2009 Grand Slam Champions

[passedit]

England came with a dour game-plan which Ireland would have coped easily with had we hit our penalties. The score should have been 20-6 entering the last two minutes and we would have been more than happy with that.

Some of the players seem to be struggling under the weight of all the Grand Slam talk. Normally O'Gara nails his kicks even if he does nothing else. Others such as BOD seem to thrive on the pressure to deliver. It was amazing the number of times England had an overlap but never got to take advantage because someone, usually O'Driscoll, put in a man & ball tackle. Either we were fortunate or we have a great defensive system, I don't know enough about rugby to be able to tell the difference.

Scotland is a huge banana skin. Instead of going there to get two points and another link in the Grand Slam chain I think we should forget the Welsh for the moment & go there to try to seal the Championship. A big win in Murrayfield should be enough. Then & only then should we worry about the Grand Slam.

Enjoyed meeting AZOffaly and Passedit before the game. It is amazing how easy it is to talk to people you meet off this discussion board. We should do that kind of thing more often.

Indeed Muppet, good to meet the both of ye allright, good to get a bit of sensible chat as my english guests had been on the lash from when they got off the plane at 8.30 that morning. Big thankyou to AZ who saved me a 100mile round trip to pick up a ticket, the drinking time saved meant i was able to get on the same wavelength as the lads at lot sooner.

Poor enough entertainment for the non committed fan but enough going on to keep the interest throughout. I don't buy the bbc spin that Engerland would have won if they'd kept 15 men on the pitch. The penalty count and the binnings were an inevitable consequence of the damage limitation exercise gameplan. Had they played any differently or been reffed properly they'd have been whopped.

[Dinny Breen]

It looked to me that Stringer got into the flow of that game quickly, was more assertive than O'Leary at the back of the ruck and got the ball moving to the back line decisively.

England were tiring and they had recieved their 1st yellow. Stringer added nothing but a terrible missed tackle on Tindall when he came on. Shouldn't be anywhere near the squad.

[bcarrier]

Lads I admit I know next to nothing about the egg chasing but I enjoy watching it.....but yer man Stephen Jones in the Times yesterday gave BÓD 6 out of 10 and basically said he had an average game.....I've heard a few lads on here giving out about Jones....seems like he goes out of his way to wind people up with his opinions...is he the rugby version of Liam Hayes?

Good description of Jones alright.

Dinny wont agree but I was at the match and am a bit shocked by the plaudits BOD got. Sometimes it is harder to get perspective when there but Hook seems to have gone over the top ( best ever performance by Irish Captain etc ) . BOD is a great flanker these days but not sure about some of his decision making ....as  Brent Pope has  commented  scoring the drop goal meant that an English player ( I forget which one) avoided the sin bin for killing the ball....his second drop goal attempt was a complete waste .

[passedit]

Lads I admit I know next to nothing about the egg chasing but I enjoy watching it.....but yer man Stephen Jones in the Times yesterday gave BÓD 6 out of 10 and basically said he had an average game.....I've heard a few lads on here giving out about Jones....seems like he goes out of his way to wind people up with his opinions...is he the rugby version of Liam Hayes?

Good description of Jones alright.

Dinny wont agree but I was at the match and am a bit shocked by the plaudits BOD got. Sometimes it is harder to get perspective when there but Hook seems to have gone over the top ( best ever performance by Irish Captain etc ) . BOD is a great flanker these days but not sure about some of his decision making ....as  Brent Pope has  commented  scoring the drop goal meant that an English player ( I forget which one) avoided the sin bin for killing the ball....his second drop goal attempt was a complete waste .

In fairness BC it was a free shot and the way O Gara was going there was no guarantee he'd have kicked the penalty. The English lad shouda walked anyway if the ref was doing his job. You're right about the second kick though, i'll be charitable and put it down to disorientation from the thumps he received.

[bcarrier]

Probably wrong to complain about first one alright...rising to Dinny's stringer bait  .

ROG's kicking from hand was actually Ok imo but shots at goal were brutal. Anyone know what overall conversion rate of kicks at goal during rugby at Croker has been?

[Dinny Breen]

Dinny wont agree but I was at the match and am a bit shocked by the plaudits BOD got. Sometimes it is harder to get perspective when there but Hook seems to have gone over the top ( best ever performance by Irish Captain etc ) . BOD is a great flanker these days but not sure about some of his decision making ....as  Brent Pope has  commented  scoring the drop goal meant that an English player ( I forget which one) avoided the sin bin for killing the ball....his second drop goal attempt was a complete waste .

Are you serious? He won at least 2 penalties from making a tackle and getting to his feet and trying to win the ball. His awareness for the try was brilliant, positioned himself between the two forwards and attacked the ball low and hard. His drop goal was a beauty and that was an asinine comment from Pope, how do the f*ck those he know the ref was going to give a yellow, BOD had a free shot and took it. It was BOD's leadership that kept going for the corner as well turning down the kicks and eventually we got the try. Not to mention his relieveing kicks, break up the side and his all round defence. He took cheap shot after cheap and still came back for more, watch it again BC you might be surprised by just how good he was.

