Ratings:
Dempsey: Was he playing? …5
Bowe: Covered a lot at full back, on first viewing of the penalty try I thought it was a great piece of defending, the whole team was streatched, I think he should hold onto his place, for now…5
O Driscoll: Took over kicking from hand, but he’s a 13, not a 12, decision to kick from the halfway line in the second half was a joke, went down like a sack of spuds for the NZ penalty try after kicking the ball away, he’s not a captain, but coming back to being a good inside center…5
Fitzgerald: Didn’t do anything wrong but didn’t do anything right either…6
Kearney: See Dempsey…5
O Gara: Come in RoG, your time is up. Seriously, this game was made for his game, kicking from hand was terrible, running the game was terrible, everything was terrible. As 1 of our few world class players he should be ashamed of himself…3
O Leary: Did well, quick to the breakdown, good kicking, did well considering what he had outside him, should be a great dual between himself and Reddan for the jersey for years to come…7
Heaslip: OVershadowed by his backrow collegues…4
Wallace: Great player, did himself no harm at all, nice to see him getting pinged as well a couple of times, I’m a firm believer that backrowers should be living on the line between legal and illegal at all times…7
Quinlan: See Wallace, although I thought he was a bit better, he must be a nightmare to play against, Irish MotM…7
O Connell: Out other world class player, showed heart getting up from injury but was caught out in the ensuing play (btw, he wouldn’t have been able to be subbed till a break in play anyway, and Ireland were down to 14 at the time), Irish lineout never threatened and was shakey at time, normal second row would get a 6, cause of who he is and what he can do, he gets a 5…5
O Callaghan: He really needs to come out of O’Connell’s shadow, he alway seems to be 1 step behind him at all times, he seemed to bring Ferris under his wing near the end, really needs to assert himself as a leader now that O’Kelly is finished…5
Hayes: Did well, scrum was solid(ish) and did some amount of coverage…6
Best: Has to be Ireland’s first choice hooker now, all parts of his game was solid and seems to show some leadership…6
Horan: As much as it pains me to say this about a fellow Clareman, but he has to be the luckiest player in world rugby, he thinks he’s a winger, he’s constantly in the wrong place and takes the wrong options, play Tom Court next week…4
It’d be 3 if he had his kicking boots on in Twickenham, almost 10 years ago now, then again you could argue that we wouldn’t have any if we won 1 easily to start with
Too harsh on Kearney there, Bowe is limited as someone above said and outlined already. Foolish to slap a ball away like that, at this level you should know the implications of your actions, personally I thought he could have done more with it, or even try to impede McCaw as opposed to concetrate on slapping the ball. Small thing, but on small things do games turn.
Not much to take from the game, but Quinlan impressed (if flogged due to poor 2nd row cover on bench), as did Wallace.
As I sat in the Hogan stand on saturday night I mentioned to the auld lad sitting to my right that O Gara was having a nightmare. He turns around to me and says.
-“Oh, it’s the lines”
-“What?” said I
-“Oh, the lines. O Gara isn’t used to the lines here in Croke Park”
WTF, how long are people gonna try and pedal that excuse. Dan Carter was well able to find his bearings (penalties aside) in Croke Park.
Exactly Fran, I dont believe that kind of shite, you should be fit to kick in any ground in the land at that level. The kicking from our backline was shockingly bad, which was what they were all meant to be picked for.
O Gara was a joke on Saturday. I was embarrassed for the lad that he was so bad. One goal kick apart, he was abysmal. Should have been taken off at half-time imo as he was more a hindrance than a help. I’m no fan of Paddy Wallace but sure why not bring him on to feck. What if O’Gara is shit from now on-we’ll need a replacement.
Also, interestingly, Paddy Wallace is the last Irish player to score a try against the All-Blacks.
Was on the Hill for the match. First time I’ve been up there in a few years and had a great view up the back and a bit to the side. Not sure if it’d be great for GAA games still though.
i think quinlan is a risk at international level, his discipline overshadows everything he does, no good having a storming 80 minutes is you give away mindless penalties everytime your team creates half an oportunity
Graham Henry highlighted O’Driscoll as being the only Irish player who played up to scratch and mentioned Fitzgerald in passing too. It’s nothing personal against O’Gara, it’s just disappointing that he occupies a key decision-making and game defining position and if he plays as abjectly as he did at the weekend then it affects the whole team. My initial point remains that I think it’s odd that such an experienced player has such peaks and troughs. It’s something I’d expect from a newcomer but if he has a poor start then it seems to affect him way moreso in an Irish shirt than a Munster one.
