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England v Ireland St Patricks Day 2012
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As someone who has been one of Kidney’s biggest detractors, I will happily hold my hands up and say these has been a steady improvement in this tournament in terms of his approach. No, it’s not perfect and the conservatism that taints his selections is still in full swing. However, he has shown a willingness to acknowledge the existence of the bench and we have brought our subs into the fray from 50 minutes onwards, freshening up the team and trusting fringe players to come in and do a job. Sexton has played nearly every minute of the championship. Granted, the persistent moving of him to 12 is ludicrous but he’s getting full games and staying as front line kicker when on the field with ROG. The tactics against Wales were horrendous both with and without the ball quite often. However, we’ve kept the ball far more since then. The aimless kicking down the middle of the field from anywhere inside our own half has diminished as we’ve looked to move the ball and strike. Our back line has looked more cohesive for a run of games than it has for a long time which is all the more impressive given the absence of O’Driscoll. They’re scoring tries with regularity and Sexton has been given the freedom to take dictate a back line mixing it from deep and bringing players into it flat, on the gain line.
Overall, the one guy who deserves most credit in his individual role is Les Kiss followed closely by Greg Feek. Yes, the defence against Wales was awful but the change since then has been immense. We’ve established two or three defensive leaders in Ferris, Sexton and Best who have given another dimension to our game. We prevent opposition getting the ball away and rarely are exposed in the wider channels as a result. Earls is looking far more comfortable at 13. He still holds onto the ball a little too long but that’s the winger in him. His defence has been excellent when the ball has come out that far.
Our scrum has become a real weapon. Healy was once a liability in the scrum. He’s not perfect still but his improvement is massive. Every 6 months he seems to have made massive strides in his scrummaging. Euan Murray was considered the best tighthead scrummager in Europe 3 years ago. He was taken to the cleaners last weekend after coming on fresh. Mike Ross has been a rock on the other side and you would wonder what we’d do without him. He’s playing a serious amount of rugby right now but showing no signs of slowing down. He appears to be somewhat similar to Hayes in so far that he only plays at his best when he’s playing regular games and keeping his fitness up.
There’s an element of people simply being happy to see us mess up and waiting for it to happen. The last three games have probably been our best three in a row since 2009. If it wasn’t for some poor officiating and a bit of a mad try, we’d have had a win in Paris. People need to forget previous mistakes and take things on their merits right now. If we win in London, it will be a good tournament overall. We have the team to do it too.0 -
In other words, they're winning.
If, for whatever reason, they don't produce the goods in the next rounds or even next season, sit back and watch people turn on them while moaning about every little detail, qualified or otherwise.
That's sport for you. Way it always has been and always will be.
Hmm, can't say I agree with you here JD. Whilst in any sport there is an influx of 'fair weather fans' (which are needed in any sport, rightly or wrongly) there is a huge amount of knowledgeable fans in Rugby.
For example, Munster have won all their H-Cup pool games this year, but any hardcore Munster fan will tell you there were far away from playing their best rugby, and at times were pretty bad. I know that because it's been discussed to death here and in the locals!
Ireland haven't been beaten in their last 3 games, and there's still an influx of posters here 'moaning about every little detail'. Why? Because we're far from playing to our potential pool of talent, and frankly haven't won anything worth mentioning under DK (imo the GS was a natural progression of EoS's term).0 -
As someone who has been one of Kidney’s biggest detractors, I will happily hold my hands up and say these has been a steady improvement in this tournament in terms of his approach. No, it’s not perfect and the conservatism that taints his selections is still in full swing. However, he has shown a willingness to acknowledge the existence of the bench and we have brought our subs into the fray from 50 minutes onwards, freshening up the team and trusting fringe players to come in and do a job. Sexton has played nearly every minute of the championship. Granted, the persistent moving of him to 12 is ludicrous but he’s getting full games and staying as front line kicker when on the field with ROG. The tactics against Wales were horrendous both with and without the ball quite often. However, we’ve kept the ball far more since then. The aimless kicking down the middle of the field from anywhere inside our own half has diminished as we’ve looked to move the ball and strike. Our back line has looked more cohesive for a run of games than it has for a long time which is all the more impressive given the absence of O’Driscoll. They’re scoring tries with regularity and Sexton has been given the freedom to take dictate a back line mixing it from deep and bringing players into it flat, on the gain line.
