Great effort and Ireland's best world cup performance wise
What a game for the casual viewers!
Ireland needed the set piece to work well and it didn't. Well targeted by Nz. Congrats to them
You know all this how? Scotland are in the weak u20's groups. Wales haven't contended in years. The kiwis have been very poor at u20 level. England might get better. I'd be worried about France. U20's won the last 3 world cups. Scotland have absolutely nothing in the pipeline! They'll do well to stay a tier 1 nation
OK we get it, its obvious you have a strong dislike for Sexton.
Sexton went to France to earn more money and you cant blame him, unfortunately Ireland were in the situation in that needed him badly, no other 10 came close and unfortunately no other 10 still comes close. There is a big drop off from him even as a 38 year old.
Zebo was no where near his level and had numerous adequate replacements who were actually probably better than him when he decided to move
Farrell should find someone to give him a good slap
Mod: Cop on.
A try is a score. We were down by 4, a try gives you 5 points.
Jack Crowley is only starting for Munster since the new year and is only 23. The big thing that has slowed down his progress is the belief that Carberry would come good, not Sexton starting for Ireland. Crowley has shown he has the bottle and the ability. Should be given the chance to deliver in the 6 nations. Prendergast should also be in the squad and starting for Lienster at least in the URC.
O'Connell definitely needs to look at the line out but he is the same coach that had us as the best line out. I feel that teams we able to unsettle there through closing the gap and refs not enforcing it. Once they saw the trend it should have been highlighted in every ref meeting, and Johnny should have been in Barnes ear about it form the first lineout. A third lineout option to replace O'Mahony will be key in the next cycle - Baird at 6? Prendergast? Especially as Joe McCarthy is a big unit and may not be the easiest lift, however looks the best option to come in to the 2nd row in the long term. Especially with the likes of Ahern being blocked at Munster by Snyman and Klyen (as an aside - surely Klyens contract at Munster was based on him being IQ). Having 2 of the four best SA locks blocking young Irish players coming though is not a god position to be in.
At TH prop - I feel Furlong was being patched together to get to the world cup. He should be allowed get an extended break to get himself right so would not write him off just yet. Big year for O'Toole is needed I feel though.
On Porters side - I feel NZ were aware of the perception that he can be illegal at times and played Barnes on this. Porter does tend to angle in before straightening so they just painted the picture to make it look as bad as possible by following around themselves preventing him from getting straight. A bit of focus on square and straight fir the winter needed I feel.
Well that’s just plain wrong. You can’t have a rule applying to players where they are outcast for taking a contract in France if it’s not applied across the board.
Zebo was a good player by the way and a very good option.
Sexton got carte Blanche to do what he liked back then and years later he was still there as first pick out half at the old age of 38 and past his best. It says it all and they paid the price for it last Saturday night.
It wasn't a score we lost by, I see a lot of misinformed folk saying the same thing this morning.
We needed a try to win
A score suggests a penalty or drop goal wins it if you can work the ball to the position but that wasn't the case.
France lost by a score.
Nor did getting rid of him 4 years ago happen. Both of us are discussing 'what ifs'.
Whitelock did not release in the last phase. Barnes ignored that, pinged us and ended the game. He also ignored other infringements in that last phase in which I felt Sexton was marshalling them to win a penalty, favouring us in a lineout maul close to the line. Maybe Barnes and Sexton's history with one another was the reason Barnes arm never went out in that 30+ phases.
May not have been his intention but the lack of setting up line breaks as we routinely do leads me to think that was the play, just as the final play against France a few years ago (that this reminded me off) was to set up the match winning drop at goal.
Had it worked we'd be in a different place but such is sport.
He went to France and was a success, he was offered a massive long term contract to stay with Racing and he rejected it, once he did that the French press went after him and still do to this day.
Zebo left France because of the new JIFF rules meant restricted number of players and he wasn't one of the big names. ROG said this on a podcast and because the rest of the French league was reducing oversea players he was let go, his age etc didn't help.
If the IRFU changed the rules tomorrow the French clubs would be all over Irish players, they haven't bothered anymore because they know players won't move to France.
The irish clubs get to the top of Europe every season with Qtr/semi appearances.
Not sure why you would say Sexton was above criticism? he get the most discussion and headlines of all players in Ireland. A lot of them about is about how terrible he is etc etc.
Sexton has retired, no need to slag him off
We were on a 17 game winning streak, grand slam champions, clean sweep of the pool stage, essentially playing at home and the bookies were only giving us a point or two. They clearly thought we had been playing above the sum of our parts and NZ were playing below their ability. The VM team are ex Ireland players and an Aussie who lived and worked here for decades. They are talking about their mates, of course their opinions are coloured. Man for man that Kiwi team is better than ours.
Unfortunately yes you do have to play to the ref. I think it was Horgan that was saying we had control of the scrum, there was no need for Porter to wheel it. He made the mistake the first time but didn’t learn from it and repeated it?
Very annoying and the management team needed to step in and replace him if he was having a nightmare with it.
