Six Nations: Wales - Ireland Post Match Discussion

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Wales 22 - Ireland 30

Wales:
Tries - Cuthbert (47 min), Halfpenny (58 min), Mitchell (75 min)
Convs - Halfpenny 2/3
Pens - Halfpenny 1/1

Ireland:
Tries - Zebo (10 min), Healy (23 min), O'Driscoll (42 min)
Convs - Sexton 3/3
Pens - Sexton 3/3


Match Stats:
http://www.espnscrum.com/six-nations-2013/rugby/match/133782.html

Bizarre how Sexton is getting the blame for Irelands 2nd half. In particular when he hardly got the ball. Kicking to touch isnt a great tactic when you have three of the best back three players in the world ready to run it back at you. Thats why they did more Garryowens so at least we could challenge for them.

Two main reasons Ireland were crap in the second half:

-Tipuric came on and the Welsh started bossing our pack. Irish forwards to blame.
-Two yellow cards. Murray and ref to blame for Bests cards.

Any sensible viewer could see there wasnt much more Sexton could do in that match. Thought he was excellent.

The performance was far from ideal but the result was good.

I said i before the tournament i fancied us to lose one of our games and to wales. Already we have beat wales so i hope that i am wrong about the other half of my prediction.

Next week it has to be the same team with possibly McSharry for D'arcy if the latter doesnt make it.

Guns

it isnt just Sexton getting the blame but he does have a good share of the responsibility. kicking to touch is great because the back three cant run it back at you. Kicking to the back three as we did ensures that they will run it. You cant give sexton a free ride given how poor our tactical kicking was. There were other culprits too mind you

From earlier thread:

Golden wrote

"Hold on a sec did we just see 80 minutes of an Ireland match without Rog coming off the bench?

Thank phook"


Your eyes are deceiving you I'm afraid. For ol' O'G did come off the bench. A lot of gamblers will have to give back their 'O'Gara no show' takings when the review the game!

Overall, I'm delighted with the result, that first half is as good as Ireland have been in competition since England 2011, but really disappointed with our second half. It feels like such a missed opportunity to build momentum. Had we at least matched Wales in the second half, we would take a huge confidence boost going into the England game at home, and that would be advantage Ireland. Instead we now have this question mark hanging over our ability to see games out. It felt like watching a boxer being hammered on the ropes who is winning on points, hoping the bell rings in time before a decisive blow is delivered.

It is not even that Wales were that good in the second half, just we ceded the initiative as much as we could. In fairness, Wales had the same second half as us as they did against NZ in Autumn, much more invigorated and determined, but unlike the All Blacks, we just shut up shop, and with two yellows shown, it could have cost us. If we try it against England, we will be bet.

Also a bit harsh on sexton from a few here, kicking was'nt great second half, but you can turn the tide in kicking to the corner when the defence is tactically set up to give up territory so easily. If ROG had come one, the Welsh would have run holes straight through him.

Aside from his one glaring miss, Earls was solid enough given that we were in "Alamo" mode. But would certainly go for McSharry v England, with Earls on the bench. I would guess though DK will draft McFadden.

Hard luck to all the Welsh fans here aswell, they've had the goods on us every which way for the last three years, I think we were just due one.

red_stag wrote:On the backrow Rory Best does the job of a #7 for Ireland. I was really in favour of Henry before the game but I can see the logic of the O'Mahony, O'Brien, Heaslip pairing.

Can't agree with this Stag. There was a hugely frustrating window in the time between when Tipuric came on and O'Mahony went off when he absolutely and nearly single handedly dominated the breakdown. He made an absolute mockery of O'Mahony and O'Brien and became less of a factor when Henry came on. O'Mahony came off largely before the Welsh tide had turned but after he missed a howling tackle (I can't remember on who, maybe Falateau who I am not a big fan of but was very good yesterday) that launched an excellent Welsh counter attack. If I was Stuart Lancaster I would pray that Kidney sticks with that same backrow because Robshaw and Wood will eat that backrow for breakfast. I would be very tempted to play O'Mahony and Henry with Heaslip. O'Brien was brave in defence but he simply did not compete well enough at the breakdown and gave away two really stupid penalties when we had a huge chance to take the pressure off our defence.

