2023 world cup

[Dharper]

A breakdown as poor as irelands tonight wouldn’t be the best advertisement for any Irish scrum half to be fair.
I’d take Jordan for Lowe, other than that, I’d happily keep him, he’s the best left wing in Ireland.
Nz were superbly physical-and yet despite a poor scrum, poor lineout, messy breakdown….ire were a hold up over the line, or a cross field kick bounce of the ball to Sheehan away from victory.
NZ were pushed to their very limit….I personally don’t think they can back it up in the final but we’ll see.
Huge credit to NZ pack they massively fronted up. Ire pack much vaunted and I’ll happily say I think was superior didn’t produce the goods, partly their own fault.

[Jetstream]

When a quarter of your team aren't Irish and are taken from other nations cast offs how can you expect to be the best.

Same applies for Ulster, we'll win nothing until we can grow our own. Leinster cast offs will never beat Leinster 1st teamers when the chips are down and it's a knock out game. Same with NZ cast offs v NZ. I'd have had any of those NZ scrum halves over JGP. I'd have had any of the NZ wingers over Lowe.



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Lowe was poor (all tournament) and according to Babbling Brook if Ryan was playing we would have win easily. A big statement about a player who has been poor all tournament.
Porter is a fine player but his level of stupidity in giving away penalties reached a new high.
Both hookers were poor at their basic tasks and why was Sheehan on the panel when he was lacking match sharpness throughout the tournament. Sadly Furlong is a shadow of the player he was and Bealham should get more game time.
Hendy had a very quiet game and Beirne had nothing left in the tank. Doris and VDF were fine but POM apart from lineout saw the game pass him by.
JGP and Sexton gave their all. I thought Aki , Ringrose and Keenan were very good. Hansen despite carrying an injury was good.
There is evidence of a lack of top quality wingers in Ireland( especially when you see Earls there).
When you see Kilcoyne getting 4 minutes on the pitch and Crowley not introduced you realise there is still no big depth in Irish rugby.
Finally it is said that Ulster are perpetual chokers. I think this mantle has been taking over by Leinster and Ireland

[CIMANFOREVER]

Aw well

[Dave]

When a quarter of your team aren't Irish and are taken from other nations cast offs how can you expect to be the best.

Same applies for Ulster, we'll win nothing until we can grow our own. Leinster cast offs will never beat Leinster 1st teamers when the chips are down and it's a knock out game. Same with NZ cast offs v NZ. I'd have had any of those NZ scrum halves over JGP. I'd have had any of the NZ wingers over Lowe.



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Agreed, it's completely illogical. The fallacy of just having a strong Leinster is coming back to bite. They need to invest in the other provinces. The firfu are gifted a strong private school setup to provide quality Leinster players. The firfu should plow investment into the other areas. The interest in rugby has never been higher with the WC but this is not seen in playing numbers. Nucifora has neglected the other provinces badly. Turning Ulster into a retirement home for past it Leinster players. McGrath coming here, knowingly crocked is a disgrace. Meanwhile Pienaar told to feck off. A world class 9 who professed his intention to live and coach in the area. Now we have backs with some talent but need that expert mentoring. Doak, case in point. A player with talent but no one good enough to help him. Imagine him with Pienaar in his ear.

Nucifora has fcuked us all over and left Ireland relying on a small pool of players. Farrell essentially played the same XV. The players looked tired last night. VDF missing tackles, Doris dropping the ball, rucks not cleared out, lineout failures etc. Time to rethink the setup from top to bottom.

[Dublin4]

Amid all the disappointment this morning, it is easy to engage in recrimination. The stupid draw that supposedly puts Argentina and England way ahead of us didn't help. The history books will record a dismal campaign ending in QF defeat like before. Chokers and so on, but that's not the whole story.

Ireland did not suddenly become a bad team. They lost by 4 points to the international team that epitomises success in the RWC, Ireland having recently beaten the present world champions. Ireland were beaten out the door by NZ four years ago, a margin of 32 points. That game was over by the 10 minute mark. Last night was a game we could have won. All credit to NZ. But we showed real progress over these last four years. The state of rugby is pitiful in Wales and Scotland. For all their numbers, England is a wasteland for professional rugby at the moment.

