{"id":13135,"date":"2022-12-30T17:10:24","date_gmt":"2022-12-30T17:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/?p=13135"},"modified":"2022-12-30T17:10:24","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T17:10:24","slug":"5-big-questions-facing-ireland-before-the-six-nations-kick-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/?p=13135","title":{"rendered":"5 big questions facing Ireland before the Six Nations kick-off"},"content":{"rendered":"

WE\u2019RE NOW JUST days away from the beginning of the 2015 Six Nations. Ireland are champions, traditional big-hitting rivals France and England have to come to Dublin and it\u2019s a World Cup year: little wonder that the anticipation and nerves are swelling by the day.<\/em><\/p>\n

The sooner the tournament gets started the better, then we\u2019ll have answers and we\u2019ll probably be left wondering why we ever doubted Joe in the first place.<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Starter for 10?<\/p>\n

With Jonathan Sexton not returning from his concussion layoff until immediately after Ireland\u2019s curtain-raiser in Rome and Paddy Jackson out of the tournament with an elbow injury, there is a real chance for an out-half to stake a claim in World Cup year.<\/p>\n

Source: Cathal Noonan\/INPHO<\/p>\n

However, Ian Madigan\u2019s performance on Friday night \u2013 albeit behind a back-tracking pack \u2013 did not look like that of a man who was ready to grab the Six Nations by the scruff of the neck.<\/p>\n

Last week kicking coach Richie Murphy \u2018we know where Ian Keatley is\u2019 in relation to how he operates at number 10 and that consistency may well see the Munster man parachuted in for an overdue Six Nations start. It would seem a sensible call, yet also a decision with a tinge of panic to it as it appeared Madigan was given the Wolfhounds outing to help get his feet under the table for the main course ahead.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

As things stand, Madigan\u2019s running style and versatility would seem a better weapon to unleash on a tiring Azzuri defence. Which, we hope, will how things unfold after Keatley guides Ireland through the rough early stages like only a man playing regularly at out-half can.<\/p>\n

2. Positional sense<\/p>\n

On the other hand, should Schmidt choose to stick by the Leinster tyro in Rome, then Ireland will have a back-line full of players operating outside of their regular position.<\/p>\n

Source: Dan Sheridan\/INPHO<\/p>\n

Of course, a rugby back-line can be a fairly fluid place but if Schmidt were also to prefer Luke Fitzgerald on the left wing to Simon Zebo then only Rob Kearney, Tommy Bowe and Conor Murray would be in familiar positions that they play week-in week-out for their province.<\/p>\n

We say this days before the first team-sheet of the tournament comes in, but a back-line including Jared Payne (fullback in the centre), Robbie Henshaw (13 at 12), Fitzgerald (13 on the wing) and Madigan (utility back at out-half) would surely need a week or two to find a rhythm before taking on one of the best sides in the world.<\/p>\n

3. That\u2019s why we\u2019re champions\u2026<\/p>\n

At Leinster, Joe Schmidt\u2019s second season was his finest and it was capped by a dominant Heineken Cup final win over Ulster. Throughout that campaign, Schmidt easily brushed aside talk of pressure as defending champions with a mantra of, \u2018we\u2019re not defending anything, it\u2019s a fresh new tournament\u2019, and we expect he will do so again.<\/p>\n

As ever, time constraints make every task more difficult at international level and it will be intriguing to see how Schmidt and Ireland build on the success of last year\u2019s Six Nations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A maul is a beautiful thing. Source: Colm O’Neill\/INPHO<\/p>\n

Perhaps the only criticism of Schmidt through all the success in 2014 was the set-piece driven style of play. Now the man behind Ireland\u2019s rapier-like maul John Plumtree is gone, Simon Easterby will have to put his stamp on the weapon which won the title last year.. Both Schmidt and his players have hinted that there will be a more expansive approach in attack this term, but if that\u2019s the case then the Wolfhounds weren\u2019t allowed touch the playbook before Friday night. We can\u2019t wait to see how the attack shapes up against Italy.<\/p>\n

4. Openside<\/p>\n

Phew, that\u2019s a lot of back-chat. Let\u2019s take a breath and look at where games will actually be won: the ground.<\/p>\n

It seems like Sean O\u2019Brien will be held back from facing Italy and France and instead sent to Leinster to build up another chunk of match fitness. So, much like the Sexton situation, Ireland have a temporary vacancy at number seven.<\/p>\n

Source: Ryan Byrne\/INPHO<\/p>\n

The brilliant Chris Henry is still on the mend and Rhys Ruddock, who took the role in November, is in the latter stages of recovery from a broken arm. Again Schmidt is faced with a choice of picking a player he has preferred in the past out of position (Jordi Murphy) or an able alternative with more experience in the role (Tommy O\u2019Donnell).<\/p>\n

Peter O\u2019Mahony and Jamie Heaslip are locked in to the other two back row positions, but the decision of who partners them will be an intriguing one.<\/p>\n

5. Can we lay down World Cup markers?<\/p>\n

There are so many fixtures coming up that we will be taking a close look at again in six months\u2019 time before the World Cup pool fixtures comes around. You needn\u2019t look much further than the Friday night opener between England and Wales, but for Ireland the opening week of competition will be a taster of what we can expect to face in London and Cardiff in the autumn.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Source: James Crombie\/INPHO<\/p>\n

The World Cup games should matter more, yet there is no room for holding anything back from the Six Nations for shock value. Getting shunted backwards physically also takes its toll mentally and so the best way for Ireland to get an early edge over their Pool D rivals Italy and France is to beat them early and well in this tournament.<\/p>\n

Click Here: Atletico de Madrid soccer tracksuit<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2013 First published 11.33<\/em><\/p>\n

McFadden out, Murray in as Ireland name 38-man squad for opening rounds of 6 NationsWolfhounds disappoint to get Ireland\u2019s 2015 off to a losing start <\/p><\/div>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WE\u2019RE NOW JUST days away from the beginning of the 2015 Six Nations. Ireland are champions, traditional big-hitting rivals France and England have to come to Dublin and it\u2019s a World Cup year: little wonder that the anticipation and nerves are swelling by the day. The sooner the tournament gets started the better, then we\u2019ll … <\/p>\n

Read more “5 big questions facing Ireland before the Six Nations kick-off”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13135\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}