And what did Etzebeth do that was so noteworthy?
McCarthy had more carries (6 v 3) for more metres (11m v 4m), they made a similar number of tackles (8 for Etzebeth v 7 for McCarthy). Neither had any turnovers won or lineout steals. Both left the field after 49 mins. The Irish scrum was probably in the ascendency for that period, and was unlucky not to be rewarded with penalties on at least 2 occasions.
I thought it was Aki and Murray, and neither would out-pace Kolbe on their best day to be fair. I’m sure the coaches will fix this for the next match. Players need to be closer before attempting it, or just let it go.
https://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/video/30998/13174320/kolbe-punished-lowe-mistake-for-sa-try
He did not outplay etzebeth 😅 hes a carry specalist who made few yards and often drew a single tackler.
Frawley and Murray were as close as Kolbe, they were just both asleep.
You keep having these weird pops at Joe McCarthy that just aren’t justified. He had a perfectly fine game yesterday, and arguably outplayed his opposite man, Eben Etzebeth.
Out scrum was really good with him on the field and he showed up for some good carries and big hits.
Lowe should have realised there was nobody near enough to him to attempt such a thing, that’s 100% on him. His mistake was throwing a loose ball infield to nobody in particular. Should they have been closer? Probably. But that’s a separate mistake. One mistake doesn’t erase the other.
Wasn't saying you were questioning Lowe. I stated:
not sure how anyone is blaming Lowe for that one.
I'd seen the poster you quoted and others questioning Lowe's actions but it makes no sense to me
The Bulls game he made mistakes but also was the victim of some poor passes which left him in a poor place to receive
I wouldn’t have said he had a poor end to the season, maybe not as many flying runs but he had a lot more responsibility
That been said do I see POM been dropped? No
It should be but no, it won't happen. We need more people who can win collisions in pack outside mccarthy in tight. McCarthy is also one of the rawest internationals i have ever seen in every other aspect.
not sure how anyone is blaming Lowe for that one
??
literally in the post i quoted
"Lowe's two mistakes, trying to keep the ball in play with nobody near him"
and im not going to go back through the match thread, but there are plenty of examples in there if you want to take a look
heres a quick example
The gymnastics ye are doing to excuse a brain fart is admirable. Flinging a ball infield to nobody isn't a skill.Pointing out that a player got found out isn't a weird agenda
The gymnastics ye are doing to excuse a brain fart is admirable. Flinging a ball infield to nobody isn't a skill.
Pointing out that a player got found out isn't a weird agenda
I would agree with that, people seem to think he should keep it in, also have the ability to regather and then pass safely to another team mate
It was a huge piece of skill and should have been rewarded better, Irish player know he tries it so should have been alert
Not surprised by that comment from them, not sure how anyone is blaming Lowe for that one. That is literally the job of the player who is on the line for those kicks - Lowe did exactly what he was supposed to do.
The fault lies 100% with the other Irish players not being alert to it - no idea how so many of them in the area had completely switched off at the same time, especially those that were recently on the pitch.
Id think similar. One of those things hes praised endlessly for if someone else is more checked in.
interesting that Murray Kinsella and Bernard Jackman on the 42 members podcast do not apportion any blame to Lowe for his keeping the ball in from the SA penalty (jackmans literally says 100% no fault to Lowe). They say that its the other irish players switching off of something that Lowe has done plenty of times before (name checks Frawley, but also "players around him")
I noticed a considerable drop off towards the tail end of the season compared to the first half, where he was consistently making a significantly greater impact to the game and in my point of view should have started ahead of POM during the 6 nations.
Don't feel Baird had a great game in any of the key knockouts and was pretty poor in some of them, emphasised by some big individual mistakes.
Quite likely it was in part at least physical or mentally tiredness, his minutes increased by 50% over the previous season.
Whether his impact during that run of worse form was greater or lesser than POM right now is up for debate but the argument isn't as strong as it was earlier in the season.
There is definitely more improvement required from Ireland than there is for SA next week.
Although Pollards kicking from the tee and out of hand was way off.
POM had a few nice pop pass in the lead up that pop/fling to JMcC. Yes it was really annoying! Almost as annoying as the decision not to take the 3 points at 7-0.
I thought there was a lack of imagination in the tap pen and free kick routines from Ireland. If they are going do the same next week they need a bit more guile against SA.
Not seeing any evidence to support this claim Baird's form dropped off. Folks keep saying it like just speaking it will make it so. He was running the lineout for Leinster successfully. He's shown up with his carrying and defensive play. He's comfortable outplayed POM this season.
