Ireland vs All Blacks (2018)
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this WAS the big game. this WAS the game you keep your powder dry for.
the reality is that we aren't doing that, it's just wishful thinking from fans to excuse us playing like shit, which frankly we've been doing for quite a while now - our servings of shit have regularly been papered over by bits of individual brilliance getting us out of jail when we've been dominated all day, and a shit-hot lineout. the lineout saved us last week against the poms, but wasn't quite enough this week. we dropped the miracle balls that would have won the game this week. but both weeks, and against the saffas, we have been pretty thoroughly dominated this year.we kick way too much ball away, and badly. the opposition give us scraps, we finally get the damn ball, and these primadonna fuckwits immediately put boot to ball in low percentage plays. then they laugh about it at half-time.
we get a penalty advantage and BB takes a fucking drop kick. the potatoes get a penalty advantage and they - jonny fucking sexton - try to score a try. we are fucking dumb. we kick a penalty to give us a chance of a draw. a fucking draw. the all blacks. playing for a draw and kicking drop goals under penalty advantage. fuck my days what a fucking disgrace.
all it takes is an off-day for a couple of guys when our tactics are mud and we are so reliant on individual brilliance. sam whitelock, a great player - giving away dumb penalties. BBR, a great player - dumb penalties, terrible handling - his worst game i can remember. it's not time to throw the baby out with the bath water, but when guys like that don't perform, it does show the glaring deficiencies in other areas.
we are dumb. we still can't cope with a good rush defence. we haven't really been able to since the 90s when france used it to beat us. our defensive line speed was utter shit - so the potatoes made ground all day and had momentum. their line speed was really good, and there seems not to be a single fucker out there who has the wits to think, 'oh you know, with all this fanning out and quick line speed, we could either pick and go a few times or throw it behind the line to get around the rush'. barely a pick and go all game, and it was only in desperation when chasing the game that we threw in some depth to get around the rush - which promptly worked - except then when we made breaks, we were so totally lacking in composure that we forced dumb shit low percentage passes, or kicked the damn fucking ball away yet again. pack of fucking morons.
barnes is still a shit ref, inconsistent and doesn't seem to understand when a ruck forms. he had nothing to do with the loss however.
to the players:
karl T got a bit of a rough ride, but not as bad as some are making out. 2 scrums went badly, and 1 barnes should have reset. why barnes didn't blow their scrum when we were dominant i don't know. franks was solid, as was taylor, and all the replacements were good too. poor old ofa showed great hands to hold that piece of shit perenara pass - but when you have to catch that slop you're always going to get barrelled and struggle to win the ruck.
BBR his worst, and whitelock pretty poor too by his standards. scott barrett played well, was our best lock, but was playing out of position which fucks our forward balance.
squire was okay before injury, ardie at least tried hard, and read was rank. dropped everything, hasn't run hard into contact in about 3 years, and is a shitty captain. the way the irish were playing, and the way barnes was reffing, the player in our 23 most suited to that game was matt todd. bit disappointed he didn't manage to win it for us in his 3 FUCKING MINUTES YOU MORONS.
aaron smith's kicking is nowhere near as accurate as it was against the lions. he is still so much better than perenara -because he can actually pass - but if we don't have the brains to use smith's speed to get around the rush then he's wasted, and why not use a bigger running halfback.
BB. well it's pretty fucking limiting when your 10's weakest skill is his passing. also dumb. also doesn't appear to care a great deal. also thinks wasting try-scoring opportunities with drop-goals is a good idea, and funny. can run, can catch a high ball.
crotty and goodhue were both really pretty good given the shit they were served up. 20-something touches vs 40-something for the irish midfield wasn't it?
ben smith no ball. can run.
rieko no ball. no composure. can run.
mckenzie, not bad, but we are wasting ben smith on the wing.to ireland: well bloody played, a good plan, well executed. you knew exactly what we were going to do, because we do it all the time (keeping our powder dry hahaha fuck me) . we box kick and put up high balls. you dealt with that easily. you know that if you rush, we will chip. you covered that easily then kept the ball. you knew that we throw our ruck ball to forwards one or two off the ruck - you got up quick on them and we never made the gain line.
great fire and commitment from all on the park, and an inspirational and thoroughly deserved victory, which i could really have done without watching.rant over. as you were everyone.
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@reprobate definitely not an excuse but I totally agree with you about Barnes,he wasted no time penalising us when we were beaten on the hit at scrum time but when we had the dominant scrum who could not seem to find fault with the Irish scrum..
I am wondering if it was a focus thing at scrumtime,because we did come back at them.
The one decision that I am still scratching my head about is when one of our players was not so much taken in the air,but was clearly interfered with be he came to ground which was a yellow card every day of the week..
