Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

38 year old Sexton barely running at the end of a game where the ball was in play for 42 minutes due to pressure and not age/fatigue in a tournament where the average ball in play time was 34.18 is an interesting take.

Safe to say we are not going to agree on this topic. I was disappointed like everyone here that we couldn’t bring the trophy home but our feelings pale in comparison to the coaches and players who spent years building up to the tournament. I have no doubt they will assess what didn’t go their way and try to rectify it going on as they have over the last 4 years when things haven’t gone our way.

Also take any media soundbites from sports players with a pinch of salt. There is nothing to gain for them by going into any deep detail, only controversy and further questions.

The future is bright for Irish rugby.

It wasn't a poor performance in the way you're trying to portray it as. Both teams made errors. Aki's try was atrocious defending on NZ's part, as Jordan's try was for us. If Kelleher grounds the ball, we probably win the game. It was one of the hardest fought games in the history of the tournament. NZ were also absolutely shattered at the end.

We made basic errors, easy kicks but most of all we played with fear. That's not what we were doing for the past 2 years. I'm not sure if it was this thread but someone had a look at our stats and it showed we played a different game than what we had been doing.

Also, you're ignoring the fact that this was the worst New Zealand team to enter a World Cup. They were there for the taking. It was a weak tournament overall, this was our chance. As Rob Kearney said, if we played close to our best we would have beaten them but we were nowhere near that. And that was down to the occasion.

I think those past issues won't be a factor simply because, the players coming into the environment have won u20 grand slams and reached a u20 world cup final. Overall, we're in a good place. Consider where we were when Farrell came in!

This past world cup showed me that depth wise were still a little short. It was always going to be hard to lean on a 37 year old out half. This cycle, we have players coming up that win and win consistently.

Absolute bollox, we didn't play with fear. The single biggest factor imo, besides Kelleher's error, was JGP having a poor game. The opening sequence saw us in their 5m line twice before the Aki try, and both times JGP took a poor action that led to a turnover. He took poor choices in the second half too, trying to go wide too soon etc.

so what is it? Are they always telling the truth so? Are you just choosing that which suits your viewpoint? Professional sportspeople do media training and rarely say much of actual interest. It’s all a nonsense. We don’t really ever get to hear or see what’s really said or done behind closed doors because in actual fact it’s none of our business. They throw a few crumbs to keep the journos happy. Anyone not in those camps who thinks they know what way the players feel based on a couple of tweets is just kidding themselves.

Get over it lads.

Any evidence to back that up?

The stats you complied back up the suggestion that we played tight and with no freedom. Apart from that, we're mostly going on what we saw with our own eyes. To me, it looked obvious that we played with fear. Others thought differently but with nothing to back that up. Your stats provide some context.

So you have no evidence at all? You're just making things up?

You shouldn't be just making things up but apology accepted. Fair play.

Some threads should be strangled at birth....like this one. Reading this pile of ordure is more excruciating than watching Ulster play.

Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes.

Winning the six nations would be brilliant. Irrelevant to my point about going into the next World Cup having learned nothing about dealing with pressure in the quarter finals.