Nothing less than 30 in my opinion. We should be able to rack up a 50 or 60 point difference.Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
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Nothing less than 30 in my opinion. We should be able to rack up a 50 or 60 point difference.Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
South Africa 36-0 England.
Springboks with an ok-ish route to the semis
The chariots wheels have come off.:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by dfx-
well they have been fairly shaky for a good while!Quote:
Originally Posted by onceahoop
im actually enjoying ITVs coverage so far, it isnt that bad, and they have an Aussie guy commentating on Ireland games who is very funny (Who is he?)Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
I cant watch Conor Mcnarama, just too annoying
He's a New Zealander called Murray Mexted (?) and by far the worst commentator I've ever heardQuote:
Originally Posted by bennocelt
yeah but dodge we are pretty much opposites anyway in everything:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
and i have seen your TV recommendations!
Just seen that Portugal have a new tactic to compete with the All Blacks. Keep the ball on the ground & kick it up the pitch. New Zealand are hopeless at football. :p
We still wouldnt beat them.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
Really?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
He commentates on the Super 14 competition which I can watch from Japan - he always seemed knowledgeable to me. What dont you like about him?
He made jokes about the "wild Irish" and players drinking guinness. Also got 4/5 players names wrong, "John O'Driscoll" being our captain apparently.
Ireland squeek past Georgia 14-10. Georgia had all the ball
Embarressment.
I now retract all previous praise I have given Eddie O'Sullivan. This is a beaten Irish side mentally and physically. 'World Class' players aka O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, O'Gara, Leamy, and O'Connell no longer have any right to be considered so in my book. I have played and supported rugby all of my life. I now am embarrassed by this Irish team.
I also have no doubt that O'Sullivan won't change this team too much either. Based on this performance, I would line out against the French with this team: Dempsey; Trimble, O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, Carney, O'Gara, Stringer; Simon Best, Flannery, Hayes, O'Connell, O'Kelly, Neil Best, Alan Quinlan, David Wallace.
Drastic I know, but they need a kick in the arse. Hickie is finished. Horan and Rory Best are passengers, Donncha is away with the fairies and Leamy is just plain poor at the moment.
Jesus, I'm depressed now.
What is happening to Irish sport? A week of utter S*ite from both the Rugby and Football team.We will be torn apart by the French and the Argentineans. We are a shadow of the side that so nearly won the championship. I feel sorry for all our supporters having to put up with this nonsense.
I just said this in a footy thread, but the only good thing is that soccer will probably reclaim about 50,000 schoolkids fron rugby now!
You can't fault the players as they are trying but they do not look up to the pace of the WC. O'Sullivan seems to think they can pick it up another level next week & maybe he will be proven right but I doubt it. They might be good enough by the time Argentina game comes around but it could be too late.
Ireland look better than they really are in the 6 Nations because:
* Wales, Scotland & Italy are poor
* England & France are run by club sides so little time to prepare
* Ireland pay the players so I would guess they train together twice as much as France & play less games.
In the WC the "club team" like advantage is lost as even the minnows train together 6-8 weeks before the tournament. To use a football example this is how South Korea got to a WC semi final.
The sad thing is this is the glory years for Irish rugby as the 2nd string players coming through are not very good. Once some key players retire it will a couple fo years of poor results to know if the newbies are up to the level. We'll still have England to beat though.
Georgia played the game of their lives tonight and everything they had Ireland withstood. I think Ireland deserve credit for that.
I think to an extent that's correct. In the circumstances, other sides would have lost given the momentum they had at the end. Their pack was immense and that guy with the left foot - what a kick from hand, enormous.
Goergia may well have beaten another 6 nations country, dare I say it, the defending world champions. Hard to say.
Anyway, it's good that the RWC is becoming more competitive.
You can't afford to take your eye off the ball in international sport these days. Close followers of football here know that ther former minnows are tough opponents these days. Holland needed a 90th minute winner in Albania last week.
Flannery and Boss must start v France IMO
Gutted with that performance tonight :mad:
yeah I'm disappointed but just been reading the independent and leinsterfans.com forum and the slagging they are getting from all angles makes me want to defend them! They are clearly off the pace and well below par but they won - we'd have usually caved in under that much pressure. Stringer and Best need to be replaced by Boss and Flannery. I'm still in a bit of shock but Georgia were fantastic. This often gets forgotten in the media, like a poster says above they'd have been a handful for any 6 nations side last night. Maybe trying to match them up front was a suicide mission.
Something I have noticed before & has been evident in both WC games so far is that the Ireland team never change tactics during games. I think O'Sullivan gives them strict game plans which is great when it works but when not working no plan B. Ireland kicked away so much possession last night it was criminal. Surely with all their supposed skill the backs would have run at Georgia & wore them down?
:confused:
I wouldn't know what an offside flanker is, but are things not bad when there are shouts of Boss to replace Stringer after the replacement's performance?
Regardless of what everybody else was or was not doing on the pitch, what could explains O'Gara's kicking performance? A team just gone inexplicably off the boil?
You start off thinking about margins of victory then you´re thinking the bonus point looks difficult, then you´re wondering about victory. You could see Argentina had a difficulty against Georgia but that game in the last 1/2 hour was played in the Georgia half with them hanging on.
