Ireland vs Wales, 8th February 2014

First topic message reminder :

IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster), Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster), Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Dave Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster); Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt), Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster), Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster).

Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster), Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster), Tommy O'Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster), Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster), Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster), Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster).

WALES: Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues); Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Racing Metro 92), George North (Northampton Saints); Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Racing Metro 92); Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Andrew Coombs (Newport Gwent Dragons), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Racing Metro 92), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues) (capt), Toby Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons).

Replacements: Ken Owens (Scarlets), Paul James (Bath), Rhodri Jones (Scarlets), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), James Hook (Perpignan), Liam Williams (Scarlets).

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), JP Doyle (England)
Television Match Official: Graham Hughes (England)

   

Not a classic but a very good demonstration by Ireland. They knew what wales would do and played the tacticvs to nullify them and some great work at the breakdown.
Phillips showed his weakness - very lucky to stay on I thought and cost Wales. Wales need to have more creativity in midfield and need to counterattack.

Ireland - surely now the favourites.

nathan wrote:Irelands Physicality a the breakdown is immense. I can't see us (England) beating them.

It's easy to be on top when you can enter the ruck from the side

Good for the 6nation that result

Well done Ireland. Fully deserved.

Mike Phillips and that other Welsh lad who tried to break someone's jaw on the last try - absolutely pathetic today.

Can't be happier for you Ireland!

sheephead wrote:

rodders wrote:Cheap shot by Williams....but sure who cares!

Exactly what Murray did to Jon Davies in the World Cup so don't give it your double standards. Actually Murray was worse as he led with his knees!

  The RWC was 3 years ago! Paddy Jackson wasn't even born then!

Hood83 wrote:Quite a lot of Kiwi supporters seemed keen on Gatland pushing for the ABs...pretty sure Schmidt is a better option

Ah noooo. Gatlands their man. Schmidt can stay where he is  We might actually beat them then

quinsforever wrote:

Scratch wrote:

quinsforever wrote:philips is not only crwp he's a disgrace

Ah now i get it, you're Brian Moore.

based on the opinion i expressed above, i could be an awful lot of people

Including me right now. utterly dejected, not by losing, but by that performance

Duty281 wrote:Well done Ireland. Fully deserved.

Mike Phillips and that other Welsh lad who tried to break someone's jaw on the last try - absolutely pathetic today.

Can't be happier for you Ireland!

+1  

sheephead wrote:

rodders wrote:Cheap shot by Williams....but sure who cares!

Exactly what Murray did to Jon Davies in the World Cup so don't give it your double standards. Actually Murray was worse as he led with his knees!

To be honest Liam Williams put his hand up immediately to apologise...... he is not a dirty player generally

This win is not such a surprise as Ireland did the same to Wales last here, probably more so

You can see how winning the Lions has taken so much out of the Welsh desire, they looked tired and Well-past-it

sheephead wrote:

nathan wrote:Irelands Physicality a the breakdown is immense. I can't see us (England) beating them.

It's easy to be on top when you can enter the ruck from the side

whine whine whine....

sheephead wrote:

nathan wrote:Irelands Physicality a the breakdown is immense. I can't see us (England) beating them.

It's easy to be on top when you can enter the ruck from the side

Hilarious. Honestly, Barnes gave Wales a lot of very questionable calls (yet we still won) and you still try to blame the referee.

Thanks to those welsh fans on here who can actually be gracious in defeat, very pleased with the win!   

Scrumpy wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Well done Ireland. Fully deserved.

Mike Phillips and that other Welsh lad who tried to break someone's jaw on the last try - absolutely pathetic today.

Can't be happier for you Ireland!

+1  

Ridiculous overboard statement

flyhalffactory wrote:

Scrumpy wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Well done Ireland. Fully deserved.

Mike Phillips and that other Welsh lad who tried to break someone's jaw on the last try - absolutely pathetic today.

Can't be happier for you Ireland!

+1  

Ridiculous overboard statement

very much so, i'm amazed that you can tell that was his intentions.

I don't think Williams tried to injure Jackson, I do think Phillips is an ......

Not going to get too excited yet but that was a very solid performance. POM is an absolute monster at the breakdown and has been the best player so far in this 6N.

Tournament far from over today but some soul searching will occur in the lay off. In a way that comes at the right time for both teams. For Wales to add some bite to training and for Ireland to rest and bring themselves up mentally for England. Well done Ireland today but much depends on how both teams respond next week. If Ireland wins then France match proves vital. If they lose then the title race is open.

flyhalffactory wrote:

Scrumpy wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Well done Ireland. Fully deserved.

