Rugby world cup post mortem

Those 8 days were non-consecutive, 8 different reasons we lost those quarter finals, some we were just unlucky, 1991 for example, some we lacked depth, 2015 for example and some we were just shite, 2019 and 2023

Most years was a mix of these reasons

Wait, Zebo would have been the difference against NZ? Maybe he could have replaced Porter.

Grow up FFS.

Ah brilliant - you're allowed come on and call people a Muppet.

Thats lovely Boards, thanks very much. I'd hate to see the bit that was edited out😂

I love how people on here twist things to try make their own argument.

Did I ever say someone on the Irish team should have been pulled at 30 minutes?

Please tell me where I said or alluded to that?

What I did use as argument is that players who are not playing well, making a real contribution should not be immune from being subbed.

And yes I think Sexton should have been subbed.

All he did for a lot of the match was offload, something different was needed to at least make the Kiwis think a bit.

I also wonder if Hanson should even be on the pitch at all.

As for match other night.

AFAIK Libbok's out of hand kicking is usually not that bad, his major issue appears to be off the tee.

But get this, the SA management copped on it was a mistake and changed it.

Good management teams realise when things are going wrong and not working meaning changes are needed.

They are quickly reactive.

Irish management teams, and as we have seen recently it aint just rugby, appear to sit there thinking things will miraculously change.

Yes Kolbe was on the pitch and ideally if they had the luxury could have been subbed for someone way bigger, but maybe the management saw the need to sub others in preference.

After all it is a management team that have managed to win a world cup, so I would give them benefit of the doubt.

Also probably every management team that has won a world cup have rotated their squad more than us.

Isn't it about time some people cottoned on to the fact that it appears to work out better than just always using the tried and tested first team.

Im sure the coaches are not happy, but you can be sure the SA fans are happy that the coaches had the courage to make big changes and take off big names and now they have a final to look forward to

I didn't twist anything, when I read the post it seemed to suggest Ireland didn't pull off players early in NZ match like SA did. My mistake if I read wrong

Libbok was a mistake before the game even kicked off. It was silly of the Bok management team to not check the weather and know about the rain in forecast. it was no surprise it was raining, was called for days plus the game plan England have is the same as Borthwick has played since he became a head coach.

You can spin any match to suit the argument you want to make but the semi final IMO was poor coaching from the SA team from the start. If they didn't have a scrum at the end they would have lost that game and they would be crucified now by their media for not checking the weather.

Players don't get hooked off after 30 mins because most teams put in proper preparation and normally it happens if they are getting battered, like SA. Just see the images of Rassie before and after half time, have you ever seen him so irate while trying to change the game plan. It also leave them with a huge problem with Libboks confidence and a final to play

Hansen played well till he was taken off, Sexton was also instrumental in the Ireland fightback. Including the long play at the end when he worked the team up to the NZ 22 but then ball was turned over, not Sextons fault.

And the dupont decision was a bad call as well, and hes 12 years younger.

No unforced errors, despite Aki strolling through 5 defenders to score. NZ made plenty of mistakes, we had them under massive pressure. Did you miss the parts where we went coast to coast with the ball on numerous occasions?

You keep posting about the two teams that kept on their tried and thrusted as if they won, they lost. Maybe, if either of the coaches had taken a punt on a fresher pair of legs. Farrell in particular could have tried Crowley as someone who can create something, maybe we'd have been in a Semi Final last weekend but no, we left on a tired Sexton and lost. We can die wondering about losing out on our best opportunity

From the match thread

Sexton looks totally gassed.

Sexton looks wrecked.

Sorry, but 2023 Sexton is not on the same planet as Dupont, even an injured Dupont.

It's a huge ask for pro players, especially Irish pro players. Most Irish players never play games to that level of intensity in such a short space of time. Expecting Irish players to play 4-5 high intensity games week after week is a massive ask.

Every other teams rotate to keep their to rest them and avoid injuries. Again I've no idea why Ireland think not avoiding injuries is important. There's absolutely no reason to not rotate at a World cup, it just doesn't make any sense to play the same core group of players ane expect to go far in the tournament. Again, I don't know we'd play a full team against Scotland either, they're a fairly average team and we should be able to rotate for games like that.