On saying all that you want your players to be at their best and we were way off..
Even though Ireland won,we were still there or there abouts after a very long season. -
I think the worst non yellow card call was when Whitelock deliberately slapped the ball forward whilst lying on the ground in an offside position early in the match.
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@sammyc said in Ireland Vs All Blacks:
I think the worst non yellow card call was when Whitelock deliberately slapped the ball forward whilst lying on the ground in an offside position early in the match.
hell yeah! Dumb play - at the pub we weren't sure if he touched it or not; someone with a higher definition screen can probably comment, but looked a cynical straight yellow all day if he touched it.
Also, I like the refs not buying into halfbacks falling all over players on the ground. It's stupid, cynical and everyone has been doing it - but if the ref ignores it, then people get on with playing the game
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@reprobate said in Ireland Vs All Blacks:
aaron smith's kicking is nowhere near as accurate as it was against the lions. he is still so much better than perenara -because he can actually pass - but if we don't have the brains to use smith's speed to get around the rush then he's wasted, and why not use a bigger running halfback.
Great rant...and you've cleared up one important point...it's Justin Marshall after all.
@Siam will be pleased!
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@sammyc ha I reckon because it was so dumb and obvious Barnes was a bit dumbfounded as to what to do, so just pinged him.
Guess it balances out the non-yellow on the clumsy air collision...which was a common sense call, but goes against everything else we see and hear from WR about touching players in the air...
has there been a change since they threw Gardner under the bus?
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For me, the "powder dry" stuff is fueled by Hansen's repeated insistence that they're bedding in a new game plan and it's all going to take time.
At the last RWC we looked like rubbish in the early rounds, but things suddenly came good when needed, so maybe we need some trust.
On the other hand, in 1999, all the talk was of John Hart's secret plan that was going to be unveiled to the shock and awe of all. Presumably he was saving it for the final!
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@chris-b yea he said they are stuck between the old plan and the new one and not doing it very well.
Problem is, there aint a lot of time for them to fix it up (unless they plan on taking some losses into the RWC next year...) so do they need to go back to what they know and used to do so well.
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@reprobate You seem to be forever protecting the Props who I thought were bloody lazy out there. They lack mobility and are just saving themselves for the lineouts and scrums. They were non-existent at the breakdown where the Irish totally raped us. Come scrum time we were just plain terrible.
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2 weeks in a row getting drop goals after being awarded a penalty in a kickable position. Really don’t get that.
Thought AB defense was outstanding. Unfortunately, Irish was phenomenal. This Irish team is either truly something, or we have turned truly average this year. I think it’s the former.
I’ve never rated Kearney and always thought him shit. So he obviously had a blinder.
Fair play.
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I saw enough in that game that on another day Ireland would have been well beaten.
It also looked like the All Blacks were deliberately slowing their own ball down at rucks, not just because Aaron Smith was vacillating or slow. This is what gave the Irish defence time to readjust and number up. Had the All Blacks been in position slightly quicker and our halfback had the right person to pass to, I'd say Ireland's much vaunted defence would have been in trouble.
Given how flat they looked, I'm even more pissed that a bunch of tourists are now capped All Blacks against Japan.
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@reprobate said in Ireland Vs All Blacks:
poor old ofa showed great hands to hold that piece of shit perenara pass - but when you have to catch that slop you're always going to get barrelled and struggle to win the ruck.Think this is the 2nd mention of this incident in this thread - the most telling part for me was Read, watch the way he flops on the ground when he arrives at this tackle, it is possibly the worst non-cleanout of the game.
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@majorrage said in Ireland Vs All Blacks:
2 weeks in a row getting drop goals after being awarded a penalty in a kickable position. Really don’t get that.
Yeah, doubling our chance of getting 3 and eliminating our chance of getting 7. If our goal kicker was confident of nailing the penalty would he do that?
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@snowy Or is it about training for a drop goal at the rugby world cup in a situation where you can afford to miss?
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@drivingmaul said in Ireland Vs All Blacks:
@snowy Or is it about training for a drop goal at the rugby world cup in a situation where you can afford to miss?
Can or can't? Is 3 points better than 7 in a RWC than this match?
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@majorrage said in Ireland Vs All Blacks:
2 weeks in a row getting drop goals after being awarded a penalty in a kickable position. Really don’t get that.
It makes sense though as you double your chance of making it as you still have penalty advantage. I like it as it also prevents the opposition getting a rest behind the sticks
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Re the dropped goals - I wonder if it is a conscious decision to give Barrett practice doing them in a game situation. He misses, we get the ball back, no great loss apart from the opportunity for a free attack. We whinge we he doesn't do one at the end of the game to win it, but if the guy hasn't got the experience in a game situation he is not going to be confident when the game is on the line.
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