"I started a joke, that started the whole world ......" | Ireland v New Zealand.

Reducing that 80minute titanic battle with that much at stake involving that many players to an 'acceptsble term' is simply nonsense and displays a lack of understanding of sport by those who wish the argument to align so - most likely to accommodate their own inability to be able to analyse sport events. I wish the 'bottlers'/ 'chokers' name calling brigade would set up their own thread and go off worship Eamon Dunphy/Pat Spillane/ Colm O Rourke/ etc. - individuals who cover up their inability to analyse their sports with name calling on players and teams. 13 nil down and pulling the game back to a 1 point deficit within the same half is not the sign of bottlers or whatever that terms means.

Magnificent spectacle of sporting brilliance last night in a match (now that's a key term) involving two teams, where one has to lose. Unfortunately it was our team.

But we’ve had easier draws in other world cups and not made the most of them either. Yes it’s a pity that with probably our best team we got the (very) hard side but you have to beat the best to win the thing anyway. It reminded me of 2011 and the elation at beating Australia in the group, only to come out and completely freeze against wales.

People don't seem to be able to distinguish between the extraordinary effort the team and management put into last night indeed the last four years and asking the simple questions of what happened and what shouldn't happen again etc

Ireland were gifted two of the softest tries you’ll ever see NZ concede. Last night was a massive opportunity, and our boys let it pass them by. They were handicapped by only having 6 in the pack, but overall, a bottle job.

Look I do consider it to be absolutely nuts to be holding the draw 3 years before the tournament begins. I always did and said about 20 years ago that such a scenario like what happened in 2023 was an inevitability. FIFA do the football WC draws six months in advance. I think UEFA did the Euro2020 draw three months from the tournament.

Nevertheless it is what it is.

They have plans, I believe, to change the timing of the draw for the next RWC although that is no comfort to Ireland today.

The yellow for deliberate knock on was a marginal call and if we had received it would have gone bonkers. The shoulder to Aki was inexplicable and a step backwards for player safety similar to the Welsh game. I suspect if we had played with 14 players for 20 mins the result would have been more conclusive and reflected the actual component parts of the game we came up short in. Moments which summed up last night there was a ball out and Bealim I think took that moment to check and it was lost then Beirne got a ball at the end and just stood still momentarily. The lack of fluidity was the challenge.

I saw what happened, twice now as I watched it on +1 and it wasn't remotely 'bottling'.

It was a titanic struggle between two teams who made mistakes and had moments of brilliance and it came down to one score.

Also, if someone came onto boards and made a pre match prediction that ireland woukd play for 20minutes with a extra man advantage and still lose, they'd have been roundly abused and laughed at for being ridiculous. The fact it actually happened really is quite a stunning scenario.

Man, this has to be one of the funniest threads I've read in a while.

From the hysterical Father Ted "that's it, we're fecked" stuff in the first twenty minutes after NZ's first try, to the assured chorus of "take the three points!!" only for Gibson Park to score from this decision just before halftime.

The drama!!

Back to see what gold the second half comments have to offer. 😭

It was only the first 20 minutes of the match that was bottled.........Like I stated some of our seasoned professionals who have won everything except the WC looked terribly nervous before and after the anthems. I was very worried when I saw their faces and wondered if they'd been mentally prepared for this match as elite sport is very much about goes on inside heads as well as the athleticism required to win the match or event.

Absolute bullsh!t! They didn't join any of the previous teams who did collapse. This team had the spirit to perform brilliantly and drag themselves back into a game that was showing all signs of going beyond them. I'll leave you to your slang term and your need to ignore everything that happened across the whole 80 minutes. I have seen teams previously missing the courage, drive, ability, belief and myriad of other characteristics together necessary and give up with that start. Hard to say it about this team as they played up to the last seconds seeking the winning score.

It’s insulting and it’s something nobody can know for sure except the lads themselves. They played against one of the top teams in the world and were the width of a hand from winning. Then the narrative goes from “they choked” to “they really dug that out, what mental strength.” It’s lazy analysis.

Very, very few athletes produce their absolute best under extreme pressure. And that’s for a variety of reasons. Let’s not forget, you have some of the best rugby players in the world on the other side of the pitch trying to stop you from winning. You have lads who may not be at their peak physically and may be carrying knocks. You just get caught cold at the start.

All those things can happen especially when you’re playing against an elite team and, while this isn’t the best NZ team, they are elite.

What I would say is that if this was a proper choke or mental weakness, we’d have gone under after 10 mins. 13-0 down, really slow start. If you were a choker, that’s the time to cave completely. Our lads stuck in the game to the very end and that’s why I don’t think the analysis from some posters is fair. There are too many things at play to simply say they choked or bottled it.

To ascribe every big defeat, particularly one as narrow as this against such a big team, to choking is lazy, condescending, insulting analysis from keyboard warriors. Sadly, it’s become prevalent in every sport.