Wales v Ireland

[TrueSlawter]

Just a question to you all.. If you look at the reply the Irish forwards were lined up so does that mean its formed or not? we've been told at youth level if we get to the lineout even just the hooker and prop gets there we can throw it in as long as its straight down the middle and its legal so really was the try for Wales yesterday a quick lineout or just a quickly formed line out?

Just wondering not sure if the throw was staight I cba to go watch it again but if say it was straight that just makes it a quickly formed lineout rather than a quick throw?


Im not saying it was legal or anything Im just curious as if it was a quick formed lineout with Rees and Phillips and the ball was thrown in straight it would be legal or not

 

[Jellyfish]

I just seen on my Facebook "wall" a post by Walesonline (an online 'source' of various Welsh papers, such as the Western Mail and South Wales Echo) appealing for information about the Ball Boy who (to quote them) "helped Wales score the try".

How totally disgusting of them. He was just doing his job, which was to keep the game flowing when the ball goes out of play. There is no reason for the press to start to pester him, none at all.

It wasn't the ball boy's fault, he was just doing his job. The blame, if there is any blame, lies with the lines man and referee. But this entire thing is being blown way out of proportion, people are human, humans make mistakes. Just learn from it and move on. But the press hunting for the ball boy is just totally wrong.

 

[lynam1104]

How in gods name is this now the ball boys fault he is suppose to give the hooker the ball witch he did what followed was not his fault.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Classy dig there. Trying to get your retaliation in first eh?

It's not a dig, it's the truth. Why does O'Gara insist on kicking the f'n ball when Ireland are attacking on the opponents 22? It's not a once off either- he did it twice yesterday and does it in every single game without fail. He's having his best season in 3 or 4 years but yesterday was a poor performance from him.

I thought the coach made the right call changing O'Gara for Sexton after 50 minutes. O'Gara was playing poorly and he thought Sexton might spark things. That Sexton didn't spark things is down to the player and not the coach.

I want lots of changes ahead of next week. The coach should be radical in his selection.

15. Earls
14. Bowe
13. O'Driscoll
12. McFadden
11. Gilroy
10. O'Gara
9. Reddan (if fit, Boss if he's not fit)
1. Healy
2. Cronin
3. Ross
4. Cullen
5. O'Connell
6. O'Brien
7. Wallace
8. Heaslip
Subs: Best, Court, O'Callaghan, Ruddock, Boss/Stringer, Sexton, Fitzgerald

Out of the squad completely go Wallace who deserves to be dropped due to poor form and another brain fart. Until he sorts out his discipline, Leamy should be out. D'arcy isn't the player he once was. Earls isn't a fullback but neither is Fitzgerald. Give Earls a shot at 15 to try spark some counter attacking. Gilroy scores tries for fun at all levels- in a game where Ireland have nothing to play for, why not blood him? McFadden is the form back in the country and it beggars belief why he isn't in the 22 at present. Best had a good game yesterday but we need to see what Cronin can do as a starter. Cullen is simply better than O'Callaghan. Ruddock is a call for the future and could be a bolter for a World Cup place.

I suspect nobody will agree with me on the Gilroy call! Also Tomas O'Leary for Eoin Reddan will be the visionary Declan Kidney's only change.

 

[dangandan]

I suspect nobody will agree with me on the Gilroy call!

Actually i agree with the Gilroy call. When i put up my line up yesterday i couldn't think of a left winger and he crossed my mind including Trimble. However, Trimble hasn't done enough to oust the current back three we have and i was a little wary of putting in Gilroy incase of the reaction i'd get

 

[gingergenius]

There is no way that next week Ireland will have nothing to play for. If things go to the form book this afternoon, Ireland will have the chance of spoiling an English Grand Slam - which for any team in the 6N is more than enough to play for.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Blaming the ball boy... OMG

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

There is no way that next week Ireland will have nothing to play for. If things go to the form book this afternoon, Ireland will have the chance of spoiling an English Grand Slam - which for any team in the 6N is more than enough to play for.

Can Ireland win a grand slam, championship or triple crown? No. That constitutes nothing to play for.

Of course I want to see Ireland deny England a slam. I'm sure the Irish team do to. However there's no silverware to play for for Ireland so developing ahead of the World Cup is more important.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

To be honest I'm kinda surprised how positive the Welsh fans are. Seriously, did you see how bad your guys were? Hook had a solid game (kicked O'gara off the pitch), Byrne did alright but aside from that I thought you were woeful. Not trying to put a downer on anything, I'm okay with the loss, but you guys need to start looking at what you are doing cause that is not good enough to beat Figi and Samoa in the World Cup.

Give over, you were giving it this and that before the game. Ireland were just as poor as Wales, its quite easy to point the finger at others when really you should look at the problems closer to home. Good little cheap shot regarding the World Cup there, could say the same for all the nations but England come then. Wales were not that bad but neither were they great, we had our moments as did Ireland. Welsh defence was pretty good on our own tryline. Our forwards looked good but our backs were terrible, raises questions of whether Howley is good enough to coach them.

A win's a win, be it ugly or not. With a team low on confidence I'll always take an ugly win over a loss. Welsh posters here are positive because of the pure confidence that was seemingly brimming from the Irish members. I go back to the point a Win's a win. I can point out half a dozen things from that game that Kaplan got wrong, I go back to what I wrote earlier where Ireland got a lot of calls their way and Wales 50-50 call was that of the lineout try. It was never a try but you play to the ref's whistle and I can tell you I have sat in the same seat in the Millennium for over a decade and missed only a dozen games in that time and I can tell you I have seen some poor calls against Wales, was nice to see it go our way for a change.

