its worth saying that rugby is being turned into a horrible game by the current set of rules. A win is a win, but this kicking shit would rot your nuts. Great work by BOD at the death.
Great stuff from Ireland, even more firecrackers come down from the Ultras section, sulphourous smoke everywhere. Better than the San Paolo anyday. Just glad we held on, without doubt it would have been the biggest disappointment in Irish sport yhis year had we lost it at the end. As George Hook says, “this is the greatest moment”.
The day the recession ended
In all seriousness, Hook really talks some shite.
Fantastic win. Heaslip, Kearney both class. Darcy did very well too though doesn’t have the hands of Wallace. Nonsense that he ain’t international class. SA looked dangerous at end but negative for too long. Super result anyway. Plenty to learn from scrum etc but deserved win in the end.
Delighted with the win and no doubt a great achievement but there is just so much bullshit around rugby it’s hard to stay supporting the team sometimes.
‘The greatest moment’. Fuck off tom mcgurk this was a friendly win against a tired understrength team who have lost three games already on this tour and we’ve beaten the last three times we played.
‘The best referees are Irish so we can’t get them’. Fuck off George Hook if we heard Guscott or the lads on BBC clapping themselves so enthusiastically on the back we’d get sick.
‘A shrill blast of the whistle’. Simply fuck off ryle nugent.
Declan Kidney is a scholar and a gentleman.
Every white south african I’ve known has been a weird cunt. Oddballs the lot of them. Black south africans tend to be somewhat easier to get on with but on the whole not a nation of likeable sorts.
Saw the last twenty minutes of this one and it was stirring stuff. This period was bookmarked by classic defence by the legendary Brian O’Driscoll - firstly his work for the penalty on the hour that Sexton ultimately missed and then his classic tackle at the end, which was typical O’Driscoll and a really memorable moment.
Thankfully, we didn’t live to regret Paul O’Connell conceding the penalty from which Pienaar struck the post or O’Connell taking the ball into contact from a standing start late on and South Africa being awarded a scrum after the collision.
From talking to others, it seems Healy (in the loose), Heaslip, Sexton, D’Arcy, O’Driscoll and particularly Kearney were our best players. And Sean O’Brien didn’t look out of place either.
[quote=“Bandage”]the legendary Brian O’Driscoll - firstly his work for the penalty on the hour that Sexton ultimately missed and then his classic tackle at the end, which was typical O’Driscoll and a really memorable moment.
[/quote]
Tom McGurk: “This was France’s worst home defeat since 1906” :rolleyes: Eh, no it wasn’t.
Surprised at how much praise TOL is getting for this.
Was at Croke Park yesterday and the consensus in the pub afterwards was that he was shite. I thought he was better than most did, in that he kept their back row honest and he was brave enough around the fringes but his basics were poor really. First two box kicks were blocked or half-blocked, then his box kicking went very poor. No chance for chasers.
His passing was still a worry, couple of bounce passes that you can’t afford at this level from your scrum half. And I do think he’s too ponderous at times. There’s an element of strategy about that because he’s playing as a decision-maker in there, whereas with Stringer it’s just purely about transferring possession away from rucks. But there are times when the ball needs to be delivered far quicker and when we were camped on their line a couple of times he just took too long to get the ball out. Fine sometimes when we’re looking to retain possession but you can’t take 10 seconds organising things and then go blind to the backs.
Enjoyable game but South Africans are appallingly negative.
French were abysmal last night. Obviously played well against South Africa but the African backs are nearly as bad as England’s so they weren’t tested. Disgraceful defence against NZ last night, that tap tackle attempt was a joke for the second try(?). They were disorganised and looked uninterested. Nothing to fear there.
[quote=“Rocko”]Surprised at how much praise TOL is getting for this.
Was at Croke Park yesterday and the consensus in the pub afterwards was that he was shite. I thought he was better than most did, in that he kept their back row honest and he was brave enough around the fringes but his basics were poor really. First two box kicks were blocked or half-blocked, then his box kicking went very poor. No chance for chasers.