I think you don’t understand the game fully so Bandage, yes he was poor, but on any given day he needs his pack performing to their best, unfortunately against NZ this is very hard. Even Johnny Wlko has suffered because of this. Any scrum/out half needs to be getting quick clean ball. That happened occasionaly and he did miskick one very good chance, but most of the ball he got was under serious pressure.
caoimhaoin, I reckon you’re being very parochial and defensive about O’Gara. He was shambolic. It’s also blatantly incorrect to say he puts more effort in for Munster than Ireland as he’s attested on several occasions and in his recent book. He recently gave an in-depth interview on TFK’s partner radio show Off The Ball on Newstalk where he said he’s immensely proud to play for Munster but playing for your country is the pinnacle.
Not much to take from the game, but Quinlan impressed (if flogged due to poor 2nd row cover on bench), as did Wallace.[/quote]
Jesus MBB I know Tipp is one of the closer Munster counties to Laois but how can you say that? Quinlan was shocking and his complete lack of discipline cost Ireland so many times on Saturday. I counted at least 4 penalties in the first half he gave away and then it was all summed up by a stupid penalty he gave away for holding onto McCaws leg about 5 yards away from a ruck while Ireland were just about to go over the line. There was about 5 or 10 mins left. It wouldnt have changed the result but at least would have given us something to cheer.
O’Driscoll played ok but was directly responsible for the losing of the game. Just as the clock hit 40 mins in the first half he played a chip and chase and turned directly into the back of an AB. It wasn’t deliberate on the Kiwis part but O’Driscoll dived down like he’d been shot. Almost like Kevin Thompson in the Old Firm derby. The All Blacks get the ball, switch play across and Bowe tips the ball out. Penalty try, man in the bin, game over. If O’Driscoll had’ve kicked the ball into touch it would have been half time and we could have gone in with our heads up and had 15 men for the first 10 mins of the second half. It was like Billy Byrne losing the ball in 1993 which ended up with Eamonn Morrisey hitting the equaliser.
Overall, it was a shambles really. O’Leary did well with crap ball. He needs to get rid of his “Isaac Boss step” though. Fitzgerald was the pick of the backs by a mile. Constantly got over the gain line and the only back who always took them on without kicking away possession. O’Gara was absolutely terrible. One decent penalty but every other kick was plain muck. Why didnt they let Kearney kick some of the penalties down the right hand side where a left footed kicker can get more ground. O’Gara was averaging a 10 yard gain which is useless for an international kicker.
O’Connell needs a kick in the hole as well. He couldnt walk let alone tackle or run. Swallow your pride, put up your hand and say you’re injured. If you’re playing Canada or some Magners League game then fine but not against the team who you know will punish you.
It was a poor game really though. No international game should have that many handling errors. My team for Argentina would be:
I’m with Bandage on this:
O Gara was abysmal- I couldn’t understand why we kicked so much ball away in the first half. We defended really well, forced some turnovers and then kicked the ball back to them. We also missed touch on the few occassions that we were able to go for it. O Driscoll and O Gara were both directly culpable for Bowe’s sinbinning and the try, when trying to run and chip a penalty out of our 22.
Thought Quinlan gave away too many penalties. OConnell should have got the shephards crook 10min before he came off. YOu’ve got to love the way the ABs targetted him for the try.
Positives for me were Wallace, Fitzgerald, Kearney, Hayes and OLeary for his first start.
O Gara apart no one else had a mare.
What was interesting for me was how the ABs folded up shop with about 25 minutes to go. If they’d been bothered they could have put 50 on us.
That was tounge-in-cheek Bandage. He wasn’t shambolic, and your overstating his play again to try to get your point accross, while still ignoring the fact that the ball he was getting was poor. The pressure that the NZ forwards (and backs in alot of cases) were putting in on the ground was making it extremely difficult for everyone.
He plays out-half, so alot of ball goes through him, when its shit ball, he’ll look shit.
[quote=“caoimhaoin”]That was tounge-in-cheek Bandage. He wasn’t shambolic, and your overstating his play again to try to get your point accross, while still ignoring the fact that the ball he was getting was poor. The pressure that the NZ forwards (and backs in alot of cases) were putting in on the ground was making it extremely difficult for everyone.
He plays out-half, so alot of ball goes through him, when its shit ball, he’ll look shit.[/quote]
Caoimhaoin, his kicking from the hand for penalties was muck. There was no pressure on him for those. He wasn’t at the races and never looked like making anything for us. I watched some of the old games vs the All Blacks on Saturday evening and we were crying out for a playmaker like Humphries on Saturday. While O’Gara is a better kicker he doesnt have much else up his sleeve when the opposition counteract his kicking game.
The opposition didn’t have to work to counteract his kicking game though. That’s the point. I actually thought O’Leary dealt capably with messy ball from lineouts and pressurised scrums and fed O’Gara some decent enough ball in the circumstances. His execution of the basic kicking skills in both open play and from the hand from penalties was terribly disappointing.