There is your upset....awesome Ireland!

Only the Irish could do this....lose 4 in the summer, appear unconvincing against USA, makes you wonder if this was always their plan, save everything for this game and let them have every ounce of Irish dog. The pack was outstanding. Defense wins matches. Healy is a nailed on Lion.

Of course this means that they should win the group and play Wales or Samoa in the quarters, the winner of which will now probably face England or France in the semi. Aus meanwhile will face the Boks and then the ABs in the semi.

If Wales win tomorrow night there will almost certainly be a NH team in the final. SH sides go down. Anything can happen in this RWC. Ireland just showed the way.

Wish i was in Auckland or Dublin tonight.

That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

Fantastic win. Really pleased for Ireland and the NH. We just need Wales and England to win tomorrow for a great weekend.

Upset? We've been predicting a big performance all week kid.

Ireland to meet Wales in the QFs...come on who's with me?!!

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

someone's over tired...relax, enjoy the victory.

It is an upset, before today Ireland had never beaten a SH giant in the WC.

Fair play to them, win thoroughly deserved. Just when I thought things couldn't be more competitive, the opening of possibilities has been blown larger still.

Now to get over the returning resent that we couldn't do it against SA

Knowsit17 wrote:It is an upset, before today Ireland had never beaten a SH giant in the WC.

Fair play to them, win thoroughly deserved. Just when I thought things couldn't be more competitive, the opening of possibilities has been blown larger still.

Now to get over the returning resent that we couldn't do it against SA

Tomorrow is our last chance to prove we can do what they just did.

Knowsit17 wrote:It is an upset, before today Ireland had never beaten a SH giant in the WC.

Fair play to them, win thoroughly deserved. Just when I thought things couldn't be more competitive, the opening of possibilities has been blown larger still.

Now to get over the returning resent that we couldn't do it against SA

Hardly an upset at all.

Ireland have been a top five nation for most of the last decade.

Yeah, well done Ireland. It was an upset in terms of bookies favourites, but Ireland always had the ability, if not the recent form, to pull off a win.

Well done.

On a side note, what a great incentive for Wales to perform and win their remaining games so that they are likely to face Ireland in a quarter final. Not that it will be easier, obviously as Ireland just showed they are stronger than Aus, but we don't have the same psychological hang ups over Ireland as we do the other 3N teams! Ireland v Wales would be a cracking quarter final.

Whatever the case, seems that Ireland have chosen the perfect time to peak. The warm-ups suddenly seem long ago. O'Brien is going to take some stopping.

I think it is an upset in terms of expectation. Even though Australia lost three key players through injuries today, Ireland were still getting written off before the match started. Read the match thread back on here - a couple of people (including Irish supporters) were saying Australia would win by 15 points.

It's an also an upset to the tournament because, as I aluded to earlier, we could see an Ireland/wales quarter final.

I said it would be within 15 points,if you look at my SG prediciton,you can see I was wumming. I had Ireland by 4. It rocketed me up 31 places!

maestegmafia wrote:

Knowsit17 wrote:It is an upset, before today Ireland had never beaten a SH giant in the WC.

Fair play to them, win thoroughly deserved. Just when I thought things couldn't be more competitive, the opening of possibilities has been blown larger still.

Now to get over the returning resent that we couldn't do it against SA

Hardly an upset at all.

Ireland have been a top five nation for most of the last decade.

You can bet your bottom dollar the Australans are very upset.

Yes, it was an upset in terms of the bookies and rankings but by no means an unlikely one.
Massive effort by Ireland, similar to Wales effort against the Boks last week. Pocock's non appearance did not help at all and it showed. Hardly heard his replacements name all game and Elsom and Samo in trying to make up for it were invisible.

I've said all along Deans sticking to the same team will be undone if there are injuries and now they have problems. Ireland have created a template in how Oz can be beaten and the slowed the Oz ball down brilliantly, leaving Cooper and co unable to get anything going.

Coopers non look pass at the end summed him up. His brilliance works both ways. Eden Park is once again NOT his favourite place to play.

People have short memories and this post was not a sleight on Ireland rather that we have had alot of competitive games when the underdog has threatened to upset the order of things...Ireland just did exactly that.

Thomond - WUM or not, there were a couple of other Irish posters who didn't think they'd win. If you look at the Sportsguru stats as well, most people picked Australia to be fair.

Most irish people on SG picked Ireland though,we believed.

Whether its an upset or not is just picking at straws- rankings and bookies are the best indicators as objectivity is removed by their very nature. Both had Oz as favourites so its a mute point.

