2014 Six Nations: England vs Ireland (Round 3)

[Leonormous Boozer]

He's not right he say Sexton isn't performing in big matches which is really wide of the mark.



Wow you actually used the word jerk.

Ever since he's left for Racing you've had a real problem with him.

If you think those two are the biggest matches of his international career you're kidding yourself. That Australia, that English one, last week and those three lions tests were fairly big as was that other NZ match. You're changing things to suit your agenda. Sexton missed a kick against New Zealand that doesn't mean he had a bad match, without him we wouldn't have been in touch. Other players made stupid errors but you've placed the blame for that match firmly at his feet.

He was undoubtedly poor today especially with his kicking. However his defense was pretty huge with about three chokes coming from him. Do you really believe Jackson would have made a huge difference?

Last week was a huge match and he was in the top two players on the pitch.

Last week or the Lions weren't as big as this. I haven't said he's not been good but he hasn't been good enough to win. He could have been the difference today, he wasn't. He could have made that kick to win against the blacks and he didn't. He's by far the best we have but when it really, really matters, since he's become our key player, he hasn't been good enough to win. Give us a player with his skill and the mentality of RO'G or Dan Carter we'd have beaten the All Blacks and secured a championship at this moment. There's something missing and I really, really hope he finds it. To say he was fine in those two matches is kidding yourself.

 

[glawsfan]

What a great test match contested by two quality teams. Great intensity and could have gone either way both tries were brilliant as well.
Thought Brown and Launchbury were the standouts for England. However the critisicim of May has been over the top he still today looked like England's most likely player to create something along with Brown i genuinely think he has had a very good tournament. This proves he had a decent game today.

@TheRugbyBlog: Jonny May has shot to the top of England's Key Influencers list, with 4 defenders beaten, 5 gainline breaks and 31m made. #IBMTryTracker"
Hardly proves he was "awful" him and Wade on the wings are the way forward for England.

 

[FrenchFan]

Good game. Eng not creative enough. Robocopish Rugby. Wales should win at Twinckenham

Ireland looked far more dangerous in the backs. See you in Paris

 

[TRF_Olyy]

However the critisicim of May has been over the top

Agree with that completely.
F**ked up not scoring that first try, however played very well for the rest of the game (ignoring the hospital pass to Brown )
The second try scoring opportunity that people are ranting about actually wasn't one as he was right on the touchline and had players drifting across to him - if he'd have pinned his ears back he would have been tackled/shoved into touch, so cutting back in and retaining possession was the right thing to do.

 

[Big Ewis]

Nonsense. Its not about home or away - we were playing an exceptionally high-class team playing exceptionally well with ten times our experience in certain areas. We were out of the tournament with a loss today. By your token, why were France so overjoyed to beat England in Paris by such a tiny margin. Christ, you were at home!

be.......bec.c.c.cause starting the year off with a win was absolutely huge for us, and against in England in particular...? You may have heard about France's abysmal 2013 year...stop it with the sarcasm Henreh, no need for that rubbish edgy thing you like to add needlessly sometimes. Plus we kind of scored a gigantic try at the end to snatch victory from the English, sort of what you would call redemption and a Hollywood ending in all objectivity...

The ever impassible Lancaster was throwing punches in the air repeatedly screaming "YEAH !", May yelled a high-pitched ***** scream, and the whole team looked immensely relieved and overwhelmingly joyful at the end. Was just pointing out what this game meant to England, and implied of course given the relatively unimportant stakes in the middle of a tournament shows this England team isn't as confident as some might think.

 

[Rumpi]

Agree with that completely.
F**ked up not scoring that first try, however played very well for the rest of the game (ignoring the hospital pass to Brown )
The second try scoring opportunity that people are ranting about actually wasn't one as he was right on the touchline and had players drifting across to him - if he'd have pinned his ears back he would have been tackled/shoved into touch, so cutting back in and retaining possession was the right thing to do.

He looks an exciting prospect, will only get better. Liked the scream out of him when England won that ball near the end.

