[November Tests 2016 EOYT] Ireland vs. Australia (26/11/2016)

[Leonormous Boozer]

Who VDF or Furlong?
No doubt VDF did well. I thought him and Stander really were superb. I though POM brought a bit of leadership too when needed but for me Furlong was class act all over.

VdF, he was immense. Himself and Furlong the two 9/10 performances.

 

[munstermuffin]

VdF, he was immense. Himself and Furlong the two 9/10 performances.

I'd say Stander was equal to VDF and Furlong ahead. Also must say the real winning was Healy POM and Dillane. All made impact and were key parts in Earls try.

 

[smartcooky]

Mumm is damned lucky he wasn't red-carded. The low speed dynamic that the referees were taking about is irrelevant

Lift + Tip + Drive = Red card. I expect he will be cited.

 

[munstermuffin]

Mumm is damned lucky he wasn't red-carded. The low speed dynamic that the referees were taking about is irrelevant

Lift + Tip + Drive = Red card. I expect he will be cited.

I'd say it's right that it wasn't red. The issue is consistency. I'd ask if player didn't get up would it be a red? My issue as I said before is some calls are being decided on outcome of player offended.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Mumm is damned lucky he wasn't red-carded. The low speed dynamic that the referees were taking about is irrelevant

Lift + Tip + Drive = Red card. I expect he will be cited.

Your knowledge of this is far superior to mine; was it the case that if a player was yellow carded that further action can't be taken and has this been removed?

I'll agree with everybody who said Tadhg Furlong was immense. He's fast developing into a world class tighthead. Hopefully both Leinster and Ireland take care of him because he's becoming as vital to the national team as Conor Murray.

 

[munstermuffin]

Your knowledge of this is far superior to mine; was it the case that if a player was yellow carded that further action can't be taken and has this been removed?

I'll agree with everybody who said Tadhg Furlong was immense. He's fast developing into a world class tighthead. Hopefully both Leinster and Ireland take care of him because he's becoming as vital to the national team as Conor Murray.

Been honest Snoop think he's already at World Class level.

On top bit. My belief is that it can be upgraded like NZ case last week.

 

[corny]

Good game broke out in the second half. With a patchwork back line and poor linespeed throughout we might as well have been waving a white flag at the Aussies. Still we did well to win.

On Irelands back play. Jackson had a good game. Payne was good when he was on too. We put Trimble in space numerous times in the first half but he just doesn't have any legs whatsoever. Did you see Haylett-Petty the first time the Aussies put him in space, thats the way international wingers should run...with speed. We are crying out for legs out wide.

Our front row should start for the Lions. I don't know who loses out in the back row (assuming everyones fit) but its a nightmare selection headache for the coach come 6N's.

 

[Jockstap]

Tadhg Furlong the best tightead in the world at the minute?

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Tadhg Furlong the best tightead in the world at the minute?

Best form international tighthead atm in this Autumn series. But needs to do it over a prolonged period of time; that's what matters.

 

[jomjom]

Fantastic result. I thought that was a great game - despite the sloppiness from Australia I thought it was very exciting, lots of tries, lots of running, as soon as Australia got their 1st try a LOT of tension... Despite being Irish and of course very joyed with the win I feel a bit bad for Australia, they played so dangerously in the first 30 mins of the 2nd half, despite the loss they are a still a quality side. Our last few encounters with the Aussies have always been close, great matches and I wish them the best of luck against England (no offense English fans, you had your 3-0 whitewash... )

So many good performances - Ringrose, Furlong, VdF, Jackson (a little bit dodgy at times but overall I think he is settling into international outhalf quite comfortably)

Watching France NZ now - is it just me or are NH teams playing better, sexier rugby since the WC? Or have the SH sides gotten worse? :huh:

 

[The Jones Boy]

Congratulations to all the Irish fans.
That is a fantastic result. What an Autumn you lads are having.
I missed the game but saw the result and it looks like a tight tough affair.

 

[munstermuffin]

Tadhg Furlong the best tightead in the world at the minute?

In my eyes at moment he's up there. Definitely the most agile tighthead we've ever had.

 

[galumay]

Great game from Ireland, I thought the Wallabies were going to roll right over the top of them and take the game away, but despite the injuries and disruption the Irish managed to hang on and win. Its will be a year for Ireland to remember, beating both the AB's and the Wallabies in one season! I suspect that it will be a long time before that effort is repeated.

I thought the Wallabies were lucky not to be down 20 points or more in the first half, their slow and sloppy start let Ireland totally dominate them for nearly all of the 40 minutes, it was only outstanding defence and a fair bit of luck that kept the score within reach. The score just on half time was critical and with the injuries the momentum had really changed and I have to say I was fairly confident that the Wallabies would get up.

While the Wallabies have shown some improvement on the NH tour, its clearly not good enough, it will be interesting to see how Cheika approaches the game against England, I suspect there may be some changes.

Anyway, well done Ireland, a deserved win and it certainly looks like your team will be the team to beat in the NH.

 

[Ospervat]

Watching France NZ now - is it just me or are NH teams playing better, sexier rugby since the WC? Or have the SH sides gotten worse? :huh:

A bit of both. Though I do think the NH improvements outweigh the drop in SH standards.

