Ireland Unbeaten in 2009!

thomond2006

What a year for Irish rugby.

It is the first year ever in history than the national side has remained unbeaten.

Declan Kidney and his management team have blown away the woes of the post RWC EOS era and delivered a team that consistently delivers on the pitch. The deserving IRB coach of the year when coaches like Johnson and De Villiers look on and realise they'll never get near Declan Kidney.

We now have depth in every position bar tighthead prop. We have young players that will be internationals for many years to come.

Isn't it wonderful to be safe in the knowledge that we have depth in the pivotal position. Jonny Sexton is a magnificient player and full marks to Kidney who gave him the chance to strut his stuff. With ROG still around and Humphreys in good form, the future looks good for the no. 10 position.

We have a team with inspiring leaders. Paul O'Connell towers about all in the lineout and Brian O'Driscoll just does everything. The tackle on Zirchner at the end was outstanding. He is definitely the incumbent IRB player of the year. He is just amazing in whatever shirt he plays in. To echo Julius Caesar: "He came, He saw, He conquered".

When we see negative teams like the Springboks kick, kick and kick everything, the Irish team backs itself and plays positive rugby. Rob Kearney is the best fullback in the world and isn't it great to see counterattacking and playing the rugby that William Webb Ellis envisioned when "he picked up the ball and contrary to the rules of the time, ran with it".

At the moment, we are capable of beating any XV that is put in front of us.

Long may it continue.

Cosmo Kramer

Just such a pity we didn't get a crack at the ABs this autumn, the way we're playing and the way they're playing I think we could have had them.

Can't wait for the 6 Nations!

gosplan

It's the first time in the professional era that any national team has gone unbeaten in a year.

I realise that that's a bit unfair as the 3N is a pretty tough competition to go through without losing and there was no summer tour to the SH this year.

Nice stat all the same. Pity about the draw with the Aussies and not getting a crack at NZ.

Lord Trollington

thomond2006 wrote: »

What a year for Irish rugby.

It is the first year ever in history than the national side has remained unbeaten.

Declan Kidney and his management team have blown away the woes of the post RWC EOS era and delivered a team that consistently delivers on the pitch. The deserving IRB coach of the year when coaches like Johnson and De Villiers look on and realise they'll never get near Declan Kidney.

We now have depth in every position bar tighthead prop. We have young players that will be internationals for many years to come.

Isn't it wonderful to be safe in the knowledge that we have depth in the pivotal position. Jonny Sexton is a magnificient player and full marks to Kidney who gave him the chance to strut his stuff. With ROG still around and Humphreys in good form, the future looks good for the no. 10 position.

We have a team with inspiring leaders. Paul O'Connell towers about all in the lineout and Brian O'Driscoll just does everything. The tackle on Zirchner at the end was outstanding. He is definitely the incumbent IRB player of the year. He is just amazing in whatever shirt he plays in. To echo Julius Caesar: "He came, He saw, He conquered".

When we see negative teams like the Springboks kick, kick and kick everything, the Irish team backs itself and plays positive rugby. Rob Kearney is the best fullback in the world and isn't it great to see counterattacking and playing the rugby that William Webb Ellis envisioned when "he picked up the ball and contrary to the rules of the time, ran with it".

At the moment, we are capable of beating any XV that is put in front of us.

Long may it continue.

Would be worried for us whenever BOD or POC hangs up their boots, neither are getting any younger and both are inspirational players.

Morrisseeee

Was just thinking the same, what a year for Ireland & Irish Rugby, I wonder what 'all' the statistics are, like 11 unbeaten games, very little tries conceded, fantastic tries scored, etc etc ........is Jimmy McGee in the house ?? ie. anyone know what the stats are ?

Its been an excellent season and if you factor in the 6 A games we're unbeaten in 17!

Bikerbhoy

Are we now the worlds numer one rugby nation now after beating world champions ?

bleg

6 nations champions, 6 nations grand slam, Heineken Cup, Magners League, Churchill cup, IRB Manager of the year, Player of the year (probably), longest unbeaten run (11 games) and unbeaten in 2009.

Did I miss anything?

Jemo

6 nations champions, 6 nations grand slam, Heineken Cup, Magners League, Churchill cup, IRB Manager of the year, Player of the year (probably), longest unbeaten run (11 games) and unbeaten in 2009.

Did I miss anything?

The Triple Crown

bleg

Lions share of B&I Lions and Lions captain of course...

Dempsey

The WC seems a long way off though, can Kidney improve this Irish Setup more than it is now or is this the height of his ability...

Might aswell mention Irish Provinces winning the European Title & Magners League. We ruled NH Rugby this year at all levels

Unbelievable Year for Irish Rugby, the only blots on the copy book is the draw with Australia and not playing NZ. Pure Disaster! :pac:

I_Am_The_Walrus

Aye... 'Twas an amazing year for Irish rugby!

jtsuited

this year of Irish rugby has genuinely brought me so much joy. The spirit they play in and the humility of people like Kidney has made it all the more sweet.

Seeing the young lads (Sexton, Fitzgerald, Kearney etc.) excel in the way they did gives me great faith in the future of Irish rugby. I don't even think any words can accurately sum up how brilliant the new generation of Irish rugby are.

Seeing O' Driscoll still exceeding our expectations in every game and putting himself constantly in harm's way for the team, is just incredible. His godlike talent is difficult to put into words at this stage.

But most of all, the fact that the team genuinely seem to be enjoying playing with each other is testament to what Kidney has done since he took over.

It's hard to even remember how bad things were post-WC when looking at the camaraderie between the players now.

Whatever Kidney has done (and he still seems to remain tight-lipped about most of it), it has brought Ireland from the brink of total self-destruction to the absolute top of International rugby.
His shyness and genuinely nice-guy demeanour really is something else. In interviews, he talks of ALL the players with a genuine respect and empathy (particularly when not selecting them), and to say he doesn't like taking the credit would be a massive understatement.

Even if it all goes tits up now, I'll always remember 2009 with such fondness.

myflipflops

What a difference a year makes! It was around this time last year that I was leaving the stadium in Castres in the freezing cold after Leinster got beaten in the H Cup and when Ireland were at an incredibly low ebb. It wasn't a fun time to be a supporter of Irish rugby. 12 months later and.....

Goodluck2me

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

Just such a pity we didn't get a crack at the ABs this autumn, the way we're playing and the way they're playing I think we could have had them.

Can't wait for the 6 Nations!

I thought the same until I seen them against France this evening! They are rightly still #1.

We are number 3 now.

thomond2006

Obviously the IRB don't agree with our point of view. :mad:

Goodluck2me

Only 7 more matches to equal the world record, cough.

Son Of A Vidic

A great year indeed and wasn't it nice to take the 'spring' out of the 'boks'

Son Of A Vidic

Forgot to mention - the Kiwi's look scary though. France were lucky not to have had another 2-3 tries against. Dan Carter had a mighty game. It would have been nice to bang heads with them.

anonymous_joe

We've got to be careful not to get too carried away.

We're a bloody good side, but we've worked incredibly hard and been a bit lucky. It's taking everything our players have to do this, and fair fcuks to them.

bamboozle

medicman2009 wrote: »

Forgot to mention - the Kiwi's look scary though. France were lucky not to have had another 2-3 tries against. Dan Carter had a mighty game. It would have been nice to bang heads with them.

i still think this autumn would have been our greatest opportunity to take new zealand. France's crazy defence system last night played right into the hands of the AB's. They are not the team they once were, have a poor scrum, average lineout and are really only held together by McCaw and Carter.

at least we'll get our hands on them in June!

ArmaniJeanss

Great achievement, though I think its a little bit of a false statistic as there was no Southern Hemisphere tour in June.

Only when a country goes unbeaten through the 6Nations (or Tri-Nations in the southern hemisphere), Autumn Internationals in the NH, and Summer internationals in the SH will it be a 'perfect year'. That may be close to impossible.

Podge_irl

Goodluck2me wrote: »

Only 7 more matches to equal the world record, cough.

Sure another Grand Slam and a win in Aus and NZ and we're there! Easy.

Macsimus

Simply incredible year for Irish Rugby - I personally want to send out a huge thank you to the team, Deccie and all the coaching staff... they stood up and gave us something to feel proud about, when we most needed them to.

Son Of A Vidic

Kidney should be appointed coach for life! He's a born winner. When the tough times come and they will, having a wise and proven coach like Kidney would minimise this. Sexton 'blooded' against the 'Boks', this is just the kind of coaching which inspires confidence for the future.

cailinardthair

anonymous_joe wrote: »

We've got to be careful not to get too carried away.

We're a bloody good side, but we've worked incredibly hard and been a bit lucky. It's taking everything our players have to do this, and fair fcuks to them.

agree completely! we shouldnt getting away carried away and enjoy this moment.
we dont get that much success in this country and they make you happy when they do so well on a world stage! we should have been team of the year!
well done guys!!

Podge_irl

cailinardthair wrote: »

we should have been team of the year!
well done guys!!

I dunno, I think its easy to forget how well the Boks did earlier in the year due to their appalling November tests. While Ireland went through the year undefeated, the only away games they played were against Wales, Scotland, Italy, US and Canada. The Boks beat NZ in NZ, twice!

cailinardthair

Podge_irl wrote: »

I dunno, I think its easy to forget how well the Boks did earlier in the year due to their appalling November tests. While Ireland went through the year undefeated, the only away games they played were against Wales, Scotland, Italy, US and Canada. The Boks beat NZ in NZ, twice!

oh dont get me wrong the boks do deseve it coz they beat the lions and were tri nation champs!
but i wonder if we won the lions would it have gone to us! but wales and scotland away are always dangerous! we should never have the attitude that there crap! scotland have a tendency of taking a team out of the grand slam! and they are the dark horse in the six nations this year

Podge_irl

cailinardthair wrote: »

but wales and scotland away are always dangerous! we should never have the attitude that there crap! scotland have a tendency of taking a team out of the grand slam! and they are the dark horse in the six nations this year

Scotland and Wales are good teams, but ultimately they're not Australia or New Zealand. I'll be very, very interested to see how Ireland do down under next summer.