Hurricane
Well-known member
Yea mentioned the probable draw in he knockout thread... of course if this were a football World Cup England would manage to somehow cock things up and end up in the half with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Yea mentioned the probable draw in he knockout thread... of course if this were a football World Cup England would manage to somehow cock things up and end up in the half with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Yep ditto, and certainly its hard to fear the current French side who struggled to dispose of Japan, who we beat by more than 70 points. Regarding the loss against France in 2009, that was our first test of the year and we had a slightly experimental looking side. France on the other hand were far more settled on their combinations, so its a bit difficult to make comparisons. Although to be fair, maybe we'd get a more favourable draw for the rest of the tournament should we lose to France...I fear France in a knock out game but not in the group stage.
they can't possibly lose to namibia, so probably somoa?I expect SA to conveniently lose one of the games now.
Remember this Irish team struggled to put away the USA. Who knows what the French could do to us. Especially if it's a wet night like it was for the Aussies here.Yep ditto, and certainly its hard to fear the current French side who struggled to dispose of Japan, who we beat by more than 70 points.
Won't be good for the economy I feel. (fewer tourists/fans coming over etc)Fantastic result for the Irish.
Chance of Aus going home early?
Thats true re. the Ireland vs USA match. Ireland's pre-tournament form had been terrible too (lost four matches on the trot I believe). And after all, France seem to strike when you least expect them to so you never know. I hear the crowd was about 58,000 (in other words just short of a sell-out) which is absolutely fantastic.Remember this Irish team struggled to put away the USA. Who knows what the French could do to us. Especially if it's a wet night like it was for the Aussies here.
Great to see the Irish get up and win the match. What an atmosphere it appeared to be at the ground. For O'Driscoll to say it felt like they were playing in Dublin certainly said something for the crowd.
TTB called it.No Pocock for the Aussies. Ireland have a chance.
Italy are pretty woeful. But then again a lot of the lesser teams have been putting up some top performances so it isn't completely out of the question.I'm guessing it's Wishful thinking, but would anyone give Italy much chance of upsetting Ireland?
Since we don't have a "like" button - let me say good post mate.Need to get past the Boks in the QF first, I think.
The Australian forwards are simply just not up to it. Their tight 5 was outmatched in the set-piece and their back three in the loose. The lack of Pocock and Moore was an issue, but I think missing Moore had more of an impact as he has had a stellar year, is good at the graft and a good and combative runner. I don't think Pocock would have made too much difference at the breakdown given the dominance of the Irish forwards (although, that said, he would certainly have been streaks better than his replacement). A lot of work seems to have gone into the forwards but they seem to crumple against muscular/physical opposition.
It's a pity that Berrick Barnes was out most of the year with injury, but even if he has not had much test play he needs to come back for the USA/Russia games, and then, all going well, play against SA. He has the brains and composure to direct play when things are not going well which Cooper, at the current time, lacks. The Australian mid-field with McCabe/Faingaa also offer little, and Barnes/ACC would offer more on attack and defense.
Deans should really have rung the changes early in the second half, but he has always been reluctant to use the bench throughout his tenure. I can understand that sometimes, but last night, Higginbotham needed to be on earlier as did S Faingaa and maybe Palu (I don't really rate Palu, he is a little reminiscent of Kefu but not really a patch on him). Simmons went alright and should start in the final group games.
But yeah, given the Bok performance against Fiji, I think a QF exit for the Wallabies is on the cards.