Wales v Ireland

[TrueSlawter]

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.

Umm the roof was open.. it was Irelands decision to have it open Wales wanted it closed.

 

[dangandan]

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.

that's the thing. i was thinking maybe it was down to combinations and game plan that was limiting Davies. correct me if i am wrong but aren't Roberts and Davies both naturally inside centres? the way Davies plays i'd think he'd be a 12 so it all comes down to who should start between the two of them. having two crash ballers doesn't work and i've always seen the outside centre as more of a distributer, which i don't think Davies is very good at. i actually think this is why the welsh backline isn't clicking. there are hardly any distributors in the backline apart from Hook at first five.

 

[Draggs]

Yes, they are both inside centres. We really do miss Henson at 12, who is a better inside centre than both of them. His creativity, defence and distribution are really missed, and together with Hook at 10, could do well to get our backline moving. A combination of Henson and Roberts would be ideal, but unlikely.

Lee Byrne and Mike Phillips both had improved games, but FFS Byrne, get new boots.

that's the thing. i was thinking maybe it was down to combinations and game plan that was limiting Davies. correct me if i am wrong but aren't Roberts and Davies both naturally inside centres? the way Davies plays i'd think he'd be a 12 so it all comes down to who should start between the two of them. having two crash ballers doesn't work and i've always seen the outside centre as more of a distributer, which i don't think Davies is very good at. i actually think this is why the welsh backline isn't clicking. there are hardly any distributors in the backline apart from Hook at first five.

 

[dangandan]

Yes, they are both inside centres. We really do miss Henson at 12, who is a better inside centre than both of them. His creativity, defence and distribution are really missed, and together with Hook at 10, could do well to get our backline moving. A combination of Henson and Roberts would be ideal, but unlikely.

Lee Byrne and Mike Phillips both had improved games, but FFS Byrne, get new boots.

ah yes, Henson would be great for Wales if only he could make up his mind on where and what he wants to do

 

[Conal]

where in henson at the moment
rugby feels more rugbyish with henson not being talked about as much

 

[Prestwick]

He's sunning himself on the south of France/"injured"

 

[King_D'Arcy]

I dunno why people still talk about Henson as if he'll come back and make Wales class. If Henson is ever back I'd be surprised if he makes his way back into the Welsh team. The man hadn't performed in years even when he was fit and playing...

 

[dangandan]

He's sunning himself on the south of France/"injured"

mate, i'm in the south of france and there's only been 3 days of good sun. apart from that it's ******* freezing! unless he finds a sun tan booth he will be disappointed haha. however, no one can deny that on his day Wales would be a lot better off with him in the midfield.

 

[dangandan]

let me elaborate, Henson has been injured for a long while and hasn't been given a run of games to seriously judge what he can do. i think we've been too quick to judge his skill coming back from injury. lets see what he can do in France. if he performs well then bring him back to the Welsh squad. jees i just realised i've been talking a lot about the Welsh but not about the Irish. Bring in McFadden and Cullen (even if he looks 50+ years old)

 

[profitius]

Umm the roof was open.. it was Irelands decision to have it open Wales wanted it closed.

That was the point I was making. Kidney wanted it open and so got what he deserved for being negative.

 

[Prestwick]

mate, i'm in the south of france and there's only been 3 days of good sun. apart from that it's ******* freezing! unless he finds a sun tan booth he will be disappointed haha. however, no one can deny that on his day Wales would be a lot better off with him in the midfield.

Then sir, I declare to you that Henson has indeed found that sun tan booth!

Seriously if he is injured then I'm Zinzan Brooke: Henson. Is. Goofing. Off. End of discussion. Close the thread. We're done here.

 

[dangandan]

Then sir, I declare to you that Henson has indeed found that sun tan booth!

Seriously if he is injured then I'm Zinzan Brooke: Henson. Is. Goofing. Off. End of discussion. Close the thread. We're done here.

i've never been a fan of Henson. i'm just saying he seems to be the only candidate that can give the Welsh a balance in the midfield atm. if he performs well over here then Wales should give him a go.

 

[dangandan]

and i guess we will just see what happens. End of discussion.

