Need every point on the board – ROG the man to do that – Sexton confidence gone AWOL -

The knee jerk commentator says O’Gara, the form player; Sexton’s kicking has been abysmal. However, reversing the first pick No.10 from O’Gara to Sexton will do nothing for Sexton’s kicking confidence and he won’t have it when he’s brought on as a replacement or worst case scenario, as a replacement to an injured O’Gara. Given the beat ability of Italy (though they won’t be a walkover) the best psychological decision Kidney should make would be to start Sexton and bring O’Gara in as replacement. Get the Italy game right after all and we have a nice match against Wales. Given the sudden death nature at that stage, with no significant improvement in Sexton through the Italy match, I’d then be starting O’Gara.

Never send a boy to do a mans job. Simple as that!! Confidence my arse. This is the world cup

A world cup is not the place to be gaining confidence.

o gara because kicking is vital against italy but sexton will be world class in time.

At this point it’s not about building Sextons confidence for the future it’s about the immediacy of this game. We need points. O’Gara gives us that, at this stage. As professional players it is up to them to respond regardless of when they are called on to play. If Sexton is not up to the task then he shouldn’t be at the world cup.

can’t afford to be mollycoddling sextons confidence at this stage of competition – tries won’t be as easy to come by against italy and will need confident kicker as they tend to give away alot of penalties. if starting with sexton, then kidney has to make change quickly if kicks start going a missing, as in very quickly, not 20 mins to go. trimble instead of darcy also a good goer as he is strong in tackle, can break through tackles and make yards and also has the off loading game. darcy hasn’t played well in over a year

O’Gara to start with Trimble at No.12 he is the form back and has the strength to make the hard yards leave Sexton on the bench gives you an option for 10 & 12. Darcy’s form has been off for a while he has done nothing Paddy Wallace should not even be in squad only a bit player we need go forward ball and with Rog’s kicking we can keep Italy pinned in their own half.

Its gotta be rog end of story
No contest

A lot of people are saying that starting O’Gara will unseat Sexton’s confidence. Aside from the fact that knock-out fixtures are no place for grooming any individual player’s confidence, has anyone considered that not starting Sexton might actually be beneficial for him by taking some of the pressure off?

I agree that O’Gara is playing much more assured, but as stated already, it will only serve to lower Sexton’s confidence if he’s dropped. I think we’ve got what it takes to beat Italy and Sexton offers a better all round game which will be crucial against the bigger teams. I’m not so sure about giving him the no.12 shirt either untested. don’t think it’s a smart option. If Sexton doesn’t improve though it has to be ROG for the knockouts.

IMHO, Sexton should start, confidence and continuity are essential to a player like him, chopping and changing are not the way to instill either. Start with Johnnie and if needs be bring Rog off the bench into 10 and potentially move Johnny to 12 (assuming D’arce doesn’t win the battle for fitness)

i think sexton has been terrible and italy are no walkover team ogara should fill in from this stage on we need his experence against a strong welsh side and if we get france in the semis o gara has to start sexton would not be able for that presure

All the kickers in this tournament have suffered, carter and wilkinson have been well off their normal kicking form. Agree on Darcy, he hasnt had a good game for ireland in at least a season probably two. McFadden oe Trimble in for him at inside centre rather than Earls who is a natural wing. Sexton is a brilliant player with the temperament and skill to play in any game at any level. The guy has one two heineken cup medals and he’s still only a young fella! The Rog Sexton debate is always about kicking territory and points, you cannot compare these two players, they play very different games and enable ireland to play very different strategies when needed! Kidney has been trying to get a fast paced, open offloading game going which johny suits. If that doesn’t work go for Rog to pin them back and hope our forwards can front up. The debate here is about which tactics we use as much as which number ten!

