The Dew Drop Inn Virtual Rugby Pub

First topic message reminder :

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 Stephen Jones photo on the bar. That's a banning offence

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

Well that was disappointing. As a measure of how much faith I had in that side I had us to win by 10 points. Not amused. Away out now to drown my sorrows with some red stag bourbon. Because I can.

Tell me about it. I went to have dinner with my Mam yesterday. I had mince with broad beans, French beans, kidney beans, peas and new potatoes. You had the feeling the mince was just there for form's sake. Everything else 'needed to be eaten'.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Notch wrote:I actually wanted Gaffneys head at time watching that; entirely lateral rugby. Zero threat.

so what's next, Notch? The warm-ups haven't exactly gone as planned?

Beat England, and hope the team gels with more gametime. Nothing else for it!

Not going to bother reading back. All I'll say is I was very dissapointed. It's something I've been thinking about for a while and this confirmed it really our team just isn't a smart one.

Oh and hopefully the Jennings bit is over now.

Sorry, you missed you there, Chef, - just sending a snotogram to the National Inventory of Historical Architecture. Didn't like what they wrote about some buildings I know pretty well. Will be interesting to see what reply I get.

MBTGOG wrote:Not going to bother reading back. All I'll say is I was very dissapointed. It's something I've been thinking about for a while and this confirmed it really our team just isn't a smart one.

Oh and hopefully the Jennings bit is over now.

+1 (about Jennings particularly, never could see what Gibson saw in him)

I am feeling very deflated after that display today. Can't really put into words how I feel, just blahhh

It's very tough to see such basic errors and lack of composure in such an experienced, talented side. Okay, France are well ahead of the other NH sides right now, but we are our own worst enemy and it's incredibly frustrating to watch us shoot ourselves in the foot time and time again. Such basic things going wrong; really knocking the confidence.

The discipline is what really riles me.

And the head goes down when something goes wrong, goes against us- where's the mental strength these players have at the provinces?

Jonny Sexton seemed as committed as ever, chivvying on others, but he only kicked to the corners once, after the damage had been done, when you suspect ROG might have wised up sooner to the fact that the ball-in-hand, side-to-side gameplan wasn't paying dividends.

luckless_pedestrian wrote:Jonny Sexton seemed as committed as ever, chivvying on others, but he only kicked to the corners once, after the damage had been done, when you suspect ROG might have wised up sooner to the fact that the ball-in-hand, side-to-side gameplan wasn't paying dividends.

Precisely.

Ye are blaming Jennings? He played well in a mediocre team performance. Blame Kidney. Technically... We are undercooked and phooked..

Glas a du wrote:Wales should cope to get out of their group. They threw offloads today, offloads I tell you!

What can people say now? Maybe Wales will be as talked as potential semi finalists? The only ones who are scoring tries. Funny how we weren't considered try scorers etc, yet we have been. 3-2,1-0,3-1 (I think) I will live with.

Why Cement Head had to mention a negative about Lydiate though, I don't know. Never mind. I still don't think that Wales won't get out of the group per sé, but I am glad we can be considered more of a threat now.

Thank flip Dalglish decided to give my dreamteams 20 mins of Luis Suarez. Tidy.

Glas a du wrote:Wales should cope to get out of their group. They threw offloads today, offloads I tell you!

What can people say now? Maybe Wales will be as talked as potential semi finalists? The only ones who are scoring tries. Funny how we weren't considered try scorers etc, yet we have been. 3-2,1-0,3-1 (I think) I will live with.

Why Cement Head had to mention a negative about Lydiate though, I don't know. Never mind. I still don't think that Wales won't get out of the group per sé, but I am glad we can be considered more of a threat now.

Thank flip Dalglish decided to give my dreamteams 20 mins of Luis Suarez. Tidy.

Sexton starting to look the part in a ireland jersey. Very pleasing. Along with the 1f's comeback. Others didn't ingratiate themselves. Earls was very poor today. Before this match I would have had Earls ahead of Trimble on the wing despite Andy's form. Complete reverse of that now. Need to see Bowe in action again and I wonder given what happened to Felix, if we might see Earls at 15. Also 1st choice 9/10 please. TOL started quite well but Reddan still gives much better service which is what we need to win games.

Where is Gibbo? I have an urge to start some Jennings bashing.