Mike Phillips and that other Welsh lad who tried to break someone's jaw on the last try - absolutely pathetic today.

Can't be happier for you Ireland!

+1  

Ridiculous overboard statement

What was he trying to do then?

He's aimed a forearm straight at a player's jaw - the player's beneath him as well which makes the chance of injury worse.

sheephead wrote:

rodders wrote:Cheap shot by Williams....but sure who cares!

Exactly what Murray did to Jon Davies in the World Cup so don't give it your double standards. Actually Murray was worse as he led with his knees!

I don't think you quite have a grasp on the word 'worse' yet. An unprotected blow to the head can be life shortening. In American Football you get fined and banned for that sort of challenge, concussions are no joke.

Really like Warburton, class comments always

Sam is right, we lost to ireland last year and still won the championship.

Ok firstly well done ireland- your forwards dominated us and sexton gave a tactical kicking masterclass. defence gave our players no time or space.

Now time for the swear filter to come into action

That was a Frak utter disgrace, one of the worst Frak games i have seen wales play. No intelligence or heart. Stupid mistakes from wales. Priestland seemed to be the only player trying, and his only option was to kick as the backs offered nothing and the forwards gave absolutely no platform. We are too predictable and while Gatland is a good coach he really needs to develop our game plan. Phillips is an idiot, slow ball and gives priestland no platform to utilise our backs. What i find frustrating is that Irelands backline is not as physical as ours (nor as talented in my opinion) yet we didnt use this too our advantage. Especially when you consider that ireland werent particularly threatening, however they used their strengths to their advantage, lineout and a general at 10. And sadly thats all they need.

Anyway congratulations Ireland, dominated it, and even Barnes had no impact on the game,]. Now can Scotland please cheer me up and make my hangover better. And hopefully both the scottish and english players can show wales what its like to play with heart. Hope shaun edwards tears their manhood off

Hope we can keep up this level of intensity and improve the execution.There's still a lot of room for improvement but that's a great start.

Warburton wasn't ready to come back. Shame as I rate him v highly when fit.
Phillips is a goon.
Ireland played their strategy fantastically

Yeah well I still think we are looking at 3 wins and 3rd place but you can't complain about the first 2 performances. Not perfect but impressive score lines.

Well done, Ireland. Better team across the park, especially backrow and half-backs. An absolute master-class of tactical kicking from Sexton and Murray. Gatland totally out-thought by Schmidt.

JmD wrote:

sheephead wrote:

rodders wrote:Cheap shot by Williams....but sure who cares!

Exactly what Murray did to Jon Davies in the World Cup so don't give it your double standards. Actually Murray was worse as he led with his knees!

I don't think you quite have a grasp on the word 'worse' yet. An unprotected blow to the head can be life shortening. In American Football you get fined and banned for that sort of challenge, concussions are no joke.

he will undoubtedly get cited for it. was a cheap-shot to the head, leading with his forearm. i wouldnt be surprised if he gets a ban actually. it will look very bad on slow-mo from the proper angle.

Ireland really derserved the win today. They was the better team, Wales did look a bit lethargic at times.

I don't think that Wales played that bad to be honest. I just think that Ireland contained them well.

A good game non the less, lets hope that the England v Scotland game is just as good.

Gatland had some game-changers on the bench and stubbornly either brought them on too late (Tipuric) or not at all (Hook).

(15) 1/2p was poor, (10) Priestland looked lost, and (13) North yet again looked like he needs six months out of the game, and yet a fresh James Hook wasn't brought on.

What a waste of resources

A +45 points difference after two games could be crucial.

well that was pure domination from Ireland! No plan B for Wales, which must surely be worrying for them....why Hook didn't make an apperance, il never know..!

Does anyone really care about a triple crown?

Excellent win but we still have England and France away. The even years at the moment are much more difficult for Ireland despite having three home games.

Good interview from Warburton, he always speaks well. Wales record with him as Captain is appalling for such a good team though. I think it's won 10 lost 14 and now only won 1 out of the last 11.

quinsforever wrote:

JmD wrote:

sheephead wrote:

rodders wrote:Cheap shot by Williams....but sure who cares!

Exactly what Murray did to Jon Davies in the World Cup so don't give it your double standards. Actually Murray was worse as he led with his knees!

