QuoteO'Gara brought his kicking boots today...
Woo hoo 7 point lead.
(checks odds on the draw!!)
O'Gara brought his kicking boots today...
Did you ever notice that in every painting of Adam & Eve, they have belly buttons. Think about that...take as long as you want.
did anyone elses link just die?
edit: its back!
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
It's back up.Originally Posted by SkStu
Did you ever notice that in every painting of Adam & Eve, they have belly buttons. Think about that...take as long as you want.
Looks like job done - well done Ireland.
Yep, bring it on Wales!
Did you ever notice that in every painting of Adam & Eve, they have belly buttons. Think about that...take as long as you want.
excellent stuff. Pretty accomplished second half.
The slam is ON!
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Much better stuff from us in the second half.
We got lucky on a couple of occasions (their near try right before half time, and also 10 minutes into the second half when their full back nearly had a clean break on us but somehow the ball ended up in an Irish guys hands).
Tres bon .. Adieu
Last edited by SunnySweeney; 14/03/2009 at 5:59 PM.
Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder
France out of it following today's result.
All down to Wales game now. Interesting to see mindset of Irish time next week. Say if we're 6 points down near the end will they go for GrandSlam or hold on for Championship win?
I'm what? I'm ants at a picnic?
No question in my mind that they will go for the grand slam in such a scenario. Its always been the goal, and it won't change.
It's not in the make up of guys like O'Connell, O'Driscoll, O'Gara, Hayes and O'Callaghan to settle for something when theres something better on offer, and Kidney certainly won't settle for any kind of defeat.
John Hayes and Marcus Horan have for me been the unsung heroes of this campaign. They are constantly slagged off by the media for their lack of ability but in this tournament they have been nothing short of immense.
I would've thought they were slagged off for their scrummaging weakness rather than their overall contribution? Hayes inparticular has been highlighted on both RTE and BBC (irrc) for his contribution to this team during the championship - he'd probably get more if he'd do interviews!
If you attack me with stupidity, I'll be forced to defend myself with sarcasm.
I'm dismayed at the amount of digs the team are getting from pundits and fans from the UK (blogs, articles etc). Boring? England bored their way to a World Cup and it was clinical, professional, orcs on steriods and a job well done. We grind out victories and put teams away in a clinical manner by taking all our chances and the 6N is back in the dark ages. The choking tag also irritates me. We didn't choke against England in the Grand Slam decider we were beaten by a better side who'd go on to win a WC in that calander year. A good proprtion of this Irish team have won two Heineken Cup medals, to label these players bottlers is way off the mark.
Saturday was another solid performance. The jocks came at us hard but we withstood the pressure and went up a couple of gears offensively in the second half. Game over. Next stop Wales.
The Welsh will be really up for this but I'm confident we can turn them over. It's Grand Slam or nothing now. COME ON IRELAND!
Stuff anyone who complains about the lack of flair or the quality of the performances, be they UK, Irish or otherwise. Just like after we beat Georgia last month the goal of the campaign gets nearer and yet many can only find cause to complain. As a fan I want results. If I get entertained along the way even better.
I watched most of all 3 games at the w/e and I have to say the endless kicking for territory is totally tedious and makes the game look stupid. I also think the endless waiting by the scrum halves to take the ball from the ruck when it's clearly out has to be looked at.
The mind games have started!
Coach Warren Gatland says Wales' players dislike their Irish rivals more than any other team in the Six Nations.
Gatland made his comments ahead of Saturday's crunch clash in Cardiff in which Ireland bid for the Grand Slam and Wales solely for the championship.
Gatland said: "Probably, out of all the teams in the Six Nations, the Welsh players dislike the Irish the most.
"Players' experiences against Ireland haven't always been the greatest, so they are very motivated." Gatland had a 38-Test reign as Ireland coach between 1998 and 2001 and his comments came after he named a team showing eight changes from the line-up that fumbled its way to a 20-15 win against Six Nations wooden-spoon favourites Italy last weekend.
Ireland are on the verge of winning the Grand Slam for the first time since 1948. But Wales could retain the Six Nations trophy if they beat Ireland by 13 points or more.
They last achieved that at Ireland's expense 26 years ago - while a victory of any description would secure a third Triple Crown in five seasons.
Gatland added: "It's about winning the game first, win the Triple Crown, deny them the Grand Slam and then see what position we are in.
"There is a lot of pressure and expectation on the Irish team to come to our back-yard and perform.
"After the Scottish game [on Saturday], the Irish players were an hour-and-a-half in the changing room celebrating and singing, so they were clearly happy where they were at.
"It's how they handle that pressure. There has been expectation on them over a number of years and in a couple of World Cups as well.
"At international level, when there has been that expectation either to perform in Six Nations tournaments or World Cups, they've sometimes faltered a little bit.
"It will be interesting to see how [coach] Declan [Kidney] handles that and how the players handle that this week.
"They've performed well in this Six Nations, but we're at home with a massive crowd behind us.
"If you go back to the autumn, they [Ireland ] were talking themselves up a lot before the All Blacks game - and they really performed poorly in that game.
"We've got to really concentrate on ourselves and put them under as much pressure as we can."
Reflecting on events in the Eternal City, Gatland said: "I've been criticised for the number of changes I made, and in hindsight maybe we made too many changes.
"I am not afraid to put my hand up and say maybe it was the wrong decision. Tactically, we got some things wrong against Italy.
"We feel we haven't played as well as we could have done in this Six Nations and we want to address that.
"To win the title again would be a massive achievement. If we play to our potential on Saturday, we are capable of winning and winning well."
He added: "With a healthy head-start, you have to say Ireland are probably favourites to take the title.
"But we are confident we can come up with a win - and who knows what will happen if we can get ourselves ahead in the game and that Millennium Stadium factor begins to kick in?"
Wales: Lee Byrne; Mark Jones, Tom Shanklin, Gavin Henson, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Alun-Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones (capt), Martyn Williams, Andy Powell.
Replacements: Huw Bennett, John Yapp, Luke Charteris, Dafydd Jones, Warren Fury, James Hook, Jamie Roberts.
Ireland: Rob Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll (capt), Gordon D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald; Ronan O'Gara, Tomas O'Leary; Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell (capt), Stephen) Ferris, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Rory Best, Tom Court, M O'Driscoll, Denis Leamy, Peter Stringer, Paul Wallace, Geordan Murphy.
Last edited by The Fly; 18/03/2009 at 12:41 PM.
Hayes gave away two crucial penalties in the scrum in the 2nd half which wasn't commented on by the RTE panel. Both for technical offences (not binding and something else). One cost Ireland 3 points and another a lot of ground near the end. Madness and could have cost us the game.Hayes inparticular has been highlighted on both RTE and BBC (irrc) for his contribution to this team during the championship - he'd probably get more if he'd do interviews!
George Hook by the way is rugby's version of Dunphy. He has to say something controversial - anything> England "worst English team in living memory" just before the Irish game. They then run Ireland close and massacre France. Sigh!
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
Favourite Gatland quote this week.
"Ireland are playing very much like Munster, closing down and taking three points, and it has been reasonably successful so far but at some stage you have to take more risks and play some rugby."
****er. I hope we stuff em.
gatland is an arrogant man, but until ireland win a grand slam he probably has the cause to be arrogant.
to be fair he was shafted out of the ireland job after a season where ireland only lost one game in the 6 nations
in saying that it was his fault for the team he picked and the tactics he used against scotland that year which cost ireland a slam. i cannot stand him or shaun edwards
Spare a thought for me as an Irishman being surrounded by the biggest glory supporters in sport
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