Media Reaction down under

KevIRL

Thought it might be a good idea to gather some articles here.

LOL at this first one from the Sydney morning herald - bitter much?

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/all-green-no-gold-as-locals-give-irish-a-taste-of-home-20110917-1kffj.html

The Wallabies may have been at short odds to take out the tournament heading into last night's game but they remained anything but crowd favourites.

Van Morrison, blasting over the stadium sound system, was again more popular than local-born playmaker Quade Cooper at Eden Park. You've heard of mutton dressed as lamb but Kiwis dressed as Irish? It felt as if the match was being played at Lansdowne Road.

From when the Australians took the field to warm up, it quickly became evident the green that filled the Eden Park stands shared not even a hint of gold. Irish debutant Rob Kearney received a raucous round of applause, while even former Leinster favourite Rocky Elsom was booed like Julia Gillard at a mining convention.
The ''Ireland'' chants were louder than the fluro yellow suits donned by a group of Aussie fans roaming Auckland's Queen Street. Within five minutes of half-time the pressure was beginning to take its toll. The vocal crowd yelled chants of ''ole, ole'', seemingly giving the Irish an extra leg, while the referees just compounded the Wallabies' frustration, penalising them for infringements at almost every ruck inside their own half.

Add in James O'Connor's two failed penalty attempts and a driving Irish scrum on halfback Will Genia and the Australians were in disarray at the break despite clearly being the most dangerous team with the ball in hand.

Adam Ashley-Cooper replaced Digby Ioane on the left wing and also assumed the defensive responsibility of guarding the No.10 channel. His defence was faultless and the Irish never looked like breaking the line, but like assistant coaches Les Kiss and Alan Gaffney alluded to during the week, the Australian scrum was the most vulnerable aspect of the Wallabies' game. The Irish were putting pressure on in all the right places at the right time in front of Kiwi ref Bryce Lawrence.

It slippery conditions in what may as well been a home crowd, they were playing a northern hemisphere style of football and it was working - even if it was boring the 60,000 in attendance.

Apart from several half-breaks by Kurtley Beale, the most entertaining part of the match by the 60th minute was the persistent ''Justin Bieber'' heckling aimed towards golden boy James O' Connor.

But the pace of the match was becoming beyond a joke. Some uncharacteristic poor throws from replacement hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau led to Ireland winning easy ball, and the small victories only helped the crowd grow louder as the stands rattled like a David Pocock tackle.

Unfortunately, Pocock was absent due to a back strain, and it told. As hard as Ben McCalman tried, and he did, he is no open side flanker.

O'Connor and Cooper continued to struggle under pressure, the latter gifting the Irish the ball inside the final quarter with a poor decision in attack, holding the ball instead of booting it downfield. Mistakes kept letting the ever-so vocal Irish fans into the match.

The crowd, the wet conditions, the referee and the missing talent all proved to much for the Wallabies.

KevIRL

More from the SMH

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-match-report/wallabies-reeling-after-shock-loss-to-ireland-20110917-1kf9z.html

AUCKLAND: It doesn't get any more embarrassing than this for Australian rugby. The Wallabies were yet again shown to be second-rate by one of the also-rans of world rugby.

Their World Cup campaign is in tatters following a deplorable performance against Ireland at Eden Park, when they chose the wrong moment to completely fall apart, suffering a 15-6 drubbing

In the understatement of the year, a chastened Wallabies captain James Horwill said: ''We played some dumb footy.''

It wasn't some dumb footy, it was completely dumb footy. For being so dumb, they should be forced to wear World Cup dunces hats for at least the next week.

In the first major tournament upset, a committed Ireland succeeded in embarrassing the highly fancied Wallabies and now, due to their inadequacies, Australia confront a far more rocky road to negotiate their way through the finals, as they are unlikely to win their pool, and so will face more difficult opponents in the quarters and semi-finals.


Then again if they keep playing this dreadfully, the Wallabies may not even make the finals.

You had to admire Ireland's courage, endeavour and smart game plan, but it was more that the Wallabies were appalling.

Their forward play was sub-standard. Their attack abominable. Their scrum was overwhelmed, penalised regularly which enabled Ireland to keep adding to their score through goal-kicks. There was no punch in their back-row play.

Numerous players weren't sighted. And the big moment was too much for them. They were rattled during a hideous evening which must rank as one of Australia's worst World Cup moments.

It also proved that without their star back-rower David Pocock, the Wallabies lose their sting up front.

The Wallabies were forced to make two changes before kick-off, with Pocock forced out with a back complaint followed by hooker Stephen Moore, who withdrew mid-afternoon as he was ill. Tatafu Polota-Nau moved into the front row and Ben McCalman the back row.

And for the whole try-less game, the Wallabies played like a disrupted line-up, with Polota-Nau and McCalman unable to make their mark. But they were not alone, as the Wallabies lacked rhythm and direction, playing right into Ireland's hands.