I don't think you quite have a grasp on the word 'worse' yet. An unprotected blow to the head can be life shortening. In American Football you get fined and banned for that sort of challenge, concussions are no joke.

he will undoubtedly get cited for it. was a cheap-shot to the head, leading with his forearm. i wouldnt be surprised if he gets a ban actually. it will look very bad on slow-mo from the proper angle.

Will have to look at the recording later. Didn't really notice as was celebrating the try!

Golden wrote:Does anyone really care about a triple crown?

I thought Ireland does as other than the one grand slam they haven't won anything else for 40 years   

Ireland gave Wales enough rope to hang themselves with today; errors compounded by ill discipline as they got hammered in the contact area and at the breakdown. Sexton was the standout player in a great Irish performance.

What did Williams do? I turned away and back and saw Phillips trying to fight half the Irish team and just thought it was par for the course.

flyhalffactory wrote:Gatland had some game-changers on the bench and stubbornly either brought them on too late (Tipuric) or not at all (Hook).

(15) 1/2p was poor, (10) Priestland looked lost, and (13) North yet again looked like he needs six months out of the game, and yet a fresh James Hook wasn't brought on.

What a waste of resources

What on earth was the point of bringing on Tips with 3 mins to go! It was obvious by 50 mins we were second best.

Golden wrote:Does anyone really care about a triple crown?

Yes. Beating England, Wales and Scotland in a calendar year is no mean feat - even individually its not to be sniffed at.

HammerofThunor wrote:

Golden wrote:Does anyone really care about a triple crown?

I thought Ireland does as other than the one grand slam they haven't won anything else for 40 years   

We certainly seem to put it on a pedestal. But it seems nothing more than runners up medal to me

Did todays game show Wales of being a one trick pony?

They seem to play the same way every time Jamie Roberts Bosh it up through the centres. Do Wales have a plan (B) and if so will we see it any time soon?

Lol at the swear filter!

He did the common thing of sliding it at the player scoring the try and caught Jackson with his arm. Deliberate? **** knows. Kearney pushed Williams. Williams pushed back. Phillips came flying in.

Did Phillips get carded as Priestland was at 9 at the end?

nobbled wrote:

quinsforever wrote:

JmD wrote:

sheephead wrote:

rodders wrote:Cheap shot by Williams....but sure who cares!

Exactly what Murray did to Jon Davies in the World Cup so don't give it your double standards. Actually Murray was worse as he led with his knees!

I don't think you quite have a grasp on the word 'worse' yet. An unprotected blow to the head can be life shortening. In American Football you get fined and banned for that sort of challenge, concussions are no joke.

he will undoubtedly get cited for it. was a cheap-shot to the head, leading with his forearm. i wouldnt be surprised if he gets a ban actually. it will look very bad on slow-mo from the proper angle.

Will have to look at the recording later. Didn't really notice as was celebrating the try!

I didnt think it was that bad, he was simply trying to prevent jackson from going right under the posts. the execution of it was poor and it will look worse in slow mo than real life like all collisions.
And Quins, i understand there is the old rivalry between Wales and England but all of your posts i see on here in regards to Wales are negative ones, and not in the constructive kind. If it is retort to Welsh posters making stupid comments then try to rise above it as they pathetic, should act their age and stop giving us welsh posters a bad reputation

didnt look like he got carded as he was on the ordinary bench.

should have done. had there been more time left, and it been relevant, i am sure Barnes would have sent him to cool down for 10

I will never question a Schmidt team selection again!

Golden wrote:

HammerofThunor wrote:

Golden wrote:Does anyone really care about a triple crown?

I thought Ireland does as other than the one grand slam they haven't won anything else for 40 years   

We certainly seem to put it on a pedestal. But it seems nothing more than runners up medal to me

It symbolises winning games. That's always a good thing.

HammerofThunor wrote:He did the common thing of sliding it at the player scoring the try and caught Jackson with his arm. Deliberate? **** knows. Kearney pushed Williams. Williams pushed back. Phillips came flying in.

Did Phillips get carded as Priestland was at 9 at the end?

I noticed that. And he looked quite good too! Faster than Mike, anyways.

majesticimperialman wrote:Did todays game show Wales of being a one trick pony?

They seem to play the same way every time Jamie Roberts Bosh it up through the centres. Do Wales have a plan (B) and if so will we see it any time soon?

Wales are a one trick pony. Thing is - the trick is power! If you can't handle it - like England didn't last year, it blows you away.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:I will never question a Schmidt team selection again!

I think we'd have put 40pts on them if he'd have picked Marshall ....

LeinsterFan4life wrote:I will never question a Schmidt team selection again!

Don't make promises you can't keep