His passing was still a worry, couple of bounce passes that you can’t afford at this level from your scrum half. And I do think he’s too ponderous at times. There’s an element of strategy about that because he’s playing as a decision-maker in there, whereas with Stringer it’s just purely about transferring possession away from rucks. But there are times when the ball needs to be delivered far quicker and when we were camped on their line a couple of times he just took too long to get the ball out. Fine sometimes when we’re looking to retain possession but you can’t take 10 seconds organising things and then go blind to the backs.
Enjoyable game but South Africans are appallingly negative.
.[/quote]
I was at it myself and i thought O’Leary was excellent, his passing was at times ponderous but accurate, his defense was excellent and he made a few decent half breaks…The most pleasing aspect for me was that even though O’Connell and O’Driscoll had decent enough games other lads stood up to be counted and showed leadership, the likes of Kearney, Bowe(solid as a rock) Heaslip and O’Leary to name a few…
Sexton did well and should keep his place for Italy in the first match of the six nations…
MBB, I stopped off in Ballybrittas yesterday morning and got a noble breakfast, 7 with fried bread and 4 baskets of brown bread/toast, the auld lad was well impressed
Forgot to mention yet again Paddy Wallace wasn’t able for the physicallity of international rugby, nobody doubts his heart or commitment but fuck it he just isn’t able for it, he has the ability but if he keeps getting busted then he has no business in the squad…
Thats pure nonsense. An injured leg has nothing to do with being able to meet pysical demands of international rugby. That injury was as likely to happen in Magners as it was yesterday. He had mixed twenty minutes anyway with one awful drop of the ball and then sublime hands later on in a move.
O’Leary was indeed terrible. He made two good breaks, but elsewhere his kicking (as usual) was rubbish, he was too slow moving ball out wide, he still steps before he passes and he is still going into heavy contact for no good reason. The worst Irish player on the pitch.
Would you say the same about Ferris? He gets injured more often.
O’Leary’s passing was far from “accurate.” You can argue he had his values and I think he was the best option out there yesterday but that’s as much a reflection on the competition for the place. He had two passes that bounced before they got to the out half. When your pass is slow it needs to be more consistent than that.
I was in Croke par, and while I thogh O’Leary had a good game, despite a couple of loose kicks, the lad i was with thought he was poor. He passed well, his defence was above excellent, and kept them guessing. Also remember he was up against the best scrum half in world rugby.
On Paddy Wallace, he was poor larry very poor and D’Arcy was a massive improvement.
The back 3 were excellent, and Kearney in particular, why SA kept kicking ball to him was baffling to say the least though. O’Driscoll was gain class, but his drop goal effort was a shocker.
In the pack, the scrum struggled at times, but with set pieces were good. O’Connell and O’Callaghan were excellent in the lineout, and the back row certtainly matched the Saffies in contact. It was a great display and crowned a great year for Ireland. Roll on the 6 nations.
Larry he’s not up to it against a physical team like the Boks. Wouldn’t play him against Wales or France either due to their centres, but he probably would survive against any other of the 3 6N teams.
Didn’t i tell you to stick to the Castlematyer Junior hurling.:rolleyes:
Local hurling rivalries have no place in this discussion.
[quote=“Rocko”]Would you say the same about Ferris? He gets injured more often.
O’Leary’s passing was far from “accurate.” You can argue he had his values and I think he was the best option out there yesterday but that’s as much a reflection on the competition for the place. He had two passes that bounced before they got to the out half. When your pass is slow it needs to be more consistent than that.[/quote]
O’ Learys phyisicality in the modern game is vital, he’s quick and strong. His passing isn’t as sweet or as quick as Stringer or Reddans, but overall he is streets ahead of any other Irish scrum half. He is obviously dividing opinion, and for the most part i would pass it off as anti-Munster, lack of knowledge of the gameplan or whatever, but a few guys here who know what they are talking about seem to think he was poor, personally i thought he was excellent.
Someone has to do some special coaching with Keith Earls on catching the ball before he’s thinking of the next thing to do with it. He drops way too much ball for a top professional.