Well he came off the bench but sat back down again. He's not listed as coming on, from the official website!

So no extra cap for Radge! Although strangely, we probably could have used Radge circa 2009 today just for some pressure release in the second half. But that would have meant an even bigger gap for the Welsh to attack so no thanks...

Does anyone actually know why Conor Murray was binned?

UlstermaninGlasgow wrote:

Does anyone actually know why Conor Murray was binned?

Because he wasn't letting Wales win?

SecretFly wrote:From earlier thread:

Golden wrote

"Hold on a sec did we just see 80 minutes of an Ireland match without Rog coming off the bench?

Thank phook"


Your eyes are deceiving you I'm afraid. For ol' O'G did come off the bench. A lot of gamblers will have to give back their 'O'Gara no show' takings when the review the game!

ROG made a wee cameo in the aftermath of Healy's try was it?

My 2 cents. Great 1st half with the standouts being Best, Healy, O'Brien, Sexton and BOD. Wanted Henry to start instead of POM but have to say I was impressed with POM and he carried well.

Disappointed with the team taking the foot off the gas in the 2nd half. Would give Earls a bit of slack due to him being on when we were down to 14 men but it wasn't his finest hour in a green shirt. An 80 minute performance is needed to have a chance against England.

On a side not; Donncha Ryan is a psychotic looking bar steward!

SecretFly wrote:From earlier thread:

Golden wrote

"Hold on a sec did we just see 80 minutes of an Ireland match without Rog coming off the bench?

Thank phook"


Your eyes are deceiving you I'm afraid. For ol' O'G did come off the bench. A lot of gamblers will have to give back their 'O'Gara no show' takings when the review the game!

ROG made a wee cameo in the aftermath of Healy's try was it?

My 2 cents. Great 1st half with the standouts being Best, Healy, O'Brien, Sexton and BOD. Wanted Henry to start instead of POM but have to say I was impressed with POM and he carried well. Conor Murray is really starting to look like the player of a few years ago again.

Disappointed with the team taking the foot off the gas in the 2nd half. Would give Earls a bit of slack due to him being on when we were down to 14 men but it wasn't his finest hour in a green shirt. An 80 minute performance is needed to have a chance against England.

On a side not; Donncha Ryan is a psychotic looking bar steward!

Boss

I'd argue Ireland had to work much harder 2nd half than first, foot off the gass is certainly not an appropriate term in most rugby matches!!

SecretFly wrote:From earlier thread:

Golden wrote

"Hold on a sec did we just see 80 minutes of an Ireland match without Rog coming off the bench?

Thank phook"


Your eyes are deceiving you I'm afraid. For ol' O'G did come off the bench. A lot of gamblers will have to give back their 'O'Gara no show' takings when the review the game!

He didn't come on against Wales last season in the loss in Lansdowne Rd either.

Any of you think Madigan or Jackson would have been brought on yesterday or would you let the rot on the bench as well?

Sorry bluesman, probably was a poor choice of words. Wales were a completely different team in (he 2nd half. Ireland put in a massive shift defensively but offered next to nothing in attack. I'd say that was probably a bit of both Wales upping their game hugely and Ireland thinking they had it won already with 35 mins left. 1st post was a bit disrespectful to Wales so apologies.

Hookisms and Hyperbole wrote:

red_stag wrote:On the backrow Rory Best does the job of a #7 for Ireland. I was really in favour of Henry before the game but I can see the logic of the O'Mahony, O'Brien, Heaslip pairing.

Can't agree with this Stag. There was a hugely frustrating window in the time between when Tipuric came on and O'Mahony went off when he absolutely and nearly single handedly dominated the breakdown. He made an absolute mockery of O'Mahony and O'Brien and became less of a factor when Henry came on. O'Mahony came off largely before the Welsh tide had turned but after he missed a howling tackle (I can't remember on who, maybe Falateau who I am not a big fan of but was very good yesterday) that launched an excellent Welsh counter attack. If I was Stuart Lancaster I would pray that Kidney sticks with that same backrow because Robshaw and Wood will eat that backrow for breakfast. I would be very tempted to play O'Mahony and Henry with Heaslip. O'Brien was brave in defence but he simply did not compete well enough at the breakdown and gave away two really stupid penalties when we had a huge chance to take the pressure off our defence.

