RWC2011 quater final: Wales v Ireland

First topic message reminder :

let the speculation begin.

and a poll. feel free to change your mind as the week goes on.

this is going to be wales' biggest game for a long time, well since the samoa game. it is too close for comfort. either team can win.

my welsh xxii
geth, bennett, adam
awj,chartris
lydiate (fingers crossed he's fit if not ryan) warbs,faletau
phillips,jones
shane, roberts,williams,north
byrne
burnes, james, brad, ryan (but if he starts instead of lyds powell on bench), williams, hook (if fit, if not priestland), 1/2p

USA tested it with Emerick running direct.Interesting, Wales and Ireland both conceded the same number of points in the group stage. (34)

I would start bragging about Faletau's stats but I don't want to put the mockers on him, so will keep schtum on that. Really have been pleased with our defence, even if it does seem to take us 10mins to get settled. We are going to have to be switched on from the very start against Ireland. It showed against SA how costly it is to even have a couple of minutes not at full concentration.

Yes we need to be on our guard for the 80 min. I was looking at the stats only New Zealand have scored more points than us.

this is going to be the game of the weekend. i nearly voted. still too close to call. it will be too close to call on 70 minutes. it's going to be tense

also..

i think i might be reconsidering my pick of steven at 10.

there are a few welsh shirts with 2 or more suitable candidates.

rugbydreamer wrote:Brynmor had a great stat on Scrum V with that our tackle completion % was up in the 80's and I think Ireland's was only 67%. That's a great stat for us to see with runners like North and Roberts in the team.

Apart from Australia really your defence hasn't been tested all that much out wide. It's something for Wales to look at anyway.

I'm curious at to where they got those stats from. Opta show the Irish tackling success rates as follows:

100% against Italy
89% against Russia
92% against Australia
96% against USA
95% overall


For Wales they're:

93% against Fiji
97% against Namibia
93% against Samoa
94% against SA
93% overall

gelodge - not got a clue wehre he got it from, but I prefer Brynmor's version of the stats

I liked Brynmor's stats too - very heartening!

I guess though, that it depends on your definition of a completed tackle. It's a different stat to missed tackles.

Even looking at that stat ours is very impressive when you consider how physical the opposition were.

dogtooth wrote:also..

i think i might be reconsidering my pick of steven at 10.

there are a few welsh shirts with 2 or more suitable candidates.

6 - just - Dan or Ryan. i pick Dan
10- Hook/Priestland/Jones . I pick Priest with Steven on the bench
13 - JD2/Williams. SW on form
14 - Shane or Half. i like Half's all ound game but Shane is the gamebreaker. Half starts for me
15. - Hook/Byrne or Half. We need Lee as a specialist against a strong Irish kicking game. Somehwat by default because Hook gives great bench cover and Half is on the wing i go with burn...just start hitting the line please

The time in the oppositions 22 was the stat which most worried me, fiji spent nearly twice as much time in ours which as jiffy said the Irish will score. We cant just rely upon our defence and fitness.

I think our backrow is faster than the Irish and better defensively so if we can isolate and turnover or win penalties. So much for me depends upon Lydiate being fit. with him as a silent assasin in the backrow I am confident we can win. Without him then my confidence withers away.

Gatts wrote:

dogtooth wrote:also..

i think i might be reconsidering my pick of steven at 10.

there are a few welsh shirts with 2 or more suitable candidates.

6 - just - Dan or Ryan. i pick Dan
10- Hook/Priestland/Jones . I pick Priest with Steven on the bench
13 - JD2/Williams. SW on form
14 - Shane or Half. i like Half's all ound game but Shane is the gamebreaker. Half starts for me
15. - Hook/Byrne or Half. We need Lee as a specialist against a strong Irish kicking game. Somehwat by default because Hook gives great bench cover and Half is on the wing i go with burn...just start hitting the line please

For me, 6 has to be Lydiate. Ryan on the bench as he provides good cover and an excellent work rate.

10. Priestland. No doubt for me. He has the centres fireing and a great all-around game. Just hope we don't need any drop goals

13. JD2. Better defensively, scores tries, works hard and follows a game plan. SW on bench for impact.

14. 1/2p. Been playing a massively understated role. Runs all the supporting lines, tackling is superb, looks the real deal. Shane on the bench.

15. Has to be Byrne. I think he's over-hyped, but he's settled the last game or so. He's solid under the high ball and tackles like my ex after my wallet!

With Shane on the the bench we can shift cover around as needed.

The tackle completion disparity is odd. Could be that it's the Irish choke tackles that effect the statistics. The player isn't taken to ground and the tackle 'completed', but a maul is established, resulting in slower ball or it being stolen, so if anything actually a more positive result.

Just can't call this one

Heart says Wales, brain says Ireland

Ideal situation would have been a Ireland Wales final! But they just had to go and spoil it by beating Australia - why didn't Ireland stick to the plan?

Ah we just didn't fancy the other side of the draw. It would be rude to knock New Zealand out of their own World Cup. And us Irish are very polite. So we decided to take the other route and maybe someone else will do it before the final.

Who cares, it's not important anyway, it's only rugby, it's not life or death or anything serious. If we win good, if not we can support our neighbours all the way to the cup (and no I don't mean England! Lol)

good morning Glas, you are a busy man today.

Morning BB. I used to do this a lot when this place kicked off. It was fun then as there were nowhere near as many posters. I've been mainly in the pub recently and thought it was time for a wander.

So you challenge yourself to see whether you can have the last post on every article?

Now that is quite the challenge, and then we had to spoil it.

No, when 8 o'clock comes there's orange squares everywhere! Another I used to do was resuscitate older articles.

Yeah if I see an article that deserves more attention I tend to do the same, obviously my own threads get preference.

Your too cerebral for this crowd BB

glas are you trying to have the last message on every thrread- you on turbo mode

No, I'm just bored.

early start, glas. have you put yourself on newzealand time?

i cant take the stress. its only tuesday. i dont know if i will be able to watch the match. i might try and sleep through it, check the score and then watch.

my sons reckon george will score 4 trys. i cant bare to see them disapointed if we lose.

It'll make men of them. Romance depends on loss for its poignancy remember. Winning will be all the sweeter if you taste defeat and all that. If NZ won every time, they would be bored of the WC by now. Win it this time and they are likely to spontaneously combust.

rugbydreamer wrote:Brynmor had a great stat on Scrum V with that our tackle completion % was up in the 80's and I think Ireland's was only 67%. That's a great stat for us to see with runners like North and Roberts in the team.

Apart from Australia really your defence hasn't been tested all that much out wide. It's something for Wales to look at anyway.

That's odd, because we didn't miss any tackles against Italy. And according to the stats on scrum V we've made 248 tackles and missed 14, which makes our tackle completion somewhere around 95%.

lydiate warbs and faletau are going to be abused by SOB Ferris and Heaslip any of you Welsh fans thinking otherwise are in for a massive reality check on Saturday

Geroge North is the only Welsh player that worries me but i am sure he will get the special Castrogiavanni treatment from Ferris

Mickado wrote:

rugbydreamer wrote:Brynmor had a great stat on Scrum V with that our tackle completion % was up in the 80's and I think Ireland's was only 67%. That's a great stat for us to see with runners like North and Roberts in the team.

Apart from Australia really your defence hasn't been tested all that much out wide. It's something for Wales to look at anyway.

That's odd, because we didn't miss any tackles against Italy. And according to the stats on scrum V we've made 248 tackles and missed 14, which makes our tackle completion somewhere around 95%.

North failed to score a try when he played against Munster & Leinster - and that was with Dave Kearney & Simon Zebo on his wing. In fact, Zebo scored a try. How good is North's defence?

Ferris+O'Brien+Heaslip wrote:lydiate warbs and faletau are going to be abused by SOB Ferris and Heaslip any of you Welsh fans thinking otherwise are in for a massive reality check on Saturday

Geroge North is the only Welsh player that worries me but i am sure he will get the special Castrogiavanni treatment from Ferris

You may well be quoted on this on Saturday afternoon mate...!

maestegmafia wrote:

Ferris+O'Brien+Heaslip wrote:lydiate warbs and faletau are going to be abused by SOB Ferris and Heaslip any of you Welsh fans thinking otherwise are in for a massive reality check on Saturday

Geroge North is the only Welsh player that worries me but i am sure he will get the special Castrogiavanni treatment from Ferris

You may well be quoted on this on Saturday afternoon mate...!

if it comes to that can you quote it privately???

