The UAFC

That's a great video cyril of the try that should have been....... Definite downward pressure there.....

stickinout wrote:That's a great video cyril of the try that should have been....... Definite downward pressure there.....

it's incredibly tight that's for sure - I think if it goes down it's right at the start of that clip. There were 2 angles that suggested he had dotted it down. I think he should probably have had the benfit of the doubt..

by darkside lightside » Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:41 pm

I think he should probably have had the benfit of the doubt..

I think thats rubbish. If it cant be seen, then it cant be given. Thats the way it should be.

You are quite correct, Fuzzy. The thing is, you see TMOs all the time awarding tries where there is basically no sign of the ball among the players. I, and many others, it appears, do thing that he can be seen dotting the ball down. There was one view from behind the posts that seemed to show it pretty clearly to me. But it's done and dusted now and the result is in the books just like the result from our match in Cardiff last year. Time to move on, surely.

fuzzylogic wrote:

by darkside lightside » Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:41 pm

I think he should probably have had the benfit of the doubt..

I think thats rubbish. If it cant be seen, then it cant be given. Thats the way it should be.

that's probably true in fairness.

stickinout wrote:That's a great video cyril of the try that should have been....... Definite downward pressure there.....

could even say he's knocked it on before he crossed the line

cyril wrote:

Samstew wrote:

darkside lightside wrote:They can count themselves very lucky there, they were slowly being ground down when they got that fluky try (and how lawes will be mocked in the video session ), and at the death north should have been carded for slapping the ball into touch, and finally that looked like a try to me...

And England weren't absolutely out of this world, just goes to show that if your defence presses aggressively in midfield against their big guys, they suddenly look fairly ordinary - but of course deccie knows better...

Not much to add to that, with you 99%.
I thought the Welsh lad took his try very well.
Who would have thought that we would have two contentious TMO decisions in 24 hours?
The Welsh really do get some fortunate calls from officials.

really;

Quality Cyril, no try, correct decision, never any question of it being a try. Well done Wales, slapped it up the barstewards again, always a pleasure to see, much as you are a gurny shower who get the benefit of all dodgy decisions.

No question the better team won, as was the case in Dublin when Ireland bottled it, frankly I would be happy enough to see Wales win the Grand Slam & their game with France should be quality, I hope to see a great contest and both teams finish with 15 men much as Mr Rolland was absolutely correct.

fuzzylogic wrote:

by darkside lightside » Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:41 pm

I think he should probably have had the benfit of the doubt..

I think thats rubbish. If it cant be seen, then it cant be given. Thats the way it should be.

Depends on what question the TMO is asked by the referee.

I'd have given the try. He almost certainly had his hand on the ball when it was on the ground in the ingoal area. You don't need downward pressure.....However the main reason I'd have given it is because I wanted England to win that game.

darkside lightside wrote:
Barritt, on the basis of one international performance??? Defending at 12 is not just about making big tackles, it's about making every single tackle, and also slowing ball down - all of those names you mention are more inclined to look for big hits, and I've seen them all miss the odd tackle as a result - D'Arcy, along with BOD, basically wrote the book on defenive centre partnerships, and over the course of the last decade, I think D'Arcy has missed one tackle...

In any event, whether or not he's 'the best' is irrelevant to the question, the point is he's very good defensively, and our failure against Wales was a system failure, not a personnel failure

Absolutely agree DL. Think Darcy gets way too much criticism these days from people and not enough credit for all his contributions over the years. Excellent player at his best and still the best 12 in Ireland in my humble opinion.

+1

Shan wrote:

darkside lightside wrote:
Barritt, on the basis of one international performance??? Defending at 12 is not just about making big tackles, it's about making every single tackle, and also slowing ball down - all of those names you mention are more inclined to look for big hits, and I've seen them all miss the odd tackle as a result - D'Arcy, along with BOD, basically wrote the book on defenive centre partnerships, and over the course of the last decade, I think D'Arcy has missed one tackle...

In any event, whether or not he's 'the best' is irrelevant to the question, the point is he's very good defensively, and our failure against Wales was a system failure, not a personnel failure

Absolutely agree DL. Think Darcy gets way too much criticism these days from people and not enough credit for all his contributions over the years. Excellent player at his best and still the best 12 in Ireland in my humble opinion.

Correct gents the major problem is the 2 best 12s in the country are both well past the 30 mark & centre is one of several areas where the guys coming through remind me of the scrum half situation were there are several contenders but nearly all limited and not a star player in plain sight.

Ireland's problem is that the stars are aging and the pretenders not yet if they ever will be, fit to lace their boots. I believe we have some seasons of mediocrity ahead which will force all current commentators to look back fondly on the last 12 years. A looming period when the cynics who disparage a triple crown will be happier than Larry to witness one.

Its not that we don't have decent numbers of potentially good players, its simply that 15 good players are not enough at international level to do more than give a decent number of good performances, the more strident who feel only Grand Slams are good enough won't see that without the emergence of great players to add into the mix. You know its true.

very poor game there, and once again Wales look profoundly ordinary, against awful opposition.. Priestland was poor, their back row very ordinary, Cuthbert is basically Banahan in a red shirt - but we let them come to our back yard, we handed them a victory and they're the only team that can win a slam, for the 4th time in a decade. I am quite sure that the likes of BOD, ROG, POC et al are sick to their stomach when they think of the appalling waste of their collective talents under EOS and DK...

Can't agree. Cuthbert is a much much better player than Banahan.

Cuthbert was brilliant. So strong and hungry for the ball.

North is a very fine player - but over all of the Wales matches to date, I think Cuthbert has been cack. Today he wasn't quite as poor, and in fairness in comparing him to Banahan I was setting the bar particularly low but he's average at best IMO