O'Brien was top tackler in the match and also top ball carrying forward. The effort he put in was immense. I agree with Stag. In our pack Best and Heaslip are more involved at the breakdown than O'Brien, though he will never be as good as Tipuric on the floor he isn't terrible. He was very effective in NZ for example.

Our Best available backrow is:

8.Heaslip
7.Henry
6.O'Brien

with O'Mahony a very committed and able sub.

Whoever the hell is still out there in 2013 that doesn't expect a Welsh side to finally and inevitably give you the kitchen sink in any game you play against them, especially in 6N, then those idots need to leave rugby right now.

I listened to a plateful of waffle during the mid-game break when supposedly intelligent and, more importantly, professionally informed and seasoned observers of the game suggested Wales weren't at the races, Ireland were back to close to their best and it would be near impossible for anything positive to come out of the second half for wales. And I thought to myself that if the Irish players, many of them young enough to be a touch naive, and a few of them old enough to know better, but if the Irish players were patting themselves on the back and hoping for more of the same in the second half then they didn't really know the Welsh beast at all. I was praying they knew more than the wise cracking pundits who proved yet again that they know very little about reality when they try to construct their 'narratives' about how the game is going.

Wales were always going to come alive..and they were always going to chew up every shard of adrenalin it produced when it happened. Wales do that possibly better than any side in the world - get energised by the things designed to energise them - the crowd getting behind them, the taste of the possible.

Ireland remain an overly drilled side of much too much professional direction (poorly orchestrated) and little in the way of instinctive zeal and passion.
It looked like a side drilled to do the business in the first half and then left without a paddle of a thought on how to turn around the Welsh turnaround when it happened. There was little thinking on the foot as it wasn't coached into the plan during the week!

But I'll say this too. It was so easy to see the point when the Welsh realised, "Ok, we have nothing to loose now - it's all out attack to the final whistle"

In other words, all they risked was the loss that was being handed out to them at that point. Ireland were in a different mindframe - that of holding onto the win they manufactured in the first half.

Different dynamics at work for both sides that can often make the winning side panic in resolute desire to defend the lead and the losing side to play out of their socks in an attempt to play themselves out of a losing stable.

Had Ireland been the ones that needed the 'Welsh second half', I think we'd have seen the Welsh settle into a half hour of mostly defence too. What goes around comes around when necessity makes demands.

Secretfly,

The game reminded me of a France v Ireland game where France would take a big lead and we'd throw caution to wind and ultimately make the scoreline a little closer.

Wouldn't dare to add much to this thread, save that the Herald newspaper in Scotland pointed out that no side in the history of international rugby has come back from 27 points down to win a test match. Ever.

The fact that Wales came within a converted score and a penalty of doing just that has to mean something.

What's most interesting to me is whether Howley will take any credit for the second half 'change in tactics'. It smells to me as through the Welsh team actually ignored what they'd be told to do in the first half and just started playing what was in front of them. In terms of the first half, if your forwards don't set a platform, there's very little you can do.

Sin é wrote:Ireland spent the whole second half defending because Ireland's discipline broke down. Thought they did really well to keep Wales out even though down a man for half the second half. Important players to be down as well as in the lineout wasn't really an attacking option without a Hooker and the physical presence of Murray around the scrum/defending would have made it even more difficult.

Hope Wales take heart from their 2nd half performance and give France a game next week.

Spot on. We were in complete disarray when we lost Best. He is massively influential. In losing Murray, we lost a lot more than a SH. He really put himself about yesterday. That was key to the Welsh revival. Must keep our discipline if we are to beat England at Lansdowne.

What about the positives? Murray and Sexton are gelling at last. And they both tackle like dervishes. They were 2 of our best players yesterday. Zebo has nailed his spot. Love his attitude. He is like a breath of fresh air. He is Simon Geoghegan eile. Gilroy, like Zebo, needs a lot more work on some aspects of his game, positional awareness for one, but the boy must be allowed time to learn from his more experienced peers like BOD. His attitude is also to be admired. His skill and ability is unquestioned. Leave those 2 on the wings for this 6-N. Their sheer speed and ability, frightened the 2 big lumps who opposed them. Kept them quiet for most of the game. Until we sat back.