Overall, the one guy who deserves most credit in his individual role is Les Kiss followed closely by Greg Feek. Yes, the defence against Wales was awful but the change since then has been immense. We’ve established two or three defensive leaders in Ferris, Sexton and Best who have given another dimension to our game. We prevent opposition getting the ball away and rarely are exposed in the wider channels as a result. Earls is looking far more comfortable at 13. He still holds onto the ball a little too long but that’s the winger in him. His defence has been excellent when the ball has come out that far.
Our scrum has become a real weapon. Healy was once a liability in the scrum. He’s not perfect still but his improvement is massive. Every 6 months he seems to have made massive strides in his scrummaging. Euan Murray was considered the best tighthead scrummager in Europe 3 years ago. He was taken to the cleaners last weekend after coming on fresh. Mike Ross has been a rock on the other side and you would wonder what we’d do without him. He’s playing a serious amount of rugby right now but showing no signs of slowing down. He appears to be somewhat similar to Hayes in so far that he only plays at his best when he’s playing regular games and keeping his fitness up.
There’s an element of people simply being happy to see us mess up and waiting for it to happen. The last three games have probably been our best three in a row since 2009. If it wasn’t for some poor officiating and a bit of a mad try, we’d have had a win in Paris. People need to forget previous mistakes and take things on their merits right now. If we win in London, it will be a good tournament overall. We have the team to do it too.
Great post
Probably the most positive sign of the last three games is the way we´ve been playing. I´m enjoying wathcing us with ball in hand again
I´d still like to see Sexton a bit higher up and less of the boxkicking though
Our progress at scrum time can´t be underestimated. In two short years we´ve gone from nearly the worst scrum to the best
I´m happy with Kidney for the moment if this progression continues0 -
Is it just me, or is Fez the most outspoken player on the squad? He's always saying all sorts of stuff to the media. I read all of it as being a bit tongue-in-cheek mind you. In a recent interveiw he labels the English as bad losers, and being the team they want to beat. IIRC I was given a yellow card on this forum for saying the exact same thing! I wonder how Kearney would look on it.. :P Funny stuff really..
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He can say what he likes as long as he keeps playing the way he is.0
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The headline is failr sensationalist in fairness!
I had a lol at the Ferris interview a few weeks back where he was basically saying he loved hurting people!0 -
As someone who has been one of Kidney’s biggest detractors, I will happily hold my hands up and say these has been a steady improvement in this tournament in terms of his approach. No, it’s not perfect and the conservatism that taints his selections is still in full swing. However, he has shown a willingness to acknowledge the existence of the bench and we have brought our subs into the fray from 50 minutes onwards, freshening up the team and trusting fringe players to come in and do a job. Sexton has played nearly every minute of the championship. Granted, the persistent moving of him to 12 is ludicrous but he’s getting full games and staying as front line kicker when on the field with ROG. The tactics against Wales were horrendous both with and without the ball quite often. However, we’ve kept the ball far more since then. The aimless kicking down the middle of the field from anywhere inside our own half has diminished as we’ve looked to move the ball and strike. Our back line has looked more cohesive for a run of games than it has for a long time which is all the more impressive given the absence of O’Driscoll. They’re scoring tries with regularity and Sexton has been given the freedom to take dictate a back line mixing it from deep and bringing players into it flat, on the gain line.
Overall, the one guy who deserves most credit in his individual role is Les Kiss followed closely by Greg Feek. Yes, the defence against Wales was awful but the change since then has been immense. We’ve established two or three defensive leaders in Ferris, Sexton and Best who have given another dimension to our game. We prevent opposition getting the ball away and rarely are exposed in the wider channels as a result. Earls is looking far more comfortable at 13. He still holds onto the ball a little too long but that’s the winger in him. His defence has been excellent when the ball has come out that far.
Our scrum has become a real weapon. Healy was once a liability in the scrum. He’s not perfect still but his improvement is massive. Every 6 months he seems to have made massive strides in his scrummaging. Euan Murray was considered the best tighthead scrummager in Europe 3 years ago. He was taken to the cleaners last weekend after coming on fresh. Mike Ross has been a rock on the other side and you would wonder what we’d do without him. He’s playing a serious amount of rugby right now but showing no signs of slowing down. He appears to be somewhat similar to Hayes in so far that he only plays at his best when he’s playing regular games and keeping his fitness up.
There’s an element of people simply being happy to see us mess up and waiting for it to happen. The last three games have probably been our best three in a row since 2009. If it wasn’t for some poor officiating and a bit of a mad try, we’d have had a win in Paris. People need to forget previous mistakes and take things on their merits right now. If we win in London, it will be a good tournament overall. We have the team to do it too.
I too would be happy to hold my hands up if we keep getting the results and performances.
But the conservative selections are just infuriating. It was always my biggest issue with him, and he hasn't improved a great deal. If he uses the NZ Tour to experiment I would be happy, but who knows what he will do.
Most of the team picks itself, but certain selections would allow us to play at least as well, if not better, and his continued reluctance to allow any experimentation drives me up the wall.
Selections like DOC are just baffling.0 -
Overall, the one guy who deserves most credit in his individual role is Les Kiss followed closely by Greg Feek. Yes, the defence against Wales was awful but the change since then has been immense. We’ve established two or three defensive leaders in Ferris, Sexton and Best who have given another dimension to our game. We prevent opposition getting the ball away and rarely are exposed in the wider channels as a result. Earls is looking far more comfortable at 13. He still holds onto the ball a little too long but that’s the winger in him. His defence has been excellent when the ball has come out that far.
Whilst Ireland have definitely improved overall as the tournament progresses I am not so sure about the defensive improvement being immense.
Against Wales defence was awful,
Italy didnt really count as Italy were dreadful and an AIL team could have defended what was thrown at them.
France was good defence first half, back to bad old ways in the second.
Against Scotland defence was good but Scots again didnt offer much at all in straight running and v easy to defend.
We will see what defence turns up against England, if they don't blitz up quickly they will be in for a long tough afternoon.0 -
It seems some posters are still stuck in the 'plucky underdog' world
You know the 'right lads, lets turn up and give it a lash' mentality.
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Who? What give it a lash mentality?
Why are posters labeled like this because they think the the Irish lads are fantastic players who are always competitive in the 6N, and with the potential to beat any of the teams. So sometimes we lose, big deal, that is sport. 5 other teams cannot win the slam this year, and really, Wales were very very lucky to get by us in the end. Two of the teams are France and England, who have a steep history in the sport. Who hav always been top sides in the world. Always.
They are big powerful and talented teams. Why should we "automatically" be beating England? Almost all our matches with them are tough. Come to think of it, why should we be automatically beating the Scots? They are all tough matches.
It's a very arrogant and cocky way to be to assume we should be winning slams or championships. In 13 seasins we have a very competitive record. So, we didn't win many titles, but we were so close on several occassions.
Jesus, winning a triple crown these days is not enough for some people. We waited so many years to win one, then we win a few, and suddenly a triple crown means **** all. It's downright arrogance.
Same way folks heap pressure on Katie Taylor to win gol thgis year. It's far from a certainty. Far!0 -
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Who? What give it a lash mentality?
Why are posters labeled like this because they think the the Irish lads are fantastic players who are always competitive in the 6N, and with the potential to beat any of the teams. So sometimes we lose, big deal, that is sport. 5 other teams cannot win the slam this year, and really, Wales were very very lucky to get by us in the end. Two of the teams are France and England, who have a steep history in the sport. Who hav always been top sides in the world. Always.
They are big powerful and talented teams. Why should we "automatically" be beating England? Almost all our matches with them are tough. Come to think of it, why should we be automatically beating the Scots? They are all tough matches.
It's a very arrogant and cocky way to be to assume we should be winning slams or championships. In 13 seasins we have a very competitive record. So, we didn't win many titles, but we were so close on several occassions.
Jesus, winning a triple crown these days is not enough for some people. We waited so many years to win one, then we win a few, and suddenly a triple crown means **** all. It's downright arrogance.
Same way folks heap pressure on Katie Taylor to win gol thgis year. It's far from a certainty. Far!
What on earth makes you think a win against England is "automatic"?
"We didn't win many titles" is correct, as we won 1. We haven't won a Triple Crown for 3 years.
We should accept not winning anything for 3 years because "we were so close", and if we complain about not winning anything it is just "arrogance".
England and France "have a history in the sport", does that mean they have a better team than us this year or the last? Maybe France, but we certainly have a better team than England.0 -
France was good defence first half, back to bad old ways in the second.
Against Scotland defence was good but Scots again didnt offer much at all in straight running and v easy to defend.
We will see what defence turns up against England, if they don't blitz up quickly they will be in for a long tough afternoon.