Undoubtedly the NH side of 2016 has to be Ireland. Beating all 3 top SH sides this year. England a close second. Scotland has upped their game. France rediscovering some of that unpredictable flair and Italy finally finding some killer instinct.

Traditionally the AI's were one sided affairs with SH winning 80% of their games. Most of the 2016 games have been tight affairs except those against SA but the record will show that the 6 nations won the majority of games (8-6 with one game to go) against the 4 RC sides.

AB's strong as always, OZ will come back and Pumas continue to improve.
SA however is a spent force. Political interference and corruption in SA Rugby will continue and probably escalate. Africa has learnt nothing from history.

 

[The Jones Boy]

The AB's are knackered. same old story, travel to other side of the world at the far end of a long rugby schedule and get pitted against fresh teams that want to take your head off.
This young AB side don't have quite the same level of resilience as the old campaigners just yet. That takes time to develop.
The Lions will be a tough test series.
The Bokke look out on their feet after getting punched from pillar to post.
The Argies lack their usual intensity they showed in the RC.
Aussie actually look the freshest of the 4 major touring sides.

 

[galumay]

The AB's are knackered. same old story, travel to other side of the world at the far end of a long rugby schedule and get pitted against fresh teams that want to take your head off.
...
Aussie actually look the freshest of the 4 major touring sides.

To be fair your AB's had the extra game against Ireland so its been a very intense few weeks. Wobblies also probably had an easier front end of the tour with Scotland & Wales, I think they will look pretty stuffed after they play the Orcs!

 

[jomjom]

The internet uproar has been pretty hilarious so far

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...a-autumn-internationals-match-report#comments

I do think we got off lightly on some cases, but at the same time Australia failed to execute at least 2 tries that were for the taking (more?) while we had a makeshift back line. I think it was a deserved victory, despite some inconsistent reffing. This whole "ref favours the Irish" thing is rubbish. A total penalty count of 12 over 3 games is no coincidence. Even if we add in should've-been-penalties, our penalty count is still very low. Joe has drilled tight knit discipline into this team. In 2014 and 2015 our penalty count was also low (I think 2014 especially).

 

[galumay]

The internet uproar has been pretty hilarious so far

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...a-autumn-internationals-match-report#comments

I do think we got off lightly on some cases, but at the same time Australia failed to execute at least 2 tries that were for the taking (more?) while we had a makeshift back line. I think it was a deserved victory, despite some inconsistent reffing. This whole "ref favours the Irish" thing is rubbish. A total penalty count of 12 over 3 games is no coincidence. Even if we add in should've-been-penalties, our penalty count is still very low. Joe has drilled tight knit discipline into this team. In 2014 and 2015 our penalty count was also low (I think 2014 especially).

Whinging about refs always annoys me, the logical conclusion is the whingers either believe there is a specific conspiracy to cheat by some referees which is increedibly insulting to the professionals that ref our game, or they believe that the referee was so incompetent that it actually impacted on the final result of the game - which is probably insulting both the pro referee and the players! Its a bad trait of Cheika's to have a whinge about the reffing after the Wobblies have a loss.

I think that generally the Wallabies have adjusted poorly to the differences in NH refereeing, most notably players in the NH get away with a lot more at the breakdown that would be penalised in Super rugby - its up to the players to adjust to that and play to the whistle.

Good teams take the ref out of the game.

 

[Groundhog]

Well what can I say about that?
In days gone by that game would have gone down as another brave loss against insurmountable odds as a 'brave' performance was undone by a lack of depth or fitness or anything. I would have for sure made excuses about the ridiculous injury list, but very good, or even great teams don't need to make those excuses. It was an immense performance from everyone.
Furlong was my MOTM, what a development he's gone through recently. Moore's departure looks like it was a blessing in disguise. He's one of those Tightheads who actively attacks the scrum instead of just trying to lock it out. He carries like an 8, is mega fit for his size and gets through a tonne of work.
We lost SO'B and his replacement gets a man of the match reward. Says a lot about where our depth is at and the level of competition in this squad.
Best is a hero and he'll go down as an Irish legend. Aging like a fine wine and I thought he'd be winding down by now. Nope. Absolutely vindicates Schmidt's captaincy choice.
Backs played some good stuff at times and hung tough, but we lose so much width when Payne leaves the field. He's so important to us. All credit to Marmion for putting in a good shift when he was targeted defensively yesterday. Carberry dealt with the position shift very well too.
Earls and Zebo answered a lot of questions put to them I think. Two very vintage performances. How they linked up for Henderson's try was the highlight of the game.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

12. Henshaw
13. Ringrose
15. Zebo for the 6 nations s'il vous plait!!

Hell of a win, showed we were better in the first half and showed we were tougher in the second. I'm a huge fan of Cheika but his criticism is bizarre in pointing to the penalty count to show the ref wasn't equal... Your side committed more infringements is the reason for that.

Trying to fit VdF intona fully fit statting team should be the goal for Schmidt over the next few months, he was our best backrow this Autumn facing stiff competition!