Women's Rugby World Cup - August 2017

First Up

LeinsterDub wrote:

Sorry should have been Coup d'état

Thought I was missing something!

Beyond the horizontal, landed on her side. That means she wasn't beyond the horizontal coming to ground....

Burkie1203

Squatter wrote: »

Good game so far. Good call by Joy - definite yellow.

YC is wrong. If the tackler wrapped around the waist it wouldn't even be a penalty

Hastentoadd

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Laws are not different.

Its just the enactment. Watch 'The Red Pill'. You would enjoy it Lost Sheep

Stheno

17-10 now

Stheno

17 all now!

robbiezero

Great game.

Really entertaining match. NZ kicking game is woeful.

ongarite

Fantastic try by England

Stheno

The NZ prop has now scored three tries

Guy:Incognito

I thought that was a knock on tbh.

Podge_irl

This game has gone somewhat crazy. Very enjoyable though.

Stheno

Podge_irl wrote: »

This game has gone somewhat crazy. Very enjoyable though.

29 points scored in the first twenty minutes of the second half, bit nuts

Podge_irl

Stheno wrote: »

29 points scored in the first twenty minutes of the second half, bit nuts

England should have gone in a lot further ahead at the half - were comfortably the better team. They'll rue that I imagine.

Stheno

Podge_irl wrote: »

England should have gone in a lot further ahead at the half - were comfortably the better team. They'll rue that I imagine.

Another try from NZ now 11 points ahead.

Theys scored 26 point this half.

NZ pick and drive game is unreal.

Labcoats and Running Shoes

Holy cow this is some brilliant rugby to watch!

I was supposed to be there. Couldn't afford everything that goes along with going up - food, hostel, train, etc. Absolutely kicking myself now!

Stheno

I reckon thats it hard to see England come back

robbiezero

I'd say the French game really took it out of the English. It was a fierce encounter.

awec

Is the England fullback wearing knee pads?

awec

awec wrote: »

Is the England fullback wearing knee pads?

Yup. Can't imagine how that's not annoying.

molloyjh

That was a really enjoyable game. How good were NZ in that second half!? Their TH was excellent.

Squatter

awec wrote: »

Is the England fullback wearing knee pads?

She got injured in the first half. Looked crocked but came back out wearing them.

Squatter

Squatter wrote: »

She got injured in the first half. Looked crocked but came back out wearing them.

Pretty sure she had them the whole time. Her socks were pulled right up over them even before the injury.

Squatter

Basil3 wrote: »

Pretty sure she had them the whole time. Her socks were pulled right up over them even before the injury.

Spot on!

"Scarratt has been conspicuous throughout the World Cup, not just for her graceful running style and eye for a try but also for the protective knee-pads she has been wearing. Knee problems and such an intensive campaign would not appear to be a good mix but England’s outside centre, who may even move to full-back after Danielle Waterman was ruled out having sustained a concussion in the semi-final with France, is happy to allay any fears.

“I have got something complicated wrong with my knees so that they fill with fluid,” she says. “The knee-pads soften the blow a little bit. It means I can keep playing – they do not look pretty, I am not a huge fan, but they are functional. They are not my favourite piece of equipment but we get on with it.”

philstar

pretty pathetic trophy they give them don't you think??

esp for a World Cup

Strazdas

Squatter wrote: »

I have to say that the female rendition of the haka seems pretty lame. Also it went on for far too long.

I was listening to one of their team on RTE Radio and she said they thought the male Haka was too aggressive and masculine for women's rugby, especially the open legged stance, thumping the chest and sticking out the tongue etc. The female version is deliberately toned down and more 'feminine'.

sullivlo

Just home from the day in Belfast.

What a day.

Firstly, immensely proud of the Irish women. The results weren't right, but there's more to come out (from what I hear). It was emotional seeing some of the players saying goodbye; a chunk of them won't wear green again.

Nicole Cronin is a hero and is the find of the tournament. If Tierney left one legacy, Cronin is it.

Secondly, what a final! It was a great game.

And finally - absolute hats off to Belfast, Ulster rugby, the IRFU, the traveling fans... the atmosphere in the stadium for the final was pretty special. Yes, the queues for the ladies were even worse than normal, but the women's rugby community world wide did themselves proud, and Kingspan is fab (first time there - that park and ride is amazing!) Had a chat with the president of a rugby club up north and he had such lovely words about Nucifora he reckons the debrief will be horrific.