We'll have to agree to disagree on the French game. I thought they maintained their composure and defended very well in the second half. The French try was due to a slip in midfield on a wet surfece (Ross, I think) and them recycling quickly but defensive pressure forcing them into a bad pass. A bobbling ball gave them an unlikely break. It wasn't really down to any systems failure. Aside from that, the French didn't threaten our line and we were incorrectly penalised to allow them to draw level when Healy was done for not releasing the player but, as Heaslip had been the tackler, it should have been a penalty to Ireland. The passage of play leading to the Heaslip penalty on our own 22 was fantastic defence.0 -
We'll have to agree to disagree on the French game. I thought they maintained their composure and defended very well in the second half. The French try was due to a slip in midfield on a wet surfece (Ross, I think) and them recycling quickly but defensive pressure forcing them into a bad pass. A bobbling ball gave them an unlikely break. It wasn't really down to any systems failure. Aside from that, the French didn't threaten our line and we were incorrectly penalised to allow them to draw level when Healy was done for not releasing the player but, as Heaslip had been the tackler, it should have been a penalty to Ireland. The passage of play leading to the Heaslip penalty on our own 22 was fantastic defence.
Fair enough, but my take on it was that the aggressive blitz defence had got Ireland into an 11 point lead and the second half passive defence meant they were always on back foot and conceded 11 points.
An aggressive defence not only is tough to play against it also creates chances for yourself and that didnt happen in the 2nd half for Ireland0 -
Who? What give it a lash mentality?
Why are posters labeled like this because they think the the Irish lads are fantastic players who are always competitive in the 6N, and with the potential to beat any of the teams. So sometimes we lose, big deal, that is sport. 5 other teams cannot win the slam this year, and really, Wales were very very lucky to get by us in the end. Two of the teams are France and England, who have a steep history in the sport. Who hav always been top sides in the world. Always.
They are big powerful and talented teams. Why should we "automatically" be beating England? Almost all our matches with them are tough. Come to think of it, why should we be automatically beating the Scots? They are all tough matches.
It's a very arrogant and cocky way to be to assume we should be winning slams or championships. In 13 seasins we have a very competitive record. So, we didn't win many titles, but we were so close on several occassions.
Jesus, winning a triple crown these days is not enough for some people. We waited so many years to win one, then we win a few, and suddenly a triple crown means **** all. It's downright arrogance.
Same way folks heap pressure on Katie Taylor to win gol thgis year. It's far from a certainty. Far!
I think you're confusing 'arrogance' with expectations. We're not meeting the teams expectations in my opinions, and to be honest, I would presume the IRFU have certain expectations too. i.e; certain amount of silverware to be achieved in a certain amount of years. I wouldn't be surprised if those expectations have not been met either.0 -
What on earth makes you think a win against England is "automatic"?
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Don't believe I said that. My point was the way we come down so heavy on those lads because we may lose a match or two against the likes of Wales, France or England, who are always very good teams.
I don't jump for joy just because we are competitive and do well. I jump for joy when we win. But, conversely, I am not like many others who slate and slag and criticise those lads just because they may have lost a macth, sometimes by the bounce of a ball, or a score here or there, against Wales or England. Two very good teams. Historically they are world beaters.
I follow many sports, and it seems to me that the Rugby team always come in for the most criticism. Why? Because sometimes they lose matches. Ridiculous. We are not the best team in the 6N, we are not the worst either, and on our day we can beat any of the other teams. None of the teams are clearly superior. That is how competitive and tough the tournament is.
I state this, and then I am accused of settling for second best? Ridiculous.
A lot of the time it's a toss of a coin as to who wins a match between the big four. That is my point. We win some, we lose some. That is the nature of this game and the nature of the 6N. It's ever so tight at the top between the top 4 teams. None of them are dominating each other. None. So, why do we criticise and slate our lads because we aren't the dominant team?0 -
I think you're confusing 'arrogance' with expectations. We're not meeting the teams expectations in my opinions, and to be honest, I would presume the IRFU have certain expectations too. i.e; certain amount of silverware to be achieved in a certain amount of years. I wouldn't be surprised if those expectations have not been met either.
Yes, and sometimes expectations are downright off the mark. Realism needs looking at too. I have no issue with wanting to win, dying to win, but in this tournamnent, none of the teams are superior to the other 3. Italy and Scotland I discount because it seems that both are a notch below at the current time. So, we lose a match or two to the other three strong teams, and hat deserves some of the criticism levided at the lads?0 -
you are focussing wholly on results, and accusing people of getting on players backs when we don't return "good results".
Instead of thinking about results, how about trying to realise that we can all see that the team are capable of far better rugby than they've delivered over the past 3 years, and we're all incredibly frustrated by it, and by the excuses given to explain it.
