Rugby World Cup 2019 Japan The hunt for Webb Ellis

aloooof

Yeah_Right wrote: »

Looking to the quarter final. I expect the ABs to exact some revenge for the disrespect they've received from the uppity Paddies in the last 3 years. The result will be similar to the their qf against the French 4 years ago.

You spelled "defeats" wrong.

steves2

joseywhales wrote: »

I seem to remember Kearney being considered an exciting attacking option at fullback when he was pushing out Dempsey, who then was the dependable, technically and tactical option. This just seems like the the natural tRansitIon for Irish fullbacks who always have ridiculously long carriers.

I always remember the Lions 2009 Tour where it was RK and Lee Byrne of Wales vying for the fullback position. It's a credit to him that he's still playing for Ireland 10 years later.

Anjobe

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Idly googled to see if any tier 2 teams had qualified for the RWC quarter-finals before as I vaguely remembered one of the Pacific countries had and was astonished to find that it had happened five times previously, even more so that Canada was one of the teams concerned.:eek:

Clearly teams were causing surprises in this tournament before Japan...

Japan getting out of the pool is not nearly as big a surprise as previous Tier 2 teams who did this. The 8 quarter finalists are the top 8 teams in the world rankings, so not too much of a surprise at all really.

sydthebeat

evil_seed wrote: »

Anyone else think the following:

1: Japan are STILL being taken very lightly by their opponents. Akin to Connacht when they won the Pro 12.

2: Japan being together for so long prior to the tournament is an unfair advantage

doesnt seem to have done Argentina much good.......

Loafing Oaf

Anjobe wrote: »

Japan getting out of the pool is not nearly as big a surprise as previous Tier 2 teams who did this. The 8 quarter finalists are the top 8 teams in the world rankings, so not too much of a surprise at all really.

Was more thinking about them beating South Africa last time.

Anjobe

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Was more thinking about them beating South Africa last time.

OK, that was a major shock, but your post mentioned tier 2 nations qualifying for the QFs whereas in 2015 Japan lost to Scotland and were knocked out at the pool stage.

At the moment Japan are tier 2 in name only, they have been a better team than either Argentina or Italy (who you could say are tier 1 in name only) for some time and can now legitimately claim to be ahead of Scotland too.

DGRulz

sydthebeat wrote: »

doesnt seem to have done Argentina much good.......

TBF Jaguares had to travel around the world playing matches, JJ had most of the Japan squad together under the Sunwolves A team banner, so they wouldn't have traveled nearly as much.

Yeah_Right

Rockbeast2 wrote: »

Kiwis are soft

Spuds are not

= Irish victory.

They are when they're mashed. Which is what will happen on Saturday.

Dubinusa

NZ are obviously the favorites. They are not at the same level as 2015. I think we will win. Of course. I may be nuts!
I would start Conway over Earl's. He's been great. Beirne at 6, mostly for size and as a l/o option.
I would also give Larmour a shot. Kearney is dependable and experienced. Larmour can change a game in a second.
If it rains, I think we have the advantage.

prawnsambo

Yeah_Right wrote: »

They are when they're mashed. Which is what will happen on Saturday.

I can't imagine a potato being mashed by a kiwi as anything other than a pyrrhic victory. If it is even a victory. :pac:

pc7

Who was it who said they did the last write up and we beat NZ? They need to do the match thread

First Up

Still no news on Aki? The hearing was four hours ago.

pc7

First Up wrote: »

Still no news on Aki? The hearing was four hours ago.

3 match ban, he's going home.

blinding

pc7 wrote: »

3 match ban, he's going home.

New Zealand or Samoa ;) Only kidding .

lleti

He gone

FrancieBrady

So much for the 'hot shot lawyer' they flew out.

rgmmg

FrancieBrady wrote: »

So much for the 'hot shot lawyer' they flew out.

Unfortunately in the fax, the 'o' in the word "shot" read like an 'i' as the IRFU are running low on Toner

Rattlehead_ie

rgmmg wrote: »

Unfortunately in the fax, the 'o' in the word "shot" read like an 'i' as the IRFU are running low on Toner

He gets his revenge for not being selected !!!!:):):):)

blinding

FrancieBrady wrote: »

So much for the 'hot shot lawyer' they flew out.