Ferris+O'Brien+Heaslip wrote:lydiate warbs and faletau are going to be abused by SOB Ferris and Heaslip any of you Welsh fans thinking otherwise are in for a massive reality check on Saturday

Geroge North is the only Welsh player that worries me but i am sure he will get the special Castrogiavanni treatment from Ferris

Considering they were pretty anonomous in Cardiff it will be nice to see them come out and actually play against Wales, appreciate Ferris wasn't there but the other 2 were just completely ineffectual that day against a pretty average welsh back row unlike todays of course

The whisper is that Jennings will start at 7 with O'Brien at 8 and Heaslip on the bench.

Glas a du wrote:The whisper is that Jennings will start at 7 with O'Brien at 8 and Heaslip on the bench.

where did you hear that whisper

and in 1832 my great great grandmother left the washing out - What the feck does it have to do with this weekend - You must be clutching at straws

Glas a du wrote:The whisper is that Jennings will start at 7 with O'Brien at 8 and Heaslip on the bench.

Was the person who whispered it drunk?

No. My mate is on gap year and...I've said too much

Unless Heaslip is injured I'd be extremely surprised at that. Now Jennings on the bench might not be a bad idea though.....

I'd be surprised if Kidney started Jennings. Very surprised. Especially since it was never on the cards in the build up to facing Pocock and Australia.

But Kidney has a habit of surprising us. So I won't completely write off the possibility.

RubyGuby wrote:and in 1832 my great great grandmother left the washing out - What the feck does it have to do with this weekend - You must be clutching at straws

In 1832 Paul O'Connell was stealing ball off the Wales lineout. A trend I expect to continue on Saturday .

slartibarfast wrote:Just can't call this one

Heart says Wales, brain says Ireland

Ideal situation would have been a Ireland Wales final! But they just had to go and spoil it by beating Australia - why didn't Ireland stick to the plan?

We did,the plan was for you guys to beat S.A.,Samoa,Fiji,Australia and N.Z. then we'd get you in the final.
Wow just looking at that has there ever been worse reward for winning a pool than to have that fixture list and still not have won anything?

Ruby is that the game where you had to CHEAT to beat an Irish team that were lucky to beat Italy LOL

We cheated for 20 seconds you cheated for 80 minutes. Fact. End of.

Glas a du wrote:We cheated for 20 seconds you cheated for 80 minutes. Fact. End of.

That would mean the game ran for 80 minutes and 20 seconds so clearly you are not telling the truth.

We scored in injury time.

So we were cheating during the injury stoppages?

roddersm wrote:So we were cheating during the injury stoppages?

Wouldn't put it past you lot

How many press ups can Sean O'Brien do?



All of them







Also,Glas is winding you up I would imagine. We didn't plan to play Jenno against the best 7 in the world why would we play him against a lesser opponent? ( Warburton is extremely good but he isn't Pocock standard yet)

caoimhincentre wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Ferris+O'Brien+Heaslip wrote:lydiate warbs and faletau are going to be abused by SOB Ferris and Heaslip any of you Welsh fans thinking otherwise are in for a massive reality check on Saturday

Geroge North is the only Welsh player that worries me but i am sure he will get the special Castrogiavanni treatment from Ferris

You may well be quoted on this on Saturday afternoon mate...!

if it comes to that can you quote it privately???

Ha ha ha...! I wouldnt want to make an example of you mate...!

maestegmafia wrote:

caoimhincentre wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:

Ferris+O'Brien+Heaslip wrote:lydiate warbs and faletau are going to be abused by SOB Ferris and Heaslip any of you Welsh fans thinking otherwise are in for a massive reality check on Saturday

Geroge North is the only Welsh player that worries me but i am sure he will get the special Castrogiavanni treatment from Ferris

You may well be quoted on this on Saturday afternoon mate...!

if it comes to that can you quote it privately???

Ha ha ha...! I wouldnt want to make an example of you mate...!

You want to watch these Maesteg lads, their all roiders who go to Bridgend on the weekend fighting Wildmill lads!