Post World Cup Reaction.

NoelJ

How do you honestly think we did?

Better than expected?
As expected? or
Underachieved.

I honestly think we overachieved. We should have lost to Australia and lost to South Africa. This win over Australia is good and gave us higher hopes but realistically are you happy?

Risteard

We probably got to where we expected but not how, which has made it more disappointing.

Most people said we'd go to the QF after qualifying second place and lose to SA. Instead we got to the QF finishing top of our pool and lost to Wales.

LFC5Times

As expected - got knocked out in the q-finals.

Fishooks12

As expected but disappointed nonetheless

Kayless

so what happens if Ozz win the world cup?

Het-Field

When the squad was announced I was concerned that we may not emerge from the pool. We had a poor six-nations, covered over by a sticking plaster(the win against England), and an appalling Autumn series. It was unthinkable that we would beat the Wallabies, and it was unclear as to whether we would actually be able to take the Italians.

As such, my expectations were probably exceeded. However, in the light of what transpired in the Group Phases, I am entitled to feel disappointed, as I re-evaluated our chances after the victory over thw Wallabies.

theboss80

Pre August - Expected a qtr final exit

Post August - Expected a pool stage exit

After USA game - Expected a bare win against Italy and group runner up spot

After Aus match - Expected pool winners and reach semi final

After Russia and Italy - Expecting semi final and hoping final

Pre Wales game - expected Semi final minimum

Post Wales game - absolutely gutted and given our form before the game we now underachieved

TeddyTedson

Should we let a new manager take over now?

theboss80

Kayless wrote: »

so what happens if Ozz win the world cup?

Then Ireland will have been the only team who have beaten them at the RWC

Jimbob 83

Ended up as expected, we let ourselves get carried away and assumed Wales would somehow lie down for us, pretty dissapointed

Phonehead

Kayless wrote: »

so what happens if Ozz win the world cup?

Party in Sydney

If you mean where does that leave Ireland, well we all know in one off games Ireland are very capable, but if you ask me our gameplan most of the time this past 2 years has been fundamentally wrong, we don't play a game suited to the players we have.

Kayless

We as a country need to get it together, We need to have national sport thats not GAA (no world cup for that, or we'd be flying) we need more investment in rugby to produce better players (and more of them) this would give us talent and numbers, and personally I think we need new management, maybe someone from NZ SA or Ozz someone with no ties to any of the provinces. You might not agree but right now I think we need a fresh start.

NoelJ

Kayless wrote: »

We as a country need to get it together, We need to have national sport thats not GAA (no world cup for that, or we'd be flying) we need more investment in rugby to produce better players (and more of them) this would give us talent and numbers, and personally I think we need new management, maybe someone from NZ SA or Ozz someone with no ties to any of the provinces. You might not agree but right now I think we need a fresh start.

Always liked the thought of a southern hemisphere coach. All you hear is province bias alot.

murpho999

Hard to answer but I eventually chose 'overachieved'.

No one had them as favourites to win pool when draw was made and
very poor form going into tournament added to that.

Beating Australia and winning pool certainly was a great achievement and they really got the country behind them and excited by Rugby.

Pity they couldn't deliver today but overall I did not expect them to do as well as they did even though today was poor.

skregs

Poor form in USA match - expected
Great result in OZ match - unexpected
Performed decently against Russia - expected
Beat Italy - expected
Spanked by Wales - expected

danthefan

Before the RWC I thought we'd make a QF, we did that, so as expected.

After we beat Aus I thought we could make the final, we made a QF, so underachieved in that sense.

Kayless

skregs wrote: »

Poor form in USA match - expected
Great result in OZ match - unexpected
Performed decently against Russia - expected
Beat Italy - expected
Spanked by Wales - expected

I agree with this except the Wales part, maybe I miss something but Ireland were the talk of the RWC and the second best supported team for a reason, Wales would've got the same had they beat SA

One thing that gets me is we won our pool (not the worst pool, mind you) and Wales came second so did France and they both won today, bit strange that

The_Kew_Tour

skregs wrote: »

Poor form in USA match - expected
Great result in OZ match - unexpected
Performed decently against Russia - expected
Beat Italy - expected
Spanked by Wales - expected

lol

The_Kew_Tour

Underachieved for a team that is meant be at its peak.

