Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown & Dublin Duel
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Just made the 11 hour return drive to Toronto yesterday after watching the game with the wife and kids.
Weather was fantastic. Around 20 degrees, which was unseasonably warm. Two years ago at the AB v USA game it was around 3 degrees (but mercifully sunny at least – the day before that there had been wind, snow and rain).
We were near the front in row 7 right behind the goal posts at the Northern end. Great view of the action when the players were down near that end. But sod’s law they were up the other end for most of the game and when in the far end 22 it was easier to see happenings on the big screen, which we had a perfect end on view of. Overall I preferred the seats we had two years ago that were quite near the back but not too far off the half way line (although being that high up the first 5 metres from the sideline were obscured with the stadium being designed for the narrower American football fields).
Crowd was well behaved and seemed to be about 50/50 black v green jerseys however the green fans were way more vocal. I can’t talk here as I am the worst ABs supporter myself, quiet as a mouse giving them bugger all support. I just can’t get the noise out and spend most of the game with a glum look and my stomach in knots (this game and the game v Bokke at Twickers last year, both way too close for me).
Filing out of the stadium afterwards was strangely sombre. The Irish fans were not as jubilant as I thought they might be. I think most of them were still in shock at the enormity of the win. We didn’t stay out that late with the kids and the long drive back to do the following day but by 9pm with more beer flowing and the singing ramping up things were finally starting to get rocking down town when we called it an evening.
I found the thought of losing to Ireland was worse than the reality when it actually happened. My son though (10) was in bits. He has very little experience of the ABs losing and when they did lose it even after they (as confidently predicted) staged their come back from 8-30 to 29-33, the need to cheer him up after the loss gave me the distraction I needed from my own woes. It also somehow felt a bit better sharing the loss with thousands of others there than at home cursing away at the TV.
We were staying down town and the day before there had been (reportedly, and exaggerated probably) 5 million people watching the cubs celebration parade. It was a lot of people and impossible for us, and I’m sure the All Blacks as well, not to get caught up in. It was a real sea of humanity and we struggled just to get from point A to B even with all the roads closed. I felt this was a big reason the ABs were flat and could not get up for the game (that and Ireland showed great compassion and belief at the same time). 108 years waiting for the cubs and 111 for Ireland. There was a sense for me that the ABs, even if subconsciously, felt that a loss to Ireland given the context and history of what had just happened in the city that week might somehow be more forgivable than otherwise. The parade went right past the All Blacks’ hotel and they were out there soaking it up with the fans. In short, their game the following day was always going to be the anticlimax of the weekend whatever the result. History game them permission to lose this one. Anyway that is my wacky theory.
On a more practical level, I think they lost mainly because this is the first time since (when???) that neither BBBR nor S Whitelock took the field, and they really got out muscled badly in the tight exchanges in the first half, which was aggravated by the binning of Moody and losing Crotty, all of which they never really got over.
As for the haka: why didn’t Smith lead it? FFS hasn’t he been punished enough already? My Mrs thinks he will never be the same player again. Hope she’s wrong about that.
Ground announcement was that it was a record for a game of rugby in the United States. 62,700.
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Proceed with caution, trolls (Mark Watson) contained within
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11743884
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if you were a pessimist, give it 4 weeks and it could sit up there as the worst season since 1998, but to paint it like that now?
I didn't read the article, just the headline and some of the comments on FB.
I have always thought he was a twat, the bile and vitriol he and some of his listeners spouted after the loss to Aus last year was something to behold, he was with his mate Twattue in calling for DCs head and claiming the coaches were ruining the careers of promising rugby players by persisting with the likes of DC, McCaw & Conrad.
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Have recovered enough from weekend to figure it was okay to make a reappearance here for the post-match analysis.
Have managed to see the whole game today without having having to peep through fingers. Great game of rugby and the response from New Zealand media and fans has been astonishing.
L:looking forward to Ireland v New Zealand - the Dublin Duel.
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That is some rancid bait from Watson. To be expected from our media these days. What a waste of oxygen they are. Worst season since 1998 just because we lost to an impressive Irish side - what a dick.
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@Pot-Hale said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
Great game of rugby and the response from New Zealand media and fans has been astonishing.
Most rugby people are good people. Don't believe what the media says - they are wind up merchants of the highest order.
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@nzzp said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
@Pot-Hale said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
Great game of rugby and the response from New Zealand media and fans has been astonishing.
Most rugby people are good people. Don't believe what the media says - they are wind up merchants of the highest order.
Agreed. I have a healthy level of disregard for a lot of media reporting. But, in fairness, the reports to date have been overwhelmingly positive and balanced. So credit where it's due.
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If you actually listened to Watson's rant it is far from bait. His key points were:
- The ABs will destroy Ireland in Dublin and learn from their mistakes.
- This loss will have a positive impact on the ABs performance against the Lions next year as they will learn from their mistakes.
- The winning streak title is dubious given many victories happened last season with a distinctly different side.
- If you factor in the Olympics (very important) - this was the worst year for the NZRU since 1998.