Ireland will almost certainly top the pool and that is fantastic. It also means the winner of tomorrows match could determine who Irelands likely opponent is- Wales or Samoa- SA look like they'll top the pool.

Fascinating...

What was the score.

Taylorman wrote:Whether its an upset or not is just picking at straws- rankings and bookies are the best indicators as objectivity is removed by their very nature. Both had Oz as favourites so its a mute point.

Ireland will almost certainly top the pool and that is fantastic. It also means the winner of tomorrows match could determine who Irelands likely opponent is- Wales or Samoa- SA look like they'll top the pool.

Fascinating...

Its moot not mute....but in your case I'd make an exception

15-6

If I whisper it quietly, I have privately thought that if NZ are not to win it then because that team plays open, attractive rugby with almost carefree abandon, then I would want Australia to win it. This doesn't mean that I backed them today. I've always had a soft spot for Ireland and have told many a friend up in the NH that if their forwards can produce like they did against England in the 6N, then well, todays result would be realistic.

Ireland played brilliantly and thoroughly deserved to win today. It was amazing and enthralling and I salute the Irish forwards and O'Driscoll who was a standout in defence.

I knew Quade would stuff up big time on a big stage, hope he's not run out of intercepts though!

Well done Ireland, I have now replaced Australia with you for the team I would like to see win if my beloved AB's can't do it themsleves

Who would've thought, one of the semi finalists will come from either Wales, Ireland or Samoa!

Thanks Gatts. And good luck tomorrow with your appointment with Samoa. And don't forget to close the door on your way out.

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

Have Ireland ever been ranked as high as Australia were before today? Australia just won the Tri-Nations and Ireland lost all four warm up games. Brilliant performance by Ireland who on their day are comfortably the best team in the NH, but how anyone can say this wasn't an upset is beyond me.

tomathy wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

Have Ireland ever been ranked as high as Australia were before today? Australia just won the Tri-Nations and Ireland lost all four warm up games. Brilliant performance by Ireland who on their day are comfortably the best team in the NH, but how anyone can say this wasn't an upset is beyond me.

Not to mention the fact that Australia have a history of turning up better for World Cups than Ireland.

tomathy wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

Have Ireland ever been ranked as high as Australia were before today? Australia just won the Tri-Nations and Ireland lost all four warm up games. Brilliant performance by Ireland who on their day are comfortably the best team in the NH, but how anyone can say this wasn't an upset is beyond me.

When the majority of the top twelve teams in international rugby are ranked so closely and so regularly games go against home teams and current form I disagree that it is an upset.

Georgia beating England tomorrow would be an upset.

This is a fantastic victory by a superb well coached and talented Irish team, that have been consistently in the top of the world rankings for a decade, against a brilliant Australia team that have shown great form over the last six months.

It just shows how close the gap is between a team ranked second and the other ranked eighth.

Less than ten IRB ranking points are shared between England in 4th and Italy who are eleventh.

maestegmafia wrote:

tomathy wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

Have Ireland ever been ranked as high as Australia were before today? Australia just won the Tri-Nations and Ireland lost all four warm up games. Brilliant performance by Ireland who on their day are comfortably the best team in the NH, but how anyone can say this wasn't an upset is beyond me.

When the majority of the top twelve teams in international rugby are ranked so closely and so regularly games go against home teams and current form I disagree that it is an upset.

Georgia beating England tomorrow would be an upset.

This is a fantastic victory by a superb well coached and talented Irish team, that have been consistently in the top of the world rankings for a decade, against a brilliant Australia team that have shown great form over the last six months.

It just shows how close the gap is between a team ranked second and the other ranked eighth.

Less than ten IRB ranking points are shared between England in 4th and Italy who are eleventh.

...and only 6.5 points between New Zealand and England. That suggests to me that you're underestimating how much 10 points is.

The gap between Australia and Ireland was noticeably bigger than between New Zealand and England.

This is a neat tool:
http://www.irb.com/rankings/analysis/index.html

I set the analysis to be between october 2003 and december 2010 (the widest it would allow). With the exception of one or two weeks over the 7 year period, Ireland were ranked below Australia for the entire time.

EDIT: Just realised that this may look like an anti-Ireland rant. Ireland are, in my opinion, easily the best side in the NH on their day, and some of their young players are just incredible. I'm just bringing this up to show that today WAS an upset.

It seems to me that the difference in World Rankings is all about consistency and not talent. It would be crazy not to believe that any of the top 8 or so sides could beat any of the rest on their day. Ireland just did what they have always had the potential to do. Fantastic performance and deserving of praise from every lover of the game. Brilliant.

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

There was approx 10 points different between the two in the rankings, this was an upset.

iso wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

There was approx 10 points different between the two in the rankings, this was an upset.

