The Dew Drop Inn Virtual Rugby Pub

Welcome to the virtual rugby pub - a place where you can come in for a sly beverage and discuss whatever's on your mind, or just eavesdrop on the regulars if you fancy a break from all the rugby chat.

The only rule in this pub is one of mutual respect for everyone in it, oh and no defacing the Tommy Bowe photo on the bar. That's a banning offence

So pull up a chair....what'll it be?



Previous pub: https://www.606v2.com/t11223p1000-the-dew-drop-inn-virtual-rugby-pub#366751

I just typed a reply to Thomond and it disappeared because a new pub got opened.

Hiya Rev.

Glad you had a good day.

Typical Kiwi. Let it go onto 21 pages, then cut me off when I post

Great day anyway. Cycling the Taff trail tomorrow. With beer onboard will be interesting.

Cheers Mrs P (I think it is Mrs?). Great to hear from you again.

Rev,how did the match last night go?








(see we don't always ignore you )

As I was saying ...


before the pub shut down

I think many of us Irish fans are still living in the era of Irish lineout dominance (remember those days - Flannery throwing to POC or DOC with Hayes and Horan lifting). Today the five (main) players involved in the lineout - fornt five - are from different provinces and so the timing is not as good as it used to be. maybe they just don't practice it as much as they need to. maybe they too (or the coaches) think that it is still alright, although how they could given the shambles it has become is beyond me.

Sorry MrsP et al, I tapped the wrong button and temporarily moved the last pub to archive while I was doing the change over. Stupid iPhone!

Heroes of Telemark

Ah don't worry about it Kiwi. I was just sticking up for the Welsh hooker who Barnes was blaming for the lineout problems earlier.

Must say folks have moved uo in the world since the old 606.

Am I allowed to post in here or do you have to have a shiney badge now?

Mrs/MrP,I have played hooker myself so I know it is not always the hookers fault but his throwing for Ireland has been questionable in the past.

Today he had a few dodgy throws but the lifting was very poor and I thought Cullen made some poor calls to go to back in the first half when the French were doing so well in the defensive lineout.

Kiwireddevil wrote:Stupid iPhone!

Can't disagree with that

Thomond wrote:Rev,how did the match last night go?








(see we don't always ignore you )

You're right. Once in a blue moon I get a response

It was great. I predicted an English win by ten and at halftime I thought they were on their way past that a bit. But I had a great day supping free drink (albeit the lager was Carling) and I had a good feed from a slightly fancy buffet. Seeing my first win v England live was massive too, but even without that I enjoyed myself, even though I felt a bit subdued because I was conscientious of the fact I was in a box. Anyway, I can't top today, so will not go to the stadium again for a Welsh game unless my bro offers me another hospitality place.

I meant your match for Risca.

It has changed in her, hasn't it MrsP - lots of regs now with shiny badges bossin' the rest of us around, and those without badges lording around in hoispitality boxes eating prawn sandwiches

God be with the days ...

Not laying all the blame on Best for the linoeuts but surely he has some influence on it? If you throw one or two dodgy ones you just go for the simple one at the front why didn't he tell Leo that? Cullen has been a poor enough leader for Ireland when you compare him to his Leinster performances.

Sorry pal, I didn't see the last night bit.

Lets just say Ebbw Vale showed they were two divisions above us. I played last fifteen, partly because I didn't announce my availability till the day (stupid exams).

Last five they scored a try, we ran to halfway for a kick off, then they streamed through our backline again. Repeat that for the whole five minutes and it was hard work shuttling fifty minutes everytime. I had a really good clear out which I need to check with one of our refs if it was strictly legal and had another one where one of their forwards had a pop at me. He didn't get back round his side after a tackle he made, so I cleaned him out and he moaned at me blah blah blah butt, so I told him try getting on your side butt. He didn't answer back, so I'll call that a win for me

10-77, but we were only 10-21 down after 50 minutes.