I was thrilled to see us play like that in the 1st half. We blew them away. We must stick with this new style and game plan for longer than 45 mins, if we are to win this 6-N and improve as a squad. No turning back now Deccie. I think he may have tactically in the 2nd half. That concerns me. We also missed Darcy badly. When he left the field, a gaping hole opened up for the Welsh. Hope he´s ok for England. If not, McFadden must play at 12. By far our best next option there.

If it was the players themselves straying from the original game plan, then Deccie has to give them a roasting. That 1st half mindset must be ingrained into the squad. Run with the phooking ball, stop kicking it away mindlessly. We now have the players to do it. And if we are to kick it, make sure it gives us a decent positional platform to attack from. That is Sexton's responsibility, coupled with the go-ahead to do it for 80 mins, from the coach. Ran the game in the 1st half and got lost to purely defensive duties in the 2nd. We really don't know what to do when we are hammering sides. Really need to develop a killer-instinct when on top. What was that Shrinks' name again?

I agree about Sexton (and others) in the 2nd half, they defended brilliantly, but we should not have been in that position in the 1st place. That is down to the coaching team and the on-field leaders to rectify. And think it will be. We are heading in the right direction at long last. Don't change the players, we have seen what they can do. Same team next week. Very few teams could have lived with us in that period. Just enforce that 1st-half game plan for 80 mins, keep our discipline and we will win this gig.

England will focus us. They always do. I'm glad they are up next. We need it.

Believe.

Enda McNulty. Brother of the Current Armagh GAA manager and All Ireland winner. Tough as nails and the man BOD goes to see when he's down...

Agree that they lost their way in the second half and got too stuck in defensive mode, praise must go to Gilroy who even though he was being targeted by Biggar/Halfpenny with kicks didn't let it affect him and was brilliant in the shooter role that BOD has occupied at so many times over the last decade. Stopped two tries as did Zebo on the other wing!

SecretFly wrote:Whoever the hell is still out there in 2013 that doesn't expect a Welsh side to finally and inevitably give you the kitchen sink in any game you play against them, especially in 6N, then those idots need to leave rugby right now.

I listened to a plateful of waffle during the mid-game break when supposedly intelligent and, more importantly, professionally informed and seasoned observers of the game suggested Wales weren't at the races, Ireland were back to close to their best and it would be near impossible for anything positive to come out of the second half for wales. And I thought to myself that if the Irish players, many of them young enough to be a touch naive, and a few of them old enough to know better, but if the Irish players were patting themselves on the back and hoping for more of the same in the second half then they didn't really know the Welsh beast at all. I was praying they knew more than the wise cracking pundits who proved yet again that they know very little about reality when they try to construct their 'narratives' about how the game is going.

Wales were always going to come alive..and they were always going to chew up every shard of adrenalin it produced when it happened. Wales do that possibly better than any side in the world - get energised by the things designed to energise them - the crowd getting behind them, the taste of the possible.

Ireland remain an overly drilled side of much too much professional direction (poorly orchestrated) and little in the way of instinctive zeal and passion.
It looked like a side drilled to do the business in the first half and then left without a paddle of a thought on how to turn around the Welsh turnaround when it happened. There was little thinking on the foot as it wasn't coached into the plan during the week!

But I'll say this too. It was so easy to see the point when the Welsh realised, "Ok, we have nothing to loose now - it's all out attack to the final whistle"

In other words, all they risked was the loss that was being handed out to them at that point. Ireland were in a different mindframe - that of holding onto the win they manufactured in the first half.

Different dynamics at work for both sides that can often make the winning side panic in resolute desire to defend the lead and the losing side to play out of their socks in an attempt to play themselves out of a losing stable.

Had Ireland been the ones that needed the 'Welsh second half', I think we'd have seen the Welsh settle into a half hour of mostly defence too. What goes around comes around when necessity makes demands.

I think England or France would have gone on to smash that Wales team by at least 40 points if they had a 30 point lead at half time. Wales have a great team so I think a lot of things had to go wrong for them to do so badly in the first half. The Wales team of the second half is closer to reality but Ireland should never have let them have so much possession.

