Not so sure on that.
Replacing key men in the specialist positions is tough.
Structure is the best in world rugby, and itās only 8 teams really.
Houghton and Townsend are the same as Hansen. The sons/grandsons of Irish emigrants. Cascarino is a mad caseā¦
They knew how to reel paddy in
I would too until I remember heās an arsehole
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Shur look it, thatās how it was back then
Nasty stuff of a Wednesday .
One score handicap for the four games.
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Mate, delete that ffs
A quarter final coming up against serial winners new zealand, a stage the irfu has never passed and lads have us winning world cups indefinitely. You couldnāt make it up
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4 year cycle
Itās actually different this time.
Back in 2007 I was a very early convert to the Anti-Rugby Football bandwagon. I think it might have been brought on by the whole narrative about āgrowing up as a nationā when England came to Croke Park, but I was secretly delighted when the 2007 World Cup blew up in their faces. The next 4 years would have been spent not saying it too loud but by around 2011 I was big and bold enough to be very much part of the Anti Rugby movement buoyed on by the GAEJ on Premierview. I first dipped my toes on the INTERNET in 2010.
The period from 2012 to 2019 though would have been absolute peak Anti Rugby Football for me. There were some simply incredible times during this period - the 2013 bottle job v New Zealand, 2015 v Argentina and 2019 v New Zealand. The level of media hype and bullshit during this period was simply extraordinary and we also had Paul Kimmage in our camp on the whole drugby thing. It was a perfect storm really and anyone not part of it was missing out.
However since Faz has taken over in 2020, I have mellowed somewhat - maybe it was the pandemic, maybe i have matured, but I am no longer of the mindset that Rugby Football is completely evil, and I wouldnāt really hold it against anyone who attends or plays the oval ball. Faz comes across a great guy and the players themselves come across fairly level headed. I will never forgive Johnny Sexton for skipping the queue on me in a Ranelagh Barber Shop in November 2018 but he is a ferocious competitor which i admire.
I think the anti-rugby football bandwagon has gone a bit stale since 2019, I look at some posters on here and wonder if they are flogging a dead horse - after the Japan/New Zealand debacle it felt like we had no more worlds to conquer. Like Dublin after doing 6 in a row.
I still hope New Zealand win on Saturday but Iāve definitely lost my zip and have instead switched the main focus of my INTERNET musings to more important matters like the Split Season, POWER RANKINGS, Roy Curtis and Big Rob Ryan.
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We should just tear it up now and start building for 2027.
This is the lube for a full hop to the bandwagon if they win Saturday
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Well then you are allowing bias get in the way.
Things have changed massively in the last 15 years.
Placing himself strategically between the two stools here.
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A pure chancer.
For the record Iām all in after the scotland game, theyāve captured my heart
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Forgot about him. A sound fella Iād wager.
I would take a win over NZ on Saturday now and a guaranteed loss further on (even vs. the Welsh) right now.
If we had played to our potential in 2011 weād have got to the semi finals and that is the one we left behind. That is the last game that properly disappointed me as an Irish supporter.
We need to get over the Q Final thing but unfortunately we are coming up against a handy team that probably beat us 4 times out of 10.
I wouldnāt be too disappointed though on Saturday as long as the performance is decent. As you say there is plenty coming though and we should continue to be very competitive.
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