My Fellow Irish Fans Do Any Of You Really Beleive We Can Win It This Year

First topic message reminder :

Because i do.

Not only on paper imho we have the second best team in the world behind NZ but i really believe that this will be the tourney we finally reach our potential as a team with it being BOD's and POC swangsong so to speak

I agree that it certainly wouldn't be you first choice team if picking today, but it wasn't that far off at the time, was it? Court was thought to be the great hope for prop at that time, Cronin was in because of injuries to best and Flannery, and so on? As you say tho, only a half dozen or so would start today, altho likely that Wallace will be on the bench or wearing 12 if D'Arcy hasn't recovered

Nor is it a defeat Rob

Rob B wrote:
Whether it was an A team or not, 10 points is hardly a hammering.

It wasn't a hammering at all. It was a very tough game for us and I would be very wary about us coming up againts Somoa right now but as the higher ranked side with the better head to head I'd be hopeful but not overconfident of us winning that one.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:I agree that it certainly wouldn't be you first choice team if picking today, but it wasn't that far off at the time, was it? Court was thought to be the great hope for prop at that time, Cronin was in because of injuries to best and Flannery, and so on? As you say tho, only a half dozen or so would start today, altho likely that Wallace will be on the bench or wearing 12 if D'Arcy hasn't recovered

Wasn't that far off?!?

John Hayes
Stringer
Court
Toner
Wallace
Sean OBrien
Cronin

None of them were first team players at the time and possibly not Trimble either so no you couldn't really argue it wasnt too far off regardless of whether there were lots of injuries or not.

It was far off at the time. at the time less than half of that team would have been first choice if everyone was fit.

We beat Somoa with a team closer to the reserves than the first team - a creditable result imv.

Rob B wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:Rob B the team that started against Somoa only had 6 players who would make a full strength Ireland side for a crucial game in the World Cup. One of those, SOB, was making his debut. The team was not even close to being the A team.

As for our poster who is making silly claims on behalf of Ireland - it appears he is 19 and lives in England. Lets view his posts in that light

Whether it was an A team or not, 10 points is hardly a hammering.

Who cares you said Samoa would wipe the floor with England or Irelands first team. Irelands B team beat Samoa by more than a score recently and England have beaten Australia home and away recently so you are talking nonsense.

I conclude the Aussie squad doesnt have very impressive depth which is a pity because you need it to win the WC.

leinsterbaby wrote:

Rob B wrote:

geoff998rugby wrote:Rob B the team that started against Somoa only had 6 players who would make a full strength Ireland side for a crucial game in the World Cup. One of those, SOB, was making his debut. The team was not even close to being the A team.

As for our poster who is making silly claims on behalf of Ireland - it appears he is 19 and lives in England. Lets view his posts in that light

Whether it was an A team or not, 10 points is hardly a hammering.

Who cares you said Samoa would wipe the floor with England or Irelands first team. Irelands B team beat Samoa by more than a score recently and England have beaten Australia home and away recently so you are talking nonsense.

I conclude the Aussie squad doesnt have very impressive depth which is a pity because you need it to win the WC.

And you said Ireland hammered Samoa, which is off the cuff rubbish. You had a win (at home of course).

Based on how Samoa played, yes in my view they would have wiped the floor with them as I said, especially of the game was outsdie Ireland/England. I can't explain the England loss at Twickenam, except to say none of them turned up to play that day and was their worst performance in 2 years (counting the Samoa game). As for the 2010 tests in Australia, the team has changed 50% since then. The loss came from a Giteau missed penalty in front which is what he also did against Scotland in 09. I don't think England, Scotland or Ireland fans can get too excited over that frankly. Just ask the All Blacks fans. When as the last time you racked up 59 points against France? And the last win over the All Blacks? 105 years and counting?

leinsterbaby wrote:you said Samoa would wipe the floor with England or Irelands first team.

Rob B wrote:And you said Ireland hammered Samoa

You're both wrong. Can we move on please?

roddersm wrote:

leinsterbaby wrote:you said Samoa would wipe the floor with England or Irelands first team.

Rob B wrote:And you said Ireland hammered Samoa

You're both wrong. Can we move on please?

Sorry Rodders you are wrong too because I didn't say we hammered Samoa the last time we played them I said we usually hammer them. Given that the 20-10 result is our lowest ever victory v Samoa it's a fair comment. If you are gonna get involved maybe you should read the posts first.

leinsterbaby wrote:Sorry Rodders you are wrong too because I didn't say we hammered Samoa the last time we played them I said we usually hammer them.

Well considering the previous meeting was in 2003 I don't see how you can claim that we usually hammer them?

I think you are exagerrating Irish superority over Samoa a tad. I'm sure that Australia were quite content with their previous record against Somoa until recently too and they're certainly a team I wouldn't be expecting to hammer anywhere, let alone in New Zealand.

roddersm wrote:

leinsterbaby wrote:Sorry Rodders you are wrong too because I didn't say we hammered Samoa the last time we played them I said we usually hammer them.

Well considering the previous meeting was in 2003 I don't see how you can claim that we usually hammer them?

I think you are exagerrating Irish superority over Samoa a tad. I'm sure that Australia were quite content with their previous record against Somoa until recently too and they're certainly a team I wouldn't be expecting to hammer anywhere, let alone in New Zealand.

