Ireland v Wales, 29 August

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IRELAND v WALES
29 August 2015
KO: 14:30 local
Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Live on Sky Sports 1/RTÉ Radio 1/IRFU Live Blog/highlights RTÉ Two (8pm

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes, Luke Pearce (both England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

A. Head to Head

122 Played 122
50 Won 66
6 Drawn 6
66 Lost 50
1,355 Points 1,445

B. Recent Form

8 August 2015
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
21 – 35 to Ireland

14 March 2015
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
23 – 16 to Wales

8 February 2014
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
26 – 3 to Ireland

2 February 2013
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
22 – 30 to Ireland

5 February 2012
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
21 – 23 to Wales

8 October 2011
Regional Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand
22 – 10 to Wales

12 March 2011
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
19 – 13 to Wales

C. Teams

IRELAND

Rob Kearney (Leinster), Dave Kearney (Leinster), Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Connacht), Keith Earls (Munster), Johnny Sexton (Leinster), Conor Murray (Munster), Jack McGrath (Leinster), Richardt Strauss (Leinster), Nathan White (Connacht), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Paul O'Connell (Toulon, CAPT), Peter O'Mahony (Munster), Jordi Murphy (Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster)

Replacements: Sean Cronin (Leinster), Dave Kilcoyne (Munster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Munster), Sean O'Brien (Leinster), Eoin Reddan (Leinster), Paddy Jackson (Ulster), Felix Jones (Munster)

WALES

Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), George North (Northampton Saints), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, CAPT), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons)

Replacements: Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Paul James (Ospreys), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Luke Charteris (Racing Metro), James King (Ospreys), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons).

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

glamorganalun wrote:Priestland doing his bit in almost turning victory into a last second defeat.

He dropped a wet ball backwards. Off with his head!

And recovered well,

I think Preistland did a decent job controlling things off the bench, a couple of nice kicks to keep Ireland in their own half.

Gats talking with fork tongue again!

"We came here to play against the No 2 team in the world. We are the only side that have beaten Ireland in the last 15 games. We weren't speaking about the rankings or whatever."

Exactly. As soon as he fumbled that ball, I knew someone would be on here pillorying him for it.

wales606 wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

glamorganalun wrote:Priestland doing his bit in almost turning victory into a last second defeat.

He dropped a wet ball backwards. Off with his head!

And recovered well,

I think Preistland did a decent job controlling things off the bench, a couple of nice kicks to keep Ireland in their own half.

Agreed. I don't think it was Biggar's best game. He was too deep, didnt attack the line and his kicking out of hand was not that good.

That being said, he is still no1 by a mile

Notch wrote:

The Great Aukster wrote:Ireland had dominance at the set piece...

Um...

Parity yes, dominance? No

GavinDragon wrote:

wales606 wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

glamorganalun wrote:Priestland doing his bit in almost turning victory into a last second defeat.

He dropped a wet ball backwards. Off with his head!

And recovered well,

I think Preistland did a decent job controlling things off the bench, a couple of nice kicks to keep Ireland in their own half.

Agreed. I don't think it was Biggar's best game. He was too deep, didnt attack the line and his kicking out of hand was not that good.

That being said, he is still no1 by a mile

Biggar wasn't outstanding, neither was Webb, but that is probably to be expected for their first hit out. Gatland has said they will be working more on the kicking game.

Webb's box-kicking worries me. He's still not very good at it in terms of getting the height / distance right, and secondly, you can always tell from his positioning when he's about to box-kick. I half-expect him to be charged down every time he does it. I assume they've been working on it, but they need to keep working on it - either that, or don't ask him to box-kick so often.

Have to say, think both teams kicked far too often.

I didn't think Webb's passing was great either... He was often taking a step backwards before passing as well, meaning he was slow at getting the ball out. I know he's always looking for the break and he is good at doing that, but other times he just needs to get that ball out to the backs straight away.

wales606 wrote:

GavinDragon wrote:

wales606 wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

glamorganalun wrote:Priestland doing his bit in almost turning victory into a last second defeat.

He dropped a wet ball backwards. Off with his head!

And recovered well,

I think Preistland did a decent job controlling things off the bench, a couple of nice kicks to keep Ireland in their own half.

Agreed. I don't think it was Biggar's best game. He was too deep, didnt attack the line and his kicking out of hand was not that good.

