Ireland v Romania, RWC Pool B. Stade De Bordeaux, 14:30 Saturday 9th September 2023. Virgin TV / ITV

gavkm27

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121090094#Comment_121090094

Yeah he was there at the back with O’Mahony looked fine.

Buddy Bubs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091449#Comment_121091449

YouTube. Just watched the 13 tries again

Jump_In_Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091777#Comment_121091777

Who kicked the ball for the Romanian try? The follow up was poor. Earls went on the outside and was blocked by their winger but the kicker never filled the gap, would be a lesson learned there to chase up kicks with more purpose I think.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091812#Comment_121091812

That's quite a take anyway....

Jump_In_Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091838#Comment_121091838

I think it was Sexton, clearly didn’t fan wide enough and we had no fullback at that moment so lesson has to be learned.

TRC10

That's the sort of scoreline the no.1 side in the world should be putting up against the 19th ranked side who didn't even qualify for the world cup. Good confidence boosting and hopefully momentum building win. Much tougher tests to come obviously.

I was nervous beforehand that it might be a Namibia '07 sort of game for us. But thankfully it wasn't and we dispatched them with ease. 65 minutes into Sexton's legs and him looking very sharp was a big plus too.

Lineout issues still haven't been rectified though which is a big worry for me.

kuang1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092223#Comment_121092223

Thank fook for that.

Imagine if you had nothing to worry about?!

Hell on earth I'd say.

ersatz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091812#Comment_121091812

It was sexton then his chase was not effective and he didn’t cover where earls had been so he ended up in no man’s land, neither effectively chasing nor defending. It’s not on Keet.

CMcsporty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091538#Comment_121091538

Bundee has looked like he is back to his 2016 brilliant best. Fit, Fast and full of confidence. Just give him the ball.

Re the Romanian try, Sexton kicked to their back three in a situation where it immediately created an overlap, 1v1 for them. I suspect it's a kick he doesn't make against stronger opposition, but the timing of the score was ideal as it forced him to reign things in a bit rather than try and create everything himself, and we proceeded to put in some lovely team scores as a result.

Earls went from chasing a loose ball to having to make a cover tackle. He probably should have been a bit more aware of his exposure but it was Sexton that put us into that situation.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095578#Comment_121095578

He's the best version of himself right now that I've ever seen. He still has all his pace but looks to have added more bulk in the last six months. His handling in the warm ups was exceptional - his range of passes left and right have changed the nature of the type of threat that he is. Despite a weird year for Connacht, he looks to be peaking at exactly the right time for Ireland. If Ireland go deep into the tournament I can bet his performances will be one of the talking points.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121091996#Comment_121091996

Sexton ran the support line off Earls as it was a grubber and not a contestable garryowen. It absolutely was not his responsibility to cover Earls space, and it takes quite a bit of mental gymnastics to put the blame on that try into Sexton.

If you watch Keenan in that passage of play he literally gets stuck between the decision to run back and cover the space, or move forward to join the attack

Jump_In_Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095645#Comment_121095645

That's your take which is unsurprising. I see it as a systems failure. The move ended with a pass out to the edge and a probing kick behind the winger for our winger to chase which he did. Our backfield cover and the kicker should have been able to close off the space behind Earls but they didn't. Trying to pin all the blame on one individual is conspicuous to say the least. I'd like to think the coaches will be reviewing that and giving feedback about how the system failed so we don't get caught out like that again.

I wouldn't change anything about what Earls did, but I would definitely change how the space behind him was covered.

aloooof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095837#Comment_121095837

I'd like to see it again, but I think one mistake in the build up to it was the option to go blindside at all - we were short numbers to the point that the grubber was probably the only option.

(With the angle of the kick and the bounce of the ball, Earls was caught between attacking the ball and covering the space behind. One of those situations where the winger is left in no-man's land. He didn't cover himself in glory either tho).

