SA vs Ireland First Test 2024 - The World Champions vs The Best Team in the World

theVersatile

Yeah I don't buy the argument that Kelleher didn't know what he was doing there - you always know where you're feet are and where the ball is in those situations. "He wasn't looking" isn't an excuse for a stamp on somebody in a ruck and I don't think it's an excuse here either.

Still 100% a neck roll on Kelleher though which should override all as an act of foul play.

xpletiv

Lifelong Springbok supporter incoming ;)

Savage match yesterday. Boks were powerful. Some mistakes on both sides and a bit of extra luck for SA. Work rate for boks was through the roof, and just always kept Ireland on the back foot. Kriel was immense. Despite his mistake, Lowe was outstanding as well, the bad ball back in and his try were both quite unlucky.

And how quickly Irelands Zombie has been taken by SA fans for Rassie :D

Saw some 'classless' comments about SA crowd during incident - do you not think this is the right call and way to do it? Poor guy is getting attention on the field. TV does not want to have to draw attention to it. So crowd are riled up to distract from the event on field, give commentators something else to talk about... I think they did it the right way. It does not mean any disrespect and Casey was clapped off as well and cheered when he raised the hand. I get your point but I think the alternative is silence that makes the situation more morbid and more uncomfortable for everyone, and Casey probably thinking 'everyone's eyes are on me'. The party atmosphere was kept alive and made for excellent atmosphere for the rest of the match.

FtD v2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354085#Comment_122354085

He's not trying to spoil there though - quite the opposite. We've gotten them in a difficult position and we're trying to effect a turnover so we can attack quickly.

The repeated assurances that "he knew what he was doing" is just conjecture from people who genuinely can't know whether he did or he didn't. It's more than reasonable to assume he absolutely didn't because he's not facing the ball, he's got one guy swinging out of his neck and another playing his leg at the same time, so the notion that he's so composed during all of this to effect a neat little measured back heel is a stretch for me.

But, as I said - the ref is right there and staring straight into the ruck at the time it happens. He sees the ball come back and obviously judges it a rugby incident, and incidental contact from Kelleher's boot as he was being (illegally cleared out). That the TMO came back to that ruck and missed obvious SA infringements to highlight that incredibly marginal call against Kelleher as a means to overturn a try is ridiculous - especially given how little he flagged all during the game of late clear outs and clear outs way past the ball all through the game.

FtD v2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354186#Comment_122354186

No, I genuinely don't think it's the "right way to do it". There is a world of sensible enough middle ground between hyping up the crowd to create a party atmosphere and the "morbid, uncomfortable" silence you described, and the fans in the stands should know how to behave without needing some guy on a tannoy telling them what to do.

That sort of incident unfortunately happens in rugby grounds all over the world from time to time, and I've never seen a reaction like Saturday. When I watched the game back, I imagined watching that whole sequence as a member of his family potentially and how enraging it would be to see the crowd behaving in an absolutely oblivious fashion to a guy who is obviously quite seriously hurt. It, along with the SA players high-fiving Snyman from the hit, were all what I would call as classless.

Podge_irl

I didn't care for the crowd thing, but I also think it's cultural and I'm just going to write it off as one of those things I don't understand.

TV does not want to have to draw attention to it.

This, however, is the exact opposite of what the TV did. They focused on Casey on a close shot for far too long and that's pretty indefensible.

BoardsMember

Whatever about the balance of decisions going our way, or not, I don't think the way we "manage" refs is helping us. Or ele we're just a moany bunch of whiners.

Clo-Clo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354310#Comment_122354310

This is all based on how Sexton worked with refs, Sexton did stick up for his team mates. I remember one SA team came out and 2-3 high tackles on Leinster players. At least one off the pitch and Sexton rightly had words with the ref. More or less saying it is Sexton responsibility as captain for the safety of the players. He was 100% right

Yet in the media and RTE they complained about his talking to the ref.

We didn't get the rub of the green but mostly with the TMO and not the actual ref. So that wasn't down to the players on the pitch.

phog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354339#Comment_122354339

Pearce, rightly or wrongly was visibly annoyed with how Doris was interacting with him. He spoke to Doris at least twice to tell him he wasn't happy with it.

Maybe Doris was annoyed at the TMO but Pearce had enough of him.

FtD v2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354389#Comment_122354389

His annoyance after the Casey incident wasn't with Doris, it was the fact that Doris, the captain, was the third player to approach Pearce on the issue.

Pearce also has no business "having enough of him" - Pearce was the one who came across badly on Saturday, losing his patience multiple times. Every single one of the incidents Doris highlighted to him were incidents where Ireland were legitimately entitled to seek a review, most especially the Doris try under the posts that Pearce clearly got wrong.

Dubinusa

The match was a killer. Brilliant to watch. Great atmosphere and full of drama. I hope the next match is as good.

I would assume that Snyman has contacted Casey after the match. They were team mates and are likely friends.

boetstark

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122353984#Comment_122353984

🥱🥱🥱🤧🤧🤧😅😅😅.

Do some munster or irish fans ever stop moaning. Even Doris was at it.

Caseys hands still in contact with the ball. Fair tackle but a pity his head hit a rock hard surface. Get over it.

jammiedodgers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354186#Comment_122354186

TV does not want to have to draw attention to it.

Probably shouldn't have zoomed in on the player while he was unconscious then.

pickarooney

The way Kolbe hopped off the ground grounding his try, it must have been like a rock.

Buer

Lovely, flat inside pass, hard decoy line and late strike runner.

Should be an outhalf, inside centre and full back…..but was a tighthead, loosehead and hooker.

Not enough being made of just how good this try was.

