RWC Quarter Final: Ireland - Wales (08-10-2011, 18:00)

[ZeFrenchy]

Congratulations to Wales. I didn't watch the game, but I've read they played very well (I hope they don't play that well in the semifinal!)

 

[lucky number 7]

Great game, thought Wales would win and they did . Geuss I have to support Wales now.

Oh yeh, Warburton > O'brien.

Warbuton was far better today...but O' Brien played ok nonetheless ..only man trying to take the ball hard at the Welsh ...Ireland rely too much on him and Ferris to make yardage...we need a new punchy centre.

 

[no-1-rugby-fan]

Wales put in a superb defensive, attacking and all round performance against Ireland. They were sharper, fitter, stronger and outplayed the Irish in all areas. Wales should fear no one on this evidence. They are now serious contenders for this World Cup.

The future is extremely bright for Welsh rugby because it is absolutely incredible how quickly this young team have matured. Stars of the future? Stars right now!

 

[munstermuffin]

Lucky I'd have to say the player that impressed me most today was Rory Best and not SOB. Best has put alot of work in to his game in recent months and well I thought he followed by POC were Irelands best players today.

 

[Saintjay]

Lucky I'd have to say the player that impressed me most today was Rory Best and not SOB. Best has put alot of work in to his game in recent months and well I thought he followed by POC were Irelands best players today.

I don't think any of your players other than ROG played that badly.

 

[profitius]

Well done to Wales. They hardly put a foot wrong throughout the match! I'll be happy to hold my hands up and say I got it completely wrong. I thought Ireland would play smart rugby and Wales would feel the pressure and make mistakes but it was the opposite despite all their experience. Thats sport for you! lol

The Welsh coaches won hands down too. They got their tactics spot on. Every time SOB or Ferris got the ball they were met with a wall of defenders. Gatland once again comes back to bite the IRFU.

Ireland made too many mistakes, partly down to Welsh pressure and partly down to doing stupid things and making wrong decisions. Its like they were not expecting the challenge, sort of like Australia vs Ireland.

Its the end of an era now for Ireland. Some of those players need to be relegated because the silver lining is that there are better players coming along. I hope POC and BOD stay on longer because they're still playing well but for some others I think they should make way.

 

[Seaton]

Just watching some highlights (sp), and I haven't had my suspicions confirmed or denied.

Did Jonathan Davies actually ground the ball? Didn't look like it to me, doesn't make any difference but just interested as pedantics of the world unite!

And someone should show Ashton Phillip's dive. That's how it's done.

 

[dullonien]

Ireland really need the provinces to give the youth coming through more gametime aswell. Jockstap, it's all well and good reeling off a list of talented youngsters, but how many of them are first choice, or are playing consistently for their province. A few are, but many aren't getting much gametime really, and I'm not sure they will for a while yet. If you throw them straight into the 6 nations, they'll recive some real hidings, which won't do anyone any good really. These young Welsh players have been given their chance at regional rugby, and their form has earn't them their spot in the national team, and there's more coming through with the likes of Webb, Tipuric, Beck, Pretorius, Cuthbert, Tovey, Turnbull, Ben Morgan, McCusker, Shingler etc. all getting plenty of gametime for their respective regions, and will continue to do so when the Welsh players return.

Back to this game, here's my take on the individial performances of the Welsh team today.

01 Gethin Jenkins. 7/10. Went about his work efficiently today. Ireland got the jump at scrum time a couple of times, winning the 'hit', but otherwise Jenkins dealt with Ross just fine.
02 Huw Bennett. 8/10. Another big game from the hooker. His workrate is huge, and he really puts his body on the line. What an improvement in the last few months!
03 Adam Jones. 8/10. Had the upper hand over Healy in the scrum. Put in plenty of work around the fringes.
04 Luke Charteris. 8/10. Massive half of rugby from the tall man. 16 tackles in the first half, before having to be replaced, huge from a second row!
05 Alun Wyn Jones 7/10. Big workrate from him again, and had a couple of good carries.
06 Dan Lydiate. 9/10. Tackled everything that moved. Shut O'Brien and Ferris out of the game. Amazing linespeed in defense.
07 Sam Warburton. 9/10. Huge game from the skipper once again. Secured a few turnovers, and was always in the rucks causing havok. Tackled his heart out, and made a few decent carries. Inspirational stuff.
08 Toby Faletau. 8/10. Big workrate from him. No barnstorming runs, but he went about his job very well. There's a great balance in this Welsh backrow.

