Ireland V Australia

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ME-109 wrote:All water under the bridge now....Aus up next which will be interesting...someone start a thread

How hard was that..........

One thing I'd say about the game is Australia gave us a doing in the scrum on our own put-in at least partially because they were pushing before the put in and we couldn't cope with having to strike for the ball under the pressure they were putting on us.

Once the hooker has to strike he's ineffective in terms of scrummaging, leaving Mike Ross isolated- Bests feet are not in position to push in the scrum when he's trying to hook the ball back.

I welcome the return of hookers to the game, as opposed to middle props, but I think if you're going to have a contest to win the ball you have to stop teams scrummaging before the ball goes in.

Notch, did you see the BBC article about Marshalls 'mistake? I just posted it on the last page. Why on earth is a piece like that worth writing, and why would you interview a young player like that about one single little mistake in an 80 minute ocean of mediocrity. I despair with the BBC in NI.

I cant see how it was entirely Marshalls fault for the try. Madigan should be covering his opposite number?

That's true Notch but all the teams are doing it - the key is get the ball in and out as quickly as possible, which isn't too hard saying the referees are ignoring the crooked feeds.

Whether it was his fault or not, I can’t see why, out of that game full of errors, they grab one young guy earning his 4th cap who was probably one of the only glimmers of hope from the game, and decide to interview him about how he cost us a try. I just do not understand the mentality in doing that.

Yeah it does seem a little poor clive. It would have been better if they had actually focused on the several breaks he made. Give the young man some confidence, not bring him down.

Notch wrote:One thing I'd say about the game is Australia gave us a doing in the scrum on our own put-in at least partially because they were pushing before the put in and we couldn't cope with having to strike for the ball under the pressure they were putting on us.

Once the hooker has to strike he's ineffective in terms of scrummaging, leaving Mike Ross isolated- Bests feet are not in position to push in the scrum when he's trying to hook the ball back.

I welcome the return of hookers to the game, as opposed to middle props, but I think if you're going to have a contest to win the ball you have to stop teams scrummaging before the ball goes in.

The problem with the new law interpretations is that the SH has to put the ball in when the ref calls it. So the defending scrum knows when the hooker is trying to hook and is not in a position to push. It gives the defending team an advantage if they can take it. If the ref said "use it" like in a ruck or maul and the SH had 5 seconds to put it in, then the attacking scrum would have that advantage back.

I like that idea Mickado, that would certainly even things up a bit.

I thought a lot of our attacks were pretty good, particularly in the first half, and we made a lot of ground. The biggest problem was that we didn't have any support runners.

We should have scored in the 1st half when we were on their line with a load space out wide and we could very well have had a try when Cronin went over. That would have potentially made it 29-32. Same crap performance but completely different scoreline. We weren't quite as bad as people are making it out to be and Australia were probably a bit worse.

Biggest worry was our back row and POC and BOD not showing up. I trust Joe to be able to sort out the defence, and I'm praying he does it before next sat. I'm not too worried either about the poor performances from out back 3 as we have Fitz, Trimble, Earls, Gilroy, and Zebo all to come in. Despite the good stuff he did McFadden was still very poor. He tried up and unders when he poses no aerial threat, he doesn't know how to offload, and he does this annoying little shimmy before running straight into contact.

Healy, Best, Moore, POC, Tuohy, POM, SOB, Heaslip, Murray, Madigan, Bowe, Marshall, BOD, Fitzgerald, D Kearney.

Not gonna happen but our strongest team IMO.

Our possibly even a back line of : Murray, Bowe, Marshall, Fitzgerald, Trimble, D Kearney.

clivemcl wrote:Notch, did you see the BBC article about Marshalls 'mistake? I just posted it on the last page. Why on earth is a piece like that worth writing, and why would you interview a young player like that about one single little mistake in an 80 minute ocean of mediocrity. I despair with the BBC in NI.

I thought it was a mistake between Madigan and Marshall, but obviously Marshall was meant to pick him up in the defensive system Les Kiss employed. Considering that system seemed to involved defending very narrow against a team that likes to use the full width of the pitch I'd say there are a few more holes that could be picked in it but thats another story.

These things happen when you have to bring in new players and new systems and I think we should accept that there will be short-term pain for long-term gain.

What do we gain if we drop Luke Marshall for D'Arcy- and still lose?