That being said, he is still no1 by a mile

Biggar wasn't outstanding, neither was Webb, but that is probably to be expected for their first hit out. Gatland has said they will be working more on the kicking game.

Both coaches are reluctant to reveal their plans in attack. They have both said so in post match interviews.

This game was about set piece, breakdown and getting a win.

There didn't appear to be an organised set play in the back line on display by either team. And good reason too.

So much so that the backs were diving into a rolling maul to get try scoring opportunities...

In my day if a back tried to drive in a maul to get on the score sheet they would get a clip round the ear by the pack leader after the game...

bedfordwelsh wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:What every one need's to know is that these games are (WARM UP) GAMES. Games that are designed to play each player with in the squad to see how good they are, how fit they are and wether or not they are good enough to be in  the squad for the RWC.

There is no world ranking points on these game's so they do not matter.

I will admit Wales played very well today compared to Ireland. But lets see when the world cup starts in 2 weeks. That is when the games matter.

Is that true?  As its mean reported that we have moved above England now in the rankings after this win.

Think madge is wrong here.

BamBam wrote:They really need to decide if a clear out at the ruck with a neck roll is a yellow card or not, Clark got a yellow against France a couple of weeks ago, POC got told it's a key focus area but only a penalty against today

Consistency needed from the referees!

It's something I've wanted sorting out for some time and before someone is badly injured. Consistency is something we all want on the issue as you say but the the thing is this, Clark dangerously cleared a player out by the neck, POC had the player by the chest and shoulders.

Risca Rev wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:What every one need's to know is that these games are (WARM UP) GAMES. Games that are designed to play each player with in the squad to see how good they are, how fit they are and wether or not they are good enough to be in  the squad for the RWC.

There is no world ranking points on these game's so they do not matter.

I will admit Wales played very well today compared to Ireland. But lets see when the world cup starts in 2 weeks. That is when the games matter.

Is that true?  As its mean reported that we have moved above England now in the rankings after this win.

Think madge is wrong here.

He is definitely wrong here...

majesticimperialman wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:What every one need's to know is that these games are (WARM UP) GAMES. Games that are designed to play each player with in the squad to see how good they are, how fit they are and wether or not they are good enough to be in  the squad for the RWC.

There is no world ranking points on these game's so they do not matter.

I will admit Wales played very well today compared to Ireland. But lets see when the world cup starts in 2 weeks. That is when the games matter.

Is that true?  As its mean reported that we have moved above England now in the rankings after this win.

I thought these warm up games was being classed as( friendleys) and therefore no ranking points invovled.

I could be wrong though.

AI's are just as much "friendlies", yet there are ranking points on offer there. Hence why Wales are in this "group of death". You are very wrong my old fruit.

majesticimperialman wrote:Did Cuthbert do enough to be selected? Personaly io don't think so.

With regards to scrum half, i can understand why Gatland dropped Philips from the squad. Webb was fantastic today.

How about Priestland? did he do enough? not sure my self. But is he did not do enough
who will be the back up 10 for Wales?

Maj,

In answer to your questions:

Did Cuthbert do enough - No I would take Amos but I have a sneaky feeling Cuthbert will get a in.  A lot will depend of injuries to Anscombe and Williams and whether he goes for a 17/14 or 18/13 split.

Why he dropped Phillips - Personally I would have still taken him but as 3rd choice instead of Lloyd Williams who I have never rated.

Did Priestland do enough - No but again I suspect he will go, if he didn't go then the back up would be Anscombe and that might still happen if he manages to shake off his ankle injury.

What has happened here? It looks like Madge is answering his own questions

Risca Rev wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:Did Cuthbert do enough to be selected? Personaly io don't think so.

With regards to scrum half, i can understand why Gatland dropped Philips from the squad. Webb was fantastic today.

How about Priestland? did he do enough? not sure my self. But is he did not do enough
who will be the back up 10 for Wales?

Maj,

In answer to your questions:

Did Cuthbert do enough - No I would take Amos but I have a sneaky feeling Cuthbert will get a in.  A lot will depend of injuries to Anscombe and Williams and whether he goes for a 17/14 or 18/13 split.

Why he dropped Phillips - Personally I would have still taken him but as 3rd choice instead of Lloyd Williams who I have never rated.

Did Priestland do enough - No but again I suspect he will go, if he didn't go then the back up would be Anscombe and that might still happen if he manages to shake off his ankle injury.