Meireles had an assist or two, which was handy enough

Gibbo - physically, Ireland are butcher's-dog-like. It seemed to me, though, that there'd been a commitment to running the ball come what may, which was perhaps unwise. You finished stronger. It was the approach to the game. But then again, the aim isn't to win these warm-up games but to give a good tilt at the World Cup.

luckless_pedestrian wrote:Meireles had an assist or two, which was handy enough

One. Suarez should get the OG one seeing as he made Ramsay score the OG.

But we don't know how to run the ball. It's all very well saying we're committed to running the ball but if you shift the ball across the field without ever fixing defenders or crossing the gainline, it's simply not good rugby. We don't know how to attack teams. It's simply awful backs coaching.

Risca Rev wrote:

luckless_pedestrian wrote:Meireles had an assist or two, which was handy enough

One. Suarez should get the OG one seeing as he made Ramsay score the OG.

Doesn't work like that I'm afraid. Shame as I have Suarez in the team also.

I think it might. I've seen people get assists for being brought down in the penalty area, so why not?

Not so sure about that Willy - I didn't think much of the way Sexton was having a go at players on the pitch. It reminds me of BOD losing the cool and having a go at Peter Stringer in the last world cup for the intercept try. He needs to keep his cool and contribute to building confidence in the team.

Trimble had a good game and will be going to the world cup - when he got the ball he was good, but the problem was he didn't see an awful lot of it to make too much of a hames of it. Isn't that his 3rd start at 14. Look at how Fitz has improved with a little game time?

Hope Earls is ok after that game - he is a confidence player and BOD telling him off (even though he had overrun the pass anyway) will do nothing for his confidence.

All I'm going to say about Jennings Gibbo, is that I told you so!

Being brought down when they were in procession of the ball counts as an assist for penalties cos they are the last player of said team to touch the ball. Suarez never got the ball. He was the target but he was never in possession of it. Consequently I think Raul gets it.

Notch are you back in the motherland or still down in the dub?

I'm still in Dublin, heading back tomorrow morning. My sister has an empty house here so it's pretty relaxed for us.

It was good to see today before the game; Rava, Gibbo, Mickado, Munsty and Stag. Best part of the day, pre-match drinks and a bit of craic. Went downhill once we got to the stadium...

All in all, I'm angry at the way we played. Simply not good enough and excuses don't cut it.

Sin, he played far better than Leamy has in his 1st start. Earls was shoite. BOD was missing. Darcy was clueless. Jones overrated and exposed. Shall I continue?Get a provincial grip. SOB starred.. Fitz shone. 1F shone. Trimble gave his all. The rest? Its down to a clueless coach. Thats the real problem. Shafted twice by the fool Lievermont. Laughable. Says it all. We are going backwards fast.

Gibson wrote:Sin, he played far better than Leamy has in his 1st start. Earls was shoite. BOD was missing. Darcy was clueless. Jones overrated and exposed. Shall I continue?Get a provincial grip. SOB starred.. Fitz shone. 1F shone. Trimble gave his all. The rest? Its down to a clueless coach. Thats the real problem. Shafted twice by the fool Lievermont. Laughable. Says it all. We are going backwards fast.

Ha, ha Gibbo - stop trying to divert the attention away from Jenning's performance. That was a shoite performance from the fabled Leinster backrow uint - is it any wonder that the backs had a terrible game?

Delighted at last to see something of the old Fitz back - fair play to Deccie for sticking with him.

Sin, I care about Ireland. You care about Munster. Thats where we differ.

No way we will beat Oz. QF exit, or worse,under another negative Munster coach, will be our zenith.You are missing the big picture. As per. Soft day tank God.

Sorry, but anybody who expects to beat France is a nutter, from whatever country.

You can't blame Jennings, the team is over coached. There is only so much capacity a player has to absorb lectures and to carry out routines they have practiced on the training ground. Add to that the fact that they are simultaneously on an intensive fitness regime.

Perhaps Jennings did have a poor game, but he should be on the plane as he brings something different to the races. He is your best open side, honestly now. And when you have O Brien at 8 and Ferris at 6 with him you will turn to Gibbo and bless the day the visionary was born. Heaslip was the poor one for me and far too similar to SOB. One word - glory hunter.

I blame the unions. It's all about revenue. The best warm up games are conducted en route to the competition in a similar climate against opposition that should be beaten. Low key, low intensity, no game plan, just play instinctively and enjoy.

Disagree about Heaslip Glas. Thought he played well but I'll need to watch the game on TV.

