Know your enemy / 3: Ireland
Italia
propongono una guida veloce partendo dal Pro12 e arrivando ad indicare due giocatori del futuro. Buona lettura.
Irish Teams in the Pro12
The Irish provinces are in great health. Leinster, based in the capital in Dublin, top the Pro 12 and are European champions. Over the last couple of seasons they’ve emerged as the premier Irish province; ably coached by Kiwi Joe Schmidt, they are once again among the favourites to get their hands on silverware this season. Not far behind are Munster, who were the dominant force in Irish rugby for much of the last decade, but currently find themselves in something of a transitional period. Ulster are coming up on the rails: they won the Heineken Cup in 1999, but fell away in the years after, but they are re-emerging as a force and have impressed with their performances this year, coming out of a tough Heineken Cup group including Clermont Auvergne and Leicester. Connacht are the weak link of Irish rugby, and tend to be far down the table in the Pro12.
The National Team
Ireland are something of a mixed bag, capable of occasional brilliance, but too often looking fairly ordinary. They’ve won three out of five in each of the last two Six Nations campaigns, and having lost to Wales in the first week, look unlikely to go better this year. The World Cup was similarly up- and-down: superb wins over Australia and Italy looked to have set Ireland up perfectly, but they bowed out meekly, losing 22-10 to Wales in the quarter-final.
The Coach
Declan Kidney is head coach. He had success with Munster in Europe and won the Grand Slam in his first season, which was fantastic. But the feeling is that we’ve been treading water since then. The gameplan looks like a strange, uneasy hybrid of Leinster and Munster that isn’t really working. He’s a conservative coach, and his selections can be very uninspiring, going for the same players over and over again.
Key Players
Paul O’Connell of Munster is the captain (with O’Driscoll injured), and one of the iconic forwards of the last ten years. He’s Ireland’s go-to lineout man, and Italy will need to deal with him at restarts, where he is phenomenal. Another player to watch is Jonathan Sexton, the fly-half. He’s consistently superb for Leinster, but hasn’t quite brought his A game to the national team. Everyone will be expecting to see him at his best on Saturday. One player Italians will enjoy watching is Ulsterman Stephen Ferris. He’s a wrecking ball of a player and watching him battle with the Italian forwards will be something to relish.
Names for the Future
Simon Zebo, the Munster wing, is a name to keep an eye out for. He’s having a breakthrough season at the moment, and scored a couple of tries against Treviso this weekend. He has a bit to learn (like how to pass!) but has an eye for the tryline. Ian Madigan at Leinster is another player who has impressed this season for his province. He plays more like a French 10 than an Irish one: he has a super pass and break, but needs to improve his kicking. He’s a real livewire and has seven tries already this season.
Post
IRB.com News
England
Australia
Nuova Zelanda
Francia
Sud Africa
Galles
Argentina
Irlanda
Italia
Scozia
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento