The Official Irish Rugby Thread

[How bad boy]

If the squad choice for Australia and SA remains so pig headed then I hope they lose both

Yeah, but narrowly, so that we don't have yet another RWC fuck up.

 

[nelly sham]

Yeah, but narrowly, so that we don't have yet another RWC fuck up.

Fuck 'em. Doing things the hard way is the only way Irish people know how.

They'll probably win the QF and the whole thing after getting a bad draw.

 

[How bad boy]

Not sure we've got a great record of winning anyway, easy or hard way....

 

[Handy Run]

As long as it's harder to play your way out of rather than into the jersey, we'll never win a rwc.

The rwc is far down on the irfu list of priorities which are:

1. Leinster
2. Leinster
3. Leinster
4. 6N
5. Autumn Series
6. RWC junket
7. RWC (actual rugby part)

 

[How bad boy]

To be fair, between Leinster, 6N and the autumn series, that's a pretty massive whack of the IRFU's revenue.

The RWC is loss making, not sure which of the provinces are profitable but I'd be surprised if Connacht are.

 

[Handy Run]

To be fair, between Leinster, 6N and the autumn series, that's a pretty massive whack of the IRFU's revenue.

The RWC is loss making, not sure which of the provinces are profitable but I'd be surprised if Connacht are.

Oh that's well known. Just so people are aware that the rwc is not a priority.

 

[nelly sham]

Just for the sake of my posting integrity, I forgot to mention that I thought Ryan Baird has his best game for Ireland last Saturday.

Had a quick check on Wikipedia, it was his 30th cap. Apart from his kick block down against Italy in one of his first caps I can't remember any other performance.

Gavin Coombes has 3.

 

[Cormac]

Age profile of the top tier teams last weekend.


Average age of starting 15
SA: 29.8
Ire: 29.6
NZ: 27.3
Sco: 27
Eng: 26.5
Oz: 25.9

No. of players 30+
SA: 11
Ire: 8
NZ: 4
Sco: 4
Eng:3
Oz: 2

No. of players 25-29
Oz: 9
NZ: 8
Sco: 8
Ire: 6
Eng: 6
SA: 1

No. of players -25
Eng: 6
Oz: 4
SA: 3
Sco: 3
NZ: 3
Ire: 1


SA's age profile suggests they are going to have a big drop off after the next RWC.

 

[How bad boy]

Just for the sake of my posting integrity, I forgot to mention that I thought Ryan Baird has his best game for Ireland last Saturday.

Had a quick check on Wikipedia, it was his 30th cap. Apart from his kick block down against Italy in one of his first caps I can't remember any other performance.

Gavin Coombes has 3.

it's like the Mick Galway situation all over again, where Munster had an obvious top performer who kept getting overlooked until finally given a decent chance.

Age profile of the top tier teams last weekend.


Average age of starting 15
SA: 29.8
Ire: 29.6
NZ: 27.3
Sco: 27
Eng: 26.5
Oz: 25.9

No. of players 30+
SA: 11
Ire: 8
NZ: 4
Sco: 4
Eng:3
Oz: 2

No. of players 25-29
Oz: 9
NZ: 8
Sco: 8
Ire: 6
Eng: 6
SA: 1

No. of players -25
Eng: 6
Oz: 4
SA: 3
Sco: 3
NZ: 3
Ire: 1


SA's age profile suggests they are going to have a big drop off after the next RWC.

Ireland's numbers align with Farrell's very conservative approach to squad rotation

 

[nelly sham]

Lots to like in that team.
Lots of Henshaw starting and little of Aherne at the same time.

Delighted for Farrell to get his deserved cap