Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Underperformed under pressure. Again, you can dispute the definition of choking if you want. I'll give a few examples of the definition below:

In sport, choking under pressure is a negative athletic experience that may have psychologically damaging effects

In sports, choking is the failure of a person, or persons, to act or behave as anticipated or expected

Choking under pressure ensues when athletes fail to meet their performance goals, usually during high-pressure situations

Choking can be defined as a sub-optimal sporting performance delivered when under pressure.

Now, here's what Rob Kearney had to say after the New Zealand match:

“I said before the game that if Ireland were even at 90% of what they’re capable of, they would win. They were so brave and tried so hard. They filled the country with so much pride, but at the end of the day, they weren’t at 90%. Here we are, at another quarterfinal, and we didn’t produce the rugby this team is capable of. That’s the bit that will hurt so much.”

Then Shane Horgan said:

"It’s heartbreaking because of the result. It’s also heartbreaking because they didn’t deliver the performance they wanted. Their sub-maximum performance was nearly enough, but they were quite a bit off today in a lot of areas. Some of them will have to live this for four years. Some of them will have to live with it for the rest of their lives. There is no easy way to put it."

So there you have it. Kearney and Horgan basically using the definition of choking. As I've stated. I agree with their verdict, you don't. That's fair enough. I think we should move on for the benefit of other posters.

Do you disagree with all the definitions I've listed for you? If so, take that up with those who made the definition. You may have been unfamiliar with how choking is defined, Shane Horgan may be the same. But his statement and that of Rob Kearney aligns with the definition of choking. Uncomfortable truth, yes but the truth it is.

In your opinion they 'choked'.

Teams only choke when they are expected to win something.

You had an expectation we would win.

That was never a legitimate expectation, it was always a 50/50 game.

i miss the Zebo debates at this point

I don't think anyone has said that!

If you think New Zealand had to play an unbelievable game to beat Ireland and Ireland were just unlucky then fair enough.

It should also be fair enough for others to have the opinion that the occasion got to many of our players and it affected their performance negatively.

There's no point in anyone getting stroppy, strawmanning or any other carry on just because there's a difference of opinion.

No handling errors and they took their chances. We lost by a whisker. N.Z did the business and won. It's not like we'd beat them by 20. It wasn't a good day at the office. We underperformed and fair play to the kiwis. 4 more years of agony.

I'm one who thinks that we can win the feckin world cup and could have this time. The disappointment is awful. But we're going to improve, imo. 4 years to develop players and get systems in place. We will be champions in 4 years!!! Believe!

I'm not saying we lost because of Sexton. Just thinking of the penalties he's missed that looked standard fare for him.

All kickers miss penalties.

Pollard has some real nightmares and why a lot of Bok fans wanted options for this World Cup. I remember this game and some really terrible kicks

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/south-africa-rugby-team-ripped-21618020

Im a bit of a neutral between the provinces. I support them all and when they play each other I tend to support he underdog or the team that's shooting the lights out. For me Ulster have underperformed spectacularly for many years. They have many decent and some fantastic players and they always have a couple of elite niqs on the books. Im not sure if its coaching or the provincial structure there but Ulster's problems are not in Dublin.

I doff my cap in respect to the above.

It's still affecting me. For example, yesterday I had to take an Ireland jersey off my daughter, it's a choking hazard.

Ireland didn't choke v New Zealand at the World cup. They just gave themselves a lot to do after 13 minutes in the match and couldn't catch Nz. Selection decisions, managing the cards and subs could have and should have been made differently but we were on their line right at the end of the game and had gotten over the line a few minutes eallrlier only to be held up. That is not choking..

For me they did choke v NZ back in 2013.

19 - 0 after 17 minutes. Sexton missed a conversion. Still 22 - 7 up after 33 minutes. Failed to score again.

Sexton missed a penalty to seal victory after 74 minutes and get the lead back out to 8 points.

30 seconds to go then Owens gives a mad peno v Jack mcgrath.

2 minutes later Crotty sneaks over on the corner.. still hurts.