I never said I expect to hammer them anywhere. I said we usually hammer them which is fact based on our record. My point was given that an experimental Irish side beat them recently by more than a score it is unlikely Samoa would "wipe the floor" with our first team as was predicted by RobB.

[quote
I never said I expect to hammer them anywhere. I said we usually hammer them which is fact based on our record. [/quote]

Does that include the third last game when Ireland lost 25-40?

Leinsterbaby thats fair enough but I think you are a tad over confident. The last match regardless of who was playing was a tough game and not a hammering by any stretch of the imagination. As our previous encounter was in 2003 then I think you are way of the mark to say we usually hammer them.

I didn't see the Australia game but they managed to beat the wallabies at home which is something we haven't managed to do in recent times so whilst I don't agree that they would wipe the floor with us, they are certainly a team I would be vary wary off.

Missing players isn't an excuse either because Samoa often play with makeshift sides and minimal preperation time.

Rob B wrote:[quote
I never said I expect to hammer them anywhere. I said we usually hammer them which is fact based on our record.

Does that include the third last game when Ireland lost 25-40? [/quote]

Correct we lost one in 96 I think. In the rest we have usually hammered them. Still nothing to suggest that Samoa would wipe the floor with Ireland or England.

Well I guess that is something we disagree on. Certainly pointing to historical results doesn't really assist the argument. Australia have beaten them something like 74-5 but that didn't count for too much last week.

roddersm wrote:Leinsterbaby thats fair enough but I think you are a tad over confident. The last match regardless of who was playing was a tough game and not a hammering by any stretch of the imagination. As our previous encounter was in 2003 then I think you are way of the mark to say we usually hammer them.

I didn't see the Australia game but they managed to beat the wallabies at home which is something we haven't managed to do in recent times so whilst I don't agree that they would wipe the floor with us, they are certainly a team I would be vary wary off.

Missing players isn't an excuse either because Samoa often play with makeshift sides and minimal preperation time.

Except in this case Samoa did name an extremely strong side. All the RWC cup players were there and they included a lot of New Zealand Super Rugby and European based players - most of them were in Sydney very early preparing and they skipped the recent tournament (Pacific Nations Cup?) to target this game. It was a great ambush.

This is easily one of the stupidest arguements I've seen on 606v2

I think this is becoming a rather pointless circular argument. anyone got anything new to say?

Back on topic. Of course they 'can' win it. They have the capability to string several good performances together and although they have their 'bogey' teams, there's always the chance of someone else knocking them out or getting a 'surprise' victory. I personally can't see anyone other than the All Blacks winning it but you never know. Ireland can certainly make the final if they top their group (and I would give them a very good chance of getting to the final if they top their group).

HammerofThunor wrote:I think this is becoming a rather pointless circular argument. anyone got anything new to say?

Back on topic. Of course they 'can' win it. They have the capability to string several good performances together and although they have their 'bogey' teams, there's always the chance of someone else knocking them out or getting a 'surprise' victory. I personally can't see anyone other than the All Blacks winning it but you never know. Ireland can certainly make the final if they top their group (and I would give them a very good chance of getting to the final if they top their group).

I just added a new comment about the Samoan side actually. Did you read it? Apologies if the comment is somewhat pointless and circular in your mind.

Maybe you can think of something else to say than there can always be a surprise victory, and I can't see anyone winning other than the ABs - it's a bit yesterday.

red_stag wrote:This is easily one of the stupidest arguements I've seen on 606v2

Ignore the thread if you don't like it.

leinsterbaby wrote:

red_stag wrote:This is easily one of the stupidest arguements I've seen on 606v2

Ignore the thread if you don't like it.

Or add something you feel is worthwhile rather than rubbishing someone elses debate.

No problems with the thread I've been chatting on it since it was posted. The pointless circular nonsense about whether we hammer Samoa regularly or didn't or wouldn't shouldn't couldn't is where my comment relates to.

Ireland will not win the world cup....simples!

red_stag wrote:No problems with the thread I've been chatting on it since it was posted. The pointless circular nonsense about whether we hammer Samoa regularly or didn't or wouldn't shouldn't couldn't is where my comment relates to.

I agree. The whole tone of this thread needs to be higher brow. You can start by learning to spell.

Rob B wrote:You can start by learning to spell.

Glad we have things in perspective. Enjoy

dubh_linn wrote:Ireland will not win the world cup....simples!

I think they will get to the semis by beating one team ranked above them.

Leinster baby....i think quarters are probable and possible semi depending on how the match v australia goes....depends on a lot of factors including form..injuries...refereeing etc...i just want a decent performance this time!

Don't we all. Couldnt be any worse than last time.

[quote="leinsterbaby"]Don't we all. Couldnt be any worse than last time.[/quote]

Don't jinx it!

Irish Curry wrote:

leinsterbaby wrote:Don't we all. Couldnt be any worse than last time.

Don't jinx it!

How does the song go....`if it wasnt for bad luck we wouldnt have no luck at all`:-)

[quote="dubh_linn"][quote="Irish Curry"][quote="leinsterbaby"]Don't we all. Couldnt be any worse than last time.[/quote]

Don't jinx it! [/quote]

How does the song go....`if it wasnt for bad luck we wouldnt have no luck at all`:-)[/quote]