I completely agree that other provinces, apart from Leinster need to do more. There are signs that Munster are bringing through players but Ulster seems to have a dearth of talent at schools level. Leinster are churning out high quality players every year from their school system. This is going to continue and you can hardly blame Leo Cullen for taking it each summer's exceptional talent. It is up to Ulster and Munster to get more out of schools and youth rugby.

I don't accept criticism of the imports. Aki was not an exceptional player in 2014 or 2015 but he has been nurtured to become the outstanding player he has been in this tournament. Gibson Park could not get his way into the Leinster first team for years, sitting on the bench, but he developed. Hansen was a nobody without pedigree until he came to Connacht.

Over the last few years the Under 20s have been quite remarkable. Grand Slams and world final appearance. I expect them to deliver more players to the senior team.

[Yoda]

Porter is a fine player but his level of stupidity in giving away penalties reached a new high.

If indeed he kept making the same mistake, moving out and driving across then yes he's an idiot. However I can't help but think that maybe the ABs were smart enough to con the ref into thinking that's what Porter was doing.

Yeah he probably did it the first time and maybe the second, but if he kept doing the same thing then he should have hooked much earlier - I suspect that once Barnes made it clear he was looking for it the ABs adjusted to milk the penalty.

The 30 phases at the end were remarkable, particularly given how tired the players obviously were - many including Sexton were walking at best. We'll never know if it was better to keep on the exhausted experienced player versus the younger fresh legs.

It was said during the week, the ABs would have to play at their best while Ireland would have to be a bit off colour - thats what happened - no disgrace in that performance or indeed the last few weeks

[justinr73]

Indeed.

Trust you’ll all be fully behind the Lionels now.

[solidarity]

When a quarter of your team aren't Irish and are taken from other nations cast offs how can you expect to be the best.

Same applies for Ulster, we'll win nothing until we can grow our own. Leinster cast offs will never beat Leinster 1st teamers when the chips are down and it's a knock out game. Same with NZ cast offs v NZ. I'd have had any of those NZ scrum halves over JGP. I'd have had any of the NZ wingers over Lowe.



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Are there many teams these days that don't have a raft of overseas players? My only consolation with the present set-up is that the second tier teams can be given a leg up by some overseas folk and some who were 'stolen' by NZ and others coming home.

[big mervyn]

What did Rieko Ioane say to Janny at the end that got him all riled up and prompted several unseemly instances of "hold me back, hold me back"

"You're just a sh$t Ronan O'Gara" perhaps?

or "Are you Rory McIlroy in disguise?"

[big mervyn]

Indeed.

Trust you’ll all be fully behind the Lionels now.

Do the Fijians have any Lionels?

[Dave]

What did Rieko Ioane say to Janny at the end that got him all riled up and prompted several unseemly instances of "hold me back, hold me back"

"You're just a sh$t Ronan O'Gara" perhaps?

or "Are you Rory McIlroy in disguise?"

He said he was a sh1t dad, so Janny's son had to come out and reassure him.

[big mervyn]

Who's going to replace the living deity that is Janny?

No obvious candidates. Hendy would seem to be most suited to the leadership role but he's not an automatic starter

[Dave]

Two Hendy's are needed. One to do his carrying work and one to do his clearing out work. At one point he carried beyond the gainline but no one was there to clear out. Hopefully he's coming back uninjured.

[Jetstream]

Two Hendy's are needed. One to do his carrying work and one to do his clearing out work. At one point he carried beyond the gainline but no one was there to clear out. Hopefully he's coming back uninjured.

For years we have listened to criticism of Rory Best's lineout
throwing. I even read that Herring was also poor .
Not a word from the Dublin scribes of the atrocious throwing of Sheehan and Kelleher in the S. African and NZ matches
POC is supposed to be the lineout guru. Not much evidence of his input

[big mervyn]

Two Hendy's are needed. One to do his carrying work and one to do his clearing out work. At one point he carried beyond the gainline but no one was there to clear out. Hopefully he's coming back uninjured.

For years we have listened to criticism of Rory Best's lineout
throwing. I even read that Herring was also poor .
Not a word from the Dublin scribes of the atrocious throwing of Sheehan and Kelleher in the S. African and NZ matches
POC is supposed to be the lineout guru. Not much evidence of his input

Herring can rightly feel aggrieved by his treatment in this competition. Scapegoating at it's finest.