[RWC2023] Ireland vs Scotland (07/10/2023)

[dirty harry]

it was 95% Irish last night. Really hope it makes a difference next week

Were you at the game? I was at the first few Wales games and the Ireland Romania in Bordeaux...

HUGE Irish following at this tournament, fair play to them. Very low number of Southern hemisphere fans, which is understandable.

I'd suggest the quarter will probably be at least 75% Irish

 

[Umaga's Witness]

I hate it when this happens. Most of the time there's absolutely no need to mention those other matches either.

And as it turns out they didn't mention the other games, so I could have watched it live. I had the fiji wallabies result spoiled for me by commentators when watching another game though. Still glad I watched samoa england first though

 

[Groundhog]

Happy with that result. Went about as I expected. Could and should have nilled them. We came locked in and Scotland just weren't anywhere near our level.

Great performance to take us into the quarters

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Happy with that result. Went about as I expected. Could and should have nilled them. We came locked in and Scotland just weren't anywhere near our level.

Great performance to take us into the quarters

Am I the only one who thought that Sexton's departure opened up things for the Scots?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Losing both wingers/putting a scrumhalf on the wing, and having your lock playing with one arm didn't help either

 

[General Melchett]

Townsend very complimentary about Ireland - just to give some balance to Kinghorn talking out of his arse pre game.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend: "They were very clinical, very accurate and I thought they put a huge effort in defensively when we had a bit of pressure in that first 20 minutes. They are an outstanding team.

"When you play the top teams, you've got to take your opportunities and we didn't do that in the first quarter.

"I'm proud of the effort in the second half. The game had gotten away from us, so we focused on winning back respect. To get two tries against such a top team, we'll take a little bit out of that."

 

[bushytop]

Townsend very complimentary about Ireland - just to give some balance to Kinghorn talking out of his arse pre game.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend: "They were very clinical, very accurate and I thought they put a huge effort in defensively when we had a bit of pressure in that first 20 minutes. They are an outstanding team.

"When you play the top teams, you've got to take your opportunities and we didn't do that in the first quarter.

"I'm proud of the effort in the second half. The game had gotten away from us, so we focused on winning back respect. To get two tries against such a top team, we'll take a little bit out of that."

What's your thought on how Scotland move forward from this? I mean Townsend has undoubtedly progressed the country forward but that's two world cup cycles (with what has to be considered a golden generation in relative terms) and they've failed to qualify out of the group on both occasions. If I were Scottish I'd be massively torn on wtf to do.

 

[General Melchett]

What's your thought on how Scotland move forward from this? I mean Townsend has undoubtedly progressed the country forward but that's two world cup cycles (with what has to be considered a golden generation in relative terms) and they've failed to qualify out of the group on both occasions. If I were Scottish I'd be massively torn on wtf to do.

I've seen a few people on another forum calling for Townsend to go but I think that's a bit hasty. Emotions running high and people still feeling raw from last night. He has only just signed a new contract and has freshened up his coaching team with Brad Moar and Pete Horne. We need to look at the RWC and 6N collectively IMO.

Without making excuses the seedings and draw really gave us a mountain to climb. We came up against two outstanding teams but admittedly did still underperform against both of them. Had we landed in pool C or D we'd have had an excellent chance to make the QF/SF and the narrative would be totally different. I'd stick with Townsend and hope we can finish third in the 6N again. It wasn't so long ago we were finishing 4th/5th regularly and there's no reason why we can't compete for third place again. We actually have a decent record against France but Ireland is our major bogey team in the NH.

 

[O’Doyle Rules]

Were you at the game? I was at the first few Wales games and the Ireland Romania in Bordeaux...

HUGE Irish following at this tournament, fair play to them. Very low number of Southern hemisphere fans, which is understandable.

I'd suggest the quarter will probably be at least 75% Irish

Yeah mate been to all of them. Last night was definitely the most Irish heavy crowd. Wonder if many will make the journey next week

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

POM's interview after should really be a lesson to Scotland to keep their mouths shut before games like this one. Definitely added emotion to the Irish performance.