I think we need O Gara for his place kicking. but I am beginning to think his game management is poor, he kicks to much possession, Ireland have out grown that model and its a waste of our backline talent, he is also weak defensively, kidney should have used the Russia match to try sexton at 12 bit unfortunately he didnt.. O Gara could drop to 15 when Ireland are defending a la Australia with Cooper

Paddy Wallace had a good game against Russia – poor opposition but with d’arcy playing so poorly, he could well be the option at 12. Personally o’gara should start with sexton coming on at the hour mark. Just watch out for parisse!

Sexton’s Advantages
1) Defence
2) Attacking theopposition #10

O’Gara’s Advantages
1) More attacking variety
2) Better goal kicker (although he can have his off days)

More broadly, you want O’Gara when we have the ball and Sexton when they have the ball. And the follow on from that, the better the opposition, the more you want Sexton.

On that basis, O’Gara would be the best pick against Italy, but I tend to go along with the idea that it’s worth sticking with Sexton so as not to undermine his confidence.

Playing O’Gara at 10 and Sexton at 12 may still be an option, but you really want to hang on to a fresh outside-half on the bench for the last 20 minutes.

Who to start at 12 is a whole different question. D’Arcy is off form and has been for 18 months. Wallace is a very limited player. Anyone else is being played away from their favoured position. My inclination is to put McFadden there, but with a plan to change things around without a substitution if it isn’t working.

the reason we werent going wide against russia had nothing to do with the number ten…earls has a terrible habit of coming back inside every time…he also has a habit of not passing the ball…in fact that is more of a limitation than a habit. earls is an awful centre..darcy and o’driscoll are the best option..if not for the defensive work at the breakdown in lieu of a conventional number 7. heaslip has been poor and needs to man up..as does sexton as it is ri=diculous to continually speak about his confidence…he needs to man up…o’gara has been impressive and deserves to start and sexton has simply had a bad tournament. his first pass on sunday was overcooked and his nerves are unnecessary..feel that the august matches were wasted…id love to see ferris tried at second row…been calling it for the past year and no sign of it being an option. AB’s showed how simple it is to break open defence’s if theres a 9 10 12 15 strike from the 22…look at williams try saturday morning..we have failed to get the ball wide once in the 3 games..we should beat italy…o’gara to start…id have trimble over earls any day

Come on ROG looked good in a mismatch and their outhalf missed one eighth of the match. Sexton is a better defender and can attack the number 10 channel. If he was kicking 100%, there would be no debate. ROG is the perfect impact sub – we should keep it that way .

Paddy Wallace is a terrible center, but not as bad as D’Arcy who has been shocking the last few years with handing error’s worse than Marcus Horan, Earls and Drico center Bowe and Trimble wings, sorted!!

Ask the Italians who they would prefer to start and I bet they would say O’Gara.

Now that Italy have their 4 try bonus point win, it’s do or die for either them or us. Ironically, we could be on the plane home on Monday if they win, regardless of our historic win against Australia. Italy will throw the kitchen sink at us across the park, and we need a solid defensive line. They have a strong, tough front row and it will make life very difficult in the scrum. You can bet that the Italians, knowing well how close they came to victory against us in the last Six Nations, and having dispatched France in their biggest win to date, will see us as beatable and are targeting this game as their moment to surprise. Just because we have won all of our last fifteen encounters, doesn’t make us invincible.
For that reason, I’d have Sexton start at ten. He is a far more effective prospect that O’Gara in terms of defense as he is more committed in the tackle, but his kicking hasn’t impressed to date. That’s also where we will need to get the crucial, tough points on the board. If he under performs, it’s at least comforting to know that ROG is there to bring on and pick up the pieces. But Kidney need to be cutthroat about it and make the tough call against Sexton if that’s how it pans out.
I’m an Munster man and have all the admiration in the world for O’Gara, but I’m still gonna go with Sexton at ten, at least for the best part of the game. Bring on ROG toward the end to seal the victory if Sexton looks shaky or the pressure’s on.
O’Driscoll, Earls and Heaslip need to lift their game too. It doesn’t get any bigger than this. And we could be facing Wales next who are looking a form side, so an assured win to get heads straight has never been more important.