By far the most effective player for player...an excellent example of perfect rugby.
I have not enjoyed a game like this for a long time...almost flawless passing and ball control.
Irish rugby is looking very good. All the rest looked very mediocre.
Ratings: five 9's, five 8's and four 7's....and nothing below this....a well-oiled team operating on all cylinders.
Very well done Ireland for completely nailing NZ by 9 points.
The game is falling back into pre-covid trends. New Zealand possesses lethal strike power, but they are not the team of old. They haven't been this vulnerable since 1998. It's been on the cards for a while now. Ireland can still be held at arms length with blunt power though. But, they are no easy beats. Their record against us the past twenty years is good, breaking that last hurdle, New Zealand, is pretty significant. With Australia going down to England, advantage NH.
Not watched the whole game yet, but New Zealand seemed to give away ground when the first runner off the ruck comes back in on angle which gets them over the advantage line. Their back line play was top drawer.
Agree on NZ strike power. Still can create something from nothing but Ireland looked to be cruising in the final 20 min.
Wonder if France can knock them over next weekend
New Zealand has their worst forward pack since the professional era. If Retallick is not in top form, they can be in trouble.
Worst pack and worst centres. Retallik and Whitelock are fading and I don’t see one world class NZ tight forward prospect. Mo’unga has also been weak in close tests,
It’s a testament to NZ’s aura that they are still close with this group of players.
And there is no player out there who can change most of this, although Aaron Smith would be a big improvement. Still the first thing that should be changed is the coach. Foster looks an old 56 out there…too far removed from the action.
One doesn’t get the sense the ABs come onto the park inspired. Their flaccid performance after the half in the second Bok test being a good example. The ABs should learn from losing tenures like Chieka at Oz, things don’t get better with time.
Well one might well be right and put it that way but prefer to put it in this context.
At the end of September 2019 WC Japan beat Ireland 19-12.
Three weeks ago Ireland put 60 points on Japan. Further back Australia played Japan and beat them 27-13 in Japan.
When I saw this I suspected NZ might well be knocked over but NZ is always respected whether a good or lesser year they are never weak. When they lose it is always by low margins and those times you can count on being so few it is not really a constant, they have never lost, at least by the same margins as all the rest.
All credit to Irish rugby...we can see it in the Club/Franchise games, Leinster, Connaught and Munster and how they beat the SA Franchises. We Saffers think that it will be different in Pretoria, Joburg, Durban and Cape Town...I'm so sure anymore are you?
Slobolobsky it was an inspired performance by the Irish pack that won them the game. Some nice skills especially in their passing gamd
BUT the wee abs pack is their big problem. It's pap. And yes Whitlock and Retallic look to be fading much like Vermuelen and Willie are fading for us.
I am not too happy about our lose trio.
We need back up centers with test experience. We need Fassi or somebody to make the 15 jersey their own.
We also need guys like Snyman, Du Toit, Faf and Kolbe back. Then good luck to anybody trying to beat the Boks.
We need an inside centre, we need a blindsider and Kwagga at 6. We certainly don't need Fassi. Kriel looked good in what I saw. Faf is not much of a loss; poor skills and unfit. Kolbe hasn't been playing well. PTSD is a tragedy.
