2009 Grand Slam Champions

[Joxer]

joxer i may be wrong but I think you have to be at the game to benefit from one of those ref mics!

My father was at it, the earpiece wasnt working

[Main Street]

Must say i was very surprised by the French support, in numbers and in character! We went to the bridge bar on amien st after the match and it was at least 60% french, they were mighty craic (think they were all Bretons). They had bagpipes with them and were singing away for the night.
Would love to see the reaction if they went tot he same bar on a normal Saturday night!

There has been a huge colourful French support coming for decades. I went to a game at Lansdowne as a kid  (the Johnny Moroney game), wild clothes, leather wine containers, you even had those Gallic Roosters running wild around the pitch.
Must have been some sight at Dublin Airport coming through passport control with  La Coq under the arm.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Must say i was very surprised by the French support, in numbers and in character! We went to the bridge bar on amien st after the match and it was at least 60% french, they were mighty craic (think they were all Bretons). They had bagpipes with them and were singing away for the night.
Would love to see the reaction if they went tot he same bar on a normal Saturday night!

There were loads of them about alright. Thought with the recession their numbers might be down but no. They know how to enjoy themselves alright. We passed a group on Jones' Road before the game eating baguettes and quaffing from a bottle of champagne.

[Hound]

So who is better? What standard are we judging him by?

I know Dan Carter, and Jonny Wilkinson in his pomp were/are better. What about Michelak? Contempomi? Hernandez? Skrtel? Bauxise? Stephen Jones?

I know on a bad day O'Gara can be really bad, but I'd not have had any of those 'what abouts' before him.

So if he's not 'international class' then there are very few who are.

And by the way, when you say O'Driscoll has 'on occasion been considered the best in the world at his position', who considered him that? The media? The pundits? The very same people who praise O'Gara in other words? Or does that only count against you if you are bigged up from Munster?

Very shoddy last paragraph.

But you are dead right that O'Gara is a better out half than Skrtel. Though I think Rafa might give him a go in that position next week.

[AZOffaly]

I'm not questioning O'Driscoll's standing in the game at all. The point I was (poorly) trying to make was that the same people who laud O'Driscoll also find O'Gara to be a good player. Why is it that only O'Gara's is considered to be a result of some sinister conspiracy to paint all things Munster as being great?

No way am I digging at O'Driscoll, I've been one of his constant admirers.

[AZOffaly]

So who is better? What standard are we judging him by?

I know Dan Carter, and Jonny Wilkinson in his pomp were/are better. What about Michelak? Contempomi? Hernandez? Skrtel? Bauxise? Stephen Jones?

I know on a bad day O'Gara can be really bad, but I'd not have had any of those 'what abouts' before him.

So if he's not 'international class' then there are very few who are.

And by the way, when you say O'Driscoll has 'on occasion been considered the best in the world at his position', who considered him that? The media? The pundits? The very same people who praise O'Gara in other words? Or does that only count against you if you are bigged up from Munster?

Very shoddy last paragraph.

But you are dead right that O'Gara is a better out half than Skrtel. Though I think Rafa might give him a go in that position next week.

Good spot I meant Skrela of course

[Hound]

I'm not questioning O'Driscoll's standing in the game at all. The point I was (poorly) trying to make was that the same people who laud O'Driscoll also find O'Gara to be a good player. Why is it that only O'Gara's is considered to be a result of some sinister conspiracy to paint all things Munster as being great?

No way am I digging at O'Driscoll, I've been one of his constant admirers.

Well in the southern hemisphere they think O'Gara is shíte, but they concede O'Driscoll at his best was the best around.
However, they also don't rate O'Connell, so I think that would be a better comparison for you.

O'Gara's not even that popular among his own teammates, so he's always probably always going to get more slagging than he deserves, as he can be a bit of a tosser.

I remember being in Cardiff the last time we beat Wales over there, and he was singled out for heaps of abuse by the Welsh fans in my vicinity. Though he answered it (not that he heard it!) with a try and probably one of his best performances.

[AZOffaly]

There's no doubt he makes a rod for his own back with some of the stuff he says, and the way he appears, but again, that's not really a reason to act as if Ireland would be better off if he stayed at home in Cork for the 6 Nations.

I know they don't rate him down in NZ and Australia, but they prefer a different style of outhalf in any case.