George Carlin wrote:It smells to me as through the Welsh team actually ignored what they'd be told to do in the first half and just started playing what was in front of them. In terms of the first half, if your forwards don't set a platform, there's very little you can do.

Exactly... the Welsh players tore up the game-day map in the second half and went for it. I love their desire and ability to loosen up and do just that....showing a wonderful and entertaining desire to keep the ball alive and in Welsh possession as they also tried to stretch a fast tiring Ireland side all over the field to get the elusive opening. I respect that. I love that 'loss of stodgy proffesional Ps and Qs plan, let's play freeform' Welsh way. I just wish an Ireland stuffed with very good players could introduce a smidgen of it into their much more corporate business is business approach.

But yes, it was the Welsh players taking over and playing for pride and bloodyminded resistance to the idea that Ireland were some 20 points better than them as a International side. Yet again though, when you're losing that can sometimes be an easier decision to make than when you're trying to sustain a lead.

Just rewatched there. By God the Best YC was a ridiculous decision. Side entry was what Poite said when Best clearly came in from the back foot through the gate.

Standulstermen wrote:Just rewatched there. By God the Best YC was a ridiculous decision. Side entry was what Poite said when Best clearly came in from the back foot through the gate.

Exactly I have said this lots of times now. Really cant understand it. It should have been a penalty to Ireland for holding onto the ball on the ground. It was the biggest charity yellow I have seen in a while.

I have said it lots of times and Ill say it again Best was absolutely incredible yesterday. He was everywhere. Definitely Irelands best player.

When you get decisions like that against you it makes you be more cautious at the breakdown and compete less which is very frustrating to watch.

GunsGerms wrote:The Wales team of the second half is closer to reality but Ireland should never have let them have so much possession.

I try never to change someone else's quote. Very unmannerly. So I highlighted the word and I'd suggest 'Given'. We actively 'gave' the possession to a Welsh side who wanted it and who were fully intent on getting the best out of every period they had it.

We made the classic error that has hounded this Irish side for years now. We had our New Zealand games and our disappointing run of form - and all the while we've all been shouting the common mantra - DO NOT GIVE EASY POSSESSION BACK TO OPPONENTS. DO NOT KICK AWAY UNPRESSURED BALL (especially at a free running side). And despite all the positive words coming out of Ireland camp about a revitalisation of intent and effort and a desire to kill off the bad aspects of our gameplan. Gameplan X makes its usual appearance in the very first game of the 2013 6N, and almost aided Wales in yet again putting egg on Irish faces.

UlstermaninGlasgow wrote:Enda McNulty. Brother of the Current Armagh GAA manager and All Ireland winner. Tough as nails and the man BOD goes to see when he's down...

Agree that they lost their way in the second half and got too stuck in defensive mode, praise must go to Gilroy who even though he was being targeted by Biggar/Halfpenny with kicks didn't let it affect him and was brilliant in the shooter role that BOD has occupied at so many times over the last decade. Stopped two tries as did Zebo on the other wing!

All true. They both played well beyond their international experience. I' ll defend their places in the 1st XV like bhuggerry. I'm smiling watching Irish rugby again. And those 2 have a lot to do with it.

Feic, we are an awful load of moaners eh lads?

In Declan we half-trust. For this 6-N anyway. Then, I hope he leaves, with some credit for waking up 4 years too late.

Rory Rocks. Should be captain.

Yeah, Best was pinged wrongly that time but the yellow was for cumulative penalties. It was a team yellow, not a yellow for that offence which is fair.

Although I thought he did great there.

GunsGerms wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:Just rewatched there. By God the Best YC was a ridiculous decision. Side entry was what Poite said when Best clearly came in from the back foot through the gate.

Exactly I have said this lots of times now. Really cant understand it. It should have been a penalty to Ireland for holding onto the ball on the ground. It was the biggest charity yellow I have seen in a while.

I have said it lots of times and Ill say it again Best was absolutely incredible yesterday. He was everywhere. Definitely Irelands best player.

Yeah. Refs i think will often do something when they feel they have potentially missed and infringement and rather than judge the following play objectively they will look to find an infringement to balance the ledger so to speak. Thats my opinion anyway and i think that was the case here. If he is assessed though (i think they all are) that will be uncomfortable viewing for him due to the yellow aswell

Notch wrote:Yeah, Best was pinged wrongly that time but the yellow was for cumulative penalties. It was a team yellow, not a yellow for that offence which is fair.