Before it starts, no things did not get worse when I came on

Do they still have a wee section for us plebs Kia?

Thomond, I bow to your superior knowledge on the throwing front but I just think it was so clear that it was POC who made the difference to our lineout today that the blame was mostly not with the thrower. I would think that the poor hooker is much more likely to throw squint when the rest of the lineout isn't functioning as he deperately tries to get the ball into a team members hands?

MrsP,that came across as a bit condescending, but Rory did throw squint and his release was too early leading to some over thrown balls and some dodgy hands from our second rows.

Thomond,

That was not my intention at all!

I was going to say that I had never been a hooker but I thought that would cause all sorts of problems so....

poissonrouge wrote:Do they still have a wee section for us plebs Kia?

Sure, we're grand in here, MrsP - they still let us in (as lng as we keep quiet in the corner, like)

poissonrouge wrote:Thomond, I bow to your superior knowledge on the throwing front but I just think it was so clear that it was POC who made the difference to our lineout today that the blame was mostly not with the thrower. I would think that the poor hooker is much more likely to throw squint when the rest of the lineout isn't functioning as he deperately tries to get the ball into a team members hands?

It does seem to me that when the lineout (for any team) starts to malfunction, the hooker seems more inclined to throw squint. Almost as if they are trying too hard to get it to their man. And given how often a "not straight" throw is ignored by the officials, it seems a reasonable ploy.

I always found that if one or two throws start to go bad that you may often overthink the throw and end up messing up.

Thomond wrote:Not laying all the blame on Best for the linoeuts but surely he has some influence on it? If you throw one or two dodgy ones you just go for the simple one at the front why didn't he tell Leo that? Cullen has been a poor enough leader for Ireland when you compare him to his Leinster performances.

I criticised both of them for their lack of leadership tonight. The provincial captains of Leinster and Ulster, both have captained Ireland, couldn't sort it out between them. They both have to carry the can for it.

I agree with you. Best didn't throw as well as he can but he was also throwing into a poorly run lineout. A collective failure, for which he must take some of the blame but the other forwards have to look at themselves as well.

Whats really worrying for me is that it's not just one thing going wrong with the lineout. There are lots of problems- poor calls, poor throws and poor lifting and timing of the lift.

It's a major concern for me. We must be getting better ball from there to achieve our goals. Just changing the hooker won't transform it for us overnight, although O'Connell coming back in will be massive.

I was just having a quick scan through a couple of the Ireland threads and the one thing EVERYONE agrees on is the effect of POC coming on - everyone on the team lifts their game.

It reminds me of a story I heard years ago of a conductor who was rehearsing the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Apparently it was all going fairly well and the visiting conductor was happy with the rehearsal, although he was aware that it was not Berlin Phil top quality. he thought that perhaps this was their normal "rehearsal" sound and that it would be OK on the night.

He was doing a final run through of one of the pieces when he suddenly noticed that the quality of sound being produced by the orchestra had changed- significantly for the better - the REAL Berlin Phil sound. Whilst continuing to conduct he turned around and in the very back of the concert hall he noticed a figure standing at the door. He realised it was Wilhelm Furtwangler who was the Principal Conductor of the orchestra at that time. Obviously the players were not going to let Furtwangler hear them underperform.

Exactly right on POC...do ye remember our matches in the autumn? We couldn't even deal with restarts without him. We're a completely different prospect with him in our side and I worry for us once the great man retires (imo he'll be a bigger loss than BOD will be). He's a supernatural being and it's well known that even superman wears Paul O'Connell pajamas. He's everyone's hero!

Two major points from the game tonight-

1. When Skrela came into out half, France just seemed to stop.

2. When Ireland chose to kick the penalty instead of going for the corner and O'Gara missed the penalty. We lost all momentum from there on.


Oh and I thought Fitzgerald played well.

MBTGOG wrote:
2. When Ireland chose to kick the penalty instead of going for the corner and O'Gara missed the penalty. We lost all momentum from there on.