What has happened here? It looks like Madge is answering his own questions

Haha, how that happen god knows.

I don't think Webb or Biggar had their best games yesterday but happy to put it down to rustiness at the moment.

wales606 wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

glamorganalun wrote:Priestland doing his bit in almost turning victory into a last second defeat.

He dropped a wet ball backwards. Off with his head!

And recovered well,

I think Preistland did a decent job controlling things off the bench, a couple of nice kicks to keep Ireland in their own half.

Glamorganalun's views on Preistland are well know on this forum, if fact this is probably one of his kinder posts! I thought he did ok and so did Gats which is of far more importance. Biggar was not great he has a habit of missing tackles which result in trys and did it again, he is still very much no 1 going into the tournament but based on performances for the Scarlets, Preistland is ahead of the other challengers for the back up role by a county mile.

Great to see Tipuric prove he is a great no 7 as well as a great link player, unfortunately for him Warburton is better and it was Lydiate,s graft that give Tipuric the man of the match opportunity.
Second row is an issue, Wales line out functions better when AWJ has a line out specialist to work with. Neither Ball or Bradley are this type of player so Charteris is crucial to Wales line out.

Seagultaf wrote:

wales606 wrote:

Luckless Pedestrian wrote:

glamorganalun wrote:Priestland doing his bit in almost turning victory into a last second defeat.

He dropped a wet ball backwards. Off with his head!

And recovered well,

I think Preistland did a decent job controlling things off the bench, a couple of nice kicks to keep Ireland in their own half.

Glamorganalun's views on Preistland are well know on this forum, if fact this is probably one of his kinder posts! I thought he did ok and so did Gats which is of far more importance. Biggar was not great he has a habit of missing tackles which result in trys and did it again, he is still very much no 1 going into the tournament but based on performances for the Scarlets, Preistland is ahead of the other challengers for the back up role by a county mile.

Great to see Tipuric prove he is a great no 7 as well as a great link player, unfortunately for him Warburton is better and it was Lydiate,s graft that give Tipuric the man of the match opportunity.
Second row is an issue, Wales line out functions better when AWJ has a line out specialist to work with. Neither Ball or Bradley are this type of player so Charteris is crucial to Wales line out.

Brad took a few yesterday and spoilt a couple of Ireland's throws.

Chatteris and AWJ are in pole for me

Truth is whenever Priestalnd comes on i feel like we are going to see another Ronan O Gara losing-the-game-in-the-last-play moment. Oppositions know how ponderous he is. God help us the Fijians will eat him for breakfast.

I sincerely hope Ancombe shows his worth and quickly takes no 2 spot off him.

Truth is whenever Priestalnd comes on i feel like we are going to see another Ronan O Gara losing-the-game-in-the-last-play moment. Oppositions know how ponderous he is. God help us the Fijians will eat him for breakfast.

I sincerely hope Ancombe shows his worth and quickly takes no 2 spot off him.

I think you guys are criticising the players far too much on this game, for most of them it was their first game for months. There is no way you can expect anyone to be that sharp, especially the Welsh players.

I just hope Gatland drops Priestland and Jarvis from the squad before the world cup.

Shifty wrote:I think you guys are criticising the players far too much on this game, for most of them it was their first game for months.  There is no way you can expect anyone to be that sharp, especially the Welsh players.  

I just hope Gatland drops Priestland and Jarvis from the squad before the world cup.

Who would or could take their place?

No9 wrote:Ok, just got in from a long day out, so haven read other comments and not planning to tonight, but my thought on the game is, Wales completely outclassed Ireland. The Irish try was obviously not a try as it was obviously short of the line and should have gone to the TMO. So Ireland should have had no more than 3 points. The ref was an absolute embarrassment living so many forward passes and crocked feeds by Wales as well as Irelnd I'm not sure he SpecSaver could save him...

But at the end, it showed what we really know. Ireland are not the top NH side, Wales are.

England need to worry, as it looks like their aren't going to progress in their own RWC.

Ok.. I'm peed and I'm back off to my bottle of Jamesons...


In all seriousness, well done Wales, hard luck Ireland, and squeaky bum time for England  

You've got that part right.  The officials were conned all day by the Welsh scrum.  Several other questionable calls in open play went for the Welsh too at key times (penalties against POC and Henderson(?), 'knock on' at the line when Tipuric ripped it.

