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[RWC2023 QF2] Ireland vs New Zealand (14/10/2023)

Some ride, that game. NZ played very intelligently and accurately both ito managing it, the handling and discipline sublime. Ireland were excellent as usual but it was just all very mature and controlled by NZ. Was kinda rooting for Ireland halfway through but NZ not to be denied.

What an advert for the game and Barnes was generally excellent. A few clear misses but in general pretty good. Could see him making the final but he is certainly human.

Now the pressure is on for SA. Can't have an all pool A final! Hope our game with France matches this one. Semi's a banana peel but the standard of the top 4 looks a clear cut above.
 
Ireland's "attacking" play was single-dimensional and the All Blacks simply targetted the ball-carrier knowing the Irish pass the ball behind the advancing forwards defending line to a back on an angling run - so easy to defend against. And they rinsed and repeated the same procedure for 28 phases moving from side to side!!

The pressure of being No.1, the pressure of the occasion, the pressure of a nation's expectation, and the pressure of history were simply too much for them today.

Farrell is off to RFU...
That's fair unfortunately. Very little variation in what we were doing and when we did see variation it was forced. NZ kept it really simple and made zero mistakes. That's the game.
 
The rule about it being a dropout when the ball is held up over the line totally shafted ireland there. Its a terrible rule. Why should a team attacking the tryline suddenly find themselves back down by the halfway line.
 
I thought Porter should have been taken off earlier as he was in Wayne Barnes' bad books. Instead they took Furlong off early surprisingly.
This has been coming for some time Porters scrummaging that is
He looks like he trying to scrummage like a tight head but at loose head. He is obviously a TH by trade. He is constantly driving at an angle.
 
Great game. I felt like Ireland were no where near as ready to face NZ as they were for SA and it hurt them in the end. Ireland had plenty of chances, but just couldn't capitalise on them sadly.
I found Ireland a bit underwhelming, especially after all the hype and hyperbole being heaped upon them by everyone - including our own NZ media people, none of whom picked the All Blacks to win.

Their attack was so easy to negate - it was like a typical rugby league attack passing behind the forwards to backs running laterally, relying more on individual brilliance and luck to punch through rock-solid defensive lines. Their desperation not to play in their own 40 was exposed a couple of times when they appeared to panic and kick the ball back to the ABs' 40 only to face more attacks in their 40.

Ireland needs more variation in their attacks..
 
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