 

[Rich Taff]

Agree with that completely.
F**ked up not scoring that first try, however played very well for the rest of the game (ignoring the hospital pass to Brown )

That was one of the funniest things I've seen for a while on a pitch. Brown, unsurprisingly, didn't seem to see the funny side of it though.

 

[Peat]

If "Must win to have any chance of winning the tournament" is relatively unimportant to you, then fair dos. I disagree.

I also disagree with the idea this was more important than the Lions test.

 

[Big Ewis]

pretty hilarious, I had France-Italy-Ireland for the weekend...

oh and cmac the streak still stands then....

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

pretty hilarious, I had France-Italy-Ireland for the weekend...

oh and cmac the streak still stands then....

Unfortunately!

England, you better beat the Welsh in two weeks time, I would probably kill myself if you beat us and let those ******** win the championship... again!

 

[Peat]

You're not exactly incentivising us there cmac...

Anyway, all you guys have to do is stick a score on Italy and win in Paris and the Championship is yours regardless of that match. Have some self-belief.

 

[Big Ewis]

Unfortunately!

England, you better beat the Welsh in two weeks time, I would probably kill myself if you beat us and let those ******** win the championship... again!

awww c'mon you can't actually wish this...although Wales were very mediocre against France, they won, and by a lot. Their gameplan is simple enough to hang onto a whole 80 (as controversial as this may be...) and now they've got that confidence again. It looked very unlikely just before this weekend, but I do now think Wales have a good chance in Twickenham.

[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR="class: colhead"]
[TH="class: field_TeamDisplay"]Team[/TH]
[TH="class: field_Played"]Pl[/TH]
[TH="class: field_Win"]W[/TH]
[TH="class: field_Draw"]D[/TH]
[TH="class: field_Lose"]L[/TH]
[TH="class: field_PtsFor"]PF[/TH]
[TH="class: field_PtsAgainst"]PA[/TH]
[TH="class: field_PtsDiff"]Diff[/TH]
[TH="class: field_TryFor"]TF[/TH]
[TH="class: field_TryAgainst"]TA[/TH]
[TH="class: field_Points"]Pts[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR="class: champion odd"]
[TD="class: field_Position"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: field_LastRoundArrowPos"]

(1)[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TeamDisplay"]Ireland[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Played"]3[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Win"]2[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Draw"]0[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Lose"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsFor"]64[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsAgainst"]22[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsDiff"]42[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryFor"]6[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryAgainst"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Points"]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: normal normalstart even"]
[TD="class: field_Position"]2[/TD]
[TD="class: field_LastRoundArrowPos"]

(3)[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TeamDisplay"]England[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Played"]3[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Win"]2[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Draw"]0[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Lose"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsFor"]57[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsAgainst"]36[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsDiff"]21[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryFor"]5[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryAgainst"]4[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Points"]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: normal odd"]
[TD="class: field_Position"]3[/TD]
[TD="class: field_LastRoundArrowPos"]

(4)[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TeamDisplay"]Wales[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Played"]3[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Win"]2[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Draw"]0[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Lose"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsFor"]53[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsAgainst"]47[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsDiff"]6[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryFor"]4[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryAgainst"]4[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Points"]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: normal even"]
[TD="class: field_Position"]4[/TD]
[TD="class: field_LastRoundArrowPos"]

(2)[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TeamDisplay"]France[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Played"]3[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Win"]2[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Draw"]0[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Lose"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsFor"]62[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsAgainst"]61[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsDiff"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryFor"]6[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryAgainst"]5[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Points"]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: normal odd"]
[TD="class: field_Position"]5[/TD]
[TD="class: field_LastRoundArrowPos"]

(6)[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TeamDisplay"]Scotland[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Played"]3[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Win"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Draw"]0[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Lose"]2[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsFor"]27[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsAgainst"]68[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsDiff"]-41[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryFor"]2[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryAgainst"]7[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Points"]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: normal even"]
[TD="class: field_Position"]6[/TD]
[TD="class: field_LastRoundArrowPos"]

(5)[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TeamDisplay"]Italy[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Played"]3[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Win"]0[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Draw"]0[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Lose"]3[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsFor"]45[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsAgainst"]74[/TD]
[TD="class: field_PtsDiff"]-29[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryFor"]5[/TD]
[TD="class: field_TryAgainst"]7[/TD]
[TD="class: field_Points"]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

ehhh...table copy paste didn't work out too well...