Not too concerned from an Irish perspective; the game was 50/50, wasn't particularly impressed with either team (aside from the Welsh breakdown work) but Ireland have half a team to come in.  Best and O'Brien/Henry in the side will improve the breakdown no end.  Murphy made his tackles but was very quiet otherwise, O'Mahony didn't have a great game either. Scrum looked good. Dave Kearney was excellent, Earls was a different player defensively compared with the game in Cardiff, I hope both travel. Fitzgerald was solid but unspectacular so his detractors will write him off.

Engine#4 wrote:

No9 wrote:Ok, just got in from a long day out, so haven read other comments and not planning to tonight, but my thought on the game is, Wales completely outclassed Ireland. The Irish try was obviously not a try as it was obviously short of the line and should have gone to the TMO. So Ireland should have had no more than 3 points. The ref was an absolute embarrassment living so many forward passes and crocked feeds by Wales as well as Irelnd I'm not sure he SpecSaver could save him...

But at the end, it showed what we really know. Ireland are not the top NH side, Wales are.

England need to worry, as it looks like their aren't going to progress in their own RWC.

Ok.. I'm peed and I'm back off to my bottle of Jamesons...


In all seriousness, well done Wales, hard luck Ireland, and squeaky bum time for England  

You've got that part right.  The officials were conned all day by the Welsh scrum.  Several other questionable calls in open play went for the Welsh too at key times (penalties against POC and Henderson(?), 'knock on' at the line when Tipuric ripped it.

Not too concerned from an Irish perspective; the game was 50/50, wasn't particularly impressed with either team (aside from the Welsh breakdown work) but Ireland have half a team to come in.  Best and O'Brien/Henry in the side will improve the breakdown no end.  Murphy made his tackles but was very quiet otherwise, O'Mahony didn't have a great game either.  Scrum looked good.  Dave Kearney was excellent, Earls was a different player defensively compared with the game in Cardiff, I hope both travel. Fitzgerald was solid but unspectacular so his detractors will write him off.

Agreed

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:

Engine#4 wrote:

No9 wrote:Ok, just got in from a long day out, so haven read other comments and not planning to tonight, but my thought on the game is, Wales completely outclassed Ireland. The Irish try was obviously not a try as it was obviously short of the line and should have gone to the TMO. So Ireland should have had no more than 3 points. The ref was an absolute embarrassment living so many forward passes and crocked feeds by Wales as well as Irelnd I'm not sure he SpecSaver could save him...

But at the end, it showed what we really know. Ireland are not the top NH side, Wales are.

England need to worry, as it looks like their aren't going to progress in their own RWC.

Ok.. I'm peed and I'm back off to my bottle of Jamesons...


In all seriousness, well done Wales, hard luck Ireland, and squeaky bum time for England  

You've got that part right.  The officials were conned all day by the Welsh scrum.  Several other questionable calls in open play went for the Welsh too at key times (penalties against POC and Henderson(?), 'knock on' at the line when Tipuric ripped it.

Not too concerned from an Irish perspective; the game was 50/50, wasn't particularly impressed with either team (aside from the Welsh breakdown work) but Ireland have half a team to come in.  Best and O'Brien/Henry in the side will improve the breakdown no end.  Murphy made his tackles but was very quiet otherwise, O'Mahony didn't have a great game either.  Scrum looked good.  Dave Kearney was excellent, Earls was a different player defensively compared with the game in Cardiff, I hope both travel. Fitzgerald was solid but unspectacular so his detractors will write him off.

Agreed

The 42 analysis agrees too! http://www.the42.ie/ireland-wales-scrum-analysis-2-2301117-Aug2015/

To be honest this is another time that Ireland have seemed to have shoves on against Wales but the penalty decisions gone the Welsh way, it was the same against Jarvis in the 6N. I don't know what it is that's causing the whistles to go against them, but I think Feek really needs to be looking at this and how they can rectify it.

Reasonable analysis. I always think a good indication, although not definitive, is the respective stability of the scrum on your own put in.

On all 3 Ireland put ins the scrum was rock solid stable whereas in general the contrary on the welsh put ins.

Why would you wheel a scrum if you are nudging forward?

Joubert did ignore the the angles of both Gethin and James but not all refs will.

That reserve Irish front row still look pretty useful. You have to play the referee I guess.