EDIT: To blame the ball boy is frankly disgusting. He was doing his job. Kaplan and his assistants are the sole men that should be blamed.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Blaming Kaplan is also very pathetic you know. He is the referee. The assistant ref on the sideline should have spotted it. Peter Allan was the assistant on that side when it happened

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Blaming Kaplan is also very pathetic you know. He is the referee. The assistant ref on the sideline should have spotted it. Peter Allan was the assistant on that side when it happened

Ye thats fair, but whats also pathetic is the way he reffed the game. Also I did point out that his assistant was also at fault

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I know Wasn't directed at you personally. Of course if the referee responsible but in this case Kaplan asked his assistant and from the answer he got, he allowed the try. Kaplan is not a bad referee but he did not have a good game yesterday. He is not as consistant as Mark Lawrence, Craig Joubert, Stuart Dickinson or Chris Pollock

 

[munstermuffin]

Snoop I'd agree with most them call except maybe have Stringer at 9 if Reddan isn't fit. I think McFadden has to be involved and D'Arcy seems to be going the same road as John Hayes (forced to be in there despite poor performances). Earls I though had very good game on wing and I'd prefer leave him there and bring Bowe to 15.

 

[Logorrhea]

Classy dig there. Trying to get your retaliation in first eh?

Eh? Thought it was a fair point. Hook DID out kick O'Gara didnt he? Where was the dig?

Good little cheap shot regarding the World Cup there ?

Again, I thought it was a fair point. If I remember correctly Fiji knocked you out last time. This time you have to get past Fiji and Samoa. Are you telling me your happy with that performance and where the team is going?

 

[lucky number 7]

Eh? Thought it was a fair point. Hook DID out kick O'Gara didnt he? Where was the dig?


Again, I thought it was a fair point. If I remember correctly Fiji knocked you out last time. This time you have to get past Fiji and Samoa. Are you telling me your happy with that performance and where the team is going?

Stones in Glasshouses mate.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Again, I thought it was a fair point. If I remember correctly Fiji knocked you out last time. This time you have to get past Fiji and Samoa. Are you telling me your happy with that performance and where the team is going?

Nope definitely said I am not happy, stated it a few times. Gatland has everything wrong at the mo, he has a functioning pack but nothing in the backs. His backroom staff needs a look at, there are people who should not be there. He has players who need to be swapped with others, he has to many similar players in similar positions. Squad lacks a little depth in certain places. For me we are winning but winning poorly, god help the team that comes up against us when we click mind. I know some have argued that we are building wins witch gives momentum for future games, I see it differently where wins are wins and I don't mind how but building up to a World Cup I care because we were a shambles in 2007. We are much better than that, the game plan is not working mind and needs a little adjusting.

 

[dullonien]

I think most Welsh fans are happy with the win, but I'm not sure anyone is atall happy with the performance. There are a few players that are consistently playing well in the pack, but the backline is a serious concern. I'm honestly struggling to explain exactly why we aren't clicking in attack, it seems to be a combination of many things. Confidence still seemed very low, epitomised by Shane Williams kicking the ball away at almost every opportunity, that's not his usual style. We are not getting our centres into the game atall, especially in the opposition 22. Is this the centres fault, or the fly halves? Phillips' service is still too slow, the other areas of his game were much improved yesterday, but his main role as a scrum half was still poor. It also seems that Lee Byrne is the only player capable of running some decent angles, when we get him into the game, we start to create things.

It's now time for Gatland to stop focussing on strength and fitness, and concentrate on running angles, dummy runners and varying the depth at which we attack. We've gotta find a centre partnership that compliments each other aswell, because at the moment Roberts and Davies are simply not working together. I think they could work, but the gameplan needs to change in order for it to. I don't think that simply shifting Hook back to centre is the answer either, because he's earned a run at 10 after the decent displays he's put in there. Basically the main problems seem to be off the ball stuff, we can't expect to simply line-up in a straight line and try to bosh our way through or rely on a piece of magic from Hook or Shane to create our tries. Some more patience is needed aswell, go through the fases instead of putting a little grubber in after just a few fases going sideways.

 

[dangandan]

can someone explain to me the hype surrounding jonathan davies? i'm not having a go here but from i've seem of him for wales he looks a very ordinary. not very athletic looking and when he tries to bust it up he doesn't make ground nor seems to look around himself for support. i'll admit i've never seen him play for Llanelli but if he's being judged on that, i'd have to say he isn't carrying it up to international level. roberts has not found much space but when he does crash it up he tends to make good yards. it seems to me that a midfield of roberts and hook would be better?

 

[profitius]

What a dull match. Ireland got what they deserved although Wales didn't deserve to win either.

I thought the officials reffed the match better than the previous matches Ireland were involved in. It was a bad mistake though but it happens.

I thought the decision by the coaching team to not open the roof was idiotic and extremely negative and they got what they deserved. It turned into a kicking match and Wales won that with ease. Reddan going off early was a blow too. Stringer is world class at what he does but he is limited in what he can do.

 

[dullonien]

can someone explain to me the hype surrounding jonathan davies? i'm not having a go here but from i've seem of him for wales he looks a very ordinary. not very athletic looking and when he tries to bust it up he doesn't make ground nor seems to look around himself for support. i'll admit i've never seen him play for Llanelli but if he's being judged on that, i'd have to say he isn't carrying it up to international level. roberts has not found much space but when he does crash it up he tends to make good yards. it seems to me that a midfield of roberts and hook would be better?

Yeh, you need to have seen him play for the Scarlets to understand what he offers. It's hard to know if it's him struggling to make the step up, or other players / tactics not getting him into the game.