Ireland o Ireland

Six months ago the rugby experts on site said that  Ireland is the favourite team to win the WC - claiming England is going down and the reasons are that Jones is not a coach's backside.   Then England became the toast of the year hen they beat England - so suddenly England became the toast of the time.   When Wales beat England yesterday - the flavor of the moment suddenly turn to Wales.

Bow today Ireland is playing Italy and at halftime the score is 16-12 in favour of Italy.   Should Italy beat the irish then what.  Will Italy be taking over as the next WC threat?   

I sometimes wonder how the flavour of the month stories carries on site,  Now the terms are that SH rugby is p[oor and the Super Rugby series is poor.   That is the kind of nonsense  shouted on site.   No proof - just plain nonsense,      

So Ireland won the game 26-16 - not what I would call a top class performance by Ireland.    That is further confirmation that the site world  beaters have at times feet of clay.      .

You are incredibly sloppy Dame Lügnerin. Here was my "flavour of the month" post regarding Ireland. 

Turning Point for Ireland?

I remember, in November 2000, England's gutsy try by Luger after 80 minutes to beat a Wallaby side who were the dominant Southern Hemisphere team, and reigning World Champions. They had beaten the Boks to draw a series in South Africa, but this was different. From here England seemed to grow, becoming an unstoppable force on their way to their very own World Cup victory. They embarked upon a ruthless 40 test win record in 44 tests, brushing aside seemingly everything in their path.

Could last weekends victory over New Zealand be that watershed moment in Irish rugby history, where they finally fulfill their potential and become the world's preeminent test nation? I think we can all agree that this Irish side is as complete as can be. One could hardly fathom the Boks going toe-to-toe with that performance. A performance which had the All Blacks rattled and looking shell-shocked just before the second half got underway.

The likelihood of Ireland matching England's incredible streak seems remote, but they are on quite a run of form right now. 16 wins in their past 17 tests. 16 wins which include the scalps of the entire Rugby Championship contingent and a 6 Nations Grand Slam. They seem well placed to build on their recent success, and the timing couldn't be better going into a World Cup year, brimming with confidence. 

Year two is always the bigger hurdle. The 6 Nations is very competitive, and as we saw last year, Wales and England were beginning to build some momentum. That said, they are still going to be a tough nut to crack, provided they play anywhere near the potential. In the past, they've been touted as being amongst the favourites, only to lay an egg. Once the World Cup kicks off, anything can happen. Past form goes out the window. If the Irish can get their fresh and healthy, they have what many would consider an easy group. Then they'll play either the Boks or All Blacks. England have France, Argentina and the highly physical cheap-shot Tongans. 

If the Boks had to plat Ireland today, outside of the Republic. I doubt they'd win. A little dip in form after such brutal tests last year isn't too much of a concern. 

I see John Mitchell has very recently tied up with Eddie Jones as coaches for England. This can only improve the Pommie's chances in the WC.

Mozart is pickling and choosing as per normal and using the normal story about the breakdown issue and the center issue as do everyone else.  

Easy to state that "Erasmus wasted his time - but no suggesting about solving the problem.   That makes any discussion on the issue meaningless.   First of all why did that happen.   We first of all used to have loosies who fell over their own feet clumsily rather than using ball proection and recovery as a norm.  So where are the players to  come from? 

As to centers when De Villiers got injured the bottom fell out and we ended up with very few really good centers,   So who must they pick to fill the void?             

Not that dissimilar to the official rankings:

1. New Zealand
2. Ireland
3. England
4. Wales
5. South Africa
6. Australia
7. Scotland
8. Fi ji
9. Argentina
10. France

Rassie hasn't done a great deal. We are a very linear team, who relies on kicking to launch our entire game. The emphasis on pragmatism over the fan favoured Wendyball of Coetzee was prudent, but needed some fleshing out. By the EOYT, the team was already looking stale. Not good. For the most part, the upswing is attributed to the next gen players only emerging as viable options. Rassie has a lot of work to do over the coming months. He needs to get serious.

There is only one side that is going to win the World Cup.

You can say what you want but England / Ireland / South Africa will not come close to the dominant nation.