 

[coonor]

I am very annoyed at Kidney. At the start of the 6 nations and for the first to games we had Sexton playing well at fly half and ROG coming off the bench to make an impact. Now only a few weeks on we have two fly halves playing crap. Sexton should and always should have been are starting 10 and ROG coming off the bench it doesn't work the other way round. Back on the illegal try thing. Imagine if something like that happens in the world cup final it would be a disaster and the IRB must sort it out.

 

[Shaggy]

I am very annoyed at Kidney. At the start of the 6 nations and for the first to games we had Sexton playing well at fly half and ROG coming off the bench to make an impact. Now only a few weeks on we have two fly halves playing crap. Sexton should and always should have been are starting 10 and ROG coming off the bench it doesn't work the other way round. Back on the illegal try thing. Imagine if something like that happens in the world cup final it would be a disaster and the IRB must sort it out.

It's a disaster for any team it happens to from the quarter finals onward - it's happened before, it will happen again, but, having said that, if it happens to a team in the 50th minute of a match, giving the other team a narrow lead, you'd hope your team was good enough to use the remaining 30 minutes for a come back.

Can't see what can be done to improve this particular situation other than selecting the best officials for the tournament, and reiterating to the Assistant referees that keeping track of the correct ball is a crucial part of their responsibilities

 

[Logorrhea]

According to one of the local shows here, Ireland kicked the ball away 51 times. 51 ******* times

I actually have no problem with the loss, I've no problem with some of the performances, I've no real problem with the Welsh try ................ I have a serious problem with that statistic though.

Incidently Wales kicked it over 40 times, though Hook and Byrne kicked it a lot more accurately and longer. This is what I was getting at earlier. If either team tried this against semi decent opposition in a meaningful match they would be run off the park.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

According to one of the local shows here, Ireland kicked the ball away 51 times. 51 ******* times

I actually have no problem with the loss, I've no problem with some of the performances, I've no real problem with the Welsh try ................ I have a serious problem with that statistic though.

Incidently Wales kicked it over 40 times, though Hook and Byrne kicked it a lot more accurately and longer. This is what I was getting at earlier. If either team tried this against semi decent opposition in a meaningful match they would be run off the park.

*Cough*

Wales vs. Ireland Game Stats:

ESPN Rugby Stats
​

*Cough*

 

[munstermuffin]

On the plus - Scrum and Lineout were 100%

 

[dullonien]

According to one of the local shows here, Ireland kicked the ball away 51 times. 51 ******* times

I actually have no problem with the loss, I've no problem with some of the performances, I've no real problem with the Welsh try ................ I have a serious problem with that statistic though.

Incidently Wales kicked it over 40 times, though Hook and Byrne kicked it a lot more accurately and longer. This is what I was getting at earlier. If either team tried this against semi decent opposition in a meaningful match they would be run off the park.

Totally agree. Both of our teams are stuck in '08 / '09, trying to play a similar game that brought us success. The game's moved on, where running the ball and going through the fazes is what brings success. I don't see why both teams can't play that sort of game, infact it's what really suits both Irish and Welsh playign styles, especially now that Wales have a backrow capable of matching their opposition, no matter who they are. Both coaching teams need to take a serious look at what they are doing and change things before it's too late.

Although I've previously said that it's good that Wales have won the last few games, I hope this does not cover the fact that we're playing like sh*t. From what the players and Gatland have been saying, that doesn't seem to be the case, but this hasn't stopped them from continuing with the same dodgy tactics for the last few years. The kicking game payed off (just) again Ireland, but alot of that has to do with Ireland using similar tactics and simply coming off second best in the kicking contest. If Ireland had run the ball back instead, there's a good chance we'd have lost the game. We simply cannot constantly hand France posetion next week time after time, or they will run us ragged. We need to see some evidence of change next week, even if there are some mistakes along the way.

 

[smartcooky]

Can't see what can be done to improve this particular situation other than selecting the best officials for the tournament, and reiterating to the Assistant referees that keeping track of the correct ball is a crucial part of their responsibilities

There is a solution. Allow the TMO to intervene when a clear "Law error" has been made and has led to a score, especially when the error is not just a matter of judgment such as a marginal forward pass or knock on, but a matter of the referee and/or his assistant getting something obviously incorrect "in Law".

The problem is that the iRB are too gutless to allow it. Instead, they allow for the possibility of game changing mistakes to be made, and hanging their officials out to dry.