New Zealand 66 vs Ireland 28 FT

[nickdnz]

Wow, what with Parisse eye gouging against the AB's last June, and now Heaslip this june, I think all high ranking NH #8's, when playing the AB's in June, should get a large and hefty pre emptive ban. To make up the numbers for the touring team, Nick William's will be on offer to all sides.

 

[ranger]

Don't think conceding 5 tries to a 14 man team can be written off as OK because you brought on a few subs. Questions to be asked I reckon.

That was the first game of the year for the All Blacks and it was a very inexperienced team at that, the ABs have always started their seasons rusty. Individually they were all great on defense but communication breakdowns lead to Ireland scoring those trys, at times they looked like 15 great players who hadn't played together before but they will gel better after a couple games. Ireland has already played 6 nations together and it showed, they looked like more of a coherent team.

All things considered i'm not too worried. Even after a couple more training sessions they should be loads better then they were last night. I was very happy with the way the offense just instinctively clicked even though the players hadn't really played together before, Dagg and Jane in particular look like Cullen and Wilson incarnate. I would predict another 50-3 thrashing of the Welsh next week.

 

[candybum]

Does anyone remember if Simon Shaw got suspended following his red card for kneeing Keith Robinson in 04?

 

[Darwin]

Don't think conceding 5 tries to a 14 man team can be written off as OK because you brought on a few subs. Questions to be asked I reckon.

I don't really think they will be too worried about conceding 4 tries - its only natural from a team to drop off their intensity when they are leading by 40 odd points, regardless of who they are playing or how many they are playing against! If the game had been closer I think the All Black defense would have been a lot tighter.

Most of the NZ backs had very strong games - Dagg, Jane, Smith, Carter, and Cowan were all exceptional. Stanley was solid (as he always is), while Rococoko was ok - will be interesting to see whether he starts again next week. I'm still not convinced Cruden is ready for this level, but it was good to see him get some gametime. Weepu was ok, but his clearance was woefully slow at times, while Guilford really didn't really get many chances.

In the forwards I was impressed with Read, though most had pretty good games.

 

[admartian]

That was the first game of the year for the All Blacks and it was a very inexperienced team at that, the ABs have always started their seasons rusty. Individually they were all great on defense but communication breakdowns lead to Ireland scoring those trys, at times they looked like 15 great players who hadn't played together before but they will gel better after a couple games. Ireland has already played 6 nations together and it showed, they looked like more of a coherent team.

All things considered i'm not too worried. Even after a couple more training sessions they should be loads better then they were last night. I was very happy with the way the offense just instinctively clicked even though the players hadn't really played together before, Dagg and Jane in particular look like Cullen and Wilson incarnate. I would predict another 50-3 thrashing of the Welsh next week.

I don't really think they will be too worried about conceding 4 tries - its only natural from a team to drop off their intensity when they are leading by 40 odd points, regardless of who they are playing or how many they are playing against! If the game had been closer I think the All Black defense would have been a lot tighter.

Most of the NZ backs had very strong games - Dagg, Jane, Smith, Carter, and Cowan were all exceptional. Stanley was solid (as he always is), while Rococoko was ok - will be interesting to see whether he starts again next week. I'm still not convinced Cruden is ready for this level, but it was good to see him get some gametime. Weepu was ok, but his clearance was woefully slow at times, while Guilford really didn't really get many chances.

In the forwards I was impressed with Read, though most had pretty good games.

You're right - while I thought letting in 4 soft tries against a 14 man team was bad, it was still the first game for this group this year.

I didn't mind Cruden getting picked, as we need more and more depth towards the world cup. However, I thought both Slade and Brett looked brilliant as well, so I see them being tried out soon.

 

[whippetmania]

I agree that the ABs don't have much to worry about on that showing. However when you talk about conceding 4 tries you should remember that Trimble was very close to touching down and that D'Arcy recyced right in front of the line before Heaslip's moment of madness. The defence was breached or stretched on both occasions.

Also, other teams aren't likely to make so many unforced errors...Ireland committed a freakishly high number today. In fact they did the same agaisnt France. I believe that against better teams they try to raise the tempo to a level that that they're not comfortable with and the skills level lets many players down. That's the most important area to work on for me. Oh, and bloody support running anges wouldn't go amiss. Delighted with Buckley's offloading ability and destructive carrying. He seems to have a much better understanding of the game than Hayes in addition to his ability in the loose.

 

[dangandan]

ahh finally... this was really needed. living in new zealand has opened my eyes to the difference in class between the nh and sh. they are so much more quicker and clinical here when it comes to attacking rugby. you can make all the excuses u want about us only having 13-14 men thus causing overlaps but the way i see it a lot of the ab tries came by simply providing the timely offload for a supporter to run right through the middle of the defence. no overlap needed. the abs variated their play extremely well whereas ireland were slow through the hands and predictable. our backline wasnt that injury hit with knock ons and uninspiring play clearly evident which makes me worry (the late comeback of tries were good to see but i dont think the abs were really concentrating)... there is a lot of talk on here that talks up a lot of the irish players and its annoying because in the end we get beaten by proper opposition in the south leaving a really disappointing feeling. until we show that we can produce quality play on a consistant basis i suggest there be less talk about what player is best in the world bla bla. this may sound like a rant but its simply an opinion and i really hope ireland improve with the likes of fizgerald and co returning but even with a full team i feel we would have let in a lot of tries still.

buckley, tuohy, callaghan, wallace, bod, bowe, trimble were solid but not spectacular.

heaslip and ogara .......................................