It’s a silly question. It didn’t happen. What I saw was Sexton out on his feet and they left him there for the full 80 minutes. Fresher legs at out half at that point could have made a difference but we’ll never know because the manager didn’t introduce the fresh legs in that department.
By the way what was the last call from the ref? Did he say Ireland weren’t releasing. It felt like Ireland ran out of gas and they weren’t going to score and the whistle ended it because the momentum wasn’t there and it was too slow recycling possession?
When he went to France he was World Class and there was no real alternative to him. Zebo on the otherhand was not World Class and there were plenty of options.
There still is a big drop off to the next 10 in line.
Hopefully Prendergast gets Leinster game time this year and next year can make the step up because Ireland will struggle with either Byrne or Crowley
With the Hosts and the Irish going out , I reckon the economic boost the tourney gives to businesses will take quite a bit of hit.
Mod: This poster is serving a two week rugby forum ban, no need to respond to this.
If we won the grand slam in 2024 going to paris & twickenham people will very quickly forgot about the NZ game.
there’s only going to be one winner of this World Cup so one of South Africa or NZ are still going to be seen as failures.
6 Nations is one of the biggest tournament’s in the world of any sport & not easy to win.
100%. It's a bit of a lottery how one ref to another calls the scrum. Barnes clearly explained the picture he was seeing and why he pinged Porter. Doesn't matter what anyone thinks of the call , right or wrong, you have to play to the ref.
Horsesh1t
France would love a Grand Slam
No, you said what you would have done 4 years ago.
I asked you what would be the commentary on Sexton be this morning if he had marshalled the team to a one point victory on Saturday via that last phase. Had the referee, as you would normally expect, have given a penalty for a no release to the team going forward and we had mauled the lineout over as we had been doing in the game?
I can guarantee you those making easy criticisms like yourself would be silent and laughed out of the room if you opened your mouth TBH.
I answered your question, you just don’t like the answer.
One thing I’ll say is having been at both QFs in Paris , the venue is an unbelievable cauldron. Nothing on tv replicates this. Don’t underestimate how nervous the kiwi’s were , I’ve never seen them so quiet and the last few minutes shredded everyone’s nerves, there was nothing in it.
Ifs and buts mean little now , Ireland (and France) played and lost. The disappointment in the stadium and around town on both nights was palpable. Both sets of teams and fans were expecting a win. Our French amis cheered us on and we did likewise.
fair play to NZ/SA for grinding out the wins, it was big game experience in the end that stood to both imho.
Maybe we need to include Australia when talk of the SH dominance is mentioned? There are lessons to be learned for everyone
The SH pushed for something which would kill the 6 nations so knew it would never work. Rugby would die in Ireland/Wales/SCotland/Italy without the 6 nations so why would any of them for it?
The SH wanted the 20 min red card and implemented it when nobody else did, then complained for years about it.
The World Cup is not a level playing field, it will only be that if everyone is at the same stage of the season.
Of course. Sexton has been untouchable and above criticism for years. When he went to France but wasn’t outcast like players like Zebo were for example; that said it all.
Sexton the untouchable, above criticism as if he was the greatest rugby player ever.
He wasn’t and that folly came home to roost and the insular nature of Irish rugby will publicly at any rate never concede that. They conceded the game v NZ on Saturday night though and that was a factor in that concession.
Sexton’s form for a 38 year old remained good but not that good that he was irreplaceable, in my view he should have been moved out over the last few years and other players brought in. Sexton could maybe have been a good experienced back up to come in like Conor Murray at scrum half. Crowley has looked good when I’ve seen him, he should have been number 1 out half with Sexton in support I reckon.
In the game v NZ Sexton’s legs were gone towards the end of the game. Would you have left him on for the full 80 minutes? Instead bringing him in fresh for the last 15 to 20 minutes could have worked but it seemed Sexton’s position was untouchable. Big mistake.
Why didn’t they bring Crowley on for the last 15 or 20 minutes when Sexton’s legs were gone? Was it because it was his last hurrah and they were going to stick with him until the end for the one last time? He’s been a great player but he’s been elevated onto a pedestal and untouchable for far too long and the price was paid for that on Saturday night.
He’s gone now, I hope he doesn’t change his mind and come out of retirement. The damage done for this Works Cup though.
I think he has a tendency to not execute or go off plan under pressure. He ran a few that absolutely should have been kicks. Of the NZ imports, i’d say JGP also had a below average game. Aki was one of the best players on the field from either side.
Porter needed to read the room. If Barnes was penalising him for wheeling the scrum then he needed to stop doing it. Instead he repeated it another two times after the first call. Did we have a replacement for him? Those penalties added to the line out problems from the South Africa match recurring were crucial.
You referenced VM pundits as the oracle in another post. None of them were saying this about Sexton prior to the WC. In fact they were saying he was critical to our success and should be protected, most if not all paid pundits were saying the same.
You are just picking on an easy hindsight criticism
....
I saw no arrogance, but you know that don't you?
I think you'll find you're very much in the minority in that opinion on Sexton.
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://we.vanillicon.com/v2/e7ef1946e92d84157dc464ad6c3ddaab.svg)