[behind the wire]

i wouldnt know a great deal about rugby, never played a game in my life, but one thing i wondered on saturday was why o'leary kept kicking the ball aimlessly down the pitch. a couple of times it worked but more times than not it just conceded good possession.

maybe someone that knows a bit more about the game could shed some light on it.

[Hound]

i wouldnt know a great deal about rugby, never played a game in my life, but one thing i wondered on saturday was why o'leary kept kicking the ball aimlessly down the pitch. a couple of times it worked but more times than not it just conceded good possession.

maybe someone that knows a bit more about the game could shed some light on it.

Kidney's tactics. Playing into the wind, they thought it best not to arse about in our half but get the ball into the French half and try to keep them hemmed in. Didnt work, and they changed tack after about 20 mins and mixed it up a lot more to very good effect.

[AZOffaly]

I think you're spot on there Hound. The problem was that that's bun to an elephant when the French are in the mood to run from anywhere, which they often are. At least they learned and changed. Don't be surprised if it's more of the same against Italy next week.

O'Leary was getting stick for doing that, but it's obviously something he was told to do.

[johnneycool]

I think you're spot on there Hound. The problem was that that's bun to an elephant when the French are in the mood to run from anywhere, which they often are. At least they learned and changed. Don't be surprised if it's more of the same against Italy next week.

O'Leary was getting stick for doing that, but it's obviously something he was told to do.

I thought that was madness too, kicking the ball into the hands of the french backs was dicing with death, but thankfully the tactics did seem to change for the better.

As for the O'Gara debate, I don't think he can be considered one of the best outhalves in the NH as he never gets the nod for the first 15 for the Lions and is always a backup there either to Wilkinson or Stephen Jones.
That aside he is currently the best available to Ireland with only ian Humphries anywhere near pushing him and he's only making the B team, O'Gara is safe for another 6 nations campaign but I'd like to see him brush up on his tackling as much as anything else as that's where the first try came from on saturday evening. He's not the biggest but Stringer is smaller and has been able to hold his own in the tacking stakes against much bigger men.

A good start though as the French won't get beat again in this competition as I think they'll take the Welsh in Paris, Engerland and Scotland shouldn't pose much of a threat to France who handle the favourites tag much better than Ireland. Ireland need to be mindful of past poor performances against poor england teams even before thinking of Wales in the last game.

[AZOffaly]

Stringers tackles are nearly always from behind, or hanging on to a breaking back rower like a terrier stuck into a doberman. O'Gara gets systematically targeted for crash ball runners, which is a different scenario altogether. O'Gara tries to tackle, but often times he gets run over. That's just how it is with him. At least he doesn't duck out of tackles or anything.

[screenexile]

Watched the game on Saturday and I was impressed. Still a lot of work to do if we are to target a Championship or the GS. Wales look like they can turn on the style whenever they feel like it now and they are a year further in their development than us with massive competition for all positions which is something we don't quite have yet.

Hooke was lauding the choice of Wallace at 12 but I just don't think he's the man for the job. Too weak and small and given that he's beside O'Gara that is a massive target to hit and had France concentrated more on that channel they may well have won. Although D'Arcy is not long back I think his strength is something we need in there and he will allow O'Driscoll more time to concentrate on attacking which he can do to great effect if he's in the mood.

I thought the game had the mark of Kidney all over it. The French were flamboyant and threw the ball around a lot but our defence for the most part was solid and we were very efficient with the chances we had which is what you are looking for in a team at this stage in its development. I was very sceptical of our squad to start but I'm starting to feel a lot better about it now although I still think it is a bit old to be aiming for a WC in 3 years time.

Looking at the overall championship it would seem a toss up between Wales and Ireland at this stage although the French have the capability to cause an upset against the Welsh. The Championship should hopefully be tight and we have more than a fair shout of winning it so hopefully things go to plan over the next few weeks!

[johnneycool]

Stringers tackles are nearly always from behind, or hanging on to a breaking back rower like a terrier stuck into a doberman. O'Gara gets systematically targeted for crash ball runners, which is a different scenario altogether. O'Gara tries to tackle, but often times he gets run over. That's just how it is with him. At least he doesn't duck out of tackles or anything.

Stringer does enough to slow the man up enough for someone else to get them to ground whereas O'Gara seems to go chest high but isn't strong enough for the smother tackle. I don't expect o'Gara to be knocking men down like Wilkinson was in his pomp but he needs to do enough to allow the support to help him out.