Four times in the first half the Wallabies got caught when they attempted to play the driving maul game, with Ireland successful in keeping the Australian forwards on their feet, and then refused to allow them to get the ball back to their support which forced the turnover. This Irish endeavour succeeded in nullifying the Wallabies' forward drive, and so the favourites couldn't recycle ball or get their phase play going.

It was soon clear Pocock was an enormous loss, because without him the Wallabies' back-row play dropped several levels. McCalman was not sighted. Polota-Nau's line-out throwing was not up to Moore's standard. Then the Wallabies scrum started to disintegrate, and was repeatedly penalised.

As the Wallabies could not dominate the breakdown, their back line had virtually no chance to do anything of note. And when they at last got the ball, they were too flustered to make proper use of it. All night, the team's decision making was sub-standard.

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans was dazed his team had yet again let him down.

''Ireland were very effective in denying us momentum,'' he said. ''They defended very well and didn't allow us to recycle ball. World Cups are very much about the passion and the defence, and you can't be sure of getting momentum.

''We would have liked more field position, but our decision making wasn't all that great.''

Horwill also blamed poor decisions for the Wallabies' disaster.

''Ireland did very well to spoil our ball, and they deserved the win,'' Horwill said. ''We weren't able to provide any platform for our backs, while we didn't help ourselves by giving away silly penalties, which put them back in the game.''

IRELAND 15 (Ronan O'Gara 2, Jonny Sexton 2 pens Sexton drop goal) bt AUSTRALIA 6 (James O'Connor 2 pens) at Eden Park. Referee: Bryce Lawrence.

KevIRL

From The Age

http://www.theage.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/australias-loss-sends-it-on-a-tough-road-to-victory-20110917-1kfii.html

Australia's loss sends it on a 'tough road' to victory
Darren Walton, Auckland
September 18, 2011

QUADE Cooper admitted that the Wallabies were in a state of shock after an inspired Ireland turned the World Cup draw upside down with a famous victory over Australia last night.

The second-ranked Wallabies will likely need to conquer defending champion South Africa in the quarter-finals and then tournament favourite New Zealand in the semi-finals just to make the championship decider on October 23.

''The road that we have from here on in is a tough road but one that everyone's up for,'' Cooper said.
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''This sort of game makes you realise this tournament only comes around every four years and losing one game can be detrimental to the rest of the tournament.

''But we're in a good position that this one game isn't the end of the road for us. It just makes the road a little bit more tougher.''

Skipper James Horwill conceded Australia's dressing room was ''not a happy place to be at the moment'', while Cooper said the Wallabies were shell-shocked.

''It's never a good feeling when you lose a game, especially when it's an important game in an important competition like the World Cup,'' Cooper said. ''So there's a point where you've got to say, 'We messed up there and as a team we've got to do better.' ''

Shattered Wallabies prop Sekope Kepu conceded Ireland had caught Australia napping at scrum time.

After holding up so well this year against the might of South Africa and New Zealand, Ireland opened up old Australian wounds with a total destruction of the Wallabies scrum.

Five times Australia's scrum buckled, with Kepu pinged twice in the last 15 minutes and Ireland sharpshooter Ronan O'Gara happily putting the Wallabies to the sword with decisive penalty goals.

''We knew that Ireland's weapon was their scrum and they came out firing,'' Kepu said. ''I guess we got caught off guard and there's a lot of things to work on.''

The loosehead was bracing for universal condemnation of Australia's scrum which, in recent years, had restored its reputation from being the laughing stock of world rugby.

''You prepare yourself for the worst and for whatever comes your way,'' Kepu said. ''They really scrummaged well. I thought we scrummaged well in patches of the game, but we need to come out and actually scrum for 80 minutes.''

The defeat left Australia on a quarter-final collision course with South Africa, which roared back to life with a 49-3 thrashing of Fiji earlier yesterday.

Presuming Australia accounts for the US in Wellington, then Russia in Nelson and negotiates a way past the Springboks, the Wallabies would almost certainly run into the All Blacks in the semi-finals.

The loss was also just Australia's second in a pool stage at a World Cup after also falling to South Africa 27-18 in 1995. It also extended Australia's misery at Eden Park, with the Wallabies' last Test triumph at the ground coming in 1986.

The long-overdue win for Ireland was payback for four losses to Australia at previous World Cups, the most shattering a 17-16 quarter-final defeat in Dublin in 1991.

''It's a performance we knew we had in us,'' captain Brian O'Driscoll said. ''But it's half the job done. As much as we will enjoy this, let's not lose sight that we have two more games.''

Hagz

Sure let them think what they want. I love how ignorant SH fans + critics can be.

tolosenc

Hagz wrote: »

Sure let them think what they want. I love how ignorant SH fans + critics can be.

Was reading an Aussie forum about today's game, stuff like "that O'Brien guy they have at 8 is some sort of cult hero in the NH. Don't get it." and "he probably is behind Heaslip and Leamy for the jersey". Makes one laugh.

