6 Nations 2021

[Lock9541]

That game mixed some of the best performances and some of the worst performances I've seen in a couple of years from Irish players.

Porter, Healy, Beirne, Henderson, CJ, JVDF, Henshaw, Ringrose Keenan, Kelleher & Kilcoyne were all great.

POM, Burns and Earls were terrible.

I was just going to say the same thing. Henshaw played fantastic today. Kelleher made an impact when he came on some very good carries. Keenan did well too

[Lock9541]

Is there anything to be said for a call up for Paddy Jackson? Apparently he's in great form for London Irish. Just saying...

All the pundits in BT sport were saying he’s our best Irish qualified out half at the moment. Hard to disagree with them

[munster#1]

Even with the red card Ireland should really have won this game.

There have been some very poor decisions from a number of green players.

Would have done better without your feckless idiot of a flanker.

No doubt Ireland would have done better with 15 players on the field, but that is not the sole reason why Ireland lost this game.
Ireland made some really silly decisions and errors which also contributed to this loss.

Additionally, when you say your flanker, does this mean that you are not Irish, or do you only support Leinster players who wear the Irish jersey, because as far as I and most adult Irish fans are concerned, once a player puts in an Irish jersey you get behind them regardless of where the were born.

[hugonaut]

Very tough one to lose as a lot of the lads played well and all of them put in a huge, huge effort. O'Mahony's early sending off put us in a hole and the team did their damnedest to get out of it and got to the lip ... but unfortunately the grip gave out right at the end.

Tadhg Beirne was Man of the Match for me, a massive performance from him - incredible fitness level and competitive instincts. A similarly outstanding performance from Robbie Henshaw in the backs, and a really excellent showing from Hugo Keenan at fullback. Excellent showing from JVDF and CJ kept on showing up. I thought that the forward subs all made good contributions.

I feel bad for Billy Burns. It's a bad mistake to make and he will be feeling lower than a worm's belly. He seems like a good lad and I hope that he recognises that it's just a bad kick, not some sort of mortal stain.

Dreadful to see the number of injuries, especially head injuries, in the game.

[tingman]

Throw Harry Byrne for the Italy game.

[Ruckedtobits]

Yet again from a Farrell team some excellent performances and great commitment but very little signs of how we were trying to get players like Ringrose, Keenan, Lowe into strike positions one on one with opponents.

For commitment and execution of skills, Keenan, Henshaw, Ringrose, JVdF, CJ, Beirne, Porter and Herring (for first 50 mins) were impressive. Henderson, Furlong and Kelleher got to the same levels when introduced.

J10 definitely not capable of surviving such a physical encounter for 80 minutes but I'd still like to have him for final 20 mins to close out or rescue games. Murray has lost any threat he previously posed to any defence and now only offers box-kicking and tackling expertise.

There'll be changes next week anyway because of Ryan (HIA), Sexton (HIA), PO'M (suspended), one wonders who else may not appear. French pack are bigger and more robust and backs are all more elusive than any we faced today. They're not unbeatable but they are the most skilled team in this competition.

[Dave Cahill]

No one cares about the Rugby World Cup in Irish Rugby. Players, coaches or the Union itself. Its a waste of time and money and detrimental to the overall game here as the money we lose from not being able to have a summer tour and autumn internationals is rarely matched by World Cup revenue

You still didn’t explain how bringing in young players like Harry Byrne into the squad will make us lose money...and I’m sure all the players will disagree with you they care about the World Cup and the coaches. Real fans care about the World Cup. This is why countries like New Zealand and all laugh at us because we can’t get past a quarter final. We don’t even do well in the six nations with the team we have at the moment so good luck seeing Ireland do well this tournament and in the future with the starting team we had today.

No, "real fans" - whatever they are, don't care about the world cup, the world cup is a sop to people who are more used to the way other sports are organised.

If you want to know how much we care about the world cup - heres how much. ireland have never won a knockout game at the world cup. ireland have disappointed at the last number of world cups - sometimes disasterously. How many coaches lost their jobs? Even after Lens, Gatland was retained. We don't even do our contracts on the world cup cycle.