It does look like Paddy Jackson and/or Ian Madigan will start but D'Arcy/BOD won't compensate for their inexperience.

Nachos Jones wrote:Yeah it does seem a little poor clive. It would have been better if they had actually focused on the several breaks he made. Give the young man some confidence, not bring him down.

That's been a bit of a problem in this country for a long time. Players are eviscerated when they make a mistake, so we tighten up and worry more about errors than having a positive attitude.

Having a negative mindset doesn't help prevent errors. It perpetuates them if anything. Luke Marshall actually cut them open a few times because he's young and fast and strong. There's little focus on his linebreaks- every time he pulls on an Ireland shirt he breaks the line, we should actually be building our midfield around that.

Madigan bolted and left Marshall exposed - period.

Notch wrote:
I thought it was a mistake between Madigan and Marshall, but obviously Marshall was meant to pick him up in the defensive system Les Kiss employed.

In that case O'Driscoll was covering both centres? I'm surprised Kiss name has come up so seldom. I can understand a bit of confusion in attack but Kiss has been there a long time now so there is no excuse for the defensive frailties we've seen over the past 2 weeks.

That said enthusiasm is the biggest thing in defence and it doesn't seem to be there.

There are 3 ways to judge a teams attitude - defence, the kick chase and enthusiasm to run support lines. In all 3 we've been diabolical.... that says more about the players than coaches imo.

Agreed Kiss's defensive system was at fault as much as the players themselves - this is the elephant in the room.

We got the tactics wrong as well as playing badly

I don't get it either, looking on from outside- I don't get why Schmidt namechecks Marshall as being specifically responsible when it seemed like Madigan was culpable too. Madigan obviously thought Marshall had him, Marshall obviously thought Madigan had him- lack of communication, lack of understanding the system.

But why would Schmidt say Marshall is responsible publically if it wasn't so? That's come after the match so maybe he hasn't seen a replay. Maybe we are right, and when they do the video review Madigan will get it in the neck.

To be honest, both Madigan and Marshall should be more praised than criticised regardless of who was culpable. We need them both to establish themselves to have a chance of winning the Six Nations.

Notch wrote:I don't get it either, looking on from outside- I don't get why Schmidt namechecks Marshall as being specifically responsible when it seemed like Madigan was culpable too. Madigan obviously thought Marshall had him, Marshall obviously thought Madigan had him- lack of communication, lack of understanding the system.

But why would Schmidt say Marshall is responsible publically if it wasn't so? That's come after the match so maybe he hasn't seen a replay. Maybe we are right, and when they do the video review Madigan will get it in the neck.

To be honest, both Madigan and Marshall should be more praised than criticised regardless of who was culpable. We need them both to establish themselves to have a chance of winning the Six Nations.

Maybe because Luke owned up to the error:

The Ulster centre missed a first-up tackle on livewire Wallabies fly-half Quade Cooper in Ireland’s defensive line, gifting the visitors the try that effectively sealed victory.

Frustrated by his error, Marshall quickly shouldered the blame but was also relieved to receive firm backing from head coach Joe Schmidt.

Marshall said: “I’ve just got to deal with it – this is the standard of rugby I want to be playing and when you make mistakes, sometimes you’ve just got to put your hand up and get on with it – and learn from it.

“Joe (Schmidt) came over to me straight afterwards in the changing rooms, and said I just have to move on.

“It’s Test rugby, it’s one of those things that happens: one mistake sometimes leads to a try.

“But I appreciated him coming over, he did understand, and it’s nice to have that backing.

“It’s given me a lot of confidence for him to give me that opportunity. The challenge of course is to take that forward now.”

Notch wrote:
But why would Schmidt say Marshall is responsible publically if it wasn't so?

Because Schmidt plans to start D'arcy and Madigan next week that's why...

Marshall knew he could have done better but the bottom line he was exposed due to the rash actions of another

If Schmidt drops Marshall because of that it sends out a terrible message

Exactly why I'm saying that it was his, he's owning it and fair play to him. It looked like he and Madigan were both at fault for different things there.

And got to give credit to Australia for the lines they run off the ball and the options they give their ball carrier, but the defensive system and individuals making mistakes were ruthlessly exploited.

