Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Rassie thinks the (reported) suspension of Jan-Hendrik Wessels for (alleged) testicle-grabbing is a conspiracy to help Ireland beat the Boks.

Johan Erasmus on X: "It just got tougher !! We now have to beat them on the field. and in the boardrooms. Hamba man. Tsek. Loop Kak" / X

He really, really hates us.

They should help fuel his conspiracy theories by throwing another suspension at him for this. He's an absolute space cadet.

This might be a reach on my part, but I wonder if there is anything to the idea that having a knock-out, last 16 round game might help Ireland psychologically of potentially winning a knock-out RWC game, to then help us get over our QF duck?

Just hoping for a better draw, it's been super tough last the RWC's….

Looked to be deleted!

Imho, the biggest hurdle to Ireland performing at their optimum at RWC Quarter finals has been Ireland's habitual lack of rotation & rest for the top 23 during the group stages. We've been "unlucky" at times with the RWC draws (☆) & scheduling e.g. facing France last in a brutal battle in the group stages in 2015, before facing a much fresher Argentina a week later, but other times e.g. at RWC23, we've been the sole authors of our own downfall imho.

Regardless, Ireland have ended up coming into RWC QFs looking flat & a bit jaded, and end up losing to a fresher, more rested & less battle weary looking opposition from other countries. This has been painful to watch, particularly the occasions when it was largely avoidable like at RWC23!!

Perhaps, the biggest advantage of the new draw & format for Ireland imho, is that assuming we win our group & have a reasonable last 16 opponent (I.e. maybe a side like Japan, but not an Argentina say), then Ireland will at last face an opposition side in the QF who are as played & battle weary as our players, as assumedly they will also have had to have their top 23 line out in the round of 16 the week before the QF. This will be a first for Ireland!

So the draw & format may just compensate for Ireland's dumb (or coerced) propensity for over playing their top 23 at RWCs, versus more tactical opponents who have wisely rotated & rested more before QFs. At least in this new format most sides will have also played their top 23 the week before facing Ireland. That will be closer to a level playing field at QF stage- at last!! So we'll see!!!

☆ tbf to Ireland, the old RWC draw seeding system of seeding sides based on their previous RWC placing, did no favours to Ireland. It was a bit of a self fulfilling doom scenario for Ireland imho, who went out (often badly) at the RWC QF stage every RWC. As a result this often led to Ireland sharing a group with a top 4 seed & maybe a good tier 3 side also (e.g Argentina), which left Ireland chasing every other point in their RWC group to qualify after being beaten by the tier 1 side in their group e.g. RWC 03, 07 & 15 come to mind. This often left the squad over played, with some key players injured versus fresher opposition in a RWC QF. (E.g. v Argentina in RWC15 , etc, etc)

I don't really believe in the QF curse. It's just a coincidence. Being beaten by NZ in the last two WC QFs is nothing yo be ashamed of. Particularly the last one. They were just beaten and that's all.

That's just your opinion, so firstly at least have the humility & self realisation to state it as such in your post maybe !?

MOD EDIT

There's a lot to support my contention that Ireland's top XV (& 23) were a bit flat & over played versus New Zealand at RWC23 imho. Firstly Rassie Erasmus even did a table showing how rotated & less played players from sides like SA were versus over played sides like Ireland, by the RWC QF stage!! Google it maybe!!!

I even posted this up the thread for posters such as yourself to perhaps consider before typing your usual mantra.

Secondly, NZ faced a minnow (Uruguay) with a seconds squad the week before facing Ireland, before that Italy & before that Namibia, so they had 2 weeks full run in with a fighting fit & fresh top 23 ready & primed to face Ireland.

Ireland on the other hand faced Scotland, who they felt they had to respect by playing their top 23, and so played all their front liners including 38 yo Johnny Sexton, POM & the other hugely overplayed back rows & front rows, and other players who in an ideal world would have been kept fresher to face NZ in 7 days, imho.

Thirdly, Ireland performed like they were flat & a bit jaded imho. Going 13 -0 down within 20 minutes in a RWC QF is typical sign of a side slightly off the pace due to fatigue. There were other telltale signs also e.g. Sexton was gassed by the last 15mins, Beirne had literally & figuratively run himself to a stand still, other Irish players were out on their feet also. This wasn't the first time an Irish side had appeared so flat footed & fatigued at a RWC QF either, as we're unfortunately far too accustomed to seeing over played, jaded Irish squads trying to rouse themselves to compete with fresher opposition by QF stage imho.

At least the new RWC format may assist in other sides also playing a full match 23 the week before a RWC QF. That will help squads like Ireland who've always done this regardless...

2011 was a strange one. We weren't coming into that World Cup in particularly good form but that Australia result really seemed to energised the squad.

Ultimately we had a decent squad that was poorly coached and we paid for it. It's made we kept on with Kidney for as long as we did after that.

How minutes had they played the week before facing Ireland!?

Freshness is a function of time/ recency also. That's obvious isn't it!?

Fact is that NZ 23 had a 2 week window to prepare beat Ireland with a fighting fresh, rested & fully rotated squad. They then utilised this by going 13-0 up early on, doing things like scoring tries off first phase ball from 50 m out and outlasting the exhausted Irish players to the 80 minute mark. In comparison, Ireland who were probably the better side having won a test series in NZ a year previously, looked flat & a bit jaded. That was all evident from even a cursory look at the QF match imho.