The IRISH RUGBY thread

[orangeman]

The writing was on the wall last week  - this was coming. Now it's here - it can only get better.

[Capt Pat]

Too many mistakes when we would have had to play the perfect game to win. Healys yellow card and Flannerys reversal of the penalty were also devestating blows.

We were also outgunned physically, when kearney went off we put Wallace in for him with Earls at full back this made the team quite small in places and we saw Earls and wallace getting bullied by Basteraud. In addition O'Gara isn't the biggest and Cullen is a bit light weight for a secoond row. None of those players are anything approaching natural rugby athletes and when you have nearly a third of your team in that light weight camp you are going to need these players to deliver something else with their skills and with so many mistakes this never happened.

I disagree with the lads saying this team has reached its ceiling, I think the performance might have indicated that but we caught all the bad breaks while the French took theirs, I would call it a flat performance. There is an old half of the team and a young half of the team

Healy, Heaslip, Ferris, O'Leary, Sexton, Kearney, Bowe, earls and Fitgerald, Rory Best are the young half
and
Hayes, Flannery, O'Connell, O'Callaghan, Wallace, O'Gara, O'Driscoll, Darcy,  are the old half.

I think O'Connell and O'Callaghan might soldier on for a while and they will have to, but in terms of backs and back row players there is another fine generation already there. The feast followed by a famine scenario will not happen.

[Capt Pat]

Did anyone see Healys yellow card properly, i thought it was a bit harsh.

We made the French look a lot better than they are today, a little bit of luck for Darcy and just before halftime allied with Flannery not reversing that penalty would have taken us a long way in that match.

[muppet]

Did anyone see Healys yellow card properly, i thought it was a bit harsh.

We made the French look a lot better than they are today, a little bit of luck for Darcy and just before halftime allied with Flannery not reversing that penalty would have taken us a long way in that match.

Definite yellow card and should have been at least that for Flannery.

The try came from our back row of Ferris, O'Driscoll & Wallace while our other two back rowers Heaslip & Darcy did well.

Darcy usually plays well against France as they always double team O'Driscoll, but unfortunately he achieved nothing in terms of the scoreboard.

[tyroneboi]

Thought having both Sexton and Wallace on the bench was a strange decision when the squad was announced but in hindsight it proved to be quite costly. Having to move D'Arcy from the centre was a move which had a negative effect on the teams defence and attack. I am just not convinced about Paddy Wallace playing inside centre at this level.

Be very interesting to see the team selection for the England match. Doesnt look good for Rob Kearney. Who will slot in at full back? Earls? Bowe maybe (would be my choice actually think it would give him a bit more freedom in an attacking sense)? O'Callaghan will probably come back into the pack even though i thought Cullen had a decent game. Can Healy play at 3 or is he an out and out 1? Not sure what other changes that can be made??

It was a great run the team was on and it was going to come to end an end at some point. Its not all doom and gloom and maybe this defeat will be good for the team in the long term.

[orangeman]

Did anyone see Healys yellow card properly, i thought it was a bit harsh.

We made the French look a lot better than they are today, a little bit of luck for Darcy and just before halftime allied with Flannery not reversing that penalty would have taken us a long way in that match.

Definite yellow card and should have been at least that for Flannery.

The try came from our back row of Ferris, O'Driscoll & Wallace while our other two back rowers Heaslip & Darcy did well.

Darcy usually plays well against France as they always double team O'Driscoll, but unfortunately he achieved nothing in terms of the scoreboard.

Will Flannery be cited ??

[Capt Pat]

He should be but you never know they might not as they won the game and If Ireland don't cite any of their players, I mean why bother as it only takes a player away from Ireland when they are playing England and Wales might be against the interest of the French.

i have to say we were very unlucky today. If darcy had been at any other point on the goal line for the kick ahead instead of that post, it would have been 7 points to Ireland. It didn't happen followed by more bad luck when Tommy Bowe went up for a high ball with Harry nor the guy, Bowe just missed out and harry nor the guy made a big break by running into the empty space that Bowe would have been occupying which set up the attacking opportunity that caused Keen Healy to get yellow carded. Cian Healy shouldn't have grabbed the guy but because it was the 12 stone chap it looked worse than it might have been, they wouldn't have scored at that point so it wasn't necessary and maybe the yellow card was a little harsh.

The tackling on the second french try both for the initial break by Basteraud and the try by Jauzion was terrible, or should that be the positioning of the players as both players were just allowed run straight through, nobody was responsible for tackling them.

So over all a few key mistakes and bits of bad luck and indiscipline cost us a lot. We also need to get bigger and really can't afford to have so many of these amateur type physiques like O'Gara, Cullen and Wallace on the park at any one time.

This RTE player thing is great.
http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1066450

[Olaf]

i have to say we were very unlucky today.



So over all a few key mistakes and bits of bad luck and indiscipline cost us a lot. We also need to get bigger and really can't afford to have so many of these amateur type physiques like O'Gara, Cullen and Wallace on the park at any one time.

Ireland were most certainly not unlucky and were well beaten. The score-line is reflective of the match. France were much superior.

