Ireland V Italy

oasisfan

Who are the underdogs?

We have been going out playing teams expecting to win! And if we don’t we complain as if we are the best team in this tournament. Are performance against Wales was poor, France the same and Scotland was a disgrace, Yeah we walked all over England but that was a rare performance and the fact of the matter is England played their worst game i have ever seen and it didn’t help playing in front of 65,000 Screaming Irish Fans in a stadium where the tension was at its highest! So there are a number of factors to take into consideration for the score at the end of that match im not trying to belittle are win its just i feel we over - rate our rugby team by WE i mean the media and the fans we expect too much.

Italy have just beaten Wales although bad decisions were made by the reff its still a win they destroyed Scotland the team that we beat by 1 little point and they are now on top of the world and probably feel unstoppable! They will be so syked up for this match against us next Saturday (kick off 12.30 btw i think cuz its 1.30 Italy time...cud be wrong) that their momentum and belief could mean we go home ashamed of ourselves...I just feel that Ireland may not be mentally syked up for this match as they see Italy as the Champions of the wooden spoon! but don’t forget we used to be champions of that and look where we are now, the turning point has to start somewhere!

Saying that i think we will win it but it will be closer than we would like, my prediction is 24-20 to Ireland!

Do you think we will do it? or do you think we could get beaten?

Sangre

Italy are still firmly the underdogs. 2 wins against 2 poor teams. The first arguebly because they were gifted 3 tries in nearly as many minutes. While I don't think we'll put more than 15 on them I will be raging if we lose. Sure Italy have a good, aggressive pack but they've nothing outside it.

jackbhoy

Funnily enough I am more confident now than I was before todays games. I think Ireland are in a position again where they need to prove themselves and will be well up for this, italy have some immense forwards but very 1-dimensional and have no plan B......Ireland by 20+

anonymous_joe

Our shocking performance today has shown that we're far from unbeatable...

On the other hand, Italy aren't a particularly creative team, and I think we have more than enough to beat them comfortably.

Really, we just require a better performance from the entire team, which wouldn't be that hard considering how they were against Scotland.

Hopefully they'll come out looking to prove themselves.

Goodluck2me

italy are also missing a few big name should affect them big time.

oasisfan

goodluck2me wrote:

italy are also missing a few big name should affect them big time.

yeah thats true and also there number seven 2day i hear wont be playing due to misconduct must of missed that 2day was only watching bits....still tho there on a high just hope we know it wont be a walk in the park

Marshy

oasisfan wrote:

yeah thats true and also there number seven 2day i hear wont be playing due to misconduct must of missed that 2day was only watching bits

Yeah, bergamasco punched stephen jones. Ironically went on to score the winning try too.

bugler

I think there is an article in today's Sunday Times written by Stuart Barnes in which he argues Italy haven't improved - the rest of the 6N have declined.

It's hard not to agree. Scotland would have beaten them had they not gifted them 21 points. England have rarely been so poor as they have to date in the 6N. Wales are at a real low point.

Anything other than a comfortable Irish win will mean Ireland haven't improved at all since last year.

zAbbo

It's gonna be harder, without POC - http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0311/oconnellp.html

Chucky the tree

bugler wrote:

It's hard not to agree. Scotland would have beaten them had they not gifted them 21 points.

I wouldnt particularly agree with this. I think italy could of turned the scottish over. Italy were happy to sit back and play the game in their 22 as they knew scotland had very little out wide.


Italy pack are fantastic and very tough. We will need to be excellent up front to get quick ball so the backs can try and run in a few tries.

The fact that there is only a week break should be a help. I am sure the italian and a few drinks last night to celebrate.

Redundo

Part of the reason we looked so kack against the Scots is because we allowed them to drag us into their kind of game. If we spread the ball around against the Italians and cut out the idiotic penalties we kept gifting to the Scots then I think we could get a high points win on them.

If it'll be good enough to beat the French to the Championship..... well, i'm not even going to think about that.

copacetic

zabbo wrote:

It's gonna be harder, without POC - http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0311/oconnellp.html

thats a pity, presumably O'Kellys knee still rules him out too. Mick O'Driscoll
has done alright from the bench but not sure I fancy him playing a whole
game at this level..

eoin2nc

P'oC will be a big miss. But i think bergamasco, wrong spelling, will be a bigger miss for the Italians. Ireland by +15

is_that_so

I think it is one that Ireland will win. Our inconsistency is consistent and the Italians may be weakened a bit. But I don't think the gap (+10) will be enough to take France - I am assuming that the Scots will not be able to beat France.

The positive of the loss of POC means that other players get a shout, not ideal but at least they get some playing time.

Goodluck2me

i think that a margin of 15 points should be enough (19 total) to take the championship. France will be nervy enough i think, and scotland tend to start pretty well, and if the scots can scrape a few points early on it should be great viewing! i just wish ireland were playing second!

damnyanks

Nah then they might fluff it by playing it safe. At least this way they have to score as much as possible. None of this "We need 20 more points" lark more of "Keep going keep going" lark for me!

daveirl

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copacetic

goodluck2me wrote:

i think that a margin of 15 points should be enough (19 total) to take the championship. France will be nervy enough i think, and scotland tend to start pretty well, and if the scots can scrape a few points early on it should be great viewing! i just wish ireland were playing second!

I don't think this will be enough, maybe if the games were on at the same time but with france knowing what they have to do I think we need 25-30 points on them at the start to have a chance.

Daniel_Daniel

Ehm.... er.... sorry, I don't want to spoil this party, but have you noticed that WE (Italy) might happen to actually win the 6nations?
If WE beat you by zillions,
and Scotland beat France by zillions
and Wales beat England by zillions....
then we win.
Unlikely as it may be, it's one of the options. :rolleyes:

You hadn't thought of this, right? Just one match to go and the underdog still has the chance to be on top of the rugby world.

Landing down on this planet, I'd let you win by 100 points if this cold prevent the French from winning.

daveirl

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Blowfish

daveirl wrote:

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Agreed

Sangre

Hah, yeah. Was screaming my head off and jumping around when Bergamasco went over at the end.

Glad we're playing first, I just know we'd bottle it otherwise.

is_that_so

And it's becoming more popular according to RTE.

Steibhin

Daniel_Daniel wrote:

Ehm.... er.... sorry, I don't want to spoil this party, but have you noticed that WE (Italy) might happen to actually win the 6nations?
If WE beat you by zillions,
and Scotland beat France by zillions
and Wales beat England by zillions....
then we win.
Unlikely as it may be, it's one of the options. :rolleyes:

Brilliant! Hadn't thought about that. Italy will have to go on a try fest against the Irish.

I think we need at least a 15pt start against the French to make them nervous. Hopefully Scotland can do us a favour by taking a penalty in the dying minute while they are 17pts down.. I'm sure the Scots would love to do Eddie O'Sullivan a good turn;)

Diamondmaker

Ire need to Lose + 25
Fra need to lose + 29
Eng + 13
Italy -26

At 100:1 Eng is a long shot but

mathematicaly Italy can win it too! Or at least finish level points on top spot.

Italy need the above 3 to lose and put 55 points on Ireland in the process!!

flsghujslkuo

Ireland vs. Scotland..... Shocking truly shocking!

We won great... but that was terrible.

C'mon Eddie its time to use the 'squad' you have; you see rotation in soccer all the time and, with no offense intended, it's a girly sport compared to the physical demands of rugby. In soccer teams bring in 'less talented players' sometimes just to change things up and the team, as a team plays better rather than a collection of individuals playing better. I mean it can't be good playing the same team all the time: the team just becomes stagnant.

So I hope O Sullivan brings in a few not so new faces for the Italy game,

N. Best (because he's great)
Flannery (he's better than Best)
Murphy (don't do a Brennan on him)
Trimble (give him a game)
Reddan (time to blood him)
MOD (he's coming in anyway)

Sangre

Best has had a poor season with a poor Ulster.

Flannery would be picked if he was fully fit, he has isn't match fit and has also dropped a bit of weight.

Murphy has bottled every chance he has been given in an Irish jersey.