That said I would imagine that the coaches had spoken with Joubert and his assistants prior to the match to say what they wanted to achieve from the game. Gatland and Schmidt seem to have had a good dialogue going into both tests about what they wanted to get out of the two games.

Straight scrum feeds are maybe not a priority for them as much as setting a decent scrum. Penalising boring in or binding less a priority than re starting the game?

I think Ireland were penalised for wheeling once and an early push another time.

I agree with the link above that Francis buckled in one Irish shove and that penalty should have gone to Ireland. Francis body positioning was not good. A worry for us not for Ireland and in the same situation in a RWC match I am sure Ireland would get their dues.

Ireland and Wales will take a lot from that match going forward.

Next weekend in twickenham will surely be an epic game

BigTrevsbigmac wrote:Reasonable analysis. I always think a good indication, although not definitive, is the respective stability of the scrum on your own put in.

On all 3 Ireland put ins the scrum was rock solid stable whereas in general the contrary on the welsh put ins.

Why would you wheel a scrum if you are nudging forward?

Joubert did ignore the the angles of both Gethin and James but not all refs will.

The fact that Ireland were stable on their own scrum is completely irrelevant. Any number of factors could cause that e.g Francis, who was clearly knackered after 30 minutes, taking a rest on your ball?

Watch the first three scrums. It goes up on your loosehead side and your entire back 5 are driving as much sideways as they are forward

So, all other nations 'cheat' at scrums except for Ireland, seems legit...

The ref was equally crap for both sides, I re-watched the game yesterday, Ireland's try should have never been given, it was grounded well short of the line, also typical Irish rugby at the breakdown where the first player there just flops over the ball until another one comes to take the ball, Ireland were constantly slowing down Welsh ball.

Saying that, it looked as though Wales went our there to smash holey hell out of Ireland. They looked clueless in attack and capitalised on Welsh mistakes rather than create anything themselves. That did not look like a second best team in the world to me.

Engine#4 wrote:The officials were conned all day by the Welsh scrum.

Another way of looking at it is that the officials weren't conned all day by the Irish scrum.

Giving away three penalties within minutes of each other on their own 10 meter line with no card - yeah, the ref was certainly on Ireland's back.

I dont think Wales conned the ref at all. But in situations where Ireland have the upper hand in the scrum and are going forward, penalties were going against, and that is something they need to be working on

I dont think Wales conned the ref at all. But in situations where Ireland have the upper hand in the scrum and are going forward, penalties were going against, and that is something they need to be working on

Even the Irish players are having a whinge about the referee now. What is the world coming to?

Its been the same for years

munkian wrote:Its been the same for years

Not if you listen to the members on here though. Have you not here'd ?

1. The Irish never complain about a ref.
2. The Irish never boo a kicker.
3. Irish players never cheat.
4. Irish players, refs and supporters are always impartial and always give a fair account of events.
5. Nothing that is wrong with the league is anything to do with Ireland or the Irish.
6. Everything that is good in our league is all down to the Irish.

Second in the world ? What a joke, if they toured one of the big three last summer and not Argentina then they would not be in 2nd place in the rankings, never mind after next years 6N and a proper summer tour then normal service will be resumed.

LordDowlais wrote:

munkian wrote:Its been the same for years

Not if you listen to the members on here though. Have you not here'd ?

1. The Irish never complain about a ref.
2. The Irish never boo a kicker.
3. Irish players never cheat.
4. Irish players, refs and supporters are always impartial and always give a fair account of events.
5. Nothing that is wrong with the league is anything to do with Ireland or the Irish.
6. Everything that is good in our league is all down to the Irish.

Second in the world ? What a joke, if they toured one of the big three last summer and not Argentina then they would not be in 2nd place in the rankings, never mind after next years 6N and a proper summer tour then normal service will be resumed.

Wow fairly sore winner. Warren Gatland's poor attitude must have rubbed off on you.

Not a lot learned in the game that we didnt already know. Wales are a tough side and these days Wales v Ireland games tend to be 50/50 close games.

Personally I would prefer to play England or Australia than Wales but there is a good chance Wales will be knocked out in the group stages any way. Even if we were to meet Wales it wouldnt be until the semis so not too concerned about the loss.

Nope not a sore winner, not a sore anything, did not care about the result, I really enjoyed the game, it was very bruising and captivating.

What I am fed up with is, the self righteous attitudes of some of our Irish members on here.

