A penalty and 3 points(hopefully) would have made him pay at a critical part of the game.
I'd completely disagree, if you see the tackle it is clear that he slams a vulnerable player backwards flat on his back, that will definitely result in whiplash head off the ground, there was no other way that tackle was going to turn out. And it was late, and the ball was gone, player was not in possession of the ball, the outcome was severe. It ticks all the boxes for dangerous play, should have been reffed properly, that should not be tolerated in the sport.
It wasn't a red at all. Hitman job. Don't be ridiculous. Penalty yeah but not much more
Outside of the lineout, I didn't much see Eben's performance full stop…
We lost one European final precisely because Ryan went off the pitch, however that is utterly backwards thinking anyway (not least as Ireland win many, many things).
Etzebeth is clearly a better player than McCarthy and in his prime was better than Ryan is, he just wasn't on Saturday.
If the South African team were all as good as you have them in your head they should probably be beating Ireland at home by more than 7 points after Ireland made so many uncharacteristic errors. And should probably be able to beat them in a neutral venue.
The ability to win collisions is honestly something that you are more likely to be elite at early. Its mostly an athleticism, and physicality thing. He is extremely athletic, he just doesn't have good rugby IQ imo. I don't get the last question.. elite players for ireland? Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, Beirne, JGP Keenan is the short list. You could probably add Doris in there.
If ryan or mccarthy were as good as you have them in your head, ireland and leinster would win more things.
Ireland have won the last two Six Nations.
We didn't win the RWC but then again, Ryan got injured and McCarthy hadn't broken into the first XV yet.
By your logic that second rows are the winning and losing of tournaments, it's Beirne and Henderson's fault that we didn't win the RWC. Seems harsh, I have to say.
It's the only way to describe it, he targetted the player for a body slam after the ball had been passed away, he had enough time to take two steps before crashing into the player and driving through on him. Don't for a second believe it was a legal tackle, and the penalty for that tackle should have been a red card. I'll leave it there now as I've made my point and can see many people disagree or want to downplay it.
If slamming a vulnerable player backwards, flat onto his back is the threshold for a dangerous tackle, we're going to have a dozen yellow cards in a game.
I mean, McCarthy did blow the clear out that ended the tournament for us. Technically.
If he had the possession of the ball it could be considered a legal tackle. Once a player is not expecting a hit after the ball was passed away it becomes a much more dangerous thing as the player is not prepared for it.
You lost a european final when the whole team melted down. Its possible that Ryan would have stopped that but its also possible he wouldn't have. Like if JGP had of went off after that amazing start, we probably wouldn't have predicted how bad the second half was. South Africa have won two world cups in a row. They are the quintessential winners.
"Technically" is not the correct term there.
There's probably a guy on there who is inexplicably still around after making a craig casey bet or something.
Again your gripe being we should be more biased.
I really don't see how you can give anything more than a penalty for the RG/Casey incident, its offside and a rugby incident after that.
I remember certain posters dismissing other posters views about Beirne as a second row over the years! Not a big or powerful unit by second-row standards Wont amount to anything more than 19/20 jersey Will struggle to make Munster starting XV He mustn't be showing it in training Lineout misfires when he's selected The bright new shiny thing etc etc
A vital cog in the Irish engine room since Farrell took over.
What is a good rugby IQ?
Genuine Qs would you take the SA Lock over the Irish?
My own view is that I would have taken the Irish Locks over the SA Locks before the RWC.
That also doesn't mean the SA Locks aren't world class.
And i'd still take the Irish
….& still think McCarthy was underused at the RWC.
Played the opening game v Romania & didn't play another minute until NZ…5 weeks later!!
Irish being positive about their own players…shocking I know, something you get…Idk, on every single countries rugby forum.
I remember Canan Moodie had 1-3 decent games and was already spoken of at the same level as players like Ringrose…it was at that point I just gave up on getting any impartial judgment on players…
Seconds between it, a lot later hits happen in rugby, the players wasn't trying to knock out Casey. It was a penalty for Ireland, that's it
I had concerns over him I can freely admit, I thought he would be a better 6 than a second row. My only concern was he powerful enough against the top teams like Bok/England/France, not sure about the other things listed, but I was confident he could handle the next teams down
He has massively surprised me. I can't remember now but a couple of games at the start he did struggle but seemed to get over it quicker than expected. Fair play to him.
No Irish being biased and your complaint is were not biased enough. Which is fine you do you but its a silly thing to be upset over. Impartiality is good those twitter bok fans someone referenced shouldn't be your basis for what supporters should be
It’s a good question; if I had the pick of them I’d go Beirne and Etzebeth. But if I had to pick as a unit, I’d go Etzebeth and Mostert. (And that’s as someone who thinks Beirne has been world class for about 3-4 seasons now and is in the conversation for best lock in the world).
A new and inventive way to bring Leinster into the discussion :-)
Come on now, you need to just admit how big of a Leinster fan you are. A few pints of Heinomite?
Please note this is a joke
McCarthy lost most of last season due to injury, I somehow expect the plan for Ireland was to pay him more if he got a better season behind him.
What are you even talking about? Naturally we will be more biased about our players, just like SA will on theirs, NZL on theirs etc.
It's not even Boks accounts, even the way neutral accounts paint some of these players… it's head scratching. Dan Sheehan for example, how long did it take him performing at such a high level before he was considering amongst the best in he world at hooker…1 year? Maybe even 2…you do think if an SA player played at that level it would take that long to receive that level of appreciation from neutral's? Not a chance, 2-3 games max.
It wasn't you I can assure you.
It was the Martin Valie solicitor types!
'I speak. You do not speak. Your job is to just sit there and say nothing'
https://www.sarugby.co.za/news-features/articles/2024/07/09/erasmus-sticks-with-tried-and-tested-team-for-second-ireland-test/
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named the most experienced team in Springbok history when he retained the same 23-man matchday squad to the one which defeated Ireland 27-20 in their opening match in Pretoria last week for the second Test at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.
Dan sheehan was regarded as world class at about 23 years old and won world breakthrough player or the year i dont follow your concern there
I would say his ability in mauls is elite. And his handling is very good.
An unchanged SA 23, the most experienced XV in Bok history.
Are we done with the idea that SA use these games to experiment, only use them to build for the next RWC, in stark contrast to ultra conservative Ireland?
Good
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://we.vanillicon.com/v2/e7ef1946e92d84157dc464ad6c3ddaab.svg)
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://w8.vanillicon.com/v2/8ffce37c55cff55e500b78cb1d293bb2.svg)
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://w8.vanillicon.com/v2/8a022abb175d445f2b5b8a1c545f3d3f.svg)