All in all, proud of the sport I love today.

Hastentoadd

To be honest sullivlo, I think the results were about right. Nobody doubts the dedication. Every single person here was shouting the Irish ladies on. And why shouldn't we. We are Irish as it happens. But we also have a right to say what we think, and my version of Irelands journey was that it so one dimensional.

And that is not a criticism on the players. That is how they were told to play. There is much better in this team. But back row and two locks are simply static when they are supposed to be the driving force of any team. Anyway I guess its lessons learnt

Larbre34

Hastentoadd wrote: »

Anyway I guess its lessons learnt

If only.

Hopefully Ruth OReillys exposé brings others forward and blows the lid off this farcical unprofessional campaign.

sullivlo

Hastentoadd wrote: »

To be honest sullivlo, I think the results were about right. Nobody doubts the dedication. Every single person here was shouting the Irish ladies on. And why shouldn't we. We are Irish as it happens. But we also have a right to say what we think, and my version of Irelands journey was that it so one dimensional.

And that is not a criticism on the players. That is how they were told to play. There is much better in this team. But back row and two locks are simply static when they are supposed to be the driving force of any team. Anyway I guess its lessons learnt

Oh I entirely agree. I meant "not right" in the sense that we lost, I meant it as in "I wanted us to win" - that we didn't get the outcome that we wanted. But ultimately we didn't deserve to win. We didn't play to our potential.

sullivlo

Larbre34 wrote: »

If only.

Hopefully Ruth OReillys exposé brings others forward and blows the lid off this farcical unprofessional campaign.

I have heard that more info will emerge in the coming days that will blow all lids.

Hastentoadd

As a question what do Irish women think they need. As a male watching the game it was blatantly obvious (to me) that ye didn't have the speed at the breakdown, ye didn't have the speed to break through lines, ye didn't have the ball passing speed to break opposition down. The culture was slow momentum and that simply does not cut it in modern day rugby.

So yes you can crib about Tierney, but there is a fundamental issue that needs to be dealt with. The Irish players are not as fast as other players. There was a criticism laid on both men and ladies teams by one poster, as in you are the same. But you are not. Schmidt is making huge efforts to provide fast ball. Women's Irish play was simply slow and obvious during this world cup. And it cost heavily

errlloyd

Savage atmosphere. I enjoyed that final a lot. Missed Ireland because I was in work. But going up and back in the car was worth it to see that final.

There is sadly a ****ing chasm between England / NZ and how Ireland were playing. Englands passing was crisp and slick, their pack were excellent. New Zealand less good at both, but more skilled. More offloads, more picks etc.

First time in Ravenhill too, and the crowd were great. Lots of locals were out fleshing out the numbers, but there were loads of travelling fans too.

sullivlo

Hastentoadd wrote: »

As a question what do Irish women think they need. As a male watching the game it was blatantly obvious (to me) that ye didn't have the speed at the breakdown, ye didn't have the speed to break through lines, ye didn't have the ball passing speed to break opposition down. The culture was slow momentum and that simply does not cut it in modern day rugby.

So yes you can crib about Tierney, but there is a fundamental issue that needs to be dealt with. The Irish players are not as fast as other players. There was a criticism laid on both men and ladies teams by one poster, as in you are the same. But you are not. Schmidt is making huge efforts to provide fast ball. Women's Irish play was simply slow and obvious during this world cup. And it cost heavily

The core of the Irish team that played yesterday beat the core of the New Zealand team yesterday at the last World Cup, and lost narrowly to the core of that England team last November.

The set pieces weren't good for us this World Cup. But as it emerged, Tierney didn't practice them in training. The team lacked direction, and as it emerged yesterday, there was no plan A, never mind plan B.

The team needs a new setup. Tierney is gone, lots of the players will retire. But there's a good group of young players that they can build on.

The IRFU needs to either offer the same resources to the 15's as they do to the 7's, or separate them. Four years ago England were nowhere in the 6N as they lumped all of their resources into the 7's. The result was that a lot of girls got game time at 15's and they built depth.

