The Hurt Locker: Ireland v South Africa. Saturday 23rd September. Stade DeFrance

I thought he let the game be decided by the teams and not by being the centrepiece.

the journalist grew up in Northern Ireland so despite being a NZ website don’t think he is inherently biased.

To be specific ,

(1)would the ball have been deemed dead if any part of Hanson’s body had touched the dead all line or behind it and he then grounded the ball on the right side of the line

(2)If any part of Hanson’s body had gone over the dead ball line and the ball had been touched down on the right side of the line WHILE HIS BODY WAS FLYING THROUGH THE AIR

Pretty sure it's No.1. If any part of his body makes contact with the end line or goes over it, he is deemed to have gone out of play.

I think he had a momentary brain freeze - he was so excited to be scoring a try and trying to gain a good position for the conversion that he almost lost concentration for a split second on what he was actually doing.

That part is true, but it has to be said that no previous version of the team was good enough to win a World Cup. Yes, they probably 'choked' when they got to the QF, but I don't think they were good enough to win it either....the form just wasn't there when they competed.

It's hard to imagine any Andy Farrell led team choking in the knockout stages. The form book and the No. 1 ranking really suggests they should be making the semis or the final minimum.

Hahahahahah

Textbook clear out for me

I would like dis-associate myself from the above prediction 😄

Don't be obtuse, there is sufficient evidence there, from now and from over the last two years that this is the case.

We beat everyone, all the time.

The squad is content, respected, cohesive.

They have the very best of everything in terms of management, coaching, S&C, psychology and performance management, balance of work and family time.

The depth at every position is real and evident, including 4 or 5 World's best in their jerseys.

The philosophy of the head coach and his assistants is positive and flexible and players are encouraged to innovate.

PS, while I think of it, massive congratulations to Simon Easterby and the players for executing a defensive masterclass last night. It was absolutely incredible.

Just asking g myself wtf is POC doing that has our l/o a mess?

Great win and a really tough encounter. Sexton is just amazing. What a player! All time great.

Interesting reading back on all the comments - my 2c (only watched it the once).

For me Flannery hit a good tone after with his analysis (not sure I agree with his rub of the green bit from the ref though). Delighted with the result obviously but plenty to work on and some things to be a little worried about. At the time I felt like they had most of the ball and territory, which was the case in the 2nd half, but over the course of the match it actually turned out very even. However ROC had these stats: Ball in play tonight was just 27 mins, 19 seconds. Ire only scored 1 pt/22 entry, ruck speed was way slower at 4.83 secs, just 16% of their ball was between 0-2 secs.

With those stats in mind, I don't know if SA will be too upset in terms of I think they know how to beat us, they just didn't take their chances. But then, you could probably say that in a lot of matches. I really wouldn't like to face them again, I think on another day they could have beaten us well and I get the feeling this match was a little bit of an experiment for them - as opposed to a full runout for us. Someone said it was a defensive masterclass, which was true. I just wouldn't like to go through that against them a second time.

Lineout is the primary concern, I don't think Kelleher will like that review as to my mind at least 3-4 of our 6 lost were on him for over- and crooked throws. But that's what pressure does to you I guess. Once we went shorter to POM and Beirne, and Henderson latterly, it improved. Our maul was a plus, as was our maul defence. Still though, the lineout has been a going concern for a while now - this is looking like a coaching issue.

I think we're a very smart, well-drilled team able to change the approach as needed. For us to win this World Cup we're going to have to break the record for consecutive wins. We've had the rub of the green in terms of injuries compared to others and I think we'll need that to continue.

15 - Great game, some lovely running in broken play, he reminds me of Ntamack Sr. the way he glides across the pitch. Maybe could have put Lowe in? Must see that moment again

14 - Took some great ball in the air, used his footwork well to beat defenders. Always a threat with ball in hand.

13 - Some great defensive reads albeit a few (3) missed, flew into the tackles (thankfully didn't do damage to himself with one). Stood up big time.

12 - Monster. He's arguably the player of the entire tournament so far. A long way from being dropped by his province not so long ago! 66m made, lovely distribution (most passes outside of the 9 and 10). His run of form is very timely

11 - I see some people saying he was superb - I'd say he actually wasn't at his best on the whole but had superb moments, and very important ones at important times in the second half. He also had some very poor moments in the first half - there was a string of missed high balls, tackles, charged down - that may be getting forgotten. But that Etzebeth tackle was worth the entrance fee alone (and revenge for when Etzebeth went in on his knee for the great turnover).

10 - absolutely superb, a ridiculous performance for a 38-year-old in a match like this. His fitness is critical to our chances. Brilliant in defence and made his tackles

9 - a night to forget, I thought it was a very poor performance. Missed four of his five tackles, fumbling at the base, overran a pass... would have liked to have seen Murray on earlier. I wonder is his place under threat. (EDIT: Just remembered he did have one excellent kick to touch, that was great)

8 - Thought he was everywhere, 13 tackles, lineout, ball in hand, most metres made of the pack.

7 - Similar to Doris, he was everywhere. Superb workrate.

6 - Similar to JvdF, has was everywhere. Superb workrate! Really helped settle the lineout and caused their one trouble as it went on. Not sure why we didn't use him more earlier on, poor calling.

5 - I thought he was so-so, lowest tackle rate of the back five, lost the ball a couple of times and the management made the right call to take him off for Henderson who added real oomph

4 - Most tackles outside of the backrow, missed a couple though. Along with POM I thought he secured good lineout ball when it was needed - was that his initial maul involvement at the end or Baird that helped secure the win?

3 - Held his own in the scrum, still not back to his dominant best (poor workrate in defence and attack) and I wonder is he under pressure from Bealham?

2 - A night to forget at the lineout obviously but put himself about defensively (most tackles of the front row) while missing a couple. I'd be more comfortable seeing Herring on the bench in future behind Sheehan.

1 - A real warrior and I think possibly our most important player because of the drop-off behind him. Similar to Sexton, his fitness is crucial to our chances.

I thought the subs all did really well and stepped it up - Murray was very composed under the cosh compared to JGP and brilliant in defence, five tackles and two crucial ones. Crowley had lovely passes right on the line. Henderson was exceptional I thought, brought real physicality that was badly needed at the time. I wonder is there a case to start him ahead of Ryan against this lot? Bealham did well in the scrum and hit 6 tackles in his time on the pitch, same as James Ryan in his time. Henshaw was busy defensively too. Was it Baird at the end in the maul?

Just seeing on Virgin Media there them talking about Johnny asking O'Keeffe not to coach SA into avoiding penalties, which led to multiple subsequent penalties to Ireland. Really clever stuff, completely missed it last night.

Where does Scotland beating us by 8 points come from?

It's the only way they advance just so long as Scotland win 4-0 in match points. Not realistic but from a mathematic's perspective that's Scotland path to the QF's.

Thanks