The entire game in Ireland is dependant on the revenue generated by the national team. Every professional player, every province, every AIL club, every Metro and Provincial club from Senior to J-Whatever, every mini, is ultimately funded by the revenue the national team generates. The world cup generates no revenue, at best it doesn't cost us too much. Dropping finishing places in the 6 Nations costs us money in prize money, costs us money in sponsorship. Nothing will ever be done that puts that at risk, especially when there is bugger all money about. We're already living on tick as a result of the Pandemic. No other nation laughs at us because we can't get past a quarter, because they all know that we don't care. A third place finish in the Six Nations generates more revenue than Irish provinces winning every other competition with home knockout games

[Blue not red blood]

You can see from previous posts I have never rated Ligind.
Just never see what he brings to a game.
In Japan he did the exact same thing when we were on NZ line just before HT.

Moving on we need to speed up our game and hence dispense with Murray. The rest behind are much of a Muchness but at least they get to breakdowns, make breaks and are lively.

Rant over and on to the Superbowl

[Dave Cahill]

I feel bad for Billy Burns. It's a bad mistake to make and he will be feeling lower than a worm's belly. He seems like a good lad and I hope that he recognises that it's just a bad kick, not some sort of mortal stain.

One thing it has highlighted is how few people know what 'a bottler' is. If Burns were 'a bottler' as he has been called, then he wouldn't have pushed the envelope for the kick, 'a bottler' would have taken the safe option.

He simply made a mistake as you say, it happens.

[Lock9541]

No one cares about the Rugby World Cup in Irish Rugby. Players, coaches or the Union itself. Its a waste of time and money and detrimental to the overall game here as the money we lose from not being able to have a summer tour and autumn internationals is rarely matched by World Cup revenue

You still didn’t explain how bringing in young players like Harry Byrne into the squad will make us lose money...and I’m sure all the players will disagree with you they care about the World Cup and the coaches. Real fans care about the World Cup. This is why countries like New Zealand and all laugh at us because we can’t get past a quarter final. We don’t even do well in the six nations with the team we have at the moment so good luck seeing Ireland do well this tournament and in the future with the starting team we had today.

No, "real fans" - whatever they are, don't care about the world cup, the world cup is a sop to people who are more used to the way other sports are organised.

If you want to know how much we care about the world cup - heres how much. ireland have never won a knockout game at the world cup. ireland have disappointed at the last number of world cups - sometimes disasterously. How many coaches lost their jobs? Even after Lens, Gatland was retained. We don't even do our contracts on the world cup cycle.

The entire game in Ireland is dependant on the revenue generated by the national team. Every professional player, every province, every AIL club, every Metro and Provincial club from Senior to J-Whatever, every mini, is ultimately funded by the revenue the national team generates. The world cup generates no revenue, at best it doesn't cost us too much. Dropping finishing places in the 6 Nations costs us money in prize money, costs us money in sponsorship. Nothing will ever be done that puts that at risk, especially when there is bugger all money about. We're already living on tick as a result of the Pandemic. No other nation laughs at us because we can't get past a quarter, because they all know that we don't care. A third place finish in the Six Nations generates more revenue than Irish provinces winning every other competition with home knockout games

Maybe that explains why Ireland are so bad because they don’t care about the World Cup and other countries do laugh at us. When we lost to New Zealand they were saying it on the internet on YouTube comments and stuff. They were saying stuff like: Three things guaranteed in life.. death, taxes and Ireland losing in the quarter final of a World Cup. And if you think dropping Sexton will make us drop points is the most deluded thing I’ve ever heard. He’s not the best out half in Ireland. He’s finished he was a great player but he’s too injury prone it’s time to go!!!
We will never be a serious team if we don’t get past a quarter final in the World Cup and we’d actually do better in the Six Nations if we replaced all those old guys in their mid thirties with younger exciting talent. You literally think just because they’re young and inexperienced means their incapable of being better than the older guys.

[Dave Cahill]

When we lost to New Zealand they were saying it on the internet on YouTube comments and stuff

Aaand, I'm out.