The game needs more games. There needs to be more high quality mid season games. The interpros are useless at giving exposure to a better environment, as there's only 3 games. Switch that to home and away fixtures with a bonus point system.

There needs to be a provision for the provinces to travel to the UK or France to play premier clubs. These clubs exist. Bristol had 3 international captains at the WRWC. France have a semi pro set up in their clubs.

There needs to be more competition in the domestic league. As it stands the majority of the Ireland squad play for the same 2/3 club teams. The game will never grow and players will never learn if they only play each other. Spread the resources. I'm not saying to force players to play for other clubs, but organise games that expose more people to a higher quality game.

There needs to be a recruitment drive at the grassroots level.

The resources need to be made available for the players to excel. I'm not saying pro contracts, but the basics: expenses, kit, equipment, nutrition.

There's other things too; training camps, proper set piece training, representatives within various setups...

And when things like that get sorted, then maybe the players can look at developing skills and getting to the breakdown faster.

gaius c

Larbre34 wrote: »

If only.

Hopefully Ruth OReillys exposé brings others forward and blows the lid off this farcical unprofessional campaign.

Could she not have waited until after their last game to publish it?

connemara man

gaius c wrote: »

Could she not have waited until after their last game to publish it?

It was right to publish it then as tomorrow the press will be already moving on

molloyjh

gaius c wrote: »

Larbre34 wrote: »

If only.

Hopefully Ruth OReillys exposé brings others forward and blows the lid off this farcical unprofessional campaign.

Could she not have waited until after their last game to publish it?

She didn't publish it. She gave an interview and the paper decided when to publish it.

gaius c

Hmm...

Dirty linen shouldn't get washed in public like that. It's almost as if the players are trying to get their excuses in first.

CIARAN_BOYLE

sullivlo wrote: »

There needs to be more competition in the domestic league. As it stands the majority of the Ireland squad play for the same 2/3 club teams. The game will never grow and players will never learn if they only play each other. Spread the resources. I'm not saying to force players to play for other clubs, but organise games that expose more people to a higher quality game.

Will instituting a decent provincial season break the top clubs naturally? Let's say 6 interiors and a 3 game tour of France or England and hosting a French or English team for two matches.

If they are missing a half squad for 20+ weeks a season between provincial and internationals the league will become more competitive.

That said it will probably be bad if the current teams win a third of their fixtures with their first team and lose the rest missing their internationals and provincial players.

CIARAN_BOYLE

gaius c wrote: »

Hmm...

Dirty linen shouldn't get washed in public like that. It's almost as if the players are trying to get their excuses in first.

Hasnt Tierney already come out and said the players are not good enough or am i misremembering?

Surely that's a much bigger problem than a player condemning the coach.

connemara man

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Hasnt Tierney already come out and said the players are not good enough or am i misremembering?

Surely that's a much bigger problem than a player condemning the coach.

It was at the end of his post match interview with RTE.

irishbucsfan

gaius c wrote: »

Hmm...

Dirty linen shouldn't get washed in public like that. It's almost as if the players are trying to get their excuses in first.

Keep it private so what... the IRFU can continue ignoring their complaints? I'm delighted she stood up and made sure the public understand what's happening.

sullivlo

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Will instituting a decent provincial season break the top clubs naturally? Let's say 6 interiors and a 3 game tour of France or England and hosting a French or English team for two matches.

If they are missing a half squad for 20+ weeks a season between provincial and internationals the league will become more competitive.

That said it will probably be bad if the current teams win a third of their fixtures with their first team and lose the rest missing their internationals and provincial players.

Kinda how it happens now tbh. Or at least it's how it happened up until recently. Teams with one or two internationals are competitive during the 6N as they're only losing two players. Whereas teams with five or six are losing a third of their team. So it's more of an even playing field.

Just another point. The USA women's team played a warm up game against a non-international provincial level Irish team a few weeks ago, and the Irish team were competitive against them. They didn't win, but we do have a base of decent players out there.

sullivlo

gaius c wrote: »

Hmm...

Dirty linen shouldn't get washed in public like that. It's almost as if the players are trying to get their excuses in first.

The players aren't making any excuses. They're heartbroken. They know that they didn't perform. Their preparation was off, but they can only do what they're told. Players being reprimanded by being told not to attend camp for speaking out against the coach? That's a toxic environment.