I would say the cockup between Reddan and Kearney on John McEnroe was even worse that the one between Marsh and Madigan - it shows how the Irish media like to single out the young fellas.....

Watching it again, once Cooper is missed by Madigan Marshall should definitely tackle him.

I would say it counts as a missed tackle for both men to be perfectly honest.

given the overall performance "picking" on any player is pointless.

ME-109 wrote:given the overall performance "picking" on any player is pointless.

No lie there.

I think a lot of it comes down to we start- I thought we made a full 80 mins quota of errors in the first 10 minutes and that was just like letting the air out of us. We just shriveled in confidence.

I have to hold my hands up and say that I’m no expert on defensive systems. But if an out half plays an inside ball - is that run not to be covered by the back row and scrum half? If the defending out half decides its his job to come in to defend the inside and leaves the out half to his inside centre - that is the beginning of an overlap and can’t be something that is planned surely.
I’m in no doubt that Cooper shouldn’t have got so far away from madigan which was the initial failure. In saying that, it’s hard to argue with the fact that Marshall could have made the eventual tackle and didn’t.

I’m more angry about the fact the media are singling this incident out!

A bit of naivety on behalf of Marshall, but admirable naivety; he's come out and owned the mistake talking to the journalists. He's given them the quote.

Don't be angry. If Devin Toner came out and said 'It was my fault for dropping that first lineout', or Sexton said 'I missed touch early on and that affected us' or Tommy Bowe said 'I got far too narrow in defence and it gave Nick Cummins the freedom of my wing' they would write a story with those quotes in it and write about those incidents, don't doubt it. But it wasn't them who stood and talked about it to the press, it was Luke saying this.

Luke Marshall wrote:I was to blame. A lapse of concentration maybe. It was annoying to let through such an easy score – the easiest score he'll get for himself. I was looking at it on the big screen. He was my man.

I suppose we're playing new (defensive) combinations. But no, I put my hand up. It was my man, my mistake and a pretty costly error definitely. A couple of their tries were extremely soft like that, we didn't really make them work for them.

We probably hurt ourselves more than anything.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/luke-marshall-if-we-plan-to-play-like-that-theres-no-point-going-out-29762112.html

He actually comes across very well in that piece, he's not shunning taking responsibility and is realistic and honest about both his own performance and the teams. No excuses or passing of the buck which is what we need right no. But he can also take responsibility for being one of the only players who looked capable of causing other teams problems in defence.

That's just how the media works clive, give them the ammunition and they'll use it.

clivemcl wrote:I have to hold my hands up and say that I’m no expert on defensive systems. But if an out half plays an inside ball - is that run not to be covered by the back row and scrum half? If the defending out half decides its his job to come in to defend the inside and leaves the out half to his inside centre - that is the beginning of an overlap and can’t be something that is planned surely.
I’m in no doubt that Cooper shouldn’t have got so far away from madigan which was the initial failure. In saying that, it’s hard to argue with the fact that Marshall could have made the eventual tackle and didn’t.

I’m more angry about the fact the media are singling this incident out!

I agree Clive - if anything the open side (O'Brien) should be onto Cooper, with Madigan pushing out to help the midfield. The 8 and 9 then cover the inside.

How Cooper can get outside Madigan is beyond me - Marshall is then in no mans land and a try is a certainty at that stage because you have O'Driscoll covering the inside centre.

Very depressing display with virtually no positives to take away from that game.

- Ross was shocking - he isn't really first choice for Leinster anymore, Moore will pass him out before the end of the season (unless the IRFU request Ross gets the prime game time)

- That entire pack was poor. We're meant to have vets in Best and POC and leadership qualities in POM, Heaslip and aggression in SOB and Healy.  None of that was evident.  That was a very poor Ozzie tight five and an okay (by SH standards) backrow. It was as if every player was waiting for the man beside him to do something, instead of getting stuck in and rattling them at the breakdown.

- The defensive structure was dire! We used a drift defense that didn't actually drift across the field! So Ozzies had loads of time to pick their holes and if they wanted just had to pass the ball wide in a couple of casual passes to get around the defensive line.

- Why do we kick the ball deep if we don't have any chasers? Why do we kick into the middle of the field and not aim for territory and contesting lineouts?