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I think it's interesting looking at possession as well, England did a lot more with their possession than Ireland did. Amazing how close all the stats are though, except for the scrum. We REALLY need to get that sorted.

 

[Crapspray]

On that note, Thomas made of decent fist of it. I was terrified when he had to pack opposite Healy- even if it was for just one scrum. And Davey Wilson played for a hell of a long time. I was hoping for fifty minutes, never mind seventy. Looked ****ed when he came off.

---

Honourable mention for Attwood as well. Smashed a lot of blokes in the last ten minutes.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

You're not exactly incentivising us there cmac...

Anyway, all you guys have to do is stick a score on Italy and win in Paris and the Championship is yours regardless of that match. Have some self-belief.

I'll keep up my current rate of posting while doubling the level of whinging if you don't beat Wales! Is that better?

 

[Luke2009]

Looked to me like sexton was concussed for a lot of the second half think it happened after may made a big run about 10 minutes in to second half, also don't understand why rob Kearney doesn't kick penalties for touch on right side of pitch deep in Ireland's end sexton only making 10 or 15 metres on them.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Some stats from ESPNScrum:
http://www.espn.co.uk/six-nations-2014/rugby/match/180672.html

I don't normally take too much notice of them but there are a few standout points from an Irish perspective.

1. Rory Best ran 3 times for no gain, made just 50% of his tackles and conceded 2 penalties. Doesn't sound great!
2. Peter O'Mahony was Ireland's best lineout forward winning 7 balls. He also ran for the most metres of the Irish forwards with 22 on 7 carries. Against that, his tackle success rate was just 66% (4 made, 2 missed).
3. Brian O'Driscoll beat the most defenders (4) but had just a 50% tackle success rate (3 made, 3 missed).
4. England won just 55% of their scrums. Ireland won 100% of theirs. Some turnaround from previous tournaments.

 

[munstermuffin]

Couldn't be bothered reading back seems to be a lot of moaning. But fair play England fully deserved win and well I thought 3 point gap flattered us slightly.
Mike Brown was in a class of his own and kudos to Lancaster as I've always liked him but he's doing super work.

Regards Ireland.
People can slam Sexton but he has been 1 of our better players last 2 games and was poor but with Murray they were poor. I thought all the backs were poor to average today. Pack were good in parts but I don't think many will be happy. Henderson did well when introduced. Hopefully Schmidt will mix it up now and make few changes for Italy. Where is a tricky area though. I presume back 3 will be 1 area as Zebo Bowe Luke Fitz and others snapping at heals. I think both centres will feel heat.
Backrow will be hot too and Ruddock, TOD, Murphy and Copeland will hope. Then in front 5 D. Ryan McCarthy Kilcoyne Archer as well as reserved today will hope.
But I think today brought us backdown to earth a bit and that's no dig at Schmidt or his staff the team or anyone. Just we were beaten by a better team who were more hungry on the day.

 

[Big Ewis]

Hopefully Vunipola's knee issue is superficial. We wouldn't want England to be weakened for the big match in two weeks at home.
And yes, Lancaster has done an amazing job. A fantastic coach with a penchant for utilizing his backs. I think as they're settled, England will start going wide more and more.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Hopefully Vunipola's knee issue is superficial. We wouldn't want England to be weakened for the big match in two weeks at home.
And yes, Lancaster has done an amazing job. A fantastic coach with a penchant for utilizing his backs. I think as they're settled, England will start going wide more and more.

It's an ankle injury rather than knee but yes I hope it's nothing big. Last thing we need are even more injuries, although I wouldn't be too worried about Morgan taking over at 8.