09 Mike Phillips. 8/10. Best game in a long, long time. Sensational try in the second half to turn the game back in Wales' favour. His passing was quick and accurate, and he put in some big hits as allways.
10 Rhys Priestland. 7/10. Overall, controlled the game well and unleashed the backline very well. A few mistakes gave Ireland the ball back on a few occasions in the first half, but his accurate kicking from hand gave Wales the upper hand in the second.
11 Shane Williams. 7/10. Took his try well, and saved a try. Again a couple of mistakes handed the ball back to Ireland on occasion (such as his silly pick and go on our own 22). Decent all round game.
12 Jamie Roberts. 9/10. Another huge display. Gave Wales go forward, set-up the first try with a great take from Priestland's well placed up and under. Big in defense.
13 Jonathan Davies. 8/10. Probably Davies' best display in a Welsh shirt. Scored a good try to seal the victory, and worked well with those around him. One or two knock ons he needs to sort out though.
14 George North. 7/10. Quiet game from the giant winger, only touched the ball 3 or 4 times. Didn't do anything wrong, and made ground with those 3 or 4 touches. Expect him to be much more prominent against France.
15 Leigh Halfpenny. 9/10. Great display from the small man. Solid under the high ball, dangerous in attack. Kicked a penalty from half way, and gave the try scoring pass to Shane in the first 2 mins. An all round excellent display.

18 Bradley Davies. 7/10. Quiet half, but got stuck in and got through plenty of work. Still not back to his barnstorming best yet though.

 

[munstermuffin]

I don't think any of your players other than ROG played that badly.

No but I thought those 2 and BOD stood out and performed best for us which is funny as those 3 along with ROG are the 4 squad leaders and well 3 stood up even when the chips were down. And well it's just great to see Best who has always been missing that final part of jigsaw work hard and now be a complete hooker.

And LordHope it wouldn't make a difference as Wales deserved the win and well even though they didn't have domination throughout in terms of territory they never seemed under threat and well defended like champions who'd die for the crest.

 

[Me 1]

Really happy with that win

Now, bring on the French!

 

[Seaton]

And LordHope it wouldn't make a difference as Wales deserved the win and well even though they didn't have domination throughout in terms of territory they never seemed under threat and well defended like champions who'd die for the crest.

Aye, as I said I'm just interested to see if he did/ didn't.

In future games (if he didn't) it might get picked up, seen it happen in a Currie Cup u21 match, lad threw the ball up in the air after brushing the ground with his arm, ref asked the TMo whom revealed there was no grounding. Scrum to defending team.

 

[dullonien]

Aye, as I said I'm just interested to see if he did/ didn't.

In future games (if he didn't) it might get picked up, seen it happen in a Currie Cup u21 match, lad threw the ball up in the air after brushing the ground with his arm, ref asked the TMo whom revealed there was no grounding. Scrum to defending team.

I see it happen all the time. Almost never get's picked up upon, and I don't think it really should when they're clear like that.

 

[Seaton]

I see it happen all the time. Almost never get's picked up upon, and I don't think it really should when they're clear like that.

It's a funny thing, because you could expect someone like Sapolu to have a field day and thousands of supporters into a frenzy and in general give the IRB headaches if the laws aren't applied, even when common sense should apply.