7 WC and never made semi final. When you see Wales going into their second semi puts our achievements into perspective.

theoneeyedman

Effectively finished 8th in a 9 horse race .....hardly success IMO

MoscowFlyer

So sick and tired of this bull, no doubt now that Armenia rock up on Tuesday evening and deliver the final blow.

The_Kew_Tour

MoscowFlyer wrote: »

So sick and tired of this bull, no doubt now that Armenia rock up on Tuesday evening and deliver the final blow.

It's amazing what a week or few days those.

Here we were thinking we win WC and now look where we are

MoscowFlyer

TeddyTedson wrote: »

Should we let a new manager take over now?

Im not a fan of Kidney at all and I think he should go. Unless the powers that be are planning on him being there in 4 years time it makes no sense to keep him on. Get the new guy in and let him have his 4 year build up.

At a push I might give him a crack at the Six Nations and then make the change.

Latchy

MoscowFlyer wrote: »

So sick and tired of this bull, no doubt now that Armenia rock up on Tuesday evening and deliver the final blow.

Or ....sneak into the play offs (courtesy of a last minute penalty save by Shay Given ) to meet France and avenge that handball incident .

huan.W

Wales is probably the biggest beneficiary of Ireland's win against Australia:o

I'm never a fan of DK either. I think he, as a coach, failed to bring out the potential of the young players but wore down the confidence of the old guys.

irishbucsfan

Realistically we did exactly what most would have expected, got knocked out in the Quarter-Final. Realistically this team is good enough to do better than that, but they couldn't prove it.

The_Kew_Tour

It's a big kick in the teeth when you consider we used to laugh at Wales and their fancy boys yet they won just as many Grand Slams as us in 6 years as we did in 100+ years.

huan.W

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

It's a big kick in the teeth when you consider we used to laugh at Wales and their fancy boys yet they won just as many Grand Slams as us in 6 years as we did in 100+ years.

Who knows what it will be like in 100 years.:D

MungBean

Underachieved. A QF spot was pretty much a given. Regardless of who we met in the quarters we needed to win to achieve something in the competition. I know we beat Aussies and topped the group which is great but the teams aim would have been semi final at the least. Getting knocked out in another QF isnt an achievement.

You cannot honestly say we overachieved by beating Italy to the Quarters which is basically all we did. This was a great team, and they had an unbelievable draw with pool fixtures and opponents for QF/SF once we beat Australia. That loss to Wales was worse than all the other QF knock outs to be honest, it was a game we should have won and it was a chance to reach the final we may not see again for a very very long time.

Probably ranks just after 2007 as worst world cups in relation to progression and possibility. That win over the Aussies softens it some but donest really change anything. If we lost to Australia and got the draw we did it would have been an unmitigated disaster. One decent win is great but its not enough of an achievement to compensate for the throwing away of the best chance we have ever or are likely to see again any time soon with such a poor showing in the most crucial match.

Pisco Sour

Kayless wrote: »

We as a country need to get it together, We need to have national sport thats not GAA (no world cup for that, or we'd be flying) we need more investment in rugby to produce better players (and more of them) this would give us talent and numbers.

Theres a sh1tload of other sports in Ireland saying the same thing, sports that in fact need the extra investment a hell of a lot more than rugby.

Pisco Sour

theoneeyedman wrote: »

Effectively finished 8th in a 9 horse race .....hardly success IMO

Why 8th? If Australia and Argentina go out tomorrow what makes them deserve to have "finished" higher than us?

And why exclude Samoa? IMO they were probably one of the top 6 teams in this world cup. Were very close to beating Wales despite being shafted by the organisers and having to play Wales just 4 days after their first game. I believe they would have qualified from England's group and would have had a very very good shot at qualifying from our pool. They had a tough group and nearly made it out.

