluable exposure.

Unfortunately Rodney looked exactly as he is, not cut out for rugby at international level. While it's always nice to see a Connacht player be capped for the national side, one would really have to question Schmidt's decision to expose Rodney at this level. With Kilcoyne and Bent, they just aren't up to it internationally.

salmson wrote: Sindo reported Rodney as getting done for the final try though it was actually Kilcoyne. Guess reality doesn't suit their agenda. Fanning had a go at Cave too - with nothing to back it up, no mention of Marshall tackling like Ashton or Jones being useless though.

Kilcoyne was definitely on the side of the ruck where the last try was scored, but Rodney was just standing on the other side of the ruck looking out of breath and disinterested. In the analysis after the game, Quinlan said that the defence coach will be raging at the try, particularly because lads weren't trying to "get across" - I suspect he was implying Rodney should have been looking to move over to that side of the ruck also because Argentina had a load of numbers on that side.

Still, great to see the two lads getting capped, and hopefully they'll both go on to be capped many more times.

Sindo reported Rodney as getting done for the final try though it was actually Kilcoyne. Guess reality doesn't suit their agenda. Fanning had a go at Cave too - with nothing to back it up, no mention of Marshall tackling like Ashton or Jones being useless though.

Have to agree with the guys above. Rodney looked very average while Marmion looked the business. Hopefully Rod gets another chance next week and we see an improvement. Would love to see him get his hands on the ball and makes so hard runs with it. As for the overall performance the word clinical comes to mind. Three trys is nothing to sniff at either with Trimble's intercept being the pick of the bunch imo. Thought Diack looked very good also, it was clever of Schmidt to use him as the main line out operator as Argentina would have no video on him.

Kieran played well, but he went for a try himself when he could/should have let it for a certain try. And I hate to say it but Rodney looked shagged at the end when they scored their try even though he'd only been on the pitch 8 minutes or something. Still, I'm hopeful one or both will get a start next week and really show what they're made of.