i think kidney will go with jackson and mcfadden on bench giving him 2 kicking options if Rog struggles.

Madigan is being called up due to the media and public reaction today regarding his omission. Kidney playing a politician.

+1

Well apart from the media forore, pj and rog could well pull up with an injury and there is no 12 in the country left that kidney likes (he must have a thing against keatley? Seems like perfect bench option IMO) so he has been forced to pick mads at last. Feel bad for mcsharry I felt like this was a game that could/should have been targeted as his debut weeks ago. On the other hand though we have a nice set of young backs coming through and I don't really want kidney getting his hands on them.

Madigan is being called up due to the media and public reaction today regarding his omission. Kidney playing a politician.

I wonder if Madigan is called up just to replace McSharry or have they had a rethink about Paddy Jackson? Just seems a bit risky having as your replacement outhalf someone who does not regularly take his club's kicks at goal.

update chrishenry out for 4 weeks, TommyoDonnell called in.

Dave McSharry also out, Ian Madigan called up #rterugby

A 29-man squad has been called into Irish camp in preparation for the game against Scotland next weekend in the RBS 6 Nations Championship.
Chris Henry is included after suffering a knee injury and will undergo a scan tomorrow afternoon.
Luke Marshall suffered bruising to his thighs, but the injury was not enough to rule him out of inclusion in an Ireland RBS 6 Nations squad for the first time after being unavailable for the opening weeks of the championship with a finger injury.

In addition to Marshall, back row James Coughlan and second rows Lewis Stevenson and Devin Toner come into the Irish squad as extra cover, after being involved in the early preparations of the championship.

The panel could have extra players added to it after further medical reports and the final squad will assemble in Carton House tomorrow (Monday) evening.

Ireland Squad (29):
Rory Best
Darren Cave
Tom Court
Sean Cronin
James Coughlan
Keith Earls
Luke Fitzgerald
Declan Fitzpatrick
Craig Gilroy
Robin Henshaw
Jamie Heaslip
Ian Henderson
Chris Henry
Paddy Jackson
Rob Kearney
David Kilcoyne
Luke Marshall
Fergus McFadden
Conor Murray
Sean O'Brien
Donncha O'Callaghan
Brian O'Driscoll
Ronan O'Gara
Peter O'Mahony
Eoin Reddan
Mike Ross
Donnacha Ryan
Lewis Stevenson
Devin Toner

well he does keep marshall out of the ulster team!

Paddy Wallace !!!!
OMG

rossie wrote: they are dropping like flys! Bod limped off the field too. hopefully he will be okay. its between luke marshall and mcsharry with marshall favourite although hes just back from injury too.

Downey is injured as well.

Paddy Wallace come on down!?!

they are dropping like flys! Bod limped off the field too. hopefully he will be okay. its between luke marshall and mcsharry with marshall favourite although hes just back from injury too.

FACECUTTR wrote: Darcy is out.
Any chance of McSharry getting a look in??

I think he picked up an injury in camp and that's why he hasn't been released to play for us this weekend. No idea the exten of it

Darcy is out.
Any chance of McSharry getting a look in??

Afaik they already allocate tickets to the supporters clubs for the AIs but the clubs wont surrender their stranglhold on ticket allocation for the 6ns. They generally use them as a fundraiser as they sell them to the corporate event sector to sell on as part of packages to those who can afford it.
The only reason the AIs filter through to the supporters clubs is because the same level of demand/interest isnt there in the corporate sector.

I also would agree with shutting the bars coming up to KO time. The great thing about terraced seating is that you have to get there early or you won't get a good spot. I don't suppose they could do the same and have unreserved seating, but it would definitely get people into their seats.

I agree that they should target the die-hard fans but how to do it? Give STHs from the four provinces an allocation? Would be a good start I think.

RonanL wrote:

salmson wrote: The solution is fairly simple: turn the Havelock end into terracing, so the same with the lower deck of the East stand (opposite the cameras). This won't suit the football but the German solution of interchangeable standing/seating that can be turned around in hours would sort that. The tickets would be cheaper but you'd sell more, get some real fans in, and if anything increase the merchandise and refreshments sold.

I suspect that ship has sailed, but I'd agree completely with the idea of having terracing, with an option to install seats for the soccer, purely in the interest of increasing capacity and making cheaper tickets available.

Having said that, I don't think the problem is with the ground. Ireland international games don't generally generate a good atmosphere particularly on a Sunday afternoon. I went years without missing a game, and regardless of venue (old landsdown, Croke Park, or the Aviva) the atmosphere was mediocre at most of them. The notable exception being the England game in 2007. I listened the the discussion on the radio, and I think it would make sense to close the bars 10 minutes before kick off at the Aviva, just to get people into their seats.

It's not a bad suggestion, by the fact is that where Rugby Internationals used to be one of the few big shows in town, now it's just another event on a busy social calendar let alone Rugby calendar.

And people have changed too, everyone's too cool for school these days. So while they're happy to event hop, actually participating is out of the question. Too busy waving at the camera to sing the anthems...