Ireland WC

First topic message reminder :

Bit early i know.
Will update squads etc once they are announced.
And add the fixtures when I get a spare 10 mins.

Will Addison has been called up to the training squad

Collapse2005 wrote:Looks like Addison might be getting a phone call

Poopie for Robbie. Just not getting any luck with injuries

In the pro era only once has the winner of the RWC not been knocked out in the quarter finals of the previous RWC. Good omen for Ireland.

Except that is the last occasion, so suits NZ even more.

Aparently Joe Schmidt and family will not be heading back to NZ after the RWC afterall. They plan on staying in Ireland.

Had a feeling.  Thought he might go home or a year (or two) off but had a feeling he'd wander back our way in time.

Wonder what he might do.  The stresses of juggling his life and an International rugby team seem to have taken their toll on him over the years.  So back to a Province in some capacity down from Head Coach? Don't think the man has the kind of ego that would snub a less public role after so long in the limelight.
Or perhaps an easy year or two of punditry before taking on Nucifora's role?  But possibly that's too sedate and isolated from team rugby to interest him.

Or maybe a complete revolution - Joe Schmidt thoroughbred racehorse trainer?  It wouldn't shock me!!!!  He likes the horses.  I'm sure he could coax a few of the cheapest, slowest, most boring nags to still win a big race or two.......

Collapse2005 wrote:Aparently Joe Schmidt and family will not be heading back to NZ after the RWC afterall. They plan on staying in Ireland.

Makes sense - it's bound to make it easier doing all the speaking engagements offered to the winning coach.

Ha ha. Aparently his mum died this year. That was the reason for him to return home but she sadly is not there anymore. Poor guy.

What if Farrell hired Joe as backs coach?

Hmmmm.  World class coach on his doorstep.  Continuity unbroken.  Farrell takes the pressure and makes the decisions and does the media.  Players sulk of a month or two (well those that supposedly don't like perfectionist lights-out-at-ten Joe) but quickly realise they have a potent ticket to proceed with - and besides, Joe won't be able to castigate them anymore for dropping their keys in the lounge.

Yep.  Sounds good.  But first Scotland..........

Sounds like Schmidt’s burnt out. This years effort so far wouldn’t get him ahead of gats at the ABs as gats has simply done more, has his chiefs gig lined up and is ready to roll. Take a break then go from there. His family’s younger than gats from memory. Give it a year then put the hand up again.

Taylorman wrote:Sounds like Schmidt’s burnt out. This years effort so far wouldn’t get him ahead of gats at the ABs as gats has simply done more, has his chiefs gig lined up and is ready to roll. Take a break then go from there. His family’s younger than gats from memory. Give it a year then put the hand up again.

Looks like he was never interested in the ABs job. There is a difference in being burned out and suffering the loss of a parent. It takes time to heal.

Gatland clearly wants the job, doesnt look like Schmidt does at all and probably never did. His motivation to return was for his mum. He and his family want to stay now.

Taylorman wrote:Sounds like Schmidt’s burnt out. This years effort so far wouldn’t get him ahead of gats at the ABs as gats has simply done more, has his chiefs gig lined up and is ready to roll. Take a break then go from there. His family’s younger than gats from memory. Give it a year then put the hand up again.

You're welcome to him (Gats) Taylorman.

We sacked him long ago.....

Yeah I think he’s pushing the right buttons. We still don’t know who head coach will be and both Robertson and Gats have Super gigs next year so it may be Foster is taking the reigns. Schmidt’s free but sounds like he’s not ready. Dunno. Tony Browns a popular pick to come into the main group.

SecretFly wrote:

Taylorman wrote:Sounds like Schmidt’s burnt out. This years effort so far wouldn’t get him ahead of gats at the ABs as gats has simply done more, has his chiefs gig lined up and is ready to roll. Take a break then go from there. His family’s younger than gats from memory. Give it a year then put the hand up again.

You're welcome to him (Gats) Taylorman.  

We sacked him long ago.....

Yeah well once he had better players the rest is history

Mmm how many 6 Nations wins since then??

Ok lets start the Irish jokes

An IrishRFUman walked into a board meeting and said 'To be sure now we should get rid of that Gatland filla, to be sure, and by the wii I've got me some gravel do you want me to do your drive??'

Was that the joke?

Forecast for the Ireland v Scotland game is torrential rain.

not just rain, but torrential rain? great start isn't it...

Picking Aki to be the stand out Irish back in pool play. Was pretty good vs Wales and knows whats required here.

Taylorman wrote:not just rain, but torrential rain? great start isn't it...

Picking Aki to be the stand out Irish back in pool play. Was pretty good vs Wales and knows whats required here.

Have you forgotten the rampaging lunatic Stockdale?

But I hope you're right about Aki. If he's in form and if Ringrose is in form.... it'll be as slick as a Welsh rubdown mattress.