 

[Darwin]

Heaslip has been suspended for 5 weeks
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/3806866/Jamie-Heaslip-suspended-for-kneeing-McCaw

 

[King_D'Arcy]

In order to score tries Ireland had to go through the phases and be patient. New Zealabnd could just break from anywhere and be in. They made it look effortless. They're complete freaks! Steroids?

 

[Jockstap]

Rumours flying around that Rhys Ruddock has been called up to the senior squad from the U20's and are backed up by the fact he's not in the starting 22 for the JWC match against Argentina.

 

[munstermuffin]

Rumours flying around that Rhys Ruddock has been called up to the senior squad from the U20's and are backed up by the fact he's not in the starting 22 for the JWC match against Argentina.

That is a strange call but well surprised it over likes of Coughlan who has more experience

Just rang a mate in the know and yes Rhys Ruddock is in squad.
On IRFU site he's deemed UNAVAILABLE for JWC and word is Kidney picked him because Keogh/Coughlan/Best/Wilson are considered to have no chance at International level.

 

[Charles]

Heaslip has been suspended for 5 weeks
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/3806866/Jamie-Heaslip-suspended-for-kneeing-McCaw

Pathetic. 5 Weeks? That is a ******* scandal....

 

[durbutter]

Ya five weeks is a joke, the kneeing was just as dangerous as Attoub's gouging earlier in the year in Ferris. I know Atooub had previous but still its an example of the inconsistency in the system

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Should've been twice that, at least,
This will only affect his summer, so he'll miss two (?) games for Ireland, and that's it. I think they should change the bans to games rather than weeks, so he has to mix the next 5/10/whatever games, rather than X ammount of weeks

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Pathetic. 5 Weeks? That is a ******* scandal....

He's not French so 5 weeks is perfectly reasonable.

Should have been a lot longer like others have said. If kneeing somebody in the head is a medium scale offense, I assume it would take something like paralysing an opponent to get a longer ban. In my opinion, if he got 20 weeks he couldn't have complained.

 

[Charles]

He's not French so 5 weeks is perfectly reasonable.

Should have been a lot longer like others have said. If kneeing somebody in the head is a medium scale offense, I assume it would take something like paralysing an opponent to get a longer ban. In my opinion, if he got 20 weeks he couldn't have complained.

Agreed. The IRB have now lost all credibility in terms of equal treatment of serious offences. Consequently, a point can now be made next time a french is punished with a ridiculous long ban that the IRB is indeed in the hands of the Celts/is anti-french. I remember when Attoub got banned they said that it was tough but from now on they were gonna give the same treatment to everybody. Yeah, right.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Only saw highlights of the game and based on that and match reports, this is the team I'd like to see run out against Oz (I couldn't give a **** about the Maori game):

15. Geordan Murphy
14. Tommy Bowe
13. Brian O'Driscoll
12. Gordon D'arcy
11. Andrew Trimble
10. Jonathan Sexton
9. Eoin Reddan
1. Cian Healy
2. Sean Cronin
3. Tony Buckley
4. Donncha O'Callaghan
5. Dan Tuohy
6. Shane Jennings
7. David Wallace
8. Chris Henry
Bench: John Fogarty, Tom Court, Ed O'Donoghue, Rhys Ruddock, Tomas O'Leary, Paddy Wallace, Rob Kearney

I'd drop O'Gara from the squad completely. Quade Cooper would rip O'Gara a new asshole if he ever came off the bench - he's a poor tackler, poor runner, poor touch kicker (based on yesterday) and suffers from multiple brain farts like his yellow card against NZ. Ireland will learn nothing picking a spent force like O'Gara.

 

[Conal]

who is center cover if rog is gone and wallace has to cover ten on the bench???

 

[ranger]

only saw highlights of the game and based on that and match reports, this is the team i'd like to see run out against oz (i couldn't give a **** about the maori game):

15. Geordan murphy
14. Tommy bowe
13. Brian o'driscoll
12. Gordon d'arcy
11. Andrew trimble
10. Jonathan sexton
9. Eoin reddan
1. Cian healy
2. Sean cronin
3. Tony buckley
4. Donncha o'callaghan
5. Dan tuohy
6. Shane jennings
7. David wallace
8. Chris henry
bench: John fogarty, tom court, ed o'donoghue, rhys ruddock, tomas o'leary, paddy wallace, rob kearney

i'd drop o'gara from the squad completely. Quade cooper would rip o'gara a new asshole if he ever came off the bench - he's a poor tackler, poor runner, poor touch kicker (based on yesterday) and suffers from multiple brain farts like his yellow card against nz. Ireland will learn nothing picking a spent force like o'gara.

....racism!!

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

who is center cover if rog is gone and wallace has to cover ten on the bench???

Trimble and Bowe can both play centre very effectively. Bowe started a Lions test at 13 last season.