I'd agree with you on Trimble but wingers don't need to be rotated as much and Hicke/Horgan are in better form.

We don't need to blood Reddan when Boss has been given enough time yet.

MOD isn't of international standard imo.

Daniel_Daniel

Folks,
I hope it was clear enough that I wasn’t assuming we’re running for the title. There’s just about the same chances as if I put my cat on the keyboard and have him write “War and Peace” randomly.
I only wanted to give a different, maybe interesting, certainly UNUSUAL perspective on the match.

You’ll definitely be highly welcome in Italy. You’ll have a nice St. Patrick’s day down here and I bet my arse that if you win with us, ours and yours will meet in the nearest pub screaming for Scotland.

P.S. The player portrayed here
http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0312/italy.html
is Mirco Bergamasco, Mauro's brother.

flsghujslkuo

I disagree about not blooding Reddan:

Boss is injured and we all know what stringer can/can't do.

Let's face it Italy are no all blacks.

Let's use this game to play our 'B side', we win the 6N... great, but what if O'Gara or O Driscoll break their legs,

If we don't play our 'B side' now..... when can we give the bench really competitive tests (fudge to the pre-world cup tour... all the teams will wrap their players in cotton wool....worthless)

Marshy

flsghujslkuo wrote:

Let's use this game to play our 'B side', we win the 6N... great, but what if O'Gara or O Driscoll break their legs

Come on now, chances of that.

walshb

oasisfan wrote:

Who are the underdogs?

We have been going out playing teams expecting to win! And if we don’t we complain as if we are the best team in this tournament. Are performance against Wales was poor, France the same and Scotland was a disgrace, Yeah we walked all over England but that was a rare performance and the fact of the matter is England played their worst game i have ever seen and it didn’t help playing in front of 65,000 Screaming Irish Fans in a stadium where the tension was at its highest! So there are a number of factors to take into consideration for the score at the end of that match im not trying to belittle are win its just i feel we over - rate our rugby team by WE i mean the media and the fans we expect too much.

Italy have just beaten Wales although bad decisions were made by the reff its still a win they destroyed Scotland the team that we beat by 1 little point and they are now on top of the world and probably feel unstoppable! They will be so syked up for this match against us next Saturday (kick off 12.30 btw i think cuz its 1.30 Italy time...cud be wrong) that their momentum and belief could mean we go home ashamed of ourselves...I just feel that Ireland may not be mentally syked up for this match as they see Italy as the Champions of the wooden spoon! but don’t forget we used to be champions of that and look where we are now, the turning point has to start somewhere!

Saying that i think we will win it but it will be closer than we would like, my prediction is 24-20 to Ireland!

Do you think we will do it? or do you think we could get beaten?

Of course they could. It's being played in Italy and they are a good good team. What would constitute a good performance in your opinion seeing as you think Ireland are so poor. They lose by the bounce of a ball V France, beat Wales in Cardiff and humiliate England and you still aren't happy?

pred racer

walshb wrote:

Of course they could. It's being played in Italy and they are a good good team. What would constitute a good performance in your opinion seeing as you think Ireland are so poor. They lose by the bounce of a ball V France, beat Wales in Cardiff and humiliate England and you still aren't happy?

I agree...........But, all any of us are asking is that they play somewhere near to their potential, Ive come walking out of lansdowne rd, murrayfield etc plenty of times in the past preparing myself for a night full of the usual good natured abuse about Irish Rugby, but if we had played well it sort of softened the blow.
Now we are winning games, without trying and without playing well and you have to wonder are they going to play like this when it really matters. I.e. against the Argies in the autumn. For me anyway, just play like you give a Fcuk and Ill take the result no matter what!
As far as Italy are concerned, I agree with others here who think we Should win by 20+, Im just afraid we wont

Stupendous Man

Sorry for thread creep

But as it will be our first visit to Rome for the rugby next weekend can anyone reccommend some good watering holes for Friday night and Saturday - post match for the France game and for drinking into the wee hours for Paddys Day?

Cheers
SM

Eoin

Stupendous Man wrote:

Sorry for thread creep

But as it will be our first visit to Rome for the rugby next weekend can anyone reccommend some good watering holes for Friday night and Saturday - post match for the France game and for drinking into the wee hours for Paddys Day?