As I said they have been off form, only playing well sporadically in the last twelve months. That is reflected by them being ranked eighth in the world.

But to think Ireland are not as likely to beat Australia as NZ, SA, France, Samoa or England is just in accurate and disrespectful to Ireland.

Not they would care right now, they won.

maestegmafia wrote:As I said they have been off form, only playing well sporadically in the last twelve months. That is reflected by them being ranked eighth in the world.

But you ignored the bit where I showed that they've been consistently ranked below Australia since records began.

maestegmafia wrote:But to think Ireland are not as likely to beat Australia as NZ, SA, France, Samoa or England is just in accurate and disrespectful to Ireland.

New Zealand?!?!?!

When Samoa beat Australia it WAS considered a huge upset, so why the [blank] are they on that list?

If either of France or England beat Australia I would consider it an upset as well, though admittedly not such a big one. Remember that both England and France beat Ireland in the build up to this tournament, and England have beaten Australia on both of their last two meetings.

Ireland can ruin the hopes of the best teams as they proved today but they are just as likely to lose the next match due to inconsistency.
They can run the big sides close and even beat them but they are also prone to play poorly against the weaker sides.
Sort that problem out and Ireland will be a force in any competition.

Cymroglan wrote:Ireland can ruin the hopes of the best teams as they proved today but they are just as likely to lose the next match due to inconstancy.
They can run the big sides close and even beat them but they are also prone to play poorly against the weaker sides.
Sort that problem out and Ireland will be a force in any competition.

I agree, consistency is the only thing Ireland have to prove in this competition.

maestegmafia wrote:

iso wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

There was approx 10 points different between the two in the rankings, this was an upset.

As I said they have been off form, only playing well sporadically in the last twelve months. That is reflected by them being ranked eighth in the world.

But to think Ireland are not as likely to beat Australia as NZ, SA, France, Samoa or England is just in accurate and disrespectful to Ireland.

Not they would care right now, they won.

There is a difference between fact and sentiment. Respect is earned, not given, prior to the game Ireland had no right to be considered on an even keel. After the game they have now earned that right.

iso wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

iso wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

There was approx 10 points different between the two in the rankings, this was an upset.

As I said they have been off form, only playing well sporadically in the last twelve months. That is reflected by them being ranked eighth in the world.

But to think Ireland are not as likely to beat Australia as NZ, SA, France, Samoa or England is just in accurate and disrespectful to Ireland.

Not they would care right now, they won.

There is a difference between fact and sentiment. Respect is earned, not given, prior to the game Ireland had no right to be considered on an even keel. After the game they have now earned that right.

Your statement is a matter of opinion not fact.

maestegmafia wrote:

iso wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

iso wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

There was approx 10 points different between the two in the rankings, this was an upset.

As I said they have been off form, only playing well sporadically in the last twelve months. That is reflected by them being ranked eighth in the world.

But to think Ireland are not as likely to beat Australia as NZ, SA, France, Samoa or England is just in accurate and disrespectful to Ireland.

Not they would care right now, they won.

There is a difference between fact and sentiment. Respect is earned, not given, prior to the game Ireland had no right to be considered on an even keel. After the game they have now earned that right.

Your statement is a matter of opinion not fact.

you are entitled to value the strengh of a team based on 2 great performances over the last 12 month dismissing the other games as "off-form"... guess this is your opinion. would I have the same attitude, I would just remember the last win of france in nz and dismiss the recent poor games against autralia, england etc. of course on that basis, there will be no upset if france beat nz in 1 week time. In the real world, it would be an upset though, nothing to do with respect or anything , but just because it would go against all odds (not bookies one, but facts such as players, recent results etc)

oh an by the ways, congrats to the Irish today, made all NH proud.

whocares wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

iso wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

iso wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:That was not an upset.

Ireland are a great team that have been off form.

Have more respect mate.

There was approx 10 points different between the two in the rankings, this was an upset.

As I said they have been off form, only playing well sporadically in the last twelve months. That is reflected by them being ranked eighth in the world.

But to think Ireland are not as likely to beat Australia as NZ, SA, France, Samoa or England is just in accurate and disrespectful to Ireland.

Not they would care right now, they won.

There is a difference between fact and sentiment. Respect is earned, not given, prior to the game Ireland had no right to be considered on an even keel. After the game they have now earned that right.