And Tonga beat France, and why exclude Italy? It's a 12 horse race this time around. Fiji werent at the races so not included in this.

matthew8

We did as expected, out in the quarters. I'm really annoyed at how we never do well at rugby world cups. It's gotten to a stage that the only sports team which does us proud on an international stage is the cricket team and to be honest, that world cup was more enjoyable than this one. We need more attacking flair like at Leinster, who seem to perform better than Ireland.

Pisco Sour

matthew8 wrote: »

We did as expected, out in the quarters. I'm really annoyed at how we never do well at rugby world cups. It's gotten to a stage that the only sports team which does us proud on an international stage is the cricket team and to be honest, that world cup was more enjoyable than this one. We need more attacking flair like at Leinster, who seem to perform better than Ireland.

Eh.... our boxers have been doing fairly great in the last 4 years to mention one sport in particular.

The_Kew_Tour

04072511 wrote: »

Eh.... our boxers have been doing fairly great in the last 4 years to mention one sport in particular.

Add in Golf, Cycling and Athletics recently.

Pisco Sour

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Add in Golf, Cycling and Athletics recently.

Yep, our womens 4x400m relay team came 12th in the World Championships this year (and can go higher next year I feel). That's a remarkable achievement for a tiny country, in a global sport, which is dreadfully underfunded in Ireland. Of course most people probably didnt even know that.

Pisco Sour

For me, it was as expected, but the manner of how we went out was anything but.

Beating Oz was a great moment, but it really doesnt mean much now. Winning that match was only important if we could back it up in the quarter finals, which we couldnt.

The_Kew_Tour

04072511 wrote: »

Yep, our womens 4x400m relay team came 12th in the World Championships this year (and can go higher next year I feel). That's a remarkable achievement for a tiny country, in a global sport, which is dreadfully underfunded in Ireland. Of course most people probably didnt even know that.

Could not agree more.

I love the Irish rugby team, but no question there is not a more overrated team in world sport at moment.

Hate writing that, but it's my opinion:(..

sunflower27

It's kind of pointless at this stage though isn't it. Wales lost by one point to SA, they may play them in the final and beat them.

It's all relative.

It all comes down to how a team plays on any given day and that can change from one day to the next depending on who plays where, who is on the field, who is out on injuries...

matthew8

04072511 wrote: »

Eh.... our boxers have been doing fairly great in the last 4 years to mention one sport in particular.

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Add in Golf, Cycling and Athletics recently.

I said sports TEAM. Our best sportspeople seem to be golfers but they're not the Irish team.

Pisco Sour

matthew8 wrote: »

I said sports TEAM. Our best sportspeople seem to be golfers but they're not the Irish team.

Our womens 4x400m relay team surely counts as a TEAM?

And the boxers are a team. Our boxing TEAM won 3 medals in the last Olympics, which is 3 times as many as the US Boxing TEAM. We have since gone on to win a sh1tload of other medals at World and European level since.

matthew8

04072511 wrote: »

Our womens 4x400m relay team surely counts as a TEAM?

And the boxers are a team. Our boxing TEAM won 3 medals in the last Olympics, which is 3 times as many as the US Boxing TEAM. We have since gone on to win a sh1tload of other medals at World and European level since.

Team as in team sport. Boxing is an individual sport, relay is barely a team sport but we aren't wildly successful in that.

thebaz

very dissappointed - gutted - we have never made a semi final - still unsure of kidney , the bench looked very unstable today - jennings should have been on it - if we are happy to just make quarter finals , then we did ok , but i'm with POC and roy Keane and think we should aim higher as a country - would like a new coach to Irish team , Kidney reign has been too erratic , but we will maintain status quo , until our next dissaster

Pisco Sour

matthew8 wrote: »

Team as in team sport. Boxing is an individual sport, relay is barely a team sport but we aren't wildly successful in that.

We're not exactly wildly successful at Cricket either. We beat England which was a great achievement but still finished 10th in what is pretty much an 11 horse race (10 test teams plus Ireland), maybe 12 if you include a reasonably competitive Dutch team.

chupacabra

Before this world cup started I would have been happy with a strong quarter final finish. However considering we had a realistic chance of making it to the semi final at least I am bitterly disappointed.

BERBA

'Trapp will get us to the Euros, the pain of this will soon be lifted.