Was Scotland’s one not knocking about ?

Happy4all

FrancieBrady wrote: »

So much for the 'hot shot lawyer' they flew out.

He loves the rugby. I wonder will he have to stay on until Saturday to finish the paperwork

Stheno

Out of curiosity if a team have a player banned as has happened to Aki and others and the player is no longer involved. If the team go on to win the world cup does the banned player get a medal?

prawnsambo

Stheno wrote: »

Out of curiosity if a team have a player banned as has happened to Aki and others and the player is no longer involved. If the team go on to win the world cup does the banned player get a medal?

You might think that's subtle, but the mocker gods are well up on this sort of thing. :P

Stheno

prawnsambo wrote: »

You might think that's subtle, but the mocker gods are well up on this sort of thing. :P

Aren't Australia in the same boat? And it was a genuine question tbh

prawnsambo

Stheno wrote: »

Aren't Australia in the same boat? And it was a genuine question tbh

I was joking. Thought that was obvious. Don't know the answer, but I would assume as a squad member they are entitled to a medal.

The Nal

FrancieBrady wrote: »

So much for the 'hot shot lawyer' they flew out.

Unless he was able to erase all the video footage and everyones memory there was nothing he could've done.

Yeah_Right

Yeah_Right wrote: »

They are when they're mashed. Which is what will happen on Saturday.

I nominate Yeah_Right to write the match thread

BarryD2

It'll be interesting to see if the QF, SF and final are reffed the same way as regards the Aki card. Forgive my cynicism but somehow or other I think 'mitigating factors' would have been detected in the moment or afterwards if it was an All Black. Not least that it happened very quickly with little time for the player to adjust.

Fornevermore

BarryD2 wrote: »

It'll be interesting to see if the QF, SF and final are reffed the same way as regards the Aki card. Forgive my cynicism but somehow or other I think 'mitigating factors' would have been detected in the moment or afterwards if it was an All Black. Not least that it happened very quickly with little time for the player to adjust.

Bollox. Aki was treated fairly. Ban is right. Move on.

shootermacg

Those AB lads are itching to take someone's head off. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when What we need is 2 five footers in the centre!

aloooof

BarryD2 wrote: »

It'll be interesting to see if the QF, SF and final are reffed the same way as regards the Aki card. Forgive my cynicism but somehow or other I think 'mitigating factors' would have been detected in the moment or afterwards if it was an All Black. Not least that it happened very quickly with little time for the player to adjust.

I'm not buying this conspiracy theory stuff tbh. You just need to go back to SBW getting the red card against the Lions as an example of a red card they received.

Bob Harris

Fornevermore wrote: »

Bollox. Aki was treated fairly. Ban is right. Move on.

He's no loss anyway.

The Lost Sheep

Bob Harris wrote: »

He's no loss anyway.

he really is considering form of other options isnt necessarily the best...

Bazzo

Really tough for Aki, must be totally gutted. Card and suspension length are all correct to the letter of the law but it really could have happened to anyone.

Bob Harris wrote: »

He's no loss anyway.

That's bollix.

Yeah_Right

Deleted User wrote: »

I nominate Yeah_Right to write the match thread

Ireland has a proud literary history. You have produced so many great writers, poets etc.

NZ has a proud sporting history especially in rugby. We have produced so many great athletes, champions etc.

Lets stick to what we're good at.

FrancieBrady

BarryD2 wrote: »

It'll be interesting to see if the QF, SF and final are reffed the same way as regards the Aki card. Forgive my cynicism but somehow or other I think 'mitigating factors' would have been detected in the moment or afterwards if it was an All Black. Not least that it happened very quickly with little time for the player to adjust.

There were far worse tackles in the game, never mind the rest of the WC. The inconsistency is the annoying thing.

I feel for Aki, can always depend on him giving 100% to the jersey.

aloooof

FrancieBrady wrote: »

There were far worse tackles in the game, never mind the rest of the WC. The inconsistency is the annoying thing.

I feel for Aki, can always depend on him giving 100% to the jersey.

Which tackles, specifically?

