tomav84 Posted October 14, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 14, 2023 2 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: New Zealand’s defence was absolutely insane tonight they're absolute machines. not just the barrett stop on the line, to go through all those phases at the end and not concede a pen was something else. ireland better in many aspects but can't have that many visits into the 22 and not come away with points 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomav84 Posted October 14, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 14, 2023 that pen for the block was very harsh though. he was never getting that ball so didn't affect anything. ireland were well on top and it killed the game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted October 14, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 14, 2023 Maybe next time Ireland. Hopefully England (doubtful) or France can win the whole tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuwabatake Sanjuro Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 The joyful day for us haters here in Ireland that comes every four years thankfully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 (edited) Ah man, I’m gutted. I know it’s obviously the nature of knock out sport and it sounds trite but that team deserves so much more than to be ‘just’ quarter finalists. The best Irish team of all time that I still think is the best team in the world. Just strangled by kiwi defence on the night. Who knows where they’ll be in four years and if they’ll ever have as good a team again. They’ll be losing some big hitters. Edited October 14, 2023 by JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 Deserved victory by the All Blacks, tbf, I thought it a case of the occasion playing Ireland instead of the other way round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 Two from two so far for southern hemisphere rugby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomav84 Posted October 14, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 14, 2023 don't even get the joy of watching the welsh get spanked by them. one of the greatest games ever in rugby was the 1999 semi final where france beat new zealand. working on the assumption that we're not going to be in it, i'd love to see those two in the final Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted October 14, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 14, 2023 4 minutes ago, tomav84 said: don't even get the joy of watching the welsh get spanked by them. one of the greatest games ever in rugby was the 1999 semi final where france beat new zealand. working on the assumption that we're not going to be in it, i'd love to see those two in the final As weird as it would feel I'd be cheering France on if they did. The stranglehold NZ, Aus and SA have on the sport and World Cup is ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomav84 Posted October 14, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 14, 2023 2 minutes ago, Rds1983 said: As weird as it would feel I'd be cheering France on if they did. The stranglehold NZ, Aus and SA have on the sport and World Cup is ridiculous. agree, french rugby fans are an insufferable bunch but they're definitely the lesser of all those evils NZ fans are the worst. the man utd of rugby in terms of entitlement and arrogance, but with actual ability to back it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 (edited) **** me, what is it with Ireland and Quarter Finals. Start of the day strong odds that it could be an all northern hemisphere semi final. Now, southern hemisphere in the driving seat. That last effort by Ireland was so tense, over 30 phases, no penalties, what a defence by NZ We saw with England last WC anyone who beats NZ in a knock out game has to go to the depths and then are **** the next game - in fact in WC history, everyone who beats NZ in knock out loses the next game. This time NZ have had to throw it all in against the Irish and you’d expect Argies will be fresher Edited October 14, 2023 by mikeyp102 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyeddie Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 12 minutes ago, mikeyp102 said: **** me, what is it with Ireland and Quarter Finals. Start of the day strong odds that it could be an all northern hemisphere semi final. Now, southern hemisphere in the driving seat. That last effort by Ireland was so tense, over 30 phases, no penalties, what a defence by NZ We saw with England last WC anyone who beats NZ in a knock out game has to go to the depths and then are **** the next game - in fact in WC history, everyone who beats NZ in knock out loses the next game. This time NZ have had to throw it all in against the Irish and you’d expect Argies will be fresher That's a crazy statistic. It just shows that even though when an ABs team is deemed as weak in comparison to previous AB teams, they are still formidable, setting the standards. No other nation understands the game as they do. They are hard to like but harder not to respect. Commiserations to the Irish team and fans, but on the plus side they have just become infinitely more likeable now Sexton has retired 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyeddie Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 Andy Farrell has just said on the BBC that Johnny Sexton is probably the best player to ever play for Ireland. BOD and POC won't like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 8 minutes ago, luckyeddie said: Andy Farrell has just said on the BBC that Johnny Sexton is probably the best player to ever play for Ireland. BOD and POC won't like that He probably is though, BOD was probably the most skilful and POC was a beast. But this Irish team is their best ever team and Sexton is the fulcrum to it all. Even at his age, he’s been so important to the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyeddie Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 4 minutes ago, mikeyp102 said: He probably is though, BOD was probably the most skilful and POC was a beast. But this Irish team is their best ever team and Sexton is the fulcrum to it all. Even at his age, he’s been so important to the team. BOD was a fantastic player in some poor teams. Put a prime BOD in this team and I think they win the World Cup. POC is in the top two Northern Hemisphere locks I can think of. Sexton has continued to this age because he hardly ever plays club rugby and Farrell has surrounded him with Southern Hemisphere talent (Gibson Park, Aki, Lowe, Hansen). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 (edited) 10 hours ago, Stevo985 said: Strangely I don’t think Ireland have been playing very well. South Africa aside their performances haven’t been THAT good. I still worry about New Zealand, but I don’t agree that Ireland have been that good Ireland have showed there a match for any team on their day. You don't become the number 1 team in the World by being lucky. You aired your concerns about the All Blacks in a previous comment, sadly your fears were validated. It was a tense and psychologically tough game, but as much as I wanted Ireland to win, there was a sense of inevitability about the All Blacks victory. There is absolutely nothing lucky about the winning mentality they have, I mean, have you ever seen a really poor All Blacks side, I know I haven't? Edited October 15, 2023 by sheepyvillian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 5 hours ago, Kuwabatake Sanjuro said: The joyful day for us haters here in Ireland that comes every four years thankfully. Why do you hate the team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 15, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted October 15, 2023 7 hours ago, sheepyvillian said: Ireland have showed there a match for any team on their day. You don't become the number 1 team in the World by being lucky. You aired your concerns about the All Blacks in a previous comment, sadly your fears were validated. It was a tense and psychologically tough game, but as much as I wanted Ireland to win, there was a sense of inevitability about the All Blacks victory. There is absolutely nothing lucky about the winning mentality they have, I mean, have you ever seen a really poor All Blacks side, I know I haven't? Exactly why I feared them. They know how to win. They’re like how Germany used to be in football. Even when they’re not at their best, they find a way to win. Always 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 Brilliant game of rugby last night that would’ve made an amazing final. feel bad for Ireland as the curse of the quarter finals rumbles on for another four years at least. fair play to NZ though, even with two spells of being down to 14 men, their defence was pretty much solid. The final could very well be a replay of the opening match of the tournament. What a way to bookend the WC. As for the earlier QF it was a deserved win for Argentina, they simply wanted it more and dominated the breakdowns. This afternoon’s game will no doubt stink the tournament out with England scraping through. Although this evening should be another cracker. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 Was really hoping Ireland would get over the line. Couldn't lose as supporter of both teams but wanted Ireland to go all the way. Thought both teams made too many errors and wouldn't win final based on performance in this game. Obviously All Blacks all the way for me now but think it's France's WC Toulouse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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