I would agree with all those statements except 2002 was clearly worse with the Smith resignation (and Mitchell/Deans appointment), woeful on field performance, Cantablacks caps and the subhosting debacle.
I don't find his opinion any more stupid than the "best of all time" nonsense that was getting thrown around earlier in the season by many pundits.
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@rotated In the 2 mins I heard he also laid the blame for the loss at pandering to AIG, said the notion that Hansen was the best AB coach ever was a joke , kept frothing about the Olympics loss, said Tew should resign immediately and hung up on a guy who said he was a bit strong.
If that's not a rant I don't know what is. RS is a joke station, staffed by typical Kiwi "celebrities" who know jack about sport, but Watson is the nadir. He makes Lose look good.
That's also a rant - but mine is far more accurate than Watson's
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@rotated Also - I think you might be getting your years mixed up. 2001 was when Smith resigned and Mitchell took over (end of year tour) and we failed to get any teams in the Super Rugby playoffs. 2002 was Cantablacks year I think (Crusaders were undefeated Super champions in 2002).
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Wasn't Watson the guy that got smashed in fight for life a while back? Let's see that again!
worse than 1998? Not even close. 2016 we won the Bled, TRC well before the end, lost to a spirited Ireland team without first second or third choice locks, without first choice MF or wing FB combination? (no disrespect to Ireland, they fully deserved the win but this is about us). Watson is a waste of bandwidth -
The only similarity with 1998 and this year is they are both rebuilding years after a host of retirements the year before. In 1998 they lost five in a row. This year we had four teams in the SR playoffs, the ABs beat Wales and Aus 3 zip and had a perfect RC (all games won with bonus points). I predict a perfect RC will never happen again, so not such a disastrous year. As for the Olymics, Fiji is the best team in the world at sevens and totally deserved their gold.
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I listened to the Watson rant on radiosport last night. He loves to distort facts is what I took out of it, like saying that half the wins were achieved against minnows at the RWC. When has 3 out of 18 ever equated to 50%, Mark? He was also very tough on the selectors for selecting Cane over Ardie Savea and Todd. What is this guy on? Anyone who knows even a bit about rugby can see that Cane is definitely a step up from Todd and Savea is simply not physical enough at this stage to warrant a starting role. And for him to discredit all the wins against the other big teams this year due to this loss was extremely unfair as Ireland are not a bad side. The reference to 98 was simply laughable.
Having said that, I did agree with him that the Abs and the selectors did go into this game without the total focus that they would have taken into a test against the boks or the wobs.. The selections and rotation as well as the drop off in intensity in the first half were an indication of this. I also support Mark's stance that this was a terrible day for All Black rugby as the proud record against Ireland is now gone, and am with him when he had a go at all the pc idiots like Veitch and his little sidekick, Guy Haveldt who actually appeared to be happy about this result.
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The trouble with Ratpoo and his buddy Watson is that they both burnt bridges with the NZRU many years ago and now get ignored by them. The shoulder chips are enormous and they back each other up on calls that the powers of NZ Rugby are arrogant arseholes.
Hate to break it to you guys but they treat you with disdain because you don't report facts, you make shit up and present it as facts. -
@akan004 said in Ireland v NZ - Chicago Showdown:
I listened to the Watson rant on radiosport last night. He loves to distort facts is what I took out of it, like saying that half the wins were achieved against minnows at the RWC. When has 3 out of 18 ever equated to 50%, Mark? He was also very tough on the selectors for selecting Cane over Ardie Savea and Todd. What is this guy on? Anyone who knows even a bit about rugby can see that Cane is definitely a step up from Todd and Savea is simply not physical enough at this stage to warrant a starting role. And for him to discredit all the wins against the other big teams this year due to this loss was extremely unfair as Ireland are not a bad side. The reference to 98 was simply laughable.
Having said that, I did agree with him that the Abs and the selectors did go into this game without the total focus that they would have taken into a test against the boks or the wobs.. The selections and rotation as well as the drop off in intensity in the first half were an indication of this. I also support Mark's stance that this was a terrible day for All Black rugby as the proud record against Ireland is now gone, and am with him when he had a go at all the pc idiots like Veitch and his little sidekick, Guy Haveldt who actually appeared to be happy about this result.
Slight correction, the record is not gone. It stands that we were unbeaten against Ireland for 111 years. Which is fucking incredible given the quality sides and world class players they've produced over the years - that is a record we can be bloody proud of.
Also, I'd never defend Vietch but congratulating the Irish does not mean you are happy the ABs lost. It was a cracker of a match, being able to sit back and acknowledge that as well as acknowledging the gravity of the win for Ireland shows a level of maturity sadly lacking among the likes of Watson and Ratpoo. All AB loses hurt as they are few and far between, and I was bloody gutted on Sunday morning. But when you see what it means to Ireland rugby you can't help but say "yeah, well done, I can imagine how good you must feel right now".
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@No-Quarter Veitch did more than just congratulate the Irish. He actually said that we should be happy about today (Sunday) and enjoy it since it's a great day for world rugby. He even had a go at some guy who texted in saying that this was a terrible result and there was nothing to celebrate from a NZ perspective.