Although I thought he did great there.

No its not fair because it should have been a penalty to Ireland so your logic is all over the place.

Why is Best pinged wrongly? I disagree. Watching the video there, Cuthbert is the tackled player and looks like he's not left much of a gate and there's a case to say Best is jackalling from the side. He also got away with that near the end of the first half.

It shouldn't have been a penalty to Ireland either. Kearney is on the wrong side and should've moved a lot sooner than he did.

On a lighter note. I have watched the BOD pass to Zebo a few times and am still in awe at how he did it. There was no margin for error, it was outrageous skill.

When I was a kid I used to try in vain many times to fit square pegs through round holes. I suspect Drico as a kid somehow managed to do it every time.

Well done Ireland.

What a game, a fantastic day out in Cardiff Irish Rugby fans were fantastic fun. Ended up in a big Irish Welsh sing a long late last night.

Shame we lost, lots to work on for Wales now.

I agree that Sexton takes some of the blame for Ireland losing control. I remember some shocking kicks from Gilroy too. Our kicking game is so poor, I'd be in favour of us never kicking unless we absolutely have to.

The annoying thing is that if we had went for the Welsh jugular we could have won by a huge margin. Imagine a few teams end up on four wins as sometimes happens. That huge margin would decide the Championship in our favour.

Somebody said no team has ever come back from 27 points down in the history of test rugby. And Wales would have if not for some heroic last gasp line defence. We shouldn't have been in that position. We're going to be more battered and exhausted in the lead up to the English match than we should have been.

We can't be happy with that performance.

GunsGerms wrote:

Notch wrote:Yeah, Best was pinged wrongly that time but the yellow was for cumulative penalties. It was a team yellow, not a yellow for that offence which is fair.

Although I thought he did great there.

No its not fair because it should have been a penalty to Ireland so your logic is all over the place.

If a team concedes four penalties in a few minutes a yellow card is fair.
If a penalty is given a yellow card is merited.
It shouldn't have been a penalty.

Whats the problem?

Feckless Rogue wrote:I agree that Sexton takes some of the blame for Ireland losing control. I remember some shocking kicks from Gilroy too. Our kicking game is so poor, I'd be in favour of us never kicking unless we absolutely have to.

The annoying thing is that if we had went for the Welsh jugular we could have won by a huge margin. Imagine a few teams end up on four wins as sometimes happens. That huge margin would decide the Championship in our favour.

Somebody said no team has ever come back from 27 points down in the history of test rugby. And Wales would have if not for some heroic last gasp line defence. We shouldn't have been in that position. We're going to be more battered and exhausted in the lead up to the English match than we should have been.

We can't be happy with that performance.

Yeah there were a few aimless kicks from both players but our chase was shocking too,that's an area we need to improve because Wales carved us up nearly every time we kicked and while aimless kicks open you up to that possibility it shouldn't happen every time.

I'd prefer to see the ball carrier take it up if he has support who can protect the ball at the ruck,the Welsh were set up to receive a kick so if there's a ruck and the game becomes more structured they'd have to set up differently which would allow the chance to kick for territory a few phases later on.

Notch wrote:

Just watching France here, not sure how we're going to stop them if our defensive system concedes them the gainline. Too powerful.

I have serious misgivings about the way we defend. Wales punished it, and we got away with it because we had an insurmountable lead. England and France are equally powerful. If we bend, we will eventually break. Just too many strike runners throughout both teams and we need to be chopping them down before they build up a head of steam...

Notch wrote:Just watching France here, not sure how we're going to stop them if our defensive system concedes them the gainline. Too powerful.

I have serious misgivings about the way we defend. Wales punished it, and we got away with it because we had an insurmountable lead. England and France are equally powerful. If we bend, we will eventually break. Just too many strike runners throughout both teams and we need to be chopping them down before they build up a head of steam...

Can disagree with that.

Notch wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:

Notch wrote:Yeah, Best was pinged wrongly that time but the yellow was for cumulative penalties. It was a team yellow, not a yellow for that offence which is fair.

Although I thought he did great there.

