Ireland v All Blacks I: Sweet Home Away from Home, Chicago

[Which Tyler]

Just hope Ireland can keep the Raeburn Shield long enough for it to be for grabs in the 6N

[dk4]

They almost got it few years ago, so they deserve it.

They defended very well, run their plays well. Thought are forwards were not pushing them back in the tackle in thenfirst half.
How.come out lineout improved in the end? Was it Barrett?
Do they need to rethink the wings? Do we need a grafter?

[hellovating]

yep, winning beats losing.....

[Len]

Terrific game. Great comeback from NZ, but Ireland just held on when it looked like they might crumble, then finished in style. Better team on the day, well deserved.

Fuck. Sad to see a record like that go.

As nice as a record like that is for us imagine being an AB having to deal with the pressure of losing that record hanging over you a couple of minutes before kickoff. There will be less pressure next time for these blokes which isn't a bad thing.

[zer0]

They almost got it few years ago, so they deserve it.

They defended very well, run their plays well. Thought are forwards were not pushing them back in the tackle in thenfirst half.
How.come out lineout improved in the end? Was it Barrett?

Do they need to rethink the wings? Do we need a grafter?

Quite the opposite IMO. Hansen has now twice tried to re-think the wings by playing Savea and Naholo together, and it's failed twice. They just need to stick with the established dual fullback model.

[Spy]

Mind you, a good team needs these kinds of bitter experiences once in a while to learn from, and Kieran Read'll hopefully be better for this in the same way the 2007 quarterfinal turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to McCaw as a captain.

There is something in this. Ireland fully deserved the win, and I'm not trying to take anything away from their historic victory, but I think NZ went in over-confident and complacent as we often do when we've been on a good run. The team selection was over-confident, and the starting attitude was poor. Margins are fine in top-level sport, as I've always said, and the AB's winning by 15 in one match doesn't mean they're not far off losing by 5 in another. This is a kick in the pants, which is good for the All Blacks (and their fans) to experience every so often.

[Len]

Not taking anything away from Irelands win. Not looking for excuses.

In McCaws book (or maybe it was Carters?) They discussed the 2012 loss to England and how the preperation just wasn't there. They were off around London doing appearences and what not instead of their usual build up. I noticed they were all over they place in the states appearing at BB games and stuff. I wonder if the NZRU are trying to sell the ABs brand too hard at the exspense of the team.

[morepork]

Mind you, a good team needs these kinds of bitter experiences once in a while to learn from, and Kieran Read'll hopefully be better for this in the same way the 2007 quarterfinal turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to McCaw as a captain.

There is something in this. Ireland fully deserved the win, and I'm not trying to take anything away from their historic victory, but I think NZ went in over-confident and complacent as we often do when we've been on a good run. The team selection was over-confident, and the starting attitude was poor. Margins are fine in top-level sport, as I've always said, and the AB's winning by 15 in one match doesn't mean they're not far off losing by 5 in another. This is a kick in the pants, which is good for the All Blacks (and their fans) to experience every so often.

What do you think about Sam Cane in this game? We got nailed at the breakdown over the entire game. The rent-a-lock situation didn't help but Ireland are traditionally strong at the breakdown. I thought Ardie was a big improvement.

[hellovating]

So after 18 in a row against tier 1 teams are we going to throw it away against a tier 2 side?

tier 2?

[dk4]

He was getting some key turnovers and he was being his usual grindy self, but I don't think you can really pin it entirely on him when there are 7 others that were struggling to get involved in the rucks.

Who got the yellow card? Was it deserved?

Ardie Savea was quite good in the end, even though he slipped during the last try.
Not sure about Kane, but we really got too many penalties in the first half. Even when we scored the last try in the second half, we managed to give immediately a silly penalty.

Not sure why he selected Kaino as a lock. Dont there are any more locks in NZ besides Romano/Metallicka and Whitelock? Makes no sense to me...

And did A Smith perform ok or was he abit rusty?

When Savea got the ball in our line , should he had gone the other way (or kicked) instead of giving them the scrum?

[morepork]

So after 18 in a row against tier 1 teams are we going to throw it away against a tier 2 side?

tier 2?

Agreed. Poor WUM.

[morepork]

There is something in this. Ireland fully deserved the win, and I'm not trying to take anything away from their historic victory, but I think NZ went in over-confident and complacent as we often do when we've been on a good run. The team selection was over-confident, and the starting attitude was poor. Margins are fine in top-level sport, as I've always said, and the AB's winning by 15 in one match doesn't mean they're not far off losing by 5 in another. This is a kick in the pants, which is good for the All Blacks (and their fans) to experience every so often.

What do you think about Sam Cane in this game? We got nailed at the breakdown over the entire game. The rent-a-lock situation didn't help but Ireland are traditionally strong at the breakdown. I thought Ardie was a big improvement.

He was getting some key turnovers and he was being his usual grindy self, but I don't think you can really pin it entirely on him when there are 7 others that were struggling to get involved in the rucks.

For sure. But there is a bit of clarity for future casual selection policy, no?

[rowan]

This 40 points must rank up there with the highest scores the All Blacks have ever conceded too. I can only think of France (43) at the 1991 RWC being higher.

[Eugene Wrayburn]

So Schmidt, fancy a job bro?