Shades of RWC2017.

The other thing. Yesterday Tierney said the girls weren't happy the article broke. Yet there's a media ban in camp, and Peat gave an interview saying that the team weren't aware of any article, contradicting what Tierney said. Not the first time that stories don't add up. Tierney has form on this.

Did the girls know about the article? I'd put money on it that they did. Were they unhappy about it? I have it on good authority that they were delighted by it.

Yesterday was probably the last time we'll see Maz, Egan, Nora, Fitzpatrick, Peat in a green jersey. Sad end.

The Lost Sheep

sullivlo wrote:

The team needs a new setup. Tierney is gone, lots of the players will retire. But there's a good group of young players that they can build on.

what would you want changed for new set up?

sullivlo wrote:

The IRFU needs to either offer the same resources to the 15's as they do to the 7's, or separate them. Four years ago England were nowhere in the 6N as they lumped all of their resources into the 7's. The result was that a lot of girls got game time at 15's and they built depth.

do we have the resources to put in the same to both 7s and 15s? Is it there in women's game for the 2 to be separate? IMO not at this time.

sullivlo wrote:

The game needs more games. There needs to be more high quality mid season games. The interpros are useless at giving exposure to a better environment, as there's only 3 games. Switch that to home and away fixtures with a bonus point system.

6 games isn't enough and it would be far better to make changes below the provincial game. To the AIL and the entire league ladder system

sullivlo wrote:

There needs to be a provision for the provinces to travel to the UK or France to play premier clubs. These clubs exist. Bristol had 3 international captains at the WRWC. France have a semi pro set up in their clubs.

yes and this would be far more beneficial with a better ail system than having provinces play 6games

sullivlo wrote:

There needs to be more competition in the domestic league. As it stands the majority of the Ireland squad play for the same 2/3 club teams. The game will never grow and players will never learn if they only play each other. Spread the resources. I'm not saying to force players to play for other clubs, but organise games that expose more people to a higher quality game.

how would you organise these games? Having provinces play 6 not 3 interpros really won't be that much better it's around club game and provinces playing sides in England etc that's needed not more interprovincial games as they already play warm ups against each other then the 3 actual warm ups.

sullivlo wrote:

There needs to be a recruitment drive at the grassroots level.

there has been. But clubs need to do more and get male side of club to help with recruitment, coaching as in some clubs the ladies team may as well be a completely different club within the same club....

gaius c

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Hasnt Tierney already come out and said the players are not good enough or am i misremembering?

Surely that's a much bigger problem than a player condemning the coach.

Don't confuse my posts with defending Tierney.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Does anyone know what the total attendance at the wrwc was?

If IRFU can claim that 100,000 tickets were sold in Ireland for the competition it would be a big argument in favour of expanded sponsorship deals.

Burkie1203

Is tom Tierney taking over the mens u20 team?

gaius c

sullivlo wrote: »

The players aren't making any excuses. They're heartbroken. They know that they didn't perform. Their preparation was off, but they can only do what they're told. Players being reprimanded by being told not to attend camp for speaking out against the coach? That's a toxic environment.

Shades of RWC2017.

The other thing. Yesterday Tierney said the girls weren't happy the article broke. Yet there's a media ban in camp, and Peat gave an interview saying that the team weren't aware of any article, contradicting what Tierney said. Not the first time that stories don't add up. Tierney has form on this.

Did the girls know about the article? I'd put money on it that they did. Were they unhappy about it? I have it on good authority that they were delighted by it.

Yesterday was probably the last time we'll see Maz, Egan, Nora, Fitzpatrick, Peat in a green jersey. Sad end.

Partly but don't 100% accept it. Physical conditioning was particularly poor for some players and that's not entirely down to coaches. Basic skills for most of the players were also poor.

Lack of backline attack and hit & miss lineout (to name just two things). That's at Tierney's door.

Players dropping simple catches, missing straightforward tackles and being gassed on 50 mins. That's on them. Look at the fluency Australia had when moving the ball in the backline. That's great handling ability and athleticism allied to decent coaching. We know the coaching was "sub par" but what about the hands and athleticism.

I don't mean to come across so harsh on the players but the danger is that we'll blame everything on Tierney when there's other problems there too.

BTW Sunday Times are reporting Tierney is off to the U20's next...