KevIRL

More balanced view from across the Tasmin - NZ Herald

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby-world-cup-2011/news/article.cfm?c_id=522&objectid=10752564

Ireland have tipped the World Cup upside down and set themselves on course for the most memorable campaign. They have done all of New Zealand a massive favour by beating the Wallabies and not just for the pure joy that brings in itself.

They have left Australia in grave danger now of having to meet South Africa in the quarter-finals. What they have also done is proven they are also genuine contenders. The Irish have come here to make amends for the horror campaign they endured in 2007. Job done on that front; now they can think seriously on how far they can push on. If they can repeat the intensity of last night - they are going to be dangerous.

When it comes to bravery and passion - no one does it better than the Irish. It's tempting to think it was their sheer energy and desire to be better than got them through. But that would be doing their forwards, particularly their hugely impressive loose trio, a massive disservice.

Plain and simple - Ireland were technically better at the business of hitting bodies out the way and clearing space. Tactically they were smarter too - it has rained once or twice in Ireland and they knew how to play with a wet ball.

It was bump and burl from the forwards and Johnny Sexton sent it booming into night air when it came his way.

That's the simple version. There was more to it. The Irish forwards were low and hard in the drive and there was some neat, close-quarter offloading. They didn't just charge up the middle all wild-eyed and foaming mouthed.

There was control and enterprise about the way they moved the ball and then there was their defence. The men in green swarmed and hit; swarmed and hit. Quade Cooper had about as bad an evening as the last time he came to Eden Park and the Irish had obviously done their homework - realising that Will Genia and Cooper had to be contained.

Ireland's defence in the final minutes was thrilling. The Australians threw everything and the Irish held out - finally breaking free through Tommy Bowe who went inches from scoring at the other end.

What they also did was scrummage the confidence out of Australia.

When the Wallabies couldn't wriggle their way out of the engagement, they were toasted a few times at the scrum. They are masters at the art of avoidance; hopeless when it comes to a fair contest.

Ireland would have been keen to keep them in there for longer - to drain the Wallabies' legs of energy and to force the penalties. More importantly, it would have crushed the Wallabies psychologically. They still don't like being reminded of the fact they can't scrummage - well, not with the big boys anyway.

The Irish were also that bit stronger at the collisions. Pat McCabe made the repeat mistake of trying to bust holes from a seriously upright position. In he smashed and the Irish had no difficulty in keeping him off the ground.

Those little victories and a few others where the Irish were quicker and stronger over the tackled player were the component parts on which their confidence grew.

Each time the Irish regained the ball or sent the Wallabies reeling back, a little more belief flowed into the men in green.

They haven't always fulfilled their potential - certainly not at World Cups anyway - but this Irish team has men who regularly win big games. Leinster, who provided almost the half the squad, are the Heineken Cup holders and the toughest side in Europe. They know how to win under pressure - and what's more, they believe they can win under pressure.

Belief has been an old failing of Ireland's. The piece of the jigsaw they have been painfully been missing. They have it now.

KevIRL

More from the NZ Herald

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby-world-cup-2011/news/article.cfm?c_id=522&objectid=10752566

Irish icons Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell have never mastered rugby life in New Zealand. They have been proficient on visits but nothing like the reputations they earned and the deeds they produced in the arenas of Europe and South Africa.

Nearly 200 times between them the pair have worn the famous green jerseys and white shorts into battle for their nation. World Cup jubilation had never gone further than the quarter-finals and Ireland had never beaten the Wallabies in four previous tournament duels.

Several were desperately close, one-point nightmares in 1991 and 2003 and last night was another nailbiter but this time Ireland got the goodies.

They made a great start on that record, holding the Wallabies to a 6-all deadlock at the break and showing them some Irish clout round the set piece work at Eden Park.

They brought a strong, gnarly nuggety front row who nailed their work and provided the platform for the back five to deliver their thrust.

Sometimes there was no headway but every now and then they nudged the Wallabies, forcing resets or extracting penalties when Sekope Kepu and Ben Alexander dropped their binds.

After one Wallaby disintegration, halfback Will Genia was picked up and frogmarched backwards as Ireland poured through like a hyena tracking a lame prey.

It signified the Irish will, the passion they brought against some of the more orchestrated Wallaby work.

Who would crack? When the Wallabies played Italy in their opening game they went to the oranges with the same scoreline before pulling away for an authoritative victory. That was helped by the injection from the bench of men like James O'Connor.

Last night he was on the field from the beginning and saw little ball to make much of an impression. Most of his work was on defence, defusing Irish bombs or clean up work.

None of the Wallaby firepower got much leeway. Quade Cooper started like a gem, putting his opening drop kick on the money and forcing Ireland to take it out.

The Wallaby scrum began strongly, earning a penalty in the 10th minute but it began to stagger as the half wore on. So too key players. Cooper made a poor option or two, Genia was squeezed for room.

The deeper the game went, Ireland sensed this might be their time to beat the Wallabies at a World Cup.