Soldie

I definitely think Ireland underachieved. The likes of Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Paul O'Connell, and so on, have been terrific servants to Irish rugby, but the so-called golden generation of Irish rugby has but one Grand Slam to their name. Ireland have not just underachieved at this World Cup; they have underachieved over the past 10 years.

What I think is the most frustrating aspect of this underachievement is the fact that I think we all know that Ireland are capable of much, much more. Let's face it: we're not a team like Italy that is comprised mostly of passengers (and I mean no disrespect to Italy, but the quality of most of their players just does not match up). We have a team full of players who have succeeded at provincial level, and have the medals to prove it (4 of the last 6 Heineken Cups went to Irish provinces). I don't want to resign myself to merely praising the honest of effort; I want Ireland to challenge the very top teams, and I don't think I'm being unrealistic with that expectation when you take into account the provincial success.

When you have such top players underperforming and going into a World Cup quarter final with no game plan (and if there was one, it was patently awful), there's clearly something wrong behind the scenes. Whether that's Kidney or Gaffney's fault I don't know, but I think changes need to be made.

theoneeyedman

04072511 wrote: »

theoneeyedman wrote: »

Effectively finished 8th in a 9 horse race .....hardly success IMO

Why 8th? If Australia and Argentina go out tomorrow what makes them deserve to have "finished" higher than us?

And why exclude Samoa? IMO they were probably one of the top 6 teams in this world cup. Were very close to beating Wales despite being shafted by the organisers and having to play Wales just 4 days after their first game. I believe they would have qualified from England's group and would have had a very very good shot at qualifying from our pool. They had a tough group and nearly made it out.

And Tonga beat France, and why exclude Italy? It's a 12 horse race this time around. Fiji werent at the races so not included in this.

Why not 8th.....1st beaten quarter finalists is why 1 termed them 8th. Italy are 30 points behind us and are a developing nation as their record in world cups and 6 nations proves. Samoa are similar a 2nd rate nation in the rugby family /Mafia ....they lost out cause ultimately they were not seeded, if they were in Ireland's group who's to say we'd even make the quarters? You can't count Fiji because they beat France in a dead rubber.

BERBA

theoneeyedman wrote: »

You can't count Fiji because they beat France in a dead rubber.

Fiji are the new Tonga:D

murpho999

The over reaction to Rugby team losing one game in a knock out event is incredible.
Comparing them to an Athletics relay team....that really got the country going didn't it?:rolleyes:

Ireland could play Wales next week and beat them. All down to what happens on the day, player's form, luck, and use of tactics.

I know we're all disappointed but keep some perspective please.

The_Kew_Tour

murpho999 wrote: »

The over reaction to Rugby team losing one game in a knock out event is incredible.
Comparing them to an Athletics relay team....that really got the country going didn't it?:rolleyes:

Ireland could play Wales next week and beat them. All down to what happens on the day, player's form, luck, and use of tactics.

I know we're all disappointed but keep some perspective please.

Hang on a second.

Just cause much of the country knew nothing about relay team does not discredit their achievement. They are in a sport with nowhere near the money rugby players get and yet they are still 12th fastest in world. Ireland are what 7th best team or thereabouts in a sport that's played as a national sport in 2 countries who population combined would hardly be more then Ireland's

Your ignorance is unreal. Yes it's time to get some perspective alright.

stockyboie

Ireland could play Wales next week and beat them. All down to what happens on the day, player's form, luck, and use of tactics.

I know we're all disappointed but keep some perspective please.

Thats just the problem isn't it. We know ireland can beat wales. Players luck, form etc has nothing to do with it. You can't rely on that even on the best of days. What makes the difference is Consistency and you only get consistency of form through proper coaching. Consistency means even on a bad day you still can win because of good coaching and faith in what your doing and familiarity with what your coach expects of you and your own role within the setup.

Chopping and changing and only having one predicatable type of game plan makes it easy for opposition teams to work out how to defeat you and thats exactly what happened today. Wales had our game down to a tee today and we had no response. The adapted their style of play to counter ours, we didn't.

Therein in lies the frustration and the reason people are so dissapointed. So as you suggested a little perspective, please.