Rugby world cup post mortem

No

Like Scotland go on because they got to a semi in whatever year it was, but won what in the last 20+ year won what? even from a club point of view they have one competition win.

Would you take a semi and then 20+ years of nothing? I certainly wouldn't

Three test series, they won 2-1

The Mexico 86 format is a tried and tested 24 team setup, the Euros use it right now. 6 groups, top two qualify plus 4 best 3rd place teams. Great for the tier 2 nations and less dead rubbers.

The 5 team pool is so tedious and boring, surprised it lasted this long.

I see you. Gaslighting, so obvious.

Not really possible.

Group winners would play a 2nd or 3rd placed team. There are several permutations based on which 3rd place teams advance.

Looks like one of the best managers in European Rugby think Johnny should have been replaced towards the end of the game

He thinks that he was blunted as a force at that stage of the game. He was amazed he even managed to finish the game. IHO we need to bei g Crowley on to change the pace of the game while acknowledging that he did not know how JC would come in a knock out game. As well he highlights no replacement for Johnny was the elephant in the room for the Irish team.

Looking at critically nearly every other team was replacing there outhalf with 10-15 minutes to go except Ireland with the oldest OH in the competition

The final. A riveting match to watch particularly the communication s between the ref and the TMO team , the errors spotted and their explainations. Hope Ireland get brain washed on how SA defended for the Whole 80 minutes. NZ was almost through on a number of occasions but for a final tackle - there was always one SA player there in the right position - DE Clerks trip tackle towards the end was a classic

Eddie Jones resigned as Australia coach.

I would say players & ARU are glad to see this ending & can build for home World Cup now with young squad.

He was only shovelling the ball on to the next nearest player. He was not a threat the NZ defence because they knew he was going to pass it.

At one stage he entered a ruck in those last phases, he had to kneel first to get up.

He was on his last legs but Farrell stuck with him. We'll die wondering "What if"

But at least we'd know we subbed a tired player for a fresh player and tried something. This isn't ticket science.

Yeh and we might know it was the wrong call.

There'd be just as many crying about taking him off, in other words.

Some things are just not worth investing in because we'll never know either way.

He was running around trying to keep the ball in play at the very last play.

If you see that as 'dead on his feet' then that is where your problem begins.

He was still offering something, the coach made an in-play decision and is now being second guessed by people clinging to what might have beens and what is basically speculation that doesn't take into account what might have gone wrong.

All is rosy in their idealised views, in other words. That's not the real world where real coaches have to make real decisions.

Correct. Crowley could have tried a rash, inexperienced kick over the top and given possession to NZ to end the game.

Who knows and why torture yourself anyway.

we got 60m up the field with Sexton on the field. What exactly does that prove.

Anyone watching that and thinking Sexton is going to do some magic here was living in cloud cuckoo land.

As I said already, he offered no threat to NZ defence.

I accept, none of us can know what Crowley would have achieved but at the very least he'd have caused some concern to the NZ defence.

What we do know is he would have been fresh legs right when we needed them.

Not when the clock hit 80 he didn't.

Of course people can discuss, but it also ok to ask what is the point of discussing it and speculating that it might have worked. You have to give equal weight to it not working. So pointless really.

The current position could actually be giving the NH an advantage. That also has to be looked at clinically. Maybe the gap between the teams is actually bigger and the timing of the world cup helps narrow it. If the world cup had been switch around, Sexton wouldn't have even been available for it this year.

I think 6N would need to very clinically look at it before trying to push for any change.

You would have thought if the RWC had SH teams more battle hardened for the WC, it would have manifested itself in the pool stages especially, which did not seem to be the case.

The key point is in here for me.

You have to look at everything in context.

It's not Crowley vs Sexton. It's Crowley vs a Sexton, who hardly went 80 mins, in the final 10 minutes of a QF, 38 years of age, struggling to keep up with play and leaving our attack predictable.

The 60m gained is both irrelevant (because the objective was to score a try) and missing context - a tired NZ defense will be easier for basic 10 play to pick at, i.e., before they go to their full line in the 22. Crowley or Byrne could have also brought us 60m up the field in that scenario.

Once inside the 22 is where things get a lot more difficult. And was there upside in Crowley's freshness, superior athleticism and linebreak threat? Yes.

In that scenario, i.e. losing in the final minutes of a knockout game, a coach has no downside when going for broke. Foster/Schmidt made a call in this vein last night, bringing on McKenzie for Mo'unga with 5 to go. Nobody is currently cribbing that Mo'unga might have been the better organizer and gotten them into range for a penalty.

Add it all up for me, and Farrell made an error of judgement based on probabilities. To say certain outcomes need to be 100% proven to say this is a straw man.

Sexton was no longer able to make loop runs or staged plays at that stage. We had bought on a fresh center and winger. We needed to get the ball out to them or to make NZ believe it was an option to move the ball wide. NZ knew that Sexton was incapable of loop runs at that stage and that he was also incapable of line breaks so they would have set there defence up with nobody marking Sexton as he was not a threat