Autumn Series Rugby.

ersatz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118095323#Comment_118095323

I thought Wales held their own for the first 20 or 30 minutes, Barrett’s intercept ruined their momentum and the ABs had 2 or 3 more gears but a try there for wales might have seen them into the second half. Pretty brutal once AWJ went off tho.

maybe I’m deluded but it seems to me that Wales always run hot and cold, even their grand slams are always something of a surprise and on paper they never look looked dominating. They turn it around though.

TomsOnTheRoof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118095587#Comment_118095587

They struggled massively at the breakdown. Saying that it was a second string Welsh side so it was to be expected.

AbusesToilets

They had nothing to offer. Set piece was demolished, and calling their attack one dimensional is being generous.

Dave_The_Sheep

Probably best we wait until after we play NZ before declaring Wales guff or lucky. Just a thought.

Clegg

Sad to say but I think Jonathan Davies is finished as a top level player. He was never the fastest player, but his injuries have robbed him of his pace. Gets turned around an awful lot in defence these days.

Watched him play for Scarlets against Leinster a few weeks ago and he struggled massively then as well.

molloyjh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118095689#Comment_118095689

Wales are not a good side at the moment. That 6Ns win was ridiculous. Have we ever seen luck like it before? It was nuts.

Thats not to say that we’re anything special though. We’re not. But the reality is that even with a man down for the majority of the game we really should have beaten them in Cardiff. That we didn’t was more down to a bunch of errors on our end than anything that they did.

Dave_The_Sheep

Sure, they were lucky, but they were also very skillful and determined too. They played some great rugby during that 6N campaign while being lucky to win some games. And yeah, we should have beaten them but yet we didn't (thanks POM!) and Wales were within seconds of winning a Grand Slam. You don't get that just by being lucky. I recall everyone saying before that 6N that Wales weren't all that too.

All I'm saying is, before we go in on the Wales are **** train after losing badly to NZ while being quite depleted, let's wait until we don't also get a hammering. I mean, this is me we're talking about, I can't stand Wales as a rugby team. If I thought we should, I'd be all for it.

molloyjh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118096360#Comment_118096360

Wales should have lost to ourselves and Scotland. Both times the opposition handed Wales massive advantages. Italy and England were awful. As the tournament went on Wales got better. They had a boat load of momentum behind them which helped. And so at times yes, they looked good. But they are a limited side and I don’t rate them.

All of that can be true without requiring me to hugely rate us. As you’ve seen from my posts I’ve said we’re in a trough ourselves. We’re fortunate enough, I think, to be able to handle that a little better given we have better resources etc. But that’s not to say we’re going to be beating NZ or winning any GSs.

Dave_The_Sheep

Should have, but they didn't. Momentum is the nature of the Six Nations, always has been.

I hope you're right, I really do. I would love a serious fallow period for Wales, because I'm personally sick and tired of the overperforming that goes on.

Suppose we'll see.

pickarooney

A bunch of errors against Wales is one thing, a bunch of errors against NZ... that's a paddlin'

TRC10

It's ludicrous that Barrett is a 30 year old out half and he's on track to score more tries than our all time top scorer and best ever player. (He's on 39 now after 100 caps)

Buddy Bubs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118096634#Comment_118096634

He's on track to score more tries than any all black too...think it's Doug howlett who has 48. Christian Cullen and Joe Rococoko next top as far as I remember with 46 each.

Although he has played more matches than them all. But still, amazing player.

Digifriendly

No one has commented in this thread on Scotland's hammering of Tonga. Was it facile or can Scotland beat Australia and/or S. Africa? Will they be a threat in the 6N?

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118096670#Comment_118096670

As facile as it comes.

As it was outside the window Tonga had to put a call out to lower levels of French rugby to see who was available.

The had 6 uncapped players starting.

Tonga haven't a squad deep enough to handle being without their front liners

Tommysocks11

Imagine if the barretts parents had decided to stay in Ireland all those years ago, if we had those 3 bartetts we would most likely be the world's best team by now

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118096970#Comment_118096970

That's a great nature or nurture debate.

Would they have gotten the same coaching / opportunities through our systems as they did in NZ, and thus would they have ended up the same players?

I would say no, but it's a completely hypothetical debate

Buddy Bubs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118096970#Comment_118096970

Or Meath might have a few Leinsters and All Irelands! There's a few other brothers as well I believe, never made all blacks but did play top level club or provincial

lawrencesummers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118096970#Comment_118096970

We probably would have tried to make a second row out of jordie, and a 12 out of beauden.

lawrencesummers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118096670#Comment_118096670

Scotland are like ireland.

