Ireland tipped as dark horses

mannequinhands

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2011/0715/ireland_lomu.html

Lomu has tipped Ireland as dark horses in the world cup
Also to take the pacfic island teams seriously as austarlia learned today

No1J

Great player but not much of a pundit.

omerin

What's Lomu promoting and is he in Ireland already or if not he's probably due shortly

profitius

I won't rate him much of a pundit either but if dark horses are a team thats underrated then he could be correct.

mannequinhands

yea thats true but we are underated

mannequinhands

Actualy sorry scratch that last comment were ranked 4th in the world thats more then fair. But i do think he has a point that everyone will be concentrating on the usual suspects,and that Ireland could fly under the radar a bit

The_Kew_Tour

Never beaten any of the big 3 away. I love to be taking what he is cause he talking some dribble.

Podge_irl

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Never beaten any of the big 3 away. .

Ireland won a test series in Australia.

Never beaten any of them away in the pro era though.

JustinDee

The way some people post, one would think they want Ireland to fluff this RWC, never mind bragging about a national team they've no connection to.
He just said Ireland were a team to be reckoned with, which happens to be true. Hardly a headline.

Judgement Day

JustinDee wrote: »

The way some people post, one would think they want Ireland to fluff this RWC, never mind bragging about a national team they've no connection to.
He just said Ireland were a team to be reckoned with, which happens to be true. Hardly a headline.

Chill out - that's why I put a in the FYP post - it was meant as a bit of fun. Despite my love for the ABs - nobody would be happier than me to see Ireland win the RWC. As for no connections, we've had this argument before and I have no connection with Ireland either, apart from currently living here.

Now, I've even removed the offending post!

danthefan

Judgement Day wrote: »

Chill out - that's why I put a in the FYP post - it was meant as a bit of fun. Despite my love for the ABs - nobody would be happier than me to see Ireland win the RWC. As for no connections, we've had this argument before and I have no connection with Ireland either, apart from currently living here.

Now, I've even removed the offending post!

Why? It's just breathtaking arrogance for someone to tell you who you should or shouldn't support.

JustinDee

Judgement Day wrote: »

Chill out - that's why I put a in the FYP post - it was meant as a bit of fun. Despite my love for the ABs - nobody would be happier than me to see Ireland win the RWC. As for no connections, we've had this argument before and I have no connection with Ireland either, apart from currently living here.

Now, I've even removed the offending post!

You didn't have to that, mate. I'm not modding! Its only an internet forum and there's nothing wrong with anything you post.
If you ever bump into me, make sure you're not wearing a NZ shirt! (I'll get me coat...)

The_Kew_Tour

Podge_irl wrote: »

Ireland won a test series in Australia.

Never beaten any of them away in the pro era though.

Your spot on and apologies...Still a pathetic record though considering we are meant be world class side

mannequinhands

Podge_irl wrote: »

Ireland won a test series in Australia.

Never beaten any of them away in the pro era though.

we did beat south africa before aswell

kerosene

On our day in a knockout competition Id fancy Ireland to give any of the big 3 a rattle.

twinytwo

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Your spot on and apologies...Still a pathetic record though considering we are meant be world class side

we dont play them enough though.. i mean when was the last time we played SA in SA

tolosenc

kerosene wrote: »

On our day in a knockout competition Id fancy Ireland to give any of the big 3 a rattle.

Trouble is "our day" is invariably against England in the 6 nations.

More chance of us going out in the group than winning it, IMO.

mannequinhands

tolosenc wrote: »

Trouble is "our day" is invariably against England in the 6 nations.

More chance of us going out in the group than winning it, IMO.

have a bit of faith anything is possible on the day plus considering the amount of Irish in oz and nz we should have good support.Im not saying were going to win but we have potential to make a big impact

barbarians

Personally, I think Ireland can be dark horses and can be a surprise semi-finalist and maybe even knock out one of South Africa/Australia/France in the tournament but to win the whole competition, it's not going to happen for Ireland.

jaansu

I think

QF - probably
SF - Maybe
F - Very slim chance
Winners - Hell will freeze over first

MungBean

Who knows, sure we'll probably win the damned thing.

RonBo88

I can see us getting knocked out by the Welsh in the QF because we will be fav and choke, a big anti climax after beating the ozzies in the pool stages.

Tbh I would rather us get knocked out in the group stage, than give those sheep shaggers the pleasure of beating us.

Imagine getting sent home from the WC by Wales... uggggggggggghhh i can see their cocky smug faces already.

LostPassword

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Never beaten any of the big 3 away. I love to be taking what he is cause he talking some dribble.

Nobody rates Ireland's chances much because of their poor record. Lomu is saying that, from watching many of their teams play, they are more dangerous than many SH people imagine who rate them on their record rather than their current team and form. He's definitely right too - the current team are at least physically capable of beating anybody on their day

Bandana boy

Do I think Ireland are going to win the World Cup ....No

But it is probably the strongest most cohesive team we will have ever sent ,it is the best chance we have ever had and Rugby can throw up suprises.
Nobody will fancy playing us that is for sure

jolley123

RonBo88 wrote: »

I can see us getting knocked out by the Welsh in the QF because we will be fav and choke, a big anti climax after beating the ozzies in the pool stages.

Tbh I would rather us get knocked out in the group stage, than give those sheep shaggers the pleasure of beating us.

Imagine getting sent home from the WC by Wales... uggggggggggghhh i can see their cocky smug faces already.

The chances of us coming up against Wales in the QF are extremely slim.

We would have to top our pool, which would mean beating Australia. Or, Wales could top their pool.....which is never going to happen, seeing as it's doubtful whether they'll even qualify out of their group.

We will most likely face South Africa.


My prediction

QF 1 Australia v Wales
QF 2 England v France
QF 3 Ireland v South Africa
QF 4 New Zealand v Scotland

SF 1 Australia v England
SF 2 Ireland v New Zealand

Final - New Zealand v England

It's optimistic I know, but I can't help it.:)

CatFromHue

we've played oz 3 times, i think, in the world cup. all three times they made it to the final, winning two of them. only in one of the games were we blown away, in the other two we lost by one single point.

since 2006 we've played em 5 times

jun 2006: oz 37 ire 15
nov 2006: ire 21 oz 6
jun 2008: oz 18 ire 12
nov 2009: ire 20 oz 20
jun 2010: oz 22 ire 15 our pack that day was healy, cronin (varley), buckley (court), o callaghan, o driscoll (tuohy), jennings, ronan, henry (ruddock)

read what you want into the above stats but in our last two losses there has been only a converted try in it. considering the team we put out in 2010 that ain't bad!

i certainly think we're in a very good position to beat the aussies.

regarding south africa. we've beaten them in the last 3 out of 4 games going back to nov 2004. they were all in ireland though. bizarrely the last time we toured in sa, jun 2004, we were the favourites!

again if we got sa in a quarter or semi id say we're in a good position to beat em.

then there is new zealand! the home team!

honestly all this negativity really gets me down some times! especially all this rubbish that italy are going to beat us and we're going out in the group stages. when did italy last beat us? 1997 thats when. since then we've beaten em 16 times!

we messed up in the last world cup but it should also be noted that the teams that got out of our group came third and fourth!

twinytwo

I actually think that this WC is going to be Dricos finest hour(so to speak). It being his last one and the way he steps up for the big games i wouldnt be surprised if he really pulled the thumb out.:cool:

woodchopper

I do not want to sound negative or defeatest but I thought Ireland played really well or at least to their capabilities against New Zealand in the Autumn but yet we were beaten by around 20. It would take a flawless performance and a poor performance by New Zealand for us to compete fully over 80 minutes down there. However Ireland could beat Australia although Australia in a World Cup tend to pick it up in the knockout stages. My prediction is if we beat the Aussies in the group stage and get good fortune along the line we might face someone other than the All Blacks in the knockout stages. Then Ireland will a have a really good world cup.

ALH-06

I was under the impression that we would play either France or England in the semis....?

mannequinhands

ALH-06 wrote: »

I was under the impression that we would play either France or England in the semis....?

so was i

MungBean

ALH-06 wrote: »

I was under the impression that we would play either France or England in the semis....?

If we top the group. If not its South Africa quarters and All Blacks Semi's.

MungBean

My prediction:

QF1 - Ireland v Samoa
QF2 - England v France
QF3- South Africa v Australia
QF4 - New Zealand v Argentina

SF1 - Ireland v France
SF2 - Australia v New Zealand

Final - Ireland v Australia

Winner - Ireland

woodchopper

woodchopper wrote: »

It would take a flawless performance and a poor performance by New Zealand for us to compete fully over 80 minutes down there.

This is unfortunately true, but stranger things have happened.

Italy v France in the 6N was an upset of a similar magnitude in my opinion.

tommy57

I think we will do well. Only hoping we don't lose confidence if we lose one of the upcoming warm up games. I think if we are beaten at home by england ,definintly it could knock them for 6

part time punk

[QUOTE=tommy57;73372942 Only hoping we don't lose confidence if we lose one of the upcoming warm up games. I think if we are beaten at home by england ,definintly it could knock them for 6[/QUOTE]

Not so sure I agree there. Think the warm up games are as much about the performance as the results. Getting players like Ferris, Kearney back to full fitness and hopefully form, maybe trying out a few different possible combinations (e.g. Murray and Sexton?)

