Women's World Cup 2014

Larbre34

Well done Philip Doyle and staff

vetinari

Unfortunately some element of panicking / choking today.

Whatever about the power and pace of England, we made mistakes about things we could control.
Missed touches, missed lineouts, missed first phase tackles.

This Irish team is definitely good enough to be much closer to England than 33 points.

irishbucsfan

donfers wrote: »

An annihilation....let's not patronize these girls with "they did their best/great effort/so proud" etc. The only reaction should be, let's remember how bad this feels, let's aim for the standard set by England, learn from it, that was nowhere near good enough but let's win 3rd place and put in an improved performance

There was not nearly as much between the teams as you think. For example take a look at the game in Twickenham this year or Ashbourne last year.

The girls don't need to aim for a standard set by England, who are a very different side to them. They've been setting their own standards pretty impressively over the last couple of years, and it's a standard that is good enough. Unfortunately the difficulty comes in being able to put that on the field every single game, as England showed earlier in the competition with some incomplete performances.

sullivlo

Congratulations to England. Best team on the day.

Unfortunately it wasn't to be. Push for third and learn from this experience.

Old cliche but still proud of the girls. They give me something to aspire to be and they deserve all the praise they get.

siobhan08

ah not the result we were all hoping for. But I hope all the girls know that the country is very proud of all of them !!!
oh even if they lost to england... they did something the English never managed in beating the Black Ferns in the WC

donfers

Stheno wrote: »

Eh they've achieved more than ANY other senior Irish rugby team ever by getting to the semis?

in 1991 when England women won the RWC, I'm not even sure we had a national team competing in test matches.

Iheyve made huge progress, nobody is questioning that...I hope they want more, I hope they expect more from themselves despite the platitudes that will inevitably be rained down on them

It's a rather facile comparison though to say they've achieved more than the men, totally different scenarios

iwantmydinner

donfers wrote: »

Iheyve made huge progress, nobody is questioning that...I hope they want more, I hope they expect more from themselves despite the platitudes that will inevitably be rained down on them

It's a rather facile comparison though to say they've achieved more than the men, totally different scenarios

Firstly, they do expect far more from themselves. Have you listened to any of their pre or post match interviews during the tournament?

Secondly, it's far from a 'facile' comparison. They are the first senior IRFU team to make it to a world cup semi final. That's the fact and it deserves recognition.

sullivlo

donfers wrote: »

Iheyve made huge progress, nobody is questioning that...I hope they want more, I hope they expect more from themselves despite the platitudes that will inevitably be rained down on them

It's a rather facile comparison though to say they've achieved more than the men, totally different scenarios

Comparing apples with oranges in terms of set up of the tournament (no quarters in women's rwc), but comparing against other women's rugby teams, this time we done good

Gutted, but thems the breaks in sport.

Rightwing

Another false dawn for us

Micky Dolenz

Better team won the day. Great experience for the squad though. The future looks bright.

donfers

sullivlo wrote: »

Comparing apples with oranges in terms of set up of the tournament (no quarters in women's rwc), but comparing against other women's rugby teams, this time we done good

Gutted, but thems the breaks in sport.

I agree with you, apples and oranges and comparing does neither team any favours

Outstanding achievement to get to semi finals but as the captain just said they didn't perform...do we seek to answer that question or do we just pat them on the back for getting that far? And which question of those two is more likely to lead to improvement?

irishbucsfan

donfers wrote: »

I agree with you, apples and oranges and comparing does neither team any favours

Outstanding achievement to get to semi finals but as the captain just said they didn't perform...do we seek to answer that question or do we just pat them on the back for getting that far? And which question of those two is more likely to lead to improvement?

You do realise the two aren't mutually exclusive, right?

Micky Dolenz

donfers wrote: »

I agree with you, apples and oranges and comparing does neither team any favours

Outstanding achievement to get to semi finals but as the captain just said they didn't perform...do we seek to answer that question or do we just pat them on the back for getting that far? And which question of those two us more likely to lead to improvement?

I'd like to think no Irish rugby team would accept a pat on the back and be happy with that. This team for sure. They have built on the recent success, to suggest they may rest on their laurels is off.

sullivlo

donfers wrote: »

I agree with you, apples and oranges and comparing does neither team any favours

Outstanding achievement to get to semi finals but as the captain just said they didn't perform...do we seek to answer that question or do we just pat them on the back for getting that far? And which question of those two is more likely to lead to improvement?

Knowing some of the team personally, they don't want pats on the back. They want to win. This will be a tough lesson for them today. I feel for the ones who are reaching the end - Lynne Cantwell retires after this tournament - but ultimately credit where it's due for getting this far, and lessons to be learned for future tournaments.

They will finish at least 4th - a big step up from 7th. It's all progress.

Zzippy

Minjor wrote: »

Are contrary opinions not allowed anymore?

Not when they are trolling. And any further questioning of mod's decisions, please take it to PM, not on the thread. Thank you

donfers

irishbucsfan wrote: »

You do realise the two aren't mutually exclusive, right?

Yes I do but for some people they are and an overall great tournament negates any critical analysis today.

However my belief is more focus should be placed on how to improve notwithstanding the magnitude of the achievement and hopefully that'll be the case because as you alluded to the last two matches with England were close affairs so what happened. We lost by 33 points in the biggest ever game for Irish women's rugby.

Were we satisfied to have reached the semifinals? Job done?
Have England improved hugely/prepared better/have more belief/higher expectations?
Did we choke/fail to perform on the big occasion?