You lot have very short memories.

I suspect it is all about hope that the dominant nation has come back to the pack - Dreaming and hoping.

After all of 2018 - They only lost two - 12 months out from the World Cup.

They will be a different BEAST in 2019.  

Ireland have peaked a year early - POOR SODS.

However - Assessing - England and Wales - One would have to be pleased with where they are at.

Herr Drache, did anyone ever tell you that you look like Putin?

Sharkbok Comment - I commented last year that Ireland will face tougher competition this year as more people will have analyzed their game plan and players. This is part of the package of being in the top 2 teams in the world. 

No Country can hack it other than the Kiwis.  

RL

I do not think any team can be forecasted to win the upcoming WC/   The  AB's did not have a sterling last year either,   They won at least two games by a fluke  - the Pretoria and England tests - and from an NZ perspective what happened in Super Rugby in the first two rounds  did not indicate an improvement in rugby to be expected from NZ teams,

South Africa is also facing serious problems and I am straightforward enough to admit it.   At this stage only two NZ teams in the top 8 of the overall log and the Chiefs is at 15.   There are signs that the Highlanders are also on a slippery slope as well.   The only team in NZ to be on top is the Crusaders,

For the sake of NZ supporters I hope the Chiefs win the upcoming match against the Sunwolves -  but after their huge loss  against the Brumbies and the fact that the Waratahs struggled against the Sunwolves - makes the game a toss-up/

I always bank some NZ players in the Fantasy teams - but thus far Rieko Ioane and Brodie Retallick - two key players of the AB's - have been dead losses.    The problem is the playing styles of the NZ teams have also been evaluated and counter-measures found.  That levels the playing fields substantially.

Basically I think the WC  this year is wide open - and the winner may end up being a surpris e one.                

LMAO - this is weird - a person with minimal knowledge of rugby as a game see improvement from game to game.   When Ireland beat the AB's last year - they became your favourite.  Jones was a useless coach.  Now England beats Ireland - so all is lost and England became the threat.  Next Wales beat England - and now Wales is in contention.   

No real evaluation can be made before the squads for the WC becomes known and the record of tests to be played in the SH is done and dusted.        

Actually, I never said Jones was useless. Go quote me on that. I was one of the few who said England were largely the better team in the Bok series, and came away with more developments. I said they stood a good chance of beating New Zealand. You argued against me. What happened? I earmarked Wales as being on an upward trend, one we should be mindful of, before the EOYT. What happened? 

As history shows, what transpires before a WC is largely irrelevant. Too often the form teams don't turn out to the pre-tournament favourites. Even up to the day of kick-off.

It's idiots like Poepol that swallow what the media has to offer ... and then when the story changes tomorrow, they change with it, claiming it as their own.

Any and all teams hit a bad patch ... underestimating a side like Italy can cost you dearly ... ask the Boks ... 

I do not think the Ozzies have much of a chance but who knows ... personally I'd like the Poms to beat the All Blacks in the final ... or ... wouldn't it be incredible to see the Poms facing the Irish in the final ... and of course the racist Goats to leave for home after the pool stages.

That would be good ...

2CC, you are a media groupie. Goat of goats. Always slow to keep up with preceedings. 

No Mozart

All I asked from you as a fair question was what is the solution you have in mind for the Loosie and center problems you mentioned where you said "Erasmus wasted  his time".   If that kind of sweeping statement is made - then some facts supporting the statement and also what solutions for solving the problems mentioned should be considered as  fair comment,  

There is a lot more to fix than just the midfield and our inept backrow.

We have chumps coming out of the woodwork and the majority of them are elderly and dark skinned ... not to mention a head coach that doesn't want to be there.

Deep in the dwang.

I think the Boks are well organised on attack as far as the breakdown goes. Which is important. On defence, we were able to exert a fair amount of pressure. Line integrity was a problem at times which makes competing at the breakdown almost impossible. Working around Kolisi is a bit of a problem. I'd start Louw ahead of him. That would mean Kolisi shifting to 7. I don't think that would work any better than him at 6. He won't better Steph. R assie painted himself into a corner.