ithanos Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Off to see Ireland vs Australia shortly. Well, off to find a pub or three on the crawl to the venue that is. Pocock's out of the lineup for Aus so it should be a decent matchup between Heaslip/Ferris/O'Brien and Samo/McCalman/Elsom. My buddy & I are backing Ireland all the way but Samo is a rejuvenated beast and Elsom is as imposing as Dellaglio was in his day. I don't know much about about McCalman though but I'm sure Ireland's chances of parity at the breakdown and around the ruck improved somewhat with Pocock's withdrawal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Michalak is 28. He's younger than Dan Carter (who also played in 2003) and Johnny Wilkinson (who played at the 1999 RWC), so his age is irrelevantBecause other coaches make veterans play doesn't mean the payer's age doesn't matter. Besides, Wilkison has not really been impressive, I hear. I think it's part of the reason, not all the reason, but this added to the guy's temperament makes the plus-value of his addition in the team almost inexistant, if not negative. Yes, he isn't the most reflective person (as I said above, he's mercurial), but when you're bringing a late replacement into a squad when the tournament is already underway, I would have thought you'd go for the guy who's been there and done that rather than some wet-behind-the-ears utility back kid who will need a lot of managementThe importance of having already played a world cup is vastly overrated, especially for a dumbass like Michalak. Also, you have to remember that the last world cup was played with veterans, Lievremont is obviously distancing himself from Laporte's strategies. I am a wee bit surprised by Kirwan in that respect. I would have expected such an approach from some other coaches but not from a former All Black great. I'm not surprised. The main difference between southern hemisphere and Northern is that the southerners play to win, they don't play to make the show. Kirwan coaches New-Zealand style, he coaches to win. What he did was normal. Now, if it was from our coach, now, then I would be surprised. But odds are we will play at full strength, injure two or three of our lead guys, and still lose. (or win by the skin of our teeth and lose against Tonga next, as usual) Either way, I'm not confident in the issue of the match against Canada, to start with. They've got lumberjacks of doom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 Well, they are the top seeds in the group, so that shouldn't be much of a surprise. Hang on a minute. I did take your word for it initially but after some research http://www.irb.com/rankings/full.html Argentina are 3rd ranked in world standings in that pool: England is ranked 4th, Scotland 7th, Argentina 9th. So Argentina should lose to England and Scotland. But I think they'll beat Scotland. Enjoying the Aus Ireland game so far. But it's going to be tight and I think Aussie will come through in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 I thought the Aussie scrum was supposed to be good now? Well played the Irish pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 WOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! IRELAND IRELAND IRELAND You Bloody Beauty!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevonicus Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Yeoow! Victory, thy name is Ireland. Magnificient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissoon Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 the Wallabies played dumb footy and got dragged down to the Irish level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Well, that's a performance that the Irish have been waiting 6 months for (and about two years before that :P). Such an effort by our pack. I'm ecstatic right now. Have to say I have worries about O'Driscoll. It seems almost certain to me that he's playing injured. Still doing a lot (I can't deny the man's courage), but I thought the amount that D'Arcy was on the ball in the first half showed up a contrast of how much O'Driscoll wasn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 the Wallabies played dumb footy and got dragged down to the Irish level. No. Ireland kicked Aussie in the forwards and it's damned hard to win a game when your forwards are losing the battle up front. Ireland won that game, it wasn't a case of Aussie losing it. Twice Quaid Cooper tried the flashy stuff when Aussie was in a very good scoring position and twice he screwed up badly. But they were acts of desperation because Ireland had dominated the Aussies. So Ireland's path now is 1/4 final vs Wales or Samoa (can't call that one both teams have the goods to come second. Samoa even has a chance of beating the Boks) then Semi vs England or France (I think France). Ireland has a very good shot at the Finals. But so now does Wales, if they beat Samoa. I hope Argentina make the 14's because I think that will be a better game for the ABs to prepare to face Aus of the Boks in the Semis. Interestingly Aussie has a terrible winning record in Auckland (haven't won since 1980-something) but the Aus-Bok 1/4 is in Wellington and Aus actually has a habit of winning in Wellington. So I think there's a good chance that NZ will meet Aus in the Semis...in Auckland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissoon Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 No. Ireland kicked Aussie in the forwards and it's damned hard to win a game when your forwards are losing the battle up front. Ireland won that game, it wasn't a case of Aussie losing it. Twice Quaid Cooper tried the flashy stuff when Aussie was in a very good scoring position and twice he screwed up badly. But they were acts of desperation because Ireland had dominated the Aussies. Of course we got dominated by their forwards and is why our backs were nullified, and hence being dragged down to their level, a typical NH style of footy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Having forwards play well is a typical NH style of play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Well played, Ireland. Hang on a minute. I did take your word for it initially but after some research http://www.irb.com/rankings/full.html Argentina are 3rd ranked in world standings in that pool: England is ranked 4th, Scotland 7th, Argentina 9th. So Argentina should lose to England and Scotland. But I think they'll beat Scotland. You can still take my word for it. I said nothing about world rankings, only World Cup seedings. Of course we got dominated by their forwards and is why our backs were nullified, and hence being dragged down to their level, a typical NH style of footy. Would you like some sweeter grapes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Having a good pack is beneath the Aussies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Interestingly Aussie has a terrible winning record in Auckland (haven't won since 1980-something) 1986. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Have to say I have worries about O'Driscoll. It seems almost certain to me that he's playing injured. Still doing a lot (I can't deny the man's courage), but I thought the amount that D'Arcy was on the ball in the first half showed up a contrast of how much O'Driscoll wasn't. O'Driscoll always seems to be carrying an injury but I think the problem is that as combination neither D'Arcy or O'Driscoll really get over the gainline consistently against set defenses anymore so teams account for him. I think it's noticeable that best he's played in the past few years was in combination with Roberts for the Lions. I'd probably be in favour of dropping D'Arcy in favour of a more consistent ball carrier but I'm not sure that Wallace is a better option. That result has certainly thrown the cat amongst the pigeons. As everyone has said an excellent performance from Ireland, especially in the forwards. Ferris and O'Brien in particular had good games and it was clear how much Australia missed Pocock. That's probably the best game I've seen O'Connell have in years as well. In the earlier game Argentina certainly seem to have taken Vestrit's criticisms on board. That's probably the most expansive gameplan I've ever seen them go into a game with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 The big question is, will I make it out of bed in time for the England game at 7am tomorrow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 The big question is, will I make it out of bed in time for the England game at 7am tomorrow? maybe just don't go to bed in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kairparavel Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Er, any online streaming for this? I'd like to see Canada and France in the bleary hours of Sunday morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Er, any online streaming for this? I'd like to see Canada and France in the bleary hours of Sunday morning. ITV have live streaming on their website although I'm not sure you'd be able to access it outside the UK. Might be worth a try though because being ITV it's entirely possible that they forgot to limit access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kairparavel Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Thanks. I was hoping to watch it via TSN online (Canadian sports network) but they won't stream outside Canada.Bah. I saw Canada/France in a friendly ___ years ago (it's been a while, probably 12-15 years ago) at Twin Elm Park in Ottawa. ETA Well hey, Wikipedia tells me it was 17 years ago. Cripes. Canada won 18-16 btw. Al Charron and Gareth Rees were playing, I believe.It was a bloody great day of rugby all around. Bytown Blues played, followed by Ontario v Quebec and then the main match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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