I thought that was the key point in the game and think we may well have won if we'd have went to the corner.

POC was immense when he came on. The guy is just a legend of the game and along with BOD is the best irish player of his generation.

I wouldn't have said he was immense but you could see just what his mere presence in the side did for the confidence of all the players.

The improvement in the second half was really encouraging and I'm just hoping now that we build on that in the next game.

MBTGOG wrote:I wouldn't have said he was immense but you could see just what his mere presence in the side did for the confidence of all the players.

I would. I'm impartial too. POC is phenomenal and the impact he made was clear to see and he's clearly bulked up and looking like his old self. I though he was awesome in that 2nd half.

roddersm wrote:

MBTGOG wrote:I wouldn't have said he was immense but you could see just what his mere presence in the side did for the confidence of all the players.

I would. I'm impartial too. POC is phenomenal and the impact he made was clear to see and he's clearly bulked up and looking like his old self. I though he was awesome in that 2nd half.

Actually, he's lost 4 or 5 kilo.

MBTGOG wrote:
Actually, he's lost 4 or 5 kilo.

Really Munsty? Since when, I thought he was looking more like his old self and has built on that awesome performance in the magners final. He certainly looks in better nick than in the 6n.

roddersm wrote:

MBTGOG wrote:
Actually, he's lost 4 or 5 kilo.

Really Munsty? Since when, I thought he was looking more like his old self and has built on that awesome performance in the magners final. He certainly looks in better nick than in the 6n.

I believe over the summer. He believes this is the best thing to do for him to have the most impact with the way the game is being played nowadays.

Anyway, I'm off to bed, have to be out at the airport to collect my visitors for around 10.15 tomorrow morning or later this morning to be correct.

Gibbo still in Chefs or what?

He's everyone's hero

Ahem!

and along with BOD is the best irish player of his generation.

I'm not one to be pedantic



But how can they both be Best, when he's playing hooker?

What about this idea. A warm up match with no game plan or pre determined tactics. Just 80 mins where the captain calls the shots and they all have to think on their feet?

I'm in pain!! Blydi Wales winning and me having to celebrate!!

Morning Glas and to everyone else when they come in,

Just watching Match Of The Day here before I get ready to collect my friends. Bringing them to the Cruinniú na Mbád festival in Kinvara in Galway. Hopefully it's plenty Irish for them.

Morning All

Big big day for my GAA teams. I'll be in bits later.

GLAS - Gibbo's not at Chef's but he's away for a few days

Munsty - have a good day at the festival with your pals

Morning all.


I watched MOTD last night Munsty. Sadly the Newcastle v Arsenal game reminded me why I got fed up with the game a few years back.

LDCPete wrote:Morning all.


I watched MOTD last night Munsty. Sadly the Newcastle v Arsenal game reminded me why I got fed up with the game a few years back.

Embarrassing wasn't it? The problem is that because they're still making lots and lots of money, there is no need to fix these problems.

Was very embarrassing Munsty. Barton is a complete numpty.

Is Kinvara in Galway. I always thought it was in Clare. i remember stopping in a Hotel/Pub down there this time last year and being massively depressed that they have 'Pull your own pint' tables

Mark Cavendish.

Morning all. Hopefully we'll see the better side of the Premiership in today's matches (and in tomorrow's when Swansea City beat Man City).

Hope your head feels better soon, Prop!

Barton is a great player but a complete Kumquat ( I actually did type Kumquat)

Would it be fair to say that the irish poster on here are positive about the game last night certainly the second half at least?

I'm disappointed,we shouldn't have to rely on the likes of POC to get us to produce a big performances. When you consider that the pack had two provincial captains they lacked leadership. Our lineout was abysmal a combination of both Rory and poor lifting. The scrum was solid enough until Mushy came on but it went downhill from there. We haven't scored a try for 2 games and we didn't look like scoring for large parts of the game.

Watching the re-run of yesterday's match, this'll sooth my head!!