I think Farrell will start at 13 against Scotland with Ringrose on the bench, Conway at 14.

I'd be surprised if Addison doesn't fly out soon, with both Henshaw and Earls struggling, one more injury and we are in real trouble.

Yeah, you're right, save Ringrose for the semi and the final.

Interesting stats article on the top 8 teams at the RWC. Ireland passes the ball more than any other team including a fair bit more than NZ. SA pass it the least preferring to kick the leather off it.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/rugby-world-cup/rwc-2019-japan/115243847/rugby-world-cup-how-the-top-eight-sides-number-up-over-the-last-four-years

Ireland are the third most try scoring side in the world cup cycle and the most efficient at scoring tries needing less clean breaks per try than anyone else.

Ireland also has the strongest defense. NZ, SA, Aus and England have the worst.

Ireland are also significantly the most disciplined side.

All in all there are quite a few stats that predict success so its actually not that surprising that Ireland lead the world rankings.

They should give us a bye to the final.

Collapse2005 wrote:SA pass it the least preferring to kick the leather off it.

England 28
Wales 26
SA 24
Ireland 23

And what you get out of that is SA kick the leather of the ball?

Agreed, at the very least we should be given the same leniency from referees that NZ are afforded at every RWC given we are the number 1 side now.

Old Man wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:SA pass it the least preferring to kick the leather off it.

England 28
Wales 26
SA 24
Ireland 23

And what you get out of that is SA kick the leather of the ball?

Yes I do, SA have the highest kick to pass ratio of all sides. They have one of the lowest possession stats because they kick the ball away a lot. These days Faf box kicks almost everything.

Collapse2005 wrote:

Old Man wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:SA pass it the least preferring to kick the leather off it.

England 28
Wales 26
SA 24
Ireland 23

And what you get out of that is SA kick the leather of the ball?

Yes I do, SA have the highest kick to pass ration of all sides.

Well, if you analyse the styles of rugby then you would realise that kick pass ratio in itself doesn’t tell you much.

You have to look at possession stats per game, then you have to look at how many possessions in a match, then you have to analyse the kicking, was it box kicks, exits out of 22, grubbed kicks, chips into space etc.

some teams will have 3 passes per possession, other less.

None of it means a team is kicking the leather off the ball, you are trying to manipulate a sample of stats to fit your narrative.

24 kicks per match is kicking the leather off the ball

You arent going to have much possession if you keep kicking the ball away. Kick to pass ratio tells you if a team prefers to run or kick. SA generally prefer to kick. I dont think thats particularly controversial but yeah it does mean SA more than anyone else kick the leather off the ball at the moment, you dont even really need stats to figure that one out.

Collapse2005 wrote:You arent going to have much possession if you keep kicking the ball away. Kick to pass ratio tells you if a team prefers to run or kick. SA generally prefer to kick. I dont think thats particularly controversial but yeah it does mean SA more than anyone else kick the leather off the ball at the moment, you dont even really need stats to figure that one out.

Rugby Champioship stats 2019

For your benefit, the RC stats for 2019

With less, of everything, SA scored the most tries and won the RC.

Different game plans mate, not everyone has to do the same thing.

I didnt comment on tries scored, there is more than one way to skin a cat. SA won the RC by kicking a lot. Where is the controversy?

Rassie...Munster. It ain't rocket science.

SecretFly wrote:Rassie...Munster.  It ain't rocket science.

I know, when Rassie was at Munster I dont think Murray had box kicked the ball more in his life.

Collapse2005 wrote:I didnt comment on tries scored, there is more than one way to skin a cat. SA won the RC by kicking a lot. Where is the controversy?

SA won the RC because they conceded only 4 tries, by scoring the most tries, by having good defence, and kicked well tactically (although Faf de Klerk wasn’t all that accurate with his kicking.

So there was a bit more to their game than kicking the leather off a synthetic ball

Collapse2005 wrote:Interesting stats article on the top 8 teams at the RWC. Ireland passes the ball more than any other team including a fair bit more than NZ. SA pass it the least preferring to kick the leather off it.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/rugby-world-cup/rwc-2019-japan/115243847/rugby-world-cup-how-the-top-eight-sides-number-up-over-the-last-four-years

Ireland are the third most try scoring side in the world cup cycle and the most efficient at scoring tries needing less clean breaks per try than anyone else.

Ireland also has the strongest defense. NZ, SA, Aus and England have the worst.

Ireland are also significantly the most disciplined side.

All in all there are quite a few stats that predict success so its actually not that surprising that Ireland lead the world rankings.

Like everything else though this is over the last 4 years and Ireland were truly exceptional for a good chunk of that. If the RWC was held a year ago I think Ireland would rightly have been one of the favourites. This year I am not so sure.

By the way thanks for posting the link to this. Its nice to see actual numbers backing up the impressions I have had from the actual games. From an England point of view we seem to do a lot with little possession. Interesting that they should use clean breaks/try as a metric rather than, say, possession.

