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<blockquote data-quote="Ripper" data-source="post: 148786">They&#039;re a very experienced team, at the height of their athletic power, so if changes are needed on the field they should be capable. I think it&#039;s down to ROG being limited in his options: slow ball from the pack + midfield defences rushing up to cut out the D&#039;Arcy/BOD threat.Ireland weren&#039;t overrated - they should have taken the Grand Slam, and they put three SH teams to the sword last November. Argentina point to their record against France, and everyone thinks the ABs were powering for world dominance in 2006 - so it&#039;s fair to say that Ireland&#039;s record over the last 10 months showed their RWC preparations coming to the boil.&nbsp;[/b]</blockquote>&nbsp;Ireland were very overated - overnight they suddenly became the form team in the North just because they got lucky with the schedule - if it was the Irish who got to play the All Blacks on the November Tours last year instead of the French, no one would be talking about the Irish as they would&#039;ve been roasted as badly, if not worse than the French were at Lyon that one fateful night.&nbsp;Ireland haven&#039;t beaten the French since before the 2003 Rugby World Cup - And yet they were rated the best team in the North? They bumbled there way past Scotland by a solitary point and struggled to beat Wales by Double Digits, before losing to France for what... the 6th straight time, and they are now the best team in the North?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE="Ripper, post: 148786"] They're a very experienced team, at the height of their athletic power, so if changes are needed on the field they should be capable. I think it's down to ROG being limited in his options: slow ball from the pack + midfield defences rushing up to cut out the D'Arcy/BOD threat. Ireland weren't overrated - they should have taken the Grand Slam, and they put three SH teams to the sword last November. Argentina point to their record against France, and everyone thinks the ABs were powering for world dominance in 2006 - so it's fair to say that Ireland's record over the last 10 months showed their RWC preparations coming to the boil. [/b][/quote] Ireland [b]were[/b] very overated - overnight they suddenly became the form team in the North just because they got lucky with the schedule - if it was the Irish who got to play the All Blacks on the November Tours last year instead of the French, no one would be talking about the Irish as they would've been roasted as badly, if not worse than the French were at Lyon that one fateful night. Ireland haven't beaten the French since [b]before[/b] the 2003 Rugby World Cup - And yet they were rated the best team in the North? They bumbled there way past Scotland by a solitary point and struggled to beat Wales by Double Digits, before losing to France for what... the 6th straight time, and they are now the best team in the North? [/QUOTE]

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