- I was very annoyed by the lack of reaction to the POM incident. Where is the team spirit to back up your fellow player?  There should have been 15 Irish in there the instant it happened and gold jerseys on the floor. It was yet another sign that we had well and truly lost any pride in our team.

- Two of the Ozzie tries involved spreading the ball wide and running at the BOD/Bowe channel.  One isn't fit and the other is a liability in open field play.  NZ will have a field day with this.

- Reddan was poor, but the pack gave him poor ball.  There are better SH options and we need Murray to handle a tough time at ruck time.  Reddan is a quick tempo player and that was never a tactic used by Ireland and he never tried to push the tempo in the game.

- Madigan's versatility puts him on the bench. Jackson starts the next game.  If I'm honest Sexton was shocking poor anyway, he spends more time kicking the leather off the ball and counting his money now than trying to play any kind of inventive play.

So how do we keep the scoreline respectable vs NZ? This is damage limitation now.

thebandwagonsociety wrote:Very depressing display with virtually no positives to take away from that game.

- Ross was shocking - he isn't really first choice for Leinster anymore, Moore will pass him out before the end of the season (unless the IRFU request Ross gets the prime game time)

- That entire pack was poor. We're meant to have vets in Best and POC and leadership qualities in POM, Heaslip and aggression in SOB and Healy.  None of that was evident.  That was a very poor Ozzie tight five and an okay (by SH standards) backrow. It was as if every player was waiting for the man beside him to do something, instead of getting stuck in and rattling them at the breakdown.

- The defensive structure was dire! We used a drift defense that didn't actually drift across the field! So Ozzies had loads of time to pick their holes and if they wanted just had to pass the ball wide in a couple of casual passes to get around the defensive line.

- Why do we kick the ball deep if we don't have any chasers? Why do we kick into the middle of the field and not aim for territory and contesting lineouts?

- I was very annoyed by the lack of reaction to the POM incident. Where is the team spirit to back up your fellow player?  There should have been 15 Irish in there the instant it happened and gold jerseys on the floor. It was yet another sign that we had well and truly lost any pride in our team.

- Two of the Ozzie tries involved spreading the ball wide and running at the BOD/Bowe channel.  One isn't fit and the other is a liability in open field play.  NZ will have a field day with this.

- Reddan was poor, but the pack gave him poor ball.  There are better SH options and we need Murray to handle a tough time at ruck time.  Reddan is a quick tempo player and that was never a tactic used by Ireland and he never tried to push the tempo in the game.

- Madigan's versatility puts him on the bench. Jackson starts the next game.  If I'm honest Sexton was shocking poor anyway, he spends more time kicking the leather off the ball and counting his money now than trying to play any kind of inventive play.

So how do we keep the scoreline respectable vs NZ? This is damage limitation now.

Agree with most of your post but can't agree with that at all,it took Sexton a while to get into the game but after Aus scored their second try until he pulled up with his injury I thought Sexton was very good.He ran and passed well bringing people into the game and we got 3 penalties and forced a yellow card from the pressure we put them under.That period was the sole bright spot of the game for me and imo it at least shows that we're heading in the right direction in terms of our attacking play,however we're heading there a lot more slowly than I would like.

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

thebandwagonsociety wrote:Very depressing display with virtually no positives to take away from that game.

- Ross was shocking - he isn't really first choice for Leinster anymore, Moore will pass him out before the end of the season (unless the IRFU request Ross gets the prime game time)

- That entire pack was poor. We're meant to have vets in Best and POC and leadership qualities in POM, Heaslip and aggression in SOB and Healy.  None of that was evident.  That was a very poor Ozzie tight five and an okay (by SH standards) backrow. It was as if every player was waiting for the man beside him to do something, instead of getting stuck in and rattling them at the breakdown.

- The defensive structure was dire! We used a drift defense that didn't actually drift across the field! So Ozzies had loads of time to pick their holes and if they wanted just had to pass the ball wide in a couple of casual passes to get around the defensive line.

- Why do we kick the ball deep if we don't have any chasers? Why do we kick into the middle of the field and not aim for territory and contesting lineouts?

- I was very annoyed by the lack of reaction to the POM incident. Where is the team spirit to back up your fellow player?  There should have been 15 Irish in there the instant it happened and gold jerseys on the floor. It was yet another sign that we had well and truly lost any pride in our team.

