The IRISH RUGBY thread

[seafoid]

In fairness to JS he proved all the pundits wrong. Neil Francis said it was the worst team in 15 years.

[Walter Cronc]

In fairness to JS he proved all the pundits wrong. Neil Francis said it was the worst team in 15 years.

In fairness Franno talks some sh1t!!!

[seafoid]

The rugby was on in a pub I went into after galway v tyrone. It was very dull. 2 armies clashing.
The GAA was occasionally end to end. The crowd were excited. Rugby used to be like that.

[Walter Cronc]

The rugby was on in a pub I went into after galway v tyrone. It was very dull. 2 armies clashing.
The GAA was occasionally end to end. The crowd were excited. Rugby used to be like that.

Really? When? When we won the slam beating England 10-9 at home or some of the awful games in the early 90s?

[deiseach]

I remember sitting in a pub while Bernard Dunne was fighting Ricardo Cordoba. I started off filled with cynicism about the sport, and by the end was utterly enthralled as they went toe-to-toe, no quarter given or asked. And when it was over, I felt a sense of guilt at enjoying such savagery. While it wasn't quite as extreme a reaction watching yesterday's game, the principle was the same. Asking sportsmen to put themselves through what the Irish and Welsh teams put themselves through yesterday is plain wrong.

[square_ball]

Euro rugby is going nowhere. Big men crashing into each other with concussion as standard. Hard to watch compared to southern hem. Sport is about space,  vision, teamwork. It is not about losing consciousness.

Agreed,
   Whilst this 15 man rugby league will win you a 6N's, that's about it. The Southern Hemisphere have moved on as the world cup showed, but alas we'll celebrate like billyo if we win the Div2 of rugby and talk about challenging the Southern Hemisphere teams, but come the summer tours we'll get our arses handed to us.

Agree with both of these.  I missed the France Italy game but as well as player welfare, also in terms of entertainment I found both the other weekend games wanting.  Few line breaks, 20 phases to move the ball 8 metres, all thud and thump.  Someone should tell Henshaw that you're allowed to pass the ball in rugby.  It's as if the World Cup never happened.  Oh, and ITV is shite too!

Yeah at one point Wales i think had 25 phases or more and the commentator was going on as if it some great achievement when all they were doing was going back across the 22 without getting anywhere. What was there 8 tries or something over the weekend? I am a big rugby fan but if i miss watching a match now I'm not really bothered as I'm not really missing much.

Just on ITV I thought D'Arcy was decent as co-commentator whilst Johnny Wilko would nearly send you to sleep with his voice!

[AZOffaly]

I knew Stander was going to get man of the match after 10 minutes, but I thought he faded a lot, and Tommy O'Donnell and HEaslip, to be fair, both were more steady and impactful throughout the game. Stander is very good, and very wholehearted and loves work, but I thought he blew himself out yesterday.

Zebo was dodgy at full back I thought.

It was all a bit bish-bash-bosh, which is not very spectacular, but I still thought it was enthralling to watch. Mind you if it was England Wales playing the same game, it would be boring.

[Walter Cronc]

I knew Stander was going to get man of the match after 10 minutes, but I thought he faded a lot, and Tommy O'Donnell and HEaslip, to be fair, both were more steady and impactful throughout the game. Stander is very good, and very wholehearted and loves work, but I thought he blew himself out yesterday.

Zebo was dodgy at full back I thought.

It was all a bit bish-bash-bosh, which is not very spectacular, but I still thought it was enthralling to watch. Mind you if it was England Wales playing the same game, it would be boring.

The full back position is a bit of a worry post Kearney if JS sees Henshaw and Payne as his centre pairing. Stuart Olding could be a possibility if he can stay injury free. Like to see him get a run of games there.

[Bord na Mona man]

Decent result for Ireland. 13-0 up and you could say Ireland should have closed it out, but Wales were always going get into the game at some point. They had the stronger players and there always a fear that the likes of Roberts and North could eventually have their say.

There was a hint of good fortune about the Welsh scores. When Trimble touched down to concede the 5 metre scrum, I wonder could either a) Zebo have taken a position diagonally behind him to receive a pop pass, instead of running over flat beside him. b) Could Trimble have got behind the ball and fly hacked it against the inrushing Welsh player therefore giving Ireland possession when it most likely would have deflected out of play. High risk obviously, but conceding a 5 metre scrum is also dynamite.

The concern for Ireland would be the scrum. Was it something temporarily fixable, or is it going to be a problem all tournament? A scrum-obsessed rugby nation like England will see this a great chance to make hay, as will the others.

It's difficult to know what France will be like. Noves is the sort of throwback coach that the sporting romantic in everybody would like to see succeed. The evidence would suggest that his disdain for the trappings of modern day planning makes him even less likely to succeed in the international game than at club level. But this is the French after all...

[johnneycool]

I knew Stander was going to get man of the match after 10 minutes, but I thought he faded a lot, and Tommy O'Donnell and HEaslip, to be fair, both were more steady and impactful throughout the game. Stander is very good, and very wholehearted and loves work, but I thought he blew himself out yesterday.

Zebo was dodgy at full back I thought.

It was all a bit bish-bash-bosh, which is not very spectacular, but I still thought it was enthralling to watch. Mind you if it was England Wales playing the same game, it would be boring.

Thought Wales gained their yardage easier than Ireland especially in the second half, quicker up to the gainline in defence whereas Ireland let the Welsh ball carrier travel a bit before going into contact.
Very few offloads in the tackle as lads playing safe, going to ground and recycling for yet another phase 

As for phases, its one of these stats that clip board managers like, just like possession stats in soccer, pretty meaningless if the other team is doing the scoring with less of the ball.

[Hardy]

could ... Zebo have taken a position diagonally behind him to receive a pop pass, instead of running over flat beside him.

Absolutely. I was shouting this at the telly. If Zebo had headed towards the dead ball line, Trimble wouldn't have had to break stride - just flick the ball back to him. I often wonder what's going on between his ears.

[seafoid]

Decent result for Ireland. 13-0 up and you could say Ireland should have closed it out, but Wales were always going get into the game at some point. They had the stronger players and there always a fear that the likes of Roberts and North could eventually have their say.

There was a hint of good fortune about the Welsh scores. When Trimble touched down to concede the 5 metre scrum, I wonder could either a) Zebo have taken a position diagonally behind him to receive a pop pass, instead of running over flat beside him. b) Could Trimble have got behind the ball and fly hacked it against the inrushing Welsh player therefore giving Ireland possession when it most likely would have deflected out of play. High risk obviously, but conceding a 5 metre scrum is also dynamite.

The concern for Ireland would be the scrum. Was it something temporarily fixable, or is it going to be a problem all tournament? A scrum-obsessed rugby nation like England will see this a great chance to make hay, as will the others.

It's difficult to know what France will be like. Noves is the sort of throwback coach that the sporting romantic in everybody would like to see succeed. The evidence would suggest that his disdain for the trappings of modern day planning makes him even less likely to succeed in the international game than at club level. But this is the French after all...

France and England might both be shite. They were dreadful in the WC. Swinging very low I suspect

[highorlow]

We were written off before this game and got a draw, we will be hot favorites next week so we should lose that one.

[seafoid]

Mike Gibson interview, a fabulous read

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/other-rugby/im-not-sure-id-have-wanted-to-be-a-professional-paul-kimmage-meets-rugby-legend-mike-gibson-34430028.html

[Declan]

Great interview alright