OnTheCouch

evil_seed wrote: »

Anyone else think the following:

1: Japan are STILL being taken very lightly by their opponents. Akin to Connacht when they won the Pro 12.

2: Japan being together for so long prior to the tournament is an unfair advantage

I did think that when Japan scored their 4th try just after half-time and looked like they would go on to thrash Scotland that they would put down a huge marker and people would start talking about them as contenders for the final and so on.

Probably for their own sake, it's probably just as well that didn't happen, as good and as impressive as it would have looked. Now South Africa are still clear favourites, as you hint at above, which will definitely will suit Japan better, even though I think SA will still win easily enough if they do not get complacent.

GreeBo wrote: »

I think they would prefer regular, competitive matches in a tournament format over these friendly games?

Yeah the friendly or "test" matches are of course better than nothing, but half the teams don't take them seriously, ironically enough it often seems to be the traditionally weaker teams that don't play their best sides, deliberately or through lack of circumstances.

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Idly googled to see if any tier 2 teams had qualified for the RWC quarter-finals before as I vaguely remembered one of the Pacific countries had and was astonished to find that it had happened five times previously, even more so that Canada was one of the teams concerned.:eek:

Clearly teams were causing surprises in this tournament before Japan...

Between 1991 and 1999 Canada had some real top class players. They were perhaps unlucky to not make it out of their group more than once. Professionalism hit them hard though and logistically they are also at a huge disadvantage.

Anjobe wrote: »

Japan getting out of the pool is not nearly as big a surprise as previous Tier 2 teams who did this. The 8 quarter finalists are the top 8 teams in the world rankings, so not too much of a surprise at all really.

As mentioned above, although people claim the All Blacks were essentially professional anyway before 1995, I do think professionalism widened the gap between the top nations and the rest. We shall see now if it can be closed again.

FrancieBrady

aloooof wrote: »

Which tackles, specifically?

The yellow for the Stockdale tackle I think was a bottle job. There was a hit on Murray too that didn't even get looked at.

The Samoan coach didn't think Aki had any intent to do what happened, yet there was no mitigation.
I listened to the highlight reel which seemed to be Aussie commentators and even they thought it was a minor offence.

Aki's world cup is over though. Harsh imo.

FrancieBrady

FrancieBrady wrote: »

The yellow for the Stockdale tackle I think was a bottle job. There was a hit on Murray too that didn't even get looked at.

The Samoan coach didn't think Aki had any intent to do what happened, yet there was no mitigation.
I listened to the highlight reel which seemed to be Aussie commentators and even they thought it was a minor offence.

Aki's world cup is over though. Harsh imo.

Unfortunately for what Aki did to become a yellow, then the tackle on Stockdale would have to become a penalty. I still think it's harsh that a player executing text book tackle technique can get a yellow or even worse.

Weepsie

Again not that I disagree with the red or ban, I'm just seriously annoyed with inconsistency.

Japan player not even cited in the first game. Francis? Cited but let off against USA. I think some of the tackles in Aus- Wales game deserved closer examination too.

World Rugby are making it up as they go along. We could've got away with it, but someone else would've been shafted for something fair

FrancieBrady

Basil3 wrote: »

Unfortunately for what Aki did to become a yellow, then the tackle on Stockdale would have to become a penalty. I still think it's harsh that a player executing text book tackle technique can get a yellow or even worse.

I think we will have to wait a while until they are forced to look at all this again.

The Lost Sheep

OnTheCouch wrote: »

I did think that when Japan scored their 4th try just after half-time and looked like they would go on to thrash Scotland that they would put down a huge marker and people would start talking about them as contenders for the final and so on.

considering draw you would have to be very optimistic to put Japan as contenders for final even with beating us and Scotland as they've to play SA...

Probably for their own sake, it's probably just as well that didn't happen, as good and as impressive as it would have looked. Now South Africa are still clear favourites, as you hint at above, which will definitely will suit Japan better, even though I think SA will still win easily enough if they do not get complacent.

south Africa very unlikely to be complacent as Brighton will be discussed over and over ahead of this game

Yeah the friendly or "test" matches are of course better than nothing, but half the teams don't take them seriously, ironically enough it often seems to be the traditionally weaker teams that don't play their best sides, deliberately or through lack of circumstances.

its been proven again and again that the test matches outside the world cup in November and June are taken seriously by all sides and are a lot more than just friendlies.