O'Connell seemed to soar higher in the lineouts, O'Driscoll pulled off some wondrous flip passes and subterfuge. While the big guns fired the artillery was right with them. The scrum dug deeper, flanker Sean O'Brien was a massive force and Jamie Heaslip an immovable rock.

There was a grit and a resolve, there was no bend in the Irish arm-wrestle, no leaks in the defensive line and no way Irish eyes left their task for 80 minutes

aeonfusion

tolosenc wrote: »

Was reading an Aussie forum about today's game, stuff like "that O'Brien guy they have at 8 is some sort of cult hero in the NH. Don't get it." and "he probably is behind Heaslip and Leamy for the jersey". Makes one laugh.

That after the game he had and his form for god knows how long is hillarious :P

It slippery conditions in what may as well been a home crowd, they were playing a northern hemisphere style of football and it was working - even if it was boring the 60,000 in attendance.

That is also hillarious...i was on the edge of my seat right until Bowe made that great run at the end, i also heard nigh on everyone in the stadium cheering like crazy throughout.

My brother was down in Oz, about 2005-2006, we beat them in some friendly and he said he was surprised at the media response, that there were very few mentions of it in the media and what was mentioned consisted mostly of excuses, bregrudgery and petty digs much like what you guys have posted. The second and third articles posted seem to be more focused on the australian's lackluster performance but the first one is just a disgrace...news indeed.

Would love to read the Kiwi's reaction :P Edit: Awh sound kev :P

Fozzie Bear

A bit more gratious in defeat type article.....

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/suck-it-up-australia-were-outsmarted-and-outplayed-20110917-1kfip.html

I have heard plenty of the Irish jokes, most painting our friends in green as not the smartest of folk. Although I am certain not many Wallabies fans would be smiling this morning.

The butterflies should have been felt last week when the Springboks were almost defeated by a desperate Welsh side in the wet. The conditions in both matches were greasy and decided by goal kicking.

The Wallabies' expansive style of running rugby didn't help last night. It was slow, wet and it was extremely boring. We were outsmarted by a well-coached and enthusiastic rugby team.

There may be animosity regarding some of the Irish tactics - with injuries and slowing down thwarting the Wallabies' momentum - but good sides can control the match tempo to suit themselves.

It was a game where we lived and died by the sword in many respects. Attack was met with brute force. We chipped in our 22, we had short restarts, we kicked the ball away when counter-attack was also an option. We looked for quick lineouts rather than gaining composure. It was as though the Wallabies had no choice but to play their way back into their pattern of play.

The scrum was also an area of frustration. The Irish were very quick out of the gates, and in many instances I thought a penalty would go our way - but low and behold the ref had his hand out the other side!

Prop Sekope Kepu did have some technical issues, as did hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, but this Wallaby scrum is not one that loses the speed of engagement often. The impression was, however, that we were not able to sustain the pressure of the hit. By missing the hit we got caught with our shoulders below our hips - the results of a very fortuitous Irish engagement.

There is no doubt there will be debate over whether we should have taken a second openside flanker to the World Cup, and with the fortuitous and useless trait that is hindsight, the answer means very little.

We need to recognise that David Pocock is one of the world's best players at the breakdown. Would any other player available for selection have been able to emulate his freakish ability at the ruck last night? Somebody of Matt Hodgson's or Beau Robinson's ability would have been handy, but would they have won us the match? Don't enter that debate.

I am sure the easy answer is George Smith, as he was over in New Zealand on a tour with Suntory. But unless Pocock was ruled out of the tournament he can not be replaced by anyone outside the squad.

Pocock is irreplaceable.

I prefer to shine the torch on another player sorely missed last night, Stephen Moore.

The stats for the set piece would give the Wallabies a pass mark - but not if you look at the quality of that ball won. Moore's ability to present a quality throwing option to the middle or back of the lineout was missed as the outside backs struggled to see any ball past first phase.

When the ball is taken cleanly in the middle or the back of the lineout, it denies the opposition a split second to gain an advantage. For smaller backs such as Pat McCabe and Anthony Fainga'a that time is critical. Clearly this played into the hands of the Irish, who on more than one occasion held up the lighter inside backs.

Moore being ruled out prior to kick-off would not have bothered me on a dry track at Suncorp, but on a wet night in Eden Park I felt as crook in the guts as he did when I saw the newsflash at 5.30pm.

He is what I call an A-grade European hooker; he would have thrived in last night's conditions.

We can start to play the blame game - blame body height, blame Ben McCalman being the only option at 7, blame the referee for making some dubious decisions against Sekope. Say we kicked too much, that we chanced the last pass way too often in the A zone.

We can also applaud that we were beaten by a better nation on the night. Put our hand up and say, thank you Ireland for a small dose of humble pie

KevIRL

Not media per se, but worth it for the lolz

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/a-drunken-letter-to-the-wallabies/

Hi Wallabies,

Yeah, I’m drunk. Why? I’m trying to forget. Again. I’m trying to forget another piss weak effort in the face of pretty poor opposition. Ireland? Really? Come on guys, they could hardly beat the USA. And yet you lost to them. Comfortably.



