[2023 Six Nations] Ireland v England - 18 March 2023

[big ginger 8]

Girls don't like getting head-butted anymore

*****es be crazy.

 

[Derpus]

Yep, how the ref managed to miss that is unbelievable. It's literally right Infront of him??

England need to start reacting to foul play in a similar way to sexton. Ludlam needs to roll on the floor holding his face till the tmo picks it up by the TV officials replays.

Willis took a forearm smash to his face from aki in the first half but got straight back up, he needed to roll on the floor.

Urgh. Or you could just implement the 10 minute red as was suggested ffs.

Hilarious, though, that Steward tried to tackle someone with his arse and people are confused as to why its a red.

 

[Derpus]

When did he blame him EJ?

I mean it's pretty clear that EJ has done some pretty serious and long lasting damage to the EPS, but I don't recall Borthwick blaming him - they're friends

I suppose it was only by implication.

 

[Groundhog]

Just as an update @Le Frére Alpha headbutted me in the chest. Down bad

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Yep, how the ref managed to miss that is unbelievable. It's literally right Infront of him??

England need to start reacting to foul play in a similar way to sexton. Ludlam needs to roll on the floor holding his face till the tmo picks it up by the TV officials replays.

Willis took a forearm smash to his face from aki in the first half but got straight back up, he needed to roll on the floor.

Fans before they play Ireland: We really need to target Sexton, he's the key to their success.

Fans when they play Ireland and Sexton reacts to borderline/late hits:

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Sexton when game planning before a big test match

 

[TobesHodges]

Do you think Jaco trains with Ireland Tuesdays and Thursdays?

 

[Scotty]

After rewatching Stewards red i do see why it was a red, there was zero intention to harm ofcourse and he tried to get out of the way but he came from a distance and either had to go for the ball or the man or slow down and he did neither and ended up in a situation where he was fully upright as Keenan bent down low to pick up a bouncing ball, then tried to avoid contact when it was to late.

Could it have been mitigated to yellow...mabye

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Just as an update @Le Frére Alpha headbutted me in the chest. Down bad

 

[Grizwald]

Congratulations Ireland a deserved grand slam. Watching it I said to my mates they're just so efficient when they enter the red zone.

The way games are being officiated is really turning me off the sport. Once they start looking at multiple replays in super slow mo you know your fu#ked.

 

[AngloScotsHybrid]

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Not watching all of that but when it gets to the Keenan incident he says "play is dead". From the first day you play rugby you're told to play to the whistle, Keenan and did, Steward didn't. Very fine margins yeah, but had Mack's pass not been forward and the same happened no one bats an eye, Peyper hadn't blown his whistle.

 

[Rinkadink]

Just from the clips used and ignoring the text I think it's clear that Keenan dips and spins, providing plenty of mitigation even if following the high tackle protocol stuff.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Just from the clips used and ignoring the text I think it's clear that Keenan dips and spins, providing plenty of mitigation even if following the high tackle protocol stuff.

Pretty much the big difference in the clips is one drops his body the other doesn't.
Which as you should be mitigation.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Going to watch the game back in a bit, will probably fast forward through chunks. Definitely our worst game of the tournament, there always seems to be one example of playing badly and still winning in any Grand Slam and ultimately discipline ended up being the difference between the sides. We definitely got on easier with Peyper outside of the scrum and the big decisions going against England definitely made it less stressful than it could have been.

It's obvious from my previous posts that I agree with the red and I'm pretty consistent with my position on head contact regardless of the teams involved. You can't enter into contact zones like that with a stiff arm. And when the ball carrier is already low you're risking exactly what happened. It's not a shot that makes me think anything less of Freddie Steward, he seems like an all star and I reckon he'll learn his lesson and avoid red cards in future. Hopefully Keenan got a few beers in but that may be ill-advised.

Jack Willis was stupid, didn't end up being dangerous but it was a move that so easily could have been, no issues on that call. Shame for him because he was probably motm before that.

Dublin was hopping last night, great day for the city. The squad really hyped the first Grand slam win in Dublin aspect and the city bought into it. From a rugby perspective it doesn't feel as big as 2018 or 2009, it feels like this team has more to prove. I reckon they'll enjoy themselves tonight but yesterday was another high pressure, must win game where we fell a bit flat, some of the bad kicks showed just how much they let the nerves take over. It's the last thing to address and hopefully something the Leinster guys can bring home and work out at that level - both Grand slams were followed by a Heineken Cup, looking forward to May, I'll be at that one!

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Jack Willis was stupid, didn't end up being dangerous but it was a move that so easily could have been, no issues on that call. Shame for him because he was probably motm before that.

Look back at the Willis one, I don't think it was as stupid as it originally appeared. When he began the tackle, Tuilagi was off to the side. When he started lifting his leg, Tuilagi have moved to be behind the player and was bent over, Willis ended up pushing the player over Tuilagi. Had Tuilagi not been there, the tackled player would have simply fallen backwards rather than rolling over the top of Tuilagi and it likely would have been a legal tackle or just a penalty at most.

However players by now should really know they should not be lifting legs beyond the horizontal and I am staggered at how professionals continue to make these stupid errors. They know the laws so why the hell do they keep doing it? I think a lot of England stuff goes back to a point I made some time ago, it's all very well talking about the physical characteristics of players but we tend to ignore the mental side, both in terms of how much fight they have but also just basic intelligence. How often do you see England or English players cleverly manipulating the laws by knowing where the boundary is between legal and illegal? It doesn't happen often. They've been on the receiving end a fair few times though and been made to look like fools. Unfortunately, I do think a fair chunk of the English players are actually pretty thick. We are one of the most penalised sides in the world and have been for years. You can argue unconscious bias from refs, the "everyone wants England to lose" mentality but ultimately the majority of the cases are just crass stupidity.

 

[Crash Hamster]

However players by now should really know they should not be lifting legs beyond the horizontal and I am staggered at how professionals continue to make these stupid errors. Unfortunately, I do think a fair chunk of the English players are actually pretty thick.

See also mauls in the Premiership. I reckon there's a defensive side leg lift in almost every one and the referees don't seem bothered at all.

Tedious though it would initially be, a few penalties/yellows/penalty tries might change the actions.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Bit disappointed England didn't get smashed and actually had to doff the cap to them yesterday but well done nonetheless Ireland. A small bit of hope that perhaps, maybe, Ireland will get jittery come the qtr final

 

[Arcturus]

I wouldn't have a problem with the Steward red if there was consistency with the above and then this as well. It ruins the spirit of the game if incidents of greater danger aren't even penalised and diminishes Ireland's achievement.



England looked a lot better compared to the France game, although Ireland didn't perform at their best. If the game ended 13 men a piece I suspect the score would have been a lot closer.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

That is very frustrating - that hit is the exact kind they're trying to get rid of
Upright and targeting the ball rather than trying to tackle, on that angle it looks like a shoulder to the neck area which is a red card