Your statement is a matter of opinion not fact.

you are entitled to value the strengh of a team based on 2 great performances over the last 12 month dismissing the other games as "off-form"... guess this is your opinion. would I have the same attitude, I would just remember the last win of france in nz and dismiss the recent poor games against autralia, england etc. of course on that basis, there will be no upset if france beat nz in 1 week time. In the real world, it would be an upset though, nothing to do with respect or anything , but just because it would go against all odds (not bookies one, but facts such as players, recent results etc)

My point if you read back through the thread is that Ireland have been a very good side for ten years. This is not a flash in the pan win. Therefor it is not an upset.

Upsets are when a team that has never achieved anything of note suddenly beats a team that has achieved a great deal.

I had Australia by 15 points based purely on Irelands form of late. I have never been happier to be wrong. Ireland had a performance like that in them but i just didnt expect it.

maestegmafia wrote:
My point if you read back through the thread is that Ireland have been a very good side for ten years. This is not a flash in the pan win. Therefor it is not an upset.

As I have said repeatedly, Ireland have been consistently below Australia in the rankings ever since records began. Australia have beaten Ireland 20 times to Ireland's 9. Ireland have never reached the world cup semi finals. Australia have won the tournament twice.

maestegmafia wrote:Upsets are when a team that has never achieved anything of note suddenly beats a team that has achieved a great deal.

Basically, I suspect that you've rashly made this claim that this wasn't an upset and are trying to justify it by using a ludicrously narrow definition of it. In the last 18 months this England team, for example, have won the Six Nations, beaten Australia home and away and beaten this Ireland side away. If they beat New Zealand there is no way you'd be on here saying that it wasn't an upset because it obviously would be.

tomathy wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:
My point if you read back through the thread is that Ireland have been a very good side for ten years. This is not a flash in the pan win. Therefor it is not an upset.

As I have said repeatedly, Ireland have been consistently below Australia in the rankings ever since records began. Australia have beaten Ireland 20 times to Ireland's 9. Ireland have never reached the world cup semi finals. Australia have won the tournament twice.

maestegmafia wrote:Upsets are when a team that has never achieved anything of note suddenly beats a team that has achieved a great deal.

Basically, I suspect that you've rashly made this claim that this wasn't an upset and are trying to justify it by using a ludicrously narrow definition of it. In the last 18 months this England team, for example, have won the Six Nations, beaten Australia home and away and beaten this Ireland side away. If they beat New Zealand there is no way you'd be on here saying that it wasn't an upset because it obviously would be.

L

I don't read or write on this forum to converse with argumentative, pedantic trolls like you who only wish to try and annoy people who differ in opinion.

My point has been clearly explained, you disagree, that doesn't bother me no matter how much it bothers you.

Luckily they have a setting on this forum that allows people like you to be ignored.

maestegmafia wrote:Upsets are when a team that has never achieved anything of note suddenly beats a team that has achieved a great deal.

That's not really true. It was an upset today, in that it went against the form book and bookies' odds. Nobody is saying it was a massive shock, but it was still an upset. I don't know where you get the idea of upsets only happening when a team that has never achieved anything of note wins against a team who has. That's odd logic.

Congratulations Ireland, completely deserved winners. Much has been said about the mindset Ireland would have to bring to the table to win this game but for me it was always about Australia's and, sadly for me and millions of others ozzies, they just turned out another half arsed effort as they're prone to do. Not to take anything away from Ireland but I've seen more desire to win down at the park on the weekend.

Just goes to show that without 2 of our top 3 players we're very mediocre.

eirebilly wrote:I had Australia by 15 points based purely on Irelands form of late. I have never been happier to be wrong. Ireland had a performance like that in them but i just didnt expect it.

I wasn't sure at all who would win this one. I really liked the look of the Irish team especially the pack, and thought the withdrawal of Pocock would make a difference.

Ireland have a good mix of experience and exuberance, they also have a number of players who have closed out plenty of finals at club level. Australia do not.

The view of the Aus-Ireland match from the Sydney Morning Herald:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-match-report/wallabies-reeling-after-shock-loss-to-ireland-20110917-1kf9z.html

doctor_grey wrote:The view of the Aus-Ireland match from the Sydney Morning Herald:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-match-report/wallabies-reeling-after-shock-loss-to-ireland-20110917-1kf9z.html

The Aussie press is pretty loathsome, they disrespect everyone who has recently just beaten them.

"It doesn't get any more embarrassing than this for Australian rugby. The Wallabies were yet again shown to be second-rate by one of the also-rans of world rugby."

Now this has taken the edge off the Samoan win

maestegmafia wrote:Ireland have a good mix of experience and exuberance, they also have a number of players who have closed out plenty of finals at club level. Australia do not.

Didn't Queensland win the Super 15 final this year?

I do agree the Aussie press is pretty over the top. Rather silly, which is why I shared that article.