It’s times like these I wish I was one of those people who don’t care about sport. You know the type- they carry on life blissfully ignorant of any sporting activity, and they are predominately HAPPY. Why? Because they don’t have to put up with piss-weak **** like you served up tonight. I mean seriously, you raised my hopes by winning the Tri-Nations, and then you come out and lose to ****ing IRELAND.



You don’t deserve to win the World Cup after that. I know you were without Pocock, Moore and Ioane, and Bryce Lawrence was a bit of a **** but you still should have been good enough. You want to beat the All Blacks or South Africa, but you can’t even beat Ireland? Get real guys, you clearly don’t have what it takes.



Now let me get personal for a second. Too may guys just didn’t show up. Rocky, where were you? Sekope? McCalman? Ant? Pat? Not good enough guys. Not happy. I have invested years in this side, and you just didn’t show up when it mattered. And that hurts me, it really does. And it hurts so many people out there, to see you meekly lose to the ****ing IRISH. Come on. Please. You talk the talk, you have to ****ing walk the walk. All that stuff after the 3N about being able to beat anyone in the world, all that confidence you had in the backline and in the forward pack, you need to back it up guys. But you couldn’t. You just came up short. Again.



And yet agian I am in the same position, drinking to forget. Trying to forget another insipid forward effort, or too many popped passes in the backline when it just wasn’t on. I mean seriously, we lost the ball three times when we got held up in a maul. Come on guys, what is this, under 10s? I haven’t seen that **** for years. And yet you dished it up to us in the World Cup. The ****ing World Cup, the one tournament I look forward to every four years. ****, I booked tickets to see your QF. Now what am I supposed to do? Cheer for the ****ing Welsh? Are you serious?



Now for you Robbie. You didn’t think you would get off unscathed did you? For once we thought that we had overcome that great Wallaby scourge- inconsistency. We would play like world-beaters one week, only to fall the next week to the ****ing IRISH. But it appears that we haven’t. Why didn’t we take a second openside to NZ? Your theories about playing a bulky 7 just plain failed. McCalman sucked, and we needed Beau or Hodgson. We took 0 turnovers from memory. 0. You were outcoached, plain and simple. It makes me wonder why the ARU signed you on for three more seasons.



This article gives me no satisfaction. Absolutely none. I love the Wallabies, and yet they let me down so consistently I wonder why I bother. Again I wish I was one of those people who just didn’t care, whose Saturdays were filled with rugby-free fun and activity and who could wake up on a Sunday morning and greet the world with a smile regardless of what happened on some distant field the night before. But I’m not. I’m just not. I need the Wallabies to win for my personal satisfaction. I don’t know why, I suppose it was just the way I was brought up. But still I need it.



And that makes it hurts so much more when you don’t deliver. Honestly, I don’t mid if you lose to the All Blacks at Eden Park. I mean Christ, they are a ****ing good side. But the Irish? No. I won’t accept that. I just won’t. Man for man we are just plain better than them. And we should have won. And I don’t care how well they played on the night. We should have played better.



So in conclusion I am out. Out. I will cheer for you as you put the USA and Russia to the sword, but you have largely lost any faith I have in you. Clearly when the going gets tough, most of you run the other way. And it ****ing hurts me to say this. And I would love it if you proved me wrong and won the cup, but let’s face it- it’s not going to happen, is it? If you can’t beat the Irish, you ain’t going to beat the Boks or the ABs.



And I apologise for any typos or bad grammar in this post. As the title suggests, I am pretty drunk. In my defence, it is my only response mechanism to years of insipid Wallaby failures.

pickarooney

So in conclusion I am out. Out. I will cheer for you as you put the USA and Russia to the sword, but you have largely lost any faith I have in you. Clearly when the going gets tough, most of you run the other way.

Do they have irony in Australia?

Superbus

I just want to point out one thing:

Irish debutant Rob Kearney

seeing_ie

tolosenc wrote: »

Was reading an Aussie forum about today's game, stuff like "that O'Brien guy they have at 8 is some sort of cult hero in the NH. Don't get it." and "he probably is behind Heaslip and Leamy for the jersey". Makes one laugh.

theboss80

Superbus wrote: »

I just want to point out one thing:

In the World cup

Dangerous Man

Jumpy

I do get the whole "Northern Hemisphere" style of rugby thing the first article says though.

I can understand where it can get boring when its "get the ball", "kick to touch", repeat.

The majority of aussies follow league. Hence why they can see Irelands play as yawn inducingly boring, yet damn effective.

donfers

ah australia, as gracious in defeat as they are in victory, i.e. not very


so Ireland beat them at the world cup

munster beat them earlier on this season

maybe we should organise a fixture for them against an AIL side next time out to give them a chance of getting a win

johnnysmack

Does the SH really think that lowly of us? Some of the stuff they are saying is pretty insulting! Makes the win that much sweeter now.

joseywhales

God I used to think that there was no better feeling than beating England.