Aidric

Turn on the lights so.

BarackPyjama

I'm putting €100 on Ireland at 20/1 and €100 on Australia at 4/1. Wish me luck.

duckysauce

BarackPyjama wrote: »

I'm putting €100 on Ireland at 20/1 and €100 on Australia at 4/1. Wish me luck.

well if you are betting bet with sky as ireland are 33/1 with them

duckysauce

duckysauce wrote: »

well if you are betting bet with sky as ireland are 33/1 with them

& Betfred

http://www.oddschecker.com/rugby-union/internationals/2011-world-cup/rugby-world-cup/winner

Aus available at 9/2 too

JohnnyMustang22

honestly all this negativity really gets me down some times!

WTF!!!!!! Get behind your team and have a little pride. Our team needs every little piece of support possible.

I say Ireland all the way. F$ck the stats and the past results. Anything is possible. Leinster in the H-Cup final???? Is that not the whole idea of sport??

I just hope our players dont have the same attitudes as some of you guys going into the Cup....

You have to beleive!!!!!!

The_Kew_Tour

JohnnyMustang22 wrote: »

You have to beleive!!!!!!

O ya the players and supporters have to get behind the team...we are just realistic

profitius

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

O ya the players and supporters have to get behind the team...we are just realistic

Thats the problem. The best teams don't think like that. I read something about negative people the other day and it was found that they've a more realitic outlook on life than positive people. So the message to the irish team would be to aim as high as possible, believe in themselves and forget whats happenedin the past.

RonBo88

RonBo88 wrote: »

I can see us getting knocked out by the Welsh in the QF because we will be fav and choke, a big anti climax after beating the ozzies in the pool stages.

Tbh I would rather us get knocked out in the group stage, than give those sheep shaggers the pleasure of beating us.

Imagine getting sent home from the WC by Wales... uggggggggggghhh i can see their cocky smug faces already.

I stand by this prediction I made in July.

ALH-06

RonBo88 wrote: »

I stand by this prediction I made in July.

Such unremitting optimism. I salute you.

Brendan97

No1J wrote: »

Great player but not much of a pundit.

he is a pretty good pundit because he said argentina would do well in the last wc and they finished 3rd

No1J

Brendan97 wrote: »

he is a pretty good pundit because he said argentina would do well in the last wc and they finished 3rd

Ridiculous statement Brendan.
I watched Argintenia beat England 25-18 in the November internationals in 2006, at half time I rang Paddy Powers and stuck €50 on at 80/1, by the end of the match they were down to 66/1.
Anyone who watched rugby could see they were the dark horses, they won their 4 pool matches but came across a bok's team that had their number and done a job on them.
I picked them to win, am I a good Pundit?

P.S. The man isn't too well at the moment, I wish him well, still only 35.

Fishooks12

No1J wrote: »

Ridiculous statement Brendan.
I watched Argintenia beat England 25-18 in the November internationals in 2006, at half time I rang Paddy Powers and stuck €50 on at 80/1, by the end of the match they were down to 66/1.
Anyone who watched rugby could see they were the dark horses, they won their 4 pool matches but came across a bok's team that had their number and done a job on them.
I picked them to win, am I a good Pundit?

P.S. The man isn't too well at the moment, I wish him well, still only 35.

You picked SA to win yet you put €50 on Argentina at 80/1!?

No1J

Fishooks12 wrote: »

You picked SA to win yet you put €50 on Argentina at 80/1!?

Eh, no I was referring to Argentina when I said "them" Following on from Brendan97's post, but I see how you could have taken that point of view.

Killme00

MungBean wrote: »

My prediction:

QF1 - Ireland v Samoa
QF2 - England v France
QF3- South Africa v Australia
QF4 - New Zealand v Argentina

SF1 - Ireland v France
SF2 - Australia v New Zealand

Final - Ireland v Australia

Winner - Ireland

WOW!!! Good job sir

No1J

Killme00 wrote: »

WOW!!! Good job sir

"Hay, what about Wales" don't believe I said that.

RonBo88

RonBo88 wrote: »

I can see us getting knocked out by the Welsh in the QF because we will be fav and choke, a big anti climax after beating the ozzies in the pool stages.

Tbh I would rather us get knocked out in the group stage, than give those sheep shaggers the pleasure of beating us.

Imagine getting sent home from the WC by Wales... uggggggggggghhh i can see their cocky smug faces already.

RonBo88 wrote: »

I stand by this prediction I made in July.

:mad: