Next step for Ireland Rugby

I would not be surprised if there were no changes to the Irish 15 for the next game against Scotland at the end of the month.

I would also not be too upset either, the team are coming together better but importantly there were changes made before the last game based on form and they were good changes.

I don't think Jackman should be scapegoated for the line out. It looked like his throwing was reasonable, but that the jumpers were at fault. The French jumpers looked strong. The change in momentum in the lineout came first at changes to the French personal then then with Mal coming off. We were winning ball out of touch long before Best came on. When he did come on, we had already started to turn the screw in all confrontation areas. We were shunting the French scrum backwards, Jackman was a big part of this. Best came into a pack that had momentum and was ripping into a French pack shorn of confidence. It appears that the French lack depth at the moment.

Now putting forward my belief of what pack I would like to see.
I would like to see the starting front row. I think that Leo Cullen should come in for Mal with Mal dropping out of the 22. I think that if Paul O'Connell is fit that he should start on the bench. I would have liked Flannery to start on the bench as well but it now appears that he is injured, a poetic twist of faith he has broken bones in his hand. Now the real change I would like to see is in the back row. I would like to see an openside start the match, replacing either Leamy or Wallace, preferably Wallace. Gleeson or Jennings are the obvious picks to fill this role with Gleeson hugely out of favour with O'Sullivan, so in that case I will pitch for Jennings, he is also the younger player and we need to start blooding youth now at the start of a world cup cycle.

An openside should start a game not come off the bench as an impact player, as he will not be up to the speed of the game and more importantly the ref. So he is sure to give away a penalty at the breakdown quickly.

However think of the bench of forwards I am proposing, and the impact these players would have in the last 20 or 30 minutes of a game. Flannery, Paulie, Wallace and Buckley (though I would prefer Healy for the running prop position, he is younger too) . These 4 forwards come on and change the dynamic of the game completely. And coudl allow Ireland to dominate the go forward ball. They would all be eager to perform and reclaim starting jerseys. But players like O'Connell and Wallace need to be thought that they don't own Irish jersey's by right they have to perform for them. Wallace has performed well and it would be tight between him and Leamy to keep the starting 6 jersey in my book. I would expect them to step up and perform and Paulie would be in to start the following game on performance not just name. Which is all he would included on the bench for if we're honest.

In the backs, my ideal changes would be to drop Dempsey and Murphy. And replace them with Fitzgerald and Bowe, playing them on the wing and moving Kearney to full back.
This would be a very exciting back 3 with pace and confidence, and one that could surely be trusted to finish chances created by the pack. I don't think Horgan should even be on the bench, I would put Dempsey there. What game time has Horgan really had, he looked rusty against England A.

All that said, I fully expect that this wont happen but changes will be made.
Murphy to the bench, replaced by Horgan.
Paul O'Connell in for Mal, with O'Kelly dropping to the bench.
And before todays injury news I would have said Flannery to start with Jackman dropped to the bench.
Well doesn't that team look awfully like the flops in France with the sole exception of Heaslip.