Much simpler to tell players 'Make sure of the grounding, don't be sloppy and you won't screw up'

 

[Cofi]

Wales performed under pressure. Ireland played well; Wales played better. The crucial point in the game was the attitude of the players immediately after the Irish scored their try early in the second half. They refused to give momentum to their opponents and were determined to score next - and they did (and what a try too!). When youthful talent is combined with a composure beyond its years, the combination can be formidable.
Hard lines to all the Irish supportes on here.
Bring on the French!

 

[micko85]

Fair play to Wales better team won, go on and win it now!!!!

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Something must be said about the leadership in the Wales team. When Ireland pulled level at 10-10, I thought the game would turn in Ireland's favour. The bulk of the Irish team have shared 4 of the last 6 Heineken Cups and regularly win Celtic League/Pro 12 ***les. They're well versed in cup rugby. I thought that experience would pull Ireland through to a comfortable victory. That it didn't and Wales dominated the rest of the game says a lot about the leadership in the Wales team. Sam Warburton is to be applauded for lifting his team at that moment.

I also think we need to be careful about knee jerk reactions. Some are calling for a new broom of 20 and 21 year olds like Nevin Spence, Dominic Ryan and Peter O'Mahony to be swept in. None of those guys are ready. While I think some should have played their last game in green (Jerry Flannery, Leo Cullen, Shane Jennings, Denis Leamy, David Wallace, Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'arcy, Paddy Wallace and Geordan Murphy spring to mind), you can't merely bring in new players for the sake of it if they aren't good enough. By all means call up Jamie Hagan, Dan Tuohy, Felix Jones, Darren Cave and Ian Keatley but there aren't a huge amount more who are good enough come the 6 Nations.

 

[TRF_RC]

Brilliant!
I'm so proud of the boys after that performance. The Irish boys have done themselves proud, they played well, not as well as they could have, but their fans have undoubtedly been the best in all the world cup!
They brought an awesome support wherever they went.
I'm so happy and still buzzing at 2am!
Last time we did so well at a world cup we came 3rd...and new zealand won it. History repeating itself anyone?

 

[Amiga500]

All I can say is; fair play to Wales, pretty much the better team in all positions of the pitch and fully deserving of their win.


Now go on and win it!

 

[dullonien]

Something must be said about the leadership in the Wales team. When Ireland pulled level at 10-10, I thought the game would turn in Ireland's favour. The bulk of the Irish team have shared 4 of the last 6 Heineken Cups and regularly win Celtic League/Pro 12 ***les. They're well versed in cup rugby. I thought that experience would pull Ireland through to a comfortable victory. That it didn't and Wales dominated the rest of the game says a lot about the leadership in the Wales team. Sam Warburton is to be applauded for lifting his team at that moment.

I also think we need to be careful about knee jerk reactions. Some are calling for a new broom of 20 and 21 year olds like Nevin Spence, Dominic Ryan and Peter O'Mahony to be swept in. None of those guys are ready. While I think some should have played their last game in green (Jerry Flannery, Leo Cullen, Shane Jennings, Denis Leamy, David Wallace, Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'arcy, Paddy Wallace and Geordan Murphy spring to mind), you can't merely bring in new players for the sake of it if they aren't good enough. By all means call up Jamie Hagan, Dan Tuohy, Felix Jones, Darren Cave and Ian Keatley but there aren't a huge amount more who are good enough come the 6 Nations.

Very good points. I think Warburton is a great captain. He captained well at U20 level, and he's been great sinse taking over. Very level headed and extremely confident.

As for Ireland, I again agree with you. Ireland need to build for the next world cup, not make crazy decisions that will see them getting humiliated in the 6 nations. The likes of O'Connell and O'Driscoll are still easily good enough for the next 6 nations, and they should be playing alongside young Irish players that deserve to be there. I won't pretend to be an expert on up and coming Irish players, but I watch enough domestic rugby to see how much exposure they're getting at this level. Is it enough?

 

[TRF_RC]

As a staff member, i too demand an inquiry into the betting scam going on here.
Not even the most devout welsh supporter would bet 1.7m vcash on wales winning by more than 7 points, let alone an english man!
Come on, Charlie, admit the wrong doing!!!