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June Internationals: United States v Ireland (8/6/13)

HAHA I don't think the Americans read the rules...

We make our own ;)

Ding dong arm wrestle going on, USA getting in the 22 but not getting tries, at least they're getting penalties. Wyles' left boot looking very nice tonight.
 
Should have been a penalty against Henshaw there.

Zebo's been anonymous.
 
What the hell was that kick by Petri off our scrum with 4mins left? We needed to retain the ball, he gets charged down. Wings never got involved in the game. While it was encouraging that the USA was able to stay close, questionable tactical decisions and poor execution of skills let them down.
 
Final score?

EDIT: Never mind, 15-12.

From what I've heard, Canada's been pretty good lately. Ireland gonna have to up their game or we might end up seeing 2000 (27-27) all over again.
 
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Thought the ref was really poor. I don't think he favoured one side over the other, but he was really inconsistent and his communication with the players was crap.
 
USA were smashing them and are unlucky to come away with the result. The USA has some serious physical talent out there, all they need to do now is hire some decent coaching and up the rugby I.Q. of their team and they will start taking these scalps. I really hope Ireland play like this against us this coming weekend as I want to see us smash them and send a message to the IRB that Tier-2 nations need to be taken more seriously by the Tier-1`s and no longer can they expect to send a skeleton crew on tour and expect a good result.
 
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Post match pressers:

 
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USA were smashing them and are unlucky to come away with the result. The USA needs has some serious physical talent out there, all they need to do now is hire some decent coaching and up the rugby I.Q. of their team and they will start taking these scalps. I really hope Ireland play like this against us this coming weekend as I want to see us smash them and send a message to the IRB that Tier-2 nations need to be taken more seriously by the Tier-1`s and no longer can they expect to send a skeleton crew on tour and expect a good result.
Agreed.
 
USA were smashing them and are unlucky to come away with the result. The USA needs has some serious physical talent out there, all they need to do now is hire some decent coaching and up the rugby I.Q. of their team and they will start taking these scalps. I really hope Ireland play like this against us this coming weekend as I want to see us smash them and send a message to the IRB that Tier-2 nations need to be taken more seriously by the Tier-1`s and no longer can they expect to send a skeleton crew on tour and expect a good result.

The USA have a solid support staff, but IQ is something that needs to come up. I felt the USA made a lot of poor decisions tactically throughout the game. Also remember that the whole squad in its entirety has only been together for a week. Historically, the USA have always been stronger at the end of seasons/tours. Just look at the Romania match last fall. Romania are no stud team but the US played their best all-around, together game.
 
boy, ANOTHER ultra-close result...are these June tests exposing the lack of depth of the British Isle sides (minus England) ? Or is it the lack of game plan/negligence ....
 
I think overall it was a really good game, with plenty of half breaks and, for the most part, pretty tenacious defense - strangely I found myself supporting the United States twenty minutes in.

As a game I thought it was a pretty good advert for rugby, and the crowd really seem to enjoy it, had a cracking atmosphere. I think overall it would have been better if the US had won, as it will have little effect on Irish rugby, win or loose. I also wonder what the impact, if any, of scoring no tries would be for the normal American viewer.

For the future there are two main areas that the US need to address, ASAP. Obviously the scrum, in particular new props or a scrum coach and lack of cutting edge in attack needs sorting. Any breaks that were made were more individual rather than team created. When they were in the Irish 22 they needed better running lines and dummy runners to make the Irish defense think and keep honest.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and the US should be proud.
 
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I didn't pay much attention to the US performance but from their perspective, it's a step forward. No tries conceded against a tier 1 nation is a great achievement and the crowd was impressive. Hopefully they can build upon it.

For Ireland, where to start?! No penetration. Awful lineout. Backs running side to side with no idea how to break a tackle. Major improvement needed next weak. Robbie Henshaw blew a try, knocked on poorly in his own 22 and should have given away a penalty at 12-15 when he tackled a man in the air. At 19, he must have talent to have played so often but on the showings I've seen, he doesn't offer much in attack from the back. Richardt Strauss should have been called ashore earlier. What does it say to Dan Tuohy when Mike McCarthy was clearly blowing hard yet the Ulster player remained on the bench. Don't understand why Paddy Jackson didn't come on either. Paul Marshall was a huge improvement on Isaac Boss. Peter O'Mahony is a selfish player who never passes the ball.

The ref rode the Eagles.

My team for next week:
Jones, McFadden, Cave, Olding, Trimble, Madigan, Marshall; Kilcoyne, Sherry, Ross, McCarthy, Toner, McLaughlin, Henry, O'Mahony
 
Yeah Ireland were shocking, and the referee was just being petty with the Eagles, making them bend down a certain distance fro the scrums. They came out wanting to win the game, and put in a solid performance, while our players just went through the phases, benefitting from the Eagles' stupid errors. Barely anyone who showed some flare. One of the exceptions was McFadden who was always looking for a gap, and making yards. O'Mahony wasn't great, but at least he smashed through a few people. Zebo was anonymous although I suspect that was due to the Lions situation. Really not good enough. I'd really like to see more from guys like Olding O'Donnell, Sherry, and really want to see if Henshaw can pick up his performance. To be fair it's hugely impressive that he got himself a cap at 19 years old, and he clearly has talent. I don't think he's ready yet though.
I really wish someone had booted the head off of Todd Clever.
 
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