The only Irish players emerging with any credit from that game were Darcy, O'Connell and possibly Ferris.

[Declan]

Darcy, O'Connell and possibly Ferris.

Thought Heaslip did OK as well

[Donnellys Hollow]

Irish rugby came back down to earth with a bang last night. We're nowhere near the level some of the journalists were telling us we were. If D'Arcy had got that try things might have been different but the French were worthy winners. It was men against boys at times.

I'd like to see a change at scrum half for Twickenham. O'Leary has looked poor since his injury. Far too ponderous and slow at the base and too many stupid pointless box kicks.

[Capt Pat]

i have to say we were very unlucky today.



So over all a few key mistakes and bits of bad luck and indiscipline cost us a lot. We also need to get bigger and really can't afford to have so many of these amateur type physiques like O'Gara, Cullen and Wallace on the park at any one time.

Ireland were most certainly not unlucky and were well beaten. The score-line is reflective of the match. France were much superior.

The only Irish players emerging with any credit from that game were Darcy, O'Connell and possibly Ferris.

I suppose you could say that, but luck and timing play a big part in sport and yesterday was a prime example of that. If the post isn;t in Darcys way the whole story of the game changes imho.

[A Quinn Martin Production]

He should be but you never know they might not as they won the game and If Ireland don't cite any of their players, I mean why bother as it only takes a player away from Ireland when they are playing England and Wales might be against the interest of the French.

i have to say we were very unlucky today. If darcy had been at any other point on the goal line for the kick ahead instead of that post, it would have been 7 points to Ireland. It didn't happen followed by more bad luck when Tommy Bowe went up for a high ball with Harry nor the guy, Bowe just missed out and harry nor the guy made a big break by running into the empty space that Bowe would have been occupying which set up the attacking opportunity that caused Keen Healy to get yellow carded. Cian Healy shouldn't have grabbed the guy but because it was the 12 stone chap it looked worse than it might have been, they wouldn't have scored at that point so it wasn't necessary and maybe the yellow card was a little harsh.

The tackling on the second french try both for the initial break by Basteraud and the try by Jauzion was terrible, or should that be the positioning of the players as both players were just allowed run straight through, nobody was responsible for tackling them.

So over all a few key mistakes and bits of bad luck and indiscipline cost us a lot. We also need to get bigger and really can't afford to have so many of these amateur type physiques like O'Gara, Cullen and Wallace on the park at any one time.

This RTE player thing is great.
http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1066450

Jaysus Pat what match were you watching?  We were hammered by a much better side.  The scoreline was about right.  Healy's was definitely yellow and as for Flannery...how the hell did he not get at the very least a yellow..if fact I thought he should have got the line.  It has been termed a moment of "madness", I thought it was a moment of pure viciousness.  You can imagine the furore if that had been Servat on Tommy Bowe or Earls...Big improvement needed or the Brits could put 30 points on us at Twickers!

[Dinny Breen]

Luck had no part in that game, 3 positions are key in the modern game, Tight-head, scrum-half and out-half. In those three positions we were very poor. After the Italy game it was the right thing to start O'Gara it was the wrong decision to leave him on after 40 mins and I know Kearney's injury would have had a influence in that (The bench selection was completely off, one subsitution should not result in three changes to a team).

If it was me a would cull Hayes and O'Gara now completely from the squad, no room for sentiment and we will not win another 6 nations with either of those two in the side not to mention World Cups. Talking of World Cups I would use the remaing three games, the summer tour and autumn international to build a squad that can go and try and win the World Cup next year. It will be a harsh learning curve but the rewards could be massive. We have nothing to lose.

Getting back to the game, I talked previously about rugby intelligence and how Ireland had the edge, I suppose what didn't come into my reckoning was how stupid Cian Healy and Jerry Flannery are, Healy will never be the brightest that's just genetic but wtf was Flannery at, they shifted the whole dynamic of that game in France's favour, instead of making France chase the game, they gifted them the lead. France are front-runners, they don't like chasing games, the other moment of madness was O'Leary before half-time - any score before half-time is a good score - puts the tidiest seed of doubt in the oppositions mind and gives your our side a liitle belief.

Overall France deserved that margin of victory and I had a lot of man love for Harinordoquy, favourite French player since Olivier Magne.

My team to start against England

Horan
Best
Court
Ryan
O'Connell
Ferris
O'Brien
Heaslip
Reddan
Sexton
Trimble
Wallace
O'Driscoll
Bowe
Kearney

[Capt Pat]

I still have to say if Darcy scores, the whole game changes, no irish scrum under pressure down to 7 men and resulting try, no need to not kick a penalty just before half time. No need for Jerry Flannery to be frustrated and lash out at the French man. Cian Healy yellow card, no Jauzin try. The French have to find their own way into the game which really they were not able to do until the last quarter.

Luck, timing, mistakes, and indiscipline all conspired against Ireland yesterday. It was not simply a case of france were great, Ireland were rubbish.

[Capt Pat]

Flannery obviously overreacted to the way Pallison challenged David Wallace for the ball.