The Ireland team to play South Africa in the opening game of the 2010 ****ss Series shows the return of several players who missed the summer tour to New Zealand and Australia.
Luke Fitzgerald starts his first international in nearly a year since playing in the Australia game last November and is named on the left wing, with Tommy Bowe and Rob Kearney making up the other back three positions. Eoin Reddan has been given the starting birth at scrum half and Rory Best will start at hooker after missing the summer tour due to an ankle injury. Best will pack down in the front row with Tony Buckley and Cian Healy at tight and loose head respectively, both of whom started the last international against Australia.
Donncha O'Callaghan and Mick O'Driscoll also both started the game in June against Australia and will again be the second row partnership for this game. Stephen Ferris and David Wallace are named in the back row alongside Jamie Heaslip.
Ireland Team (to play South Africa, ****ss Series 2010, Aviva Stadium, November 6th, 17:30)
15 - Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys) 13 - Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) Captain 12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 11 - Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrcok College/Leinster) 10 - Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary's College/Leinster) 9 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 3 - Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster) 4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 5 - Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster) 6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster) 7 - David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster) 8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Replacements:
16 - Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht) 17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster) 18 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster) 19 - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster) 20 - Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster) 21 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster) 22 - Keith Earls (Thomond/Munster)
Good team imo - and South Africa missin a good few players
John Smit, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Olivier, Andries Bekker, Fourie du Preez, Heinrich Brussow, JP Pietersen, Gurthro Steenkamp, Butch James, BJ Botha, Schalk Burger, Juan de jonge - all missing
I hope Best has a good game. The weak link for me in that team. I hope we get on top early as I have seen him crack under pressure many times. With the poor weather he will be called upon to deliver. Cronin may replace him if not. Ireland winning margin 1-12 @7/4 with 365 seems generous.
I hope Best has a good game. The weak link for me in that team. I hope we get on top early as I have seen him crack under pressure many times. With the poor weather he will be called upon to deliver. Cronin may replace him if not. Ireland winnin
Springboks: 15 Gio Aplon,14 Bjorn Basson,13 Zane Kirchner,12 Jean de Villiers /Patrick Lambie, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith ,6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepell,17, CJ van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe,19 Willem Alberts / Keegan Daniel, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Adi Jacobs, 22 Patrick Lambie / Lwazi Mvovo
Date: Saturday, November 6 Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Kick-off: 17:30 GMT Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales) Assistant referees: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Keith Brown (New Zealand) Television match official: Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Springboks: 15 Gio Aplon,14 Bjorn Basson,13 Zane Kirchner,12 Jean de Villiers /Patrick Lambie, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith ,6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2
I think South Africa are value this morning 6/4 with Ladbrokes .......A lot has been made of them missing 16 or 17 players but a lot them might not make the first 15 anyway ...... If u take the front 5 of both sides and compare them --- South Africas two props would probably be first choice and we all saw what " The Beast" did to the lions scrum last summer ..... Cian Healy has a long way to go to be a top international front rower and while Tony Buckley continues to improve , at this level his scrummaging will come under massive pressure .....And with Bakkis Botha and Victor Matfield in the second row their front five looks stronger ... While Ireland have picked a top class back line and have an excellent record in recent times at home against them-- i think 6/4 south Africa is good value .... Just my opinion and as the saying goes " opinions are like ****s - everybody has one " !!!!!!!!!
I think South Africa are value this morning 6/4 with Ladbrokes .......A lot has been made of them missing 16 or 17 players but a lot them might not make the first 15 anyway ...... If u take the front 5 of both sides and compare them --- South Africas
What a shambles all round there, first 70 minutes were the worst seen for a long time, were lucky South Africa were nt out of sight by ht
ROG should have been on earlier, Sexton was poor, but cant believe Best finished the game - lineout was a shambles, scrum not too bad to be fair
And the IRFU, great 1st game in the new stadium with the stupid pricing - half full, cr@p atmosphere
But overall i was happy to get a run for my money the last 5 mins as i had wrote it off after 10
What a shambles all round there, first 70 minutes were the worst seen for a long time, were lucky South Africa were nt out of sight by htROG should have been on earlier, Sexton was poor, but cant believe Best finished the game - lineout was a shamble
Scoreboard indicates it was close , but it wasn't . Destroyed in the scrum set pieces , lineout poor , only way we stayed in game was because SA muffed a lot of chances .
Scoreboard indicates it was close , but it wasn't . Destroyed in the scrum set pieces , lineout poor , only way we stayed in game was because SA muffed a lot of chances .