They loose the run of themselves after a win or two, and completely go bananas with optimism if they fluke a win over a decent team.

Bazzo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118095320#Comment_118095320

First time I ever saw him play was when he started against Connacht at 18 years old and was possibly the best player on the pitch. Had him earmarked as a future superstar from that day on.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118095323#Comment_118095323

How many players from the Wales 23 were on the Lions tour, a whopping 3 or 4 maybe?

Yeah_Right

It's good to see all the sour grapes on here. ABs put 50 plus on Wales in Cardiff and it was the refs fault 🤣🤣 love it. ABs were better than Wales in every aspect of the game. Unless both Blackadder and Laulala were red carded and a couple more yellows were handed out, Wales wouldn't have gotten close.

I know Wales couldn't select there Premiership players but who were they missing because of that? Biggar and RZ. Who else?

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118104420#Comment_118104420

ive only gone back one page, but i dont see anyone on here blaming the welsh loss on the ref... perhaps theres posts like that while the game was going on.. but in the main the ABs on here are being lauded as being excellent.

i have heard welsh fans on podcasts being apoplectic about the standard of reffing, and that warms my heart ;)

between injuries and unavailability wales were missing:

1. Nicky Smith

2. Ken Owens

3. Samson Lee

4. Corey Hill

5. Jake Ball

6. Josh Navidi

7. Justin Tiupric

8. Talupe Falatau

9.kieron hardy

10. Dan Biggar

11. Liam Williams

12. Wilis Halaholo

13. George North

14. Louis Rees Zammit 

15. Lee Halfpenny

on top of that AJ off after 20 mins and moriarity after 38 mins, two of their most physical players

wales were always on a hiding to nothing though.

hopefully for our game the ABs will have one eye on the following weekend hen they play France

Yeah_Right

I forgot about Falatau playing for Bath. Is he injured as well? That list of injured players is pretty extensive.

TRC10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118104420#Comment_118104420

To be fair to them, I like to see Wales get pumped as much as the next person but they were missing

Owens

AWJ (after 20 minutes)

Navidi

Tipuric

Faletau

Biggar

Sheedy

North

LRZ

Liam Williams

Halfpenny

Digifriendly

Wales should not be playing ABs outside of the International window. It is difficult enough to try and beat the best side in the world with a depleted side due to injuries but to be further handicapped by not being able to field those playing across the Welsh border in the EP made their task nigh impossible. Hopefully they will be much more competitive this weekend.

Clegg

Faletau is moving back to Wales to play for the Cardiff Blues. Had a look online to see the reaction of the Bath fans and the majority opinion seems to be that he was a waste of money. Away a lot of the time with Wales, but also frequently injured when he was back at his club.

He' hasn't actually played for Bath yet this season either because of injury. Missed a lot of rugby over the last 4-5 years really.

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118105563#Comment_118105563

Why would they take their eye off a team that's beaten them twice in the last 5 meetings to instead focus on a team that hasn't won a 6N in 11 years? I know Ian Foster isn't the best coach out there but I'm sure he isn't that stupid.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116300#Comment_118116300

Living in the past again I see.

Maybe because, well, France are in their RWC group in two years time, are hosting the competition and are second favourites for that competition behind the kiwis themselves ie they very well could end up facing France twice in the competition.

Everyone and their dog knows France have come on so much in the last couple of years and are building towards being exceptionally strong in '23. A win versus the all blacks this year would be hurt for their momentum.

Ian Foster would be stupid NOT to think that the France game is the biggest game of their tour this year.

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116359#Comment_118116359

Are second favorites because they are the hosts, you know just like England were in 2015 despite not winning a single 6N in the RWC cycle before the tournament.

That's a fancy way of saying they haven't won anything of note in 2 years despite all the hype in the world, imagine if we had all this hype, and were trophy less? Made to look even worse for the simple fact that Ireland, Wales & England have all been mediocre at best since the RWC, imagine if they all find there feet... Right now all I'm seeing is hot wind and media hype rather than anything tangible.