We've been missing out.

There's no doubt about it, Australia are the most enjoyable team to beat in the world.

Not only do you get to beat them but you get the almost forgotten satisfaction of putting spoiled kid in their place and watch them make excuses and moan, god I hope it never ends.

*Takes deep breath*
*Reads articles again*

[sigh].......ahhhhhhhhhhhhh[\sigh]

DM360

That article with the Quade Cooper interview is rubbish, absolute fiction, clearly misquoted him.

No way in hell does Quade Cooper know what the word "detrimental" means

nacho libre

That drunk man will be taking all that back if Australia get to the final and win it. Australia have a good record in semi-finals against southern hemisphere sides too. So I definitely wouldn't be writing them off just yet.

I hate the excuse some Australian papers are making, sure Pocock was a loss, but in past times Australia would have still eeked out the win against Ireland without a key man.
But enough about Australia!!
Les Kiss should be given the freedom of Dublin! Ireland's defense was just superb at times! A final word must go to O'Brien for that sublime try-saving tackle at the end, he showed some pace to make it across from the base of the scrum to get to Genia!

corny

donfers wrote: »

ah australia, as gracious in defeat as they are in victory, i.e. not very


so Ireland beat them at the world cup

munster beat them earlier on this season

maybe we should organise a fixture for them against an AIL side next time out to give them a chance of getting a win

In fairness i think that pertains more to the public than the players. I remember the Aussies losing in 2003 in heartbreaking circumstances yet to a man they were very gracious in defeat. Must have tough seen as they were playing England!

I've heard Horwill and Elsom concede Ireland were the better side too.

Monty Burnz

Jumpy wrote: »

The majority of aussies follow league. Hence why they can see Irelands play as yawn inducingly boring, yet damn effective.

Isn't league the game were guys take turns at running into other guys repeatedly in an astonishingly repetitive manner?

Maldjd23

Reading all those SH posts..I am just so damn proud tonight!!!...Awesome feeling!!

CatFromHue

corny wrote: »

In fairness i think that pertains more to the public than the players. I remember the Aussies losing in 2003 in heartbreaking circumstances yet to a man they were very gracious in defeat. Must have tough seen as they were playing England!

I've heard Horwill and Elsom concede Ireland were the better side too.

You're spot on. Deans himself was very magnanimous (it's 3 am on a sunday morning how on earth did i spell that :eek: ) in defeat and said we deserved our win.

The media is a different story. To put it in perspective can anyone remember any articles or posts on here after we lost to the Welsh or the Scots last season?

Pudsy33

CatFromHue wrote: »

You're spot on. Deans himself was very magnanimous (it's 3 am on a sunday morning how on earth did i spell that :eek: ) in defeat and said we deserved our win.

The media is a different story. To put it in perspective can anyone remember any articles or posts on here after we lost to the Welsh or the Scots last season?

i'm just reading fox sport Aus, and its sickening how little credit Ireland get. I don't understand the unwillingness to accept they were outplayed.

ArmaniJeanss

We won the game, why are we so obsessed seeking vindication and/or begrudgery from the Australian/NZ media? I doubt the Argentinian version of boards.ie was obsessed with what the Irish Times or the Evening Herald was writing about four years ago.

It seems to be a uniquely Irish trait which transcends all sports; I remember in '88 that half the country seemed to take extra pleasure/annoyance in reading what The Sun or The Mirror thought about the English team getting beaten by a shower of journeyman half-English Paddies (their words,not mine).

Maccattack

Before you all start wetting yourselves let me point out that you are talking about a sport that very few Aussies pay any attention to. Despite what you may think, apart from a few posh suburbs the game has little interest to the average Australian. Anyone who knows anything about Australian sport knows that the best "rugby" players are in the NRL and NOT the Wallabies.

Aussies wont care too much about this defeat. Its finals time in the NRL and AFL. Thats where Aussie eyes are at the moment not on a fourth rate bunch of toffs.

Still, it is a big achievement for Ireland so you might as well enjoy it.

yawha

Maccattack wrote: »

Before you all start wetting yourselves let me point out that you are talking about a sport that very few Aussies pay any attention to. Despite what you may think, apart from a few posh suburbs the game has little interest to the average Australian. Anyone who knows anything about Australian sport knows that the best "rugby" players are in the NRL and NOT the Wallabies.

Aussies wont care too much about this defeat. Its finals time in the NRL and AFL. Thats where Aussie eyes are at the moment not on a fourth rate bunch of toffs.

Still, it is a big achievement for Ireland so you might as well enjoy it.

It's not a majority sport in Ireland by any means.

Also, what has what Australians think of the Wallabies have to do with how big an achievement it is for us? It's a great win because the Wallabies are a great team, not because we think all of Australia are behind them...

