Yes, if he plays Donnacha Ryan, Eoin Reddan and allows the backs to play.

Unchanged for Paris... Let's hope Murray has had a good week to analysis things... Won't get away with slow play and box kicks all day...


15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rory Best, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 5 Paul O'Connell, 6 Stephen Ferris, 7 Sean O'Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Peter O'Mahony, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden.

i agree bigfullback when reddan came on last week the ball came so much quicker and sexton is lethal with quick ball, i still wouldn`t drop murray but really hope he learned ffrom last week.

big game for our smallish centres and our out of form back row, if we perform in these positions we can get a result over there but if not we could be looking at a hammering

Its all the makings of a strange game.... Its a win for Ireland by 4 or 5 points or a 20 odd point drubbing...... I have a strange feeling we might just sneak this one.....

Good to see a bit of a fight back in the Ireland team. Under a lot of pressure in the 2nd half but held out for the point. Very disappointed in Trimble. Don't know what's going on with him when he pulls on a green jersey but he's not as half as committed to the tackle as he is in an Ulster jersey.. Murray did well and looks like medial ligaments from what I saw. Sexton was brilliant in his wrap ups of the French allowing a few turn over scrums. Bowe at his snappy self and a great read for his first try. Serious catch by Kearney late in the 2nd half. Eddie Butler on BBC said it was catch of the tournament. Plenty of positives and hopefully they can carry it into the Scotish game...

Kearney back to brilliant form and Ferris too. I thought CB's description of the out-of-form back row was harsh on him, he was excellent against Italy and decent enough against Wales. He is, after all, the reason Sean O'Brien is being played out of position. Could get a rest against Saturday, with O'Mahony coming in and O'Brien going to 6... he's had a lot of knee problems over the years.

Who'll be captain now, Best? At least Ryan will get in now though I would have liked to have seen him in there with his Paulie. I've a feeling Reddan would always have started this game anyway. T Bowe and the boys will relish the quick ball and Reddan's relative lack of physique won't be as much of a factor against the Jocks.

In the cold light of day Kidney is a problem. You have 2 main clubs that fill the Welsh team, the Cardiff Blues and the Scarletts. Leinster, Munster & Ulster can and have beaten these teams comfortably. It has nothing to do with the size of the player because backs regularly have to face and tackle larger forwards every day. Yet Wales are Grand Slam contenders and we have zilch. It comes down to tactics and team selection.

Donnacha O'Callaghan cannot get a start on the Munster team due to Donnacha Ryan, yet O'Callaghan is Irish first choice?? The best team in the country is Leinster but for years Leinster forwards couldn't get a look in and it was only through injury that they did. The majority of the backs play for Leinster but he plays a Munster style game. Axel Foley is another example of his thinking.

Let the team pick itself and let the team play to their strengths.

ogie i wasnt highlighting ferris he was prob the best of the back rows in the first 2 games but even at that his ratings for them matchs would be no more than 6/10 he hadn`t put in a performance like the french game, in the welsh game our back row was beaten and in the italy game they weren setting high standards for themselves so i dont think my description was harsh on him he surely wasnt in form like he was against france.
i mentioned two positions that needed to perform better in and we did and we got a result.
the centres were good but in fairness every time rougherie got the ball he was targeted particulary by sexton, the time sexton and ferris held rougherie up and forced the turnover was just brilliant.
scotland wont be easy we`l need another big performance to win this, poc will be huge loss.

time to give new blood a go