Munster vs Racing 92, Sat 21st Oct 5:30pm; Sky Sports Arena

irishbucsfan

Former Former wrote: »

It's at 3.45 here if anyone wants to take another look.

https://youtu.be/uq4Eaui1mBw

It looks to me like he has the time to make the simple pass.

From the attached still, he has the ball exactly where he wants it, but I guess it's a split second call for him.

Cheers.

It's not that it was down his right side as I remembered, it's the it was in the middle of his body so to pass it he'd have to pull it back and then pass, rather than just letting the ball come round his back. Brilliant stuff. And perfectly weighted kick from Keatley.



But yes, Earls should definitely have caught it. If you can get two hands on it, you catch it, thats the expectation.

molloyjh

I don’t think people are looking to have a go at Zebo. We’re just at that point where big moments like that get hyper analysed. I think Zebo had the time to throw the simple pass, but whether he had the ball cleanly enough to do it effectively I’m not sure. It’s easy for us to do that hyper analysis as we have time to. Zebo made a decision in a split second.

Thomond mentioned the chip, which was def a beaut. And Zebo very nearly found Earls. But it just didn’t quite pan out. It’s unfortunate but that’s all. Zebos distribution generally is top notch so I suppose in that kind of 50:50 you’ve got to back his call. Nobody will know better than him what was or wasn’t on.

swiwi_

John Hayes

swiwi_ wrote: »

I dunno why Zebo always gets such shìt. He created a genuine try scoring chance out of nothing in an otherwise extremely mediocre attacking game by both sides (don’t think your standard draw and pass was an option here) which Earls should have caught. There are few Irish backs with such attacking ability, which should be lauded not pilloried.

"Our backline lacks the creativity to open defences"

Player does something skillful and creative

"That was too risky"

Front pass or rear pass, it's all tight enough margins and part of the intention was to give Earls a bit more time by concealing the passage of the ball. There is more to it than just the pass. Zebo is a bamboozler. he bamboozles.

I thought it was enjoyable to watch, hardly worth two pages of discussion over whether it was the best option or not.

Sabre0001

It was worth a try. Watched the Foley documentary and the players talked about how he wanted them to express themselves and enjoy rugby, etc. Not everything will come off, but sometimes it's worth a try, especially in a snap decision. And if it does, it's glorious.

The more I see him on the touchline, the more I see that Jacques Nienaber is going to be a big loss. Not only has he helped the defence along massively, but he's often coaching the younger lads during the game, acts as another set of eyes (called Zebo's attention to winger loitering with intent as Racing had advantage and went for cross field kick), and encourages players throughout - couple of high fives after some of the lads did well.

Interested Observer

Deleted User wrote: »

"Our backline lacks the creativity to open defences"

Player does something skillful and creative

"That was too risky"

Yep, very frustrating to read stuff like that. There was another example from the NZ game the other week against SA that did go to hand yet several people on here still had a problem with it.

molloyjh

Interested Observer wrote: »

Yep, very frustrating to read stuff like that. There was another example from the NZ game the other week against SA that did go to hand yet several people on here still had a problem with it.

In fairness if a decision is the wrong decision it should be called as such, regardless of how fancy it is or how many people ooh and ahh over it.