- Two of the Ozzie tries involved spreading the ball wide and running at the BOD/Bowe channel.  One isn't fit and the other is a liability in open field play.  NZ will have a field day with this.

- Reddan was poor, but the pack gave him poor ball.  There are better SH options and we need Murray to handle a tough time at ruck time.  Reddan is a quick tempo player and that was never a tactic used by Ireland and he never tried to push the tempo in the game.

- Madigan's versatility puts him on the bench. Jackson starts the next game.  If I'm honest Sexton was shocking poor anyway, he spends more time kicking the leather off the ball and counting his money now than trying to play any kind of inventive play.

So how do we keep the scoreline respectable vs NZ? This is damage limitation now.

Agree with most of your post but can't agree with that at all,it took Sexton a while to get into the game but after Aus scored their second try until he pulled up with his injury I thought Sexton was very good.He ran and passed well bringing people into the game and we got 3 penalties and forced a yellow card from the pressure we put them under.That period was the sole bright spot of the game for me and imo it at least shows that we're heading in the right direction in terms of our attacking play,however we're heading there a lot more slowly than I would like.

I'd feel that Ozzies took their foot off of our thoats for that period of time to have a bit of a breather. They were probably all suffering from the DTs at that stage, sweating out the last of the alcohol.

thebandwagonsociety wrote:I'd feel that Ozzies took their foot off of our thoats for that period of time to have a bit of a breather. They were probably all suffering from the DTs at that stage, sweating out the last of the alcohol.

Maybe but Sexton still used the ball well and initiated good phases of play,he actually handled the ball in 40 minutes the same amount of times as Cooper did in 70.You can disagree but I thought the difference in our attacking play was very noticeable when Madigan came on,the Aussies rushed up and put us under huge pressure as Madigan hadn't the vision to chip in behind like Sexton did a couple of times to keep them honest,then when they had to hold off a bit more he spread the ball when it was on.

Does Paul O'Connell qualify as a bad captain now after possibly the flattest Ireland performance since to 60-0 mauling to the ABs and certainly up there with the worst in 10 years. Possibly not however, his comments aimed seemingly directly at Leinster players post match was possibly a little ill advised:

"‘You read Leinster players for the last few years talking about accuracy in every interview they do. And you know, the way we started the game wasn’t accurate and that doesn’t spread belief throughout the team. That was disappointing from our point of view. We need to be accurate."

Sadly I think pretty much everyone played awful.

I think this was worse than the 60-0 mauling. O'Connell sounds as lost as he looked on Saturday.

rodders wrote:I think this was worse than the 60-0 mauling. O'Connell sounds as lost as he looked on Saturday.

You might be right. A man under lots of pressure no doubt. Some of the Oz tries were so soft I couldnt believe it.

GunsGerms wrote:Does Paul O'Connell qualify as a bad captain now after possibly the flattest Ireland performance since to 60-0 mauling to the ABs and certainly up there with the worst in 10 years. Possibly not however, his comments aimed seemingly directly at Leinster players post match was possibly a little ill advised:

"‘You read Leinster players for the last few years talking about accuracy in every interview they do. And you know, the way we started the game wasn’t accurate and that doesn’t spread belief throughout the team. That was disappointing from our point of view. We need to be accurate."

Sadly I think pretty much everyone played awful.

I don't know if you watched the press conference but looking at it in context it didn't sound like he was aiming it at the Leinster players.It was aimed at the entire team and I coudn't disagree with anything he said.

rodders wrote:I think this was worse than the 60-0 mauling. O'Connell sounds as lost as he looked on Saturday.

I don't get that,we put Aus under some pressure in the 1st half and fought back to be in with a chance at half time.The 1st half was poor and the 2nd half was awful but I saw some small (very small) positives at the weekend whereas that mauling in NZ was a complete disaster.

Hi lads...!

Has anyone seen a YouTube coverage of the whole Ire vs Oz game...???

We have some friends staying who missed the game and want to watch it..

Cheers

maestegmafia wrote:Hi lads...!

Has anyone seen a YouTube coverage of the whole Ire vs Oz game...???

We have some friends staying who missed the game and want to watch it..

Cheers

Not sure too many people will want to rewatch that match.

GunsGerms wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Hi lads...!

Has anyone seen a YouTube coverage of the whole Ire vs Oz game...???

We have some friends staying who missed the game and want to watch it..