Bealham is about to release a flat pass in the above image. He took it right to the gain line (getting smashed as he released it as per below), the defender coming across bites on Healy and Kelleher absolutely bursts his lungs to get flat and takes it with outstretched arms at full pace.

Front row membership revoked for all three.

theVersatile

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354488#Comment_122354488

I don't know what I'm more offended by - your insinuation that Irish fans love moaning or your insinuation that Interested Observer is a Munster fan!

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354762#Comment_122354762

One of the best tries we've scored in recent memory. Solid summation of the match in your earlier post, this match had shades of the QF, we played a lot of good rugby but had far to many errors. I know it won't happen, but I'd love to see Frawley get a game at 12, where he's best imo. Ringrose or Osborne at 13. We're missing that 2nd phase distributor that Hansen and Keenan provide.

Ben Bailey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122353885#Comment_122353885

Who's moaning ?.

Anyone (including officials) who walks onto a pitch can make a mistake & it's reasonable to assume that player errors get as much post match attention as their moments of outstanding play. It follows that if we are not to highlight errors in the officials performances (for the good of the game) we shouldn't critique player performances either.

But the TMO doesn't step onto the pitch & has the advantage (which the Ref & ARs don't) of multiple angles & slow motion replays. Irrespective of the result of any match, it is reasonable for the performance of the officials to be critiqued.

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122352879#Comment_122352879

Just because a SA player had poor game from the tee doesn't excuse an Irish player having an even poorer performance from the tee. Even then, Pollard scored double the points and a higher % of his kicks than Crowley.

Ireland lost by seven and Crowley left seven points out there from missed kicks - it clearly cost us. Even taking your usual circling the wagons approach to certain players, not sure how even you can justify taking umbrage with someone pointing Crowley's poor performance from the tee.

Not calling for Crowley to be dropped or anything but a 40% success rate as a kicker is atrocious. Simply isn't acceptable for an international level 10.

Interested Observer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122355349#Comment_122355349

You can forgive a touchline conversion but one of the kicks in particular was absolutely awful as well, right in front of the posts. He missed 7 points worth of kicks in a game we lost by 7, but hey, he plays for Munster so it doesn't count!

Mod: Trolling.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122355382#Comment_122355382

Ah yes munster...the team with the inside track on irish rugby 😂

The Macho Man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122354488#Comment_122354488

At no point during Casey's time on the ground or on the stretcher did RG come over and check on him. Every game has late hits etc. and we accept its part of the game but as in Soccer you'll always see the offending player come over just as a show of respect and courtesy. If your own players can't show respect on the pitch, well, don't be surprised if we complain.

RG sticking the head into him on the ground, doesn't look good mate.

Foxtrol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122355874#Comment_122355874

Agree with the first part - though are we 100% sure he didn't go over at any stage? We didn't have a constant feed of Casey during the whole time he was down and going off.

The additional contact after they hit the ground is incredibly minor though. Snyman could have no idea he was knocked out at that point when he did it and keeping the opposition 9 down for a few extra seconds is standard. You see that kind of stuff dozens of times a game. If Casey wasn't unconscious no one would even mention it - which is common to the whole reaction to the incident.

I think the rg tackle has been blown out of proportion because casey got injured. It was a dog shot but thwt kind of thing will always be a part of any contract sport and its not intentionally injuring anyone. I

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122352425#Comment_122352425

Ite clear and obvious he knew where the ball was and its clear and obvious his foot moves towards the ball. His foot is dragged along the floor and he makes no effort to lift his foot to avoid striking the ball. Again, all of these things point to it being an intentional movement.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122352432#Comment_122352432

It does stand up to scrutiny. The video is clear for all to see.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122353033#Comment_122353033

He doesn't need eyes in his ankles when the ball is touching his leg. Hence the reason he dragged his foot along the floor.

Ben Bailey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122355980#Comment_122355980

I don't follow. How does he know where the ball is so that he can consciously move his leg towards it ?. It does not seem 'clear' that his movement is deliberate. You can believe that it was, but no one other than the player himself can say with any clarity what he was consciously trying to do. Your opinion of what he was trying to do is just that, an opinion.

gneel

The whole sequence of Casey getting injured is so frustrating. Snyman plays the 9 whilst in the ruck, then follows through causing the injury when Casey has already passed the ball. The scrum leads to a SA penalty which leads to Kolbe's amazing opportunist try. Should have been a penalty to Ireland under their posts.

FtD v2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122356068#Comment_122356068

And, insult to injury, to play it out, he awards SA a scrum, they get a penalty at the scrum, kick it to touch, and it's the one where Lowe keeps the ball alive and the others are switched off and Kolbe swoops in for an easy try.

All from a lineout in their 22 after Casey's great 50-22. It's an infuriating sequence.

Podge_irl

Given the utter litany of mistakes made, it would be an absurd stretch to claim Crowley's kicking cost us the game. However, it is also clearly a potential issue that has reared its head a few times and denying that is just a bit silly. He has no competitor for the jersey and he is otherwise playing decently, but he need to work on it.

aloooof

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122356165#Comment_122356165

I’d agree 100% with this, tbh. His goal kicking is an area that I’m full convinced will improve. But there’s no way it cost us the game or will cost him his place, given everything else.

Some of the takes on this thread are just removed from reality, imo. I just don’t see any world where Prendergast starts ahead of him next week. Or where Crowley and Casey are “AIL level”.

It’s just difficult to have a reasonable argument on here at the moment imo.

phog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122356165#Comment_122356165

More so, when Pollard left 9 points to Crowley's 7 but a few posters don't want to recognise that fact.