2009 Grand Slam Champions

[FL/MAYO]

Get a UK proxy and watch it on BBC iPlayer.

Give me step by step instructions, please Ziggy.

[magickingdom]

i wont be right for a week! that game had everything

[Our Nail Loney]

Wheres the thread that had the betting on each irish player to make the lions starting fiteen?

[tyroneboi]

Wheres the thread that had the betting on each irish player to make the lions starting fiteen?

http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=11214.0

prob bit out of date now our nail. Ferris odds would certainly have shortened now.

[Our Nail Loney]

Wheres the thread that had the betting on each irish player to make the lions starting fiteen?

http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=11214.0

prob bit out of date now our nail. Ferris odds would certainly have shortened now.

Yeah I know I just wanted to have a look at the odds from back then, see how they would have shortened by now

[leenie]

feckin class..... 

[GalwayBayBoy]

[Capt Pat]

Sensational. What a great way to win a grand slam. It was better than a 50 point victory to win it that way. I did not think it was a penalty to Wales at the end so justice was done, anyone disagree with that. I though the game itself though was very scrappy and will make an attempt to do some player ratings. I watched in a noisy pub so they are my own opinions and might not correspond with what Hook and Guscott had to say.

15 Kearney - 6.5
Had a bad knock on before being subbed but was solid enough.
14 Bowe - 8
He has to get a good mark for the game clinching try. How sweet was that moment, after going in at half time thinking same old story and then to come out in the first 6 minutes of the second half and score 2 trys, the second under the posts. I was over the moon at that point, think Ray Houghton scoring against England in Stuttgart or against Italy in New York for an equivalent moment of great sporting importance.
13 O'Driscoll - 8
He began the turn around in the second half, the guy is immense and will be the Lions Captain again imho.
12 Darcy - 7.5
Gordon darcy is back from the dead, making breaks, making the gain line on most of his carries and has been under estimated over the years.
11 Fitzgerald - 7.5
Had a great break on the counter attack returning a Welsh kick that might have lead to an Irish score and solid in the rest of his play.
10 O'Gara - 8.5
For the drop goal and the kick that set up Tommy Bowes try, they were game changing moments. Had some hairy moments during the game but delivered when it mattered most.
9 O'Leary - 7
an erratic performance from O'Leary but that mirrored the game where a lot of players made a lot of mistakes, his kicking was a mixed bag, but you can see the importance of his strength and tackling when he went off Stringer got run over by Phillips to help set up the Welsh drop goal.
8 Heaslip - 7
Not his best game of the championship but a decent enough performance from someone who has become one of Irelands players strongest performers on a consistent basis.
7 Wallace - 7
Not the greatest of games from Wallace who slipped on a couple of occasions(as did O'Leary, Stringer and a number of others) but this guy deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as O'Driscoll, O'Connell and Wood. The David O'Leary of Irish rugby, the best back row player for Ireland of this golden era. It is not surprising that we win a grand slam when the coach who thought he wasn't up to it for so long is replaced by Kidney. I think if Kidney had been in charge since 2005 we would probably have had 2 grand slams and Wales 1. Anyway on with the ratings
6 Ferris - not on long enough to be rated
Great championship and this player has arrived and is here to stay, at last a big powerful ulster player on the team to give Ireland a bit of a physical edge that they may have at times lacked(think of Simon Easterby), as good as easterby was Ferris is a big upgrade in this position.
5 O'Connell - 10
To the best of my recollection, he destroyed the Welsh lineout and won the game for us single handedly. Little more needs to be said.
4 - O'Callaghan - 6.5
Must learn not to push Welsh scrum halves, could have cost us a grand slam but we will forgive him
3 Hayes - 7
The scrum did ok today and he even got involved in the loose play passing and running the ball
2 - Flannery - 7.5
The line out held up very well today considering all the other mistakes that were made during the course of the game, and was the basis for this victory
1 - Horan - 7
The Clare man srummaged solidly and was involved in a turnover or 2 in general play

Subs
Leamy - 7.5
Came in after about 10 minutes for ferris and didn't let the side down after coming back from a serious injury and getting injured against the Scots he grabbed this opportunity with both hands and will be hard to keep off the team in future.
Murphy - 7
Had a good clearance to touch and was the last man to touch the ball.
Stringer - 6
Got to the pace of the game straight away and started making mistakes, like everybody else on the team. Got runover by Phillips and got up to redeem himself and drag phillips down but the damage was done and Jones dropped a goal.
Best - Like  Stringer found it difficult when he came on into the white heat of battle, but he may claim the Irish number 2 jersey off Flannery in the near future.
Wallace not on long enough to be rated.
Court not on long enough to be rated

On wards and upwards lads, I can't wait for the next world cup, with the exception of Hayes, Dave Wallace and injuries they will all be there again. This is just the beginning ,Kidney is already a legend the real deal as a coach unlike EOS and it is going to be so good for Ireland to have someone like him in the "most important position on the team"

[Donagh]

Fantastic, so proud of them!  Even though it was nearly snatched away, we had played so well.  Nice to hear ROG there thank Barry McGuigan, Nicky English and David Humphreys (I think) for their well wishes before the game.
Jack Kyle is such a gentleman too.

Indeed. The wife and I were watching a show earlier about an Ulster footballer who was on the "first team to take Sam across the border" and it was all about 'me' and 'us' and 'I' and "nobody else can ever be the first". I've been following Jack Kyle in the media over the past few weeks and he's hardly ever referred to the '48 team, giving the current boys all the credit. Mark of a true and humble gentleman.

[tyroneboi]

Wheres the thread that had the betting on each irish player to make the lions starting fiteen?

http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=11214.0

prob bit out of date now our nail. Ferris odds would certainly have shortened now.

Yeah I know I just wanted to have a look at the odds from back then, see how they would have shortened by now

Do you have the updated ones?

There are maybe upward of 10 Irish players that are in with a serious chance of starting the first test but still a lot of rugby to be played between now and then.

[comethekingdom]

fcukin unreal!
Them is players.
Just home from pub.
That there is nearly as good as Kerry winnin an AI!
Not jokin - them boys are unreal!

[Minder]

Would only have a passing interest in Rugby but am always impressed how after 80 minutes of knocking the shite out of each other they are very magnanimous towards the other team, contrast this with the spoilt bitches in the English Premier League.

[Square Ball]

Would only have a passing interest in Rugby but am always impressed how after 80 minutes of knocking the shite out of each other they are very magnanimous towards the other team, contrast this with the spoilt bitches in the English Premier League.

true Minder, also seen O'Gara going over to the Welsh fella who missed the pen as soon as the wistle blew to talk to him. The level of sportsmanship is way greter in rugby the soccer.

[gallsman]

Murphy - 7
Had a good clearance to touch and was the last man to touch the ball.
Stringer - 6
Got to the pace of the game straight away and started making mistakes, like everybody else on the team. Got runover by Phillips and got up to redeem himself and drag phillips down but the damage was done and Jones dropped a goal.

Are you serious??? All Murphy did was drop a simple pass when there wasn't a Welshman within 50 yards of him, the resilt of which was that it ended up costing three points. Phillips did not flatten Stringer, Stringer went to ground as that's the only way he could have brought him down and prevented a try after Phillips had already broken several tackles. O'Connell even said in the interview afterwards that he was the one who missed the original tackle on Phillips. Stringer also made another fantastic tackle (on Williams I think) and expertly controlled the forwards to set up O'Gara's drop goal.

Fantastic win, thoroughly deserved. If they'd lost, some of the lads would never have forgiven themselves for the stupidity of the penalties given away- particularly O'Callaghan and Heaslip. Tosser of an English referee reversed O'Callaghan's penalty, but did nothing later on when Adam Jones mockingly pretended to pat someone (Flannery?) on the head. Stupid haired twat. Paddy Wallace will consider himself the luckiest man in Ireland for the rest of his life.

O'Driscoll certainly player of the tournament, although particular mention must be given to the totemic genius that is Sergio Parisse. He would grace any team in the world, and I couldn't think of anyone more deserving of a try (maybe John Hayes!) today. As poor as Italy have been this year, what they'd be without him is unthinkable.

[thewobbler]

As all other dates around it didn't suit me, I got lumbered with working the bar in the GAA club today for the game. You'd have sworn Barry Breen had just fisted the ball in the net when ROG's drop goal went over - we were just a few striped ties and posh accents from being a rugger bugger club today.

So I didn't really get a chance to focus on the game. What I did pick up though was that O'Connell was nothing short of wondrous, and that John Hayes put in possibly the most visibly impressive performance of his career. Tommy Bowe was again excellent, and Heaslip is probably now the most rampaging no.8 I've ever seen in an Ireland shirt. As for Wales, Martin Williams really is a class act.

Credit to the defences of both teams. I imagine defensive coaches arcross the world will keep a DVD of that game at the top of their playlist for a number of years. Almost impenetrable lines, ferocious hits, never say die attitides from both.