In reality this hype of France is mainly based on the media and nothing more and while that might work for the average fan and the TV coverage it wont have much bearing on the coaching staff and in reality NZL are coming to the NH to play 2 teams that are ranked 5th and 6th and have both come 3rd and 2nd in the previous 2 6Ns, that in itself is the reality of the situation and anyone saying otherwise has indulged themselves in too much ITV coverage. From the fact they are hosting the RWC (No sh!t Sherlock) to their U20s winning the 2 previous RWC's ( even though only 2-3 of their average 23 would contain any player from these squads) to clamouring about how much improvment Shaun Edwards has made to the French defence (their defence has most tries conceded outside of Italy in the tournament) I could go on and on but everything on the field tells us that yes they have improve clearly but all they have improved to being is from a 4th/5th place 6N side to a 6N contender, if we are going to go further and say they are "building something special" well the evidence is really stacking up is it? And also making predictions for 2 years time based on what you are seeing now shows me this is all hyperbole, you dont know where anyone will be in 6 months time never mind where they will be in 2023.

Well considering France cant even win their own hemisphere's competition when all their main rivals have been mediocre it would be nothing other than hot wind to think France is the be all and end all of this tour, France should probably try and beat Scotland first and foremost before worrying about the AB's! Only on this naive Island would we think an opposition would take their eye off a game to focus on the following week, that's something we would do as in the grand scheme of things we arent very good at planning things through but NZL are that bit better in that regard.

sydthebeat

Which game will be closer

Ireland v all blacks or France v all blacks?

When you actually find out the answer to this question you can go back and revise your last few posts

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116458#Comment_118116458

I dont know, what I do know is what you're excuse will be

France win = France are now the favourites for the RWC

France lose = They are building for 2023, no big deal.

something along those lines.

PMC83

Anyone one watch games via prime on Sat? I was actually pleasantly surprised. Played fine, no buffering. You can pause the stream, then play it when ready. Or just wait until after the match is over and watch it all then.

Would obviously be handier if it were all on terrestrial tv but these are the times we live in.

The main issue is that the match was absolutely burred in there, not so easy to find.

Digifriendly

Not a fan at all of taking AIs (bar Ireland) off linear TV and behind a pay wall but Amazon Prime do a good job. Their live match coverage is very good and highlights when uploaded are excellent.

Those in ROI may be unaware that the only live radio coverage in UK of AIs is via Talksport and Talksport 2 (apart from Welsh language on BBC Radio Cymru). Talksport 2 (which cover marquee games when Talksport has PL Commentary) is not available on the following platforms - DAB, digital terrestrial or satellite but is available on DAB+ and internet. This limits more traditional listeners and I guess they may have been quite a few in Wales last Saturday who neither saw live TV coverage nor heard live radio commentary of the match vs All Blacks.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116672#Comment_118116672

ive no idea what youre on about.......

Yeah_Right

Laying down a marker against France in their own backyard 2 years out from a RWC they are hosting would be a high priority for the ABs on this tour. It's also the last game of the season so there is a big emphasis on finishing the season with a win. Otherwise the NZ media have a stick to beat them with all summer.

I'm sorry to say this but Ireland just isn't held in the same esteem as France by NZ. And Ireland is my second team. Kiwis expect to beat Ireland every time. France has a fear factor for us. If Ireland were to start winning against the ABs on a more frequent basis, they will move up to the level of England and France in kiwi minds.

An Irish win this autumn would make next year's June tour more spicy.

PMC83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117179#Comment_118117179

Yeah its a shame to see any of it behind a Paywall. My biggest issue with the streamers as it can exclude a certain amount of the more senior watchers out there. Getting my aul going on Prime is, took some series work!

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117318#Comment_118117318

And thats the point, the MEDIA, not the coaches. A team with the amount of media hype France have you would expect to have done something major by now but of course the usual excuse is "its all about the Rugby World Cup" as in just another excuse to kick the can down the road as the media know they dont have any current evidence to back up their tabloids but at the same time they know if and when France implode at the RWC that people will just forget all the horse **** they wrote at this point as 2 years will have gone by. The emphasis will be for NZL to win the 5 matches and specifically the final 2 as that will probably tell us where NZL are at this stage.

And that again is down to the media but in reality not 1 NZL player has experienced losing to France, whereas most have experienced losing to Ireland and some even twice and of course some haven't even beaten Ireland before so from that respect to think they will just overlook the Irish game and just look at France is a complete lie and if they do they are either A. Dumb or B. Willfully ignorant, take you're pick. Ireland have beaten NZL more frequently than either France of England and that hasnt exactly helped, the media is what influences the public to think which team is more scary but at the end of the day the coaches and players based their decisions on facts and logic and with that in mind they will come up with a completly different perspective than what the media will want the team to do.