Agree - I don't understand the claims that the lineout struggling with POM on the pitch is justification to keep POM in the side. Not sure how long before there are serious questions asked about POC when they haven't been able to resolve their issues.
No good answer on what to do with POM for the next match. If you move him to the bench, I fear his further his further regression in the physicality stakes will show up even more when he is up against an unleashed bomb squad. Baird's form trailed off badly towards the end of the season so doesn't have a very strong claim. Other options that haven't had game time are very untested which is a difficulty, especially given the other enforced changes.
Other idea that I've seen is Beirne to six but then you don't have any true second rows to bring on - another reason why the bomb squad is a challenge.
I can't really see anything other than POM starting again at this stage - hopefully he can take a step up and make some form of positive impact in what might be his last match captaining his country and go out on a high.
I watched the match back, in the cool light of day I felt on review Ireland's execution was well below the usual expected level, especially for the first 30 minutes or so. In no particular order, things that stuck in my mind as low points from the match; The lapse in defence after 2 minutes was very poor, I think Henshaw could have been more controlled and just shepherded Arendse down the side-line where Osbourne was lining up to make the tackle, but once Arendse stepped inside Henshaw the running angle meant Osbourne had no chance to stop him. To be fair to Arendse, he showed shrewd awareness and clinical footwork when he spotted Henshaw rushing across to him being vulnerable to a step inside. The O'Mahony no-look pop into McCarthy's face on the try line after turning down a kick at the posts was extremely disappointing. Beirne flinging a ball 20 metres backwards into our 22 past everyone for Crowley to go back, gather and clear into touch without realising it would mean the ball would be brought back to where he kicked it from and conceded 30 metres of territory for no reason. Lowe's two mistakes, trying to keep the ball in play with nobody near him (Kolbe was as usual chasing it like his life depended on it to his credit), and trying to play a ball that was heading for the dead ball line from a drop-off. I don't blame Kelleher at all for back-heeling the ball in the ruck, but it was a turning point unfortunately. Crowley missed an easy penalty early on and two side-line conversions, when we lost by 7. Casey cleared a caught kick-off on our own try-line to about 20 metres when he had made a 40 metre clearance earlier from the same thing. The scrum-penalty on our try-line, though I honestly don't know what went wrong, maybe there was something the ref missed. The scrum-penalty previous to that, where Kelleher popped up, but I don't know how that came about either. There were a few knock-ons and there was a lost lineout in their 22 I think Steph du Toit read it and stole it at the front before our jumper got up.
I hope we can be more clinical the next day, the team worked hard, so just a pity for them that they weren't able to convert more opportunities.
https://www.the42.ie/ireland-springboks-analysis-6430428-Jul2024/?utm_source=shortlink
PSdT roaming free is a sight to behold. Ireland need Ringrose at 13 for Durban Test.
That Marx turnover was such a big moment, and it looked like an incredibly wrong call, with van Staden clearly on the wrong side and blocking the clear out. He gave that exact call earlier in the game, and this one was even more obvious.
As losses go this game is still an enjoyable rewatch.
Beirne played better than I thought on first viewing.
Doris and PSdT both 9 out of 10
55'min Score 13-8 - Marx turnover in SA 22
Game went a bit crazy after that.
Lineout wobbles are going on years now with and without POM.
But with a few out injured and POM the captain I doubt Farrell will start making a huge change like dumping the captain.
And with the lineout wobbles at the weekend, POM is probably not a bad shout (although Baird was very good in the lineout too).
There will be enough injury enforced changes for the coaches to start fiddling with the team I reckon.
POM does not pick the team, he did very well at lineout time when the pressure came on last Saturday, Farrell would be ruthless if required.
Poms been amazing for Ireland and has come up with big moments for us time and time again. Although I think your being a little harsh it does feel like these big moments are becoming less and less frequent. If next week is his last in green I hope he has an absolute stormer.
Regardless I hope we look past a few of these senior players next November. Its time to move on from a few.
Except southern hemisphere can't afford to not have these games. And if we didn't have these games this year with lions next year and none in a year of a world cup. You would only have 1 trip down every 4 years. Not good for game.
If we've copped 4 injuries, they aren't going to make an additional, non-enforced change with POM.
SCotland tour of Canada with young players etc might have been a better idea than going into the Lions den. A lot of this comes down to money, SA knew Ireland would sell out stadiums and they could charge a premium for the tickets. Same when SA come to Ireland.
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