It was his best display as a captain ever imho as for Hook that man is quite simply a baffoon, RTE's coverage like nearly everything else they do is rubbish, bi-polar in the extreme.

[Main Street]

It looked to me that Stringer got into the flow of that game quickly, was more assertive than O'Leary at the back of the ruck and got the ball moving to the back line decisively.

England were tiring and they had recieved their 1st yellow. Stringer added nothing but a terrible missed tackle on Tindall when he came on. Shouldn't be anywhere near the squad.

I think you are way too negative about Stringer's performance coming on as a sub against England, I had a look to see what the journalists commented

Gerry Thornley
"Tomás O'Leary played well and his box-kicks were much better, but Peter Stringer again upped the tempo."

Tony Ward
"Behind, Tomas O'Leary mixed the good with the bad. Some of his tactical kicking -- particularly in terms of the dink over the top -- was purposeful and clever but on occasion, hard-won possession was surrendered a little too easy by way of overcooking the kick. He will retain his place for Murrayfield, but the gap between himself and Peter Stringer is as close now as it could possibly be and is probably on a par with the hooking margin between Jerry Flannery and Rory Best. Would Kidney or any other top-class coach want it any other way?"

[AZOffaly]

Dinny wont agree but I was at the match and am a bit shocked by the plaudits BOD got. Sometimes it is harder to get perspective when there but Hook seems to have gone over the top ( best ever performance by Irish Captain etc ) . BOD is a great flanker these days but not sure about some of his decision making ....as  Brent Pope has  commented  scoring the drop goal meant that an English player ( I forget which one) avoided the sin bin for killing the ball....his second drop goal attempt was a complete waste .

Are you serious? He won at least 2 penalties from making a tackle and getting to his feet and trying to win the ball. His awareness for the try was brilliant, positioned himself between the two forwards and attacked the ball low and hard. His drop goal was a beauty and that was an asinine comment from Pope, how do the f*ck those he know the ref was going to give a yellow, BOD had a free shot and took it. It was BOD's leadership that kept going for the corner as well turning down the kicks and eventually we got the try. Not to mention his relieveing kicks, break up the side and his all round defence. He took cheap shot after cheap and still came back for more, watch it again BC you might be surprised by just how good he was.

It was his best display as a captain ever imho as for Hook that man is quite simply a baffoon, RTE's coverage like nearly everything else they do is rubbish, bi-polar in the extreme.

Dinny, I agree with everything you said there, but 1 thing about the penalty for the corner. O'Driscoll was getting patched up again after another cheap shot the first time and it was Paulie and ROG who made that decision. I don't know if it was ROG feeling he couldn't hit a cow's arse or not, but I'd imagine it was because they knew a try then could be pivotal.

BOD was back up for the second one alright, which was probably his call to say keep going.

I also thought the decision to go for a scrum after Vickery got the bin was absolutely brilliant thinking by whomever it was, probably O'Driscoll. Another lineout would have given the English a chance to defend it again, but calling for a scrum meant they had to replace a back rower, or maybe a back if they dared, to fulfill the front row need for the scrum. That meant they were always going to be light around the fringes of a ruck that was bound to develop. I thought that was brilliant strategy.

[thejuice]

Looking at the calender, Looks like it'll be, watch Ireland Vs Wales in O'Flaherty's and then on to Pairc Tailteann for Meath vs Monaghan. Could be a long night of disappointments.

[Hound]

In my opinion, based on the body language and debate, the first decision to go for the line rather than the posts was because O'Gara simply didnt fancy the kick.

[AZOffaly]

In my opinion, based on the body language and debate, the first decision to go for the line rather than the posts was because O'Gara simply didnt fancy the kick.

That was my impression too, although he did take the kick to put them up by 8 a bit later on, having missed the conversion from a similar position. Maybe a bit of both.

[Doogie Browser]

From what I heard he had a few quid on Ireland to win by 1-3 points 

[Dinny Breen]

I think you are way too negative about Stringer's performance coming on as a sub against England, I had a look to see what the journalists commented

Stringer has one string to his bow, allbeit a brilliant string for so long, it worked ok against a tired English defence but did it actually contribute anything in our attack or did I miss something. Thornley has taken "up the tempo" completely out of context, upping the tempo is more to do with tapping free kicks and penalties, taking quick throws, off-loading in the tackle than just a quick pass from static ball.  If you want high tempo rugby Reddan is the man plays like that week in week out with Wasps.

[Dinny Breen]

In fairness I think O'Driscoll has 2 able lieutenant's in O'Gara and POC and it was the right decision and it's good to see leadership not been confined on the pitch to one player. I think this easing of responsibility has helped O'Driscolls game no end.

[Main Street]

Overall do you think Ireland are playing better than our last good season when France had a last gasp try to secure the championship?