New Zealand vs Ireland

[Gagger]

Why the fuck didn't Ireland play this game plan first week?

Immense effort involved. What was really noticeable was how far the Irish pillars were going past the ball at the ruck to ensure clean ball and create space. Illegal and ironic, but beautifully effective

Fucking laughable that was a gouge BTW. Irish lock was just trying to pull some limpet coming round the side of the maul onside.

 

[the plastic paddy]

Nig had a very good game, the contentious last scrum notwithstanding; he was closer to the action than me so I will trust his judgement: best referee in the world, clear, decisive and lets the game flow. A bit disappointed he didn't trust his judgement on the 'knock on' that was called by inspector Clouseau to award that scrum in the first place, Nig called it as going backwards. Anyway that is not the reason we lost, the decision to go for goal with eight minutes left was a mistake, did we not learn from the Welsh game in the six nations?

Disappointed with the result but NZ kept their heads and sealed the deal. Fair play to them. Delighted with so much of Ireland's performance, Healy is getting close to the best LHP in the world IMHO, does loads in the loose and a massive scrummager. Murray had a cracking game, the try was just what he needed to give him a bit of confidence and he kicked beautifully.

McLaughlin incident looks very ugly but I don't think he was gouging, he was grabbing the head which I think is similarly dangerous anyway and should, along with the strangulation, be outlawed out of the game before a player is badly hurt. Haven't heard if there has been a citing, is it a 48 hour window as usual? If yes then time must be nearly up.

Another chance to beat NZ gone but these young Irish players will know that for all the gurning, glorified morris dancing and eyeliner the NZ rugby team is made up of normal human beings who are not super annuated pro magnum freaks.

Thought we might have a chance in Hamilton but with Clouseau in charge I don't hold out a rake of hope, in refereeing terms from the sublime (Nig) to the ridiculous(Poite).

 

[Bardon]

No place in this game for gouging and I've said before there's no reason for anyone's open hand to be in contact with someones face.

IF proved he should get a lengthy ban and to me the victim is Irrelevant as no one deserved to be gouged and potentially blinded no matter their reputation or past transgressions. However we've seen a few stills from S15 games this year that show similar contact to the face but not enough evidence that gouging took place.

Still a player runs the risk every time they put their hands near the face of an opponent in a ruck or maul situation. Much better just to punch them and remove any possibility of a gouging charge.

 

[FrankLind]

Nig had
Thought we might have a chance in Hamilton but with Clouseau in charge I don't hold out a rake of hope, in refereeing terms from the sublime (Nig) to the ridiculous(Poite).

Will Poite be giving NZ an advantage? Or there something about Ireland's play that Poite loves to penalize?

I would have thought an erratic ref' might give either side an unfair advantage on the day, depending on the day.

 

[Sandpit Fan]

Ali Williams out for at least 8 weeks for Knee surgery. Could this spell the end for his Ab career? I for one hope so. He's been past his used by date for years.

Think he's been very lucky to be in the side this year, and after that penalty + 10m he gave away, I'd say the injury has saved Hansen dropping him.

 

[Bardon]

Will Poite be giving NZ an advantage? Or there something about Ireland's play that Poite loves to penalize?

I would have thought an erratic ref' might give either side an unfair advantage on the day, depending on the day.

Usually I don't comment on refs in a bad way, but with so much experience of Poite I can't help but groan anytime I find out he's appointed to an Ireland game. To put it diplomatically his style of referring doesn't suit the Irish style of play. There's much head scratching at many of his decision and they could potentially decide a tight game. Some might say he's just better at catching the Irish cheating. The reality lies somewhere between the two and if given by an Irish supporter probably contains a lot of expletives.

Still Ireland should first focus on making it a tight enough game for that to even matter. Ireland's performance improved so much from Test 1 to Test 2 simply because there were a lot of areas for them to work on. Even though Hansen said there was also lots for the ABs to work on after Test 1 that simply wasn't true, but it's true in a big way from Test 2 to 3. I expect the ABs to be much improved and unless Ireland have worked with the same focus and intensity as between the first 2 tests I fear a scoreline closer to Test 1.

 

[cyclopath]

Watching the full video, I thought that "action" on Richie's face / eyes might have warranted some attention. Plenty on here would be howling for it if it was Pocock, let's be honest. Whether he was in the wrong place is totally irrelevant.
But before I am held up as his defender, I thought his knees-first collision with D'Arcy was at best clumsy, but possibly warranted more action at the time - he looked up before launching and must have known he wasn't getting to the ball.
I don't believe in square-ups, but he might have got a bit lucky there. Again, as a Kiwi supporter, imagine if Heaslip did the same to Richie, and we'd be hearing about "disrispuct" from Shag all bloody week.

 

[the plastic paddy]

Will Poite be giving NZ an advantage? Or there something about Ireland's play that Poite loves to penalize?

I would have thought an erratic ref' might give either side an unfair advantage on the day, depending on the day.

TBF the one thing Clouseau seems to like least is to be seen as a hometown ref. The other advantage we could have is that he witnessed at first hand Healy, Best and Ross's demolition job on the NZ front row. Poite loves creating the impression he is a great scrummaging expert indeed he has conned scrum experts like Stuart Barnes into thinking he knows what he is doing!?! In fact he allows the scrum to be a complete free for all with the front rows basically engaging in every illegitimacy they can think of to gain the upper hand and whoever comes out on top is the team that enjoys his favour. His reffing of the scrum is fucking dangerous. As for the breakdown, there we see the full gamut of eccentric interpretations. I wouldn't let the man in charge of an under tens game. I hope I don't see it but I believe Poite will be in charge when a player is catastrophically and life changingly injured in the front row and the game will be in a lot of trouble because he simply does not enforce the laws of the scrummage. Don't see why we can't have Nig again, seems perverse of the IRB to change refs when everyone is used to each others timings and interpretations. Rant over.

