Rugby world cup

[Declan]

I see this is the highest a Munster man was lifted during our WC campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3vlw_B2kmQ&eurl

[bingobus]

I see this is the highest a Munster man was lifted during our WC campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3vlw_B2kmQ&eurl

Hugging, handshaking and kissing in the bogs and not a hand  washed or dried!!!   

[heganboy]

Got this email today:
Let me not hear ye mention Irish Rugby ever again after that farce on Friday night by that shower of luadramahns. Ye are going around here wearing Rugby jerseys, planning trips to Twickenham, Cardiff, Murrayfield, etc. and talking about Connacht and Munster Rugby, Heinek e n Cups, Triple Crowns, Grand Slams and being swept away by this pre tournament hype and optimism which is totally misplaced. The harsh facts of reality are that we have not won a Grand Slam in the modern era whereas England, Scotland, Wales and France have achieved here and those same four countries will all advance from the group stages while our shower will be taking a Ryanair flight back to Dublin next Sunday night. So come out of the fog and get realistic, we need to beat Argentina by 7 points and score four tries. We could only score five tries against a shower of amadans from Namibia who only took up rugby before the Christmas and a 2nd string Georgian pub side so what chance have we against the Argentinians.

As regards Friday night, I don't know where to start with our green clad troupe of mis-fits. We have only managed to fluke one win in 35 years in Paris and defeat for the Irish was never in doubt this time from the moment I saw our shower in the tunnel. They reminded me of nothing more than cattle going down the line below in Kepak, Athleague such was the expression of fear on their faces and where has this crying lark come from? That's the second time I have seen Flannery and Hayes balling their eyes out.  If this shite keeps up, we'll end up being sponsored by Kleenex.

To only score three points from a drop goal and rarely threaten the French 22 is a sad state of affairs. There's a saying in French "a coeur vaillaint rien d'impossible" which translates into "nothing is impossible to a willing heart" well from the muck I saw last Friday night from our overpaid and so called professional Rugby team, their hearts will need to be very willing if they are to have any chance against the Argentinains next Sunday.


Ireland Team Ratings

Girvan Dempsey
Full-Back: 2
We would be as well off with Ian Dempsey from TodayFM. Looked really impressive during the singing of "Ireland's Call" but looked out of sorts by the throw-in. Where was he for Clerc's inspirational try, nowhere to be found except looking up bewildered and dazed as the ball went over his head, the sort of look you see on the faces of the people on the Angelus before the 6.1 news.


Shane Horgan
Right Wing: 1
Just back from injury and clearly short of match practice, he'd need a couple of prods with the electric cattle prodder to get any movement out of him.

Brian O'Driscoll
Centre: 1
This fancy dan has failed to deliver on the big occasion once again.....another false dawn. Scored a couple of tries seven years ago in Paris and has lived on this ever since  but never got a look in this time.  We read more about this fella's injuries, how he gets speared (whatever that is) and after every game, there's a big hoo hah about how O'Driscoll was "taken out of it". This man is codding us all because we refuse to see that behind the swagger and the fancy D4 accent, the man is only a bluffer. He doesn't cod the opposition though.



Gordon D'Arcy
Centre: 2
What the hell has happened to this lad who promised so much with his jinking and swerving runs in attack. Looked more like it was Ray D'Arcy in that jersey last Friday night.

Andrew Trimble
Left Wing: 2
They say Trimble says a few decades of the rosary before each game, well this fella will need to visit Lourdes this week as he needs a miracle. Jumping around the last day like a big Clydesdale lost in the bog with no method at all. Took a good pass from Reddan at one stage where we had good possession but then clattered into the referee and we lost the ball. Clearly not good enough for International rugby. Surely there must be some FAS scheme around the place more suitable to this fella's talents.

Ronan O'Gara
Out-Half: 2
This fella has lost the plot altogether, don't know what's bothering him but it's clearly affecting his game and another rubbish performance. One analyst in the papers on Sat
Said "his kicking game, possibly down to the unfamiliar ball, was below par". What sort of raimeas is this? I don't see any difference between one rugby ball and the next, they all look the same to me.

Eoin Reddan
Scrum-Half: 5
The only one to come out of this shambles with any degree of credibility and a much better choice than the other clown. Directed traffic well and not afraid to bark the orders.

Marcus Horan
Loosehead Prop: 4
Did a lot of mullocking around like an ass scuffling through turnips but always kept clear of the contact areas. Nearly gave away a try to the French after a bad dropped ball.

Jerry Flannery
Hooker: 2
How this man was picked from the start and not substituted during the first chorus of  "Ireland's call" will forever remain one of the great mysteries of team selection. Any man balling his eyes out before the match is not in a correct mental state to start a match of this magnitude.

John Hayes
Tighthead Prop: 2
It's well time to give this fella the curly finger. You'd need a quad bike and an ifor Williams trailor to ferry this fella around the pitch. He's like a big Case 195 tractor, big and powerful but no good at changing out turf from a soft bank. Continually getting stuck, pulling and dragging with no method at all.

Donncha O'Callaghan
Second Row: 2
Totally outshone by the bearded Chabal and he's like a big tall plain Limousin bullock that you can keep pumping nuts into him all winter and the biggest part of him will always be his head. Needs a haircut in the worst way as well.

Paul O'Connell
Second Row: 2
Dwarfed in every respect by Julian Bonnaire. How can we expect to win a match when this fella didn't win a single ball in the middle of the field all day. Spent 10 minutes in the sin bin and we'd be as well off if he was there for half an hour. o'dea

Simon Easterby
Blindside Flanker: 2
The IRFU won't have a big laundry bill after this fella, his jersey would have passed the Daz doorstep challenge after the match as he never got involved in the action. Going around the last day with a big scull cap on him and he totally mesmerised by the French. He'd remind me of nothing better than a goose out in the back yard and she looking up at lightening and not knowing what was going on.


David Wallace
Openside Flanker:3
Another poor performance from this fella and he's clearly playing with an injury. Should have stayed back in the hotel to update his World Cup diary for the Irish Independent as we would have been as well off with a photo of him in the openside flanker position such was his paltry influence.

Denis Leamy
No. 8: 3
Tried his best and did a lot of mullocking around and at times reminded me of nothing more than the way you'd see a hen scrapping galvanise, such were his attempts to get the ball out of the ruck.

Eddie O'Sullivan
Coach: 0
All I can say is that the IRFU must have plenty of money and no sense to offer a man a lucrative four year contract before the biggest rugby tournament of all. I know it's purely hypothetical but If I had to go to the bank for a loan, I'm sure they would be interested in my plans for paying back the loan rather than saying, "sure take the money and we'll see how you get on" which is effectively what the IRFU have done here.

For three games now, he has sent out Irish teams with no game plan at all.  They reminded me of nothing more than suck calves you'd let out of a dark cabin on May day and they'd spend half an hour buck leapin, tails in the air, running into fences and each other before they got used to the daylight. Well that was the Irish team under the glare of the Stade De France lights on Friday night. Eddie would be as well off if he stayed in Moylough and had a few pints in Cheevers and then ramble across to "An Tuirne" such was his influence and inability to make changes. What good is it sitting high up in the stand with another luadramahn beside him instead of running up and down the sidelines roaring instructions like our Bainisteoirs in GAA.  And don't get me started about the cheap suit he wears. An Aldi job if I ever saw one!

[Hardy]

That's the best report from the world cup I've read yet.

[Hoof Hearted]

Any of you lads from the west reccommend the best bar to watch the match on sunday in Sligo - preferable walking distance from the Sligo City Hotel. Cheers

[magpie seanie]

If I was you I'd get in the car and drive to Tubbercurry and watch the Sligo SFC semi finals. Tourlestrane and John's at 2.30pm and the replay of Eastern Harps and Easkey at 4pm. Not many cool haircuts, sunbed tans or chances to shout "HEAVE" but good entertainment guaranteed.

[AZOffaly]

Go away outta that, there's more permatans on display when Sligo play than if you put all 4 Irish Rugby provinces on the pitch at the same time

[Hoof Hearted]

seanie - if it was at markivicz (sp) i would, but it's the driving bit i don't like the thought of. will have just arrived after a 3 hour journey and with a monday off i don't intend wasting it so  i will be having a few pints. thats why im after the high stool somewhere with a bit of atmosphere.maybe get the gaa crowd coming back after the match to hear the slagging. maybe you wouldnt get that in sligo !!

[Teeling Gael]

Stables bar on Wine Street which is literally around the corner from Sligo City Hotel would be considered a "rugby" pub in Sligo.

[magpie seanie]

maybe get the gaa crowd coming back after the match to hear the slagging. maybe you wouldnt get that in sligo !!

Not likely!

Not a great man for drinking in the town myself in recent years so I've nothing to add to Teeling Gael's advice.

[lynchbhoy]

amusing report alright

Irish folk have been fed too much hype about this team/squad, and while the manager/coach must shoulder a lot of blame, we must face facts that our side are nowhere near as good as they are made out to be

look at the opposition for instance, man for man they look bigger and in spite of this, actually look more athletic than our muscularly sculpted players are.
Look at D'arcy for example , for all his jigs, twirls and bunny hops , the lad is just too small to be effective at that top level of rugby.
Others are just not good enough. ODriscoll is a superb finisher, but I always had questions about other aspects including tackling. Captaincy doesnt suit him either. Give it to someone else and allow him play his own game.
I cannot believe how poor Paul OConnell is. I hate to have to go and admit dinny was right all along.

[Declan]

Stop worrying lads - God sorry Bod says everything is fine

O'Driscoll still confident of progressing
Wednesday, 26 September 2007 08:02

Brian O'Driscoll insists it would be a 'travesty' if Ireland fail to stun Argentina and reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

Ireland must beat the Pumas by at least seven points while scoring a minimum of four tries at the Parc des Princes on Sunday if they are to progress.

For an ambitious team touted as Ireland's most gifted of all time to crash out at the group stage would be a bitter disappointment.

Few crumbs of comfort can be taken from their form in the tournament so far but skipper O'Driscoll believes the permutations are within their grasp.

'We're adopting the attitude that we know that we're capable of doing it. We're capable of a huge performance,' he said.

'It's the last game of the pool stages and we know that if we don't produce something enormous then this will be our last game in this World Cup.

'It's very much last-chance saloon. We're just hopeful that we can produce the form that everyone knows this team is capable of.

'It would be a travesty to work as hard as we have done for the past three months in pre-season, and four years since the last World Cup, and not put in a performance.'

Argentina have looked hugely impressive during the World Cup and their tryline has to yet to be breached.

But O'Driscoll believes the return of full-back Geordan Murphy and Denis Hickie to the starting line-up has improved their chances of securing the try-scoring bonus point.

'The Argentinians have based their game around their defence and they'll be very difficult to break down,' said the Leinster centre.

'But we've managed to score tries against great defences before, the likes of France, Australia and New Zealand.

'It's going to take a monumental performance but we have to think about just winning game and if there's four tries then fantastic.

'With the two guys coming in, without being disrespectful to the lads they're replaced, we've probably got more line-breakers - players that can create something out of nothing.

'We've got raw speed in Denis and an excellent rugby brain and brilliant reader of the game in Geordie.

'So, we've got as many game-breakers on the pitch as we could possibly have.'

In recent times Munster have entered crucial Heineken Cup Pool games against Gloucester and Sale needing a bonus-point victory to progress and O'Driscoll admits that experience may prove useful on Sunday.

'There are guys who have been in this situation before. It could be irrelevant, it could be important,' he said.

'And kind of experience that they can bring to the team is very much welcome. They'll know that you don't need to go out and do it in the first 20 minutes.

'Hopefully we'll let the performance take care of what the result may be. If we can get four tries, fantastic. If not, we'll die trying.'

[AZOffaly]

They should shut the f*ck up talking about what they are going to do, and go and do it. I'm sick listening to them saying they are going to do the devil and all since last October.

This sort of sh1te ''We're adopting the attitude that we know that we're capable of doing it. We're capable of a huge performance' is regurgitated over and over again. If you are capable of it, then do it. Talk about it afterwards.

All this crap about putting 100 points on Namibia, 100 points on Georgia, Jaysus they wouldn't put 100 points up in Darts.

[small white mayoman]

i dreamt last night that ireland won the match and scored 4 tries in the process so ye can all relax lads its in the bag

[AZOffaly]

Jesus Small white mayoman, that's freaky. I did as well, and I have never in all my life dreamt about an Irish rugby international game.