Cheers
SM

There's not many in Rome - at least there wasn't the last time I was over. This is where I have watched the other games the last two years. I think this is where we ended up towards the end of the night, but it was a little bit of a blur.

walshb

pred racer wrote:

I agree...........But, all any of us are asking is that they play somewhere near to their potential, Ive come walking out of lansdowne rd, murrayfield etc plenty of times in the past preparing myself for a night full of the usual good natured abuse about Irish Rugby, but if we had played well it sort of softened the blow.
Now we are winning games, without trying and without playing well and you have to wonder are they going to play like this when it really matters. I.e. against the Argies in the autumn. For me anyway, just play like you give a Fcuk and Ill take the result no matter what!
As far as Italy are concerned, I agree with others here who think we Should win by 20+, Im just afraid we wont

Play to their potential. I think people are missing the point. There are two teams playing and one team will do all in their power to stop the other playing to their potential and vice versa. That's team sport and is what separates winners and. losers. Ireland can play damn well and hard and still lose because the opposition was that bit better, had a little better luck and made less mistakes. That does not automatically mean we are crap and we didn't play well.

It remids me of the time years back when Martin Johnson was moaning after Ireland beat them. He actually said.. ''but they wouldn't give us the ball''.
That was his excuse. Why can't we be happy to be successful in one of the toughest team sports in the world in a very competitive championship. Not all our games will be like the recent drubbing we gave England, some will be messy, sloppy, amateurish etc etc, but the opponents have a lot to do with this. It's not all down to so called poor play on Ireland's part

padser

Slightly OT but is there any word yet on whether any Italian players are getting cited for the Wales match? If so, which ones?

Eoin

padser wrote:

Slightly OT but is there any word yet on whether any Italian players are getting cited for the Wales match? If so, which ones?

Just Mauro Bergamasco I think. Hearing is today, but haven't heard anything to do with the outcome yet.

http://www.planetrugby.com/sixnations/Story/0,19022,3820_1978091,00.html

Even more OT, I'm surprised that the Scottish replacement prop wasn't cited for punching O'Callaghan.

padser

eoin_s wrote:

Even more OT, I'm surprised that the Scottish replacement prop wasn't cited for punching O'Callaghan.

Or the guy who punched O Gara before O Driscoll reacted.

Eoin

padser wrote:

Or the guy who punched O Gara before O Driscoll reacted.

If I'm thinking of the same incident, that was when Chris Patterson shouldered O'Gara when he was already being tackled, and just after the whistle went? I think that would have been a talking to at most, if it had been picked up by the officials.

Chucky the tree

I didnt see the punch of O'callaghan, what was it like? Usually players are only cited for serious incidents. Its expected your going to get a few punches in rugby.

Was DOC able to continue straight away after the punch?

Chucky the tree

Oh and Ireland are going into the match -14 points with the bookies.

Eoin

Chucky the tree wrote:

I didnt see the punch of O'callaghan, what was it like? Usually players are only cited for serious incidents. Its expected your going to get a few punches in rugby.

Was DOC able to continue straight away after the punch?

I think the clip was linked to in the main match thread. It wasn't a big swing, more of a sly dig. O'Callaghan didn't bother retaliating and carried on. The clip started just at the punch, so it's hard to see if there was any provocation. I'm pretty sure it was the really fat prop that came on?

daveirl

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Chucky the tree

If it was just handbags he wouldnt be cited over it, not worth the hassle.

bugler

It actually looked a full solid punch. No one commented on it on TV, even though you could see it clearly on the replays of ROG going to ground pre-choke.

It was Jacobsen, the chubby wastrel. Knowing DOC he had probably been holding him back or something.

zAbbo

well todays the day

christophicus

Bad start:(

christophicus

0-3 to Ireland. Italy the better team so far.

christophicus

3-3 Italy with brilliant play ,taking a very nice drop goal.

athtrasna

The lineout is a disaster!! We also need to beware those drop goal opportunities!

christophicus

It almost looks as though Italy know our lineout codes.