Results are a function of playing good rugby, not a determinist of it.0 -
Don't believe I said that. My point was the way we come down so heavy on those lads because we may lose a match or two against the likes of Wales, France or England, who are always very good teams.
I don't jump for joy just because we are competitive and do well. I jump for joy when we win. But, conversely, I am not like many others who slate and slag and criticise those lads just because they may have lost a macth, sometimes by the bounce of a ball, or a score here or there, against Wales or England. Two verey good teams. Historically they are world beaters.
I follow many sports, and it seems to me that the Rugby team always come in for the most criticism. Why? Because sometimes they lose matches. Ridiculous. We are not the best team in the 6N, we are not the worst either, and on our day we can beat any of the other teams. None of the teams are clearly superior. That is how competitive and tough the tournament is.
I state this, and then I am accused of settling for second best? Ridiculous.
A lot of the time it's a toss of a coisn as to who wins a match between the big four. That is my point. We win some, we lose some. That is the nature of this game and the nature of the 6N. It's ever so tight at the top between the top 4 teams. None of them are dominating each other. None. So, why do we criticise and slate our lads because we aren't the dominant team?
It's the same in any sport when a team is underachieving.
Nobody is slating any of "the lads" personally. But they are capable of so much more than they have achieved, whether than that is at the World Cup or the Six Nations or whatever. We see what this team is capable of in isolated performances, and then they don't manage to back it up.
Complaining this team hasn't won anything for 3 years when the provinces are the best in Europe in that time is not "arrogance".0 -
O'Brien is back so thats going to be a boost.
It'll be a close game thats for sure, I favour us.0 -
We have won 3 games at most in the 6 Nations 2010, 2011 and 2012. 3 out of 4 years of Kidneys term as coach.
Maybe that's good enough for some people but for me its underperforming. Especially when Irish teams have won heineken cups in 2 out of 3 years in the same period, not to mention having 3 teams in the quarter final this year with two Irish teams unbeaten in the group stages and the bookies saying the winning team will be from Ireland.
Focusing on results though would be the wrong way to go. We should be expecting a higher standard of performance than we are producing.
Wed settle for second best. That'd be a great improvement at this stage.0 -
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In other words, they're winning.
If, for whatever reason, they don't produce the goods in the next rounds or even next season, sit back and watch people turn on them while moaning about every little detail, qualified or otherwise.
That's sport for you. Way it always has been and always will be.
That's just not true Justin and you know it. Very few, if any, turned on either Munster or Leinster when they were knocked out of the HEC in the 09/10 season and ended up winning nothing. And that was because we understood that they did pretty well all told and were playing to their potential at the time.
Most decent rugby fans can handle a loss if the team that won was genuinely a better team. We've often come away from games saying that the other side were very good and deserved their win. As long as our team reach their potential (or close enough to it) we can't ask for or expect anything more.Fishooks12 wrote: »Kind of sums up that group of English players
They should have been preparing for the game rather than shooting ads in the run up to the game
It was a Nike ad, devised and put together by Nike marketing people. It was good for a laugh at the time but not something to hold against the English rugby team.BoardsMember wrote: »People should listen to Emmet Byrne if they really want to understand why the provinces can do as well as they do, while Ireland would seem to under-perform. It's a really interesting theory, and makes a lot of sense. Essentially, what he says is that the effect of training with the same people day in day out, and the effect of having good & consistent coaching with the same players day in day out can result in the total being better than the sum of the parts.
On the other hand, wrt the international scene, he reckons that at international level it is less relevant how good the coaching is, the primary thing is how exceptional the player is. When a player plays well for a province it can be a combination of his natural ability plus the coaching and the familiarity with systems and those players around him week in and week out. The only thing that really matters at international level is the natural ability of the player. So as the standard goes up, the more obvious is the basic gap in basic ability & skills.
I'm not paraphrasing him too well here, or doing him justice, maybe someone else can help out if they have heard him go through it. It makes a lot of sense when you listen to him, he's a brilliant analyst in my humble opinion.
Haven't seen the article(s) myself but in fairness Wales are playing far better than their regions and we could argue that England are playing better than the sum of their parts too. I can understand the logic, but a good coach can overcome that.As someone who has been one of Kidney’s biggest detractors, I will happily hold my hands up and say these has been a steady improvement in this tournament in terms of his approach. No, it’s not perfect and the conservatism that taints his selections is still in full swing...
