galway_gas wrote: Jackson out of tour with back injury. Madigan in.

My severe disliking for Leinster, had me hoping that Keatley would get in ahead of Madigan

Jackson out of tour with back injury. Madigan in.

Madigan's form has being ropey all year yes he had a great game against Ulster but one game does not a season make. Schmidt said that he wants him and Keatley in the emerging Ireland squad were they will get real gametime and can show him what they can do rather than a 5 minute cameo off the bench.

He also said that Mike McCarthy will be added to the team if he is passed fit soon.

Madigan not brought due to 3 scrumhalves but when you look at the other backs included I'd have had in front of a couple of them, good for Marmion

Interesting selection. I would have definitely have had Bowe in my squad but apart from that no major quibbles. Wondering if Varley got in ahead of Cronin cause of the neck injury or he wants another look at Varley?


Props:
James Cronin
Dave Kilcoyne
Jack McGrath
Marty Moore
Mike Ross

Hookers:
Rory Best
Rob Herring
Damian Varley

Second-Rows:
Iain Henderson
Devin Toner
Paul O'Connell

Back Row:
Robbie Diack
Chris Henry
Jamie Heaslip
Jordi Murphy
Rhys Ruddock

Scrum-half:
Kieran Marmion
Conor Murray
Eoin Reddan

Out-half:
Paddy Jackson
Johnny Sexton

Backs:
Darren Cave
Keith Earls
Robbie Henshaw
Felix Jones
Rob Kearney
Luke Marshall
Fergus McFadden
Andrew Trimble
Simon Zebo

James Cronin, Robbie Diack, Rob Herring and MARMION are the four uncapped players going on the tour.

Joe has an interesting way of dealing with the Madigan or Keatley issue - don't bring either of them!!


www.irishrugby.ie/news/31826.php

Apparently St. Joe is going to name his squad for Argentina tomorrow. Unusual time. A bunch of guys went off injured this wknd.

Felix Jones (concussion)
Fergus McFadden (concussion)
Paddy Jackson (Leg)
BOD (concussion - retired)
Dave Kearney (knee)
Sean Cronin (Neck)

Apart from BOD all of those guys would fancy their chances of making the Argentina tour. Will be interesting to see who makes it and who doesn't.

Greg Feek will be the new National Scrum Coach in a full-time capacity next season. This could be a boon for us as he will be available to Connacht for training sessions etc.

THE IRFU HAS announced that Greg Feek will join the Ireland national coaching team on a full-time basis from the 2014/15 season onwards, having signed a two-year deal.

The former All Black has been working with Ireland part-time over the last three seasons, balancing his year-round work with Leinster. However, this new contract means Feek will end his spell with the province, focusing solely on national interests in the future.

Included in the new role is responsibility for aiding the National Scrum Development Programme, as well as continuing his control of the Ireland senior team’s scrummaging training.

The IRFU say Feek’s involvement in the National Scrum Development Programme will see him “working with the provincial and underage scrum coaches to identify and develop scrum talent” and focusing on “improving players’ general understanding of scrum mechanics and technique.” This seems a positive move for Irish rugby, given that Feek’s expertise will now be shared among the four provinces when the national team is not in camp. The 38-year-old formerly won 10 international caps as a prop and played Super Rugby for the Crusaders.

“Greg played an important role during the Six Nations and the national coaching team are delighted that he will be joining us on a full-time basis.” says Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt. “He will also be a valuable addition to the National Scrum Development Programme.”

Feek himself pointed out that there is “some good scrum talent across all four provinces but there is always plenty to work on as we attempt to maximize the growth and development of the emerging talent while also staying as competitive as possible at the top level.”

Robin Copeland sent off during the weekend for stamping on a players head. With his disciplinary record (which is bad) he could miss the Argentina tour/Tblisi Cup through suspension.

You can see it here:

Decadence wrote: Have they not gone beyond that ceiling for Heaslip and/or O'Brien now?

AFAIK no. Both on under 450k which is what Jonnie cash was offered.

Agree with you regarding Jackson but Madigan's form has taken a dive and Schmidt doesn't seem to rate Keatley that highly so Jackson gets its by de-fault.

The only reason I might accept for bringing Sexton to Argentina is that Schmidt wants to build a winning culture and no games will be considered throwaways but even then I don't know. Sexton had a busy May with Leinster last year and then down to Australia with the Lions where he started all three tests and of course shortly after he's off to Racing. The lad can use a rest French money or not. Plus as Decadence said this will be a great opportunity to sort out Sexton's backup. I'm not 100% confident with Jackson were he called into a big game ATM and I get the feeling Schmidt isn't either.

Have they not gone beyond that ceiling for Heaslip and/or O'Brien now?

Irfu have a ceiling and weren't prepared to go beyond that. Jonnie cash knew that but chose the money. Setting a precedent of breaking that ceiling would not have been a good move IMO. Setting one of no special treatment if you go is a good move IMO.

rossie wrote: IMO Schmidt isn't happy with decision sexton made and equally wants to discourage others from doing same so no special treatment.

I don't disagree, but I think the IRFU are taking the brunt of the blame for failing to get a deal done with Sexton. He had said at the time that he wasn't seeking parity with what France was offering him.

Good article by thornley a few days ago, basically saying that if the IRFU had met his demands would've cost an extra 100k p.a. but would have massively increased Leinsters chances of going further in the HC, netting them 5 times that. Hopefully they see mistakes have been made and will make every effort to keep the stars at home.

I'd like to see some changes for this tour. Its a good tour in that they are tough but winnable games even with a weakened side. Argentina are a strong side but not at the level they used to be at. Even if we lose so what, ranking points aren't particularly important until after the next world cup

I think there is scope to give game-time to a number of players. Room for experimentation will be limited after next Autumn so time to throw some new faces into this one and try and build a good squad for the world cup. We'll never have a top quality squad of 30 but if we can widen our options further it would be useful as we are still limited in terms of quality and alternatives in certain positions.