[Lock9541]

No one cares about the Rugby World Cup in Irish Rugby. Players, coaches or the Union itself. Its a waste of time and money and detrimental to the overall game here as the money we lose from not being able to have a summer tour and autumn internationals is rarely matched by World Cup revenue

You still didn’t explain how bringing in young players like Harry Byrne into the squad will make us lose money...and I’m sure all the players will disagree with you they care about the World Cup and the coaches. Real fans care about the World Cup. This is why countries like New Zealand and all laugh at us because we can’t get past a quarter final. We don’t even do well in the six nations with the team we have at the moment so good luck seeing Ireland do well this tournament and in the future with the starting team we had today.

No, "real fans" - whatever they are, don't care about the world cup, the world cup is a sop to people who are more used to the way other sports are organised.

If you want to know how much we care about the world cup - heres how much. ireland have never won a knockout game at the world cup. ireland have disappointed at the last number of world cups - sometimes disasterously. How many coaches lost their jobs? Even after Lens, Gatland was retained. We don't even do our contracts on the world cup cycle.

The entire game in Ireland is dependant on the revenue generated by the national team. Every professional player, every province, every AIL club, every Metro and Provincial club from Senior to J-Whatever, every mini, is ultimately funded by the revenue the national team generates. The world cup generates no revenue, at best it doesn't cost us too much. Dropping finishing places in the 6 Nations costs us money in prize money, costs us money in sponsorship. Nothing will ever be done that puts that at risk, especially when there is bugger all money about. We're already living on tick as a result of the Pandemic. No other nation laughs at us because we can't get past a quarter, because they all know that we don't care. A third place finish in the Six Nations generates more revenue than Irish provinces winning every other competition with home knockout games

Looks like we’re losing money playing all these older players it’s not working out well for us. France brought in a young team and they’re doing well.

[Lock9541]

When we lost to New Zealand they were saying it on the internet on YouTube comments and stuff

Aaand, I'm out.

Well you said no other nation laughed at us and disrespected us so I gave you an example. Let’s just watch how bad Ireland do this six nations it’ll keep people like you happy as long as we have an old experienced team

[Oldschool]

I feel bad for Billy Burns. It's a bad mistake to make and he will be feeling lower than a worm's belly. He seems like a good lad and I hope that he recognises that it's just a bad kick, not some sort of mortal stain.

One thing it has highlighted is how few people know what 'a bottler' is. If Burns were 'a bottler' as he has been called, then he wouldn't have pushed the envelope for the kick, 'a bottler' would have taken the safe option.

He simply made a mistake as you say, it happens.

Because you didn't explain what a bottler is, I thought I'd clear up any confusion.
A bottler is a large marble, approximately an inch (25.4mm) in diameter normally used as a dropsy from eye height.
To clear up some other items of confusion, simply doesn't even begin to accurately describe what happened.
It happens isn't good enough, it shouldn't happen.
Burns didn't just make a mistake, he made a number of mistakes.
He kicked the ball straight into touch from play, it was a mistake to kick away possession in the first place and worse to not execute properly.
He flung a pass to nobody in particular on one occasion for definite and I think a second one also.
There was absolutely no need for the hail Mary into the corner, ten metres from the goal line would have been fine, Wales were panicking, another error of judgement.
So poor judgement and execution on more than one occasion.

[Keith]

I feel bad for Billy Burns. It's a bad mistake to make and he will be feeling lower than a worm's belly. He seems like a good lad and I hope that he recognises that it's just a bad kick, not some sort of mortal stain.

One thing it has highlighted is how few people know what 'a bottler' is. If Burns were 'a bottler' as he has been called, then he wouldn't have pushed the envelope for the kick, 'a bottler' would have taken the safe option.

He simply made a mistake as you say, it happens.

Because you didn't explain what a bottler is, I thought I'd clear up any confusion.
A bottler is a large marble, approximately an inch (25.4mm) in diameter normally used as a dropsy from eye height.
To clear up some other items of confusion, simply doesn't even begin to accurately describe what happened.
It happens isn't good enough, it shouldn't happen.
Burns didn't just make a mistake, he made a number of mistakes.
He kicked the ball straight into touch from play, it was a mistake to kick away possession in the first place and worse to not execute properly.
He flung a pass to nobody in particular on one occasion for definite and I think a second one also.
There was absolutely no need for the hail Mary into the corner, ten metres from the goal line would have been fine, Wales were panicking, another error of judgement.
So poor judgement and execution on more than one occasion.

