weasel central

what a mauling

shiva

didnt see it but saw the score and had a trouser accident.

scrubbedexpat141

Wasn't surprised. They wanted it more, we couldn't be bothered or manage to get going and were deservedly beaten.

There is a train of thought that the small nations are only in the 6 Nations to beat England and France so really, today was Ireland's World Cup Final.

scrubbedexpat141

more to the point, does anyone else think Jonathan Davies is the most biased commentator in the world?

(BBC for those who are wondering)

lionheart

We are vastly over-rated anyway. The best of a very poor bunch of northern hemisphere teams, all of whom will get murdered in the upcoming world cup.

weasel central

I don't follow that train of thought, seeing as since the 6 nations began 10 years ago Ireland are second only to France in terms of wins and we have the current highest points and try scorers
Never mind all the Heineken cup wins

..and this the fourth sport in Ireland, comes a distant fourth after gaelic football, hurling and football.

anyhow to (strangely) agree with Lionheart we all will get thumped by the southern teams, as usual.

co durham boy

You just have to watch the Super 15's and competitions like the Currie Cup to see how advanced Club Rugby is in the Southern Hemisphere.

It is the No1 national sport in a lot of these countries as well , i can't see the Rugby World Cup throwing up too many surprises though but you never know.

Millsyisland

Unfortunately I'm inclined to agree. I thought a few weeks ago progress was being made but yesterday highlighted our considerable shortcomings.

Taking nothing away from a very deserved Irish victory, if we play like that against the likes of New Zealand or South Africa we would get absolutely mullered.

Disappointing.

nottmbantam

You could see it was in the cards in just the way the two teams sang the national anthems. THe Irish boys were well up for it, we weren't. Pressure situation and we bottled it. Well done to Ireland, great performance.

Should make an interesting WC. In recent years, NZ seem to throw a right wobbler when they make the knock outs, England somehow seem to pull of a shock result, so although I also expect the southern teams to dominate, I still think there will be an odd surprise or two.

Umbrella

Go Jamaicans.

Go mon, go...


U.

shiva

scrubbedexpat141

Very good.

I'm sure we'll live with just the Calcutta Cup and the Championship as a whole though, Grand Slams are lovely but I'm happy with or without it...

I'd rather have lost to Scotland than Ireland though. Richie Gray is going to make an incredible player in years to come.

weasel central

I thought that you are used to being beaten by Ireland now.

scrubbedexpat141

Why on earth would that be? We have a pretty good record against the Irish...

Eng vs Ire
Played 124
Won 70
Lost 46
Drawn 8
For 1463
Against 1014
Win % 56.45

BUT, you can have your glory this year, you were better on the day. I'd be more concerned about what happens when everyone realises that Sexton isn't actually that good and when BOD decides to retire...which he needs to soon, not got the pace he used to have which is a shame because his brain just gets sharper.

weasel central

interesting stats, but more relevantly when you don't go back into the annals of history we have beaten you 7 out of the last 8 games.

but yes historically since rugby was invented you have a better record