Pretty much my thinking but the fact that Best was in the squad ahead of Reggie would worry me.Originally Posted by joeSoap
Thats a blow...maybe not as big a blow if he puts Reggie straight in instead of Best, but if he starts Best......
That bug is quite contagious isn't it? Will other players be affected?
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
both reggie and best will be destroyed against the french, reggie will be lucky to last 50 minutes against the french front row and why eddie has decided to pick mal ahead of donnacha just seems to boggle the mind we could well end up being eaten alive in the scrum and the line out barring another masterclass by o connell....
Jaysus this is some 2 nd half.
I might propose that Mr Tony Ward get honorary Quote of the mOnth for this gem....
"Dare we say it, the fat lady's gone missing!!"
Absolute gem.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
dont know whether to laugh or cry - never seen an ireland team make so many unforced errors, fantastic spirit in the 2nd halh - did france take foot off the peddle?
As Keith Wood siad' 'it was a schizophrenic performance by the Irish''. I think France did take their foot of the peddle and it was a shame about all the unforced errors.Great second half to watch for the neutral though.
31 points. We just handed them 31 unearned points *shakes head in disgust*
I never want to see Malcom O' Kelly or Reggie Corrigan in an Irish shirt again. Thanks for the memories boys but you are well past it. Tommy Bowe vs Andrew Trimble - they've known the answer to that one for months up north. Sort it out now Eddie and we could have a cut off the English who are as one dimensional as they come.
EOS needs to go. Ireland did well to keep going but France were 40 points ahead & never going to lose the game. Looks like the layers are bored & EOS & could do with a change...
O'Gara, O'Driscoll, and D'Arcy cost us dear in the first half with a nice blend of horrible kicking and passing. They all had amazing second halves, but by then the damage was done, the pressure was off, and the fat lady disappeared long since Tony, cos the game was well and truly over as a contest at half time, if not before hand. Stringer, strangely enough, had one of his best performances for Ireland, but it was all too little too late, with little substance on the bench.
My ratings:
Murphy: 6. Some good breaks, tackled ok
Horgan: 3. Headless Chicken
O'Driscoll: 7. Dire first half, excellent second.
D'Arcy: 7. Same as O'Driscoll
Bowe: 2. Quite simply not international class
O'Gara:7. Cost us 2 tries, but very instrumental in comeback. Took try well
Stringer: 8. Very busy, good distribution, played his best game in ages.
Corrigan: 1.Poor poor Reggie-savaged
Flannery: 6. Some throws iffy, great workrate around the field. Tackled well.
Hayes: 5. Murdered early on, some good play in the loose.
O'Kelly: 1.Abe Simpson is now a better option.
O'Connell: 8. Could turn water into wine this lad....
Easterby: 4. Not the answer..proven again today.
Wallace: 6. Some good breaks, tackled well, slightly off pace at times
Leamy: 5. Cost us dearly in first half with bad options, and an alarming foul up with Murphy. Came into it well enough in second half.
O'Callaghan:8. Changed the game up front when introduced. Took try well.
Trimble: 6. Good positioning for try, otherwise anonymous
Simon Best:7. Under the circumstances, this guy did quite well for a puddin'
Eh how did Murphy merit a 6? A 1 at best!
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Well, he was the lading ball carrier in the game for both sides, and was one of the few who gave it a go. And he dropped no balls. D'Arcy made far more errors than him actually.
Check the stats
Last edited by joeSoap; 11/02/2006 at 6:28 PM.
Murphy a 6? Did you not see the intercept -the single worst error of the game? He should have taaken control of the situation with Leamy, he was coming on to it and should have kicked it into tough. You then give Leamy a 5 despite giving the centres passes for poor first halves, make up your mind.
Horgan a headless chicken? Thats a good one alright, what exactly did he do wrong in your eyes? H elooked like he was capable of making a break and was always looking to offload in the tackle. His chasing of the kick offs was immense.