A win would give Ireland a 60% win record since NZL won the RWC, yet it wont matter as the media will be too busy wet themselves over France and especially Shaun Edwards who they didnt seem to give a crap about until he became the France coach...

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117228#Comment_118117228

To break it down, you will have an excuse for every scenario, you already have laid them out in you're reply above. Apparently France arent winning because they are focusing on the RWC, so im guessing that will be the excuse if they lose to NZL afew weeks from now, either way you are a winner it seems.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117430#Comment_118117430

I never said one iota about "France arent winning because they are focusing on the RWC"....

so ive no idea what you are projecting here, but its nothing to do with my initial point

hopefully for our game the ABs will have one eye on the following weekend when they play France

so again, youd be very ill informed if you dont think the French game is viewed as the biggest game for the ABs on this tour, for all the reasons ive outlined already

aloooof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117546#Comment_118117546

Also, UAEguys assertion here “…at the same time they know if and when France implode at the RWC that people will just forget all the horse **** they wrote at this point as 2 years will have gone by.” is way off the mark.

If France implode at they next RWC they’ll be absolutely hammered. It reminded me of this tbh:

• David Brent : I gave a speech only this morning to my staff assuring them that there would not be cutbacks at this branch and there certainly wouldn't be redundancies, so...
• Jennifer Taylor-Clark : Well, why on Earth would you do that?
• David Brent : Why? Oh, don't know. A little word I think's important in management called morale.
• Jennifer Taylor-Clark : Well, surely it's going to be worse for morale in the long run when there ARE redundancies and you've told people that there won't be.
• [pause] 
• David Brent : They won't remember.

yourdeadwright

Quick question do you need a covid pass when going to the Aviva

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117546#Comment_118117546

Its viewed as the biggest game only by the media, the reasons outlined though are ill-informed and based on nothing but hyperbole and assumptions. If you were to ask the AB's coaches about what games they think are the biggest and they were completely honest they would say the Ireland and France games (If it was inside the international window I would also say the Wales game but for obvious reasons that wasnt the case). If NZL want to win a RWC they will need to win pretty much every game they play and simply losing a game or struggling to win a game by simply focusing on another game would set a dangerous precedent especially when unlike France Ireland actually have players who have beaten the AB's.

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117571#Comment_118117571

The same thing happened with England in 2015, the media spent years talking bollocks when the evidence infront of everyone pointed out the bollocks in plain sight and then when 2015 the media were never questioned for their complete screw up. I dont envision a screw up as bad for France in 2023 but at the same time I don't see what evidence from the last 2 years that points to the "something special" France are building. I see potential but potential means nothing without action and until that happens I'm not going to be convinced regardless of the arguments made.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117665#Comment_118117665

haha "all blacks in wanting to win every game shocker"

you ont find any media outlet who saying the french game is the biggest game.... doesnt mean its not correct.

YR above has already said how the tour is viewed back in NZ

TheRona

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117661#Comment_118117661

According to this, you only need one for hospitality areas.

https://twitter.com/IrishRugby/status/1456212286604025857?t=ofZKK6BevJDkBVYy2IAeIQ&s=19

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117982#Comment_118117982

They are equally big as a loss in either will be equally damaging. The way you talk about France you'd swear they'd have actually achieved something over the last 2 years!

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118118021#Comment_118118021

what the hell are you on about....

again ill reiterate my initial point... just because you seem to have a difficulty in understanding it...

hopefully for our game the ABs will have one eye on the following weekend when they play France

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118117680#Comment_118117680

Before the 2015 RWC England were playing badly, they did not merit the expectations that they would win the tournament based on their poor performances in the run up.

France, on the other hand are a very impressive team now, they are nowhere near the chaotic mess they were under Brunel where they lost more than 3/4 of their matches and didn't look like a side that had any cohesion in the lead up to the last RWC

If Willemse hadn't been red carded, and if Wales weren't gifted a try that was never grounded, they most likely would have beaten Wales and gone on to win the championship from there

UAEguy2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118118084#Comment_118118084

They look impressive in comparison to Brunel, they look good now but for a side with all this hype there does appear to be scant little evidence to support it. They did beat Wales...and they still lost to Scotland the following week, plus impressive sides like you imply shouldnt be relying on "ifs, buts and maybe's", thats what pretenders do which is what France look more like based on the previous 2 six nations.