Too long a post to include all of it here, but I agree with it as well. We've certainly looked better than many of us would have feared. There are still issues there and a couple of decent performances aren't quite enough to sway me completely but things have moved in a positive direction so far.
This weekend is really all important I reckon though. France weren't great against us (although they were worse against England) and both Scotland and Italy were weak. The only truly strong side we faced this year was Wales. England have the ability to put in a very good performance, and I'm sure will be itching to after last year and to end the tournament on a high. If we can put in another positive shift then it can only help DKs case. If we are poor then we're right back to were we were at the start of the tournament IMO.0 -
It's the same in any sport when a team is underachieving.
Nobody is slating any of "the lads" personally. But they are capable of so much more than they have achieved, whether than that is at the World Cup or the Six Nations or whatever. We see what this team is capable of in isolated performances, and then they don't manage to back it up.
Complaining this team hasn't won anything for 3 years when the provinces are the best in Europe in that time is not "arrogance".
Fair enough, but when you hear some of the criticism, and excuses when we win, it's sad. I don't know how many times I have heard excuses made when we win. "Oh, that team were crap, the referee was on our side...." Unreal.
I am not saying that they are beyond criticism. I just rather constructive criticism. The French game recently, I myself criticised them. I thought they lacked passion and the real will to go and win in the second half. I also criticise them for some real silly calls, and mistakes. But, again, that is part and parcel of the game. All the teams can be guilty of this.
Yes, they are capbale of even more, but no, they are not a shoe in against any of the other 3 top teams. That is my point. We are not automatically better than Wales, England or France. So, why if we lose to these teams, are we criticsied?
Sure, criticise them if they lose due to horrendous errors, silly mistakes etc. From my viewing it's down to more than just a few mistakes or referee's calls.0 -
That's just not true Justin and you know it . . . etc
Whoa there. Its my opinion based on what I see. Media, emails addressed to the union, branch or management, tweets etc etc . . .
It is perfectly natural that people can be subjective about a team they're supporting. I'm not really slamming that proverbial person per se, even with gripes I might see as misguided. More so saying it is common place, and in ANY sport too, especially a team sport.0 -
For all the talk of bounce of the ball, Ireland have comfortably the worst record of the four decent 6N teams. When the bounce of the ball goes against you that often it's time to start looking at how you're throwing it.0
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For all the talk of bounce of the ball, Ireland have comfortably the worst record of the four decent 6N teams. When the bounce of the ball goes against you that often it's time to start looking at how you're throwing it.
Well, depends on your criteria.
Wins, and points (tabled points) Ireland are not the worst.
Titles, we are 4th place in the table.
Why look at only one statistic to state this?0 -
Cause it's a bloody championship. It's the only statistic that matters.0
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Well, depends on your criteria.
Wins, and points (tabled points) Ireland are not the worst.
Titles, we are 4th place in the table.
Why look at only one statistic to state this?
You could get a job in the IRFU with that sort of approach.
Yes, we may have a better win ratio than England or Wales, but where has it got us? It's this short-term outlook, "every game is a cup final" attitude that limits us to results rather than outcomes.
If we win four matches and lose the one that really counts, what value are those wins?0 -
If Declan called me asking me to play I'd say
"Declan I'm your biggest fan. I would of course absolutely be willing to play in a team that is going from strength to strength like Ireland. If anything you are too good for the job and they are performing too well, which probably makes your selection of me quite apt. I understand that playing me will generally bring down the overall quality of performance to a level that the average fan can comprehend. Your selection of me is a microcosmic display of visionary genius and completely displays the sort of incredible forward thinking that you have brought to the world of rugby since you graciously decided to donate your valuable time and experience to our unworthy sport. I promise to boxkick, garryowen and just generally punt any form of doubt you have for my level of ability straight out of your mind (but not on the full). I will be honest, I will do a job, I will give it a lash... In fact I will give it multiple lashes if that is what you require of me Declan."
And I think anyone who says they'd react any differently is either lying or English.
This is supposed to be in the other thread but I haven't time to move it.0 -
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Is it just me, or is Fez the most outspoken player on the squad? He's always saying all sorts of stuff to the media. I read all of it as being a bit tongue-in-cheek mind you. In a recent interveiw he labels the English as bad losers, and being the team they want to beat. IIRC I was given a yellow card on this forum for saying the exact same thing! I wonder how Kearney would look on it.. :P Funny stuff really..
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I reckon he says "bad losers" as a compliment, as in "show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser" kind of stuff....
Shure give it a lash lads, we'll have the party anyway, Perfidious Albion!
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