The Georgian tactics were brilliant as was their kicking The kept pinning us back in our own 25 and we couldn't handle it. The amount of turnover ball we conceeded when in great atacking positions was embarrasing for players who are supposed to be up there with the best in Europe. Players kept getting themselves isolated and we couldn't get to the breakdown quick enough. There was an embarrasing lack of composure from some players under pressure. I think O'Gara had one decent kick. Stringer has been way off his best for some time (take a gamble and play Reddan). O'Callagan's stupid concession of a penalty was unnacceptable at is level, more akin to something in Junior 3rds.:mad:
I wonder will the Georgians be able to repeat that performance against their paymasters, The French.
Enjoying the World cup, apaprt from my bet France messing up in the first game, that French manager hasnt a clue
Some of the games are an awful mismatch, but thats always going to happen
Portugal and Georgia look like they could make a step up in a few years times, with money and good coaching
Man Georgia could have won that game last night, pity!;)
funny to see Henderson in shock last night, considering he tipped ireland to make the final:rolleyes:
The French have invested a lot of money in Georgian rugby. They've even sent 4 full time coaches there. Most of the Georgians play the club rugby in France.Quote:
Originally Posted by bennocelt
Why? They deserve every bit of criticism they get, and more...Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
We won, without a bonus point which was very much expected and very badly needed...against a third worlf rugby nation.Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
Best yes, but Boss for Stringer? Get real. That has to be one of the most ridiculous suggestions ever.Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
What is criticism from us going to achieve? The players know they are in a rut themselves, this team has brought us a lot of wins and I still have faith in them. The English/British media attitude of hounding the players after 2/3 games is OTT and it's spilling over into Ireland. The team needs support IMO.Quote:
Originally Posted by joeSoap
if we beat France and Argentina we don't need bonus points. A big if but all I was bothered about in the last 20 minutes was getting the WIN.Quote:
Originally Posted by joeSoap
Well I'm not alone on that suggestion. I must have read 'drop Stringer' at least 200 times today by different posters/so called rugby experts. Don't get me wrong I'm no fan of Boss but O'Sullivan will have to seriously consider a change at number 9. Stringer is struggling (more than anybody IMO - I have never seen him so hesitant) and throwing somebody that out of form into the biggest match Ireland has played in years could seriously backfire on us. People have gone as far as wanting Reddan in at scrum half but that is way too risky for this game - Boss at least has game experience in the green shirt.Quote:
Originally Posted by joeSoap
I admit it would be a risky move in breaking up the O'Gara/Stringer partnership but competition for places is defintely taking place at number 9 (something we lack in most positions). I wouldn't make wholesale changes, just those 2 positions and maybe Trimble in for Hickie
When Boss came on for Stringer last night he was adding more problems to an already bad situation.
Best in injured so Flannery will start.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hibs4Ever
he messed up once when he broke away and kicked the ball out of hand straight to a Georgian but other than that I thought he didn't do too badly. Maybe Stringer will bounce back. I hope so - he cannot get any worse!Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Stringer is passed his sell-by date. Telegraphs his passes, is too slow around the base of the scrum and has no pace.Quote:
Originally Posted by joeSoap
The only reason he is still selected is that he and O'Gara are used to each other but World Cups (or indeed qualification for the later stages) will not be achieved on sentiment.
For the same reason, it is about time that O'Connell was dropped, has not played well in any game for 12 months or more. Reputation does not guarantee performance.
France have set their stall out with an emphatic victory. 87-10. Their confidence will be sky high having had a big win and us playing like under 14's. Still, at least we know that if we beat them we're through. What an if.
frances win over namibia quashes ant chances that namibia are actually any good. iv heard the only reason best starts for irelnd is because they have to play at least one protestant. cant see any other reason why he would start ahead of flannery. our forward play has disimproved so much. we used to dominate teams up front. cant see how we could have gone backwards, odonovan has to take some flak
Stringer is still the best scrum half we have, Reddan is a far better 9 than Boss, to play Boss against France would be akin to suicide.
O'Callaghan had a very poor game but so did all of the pack, Best was very poor (in both games now there has been a marked improvement when he's gone off), O'Connell is supposed to be a leader in the pack he was annonymous, the back row were consistently out fought at the breakdown.
It's difficult to do a lot with the pi$$ poor quality of ball the backs were getting but O'Gara kicked very poorly, I've never seen him miss as many touch kicks. The 3/4 line were tryng to play Hollywood rugby Running from inside their own 22, losing posession and then spending 10 minutes defending desperately.
We will get battered by the French and Pumas, that £20 on us to go out in the group pahse looks a sensible bet at the moment.
:rolleyes: He's a far better scrummager.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rovers fan
Not in the the last 10 years we haven't. In fact I can't remember an Irish pack ever dominating a gameQuote:
our forward play has disimproved so much. we used to dominate teams up front.
Team is announced early.
A few changes,
Reddan Trimble and Flannery all in
good to see. I'd like to see Neil Best in there as well but throwing Stringer in at the deep end was not a clever idea.
Stringer doesn't even make bench........neither does Murphy??!!
good shout, needed to be done. Big call on Redden but has played at the higest club level with Wasps. Would like to have seen Quinlan included, even if on the bench. France will suit Easterby as he is in the main a spoiler and will slow the ball down and this will be vital on Friday because if France cut loose we are dead in the water.
I thought Reddan was 2nd choice at Wasps, I could be wrong.