Looks like James Ryan is done. Cian Healy coming in and Henderson playing his best ever rugby negates it a wee bit but still a loss.

 

[bushytop]

I've seen a few people on another forum calling for Townsend to go but I think that's a bit hasty. Emotions running high and people still feeling raw from last night. He has only just signed a new contract and has freshened up his coaching team with Brad Moar and Pete Horne. We need to look at the RWC and 6N collectively IMO.

Without making excuses the seedings and draw really gave us a mountain to climb. We came up against two outstanding teams but admittedly did still underperform against both of them. Had we landed in pool C or D we'd have had an excellent chance to make the QF/SF and the narrative would be totally different. I'd stick with Townsend and hope we can finish third in the 6N again. It wasn't so long ago we were finishing 4th/5th regularly and there's no reason why we can't compete for third place again. We actually have a decent record against France but Ireland is our major bogey team in the NH.

I'm inclined to agree… it's gonna be interesting though as while I hope I'm wrong, I can't imagine they'll have as strong a squad in 4 years time.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

The main question remains: what happens when Sexton is gone? Are there any other Irish fly-halves even remotely as good?

 

[Tooting Carmen]

I've seen a few people on another forum calling for Townsend to go but I think that's a bit hasty. Emotions running high and people still feeling raw from last night. He has only just signed a new contract and has freshened up his coaching team with Brad Moar and Pete Horne. We need to look at the RWC and 6N collectively IMO.

Without making excuses the seedings and draw really gave us a mountain to climb. We came up against two outstanding teams but admittedly did still underperform against both of them. Had we landed in pool C or D we'd have had an excellent chance to make the QF/SF and the narrative would be totally different. I'd stick with Townsend and hope we can finish third in the 6N again. It wasn't so long ago we were finishing 4th/5th regularly and there's no reason why we can't compete for third place again. We actually have a decent record against France but Ireland is our major bogey team in the NH.

Ireland had a 'Golden Generation' in 2007, yet look how that turned out in the World Cup then.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

The main question remains: what happens when Sexton is gone? Are there any other Irish fly-halves even remotely as good?

Is that the main question? There's a World Cup to win and he's still there.

The answer is no though there aren't any fly halves remotely as good anywhere.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Is that the main question? There's a World Cup to win and he's still there.

The answer is no though there aren't any fly halves remotely as good anywhere.

Main long-term question, yes. Sexton is almost if not equally totemic for Ireland as AWJ is/was for Wales.

 

[g6mcg]

What's your thought on how Scotland move forward from this? I mean Townsend has undoubtedly progressed the country forward but that's two world cup cycles (with what has to be considered a golden generation in relative terms) and they've failed to qualify out of the group on both occasions. If I were Scottish I'd be massively torn on wtf to do.

Grim reality is Scotland have peaked and it's not very likely a squad as good as this one is available again anytime soon.

I don't have strong feelings on Townsend - not convinced the players are much better than how we've performed under him. An elite coach might have got a bit more out of the team 2021-23 but never a realistic chance of us employing one.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Main long-term question, yes. Sexton is almost if not equally totemic for Ireland as AWJ is/was for Wales.

Way more I'd say, Johnny or Etzebeth are the best player since Carter.

There's a couple guys with huge potential there and we'll adapt to play a game without an extra coach on the pitch but Johnnys irreplaceable

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Main long-term question, yes. Sexton is almost if not equally totemic for Ireland as AWJ is/was for Wales.

So him retiring is going to see Ireland's form drastically improve?

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Way more I'd say, Johnny or Etzebeth are the best player since Carter.

There's a couple guys with huge potential there and we'll adapt to play a game without an extra coach on the pitch but Johnnys irreplaceable

As a player I would agree Sexton is technically better, but what I mean is that AWJ has been comparable in the sense of being a father figure and someone for the team to rally around.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

So him retiring is going to see Ireland's form drastically improve?

I think there are lots of other factors to explain that - the main one being the return of Gatland.