Ireland v New Zealand

[Jockstap]

So the side that beat us at home last year just had nearly 50 points put past them by New Zealand. Slightly worried by this one to be honest.

 

[TRF C A Iversen]

I think Ireland will step it up now that Samoa is out of the way. I can see us beating Ireland though. Some sort of score along the lines of 31-20 would be my guess.

I think the All Blacks do tend to get a bit tired towards the last half of these end of year games, so yeah it could be closer possibly.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Na, I'm expecting a thirty point win.

 

[TRF C A Iversen]

I was right in saying England was going to be fairly close. Many NZ'ers were predicting 20-25 points in that one too.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I mirror what CA Iverson said above,
I think Ireland will step up, and it won't be a walkover. Can't see anything other than a New Zealand win but i think maybe Ireland 13 - 36 NW, something along those lines. A confident win, but not a walk in the park like it was against Scotland

 

[TRF C A Iversen]

Ireland have after all brought a side to New Zealand missing 4-5 good players and still made a reasonable account of themselves. I'm not sure we've had too many 30 point margins over them in the last 10-12 years.

 

[Sam Owen]

Ireland have after all brought a side to New Zealand missing 4-5 good players and still made a reasonable account of themselves. I'm not sure we've had too many 30 point margins over them in the last 10-12 years.

The ABs did beat them 66-28 earlier this year but that means nothing going into this game. Ireland as we know are a good side, if you take them lightly you'll lose. They're right up there with England and France as far as the 6 nations teams go and just lost out to the 'boks a fortnight ago.

I feel that the All Blacks will win this one but who knows with Ireland at home. Maybe they can draw some inspiration from Englands victory over the Wallies.

 

[TRF C A Iversen]

The ABs did beat them 66-28 earlier this year but that means nothing going into this game. Ireland as we know are a good side, if you take them lightly you'll lose. They're right up there with England and France as far as the 6 nations teams go and just lost out to the 'boks a fortnight ago.

I feel that the All Blacks will win this one but who knows with Ireland at home. Maybe they can draw some inspiration from Englands victory over the Wallies.

Lol, well done Sam, you proved me wrong there and fair enough too. I just meant that those margins don't happen that often anymore between the two teams.

 

[nickdnz]

Looking forward to this game. Don't want to predict a score line. I predicted a 12 or so score line against the Scots, and it turned out to be a 46 point thumping. I think the All Blacks will win. On this tour, they've had an ability to win games, in which they didn't seem like they were playing well. It all depends if we start firing or not. Against Scotland, it never really seemed like they were playing in 4th gear, and against Ireland, Wales and the first three tests of the Tri Nations, they were really hitting top gears. Even with a 49-3 win over Scotland, they still didn't produce a very clean win, especially in the last 20-30 minutes. If they hit that top gear, no team in the world will can beat them, but if they play like they did against England and Australia, Ireland have a chance of an upset. That being said, Ireland have hardly looked stellar of late, so they'll really have to front up if they want to come away with a win.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

In the most recent match we won 66-28.

Last matches in Ireland:
W 22-3
W 45-7
W 40-29
W 63-15

Some of those results are completely redundant, with the earliest one going back to 97, but I don't think the result will be exceptionally different this time around to be honest...

 

[Sam Owen]

Lol, well done Sam, you proved me wrong there and fair enough too. I just meant that those margins don't happen that often anymore between the two teams.

Nah you're right, I wasnt trying to prove you wrong in any way Ivey. Your sentence Ive made in bold is how it is between the two.

 

[woodward]

long range forecast?

 

[smartcooky]

Ireland were singularly unimpressive against Samoa, who are at the weakest they have been in a long time. A 20-10 win against a side they should have done by 60+ is nothing to write home about. FFS even Connacht (second bottom in the Magners League) beat Samoa, who also struggled to beat Japan 13-10 a couple of weeks ago.

I can't see Ireland getting close to the All Blacks to be honest. They'll step up for 50 minutes or so, but I expect the AB's to win by plenty.

 

[northharbour]

The All Blacks have too many players playing to well. The Top 15 for the ab's are doing a good job and they are kept on their feet by the fringe players who want to prove they can do better (eg Kaino has Messam pushing him for the 6 jersey and Nonu/Smith has SBW showing that he should be there) so everyone is there to prove a point. Ireland were kinda disappointing against Samoa and I think the All Blacks should have a 20-30 point margin victory.

 

[Gavin]

Ireland were singularly unimpressive against Samoa, who are at the weakest they have been in a long time. A 20-10 win against a side they should have done by 60+ is nothing to write home about. FFS even Connacht (second bottom in the Magners League) beat Samoa, who also struggled to beat Japan 13-10 a couple of weeks ago.

I can't see Ireland getting close to the All Blacks to be honest. They'll step up for 50 minutes or so, but I expect the AB's to win by plenty.

Samoa were definately not weak. Maybe as a team they were as they had only just gotten together, but man for man they were pretty damn strong.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Samoa were definately not weak. Maybe as a team they were as they had only just gotten together, but man for man they were pretty damn strong.

Compared to who?

 

[smartcooky]

Compared to who?