Who's favourite between Canada/France?

vienne86

Deleted User wrote: »

Who's favourite between Canada/France?

France I believe. Should be a good match.

iwantmydinner

donfers wrote: »

Yes I do but for some people they are and an overall great tournament negates any critical analysis today.

However my belief is more focus should be placed on how to improve notwithstanding the magnitude of the achievement and hopefully that'll be the case because as you alluded to the last two matches with England were close affairs so what happened. We lost by 33 points in the biggest ever game for Irish women's rugby.

Were we satisfied to have reached the semifinals? Job done?
Have England improved hugely/prepared better/have more belief/higher expectations?
Did we choke/fail to perform on the big occasion?

Right but you seem to have the impression that they won't ask themselves these questions. Which is an incorrect impression.

Rightwing

vienne86 wrote: »

France I believe. Should be a good match.

Indeed, if everything goes according to script, we are looking at an Eng-Fr final.

donfers

iwantmydinner wrote: »

Right but you seem to have the impression that they won't ask themselves these questions. Which is an incorrect impression.

That's not my impression at all....having worked with one of the squad members for six months this year I have no doubts about their mentality and commitment...just hope everybody, media/public/players/staff continue to aim higher and expect more. The job isn't done, it has just started and I hope that mentality pervades everywhere. This can be the beginning of something not the end of something but everybody has to keep the pressure on

vienne86

Rightwing wrote: »

Indeed, if everything goes according to script, we are looking at an Eng-Fr final.

Canada no push over though.

Rightwing

vienne86 wrote: »

Canada no push over though.

True. Unlike the Irish, they are putting up a fight - so far.

vienne86

Ooh that yellow for France is harsh.

sullivlo

I went to the gym and the France Canada match was on and I embarrassed myself by shouting out loud. And clapping. Whoops.

Absoluvely

Wow. That's incredibly bad refereeing.
Canada were given a penalty for an illegal challenge after the ball was kicked.
It should have been awarded where the ball landed, but instead was awarded where the ball stopped rolling!
That brought it into kicking range so Canada go in at the break 6 - 6. Good match.

siobhan08

well i guess the french can't say no team scored a try against them in the world cup now.... great try by canada

edit: another great try by canada !!!

vienne86

This is some performance by Canada. Nearly in for a third try there.

Swiwi.

Commiserations on the loss. It is always hard to string 2 good matches together, especially when the first victory is over a top-ranked rugby nation.

(Is it just me, or is the sleeping giant of English rugby awakening: U20s, women's rugby, men's team decent, 7s not bad.)

philstar

That one Harvey is not bad lookin

sullivlo

Canada are doing very well. Harvey is some player.

loobylou

Cracking game, great ad for women's rugby.

vienne86

Canada have their tails up - France look rattled.

ThisRegard

Swiwi. wrote: »

l
(Is it just me, or is the sleeping giant of English rugby awakening: U20s, women's rugby, men's team decent, 7s not bad.)

Yeah, that train has been rolling and gathering quite the momentum, they seem to be good at peaking for the major tournaments.

ThisRegard

Some great free flowing and ball handling by Canada.

Edit, but of course a mistake as I post ultimately leads to a try against them.

vienne86

Ah that was a cracking try for France - very patient. This is great entertainment!

phog

That's a tough result on the women, from the high of beating NZ to a trashing by England, I felt it would be a tough task but I never imagined that scoreline or the performance from England.

I thought once we scored first we might settle and then hoped we'd hold off conceding a try until after halftime but England responded almost immediately.

Overall it's been a good WC for Ireland and the girls should be proud of their performances.

ThisRegard

France could have had a try there if they moved out outside on either occasion there.

vienne86

phog wrote: »

That's a tough result on the women, from the high of beating NZ to a trashing by England, I felt it would be a tough task but I never imagined that scoreline or the performance from England.

I thought once we scored first we might settle and then hoped we'd hold off conceding a try until after halftime but England responded almost immediately.

Overall it's been a good WC for Ireland and the girls should be proud of their performances.

And we should be proud of our girls. Great to see so much interest in women's rugby.

Swiwi.

@vienne86: would you rather a female ref for the final, or the best ref available even if that meant Nigel Owens or Craig Joubert for example??

ThisRegard

France will try to maul this over and will probably get it too.

sullivlo

Swiwi. wrote: »

@vienne86: would you rather a female ref for the final, or the best ref available even if that meant Nigel Owens or Craig Joubert for example??

I'd prefer Nigel. I think he is a superior ref to anyone.

sullivlo

This is a cracking match.

ThisRegard

Told ya. Good pressure from the Canadians for the conversion attempt.

vienne86

Swiwi. wrote: »

@vienne86: would you rather a female ref for the final, or the best ref available even if that meant Nigel Owens or Craig Joubert for example??

I think the best available ref, regardless of gender.

siobhan08

ThisRegard wrote: »

Told ya. Good pressure from the Canadians for the conversion attempt.

not a big follower of rugby so didn't realise you could rush the conversion like that

Swiwi.

sullivlo wrote: »

I'd prefer Nigel. I think he is a superior ref to anyone.

vienne86 wrote: »

I think the best available ref, regardless of gender.

Yeah that's my feeling too. I wonder if we'll ever see a female ref doing men's senior matches? No reason why not.

ThisRegard

That was a great game, glad to see Canada through.

vienne86

So we will be playing France for third place. That won't be easy.

Swiwi.

Fairplay to the canucks. Would be great if they could win, but I suppose England must be favourites.