Watched the November Irish test again…

….we were playing 14, sometimes 13 men for much of the match. We scored 3 tries…. Two solo efforts by Reinach and Sacha where they simply fooled the defense. And one constructed try, right at the start of the match, by Willemse.

We must have spent 40 minutes with our forwards trying to bash the ball over from close range and not one of those many efforts produced a try. At the end of the match Ireland was the stronger team.

That’s a good example of how bankrupt we are with ball in hand. Any team that matches us physically and that may happen soon with Eben and Ox fading, has a great shot at beating these Boks. The defense was still awesome though, we have to work hard at keeping that.

The other thing that jumped off the screen was just how effective Kwagga is…in terms of turnovers and productive ball carries. If that rugby brain was in Roos’ body you’d have a hell of a player,

We still smashed them at home, when last did that happen?...you should learn to appreciate the blessings in life ...

As a statement for physical dominance it worked and it was impressive, that's about as much as I can say for that game. As a spectator, it was an exercise in frustration to see so much possession simply being wasted.

It was for sure a pleasure seeing Irish being ground into dust and the mental scars of that game will remain. From the perspective of the Irish pack, one can just imagine being faced with a force like that and having nowhere to run. Proper devastating stuff.

...but then, is there anybody here who thinks that if the roles were reversed Ireland, France or the ABs would not have converted it into points very quickly?

In the Boks defence, it did feel like the Boks forfeited the points intentionally in order to make that statement. One could reasonably argue that they could have scored had they wanted to but preferred to score long term psychological points instead, mixed in with a little revenge. It may have been by design and not down to lack of ability but it may also not.

The AB game in Eden park was far more disappointing. Musical chairs all year and then suddenly we went back to the old guard and the old strategy and it failed. While it was mega disappointing, it was probably necessary because things changed after that.

But the French game is where it's at. That was the sweetest of wins. For me, even better than the Wellington game.

Ja, somehow it's not our way... frustrating to say the least.

If you recall Rassie in chasing the sun, he would simply say. Let's fuck them up. That is his philosophy and he wanted to hurt them, but also winning. I think it had a bigger psychological impact on them then a 50 point win.

Where as the Kiwis believe that is trouncing them was a one off and just a lapse of concentration and believe now that they'll beat the boks.

2010 but we hardly smashed them 23 to 21. And again 16 to 12 in 2012. After that we had 2 losses in Ireland. We only broke even with them at home and lost to them in RWC 23.

Did we solve the Irish enigma in 2025….that’s the question I’m raising, not suggesting it didn’t feel good.

Nothing changes when it comes tobl Mozzzie. Once wrong always wrong.