A bunch of over hyped amateurs

tolosenc

Does anyone credit the Irish team as anything more?

DiscoHugh

I think this team is basically collectively over the hill. Sad really that such a good bunch of players and the "golden era" of Irish rugby and we only have 2 triple crowns to show for it

Stev_o

Irish rugby team lost somewhere in the region of France if found please ring Eddie O'Sullivan

tolosenc

Stev_o wrote:

Irish rugby team lost somewhere in the region of France if found please ring Eddie O'Sullivan

zAbbo

do you mean the team, or the recent influx of 'rugby fans' ?

jkehoe101

a few months ago, this team was going to be the next World Champions.

The best team ever, the best prepared, only lost the 6 Nations due to a few seconds loss of concentration

Now they're over the hill ??

Don't think so.

Cracking under the pressure?

Maybe

Rattlehead_ie

I dont believe that these players are over hyped amateurs. You are talking about the likes of BOD, POC and so on. Yes the team including the earlier mentioned has made mistakes on the field and only they can be blamed for that, but I dont believe thats where the fault lies.

I would consider the management and coaching team. Im not pointing my finger at EOS in particular but the whole prep and conditioning of this team was completely wrong. I think they had a certain type of play and game in mind thinking this would be the one..... this would be the play that brings us to the fore front of International Rugby and it wasn't and when it failed it was too late.

I still have faith in this team and till the final whistle is blown on saturdays game against Argies then we will see. You may call this naive, but Im an Irish rugby supporter and I will follow my team to the last and if we crash out of the world cup then Ill question the team and or management coaching.All in all we have had nothing but dismal performance the game on friday was a jump up in performance but certainly not at all what was needed and what was / is in the team.

Look back at before the RWC started. What had we really expected (or at least I had expected).

4 pool games
3/4 or 4 wins
At least a bonus point from 3/4 if not all 4 games.

What do we have (see above)

I would love to tell everyone who is critizing and be littling this team to shut the hell up and wait and see, if we fail then make your judgement.... everyone is entitled to it. Support your team till the last dying minute of the game on Saturday.

COME ON IRELAND.

Chucky the tree

Rattlehead_ie wrote:

I dont believe that these players are over hyped amateurs. You are talking about the likes of BOD, POC and so on. Yes the team including the earlier mentioned has made mistakes on the field and only they can be blamed for that, but I dont believe thats where the fault lies.

I would consider the management and coaching team. Im not pointing my finger at EOS in particular but the whole prep and conditioning of this team was completely wrong. I think they had a certain type of play and game in mind thinking this would be the one..... this would be the play that brings us to the fore front of International Rugby and it wasn't and when it failed it was too late.

I still have faith in this team and till the final whistle is blown on saturdays game against Argies then we will see. You may call this naive, but Im an Irish rugby supporter and I will follow my team to the last and if we crash out of the world cup then Ill question the team and or management coaching.All in all we have had nothing but dismal performance the game on friday was a jump up in performance but certainly not at all what was needed and what was / is in the team.

Look back at before the RWC started. What had we really expected (or at least I had expected).

4 pool games
3/4 or 4 wins
At least a bonus point from 3/4 if not all 4 games.

What do we have (see above)

I would love to tell everyone who is critizing and be littling this team to shut the hell up and wait and see, if we fail then make your judgement.... everyone is entitled to it. Support your team till the last dying minute of the game on Saturday.

COME ON IRELAND.

This is the very reason a large part of me hopes w lose on Sunday. If we manage to get through and lose to NZ EOS will definitly keep his job then.

Unless we win this WC it will go down as a complete diaster and sums up everyone that is wrong with EOS.

Junior

zabbo wrote:

do you mean the team, or the recent influx of 'rugby fans' ?

I reckon the 'fans' are about par with the team. :eek:

Hamo

The game is on SUNDAY!!!

fans?

run_Forrest_run

It's a pity this country gets carried away with the first sniff of any success from a national team. I reckon the wheels from the rugby bandwagon are beginning to come loose.

It's a pity because a lot of the players are decent hard working lads but I can't help but think how they might have performed if they spent less time endorsing and advertising everything from supermarkets to building products to silverware!!

Hey, look on the bright side, if we don't get past the group stage that means we won't have to listen to the utter drivel that is Ireland's Call :mad:

tHE vAGGABOND

What will the fair weather fans do now?

Our soccer team is rubbish, and our rugby team is about to enter a rebuilding phase. They will have to go off and support show jumping or something

I got back from paris last night. Im in bits from lack of sleep. I am indeed going next week, and Im cheering for Ireland until we are out. I dont get this 'who am I up for now' rubbish.

dr_funkenstein

God, ye guys are so fickle.

All these posts from people who probably didn't care about rugby until last autumn when we beat experimental SA and Australian teams and then the england match at croke park where a large portion of the crowd probably didn't know all the rules...

You have to stick behind your country, no matter how poor they play. I was at the match in the Stade on saturday and was cheering on the lads. Of course it was disappointing. I'll be there nextsunday and I'll be cheering again. There is still a very *slim* chance we can progress.

And will ye leave Ireland's Call alone. Ffs, nobody truly likes it, but its what WE sing at the match. Would ye rather we sing nothing?

MikeHoncho

tHE vAGGABOND wrote:

What will the fair weather fans do now?

Our soccer team is rubbish, and our rugby team is about to enter a rebuilding phase. They will have to go off and support show jumping or something

I got back from paris last night. Im in bits from lack of sleep. I am indeed going next week, and Im cheering for Ireland until we are out. I dont get this 'who am I up for now' rubbish.

Damn straight. I cant believe all the ****e talk thats going on at the moment. To call these players a bunch of over hyped amateurs smacks of someone who has hardly ever watched these guys play. Yes they have had a few bad games but I think most of the problems can be put down to poor coaching / team management and decision making not individual skill levels.

Anyone who has been watching these guys play at international and provincial / club level over the last few years would recognise this.

Im actually glad we are going to be shedding the fair weather fans and bandwagoners at this stage. I dont think I can put up with all these new rugby experts who think they know what they are talking about.

death1234567

dr_funkenstein wrote:

Would ye rather we sing nothing?

Yes. I'd sooner have no song than that tripe.

dr_funkenstein

That'd be really inspiring I'd say..

Like it or not, we're an all country team. Deal with it or go back to watching soccer again.

RobAMerc

Did no one else have an overbearing sense of foreboding last year when we were beating the Southern hemisphere teams that we just peeked too early ?

I mean we look like a team on the decline - so we must have peaked at some stage - pity it was off season !

tHE vAGGABOND

Like it or not, we're an all country team. Deal with it or go back to watching soccer again

lol, well said that man..

There were blokes behind me in the ground singing Ole, Ole and whistling the place kickers on both teams. One Munster sounding lad shouted some rather obscene things at them a couple of times, it was the only time many people around me smiled at the game

Right, its not a great song. But some of the best people to wear the green of Ireland are northern protestants. You can name off your greatest ever Irish players, and I bet you a fiver at least 2 of them will be northern lads who don't consider part of the republic of Ireland. But we play under one flag, we are not 'the republic of ireland' or indeed 'northern ireland' like the two soccer teams are called we are Ireland. We want to keep them happy. Our future as an island and a rugby nation is not 'us and them' is about making a few compromises for the greater good..

[edit - added last paragraph]

Marshy

Its very harsh to dub this team as over-hyped amateurs IMO. Its a bit rich too considering all the praise they were getting after beating England etc.

The team contains literally the whole Munster 1-10 which won the Heino and the Leinster backline that is regarded as probably the best in Europe.

I know its really dissapointing when a team with such potential is underperforming badly but making rash comments like calling the team "amateurs" and "over the hill" is mindless IMO. The truth is that we've never been really tested truly in the last few years except for France who we've lost to the last 6 times I reckon. So maybe we've over-estimated the true standard but thats not to say the team is full of "amateurish wasters". Its very easy to say that the way things are going at the mo.

jmayo

They are not amateurs, they are professionals.
Over hyped? Yes.
As for peaking last year by beating the SA sides?
Too much was read into those victories, they were more development sides for the visitors than anything else.
Those countries actually have plans with regards to World Cups and they try and build up to them.

We have won more under EOS probably than under any other manager, someone can probably give the stats.
But look at the talent he has had and the resources available to him.
The players are effectively under contract to the country and available to the country rather than to the clubs/provinces as in other countries.
Also look at the state of rugby in the other "home nations", it is pretty poor to be honest, so winning theses triple crowns is nothing much to boast about.

I have been following Irish rugby team since 1978 and have remembered some dark days, usually at hands of France or England and some under the real kings of rugby NZ, Australia. This team upped the ante and were capable of putting in better more consistent performaces and getting some good results.

The sad thing about this WC is they did not play to their potential, that is the failure of both the players and the management.
We can't get rid of all the players but it does warrant the removal of the management, not the them being rewarded by a further 4 year contract.

As regards the anthem it is pure dribble, I would say play Fields of Athenry or something.

nacho libre

I will of course be supporting Ireland on Sunday. They are not going to qualify but it would be something if they can win this game. if not for the disappointed fans, for their own morale. Come Monday i'll be then supporting Argentina as they are the underdogs to win the tournament and i greatly admired their display against France.

death1234567

dr_funkenstein wrote:

That'd be really inspiring I'd say..

Having no song would be just as inspiring as Irelands call.

jkehoe101

RobAMerc wrote:

Did no one else have an overbearing sense of foreboding last year when we were beating the Southern hemisphere teams that we just peeked too early ?

I mean we look like a team on the decline - so we must have peaked at some stage - pity it was off season !

No, everyone was too high and mighty to use their brains.

When will people understand that these so called "tests" at the end of the NH and SH season are nothing more than money spinners for the Unions so they can pay wages etc.

You can't compare ANY end of season tour to the World Cup. I can bet that any of those SH teams would give Ireland ALL the wins they like in October / November in return for the World Cup.

slemons

Im going to go out on a limb here and back munster to win the Heineken Cup this year. There isnt too much wrong with the players. What is wrong, is the physcial preparation (or more accurately the timing of it) and the tactics.

If O gara could start hitting the corners, and we contested the lineouts then the backs would be able to find holes in defences. We cant attack from inside our own 22.

When o gara isnt let kick to touch (garryowens only), and ourforwards arent allowed contest lineouts (we wait to break up the maul) or ruck (only 4 forwards per ruck, the rest fanning out the pitch!!crazy). Well all that together we have no chance. Munster's tactics of 2006 (2007 kidney "evolved" the tactics into a steaming pile of sh1te) would get us to semi's of this WC.

Now.

jkehoe101

I'd just like to ask this of everryone who says that a) this tournament came SLIGHLTY too early for the NH teams and b) the timing of Ireland's preparation is slighlty off:

They've had 4 YEARS like everyone else to prepare. It wasn't a secret which was suddenly sprung on them.

Why was this not mentioned ONCE before the s... hit the fan. ?

Pinetree Boy

I think they are well underdone. Sending second string teams to play other second string teams was no preperation. How much football have the big guns like BOD played since 6 Nations? The backs looked like they had just met each other before the French game. Four years to prepare is fine but the immediate lead up stillneeds to be rght.

il gatto

I think the early exit from the Heineken Cup was a real problem. If those players had been playing top class club rugby into the summer, they would have been much sharper. The layoff was too long and the apparent flogging they got in prep for the WC was probably anti-productive.
The most heart breaking thing is the potential these players had to do something special. Not failing to live up to the hype, not going home early. Just not doing what they are capable of. Hopefully this expirience will make them give next years 6N a proper lash.
In the meantime, I intend to make my way to the Sportsgrounds for a few matches to fill the void(See. Could be worse. You could be from Connacht:D )