We really missed Wallace in the pack. He is the one that does a lot of the close in carrying and no one stepped into that void.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/
http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/rugby/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport?mobile-redirect=false
http://sport.scotsman.com/rugby
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/rugbynation/
http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/rugby

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=80
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union

Morning all

Didn't see the game but reading back a bit sounds like the Irish regs are all a bit disappointed with their teams performance yesterday. My tuppence on the back row debate is simple, it is about balance and picking the three players who work best together at international level, irrespective of whether they are the best 3 individually or not.

I think we're all more than "a bit" disappointed Pete.

On the back row subject, it's really hard. I still think the big question is either go with Ferris or O'Brien.

Right here is my take on it all,


Front row looked good as a unit and held up strong when Healy went off, I hope its not anything to serious.

O'Brien was class as per, especially when he was given the platform to perform like that by the way Jennings plays. TO GET THE MOST OF OF THE BOY JENNINGS HAS TO PLAY WITH HIM


Heaslip was a bit off


O'Leary, well let's just say my prayers went unanswered, Shocking

BOD and darcy were anonymous

Earls has forgotten how to run in a straight line


Other than that the first 25 minutes were great the rest wasn't, its good to get the mistakes out now and not in NZ.

WE WILL BE OK



Oh and by the way the attitude of some "supporters" on here is a disgrace

O'Brien has been excellent for Leinster this season, and is a monster carrier and tackler, but Ferris has a better all round game, which suits Ireland better. For me Irelands' best back row is 6. Ferris 7. Wallace (sorry Gibbo) 8. Heaslip, with O'Brien coming off the bench as an impact sub.

Yes they is no 'fetcher' there, but because of Ferris and Wally's all round games you don't necessarily need one.

LDCPete wrote:O'Brien has been excellent for Leinster this season, and is a monster carrier and tackler, but Ferris has a better all round game, which suits Ireland better. For me Irelands' best back row is 6. Ferris 7. Wallace (sorry Gibbo) 8. Heaslip, with O'Brien coming off the bench as an impact sub.

Yes they is no 'fetcher' there, but because of Ferris and Wally's all round games you don't necessarily need one.

Heaslip without playing like a normal 'fetcher' was actually really good playing that role yesterday. I think he was the reason for 3-4 turnovers yesterday which is excellent.

Okay, this sound odd, but I think I'm about to compliment some of the opposition players. I thought Picamoles was excellent. We found it really damn hard to bring him down all the way through.

And there is no coincidence than we played our best rugby in both games when Trinh-Duc wasn't at outhalf.

Watching the SA-NZ match now.

What's odd about complimenting the opposition Munsty, it is how it should be. If they have played well then they have played well and people should be prepared to say so.

Just in the newsagents and have seen the best headline ever


"Gordon Ramsey Sex Dwarf Eaten By Badger"

have to say that put a smile on my face

LDCPete wrote:Morning all

Didn't see the game but reading back a bit sounds like the Irish regs are all a bit disappointed with their teams performance yesterday. My tuppence on the back row debate is simple, it is about balance and picking the three players who work best together at international level, irrespective of whether they are the best 3 individually or not.

Are you Welsh Pete? That is the most sensible post I've seen on here for ages.

LDCPete wrote:What's odd about complimenting the opposition Munsty, it is how it should be. If they have played well then they have played well and people should be prepared to say so.

Ah it's only a joke. Us Irish just can't see past our own team to even look at the opposition.

Brussow got some boot to the face.

You're over coached M

Brussow comes back strong after the boot to the face, looked very good for the Boks yesterday Munsty.

Ah now Glas, come on, if I was Welsh I'd have said, 'did you see us beat the Argies yesterday boyo, we're going to win the world cup now we are. Tidy!'

Glas a du wrote:You're over coached M

I think England have the same problem, which coupled with the fact that the coaching appears to be rubbish is seriously hamstringing the players!

hughie1986 wrote:Just in the newsagents and have seen the best headline ever


"Gordon Ramsey Sex Dwarf Eaten By Badger"

have to say that put a smile on my face

Don't even want to know what that means.

Glas a du wrote:You're over coached M

I think there is an element of that. Kidney does give them plenty of freedom though to manage the game themselves in game but this is where I worry as I just don't think these players have the ability to read a game and change it around.

What do Wales, England and Ireland have in common then going into the World Cup?

None of us are likely to win it!!!

Yes, but what I had in mind was they are thinking too much. You can see that the coaches have been dying to get hold of the players in camp. They are paranoid that this WC comes at the end of the SH season but at the start of ours. They shouldn't have Flip about with selection or tactics, pick your best team and give them one or two max warm ups with no game plan.

All Blacks try was fantastic.