Ratings on Ireland v Connacht
15 Geordan Murphy: keen and very active which is probably better news for Leicester than Ireland at this stage
14/13/12 Johne Murphy/Darren Cave/Ian Keatley (replaced by Ian Whitten): not in RWC plans
11 Fergus McFadden: did everything well, rounded off with lovely pick up and dart over for try. Kidney has to bring him
10 Paddy Wallace: good to see him reinforce himself as a viable alternative to either O’Gara or Sexton, which is why he is going
9 Isaac Boss: was busy and accurate with his passing and coped well with sloppy stuff from his forwards. Was replaced by Conor Murray who had to roll his sleeves up, and did ok under pressure from Connacht’s Paul O’Donohoe
1 Tony Buckley: quiet when he needed to be a bully
2 Sean Cronin: ok, nothing more. Replaced by Damien Varley who is not in running
3 John Hayes: needs games to get fit enough to make any impact, and not a lot of game time left. Replaced by Marcus Horan who did little wrong
4 Mick O’Driscoll: good restarts and carried a bit of ball, but it’s all too late
5 Leo Cullen: did ok, but looks nailed on for midweek captaincy. Replaced by Donnacha Ryan who is beginning to look like he knows he’s on the plane
6 Kevin McLaughlin – one bad handling errror but put himself about. Too late I suspect
8 Denis Leamy – scary moment in second half when he was having his ankle seen to by medics. Played ok and is secure
7 Niall Ronan – In theory he should be in the running because of David Wallace’s ongoing fitness issues. However Shane Jennings ahead there, even though he hasn’t laced a boot. Replaced by Chris Henry who is not in the picture
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