The IRISH RUGBY thread

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Wow, so that drop at the end more or less banjaxes Fiji's chances. Hate to be him!

It was a very poor drop as he had so much time to receive it, he was probably already celebrating the try in his head

[screenexile]

Wow, so that drop at the end more or less banjaxes Fiji's chances. Hate to be him!

They still have a chance if they can beat the Aussies and it's far from impossible!

[Tony Baloney]

He had eyes on the line instead of securing the ball.

[Capt Pat]

It's a difficult watch because I was unsure what's the best result for Ireland. Looks like SA have it but will see. Hoping for no bonus points

You got your wish. No losing bonus point for Scotland or 4 try bonus for South Africa. That could end up helping Ireland qualify or top the group

[johnnycool]

It's a difficult watch because I was unsure what's the best result for Ireland. Looks like SA have it but will see. Hoping for no bonus points

You got your wish. No losing bonus point for Scotland or 4 try bonus for South Africa. That could end up helping Ireland qualify or top the group

Two things of note, the Scottish scrum did reasonably well against that SA scrum, won a few penalties from them so maybe they aren't the be all and end all in that department although Ireland will need to be rock solid when it comes to that aspect in a months time.
The other is that Finn Russell causes Scotland a lot of issues, he's reckless at times and for every one wonder pass that comes off, four to five are wild and dangerous in terms of losing possession.

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Finn Russel is unpredictable but you would still pick him. He made some good tackles when other Scots were missing. The scrum in the second half was nearly all SA. The main thing I took from the match was both teams were not as good as they have been esp Scotland, a very flat performance, so fingers crossed for the Ireland matches.

[5times5times]

any tickets going for SA game? That RWC ticket site is the worst creation known to man.

[Captain Scarlet]

Not sure if this is of interest but I'll throw it up if anyone younger kids want something to watch.
Monaghan RFC visit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c19j2ulS1I8

[Joeythelips]

Argentina very poor tonight.

After beating strong teams this year, they were very disappointing.  Especially as England went a man down after 2 mins.

Every competitive game against decent opposition that the Argies play, they are underdogs. They were going into this game as even money, slight favs with some. After 3 mins they became hot favs. They knew they had to win, but forced everything.  Couldn't handle the expectation. Countlesss errors.

People use 'bottled' too often when it just happens the opposition are better on the day. But this was 100% a bottle job. All England did was keep it simple and take points when available. And that was enough against a team that was shooting themselves in the foot continuously.

As for Ireland, it was job done. Sexton very impressive. Bundee great. And plenty to improve on. Earls can't start any more though, hopefully that's the last we see of the great man.

100%.
Given the games against South Africa and Australia in particular this summer, I genuinely thought Argentina could do something special this tournament given the side of the draw they were on. But as you say they are use to playing with freedom as they are always underdogs. It was like they forgot how to play rugby against England.
Im not sure on the stats but I believe the average points conceded when you have a player in sin bin (10 mins) is something like 7 points, Argentina played almost 70 mins with and extra player and scored 3 points. They could not string 3 passes together and gave away penalty after penalty, it was shocking. I get England played well but if they go down a man for that long against a France or NZ it would be a cricket score.

[seafoid]

After the first round of games, and I know maybe it doesn't mean anything , but so far so good for Ireland. France and SA have work to do and NZ look disorganised.

[johnnycool]

After the first round of games, and I know maybe it doesn't mean anything , but so far so good for Ireland. France and SA have work to do and NZ look disorganised.

Ireland played nobody and while get an easy start to the competition, their two by far hardest games are their last two.

France are OK, neutered a hotly fancied NZ, who do have a lot to do but will still qualify.

SA have a win under their belts against a banana skin opponent, so even if they do get beat by Ireland they should be OK.

[seafoid]

A suspected gang rape of an Irish woman in Bordeaux

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/rugby-world-cup-three-men-27694572

[seafoid]

After the first round of games, and I know maybe it doesn't mean anything , but so far so good for Ireland. France and SA have work to do and NZ look disorganised.

Ireland played nobody and while get an easy start to the competition, their two by far hardest games are their last two.

France are OK, neutered a hotly fancied NZ, who do have a lot to do but will still qualify.

SA have a win under their belts against a banana skin opponent, so even if they do get beat by Ireland they should be OK.

Romania doesn't matter. What counts is what Ireland learnt since 2019. S&C, discipline, quality of subs etc. So far there is no outstanding team.
NZ are probably focused on the knockout stage.
If Ireland do get beaten in the qf it will be because the other team was clearly better. Not because Ireland didn't learn anything.
If you are beaten like that you can't argue. But if you do the learnings you have a higher chance of winning.

[Wildweasel74]

This NZ the worst team they had in 30yrs, and lost alot of games in 2yrs, they were hotly fancied by very little.

[Joeythelips]

After the first round of games, and I know maybe it doesn't mean anything , but so far so good for Ireland. France and SA have work to do and NZ look disorganised.

Ireland played nobody and while get an easy start to the competition, their two by far hardest games are their last two.

France are OK, neutered a hotly fancied NZ, who do have a lot to do but will still qualify.

SA have a win under their belts against a banana skin opponent, so even if they do get beat by Ireland they should be OK.

Romania doesn't matter. What counts is what Ireland learnt since 2019. S&C, discipline, quality of subs etc. So far there is no outstanding team.
NZ are probably focused on the knockout stage.
If Ireland do get beaten in the qf it will be because the other team was clearly better. Not because Ireland didn't learn anything.
If you are beaten like that you can't argue. But if you do the learnings you have a higher chance of winning.

Surely France are the outstanding team, I get it was not knockout but they came back twice against All Blacks and by the end were totally dominant of the Southern Hemisphere champions. That was best match so far with Wales v Fiji a close second. South Africa did what they do best and ground out a result which would have been easier if their kicker could do his job.

Obviously a long way to go but France are the big winners so far, they can rotate comfortably and still top the group and prepare for runners up in our group.