can you take your rejects home , we would win otherwise
right direction of what ? old age ? team in no way going right direction
We lose by 22 points and I’m definitely coming back here to shove it in your face
You remind me of a couple of kiwi acquaintances I was with in a bar in Cork in 2007 telling all and sundry how NZ was going to wipe the floor with France. Man they took some gleeful shît from the other patrons a couple of hours later.
3 test tour of NZ coming next Summer will be a much more significant examination of where we are.
Match thread here
Try Aotearoa rugby pod.
See, before last weekend, I'd have thought similar tbh! It's the hope that kills ya....
The attack. Obviously.
So apparently if a users profile is private I can’t put them on my ignore list on mobile. This new boards seems to delight in dropping in new and exciting features when you least expect it.
Thanks for that, I’ve added the link to the match thread opening post, cheers 👍🏻
99% of the time, I would be one of those cocky, arrogant kiwis. And when I'm wrong, I take my lumps. I was the only kiwi on a lads trip with a bunch of Irish when we lost in Chicago. I happily took my beating that day. Didn't stop me confidently predicting we would win the next match.
Maybe you're playing the game, but a 23 point defeat would be pretty disappointing IMO.
Before last weekend I gave us a 5% chance of winning, after the Japan match I was at 45%, having seen the NZ team selection I'm down to 20-25%. So a chance for sure, but clearly NZ are favourites. I think NZ by 8 to 14 points. A margin of defeat like that plus a continuation of the gameplan from last week (within reason I guess given the opposition) would be ok. But 15+ would be too much for me to be content.
Hopefully the players have more belief than us!
I just think the difference in the benches is huge. I reckon we should be right in it for 60 mins. But once the benches start to come into it, NZ should have too much. For me it’s them by 15-20. With a couple of scores coming in the final quarter after a proper contest for the first 3.
The reason I’d be okay with that is because I honestly think over the next year we’ll see improvements in the bench too so that will significantly narrow the gap. So if the bench is where this is won and lost then at least we look to be on an upward curve there.
If we’re 15-20 points down at half time though, that’s a different matter entirely.
It's unpredictable because if Ireland try to play an enterprising game as against Japan New Zealand could pounce on any mistakes and score a few tries off turnover ball. But then again, Farrell's defence has worked well against NZ in the past.
I'm reasonably hopeful of a win. The victories in 2016 and 2018 mean Ireland go into the game knowing they can win, which is quite a big shift from before.
That's what I'm thinking too. Impact from the bench, NZ leading going into the final quarter and they get 2 or 3 tries as Ireland try to chase the game.
I think the players have the defeat
Personally I am not massively concerned about the win/lose/drawe. This is supposed to be building towards the WC so I want the team to show they have progressed, if we have an afternoon of box kicking the sh**e out of the ball and lose then I won't be a happy bunny. If we continue to show a more attacking mindset then I will be happy even in a loss.
It was interesting to hear the NZ press guy on OfftheBall. His description of Irish rugby was from the Joe Schmidt era and seemed to have no idea of the newer philosophy. I doubt the NZ team are unaware but still we might be able to catch them on the hop.
In terms of people trying to say this was a warm up for the French game, not according to him.
Ah. Not promising update
"A potential positive case has been identified in one person via the latest PCR testing carried out on the Ireland squad. Additional testing is being undertaken to establish if this is a false positive.
The entire Ireland squad and management have undergone additional lateral flow and PCR testing today. The lateral flow testing returned no positives and the PCR results are expected later today.
As a precaution today’s planned Captain’s Run media briefing will be switched from in-person to virtual – details to follow."
https://www.irishrugby.ie/2021/11/12/irfu-advise-of-potential-positive-covid-case-in-ireland-mens-squad/
Heffernan on standby to join squad so it's one of the hookers.
Wouldnt be great if a hooker as potentially some front row would be deemed close contacts from scrummaging practice
What is this false positive bs. You get a test its either positive or negative. If its positive you isolate for whatever time it is these days if its negative you play.
Is the rule now you keep testing until you get a negative like Eamonn ryan.absolute rubbish.
Except that no one returned a positive on a lateral flow.
And only one squad member returned a positive result despite the entire squad being a close contact.
And the fact that the squad get their temp measured multiple times a day
I think it's more than reasonable to assume this is a false positive
If they're vaccinated there are no implications for close contacts, so hopefully that's the case.
Why is it rubbish. No test is 100% accurate. There have been plenty of false positives and some tests that were inconclusive that required a retest to be done. I imagine if the positive case was in a symptomatic person there would be no re test.
Might be Hendo
https://twitter.com/ruaidhrioc/status/1459161979126521859?s=21
Herring and Henderson missing from training, so you can probably put 2+2 together.
in a relationship?
That's fcuked! I hope it's not true. Missing these lads would be awful. Fcuking covid
This match shouldn't be coached in Farrell's talk of "building towards World Cup". He has picked what he believes are his very best options right now.
4, probably 5, out of the 23 will not be at the WC.
With the oldest player at the heart of everything at outhalf and the captain. That is not building in anybody's world.
Breakdown of players age (32 and over) from the previous Nov internationals:
2021 5 out of 23 (Sexton, Healy, O'Mahony, Murray, Earls)
2017 1 out of 23 (Best rwc)
2013 5 out of 23 (Ross rwc, POC rwc, O'Driscoll, D'Orce, Boss rwc)
2009 2 out of 22 (Hayes, O'Gara rwc)
2005 2 out of 22 (Byrne, Humphreys)
2001 2 out of 22 (Clohessy, Galway)
A player under 32 could get injured or loss of form and not be available as well. All those 5 players could be at the next WC and 5 others in the squad might not. Great work on google but doesn't make a huge difference to my original point
The 5 you mention I don't see why they wont make the next WC. Unless injury is involved
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