Between 1991 and 1999 Canada had some real top class players. They were perhaps unlucky to not make it out of their group more than once. Professionalism hit them hard though and logistically they are also at a huge disadvantage.

they did. Had some real good wins against Wales, France, Scotland.

As mentioned above, although people claim the All Blacks were essentially professional anyway before 1995, I do think professionalism widened the gap between the top nations and the rest. We shall see now if it can be closed again.

it can if they get more games and countries coaches get access to their players more as well as more players playing pro at high level

NeonWolf

aloooof wrote: »

I'm not buying this conspiracy theory stuff tbh. You just need to go back to SBW getting the red card against the Lions as an example of a red card they received.

This rubbish has to stop. They have had two of the highest profile sendings off for this in the last 3 years .Second lions test SBW and Scott Barrett in Bledisloe 1.

The conspiracy theories are embarrassing.

Conceited genetic inferiority.

Ashleigh1986

I would say the all blacks can't wait to repay us for the way over top celebration of Ireland beating them in a " friendly " .
In sport ... The true test is when the exact same thing is on the line for both teams or individuals .
The true greats in sport produce it when it really matters .... This Saturday will show us were this Irish rugby team is at .
It's all well and good winning the odd 6 nations but on the world stage it's all about the next 3 games .

FrancieBrady

NeonWolf wrote: »

This rubbish has to stop. They have had two of the highest profile sendings off for this in the last 3 years .Second lions test SBW and Scott Barrett in Bledisloe 1.

The conspiracy theories are embarrassing.

Conceited genetic inferiority.

Who's talking about 'conspiracy theories' though?

Refs are clearly bottling some decisions because of confusion or unclear inconsistent interpretation of the framework. Aki and Ireland lost out to it this time in a big game. And it will happen in bigger games too.

FrancieBrady

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

I would say the all blacks can't wait to repay us for the way over top celebration of Ireland beating them in a " friendly " .
In sport ... The true test is when the exact same thing is on the line for both teams or individuals .
The true greats in sport produce it when it really matters .... This Saturday will show us were this Irish rugby team is at .
It's all well and good winning the odd 6 nations but on the world stage it's all about the next 3 games .

If it didn't 'matter' to them, why would they not be waiting to 'repay' us?

Weepsie

NeonWolf wrote: »

This rubbish has to stop. They have had two of the highest profile sendings off for this in the last 3 years .Second lions test SBW and Scott Barrett in Bledisloe 1.

The conspiracy theories are embarrassing.

Conceited genetic inferiority.

They've had some seriously high profile oversights too in fairness over the years and let's not start on the 2011 final.

Only if you've been getting away with so many things can you start to think certain decisions were unfair.

blinding

The Rugby authorities should not have left it until the World Cup before coming down on the dangerous tackling .

This should all have been properly in place 18 months before the World Cup .

Its a bit much to expect players to get this right in such a short time . Stable door , horse bolted , stopped with a very dangerous tackle type of thing .

Deaf student

Read WRC statement on Aki. They treated Aki fairly. 3 match ban was right and consistent with their previous decisions. Move ON.

Felt it would be a distraction if IRFU APPEAL (by tomorrow). Better focus on coming match with AB.

Think Joe and his management team been looking at AB and RSA all year. Expect their plan might be different.


My heart says ireland but my head says AB. AB not same team as they were in 2015. But AB turn into a different beast when a match of such importance as this.

Past friendly matches doesn't count it as its all irrelevant. Next Saturday its everything on that day from weather to team selection to referee plus pitch as well

Weepsie

Weepsie wrote: »

They've had some seriously high profile oversights too in fairness over the years and let's not start on the 2011 final.

Only if you've been getting away with so many things can you start to think certain decisions were unfair.

Ah yeah, except that not really true, is it?

If you want to see a high profile oversight, look no further than the final test of the lions series. That decision isn't even up for dispute, whereas a lot of things could be.

If you want to talk tackling, look no further than Owen Farrell. Does what he wants.