Flygimp

Maccattack wrote: »

Before you all start wetting yourselves let me point out that you are talking about a sport that very few Aussies pay any attention to...

Hang on... they are current tri nations champs, and auzy ticket sales for RWC trippled in the last two weeks leading up to the opening in Auckland. In 2010 the ARU announced that there were more rugby union players in Australia than at any time since the game was introduced to Australia in the mid-1800’s...

Yes rugby is Auzzie's third most popular winter sport behind ARL and NFL, although the franchise is growing with now 5 teams in the super 15.

And go and tell the Reds fans, after winning the super 15 final that it wasn't a fantastic achievement after the devastation of the floods that was noted by all of Australia you bl00dy muppet. :rolleyes:

laugh

Maccattack wrote: »

NRL and AFL.

I really can't understand how people think these games come anywhere close to Union.

Bearcat

Flygimp wrote: »

And go and tell the Reds fans, after winning the super 15 final that it wasn't a fantastic achievement after the devastation of the floods that was noted by all of Australia you bl00dy muppet. :rolleyes:

Sin bit for u mate!

Principal Skinner

Maccattack wrote: »

Before you all start wetting yourselves let me point out that you are talking about a sport that very few Aussies pay any attention to. Despite what you may think, apart from a few posh suburbs the game has little interest to the average Australian. Anyone who knows anything about Australian sport knows that the best "rugby" players are in the NRL and NOT the Wallabies.

Aussies wont care too much about this defeat. Its finals time in the NRL and AFL. Thats where Aussie eyes are at the moment not on a fourth rate bunch of toffs.

Still, it is a big achievement for Ireland so you might as well enjoy it.

It may be your 3rd biggest sport but it's our 4th! You also have a larger population and a larger player base than we do so of course it's an achievement to beat you down south!

Morgans

Rugby isnt the main sport anywhere except New Zealand and possibly the polynesian islands. It doesnt mean that France, South Africa and Australia aren't some of the best teams. And the best aussies are in rugby league may have been true 20/30 years ago, its far less clear now. Yet its still trotted out to suggest rugby union isnt important in Australia. The vast majority of converts from League have failed to do anything more than fleeting in rugby union in Australia, and there are very few converts from Union to League.

I dont get why people are getting extra enjoyment of reading the SMH. Dont know the quality of the newspaper but the quality of the articles are muck. Written to stick the knife into their own players. They will be first in line to celebrate should they go on to win. No point giving those types oxygen.

Australians sports fans are arrogant. Is this a surprise to anyone?

Flygimp

Maccattack wrote: »

...thats where Aussie eyes are at the moment not on a fourth rate bunch of toffs.

You mention fourth rate... 'toffs' yet Cricket 'the sport of gentlemen' is the Occa national game... (which they are pretty poor at, at the moment).

Maccattack wrote: »

...the best "rugby" players are in the NRL and NOT the Wallabies.

In fact some of the best NRL players for the past few years have been kiwis... considering most Auzzie 1st grade teams average at least three kiwi/pacific island players in their line up... then look this year at the NRL 2011 best player of the year one of the last two was Benji Marshall of the Warriors and Simon Mannering is down to the last four for NRL captain of the year. Other Kiwis in the running for the award were Aaron Heremaia and Kevin Locke.

Then of course the Kiwis are the RL World Cup Champs at the moment... in 2008 the Auzzies were thumped and as usual took it with as much dignity as a hooker with herpes. Don't even mention the blatant cheating and bias against the Warriors in the NRL by 'Auzy only' referees.

Then lets look at the structure for Rugby League on the international stage - their RL Tri-Nations and World Cup totally structured around the rugby union model... with some token @rse teams mostly made up of defacting union players... eg. Fiji, Cook Islands... etc.

You seem to think you have a good grip on the Auzzie sports psyche yet you fail to mention in the the Auzzie sports media - it is only in recent history that bl00dy woman's sports even get a mention on prime TV. To be honest when it comes to caveman antics and a pig ignorant attitude towards other codes Azzie NRL supporters are at the bottom of the gene pool.

As for the AFL - fantastic game!

What I find strange is why would some little grunter come on a Union forum after a historical win for the Irish and wan't to p!ss on their parade. As a kiwi, with an Irish family who was a Eden park on Saturday night getting pissed with both Auzzies, Yarpies and the mighty men in Green you seem a little bigoted.

Maccattack wrote: »

Anyone who knows anything about Australian sport knows...

That obviously rules you out champ!

Sonics2k

Maccattack wrote: »

Before you all start wetting yourselves let me point out that you are talking about a sport that very few Aussies pay any attention to. Despite what you may think, apart from a few posh suburbs the game has little interest to the average Australian. Anyone who knows anything about Australian sport knows that the best "rugby" players are in the NRL and NOT the Wallabies.

Aussies wont care too much about this defeat. Its finals time in the NRL and AFL. Thats where Aussie eyes are at the moment not on a fourth rate bunch of toffs.

