The boys in green

President Biden wishes Mayo well in the game tonight and predicts a one touchdown victory over the Black and Tans in their quest to bring Sam home.
 
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Very unfair that one of the NZ lads gets a stick and the Irish lads don't get a hurley.
 
mtk said:
I see they slipped on greece . Bring Andy Farrell into to manage them.
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And now tonight their sporting aspirations turned all black , time perhaps to approach a manager who can plot his way to a final .
I believe Eddie Jones could be available soon !
 
The tragedy of the Irish rugby team at World Cups reminds me of English soccer team in World Cups... weight of expectations and maybe ability to react in a dynamic tournament of different challenges.
 
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I think that's a bit harsh guys.
The weight of expectations wasn't a problem and I don't think a change of manager is the issue either.
The thing is we were were beaten by a better team on the day ......not by much though. I would rather see them beaten by the All Blacks than by Argentina..... imagine how the Welsh must be feeling.
This is still a great team and I for one am proud of their performance... throughout the tournament..
 
I take your points, it was a close run thing but when it comes to World Cups they have under-performed, and this time around there was a lot of expectation placed on them. They weren't going in as underdogs. That can create pressure \ weight on players. That can translate on the field to a marginal difference.

I didn't mean change of manager necessarily, I meant if the players are flexible enough to respond on the field if Plan A doesn't work.
 
I’m not a rugby man, but I’ve enjoyed the performances of Ireland during the Rugby World Cup. The whole panel and management were terrific role models and behaved with dignity at all times especially in defeat. I was very proud of them. They participated, they performed and they competed. The wins along the way were welcome and New Zealand beat us, Good Luck to them. And We’ll Done Ireland too.
 
If you even compare the games from the two teams , Ireland and New Zealand, up to this game Ireland had a much tougher path than the All Blacks. That has to take a lot out of players no matter how fit thay are. Apart from the French game no team gave the All Blacks a game at all.
There is only a kick of a ball between Ireland, All Blacks, South Africa, France at the moment.
Also the All Blacks want revenge against France because of the opening game . They also want the No 1 title back.
I'd call that motivation..
 
If we had had too easy a group, I guarantee you the papers would be saying we lost because we hadn't been warmed up enough and NZ were stronger because they'd been battle hardened.
Were Ireland not motivated enough then to beat New Zealand, after how many times losing to them in World Cups including last time out?
Ireland weren't motivated enough to stay #1?
That's the implication of your point.

I don't pretend to be a rugby experts but these are some of the questions I see elsewhere on social media, and the analysis seems a lot more realistic than the stuff I read in the media on Sunday. For example, compare the player markings (lots of 5s) in the Sunday Independent with the description of the game and there's a massive disconnect.

Not enough rotation of players in group games so key players leggy now
Not enough game time in preparation for World Cup for upcoming players so they'd be ready when needed ... Sexton was dead on his feet for last 15 minutes and not replaced.
The first 20 minutes was nervy, uncharacteristic unforced errors
James Lowe (?) taking a mark and instead of waiting for Ireland team to be ready for the kick, booted it straight back to NZ which culminated in a try for NZ.
25% of the match played against 14 men and needed to take more advantage of that
Line outs a shambles
Sexton going for the corner instead of taking 3 points when Ireland were scoreless - lack of confidence in his kicking?

And then a general point which could apply to all European teams is the timing of the world cup and the European 6N and club seasons makes it harder for them to hit peak at World Cups. Ireland's focus was on winning 6N, going for grand slams, getting #1 ranking... when maybe it should have been about peaking for World Cup (if serious about winning it) and bringing through more players.
 
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I'd agree with some of the players been leggy and also wonder if Tadgh Furlong was fully fit. Having said that, the lineout got fixed and on another day, Sexton kicks a penalty, Murrary doesn't give away a cheap one and Barrett doesn't get under the ball and we win by 9. A game of inches

However, the scrum was an utter shambles and Porter should have been taken off at half time. We can't carry a prop who can't scrummage properly and gives away so many penalties. All Blacks had him singled out from the get go.

First All Black yellow card was iffy in my view as well, if that was a yellow, then how on earth did Owen Farell stay on the pitch against Fiji?
 
I am not an expert on Rugby at all. I say it as I see it. If Ireland had an easy group and didn't make the semi finals I would be the first to say they weren't good enough.
They had motivation in bundles but came up short by four points to another well motivated team and well done to them. Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course.
England , on the other hand , had a decent group and played poorly but are in the semi final....and who knows .
 
Deiseblue said:
Well if Major League Baseball can get away with a “ World “ series perhaps you’re on to something!
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In fairness, Baseball is every bit a world sport as rugby is. It's in the top 3 or 4 sports played and watched in the USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, Cuba, Domincan Republic, Mexico, Venezuala and quite a few other.

Incidentally, Ireland are ranked 50th in the World Baseball standings, higher then our football team !
 
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