 I'd like to think the coaches will be reviewing that and giving feedback about how the system failed so we don't get caught out like that again.

Personally I think it's not the type of kick we typically see from that area of the field so it may be the case that we just don't see it again this RWC.

sydthebeat

That's your take which is unsurprising

whats that supposed to mean? if you are trying to bring provincal sh!te into this you can keep it.

Trying to pin all the blame on one individual is conspicuous to say the least.

what was that you said??

Who kicked the ball for the Romanian try? The follow up was poor. Earls went on the outside and was blocked by their winger but the kicker never filled the gap, would be a lesson learned there to chase up kicks with more purpose I think.

you literally tried to blame it off on the kicker. you could at least be consistent, instead of now trying to blame a "systems error" for how to defend an attacking grubber kick.

sextons line was perfect, he ran the inside support line. the responsibility to cover the back field absolutely was not his. i had a look at it again, and it is actually keenan who spots the danger straight away, and is making his way across even before the romanian has his hands on the ball. it was been ringrose in the centre of the pitch who is planted in indecision, but you cant really blame him either as hes just gotten up from carrying the ball into the previous ruck. it was simply unlucky that the two players running back to try to cover the inside pass from the Romanians were porter and o mahony, and neither had the gas to keep up.

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095907#Comment_121095907

Personally I think it's not the type of kick we typically see from that area of the field so it may be the case that we just don't see it again this RWC.

we tried that type of kick about 3 times in game, all down earls side. AFAIR it worked out in the other two situations.

aloooof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095928#Comment_121095928

Against Romania, yes. I'm not sure we see it all that often against bigger teams?

Buer

It was a low percentage, unnecessary play. More often than not that ball ends up going into touch or a player collects and is tackled into touch.

I don't think the execution was poor but Romania dealt with it well. Decision was questionable at best. Earls was stuck on the outside and their defender did a good job of shepherding him to a place where he wasn't able to get close to the ball. Might have done better than throwing a leg out but I wouldn't blame him too much if at all.

Really was immaterial ultimately. Earls didn't have a great day but it's more because he just doesn't have the legs nor does he fit the Irish style relative to the other back three players. The number of touches that Hansen, Keenan and Lowe had was outrageous (86 between them). Earls just isn't that type of player. I don't think he's out there necessarily for his on pitch contributions anyway though and that's fine by me. If he is important behind the scenes, then he's making a solid contribution to any potential success.

CMcsporty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095837#Comment_121095837

The decision to kick was mad anyway!

Looks like we will see loads of kicks at this WC to get behind the defense. That one was never on.

Interested Observer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095933#Comment_121095933

Would you mind sharing where you are seeing those player stats (number of touches)? RWC site nor Irish rugby site seems to go to that level of detail.

The RWC site is actually presented quite poorly in that you can't just sort by number, only by the stat value itself, and both teams are mixed up together. So if you're looking for a specific player you will potentially have to scan the entire list.

arsebiscuits1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121096183#Comment_121096183

Irish Rugby put up a performance tab in their results report which breaks down most things which presumably OP is referring to

https://www.irishrugby.ie/overview/?FixGuid=23IS9164

arsebiscuits1

30 seconds – Romania 10m. 5 man called. Good read by Romania. 2 dummys not bought. Ultimately a simple lift at 4 to steal. Poor call by Ireland

10:38 – Ireland 10m. 5 man called again. Good throw to tail. Dummy pod at 4 fools Romania allowing uncontested at tail. Potentially learned from the first call.

16:06 – Half way. 6 +1 called. Minor movement but a solid throw to 4/5 arcing over Romanian jumper that was well beaten into the air anyway. Good throw and good execution. Ryan catches at full tilt

19:06 – Ireland 22m. 5+1 called. Out jumped Romania with a throw to tail with POM the receiver coming in as lifter. Crooked throw by Herring. Hard to tell from angle but looked a tad harsh. Herring standing ~2m outside 22m line and Ryan catches it ~1m outside the 22m line and for me it clearly goes down the channel. Again, tough angle to fully gauge it.