No its not fair because it should have been a penalty to Ireland so your logic is all over the place.

If a team concedes four penalties in a few minutes a yellow card is fair.
If a penalty is given a yellow card is merited.
It shouldn't have been a penalty.

Whats the problem?

The real issue I'd have with Poite was how quickly he called Heaslip over for a warning,2 penalties I think it was whereas Wales in the 1st half gave away several penalties without a warning..It wasn't really consistent,I also felt that Wales were allowed hold on at the ruck far longer than we were but I'm sure there was plenty of stuff we got away with at ruck time that they could object to,it's the nature of the game.

Jesus I love a moan about deccies Ireland but cheer up you lot

A great win in an outstanding game of rugby. A real game of two halves. We were more creative and subtle when we were on top hence we won. Our backs had a level of skill that was a bit higher than the welsh particularly in midfield, size is not everything. Drico written off by hooky and a few on here made his doubters eat their words. He is a phenomenal player barely back from injury. Legend

We were terrific first half both in defense and attack. O mahony, murray, zebo, best,drico,sexton were all outstanding. Wales admittedly missing lots of players could not cope

Massive credit to wales for their second half efforts they were never going to lie down and die. Lacking moral fibre george hook said, very insulting. They had a real go 2nd half and we had to defend for our lives. Tipuric is a serious player and made a huge difference. My only gripe was we kicked poorly and tired a bit. Best was unlucky to see yellow. How combs didnt see yellow in the first half was a joke. We had a 3 man overlap out wide and would have added another try.Ref bottled it. We never looked in massive danger with 15 men on field. No sin bins next week please

France in a serious game here. No way france or england would have put 50plus on wales yesterday

Bring on the english. A good start and an enjoyable weekends rugby. Good start to a tournament that has disappointed of late. Good to see attacking back in fashion

Asoreleftshoulder,

I'd like to have seen Heaslip putting the foot down and challenge in the way O'Connell has done in the past to the ref.

I don't think Wales were allowed to hold on for longer but I do think that Ireland were warned and carded where as in the first half there was none to Wales despite them killing the ball about 4m away from goal. Even if not a card ref should have had a word.

Heaslip needs to find the line between being whining to the referee (something he has been guilty of in the past) and bringing an issue to the referee. It will come in time.

red_stag wrote:Asoreleftshoulder,

I'd like to have seen Heaslip putting the foot down and challenge in the way O'Connell has done in the past to the ref.

I don't think Wales were allowed to hold on for longer but I do think that Ireland were warned and carded where as in the first half there was none to Wales despite them killing the ball about 4m away from goal. Even if not a card ref should have had a word.

Heaslip needs to find the line between being whining to the referee (something he has been guilty of in the past) and bringing an issue to the referee. It will come in time.

Yeah I wonder was the S.A. match playing on his mind,in fairness if Ireland had done even minimal research on Poite they'd know he's not a guy you want to challenge too much or he gets annoyed but like you say Heaslip has to find his feet as Captain,hopefully it'll come and he can have a McCaw like influence in the future.

If anyone's interested the Irish Wimmin beat Wales 10-12 this afternoon.

OK, carry on...

red_stag wrote:Asoreleftshoulder,

I'd like to have seen Heaslip putting the foot down and challenge in the way O'Connell has done in the past to the ref.

I don't think Wales were allowed to hold on for longer but I do think that Ireland were warned and carded where as in the first half there was none to Wales despite them killing the ball about 4m away from goal. Even if not a card ref should have had a word.

Heaslip needs to find the line between being whining to the referee (something he has been guilty of in the past) and bringing an issue to the referee. It will come in time.

Stag,

Like POC or ROG, he's not an International captain. Best is. As is Sexton. Must have the intelligence to go along with the skill.

Cari wrote:If anyone's interested the Irish Wimmin beat Wales 10-12 this afternoon.

OK, carry on...

That dat Welsh burds!

Oi Gibbo...you should see what the Welsh burds can do to the Irish fellas...

Was it 2 tries to 3 pens or 2 tries; 1 converted?

Some of those burds would be scary things to tackle. I'd be seeing stars.... (if I got my head in the wrong place!)

Just a question has anyone been cited for the kick in sexton's face in that ruck?