I'm usually quick to criticise Horgan but thought he one of the first to start the comeback by at least taking responsibility & running the ball.
Murphy was shocking - he dropped a simple pass to miss a try & gave up 7 points with cowards pass. Rarely took responsibility & looked like didn't want to get hurt by the french tacklers.
O'Kelly, Murphy, Corrigan & Bowe cannot be picked for the next game.
I also thought O'Gara was unlucky with chargedown as team was in disarray & he was trying to put some order in. However he is very poor at protecting the ball when tackled.
Team was clearly playing to orders in the first half refusing to take the french forwards on. Most disorganised 40 minutes i've seen from an irish team. Time for a change.
Not sure what game you were watching!
Murphy was dire. Ran well enough, but handling and passing were attrocious.
Horgan was the steadiest of the Irish back five.
Honest! I am not a secret Tim nor a closet Sham - I really am a Seagull.
Just because he made the most carries doesn't mean he didn't botch them!
As for Bowe, well I won't he'll never be ready for this level but he certainly isn't ready yet, have to look at bringing in Hickie from the cold, even on to the bench. He's played well since he's come back from injury.
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Two points come to mind and they are players ability to make correct decisions at crucial times. I was only listening to the game ( The Tube went in the TV) but at 5-0 Ireland were awarded a penalty. And some loolah ( possibly ROG himself) opted not to kick for goal. A penalty goal then and it would have been 5-3 . A two point deficit would have been good for morale and had another one not been missed it would have been 31-9 at half-time instead of 31-3, and it would have made the comeback a bit easier later on.
Shortly after this monumentally wrong decision France added their first 7 pointer to go 12-0 ahead. And after that it was mostly downhill until at 43-3 the lads started to play against a comatose French side, who they punished almost as much as was possible.
Last edited by CollegeTillIDie; 12/02/2006 at 11:11 AM.
Captains decision.
EOS likes to look on the positive side but he is suffering from delusion.
I'd normally agree with you Joe Soap but you're way off the mark with these. Murphy was shockingly bad and made very few breaks. Was at fault for at least 14 points (we lost the game by less). I'd blame him for the Leamy mix up too - it was Leamy's to go for and he should have been covering back. Either Murphy goes to the wing or he should be dropeed for Dempsey (I never thought I'd say that)
Apart from D'Arcy Horgan was our best back. He made some good runs, didn't miss a single tackle and generally got in the faces of the French - one of the few to come out of the first half with a scrap of credit.
O'Gara was rubbish. Also responsible for giving away 14 points. His distribution was poor and although he improved towards the end it was way too late.
Leamy was the best forward apart from POC.
We had a very kickable penalty when we were 5-0 down but Leamy charged at the line. If POC was the captain (a forward should always be captain) then we would have kicked that and the game could have been a lot different.
Overall a disgraceful performance which only had a gloss on it because the French stopped trying.
EOS, please go.
I agree. Tactic to avoid confrontation with the french forwards meant backs were aleways under pressure in the first half - e.g. resulted directly in O'Gara chargedown.
I'm not in the know as such, but I watch a fair bit of the rugger, so I'm gonna have my say, dammit!
I think you're assessment of the situation is unfair. They decided not to take the kick at goal, and danced arounf the French line for a few minutes, were unlucky not to get the try, turned the ball over and with (moreorless) the next kick of the game France got their 2nd try and converted it. Unlucky.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
hindsight is always great in these situations. last week the scots turned down a very similar easy three points at nil-nil. they didn't turn the penalty into a try either, however the next five minutes or so were spent in the french 22, and the try was evenually scored, and the tone for that match had been set. nobody here claimed that the decision not to opt for the points was wrong!I'm not in the know as such, but I watch a fair bit of the rugger, so I'm gonna have my say, dammit!
I think you're assessment of the situation is unfair. They decided not to take the kick at goal, and danced arounf the French line for a few minutes, were unlucky not to get the try, turned the ball over and with (moreorless) the next kick of the game France got their 2nd try and converted it. Unlucky.
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