He's a shoo-in now when Hansen goes now, surely.

[Spy]

Mind you, a good team needs these kinds of bitter experiences once in a while to learn from, and Kieran Read'll hopefully be better for this in the same way the 2007 quarterfinal turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to McCaw as a captain.

There is something in this. Ireland fully deserved the win, and I'm not trying to take anything away from their historic victory, but I think NZ went in over-confident and complacent as we often do when we've been on a good run. The team selection was over-confident, and the starting attitude was poor. Margins are fine in top-level sport, as I've always said, and the AB's winning by 15 in one match doesn't mean they're not far off losing by 5 in another. This is a kick in the pants, which is good for the All Blacks (and their fans) to experience every so often.

What do you think about Sam Cane in this game? We got nailed at the breakdown over the entire game. The rent-a-lock situation didn't help but Ireland are traditionally strong at the breakdown. I thought Ardie was a big improvement.

I don't have any particular insights into Cane. I think he was forced to play pretty tight in the first half as part of a generally struggling pack, and Savea came on at a stage in the game that suited his style. I didn't think Savea really grabbed his chance to nail a starting spot earlier this year when Cane was injured.

[rowan]

This 40 points must rank up there with the highest scores the All Blacks have ever conceded too. I can only think of France (43) at the 1991 RWC being higher.

Springboks in 2000, who scored 46 (in a 46-40 win at Ellis Park) which is the highest score ever registered against the All Blacks.

Thanks. I was just looking at that. I think this might be the 3rd biggest score against them, coming after that result and 99 (not 91, obviously). Neither Australia nor England have ever scored 40 against New Zealand.

Anyway, this is a great day for rugby folks. Well done, Ireland!

[morepork]

This 40 points must rank up there with the highest scores the All Blacks have ever conceded too. I can only think of France (43) at the 1991 RWC being higher.

Springboks in 2000, who scored 46 (in a 46-40 win at Ellis Park) which is the highest score ever registered against the All Blacks.

Thanks. I was just looking at that. I think this might be the 3rd biggest score against them, coming after that result and 91. Neither Australia nor England have ever scored 40 against New Zealand.

Anyway, this is a great day for rugby folks. Well done, Ireland!

You are on the wrong board for mindless optimism.

[Spy]

One thing that hurt us, imo, was the lack of guile in the backline, especially after Crotty went off. It was his short ball that put Naholo through for the first try. But when you've got Moala, Fekitoa, Naholo and Savea all in the same backline, that's a lot of big, hard running guys with perhaps not enough creative players around them. Barrett and B Smith were potential creators, and neither of them really got going. Although Linert-Brown has missed a couple of tackles, he has managed to create a few opportunities and the backline looked better for it. Obviously the FB/wing balance has already been mentioned as well. The Crotty injury was unfortunate in that it exacerbated the issue, but even so I thought we looked a bit heavy on ball runners vs cunning planners.

[morepork]

Moody and Franks did their job at the scrum. Moody was trying to lift the boys with the big fasi balasi.League background see.

[hellovating]

Moala's apparently got a broken arm, and Crotty's hamstring is fucked. It would be interesting to see who'll be called in now for the midfield.

Obviously the front-line midfield will become Fekitoa and Lienert-Brown (probably ALB at 12 and Fekitoa at 13), but at least one guy will need to be called up. They're going to be a bit thin at 12.

So from what I can see, the options are:

Jordie Barrett - upgraded to a full squad member.
Rieko Ioane - moved in a spot, with Fekitoa used as a 12, which has happened in the past.
Lima Sopoaga - he's on the tour anyway, and has experience at 12.
Tim Bateman - he's in town for the Maori All Blacks, and he'd be eligible via the Luke McAlister Clause
Seta Tamanivalu - he's played for the All Blacks earlier this year, so he'd be familiar with the environment and the plays

charles piutau, if ye had any sense.

[hellovating]

charles piutau, if ye had any sense.

Piutau is not eligible, and won't be unless he finishes his Ulster contract early and signs with the NZRU (plus one of the provinces).

certainly is eligible under world rugby regs.

internal NZ rules have been broken before.

[hellovating]

There were also times where the Irish got away with a fair bit from the ref

don't do that shit. people do that shit when they lose against ye all the time. it's crap then and now.

[Eugene Wrayburn]

There were also times where the Irish got away with a fair bit from the ref

don't do that shit. people do that shit when they lose against ye all the time. it's crap then and now.

What hellov said.

[Spy]

I saw in the NZ Herald, a guy had put $100k on the ABs to go through the season unbeaten, but amazingly he was only going to get $150k back?!

Even with the dominance of the ABs, a return of $1.50 over 14 games is terrible odds. In fact, they equate to about $1.03 return for each game they played this year. What odds do the ABs normally get in game in the 4N? Surely against the Wallabies and SA the odds must stretch to $1.10-$1.15?!

What about this guy. Excuse me while I indulge in a little schadenfreude.

[Doorzetbornandbred]

What price this ABs side go on to match the current world record in test wins? I nearly come to blows with some twat tonight in the pub who proclaimed this AB's side are shite... Apparently the Aussies and Jaapies aren't much cop so we are seeing how good the AB;s are now. It beggars belief at times, hats off to the Irish who really took it to the AB's. You have to wonder what Conor O'Shea is thinking at the moment though.