 

[ACR]

I don't believe in square-ups, but he might have got a bit lucky there. Again, as a Kiwi supporter, imagine if Heaslip did the same to Richie, and we'd be hearing about "disrispuct" from Shag all bloody week.

Whatever, Richie cops some sort of foul play almost every single week. I'm pretty sure he doesn't care so why should we.

 

[It is what it is]

Watching the full video, I thought that "action" on Richie's face / eyes might have warranted some attention. Plenty on here would be howling for it if it was Pocock, let's be honest. Whether he was in the wrong place is totally irrelevant.
But before I am held up as his defender, I thought his knees-first collision with D'Arcy was at best clumsy, but possibly warranted more action at the time - he looked up before launching and must have known he wasn't getting to the ball.
I don't believe in square-ups, but he might have got a bit lucky there. Again, as a Kiwi supporter, imagine if Heaslip did the same to Richie, and we'd be hearing about "disrispuct" from Shag all bloody week.

Or heaven forbid Quade touched Richie.

 

[cyclopath]

Whatever, Richie cops some sort of foul play almost every single week. I'm pretty sure he doesn't care so why should we.

I think he probably does care, but doesn't whine about it, a different thing.
My point was actually more about foul play, and that it shouldn't be condoned or whitewashed, and how we see the crimes against our own so much more keenly, and gloss over those the other way, and maybe shouldn't.

 

[Dan54]

I agree Cycs, I not saying it a gouge or otherwise, just think these things need to be looked at so players are made aware that they are not acceptable if contact is made with eye or probably face around eye.

 

[the plastic paddy]

I think he probably does care, but doesn't whine about it, a different thing.
My point was actually more about foul play, and that it shouldn't be condoned or whitewashed, and how we see the crimes against our own so much more keenly, and gloss over those the other way, and maybe shouldn't.

Looks like McLaughlin has been very lucky there but then so was yer man who fired halfpenny onto his head and Dagg's elbow to Kearney's face could have ended badly. Think it is time rugby had a bit of a moratorium on action on the head and neck in general including all the choking we see in the modern game. It is incredibly dangerous to grab players around the throat and according to my understanding of the laws illegal but we rarely see sanctions imposed.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Life changing damage has been done to rugby players are a result of foul play.

I thought Gavin Quinnell lost the sight in one eye following a gouging incident. Wiki just says his career was ended, as it that wasn't bad enough! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Quinnell

Accidental pokes in the eye are part and parcel of the game, but there appears to be far too much of the deliberate stuff going on. Not to mention biting, FFS.

 

[Bardon]

Carter has been ruled out of the final test with a thigh injury. Personally I think it makes it harder for Ireland as Cruden has been in better form in S15 this year.

New Zealand: I Dagg; B Smith, C Smith, S B Williams, H Gear; A Cruden, A Smith; T Woodcock, A Hore, O Franks, L Romano, S Whitelock, L Messam. S Cane, R McCaw (capt).
Replacements: K Mealamu, B Franks, B Retallick, A Thomson, P Weepu, B Barrett, T Ellison.

 

[the plastic paddy]

Carter has been ruled out of the final test with a thigh injury. Personally I think it makes it harder for Ireland as Cruden has been in better form in S15 this year.

New Zealand: I Dagg; B Smith, C Smith, S B Williams, H Gear; A Cruden, A Smith; T Woodcock, A Hore, O Franks, L Romano, S Whitelock, L Messam. S Cane, R McCaw (capt).
Replacements: K Mealamu, B Franks, B Retallick, A Thomson, P Weepu, B Barrett, T Ellison.

Interesting on many levels, Guildford and Savea dropped like stones, still no Nonu and McCaw to 8. Was starting to get a bit of a positive feeling about the game until one of the Munsterfans posters reminded us all that Roman 'Clouseau' Poite was officiating and all hopes were dashed.

 

[Bardon]

Interesting on many levels, Guildford and Savea dropped like stones, still no Nonu and McCaw to 8. Was starting to get a bit of a positive feeling about the game until one of the Munsterfans posters reminded us all that Roman 'Clouseau' Poite was officiating and all hopes were dashed.

One of the big problems for this Ireland team is that they tend to work a lot harder after a bad performance and then come out firing in the next game. They did that from Test 1 to Test 2. Then after the good performance they tend to return to under performing.

Couple that with the fact the NZ players will have been flogged in training all week for the areas Ireland bested them at and I'm pretty worried about the scoreline on Saturday.

Obviously hope I'm proved completely wrong though.

 

[Bardon]

Interesting on many levels, Guildford and Savea dropped like stones, still no Nonu and McCaw to 8. Was starting to get a bit of a positive feeling about the game until one of the Munsterfans posters reminded us all that Roman 'Clouseau' Poite was officiating and all hopes were dashed.

Nonu hasn't been in great form for the Blues since the RWC and his weight has balooned a bit. Not as much as Weepu he was blimp when he entered the All Blacks training camp. He lost a lot of weight in a very short time but still doesn't look match fit. Very surprised Weepu was anywhere near the NZ squad let alone the match day 22.

 

[teach]

SBW needs to be tested. He hasn't had a huge amount of game time against quality opposition. After the brain farts he had last year in a couple of crucial games he needs to prove himself capable of starting in that position. In Nonu's defence, noone from the Blues really looked like being in great form.

 

[Braveheart81]

3 players in the New Zealand backline with the same surname. Who do they think they are? Wales?