The Aussies have their number.
But they always fancy their chances against the English, and positively look down their noses at the Irish.
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The worst period ever in Northern Hemisphere rugby. Matt Williams knows the score
Youāve only beaten 2 countries and 2 principalities - I donāt think that qualifies as Europe, mate. Congrats on the win thoā¦ Should see you good for the world cup qualifying campaign.
1989 was the first of the Rory Underwood brain farts in Cardiff. The doyen of rugby writers Stephen Jones got a special mention from Wales captain Paul Thorburn after that particular win in 1989. Wales had a very exciting team in 1988 winning the Triple Crown. A lot of that team were gone to rugby league by 1989 including Jonathan Davies. The decline of the coal industry and the closing of the steelworks decimated Welsh rugby in the 1980ās and 1990ās.
English travails in Cardiff have been mirrored by Welsh woe at Twickenham. Wales didnāt win at Twickenham until 1933 and after that first win didnāt win there again until 1950. They won at Twickenham regularly during their golden years of the 1970ās but then went from 1988 to 2008 without winning at Twickenham again.
A look at the Wales team sheet for the 1995 Rugby League World Cup semi-final against England at Old Trafford is very instructive. That team contained Davies, John Devereux, Allan Bateman, Scott Gibbs, Scott Quinnell, Dai Young and Paul Moriarty.
Wales were expected to at least go close to winning that match and brought big support from traditional Union areas, but didnāt perform on the day, and it was the end of their chance of ever doing anything in the code as most of those players drifted back to the fledgling professional Union game within a short time, as the traditional flow of players from Union to League suddenly reversed.
Jason Robinson and Andy Farrell played for England that day. Shaun Edwards, who wasnāt involved for reasons Iām not sure of, and England coach Phil Larder would make their mark in coaching in Union in due course.
The 1997 British Loins team also saw significant League influence through recent convert John Bentley and the recently returned Alan Tait in the wing three-quarter positions.
Some glorious reading on this thread.
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The British Lions drew a test series only last summer and prior to that won the previous series in Australia.
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SA will be well organised by Erasmus and heāll make the most of their strengths -size. Irelandās game plan currently relies on bashing though other teams, wearing them down until holes appear. Thatāll work against the likes of Scotland or a Wales team riddled with injuries but not against a well organised south Africa.
No such entity exists.
Maybe this unfounded Irish confidence has something to do with the fact that Ireland beat South Africa 38-3 the last time they played them or South Africa losing to Italy just over a year ago, or South Africa losing to Japan in the last World Cup or South Africa losing 57-0 to New Zealand back in September.
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Australia certainly exists, bro.
Ireland beat South Africa 32-15 in November 2006.
Ireland beat England 43-13 in 2007.
South Africa beat England in the 2007 Rugby World Cup final. Ireland went out in the first round.
In 2011 France lost to Italy. In the World Cup itself that year, they lost a group match to Tonga. They ended up reaching the final and losing by one point in a match most observers agreed they were cheated by the referee in.
Very prescient form lines for the 2019 World Cup.
The point is that itās foolish to read āform linesā from the Six Nations, or other test matches, or sometimes even from the group stages of the World Cup itself, in terms of what will happen in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
In terms of the latter, Ireland know all about that too. A one point defeat to Australia in the 2003 tournament suggested an almighty struggle with France in the quarter-finals. Ireland were thrashed.
In 2011, Ireland beat Australia in the group. Yet when the quarter-final came around, Wales had all the answers and won comfortably.
In 2015, Ireland beat France in the group stage, but that was no pointer to what would happen in the quarter-final against Argentina.
History and tradition matter a great deal in the knockout stages of a World Cup. South Africa have a proven history of raising their game when the occasion demands and everything is on the line.
Australia, England, France, Argentina and Wales, to varying degrees, all have a historical pedigree of doing similar.
Ireland have none.
This championship win really seems to rankle with you, mate. Let it go.
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Heās been stewing since Saturday, I thought he might have cooled off today but heās still trucking.
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Now that Ireland have won the Championship with a game to spare, to counteract the competitive advantages and luck advantage that Ireland have, maybe they should be made field a weakened team against England on Saturday.
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Winning this competition is devalued apparently because we donāt do well in a different competition and our provincial sides are based in cities in a completely different competition. Weird.
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Apparently all Irish rugby fans were hurting on Sunday morning because of some other scenario that Sid imagined.
Fascinating as usual.
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