Would be great if Ireland could win it for all those coaches who played such an integral part in the development of Bundee Aki, C.J Stander and Jean Kleyn.
Ireland are the number one ranked side in the world, the pressure is really on to deliver. World class coach, world class players - the name is on the Webb Ellis.
Wait, have I been getting it wrong all along ā¦ are they the no. 1 team in the world or are they the no. 1 team for world players?
Ireland are number one in the world and have one hand on the trophy.
Both.
Statistically the number one ranked team in world rugby football as per the governing body World Rugby.
At various times the following players have been described as world class within the last 18 months. Furlong, Healy, James Ryan, OāMahony, Stander, Murray, Sexton, Earls, Stockdale and probably a few more Iām omitting.
Itās coming home. A disaster not to win it from here. Everything in Irelandās favour.
In all seriousness - they can play a number of squad players during the group phase - they should be ready for a serious go at SA who are slightly over rated. Ireland would have absolutely no fear over Australia and if they get a break on the injury front these two game sare very winnable if the draw works out like that.
What squad, of say, the top 4 teams in the world, has the most āproject playersā? England have a good rake of them donāt they?
Weāre the number on team and should be afraid of no one. Last time around we got a very āattritionalā group which was the reason we were such a failure in the quarter final apparently. This year we have a handy group run and the players will be fresh while our opposition will have been kicking lumps out of each other. It couldnāt possibly be better set up for the number one team in the world.
I saw a documentary once about a fat American lad who cheated at the olympics by putting weights in the front of his bobsled. He found redemption afterwards with a rag tag group from Jamaica
Im starting to think your a bit of a WUM on rugby
Iām no expert on rugby but, it would appear Ireland are more or less guaranteed a spot in the last 8 and itāll be against either NZ or SA, and that nobody has much of a preference which of those two we get. So couldnāt Schmidt and Co just play the kids until then? Keep them fresh for a one off blast at the quarters
Which part of that post is inaccurate?
Sunday will be tough, Scotland are no mugs and near enough the strongest 15 will be needed ā after that I think Ireland can make some changes and should be primed for a QF.
āProject playersā is an IRFU term as far as I know, certainly they are the union who are most shameless around the residency rules by trawling the southern hemisphere throwing money at players to play for the provinces and eventually Ireland. England have players who qualify on residency rules, but none were specifically targeted by the English RFU. They have the Vunipolas and Tuilagi etc but they all moved over with their families and learned to play rugby in England, its entirely different to Irelands mercenaries.
To show how ridiculous it all is, there will be more New Zealand born players at this world cup than players born in Ireland, Scotland and Wales combined.
Pal, weāve been over this countless times!! YOUāRE!!
For real?
Swear down bruv
Thereās a few lads on here whose spelling and grammar goes out the window when they get riled up. Itās like a tell. I hope none of them play poker.
Iād say the angry puffy red cheeks would be another tell.
about fellas spelling going haywire when rattled
You might explain what the ānumber on teamā means
One (1). It means one. Iād say most people got that.