Collapse2005 wrote:Forecast for the Ireland v Scotland game is torrential rain.

Isn't that why they're called Pool games?

The Great Aukster wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:Forecast for the Ireland v Scotland game is torrential rain.

Isn't that why they're called Pool games?

Good one. Much better than Pie's effort a day or so ago.

SecretFly wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:Forecast for the Ireland v Scotland game is torrential rain.

Isn't that why they're called Pool games?

Good one.  Much better than Pie's effort a day or so ago.

Oh dear...

SecretFly wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:Forecast for the Ireland v Scotland game is torrential rain.

Isn't that why they're called Pool games?

Good one.  Much better than Pie's effort a day or so ago.

Yeah, that was a bit mince...

I was just reading Stuart Barnes & he said that he's sure the humidity in Japan would not suit the high octane style of rugby that Ireland play. Fair enough and Ireland are not even close to the levels that they were last year but surely if they keep the ball & make other teams defend making 100+ tackles in a game then the humidity could count in Ireland's favor as the opposing team will tire faster, no?
Also if they go to the skies & the ball is wet then they could pressure teams into making mistakes like Twickenham in last years 6 Nations when Ringrose scored.
Also I read it could be Farrell/Aki to start, with Ringrose on the bench but that could just be filling news.

Has anybody started a predictions page? That's always good reading.

Ninjarugby wrote:I was just reading Stuart Barnes & he said that he's sure the humidity in Japan would not suit the high octane style of rugby that Ireland play.

I'm pretty sure if Stuart Barnes has thought of that then so has Joe Schmidt....

rodders wrote:

Ninjarugby wrote:I was just reading Stuart Barnes & he said that he's sure the humidity in Japan would not suit the high octane style of rugby that Ireland play.

I'm pretty sure if Stuart Barnes has thought of that then so has Joe Schmidt....

You would hope. He's starting to annoy me now. Barnes not Schmidt!

Ninjarugby wrote:

rodders wrote:

Ninjarugby wrote:I was just reading Stuart Barnes & he said that he's sure the humidity in Japan would not suit the high octane style of rugby that Ireland play.

I'm pretty sure if Stuart Barnes has thought of that then so has Joe Schmidt....

You would hope. He's starting to annoy me now. Barnes not Schmidt!

Yeah, I'm sure given the level of detail Schmidt puts into planning, he'll have considered the weather and conditions in how they want to play, both in the group and then later in the competition.

I have a feeling we might kick a lot more in the groups stages than we usually do. I think we'll try and slow the game down against Scotland and Japan.

If we end up against SA in the QF we might see a much higher tempo and power plays that we haven't seen before.

I bet Ireland will slip in the move where Furlong passed to Stander who passed to Aki for the try under the posts in Twickers in 2018.

Apparently Kearney is going to miss the game on Saturday now too.

Collapse2005 wrote:I bet Ireland will slip in the move where Furlong passed to Stander who passed to Aki for the try under the posts in Twickers in 2018.

A nice high (Mount Fuji high), up & under into the Scotland 22 for Hogg to deal with in the 1st 10 minutes with Farrell going in after him or the ball whichever come first. Obvious all legal of course.

Ninjarugby wrote:Obvious all legal of course.

Oh of course, all in the best Possible taste.

Collapse2005 wrote:Apparently Kearney is going to miss the game on Saturday now too.

Has to be more deception from Joe, I think we're holding the whole squad back for the QF... Sexton will be next...

Larmour at 15?

Collapse2005 wrote:Larmour at 15?

Well it will have to be now, both he and Conway will be starting. We will have to alter our game plan a bit, as well as selection against Japan and Russia.

I think we will need to fly out Addison sooner than later, maybe Dave K now as well, I'd say they will give them until after the Scotland game to see who they have fit before making the call.

You cant beat fate.. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/rugby-union/49695050

(Just hope it ends up as calamari before its asked to predict the Welsh games ... )

Old Man wrote:

Collapse2005 wrote:You arent going to have much possession if you keep kicking the ball away. Kick to pass ratio tells you if a team prefers to run or kick. SA generally prefer to kick. I dont think thats particularly controversial but yeah it does mean SA more than anyone else kick the leather off the ball at the moment, you dont even really need stats to figure that one out.

Rugby Champioship stats 2019

For your benefit, the RC stats for 2019

With less, of everything, SA scored the most tries and won the RC.

Different game plans mate, not everyone has to do the same thing.

Very true - if a team just attacks at pace once they have possession and score a try quickly, they won't have very high stats other than tries scored.

No9 wrote:You cant beat fate.. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/rugby-union/49695050

(Just hope it ends up as calamari before its asked to predict the Welsh games ...   )

Ha Ha! That prediction was based on Kearney playing against Scotland! The eejits. Joe strikes again, he knew the octopuss would be fed the wrong intel.