Cheers

Not sure too many people will want to rewatch that match.

Fair enough...! But if anyone knows of a link I would be very grateful

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

rodders wrote:I think this was worse than the 60-0 mauling. O'Connell sounds as lost as he looked on Saturday.

I don't get that,we put Aus under some pressure in the 1st half and fought back to be in with a chance at half time.The 1st half was poor and the 2nd half was awful but I saw some small (very small) positives at the weekend whereas that mauling in NZ was a complete disaster.

To quote the great Simon Geoghegan - "oh yeah, what were they then?"

rodders wrote:

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

rodders wrote:I think this was worse than the 60-0 mauling. O'Connell sounds as lost as he looked on Saturday.

I don't get that,we put Aus under some pressure in the 1st half and fought back to be in with a chance at half time.The 1st half was poor and the 2nd half was awful but I saw some small (very small) positives at the weekend whereas that mauling in NZ was a complete disaster.

To quote the great Simon Geoghegan - "oh yeah, what were they then?"

Our play from after they scored the 2nd try up until half time was very good.Sexton was directing play really well and we made good inroads into their defense causing them to concede several penalties and earning Hooper a yellow card for consistent infringement.Marshall also showed he's well up to it at this level and that's about it.

If you can find 2 similar positives from the NZ 60-0 match I'd like to hear them.

asoreleftshoulder wrote:
If you can find 2 similar positives from the NZ 60-0 match I'd like to hear them.

We were missing a lot of key players then - this was pretty much the strongest team we can put out, at home, against an average Australian side who went on the lash during the week, at the end of a long hard season.

rodders wrote:

asoreleftshoulder wrote:
If you can find 2 similar positives from the NZ 60-0 match I'd like to hear them.

We were missing a lot of key players then - this was pretty much the strongest team we can put out, at home, against an average Australian side who went on the lash during the week, at the end of a long hard season.

Yes but there were some signs that Schmidts attacking game is starting to come right,now it's a lot slower than I had doped and it was alarming that it completely fell apart once Sexton went off but it did happen.

There were no positives to come out of the 60-0,we didn't show any signs that our game was coming together and we didn't try out any new players.This is the line up from that match,I don't think it's that much weaker than the team we put out at the weekend.

Ireland: Rob Kearney; Fergus McFadden, Brian O’Driscoll (captain), Paddy Wallace, Keith Earls; Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Mike Ross, Dan Tuohy, Donnacha Ryan, Kevin McLaughlin, Sean O’Brien, Peter O’Mahony.
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Declan Fitzpatrick, Donncha O’Callaghan, Chris Henry, Eoin Reddan, Ronan O’Gara, Andrew Trimble.

We'll have to agree to disagree, I saw no signs of any attacking game plan and Sexton for me was having a nightmare until he went off. I was relieved to see Madigan only for him to continue to boot the ball away to Falou....

Oh yeah just to be clear I do understand that we're after stepping in dog Poopie with our left foot and cow Poopie with our right and now we're trying to decide which one smells better.

rodders wrote:We'll have to agree to disagree, I saw no signs of any attacking game plan and Sexton for me was having a nightmare until he went off. I was relieved to see Madigan only for him to continue to boot the ball away to Falou....

Yep have to just call it so,don't really remember Sexton booting the ball away that much either,he made a couple of lovely chips (and one poor one) to keep the defense honest but other than that it was Reddan and the back 3 who were kicking it back aimlessly iirc.

rodders wrote:We'll have to agree to disagree, I saw no signs of any attacking game plan and Sexton for me was having a nightmare until he went off. I was relieved to see Madigan only for him to continue to boot the ball away to Falou....

Agreed, there were a few attacking moments from Ireland (sadly without sufficient support) but no real attacking plan that I could see.

I really wanted both Sexton and Redden off at half time and I honestly could not believe that Ireland were so close at half time.

I would still go for Jackson to start though.

clivemcl wrote:Whether it was his fault or not, I can’t see why, out of that game full of errors, they grab one young guy earning his 4th cap who was probably one of the only glimmers of hope from the game, and decide to interview him about how he cost us a try. I just do not understand the mentality in doing that.

In fairness, they'rr just running an RTE story:

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2013/1118/487312-marshall-holds-up-his-hands-to-costly-error/

Read the first line of that version.