I think he means "strong" as in "physically" strong. That is not what I mean. I means weak as in not very good. Samoan Rugby has not been at its best recently. Yes they won the IRB Pacific Nations Cup for 2010, but if you look at the table

<table class="wikitable"><tbody><tr><th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">Pos</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="150">Country</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">Pld</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">W</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">D</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">L</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">F</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">A</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="25">+/-</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">BP</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">Pts</th> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>1</td> <td align="left">

Samoa</td> <td>3</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>78</td> <td>63</td> <td>+15</td> <td>1</td> <td>9</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>2</td> <td align="left">

Fiji</td> <td>3</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>72</td> <td>77</td> <td>−5</td> <td>1</td> <td>9</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>3</td> <td align="left">

Japan</td> <td>3</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>65</td> <td>68</td> <td>−3</td> <td>0</td> <td>8</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>4</td> <td align="left">

Tonga</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>3</td> <td>84</td> <td>91</td> <td>−7</td> <td>4</td> <td>4</td></tr></tbody></table>
It was a close run thing, won on for/against.

 

[Conal]

I think he means "strong" as in "physically" strong. That is not what I mean. I means weak as in not very good. Samoan Rugby has not been at its best recently. Yes they won the IRB Pacific Nations Cup for 2010, but if you look at the table

<table class="wikitable"><tbody><tr><th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">Pos</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="150">Country</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">Pld</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">W</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">D</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">L</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">F</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">A</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="25">+/-</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">BP</th> <th bgcolor="#efefef" width="20">Pts</th> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>1</td> <td align="left">

Samoa</td> <td>3</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>78</td> <td>63</td> <td>+15</td> <td>1</td> <td>9</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>2</td> <td align="left">

Fiji</td> <td>3</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>72</td> <td>77</td> <td>−5</td> <td>1</td> <td>9</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>3</td> <td align="left">

Japan</td> <td>3</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>65</td> <td>68</td> <td>−3</td> <td>0</td> <td>8</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>4</td> <td align="left">

Tonga</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>3</td> <td>84</td> <td>91</td> <td>−7</td> <td>4</td> <td>4</td></tr></tbody></table>
It was a close run thing, won on for/against.

but the pacific island teams are never fll strength in that cup

they only get all there players on world cup year

 

[smartcooky]

but the pacific island teams are never fll strength in that cup

they only get all there players on world cup year

Exactly my point. They aren't very strong for AI's either. Ireland should really have done better than a 10 point margin.

 

[Darwin]

Ireland were singularly unimpressive against Samoa, who are at the weakest they have been in a long time. A 20-10 win against a side they should have done by 60+ is nothing to write home about. FFS even Connacht (second bottom in the Magners League) beat Samoa, who also struggled to beat Japan 13-10 a couple of weeks ago.

I can't see Ireland getting close to the All Blacks to be honest. They'll step up for 50 minutes or so, but I expect the AB's to win by plenty.

Completely disagree with this - the Samoan team that played Ireland, was probably the strongest team that Samoa have put on the park since the last RWC. I completely agree with Gavin - man for man, this Samoan team is strong, it is just that they really lack any playing time together, hence play more as a bunch of individuals than as a team. If Samoa can keep the core of this team together for 5-6 games they have the potential beat most teams in world rugby. The Samoan team that lost to Connacht was almost a complete 'B' team, so really tells us nothing about the strength of the top Samoan team.

I think he means "strong" as in "physically" strong. That is not what I mean. I means weak as in not very good. Samoan Rugby has not been at its best recently. Yes they won the IRB Pacific Nations Cup for 2010, but if you look at the table

<table class="wikitable"><tbody><tr><th width="20" bgcolor="#efefef">Pos</th> <th width="150" bgcolor="#efefef">Country</th> <th width="20" bgcolor="#efefef">Pld</th> <th width="20" bgcolor="#efefef">W</th> <th width="20" bgcolor="#efefef">D</th> <th width="20" bgcolor="#efefef">L</th> <th width="20" bgcolor="#efefef">F</th> <th width="20" bgcolor="#efefef">A</th> <th width="25" bgcolor="#efefef">+/-</th> <th width="20" bgcolor="#efefef">BP</th> <th width="20" bgcolor="#efefef">Pts</th> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>1</td> <td align="left">

Samoa</td> <td>3</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>78</td> <td>63</td> <td>+15</td> <td>1</td> <td>9</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>2</td> <td align="left">

Fiji</td> <td>3</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>72</td> <td>77</td> <td>−5</td> <td>1</td> <td>9</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>3</td> <td align="left">

Japan</td> <td>3</td> <td>2</td> <td>0</td> <td>1</td> <td>65</td> <td>68</td> <td>−3</td> <td>0</td> <td>8</td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td>4</td> <td align="left">

Tonga</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>3</td> <td>84</td> <td>91</td> <td>−7</td> <td>4</td> <td>4</td></tr></tbody></table>
It was a close run thing, won on for/against.

Yes, Samoa just won the IRB Pacific Nations Cup for 2010, however at the start of the tournament they had a whole bunch of new players who had not played together, so really struggled. In there final game of the tournament they beat Fiji by 25 points, which showed what the team is capable given time together to gel. The team touring the Northern Hemisphere is much stronger again than the Samoan team that played in the PNC...

I really don't think you can read too much into the Ireland v Samoa game, as the Ireland team wasn't even a full strength. I'd say a full strength Ireland team will give the AB's a good game, though do think the AB's should win in the end by 15-20 points.