Have Ireland been hard done by by referee's?

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Last year Wales scored that illegal try to beat us. Against France we outscored them 3 tries to 1 but conceded an endless stream of penalties that Parra kicked over. This year the linesman bottled it with the Davies incident and then the ref awarded Wales a dubious penalty to win the game. A penalty which the citing panel seemed to suggest wasn't a foul at all. Against France we again outscored them in tries, but the penalty count was completely lobsided in their favour. Last year Ireland stayed quiet about their grievances. This year Kidney has spoken publicly about the Welsh incident and the penalty count against France. He said he spoke to Paddy O'Brien who admitted some of the French penalties shouldn't have been given and Ireland should have had a few more. Which is a fairly big admission, given that it ended up a drawn game and cost us a real chance to go for the title this year.

If you read the Irish posts on 606v2, they're correctly full of frustration with Ireland's performances, which have been below par. But there's relatively little talk about the decisions going against us. Given that poor refereeing has arguably cost us four 6 nations wins in two seasons and possibly two Championships, should we be complaining more loudly? Or do these decisions really even themselves out over time? They all seem to be going against us recently and I can't think of many strokes of luck or rubs of the green we've been getting in the last few years.

Expect is a funny word but no one in the Ireland camp should be going on to the pitch not expecting to win.

Personally I fancy England but thats more a measure of how Ireland are performing and the fact England have home advantage than a reflection of the relative quality of the two teams.

England have been grinding out results too whereas Ireland have a fragile look about them these days.

But to suggest Ireland are expected to lose is nonsence. This is a 50/50 game and Kidneys head is in the chopping block if we lose.

SecretFly wrote:

Sin é wrote:Ireland are not expected to win on Saturday.

Who doesn't expect Ireland to win tomorrow? Declan Kidney? Any of the players?

Who doesn't expect to win?

I'd say Ireland fans / IRFU are more hopeful of a win. (which means that if Ireland lose, Kidney won't be sacked).

I'm pretty sure that the players expect to win.

Sin é wrote:


I'd say Ireland fans / IRFU are more hopeful of a win. (which means that if Ireland lose, Kidney won't be sacked).

I'm pretty sure that the players expect to win.

Well, I'll go along with those words, Sin é. I prefer the nuances of them. Ireland won't have any rights to win but they'll be confident that if they play to their standards they'll certainly have a shot.

Nelson: 'England Expects'

Sin é wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

Sin é wrote:Ireland are not expected to win on Saturday.

Who doesn't expect Ireland to win tomorrow? Declan Kidney? Any of the players?

Who doesn't expect to win?

I'd say Ireland fans / IRFU are more hopeful of a win. (which means that if Ireland lose, Kidney won't be sacked).

I'm pretty sure that the players expect to win.

Any 6 nations championship where we only get wins against Scotland and Italy has to be seen as a failure,so that's 3 years on the trot we haven't even come close to challenging for the title.If Kidney isn't under pressure after that then something is wrong.

gregortree wrote:Nelson: 'England Expects'

As he sailed the ocean in ships made from Irish oak

Irish Oak ? probably. We pillaged a worldful of resources to kit & feed the fleet. Today we just pillage the SSI for mercenaries.

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Sin é wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

Sin é wrote:Ireland are not expected to win on Saturday.

Who doesn't expect Ireland to win tomorrow? Declan Kidney? Any of the players?

Who doesn't expect to win?

I'd say Ireland fans / IRFU are more hopeful of a win. (which means that if Ireland lose, Kidney won't be sacked).

I'm pretty sure that the players expect to win.

Any 6 nations championship where we only get wins against Scotland and Italy has to be seen as a failure,so that's 3 years on the trot we haven't even come close to challenging for the title.If Kidney isn't under pressure after that then something is wrong.

Agreed. If We lose tomorrow Kidney should go. No doubt about it, two home wins is not acceptable.

In fact even if we win tomorrow I think this tournament has been a failure and Kidney should go. Tomorrow will only determine how much of a failure its been.

Well 2 wins shouldn't be enough for kidney to remain IMO. It isn't acceptable. A win and a performance is needed

RWC 2003 final, 80th minute...Watson awards Australia a dodgy penalty..the cameras pick out Dallaglio walking back shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders.

For me that is one of the defining images of rugby (as opposed to that round ball game). Just shrug your shoulders and think..."I don't agree with that decision but let's just get on with it".

Sport, like life, isn't always fair...you just have to get on with it.

Standulstermen wrote:Well 2 wins shouldn't be enough for kidney to remain IMO. It isn't acceptable. A win and a performance is needed

Maybe but I think hes been exposed tactically again at the highest level. If have serious asperations of being one of the top teams in the world then we need better coaching team. Kidney is the weak link in the chain and arguably Smal is not the man we want either.