43:24 – Romania 5m line. 6+1 called POM receiver. Simple throw to 5/6 channel. No contest. Caught, mauled.

57:04 – Ireland 10m line. Broadcast missed it but looked to be a 6+1. Kelleher throwing. Henderson takes seemingly uncontested. Strong maul gaining 10m before VDF breakaway.

60:45 – Romania 22m. 5+1 called. Throw to the 4/5 channel well read by Romania. Great throw and great jump negate the risk. Dummy maul set up for Kelleher on the peel for god inroads to the line.

73:19 – Romania 7m line. 6+1. Throw to Henderson. No Dummy jumps or movement. Romania get a hand on it to steal but they literally **** their jumper straight across to the point where he lands 2m behind the maul on the Irish side. Chalked down as a lost lineout but realistically on a more even game that is called every time. Ref giving them a sporting chance at this point.

74:04 – Romania 22m line. 7 full man lineout. Same call as previous straight to Henderson. Good throw good jump straight down to Murray Ireland score off first phase

77:58 – Romania 7m line. 6+1 called. Throw to 6 for Beirne. No contest from Romania. Overthrow by Kelleher. Poor overthrow it must be said.

79:10 – Half way. 6+1 called again. Henderson straight up at 4. Beats the Romanians into the air with an excellent jump and lift and the throw is much better.

So overall we have 11 Irish lineouts. 4 lost. 1 by blatant illegality. One by a mildly harsh crooked throw. One out jumped on a poor call. And one poor throw.

By no means a perfect showing. And definitely some stuff to work on. But it was extremely noticeable to me we had very little inventiveness regarding dummy jumpers and lifters. And not a huge amount of movement either. These were out cookie cutter lineout moves. I have no doubt we have more up our sleeve.

I do not believe our line out is a problem

aloooof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121096502#Comment_121096502

So overall we have 11 Irish lineouts. 4 lost. 1 by blatant illegality. One by a mildly harsh crooked throw. One out jumped on a poor call. And one poor throw.

I do not believe our line out is a problem

I think the worry is if we're having these struggles against Romania, we won't have things as easy against other more difficult opposition, even if we do have more up our sleeve...

For me, it's our biggest area of concern, tbh.

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121096502#Comment_121096502

I do not believe our line out is a problem

4 out of 11 lineouts lost is absolutely a problem, no matter the breakdown. Especially on the back of consistent poor lineout performances.

The question is whether its a fixable problem.

arsebiscuits1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121096816#Comment_121096816

If it's our biggest problem I'm glad its the biggest problem we have. Because it's rather overstated.

We stopped any real movement or legitimate dummy pods in the first half.

No point over showing the copybook when you're already 40 points to the good. Keeping it simple does open you up to the possibility of getting your jumps read though

ionadnapokot

I agree. Not worried about it when Ryan, POM and Beirne are in there.

Herring looks in good form. It was great to see Kelleher again. Hopefully Sheehan makes the bench v Tonga.

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121096848#Comment_121096848

There is, however, a point in practicing your lineout in real match scenarios because it has not been working for 4 games now. You can't just flip a switch on the training ground and correct that.

Dubinusa

I reckon the injuries affecting Kelleher and Sheehan could be problematic. Sheehan needs to get minutes under his belt.

For me, Loughman needs another run out. He was poor and it was uncharacteristic imo. He's usually pretty good around the park. I'd prefer him to Kilcoyne.

leakyboots

That's as poor as I've seen Loughman play to be honest, I'm not sure I'd be writing him off just yet at this level

FrancieBrady

Watched the game again and Aki must be wondering what levels he is going to have hit to get a WC Man of The Match award.

He put in some shift.

ersatz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121098345#Comment_121098345

You think players care about POTM awards? I would have thought they are a bit of a joke from a player pov.