Still, it is a big achievement for Ireland so you might as well enjoy it.

Aidric

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

We won the game, why are we so obsessed seeking vindication and/or begrudgery from the Australian/NZ media? I doubt the Argentinian version of boards.ie was obsessed with what the Irish Times or the Evening Herald was writing about four years ago.

It seems to be a uniquely Irish trait which transcends all sports; I remember in '88 that half the country seemed to take extra pleasure/annoyance in reading what The Sun or The Mirror thought about the English team getting beaten by a shower of journeyman half-English Paddies (their words,not mine).

Only post in this thread worth reading. You are right, it does seem to be a uniquely Irish thing stemming no doubt from the insular mindset that transcends the country. Quite sad actually.

Just enjoy the victory.

alchemist33

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Isn't league the game were guys take turns at running into other guys repeatedly in an astonishingly repetitive manner?

Tackle tackle tackle tackle tackle kick

...and repeat...

Paparazzo

Those articles are quite gracious compared to kiwi ones when new zealand lose

circos

alchemist33 wrote: »

Tackle tackle tackle tackle tackle kick

...and repeat...

Exactly, never get the appeal of league but wouldn't go onto a league forum and complain about it...

Sonics2k

Articles like that are actually quite common in Australia, I saw quite a lot of them when I lived there, which was during the times of the Sydney Olympics and the Lions tour.

For a sporting country, they get very bitter and seek as many excuses as possible when they lose a match, everything from the weather, the crowd being against them and so on.

The fact of the matter is Australia is currently considered the best team in the world after winning the Tri-Nations, and Ireland outplayed them yesterday.

The Ozzies under-estimated Ireland, and being completely honest, I think a lot of the Irish under-estimated them given there recent performances.

gosplan

The aussie team and management were very gracious in defeat.

If you want to take a couple of rags as representative of the whole country, then go ahead. The reality is that anyone with a clue about rugby in Australia, and not just a media sales agenda which dictates their opinion, is firmly pointing the finger at Australia and asking how the worlds supposed best attacking team were kept to a total of six points and undone by a fairly basic, albeit excellently executed, plan.

Also before we get too far ahead of ourselves, perhaps take a look at how much the Irish media are overblowing the whole thing.

LuckyLloyd

If we consistently played like that on tours down south and consistently beat them, those articles would have a sharply different tone and perspective. But we don't, so they don't.

You have to earn respect, and we haven't over the years. At some point in the next few years, we're going to lose a Six Nations game against Italy and I guarantee you that we won't be as gracious and philosophical about it as you are expecting from the Aussies this morning.

swordofislam

gosplan wrote: »

The reality is that anyone with a clue about rugby in Australia, and not just a media sales agenda which dictates their opinion, is firmly pointing the finger at Australia and asking how the worlds supposed best attacking team were kept to a total of six points and undone by a fairly basic, albeit excellently executed, plan.

Fairly patronising attitude isn't it? The reality is that the Aussies were professionals all through the amateur era. Professionalism globally has eroded an advantage that they secured by well umm cheating. The Aussie history against Ireland includes two 1 point victories that they accepted as their due.

Further the SMH seems to be pointing the finger at 'Australia' too. (In quotes because it should really be called 'Rest of World'.

mrboswell

KevIRL wrote: »

Not media per se, but worth it for the lolz

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/a-drunken-letter-to-the-wallabies/

Don't know if he has more of a problem with us or his own national team.
What a D**K.

amacachi

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Isn't league the game were guys take turns at running into other guys repeatedly in an astonishingly repetitive manner?

LOL at the characterisation of League on here. It would be hard to do something similar for Union, like call it Kick-clap or complain about how the ball is in play for about 50 minutes in a match and most of that consists of primary school-like pile-ons with a teacher with a whistle standing nearby.


Anyway I have to say that I find the tone of a lot of this thread pretty sad. Enjoy the win, not the other team's loss.

.ak

Principal Skinner wrote: »

It may be your 3rd biggest sport but it's our 4th! You also have a larger population and a larger player base than we do so of course it's an achievement to beat you down south!

Actually interesting factoid - Ireland has a bigger player base of registered Rugby Union players than the Aussies. Let me find the figures....

.ak

Here's a graph...

More adult males in Oz, but still you get the idea, we have a larger base...

circos

.ak wrote: »

Here's a graph...

More adult males in Oz, but still you get the idea, we have a larger base...

Amazing to think with the amount of registered players in England that they cant field a full English team. Or even close to full..Think the first 3 trys today for England were scored by non English players.

laugh

.ak wrote: »

Here's a graph...

More adult males in Oz, but still you get the idea, we have a larger base...

- Our base is only recently enlarged due to an increase in the popularity of the game.

- They have 14,000 more adult male players and that's what counts.

Fight_Night

.ak wrote: »

Here's a graph...

More adult males in Oz, but still you get the idea, we have a larger base...

The graph is very inaccurate, I've seen it been debunked on another forum.