Rugby World Cup 2011

[seafoid]

A long time coming.

Australia were very lucky to beat Ireland in 91 .

What a year for Ireland between beating England in the cricket and now Oz in the rugby.

[lynchbhoy]

hard to see how OGara cannot be started now imo. Its ok to bring him on but in future important games in the tournament, it might be too late by then.
I'd play him with sexton at centre number 12. McFadden the only other alrernative imo.

I think its a tad unfair from what I am hearing around the place at the 'puke rugby' label being levelled at the Irish performance (lets see how much stick the press give them after the abuse levelled at the likes of Dublin, Donegal  in football or the Irish soccer team in recent months for their ultra defensive displays - cant stand the feckin meeja).
Its about results and I certainly dont care if its not expansive rugby (I prefer the oppoisite actually ! but I'd be in the minority here) - but the win is the only important aspect in tournaments.

Its much the same tactics that beat England in the 6N.
However I was very disappointed at how one dimensional the aussies were. no plan B, and they played lik eIreland played in the pre tournament warm up games. No invention, no decent kicking game and didnt seem to be able to focus on a gameplan. they were all over he shop. Complacent maybe, but they were taight a hard lesson by an experienced side that did exactly what was asked of them all game long. I have been very critical of them recently but this was a grat performance of controlled rugby. Still prob wont win anything, the real game now will be the playoff match v wales after the group phase.
Well done team and Kidney. Tactics the winner here.

[Aaron Boone]

Ireland still have a tricky one against Italy to negotiate in the group.

QF could be against Samoa as handy.
Wouldn't fancy Ireland as favourites against Wales in the QF.

[Capt Pat]

This is really exciting for the Irish team. We are a signifigantly better team than we were four years ago. We can scrumage as well as the top scrumaging teams. We have much better resources at the half back position. Murray and Sexton are a big improvement on Stringer and P Wallace. Reddan was an afterthought four years ago and has really brought the scrum half play on. Then we get to the back row. They are light years ahead of Easterby Wallace and Leamy which was a capable international class back row. Darcy is still alive and represents the only big drop off between the team of today and four yesrs ago. O Driscoll has declined a bit as well but he was cursed not to have the games decisive moment today with the ball bouncing over his head after hitting the post. The back tgree four years ago was Dempsey Horgan and Hickey. Kearney is much better than Dempsey as is Bowe over Trimble. Hickey would have the advantage over Earls. Second row O Vonnell and O Callaghan is about the same.

So there is only a dropoff at centre and then the rest of the team has moved forward a tonne. Thst team four years ago was very good but flopped at the world cup and got mugged by the draw. That Argentine team was immense and France were at home and able to best the allblacks. Now after todays win the draw has opened up for us and we have a chance of winning the thing if everything goes right for us. No injuries England beat France in the QF and Australia recover to get to the final on the other side of the draw.

Our last 2 results in competitive games 24-8 against England and 15-6 against Australia and no luck involved we could have won both games by more. That is the big time for us.

[Celt_Man]

Anyone else think that D'arcy was having a good game before going off injured?  I know he was due one anyway!!

[Capt Pat]

Darcy played well. He has just come back from injury and people were writing him off too soon. He was quite good for Leinster last year winning the European Cup.

This team can also play better than it did today Players like Kearney and Heaslip can play their way back into form. If they get going we will be hard to stop.

[Celt_Man]

Nice to hear and was good to see him there on the sideline at the end....  http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/worldcup/2011/0917/ireland_australia.html

O'Driscoll reveals Flannery inspiration

Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll has revealed the role injured hooker Jerry Flannery played in inspiring today's stunning 15-6 World Cup victory over Australia at Eden Park.

The Irish placed one foot in the quarter-finals after taking command of Pool C by toppling the Tri Nations champions and tournament second favourites.

It was a smart forward-dominated performance full of controlled ferocity that was completely at odds with their form heading to New Zealand.

O'Driscoll insists the squad never wavered in their belief they could upset 1/5 favourites Australia during an emotional build-up week.

The most stirring moment came when Flannery, the popular Munster player whose career is now in doubt after he was ruled out of the World Cup with a calf injury, presented the team with their jerseys.

"It's nice to back up all our talk from during the week," said O'Driscoll.

"There were some very passionate words said by guys who weren't even in the 22. That's where it came from.

"There were some poignant moments throughout the week.

"I don't think a lot of guys will forget Jerry Flannery handing out the jerseys yesterday at the captain's meeting.

"Mentally we were in a place where we felt as though we owed ourselves a big performance.

"Much as we owed the Irish public one, we owed ourselves one first and foremost.

"There was a tension in training and a sense the performance was coming. It was just a matter of making it happen."

Now Ireland need only account for Russia and Italy to secure the easier quarter-final, probably against Wales or Samoa, offering them a tantalising glimpse of the last four.

But O'Driscoll sounded a note of caution to those supporters plotting their route to the final on 23 October.

"It was nice to deliver this win but that's half the job done. We have a game next week that we must win," he said.


"This is to be enjoyed but we must use it as a stepping stone to a level of consistency.


"That's where we've struggled a bit in the past. A goal of ours in the coming weeks is to make sure that we don't let this standard drop.


"It's a good win but I'm not sitting here with the Webb Ellis trophy beside me.


"It's a win and it's great because it's something we haven't done before, but let's not oversell it.


"It's a means to an end and we must accept it as that. We mustn't get lost in the moment."

[Celt_Man]

Just for interest's sake rte.ie player ratings....   After cooling down a bit, 12 months ago (maybe even six) you would have placed in a looney bin if you said that Jamie Heaslip would have a relatively quiet game and still the Irish pack would dominate the Wallabies despite that....

Player Ratings:

Ireland benefitted from top-drawer displays by six of their eight forwards, high-class scrum and lineout work, a fantastic defensive effort by all 15 players around the field and good attacking play when they needed it.

15 Rob Kearney - Evened things up with Beale after getting outjumped for an early high kick. Strong when he went into contact, released Bowe a couple of times and made some excellent kicks. 7.

14 Tommy Bowe - Lifted the late siege with a brilliant intercept and was always looking for chances out on the right wing. 7.

13 Brian O'Driscoll - Inspiring leadership, his chase after Sexton's kick epitomised what makes him great. Struggled to make one or two tackles as Australian runners cut back hard into him - is that shoulder right? But timed other hits well to stop Australian wide attacks. 7.

12 Gordon D'Arcy - Ireland did not spark in the centres but D'Arcy defended well, and was rarely troubled when carrying into contact, before he was replaced by Ronan O'Gara. Helped limit Quade Cooper's influence with some excellent tackles when the Australian 10 looked to go wide. 7.

11 Keith Earls - The foot in touch at kick-off could have unsettled Ireland, but Earls recovered to play well from there with one hard tackle on McCabe standing out and a few decent runs. Good response to mutterings about his place in the team. 7.

10 Jonny Sexton - A difficult day in some ways, with one bad drop and misses with those key kicks. Kicking out of hand was a mixed bag, but the long passing and ambition to attack surprised Australia and he got Ireland moving well a few times. 6.

9 Eoin Reddan - A very effective cog in the Ireland machine, making sure his dominant pack were supplied with good ball to run on to. One loose kick. Ireland's attacking game had a good tempo when they needed it to. 8.

1 Cian Healy - A magnificent performance, dominating the tight, making crucial steals at the breakdown, and shuddering hits round the field. 9.

2 Rory Best - His best ever match in green, he ran between tacklers to make good yards, threw almost all of his darts perfectly and was part of a brilliant scrum effort. 8.

3 Mike Ross - Ireland's strongman worked incredibly hard around the field as well, showing up for some big carries. But getting on top at the scrum winning vital penalties for Ireland was his main contribution. 8.

4 Donncha O'Callaghan - His team-mates will recognise the effort, though others made more of an impact around the field. 6.

5 Paul O'Connell - Key man for Ireland in the lineout, some handling errors, but also some fantastic plays around the field, with tackles on Genia in particular standing out. 8.

6 Stephen Ferris - Some brilliant tackling - the shunting back of Genia stands out - and also made lots of superb carries. One or two little errors, but was the strongman Ireland needed. 8.

7 Sean O'Brien - Supremely dynamic alongside Ferris, making fantastic yardage and showing his unique brand of ball-carrying to a new audience. Try-saver on Genia (again) has to get a mention too. 8.

8 Jamie Healsip - The quietest of the back-row trio, though he was assured in the lineout. Gave away an early penalty as he struggled to get in the game. 6.

[Radda bout yeee]

O'Gara damn near in tears being interviewed about the pride he has in his country and team was great to see and fairly touching tbh too...

Nearly wish the Russia game was in the morning (4.30am KO - can't wait for that).  Hopefully Deccie avoids the failing of Eddie the Eagle and starts damn near everyone else the next day.  Just thinking on my feet here but...

McFadden; Wallace; Cullen and Ryan; Leamy; Court; Cronin, Boss; Varley to get game time; Buckley (God forgive me!); Jennings; Murphy and Trimble should all see significant game time to keep everyone in the zone...

13 names there which would leave 9 boys involved today in the match day 22, with 3 or 4 starting - which is probably a decent balance

Can you post a link of o'gara interview?

[Celt_Man]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/worldcup/highlights.html

Then click on his interview click just under the screen - hopefully that works...

[Donnellys Hollow]

Team for next week?

Kearney - still looked a bit rusty early on
Murphy
McFadden
Wallace
Trimble
O'Gara
Murray
Court
Cronin
Buckley - surely he'll be ok against Russia?
Cullen
Ryan
Leamy
Jennings
Heaslip - perfect game for him to get a bit of confidence/form back

Varley
Ross
O'Connell
O'Brien
Boss
Sexton
Earls

[whitegoodman]

Would say that would be very close to next wks team and like ur logic with the majority of the team, would say boss must be due a start though.

Supurb display from 1 to 15 with front and back row particularly impressive. Have been a big critic of darcy lately but he did well today. If his injury was a hamstring as it looked he could be out for a few wks meaning whoever impresses more between Wallace and mcfadden could start against Italy as don't see kidney going with o gara and section.

As for oz, no matter how good ur backs r u can't win a game without a half decent hooked never mind possibly the 2nd best 7 in the game. Wouldn't rule them out though and wouldn't want to meet them further down the line if they got them 2 boys back

[Hardy]

A great lift for the country. Never was a cliché more apt - men against boys.

[gallsman]

Unbelievable performance. Having watched this Ireland team wilt so many times in the face of a physical onslaught, it was great to see them hold out. Was actually comfortable enough in the end although obviously missing Pocock, Ioane and Steven Moore were big losses for the Aussies. Then again, we'd no Wallace or Flannery, even if they were unlikely to start.

The entire Irish pack was simply outstanding.

[Dinny Breen]