His attempted cross kick was to a marked player in the middle of the pitch. I don't think people would be as sympathetic if Byrne had committed the same errors.

[riocard911]

From Lock9541:

"(...) We will never be a serious team if we don’t get past a quarter final in the World Cup and we’d actually do better in the Six Nations if we replaced all those old guys in their mid thirties with younger exciting talent. You literally think just because they’re young and inexperienced means their incapable of being better than the older guys."

I agree with this 100%. I remember back in the day Mike Gibson being sent out to play for Ireland way past his sell-by-date and it was shameful. To think more than 40 years later the IRFU still have not learnt how to blood new players and move older guys on is mind-boggling to say the least. Apparently they did the same thing with Tony O'Reilly, but that was before my time.

[FLIP]

Even with the red card Ireland should really have won this game.

There have been some very poor decisions from a number of green players.

Would have done better without your feckless idiot of a flanker.

No doubt Ireland would have done better with 15 players on the field, but that is not the sole reason why Ireland lost this game.
Ireland made some really silly decisions and errors which also contributed to this loss.

Additionally, when you say your flanker, does this mean that you are not Irish, or do you only support Leinster players who wear the Irish jersey, because as far as I and most adult Irish fans are concerned, once a player puts in an Irish jersey you get behind them regardless of where the were born.

It is the root cause of the loss.

It's your player because you and your Munster favouring sycophants in the media have pushed him to be in the team underservedly whereas wiser heads wanted shot of him. More deserving players are in the wings, none are as stupid to get a red card for something they've previously been red carded for, so early in the game. He should be sent home in disgrace, and if he had any pride to go with his brainless passion he'll retire from international duty immediately.

[RoboProp]

Has one of our greatest advantages now become a rod for our back? Do we need to come up with alternative to the central contracts? POM shouldn't have been on the pitch today end of, when if it's a 50/50 coin toss between the centrally contracted player and the guy who is ripping up trees for his province and notching up MOTM awards week in week out, the nod always goes to the guy who has the central contract. It's time for a revision

[munster#1]

Would have done better without your feckless idiot of a flanker.

No doubt Ireland would have done better with 15 players on the field, but that is not the sole reason why Ireland lost this game.
Ireland made some really silly decisions and errors which also contributed to this loss.

Additionally, when you say your flanker, does this mean that you are not Irish, or do you only support Leinster players who wear the Irish jersey, because as far as I and most adult Irish fans are concerned, once a player puts in an Irish jersey you get behind them regardless of where the were born.

It is the root cause of the loss.

It's your player because you and your Munster favouring sycophants in the media have pushed him to be in the team underservedly whereas wiser heads wanted shot of him. More deserving players are in the wings, none are as stupid to get a red card for something they've previously been red carded for, so early in the game. He should be sent home in disgrace, and if he had any pride to go with his brainless passion he'll retire from international duty immediately.

On that note I will respectfully disengage with discussing this with you as I don’t believe that you are coming at this rationally.

If you believe that any player is in that Ireland squad, let alone one with so many caps, due to what is written in the press, then that is an interesting reflection of you.

[Oldschool]

From Lock9541:

"(...) We will never be a serious team if we don’t get past a quarter final in the World Cup and we’d actually do better in the Six Nations if we replaced all those old guys in their mid thirties with younger exciting talent. You literally think just because they’re young and inexperienced means their incapable of being better than the older guys."

I agree with this 100%. I remember back in the day Mike Gibson being sent out to play for Ireland way past his sell-by-date and it was shameful. To think more than 40 years later the IRFU still have not learnt how to blood new players and move older guys on is mind-boggling to say the least. Apparently they did the same thing with Tony O'Reilly, but that was before my time.

Ireland were due to play England in Twickenham.
One of our wingers went down the night before the match.
The IRFU contacted O'Reilly and asked him to fill in.
As O'Reilly describes it, his chauffeur drove him to the match and was in attendance.
During the course of the match O'Reilly was tackled and punched in the process.
An Irish voice from the sideline was heard to say and don't forget to give his chauffeur one as well.