I think this is also an exaggerated view of modern rugby. I've seen plenty of teams 'close out' games in recent seasons with pick and gos, its far from dead.
Murray should've been dropped years ago. I think there's a few lads languishing at club level with the talent to be internationals that would've benefited with being in Irish camps. Doak is one that should be invested in, even allowing for a poorer run of form lately.
Tough day at the office yesterday. I think Will Connors would have been a great option for that type of game.
I think Farrell is doing great but needs to be a bit more ruthless, that loss is on the coaches imo. Conan/Baird should have been on for POM at half time and Hendo for Joe. Baird is the in form back row and ended up playing 11 mins and not touching the ball. We should never have been leading at HT but the coaching staff needed to count their blessings and make changes. Murray is past it and hasn't offered much in a long time but that's again on the coaches.
We should beat Scotland and winning a championship is still a brilliant result. We need a big response next week though. Wasn't good enough yesterday.
3 good points
3
Total number of Triple Crowns in 15 years
I don't care about the loss last night. Same way I didn't care about the wins v France, Italy and Wales. I care about the World Cup. Hopefully it will be the catalyst for Farrell to wield the axe on Healy, POM and Murray. They should have been gone after the World Cup and we've wasted 4 games of development for their replacements, but better late than never I suppose.
Our lineout was an absolute shambles at the World Cup. POC should have been out on his ear after the quarter final loss but he was kept on and our lineout is still an absolute mess so hand him his P45 please. And for the love of god move Porter back to TH. It's been over two years and he still can't scrummage at LH. He's never going to learn so please move him back. Two fixes to our two biggest problems.
After the World Cup I wondered how long it would be before we anointed ourselves the "best team in the World" again, and the answer was a 4 months, which was faster than even I expected. It's embarrassing.
That's just sad, what do you do for the 4 years in-between just whinge?
I don't see Blade getting into the squad. Our misfiring backline at Connacht isn't allowing him to show his qualities. He's also overplaying to compensate for lack of options and mouthing off at referees too much. I really like Blade as a player but he doesn't have the form that gets you selected.
That poster is 100% correct in everything said.
Unless England beat France by about 80 points, a LBP will do us next week against Scotland.
Scotland would win the Triple Crown and we'd win the Championship 🏆
Everyone's a winner
I know I am thanks!
Nah screw them, end the championship on a high is what's best!
England was always going to be the banana skin for us, as it turned out to be. Scotland don’t have the temperament or the forwards to trouble us very much.
Not you mate.
Tbh you're opening remark of the Ireland France game told me all I needed to know about you...another fair weather "fan" with a chip on their shoulder.
And you are a dreamer that needs a dose of reality once and for all.
We have, back to back 6N wins coming up, 20 wins from 22!
And didn't win the ones that mattered the most unfortunately.
Why did this England game mean more than the French game for example?
We did, we've won both tournaments.
Out of curiosity, does that also mean France are bottlers because they got KO'ed in the QF also?
This trope really bugs me. They ALL matter.
If they win the competition that's all the matters
The England and France games mattered the same. But they both pale in comparison to a World Cup quarter final.
World Cup is over, won't be around til 2027
We should discuss it then, if you spend your entire life looking behind you then you will not see what is in front of you
Just our of curiosity, by you're definition are France also bottlers?
In reality the World Cup is full of 31 bottlers and 1 winner.
True, but I just would love TRC to show us some blatant hypocrisy here!
Nope. New Zealand made the final, England made the semis and finished 3rd, Argentina made the semis, Fiji made the quarters which was exceeding expectations, Portugal beat Fiji which was a brilliant result for them. You can have a good World Cup without winning it. But I can see how telling yourself 18 other teams are also "bottlers" can make coping easier.
There were only 20 teams at the World Cup?
I would only consider teams that were raging hot favourites or hyped up as the best team and then losing as bottlers.
That’s exactly why the old guard need to go. It’s all about WC cycle and building for 2027.
24 teams :-)
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