LordDowlais wrote:Nope not a sore winner, not a sore anything, did not care about the result, I really enjoyed the game, it was very bruising and captivating.

What I am fed up with is, the self righteous attitudes of some of our Irish members on here.

Risca Rev wrote:Even the Irish players are having a whinge about the referee now. What is the world coming to?

His comments don't really come across as complaining about Wales. I think he was complaining more that Ireland didn't play the ref as good as the Welsh. That they should have been smarter. He's right. In a way I guess he was complementing Wales.

Fiiiiiiiiiiight!!!!

“I’m not making excuses now, but they were clinging quite deep and not letting go of players and the referee wasn’t really on top of that,” said Murphy.

“That’s the way he refereed it and we’ve got to adapt to it quicker.

“I just didn’t get there quick enough at some points and then at other times they were blocking through the line and we got outsmarted at times.

“We have just got to box more clever next time.”

Seems to be complaining about Wales quite a bit.

I do wonder whether Captain Marvel POC actually spoke to the referee about these alleged offences?

Risca Rev wrote:“I’m not making excuses now, but they were clinging quite deep and not letting go of players and the referee wasn’t really on top of that,” said Murphy.

“That’s the way he refereed it and we’ve got to adapt to it quicker.

“I just didn’t get there quick enough at some points and then at other times they were blocking through the line and we got outsmarted at times.

“We have just got to box more clever next time.”

Seems to be complaining about Wales quite a bit.

I do wonder whether Captain Marvel POC actually spoke to the referee about these alleged offences?

One comment can be interpreted as complaining, but then the rest, in bold, give the context. I don't think he was really complaining.

I did notice POC chatting with the ref, but don't know what was being said. I would be surprised if he wasn't doing his job as Captain though.

Of course he did. And complaining about things that happened isn't whinging.

Let's be clear; Ireland are a team that will bend the rules to gain an advantage if they can get away with it. Wales are a team that will bend the rules to gain an advantage if they can get away with it. Every single team in international rugby will bend the rules to gain an advantage if they can get away with it with zero exceptions.

If you spend your time on here whinging about the Irish breakdown, you can't then throw your toys out of the pram once it's pointed out that your team is also willing to colour outside the lines to win.

Wales got away with a lot on Saturday, but I don't bring it up because fair play to them. But if you're asked to analyse to the game the way journalists are or players are in interviews right after the game, you're not going to not talk about what happened. Both teams were cheating at the scrums at different points, Ireland got caught when they tried to wheel the scrum whereas Wales did not get done when they were boring in. Both teams were dodgy at the breakdown; we went in from the side on a number of occasions and got caught, Wales were sealing off with no repercussions. Both teams were offside a lot and it wasn't dealt with either way.

If it's the Irish complaining after this one, its because we didn't get away with what we were trying to get away with and Wales did largely get away with what they were doing. And to that I say; fair play to Wales. Playing the ref is what you need to do to win. But if you're offended at pointing out that Wales are no more or less likely to try and con the ref than every other team, seriously... grow up. The only difference is we did not get away with what we were trying to do and Wales did. That is only a criticism of the officials. It is a compliment to Wales.

LordDowlais wrote:Nope not a sore winner, not a sore anything, did not care about the result, I really enjoyed the game, it was very bruising and captivating.

What I am fed up with is, the self righteous attitudes of some of our Irish members on here.

Its there to contrast some of the bs from certain Welsh posters

Irish whingers, first Barnes and now Joubert? Maybe it's just you lot and not the officials... What I will add though is that I think Joubert is a poor referee. His interpretations a lot of the time seem wholly made up right on the spot. Wales have unfortunately been on the receiving end a lot of the time in the past, yet we will still be seeing him referee our pool game against Australia. I think that one is a definite loss before it's kicked off!

mikey_dragon wrote:Irish whingers, first Barnes and now Joubert? Maybe it's just you lot and not the officials... What I will add though is that I think Joubert is a poor referee. His interpretations a lot of the time seem wholly made up right on the spot. Wales have unfortunately been on the receiving end a lot of the time in the past, yet we will still be seeing him referee our pool game against Australia. I think that one is a definite loss before it's kicked off!

This is the problem, with Wales dominance at the breakdown it happened to be that they benefitted from them on this occasion but I think its down to poor positioning with Joubert as he missed a lot and got in the way of play a number of times too

mikey_dragon wrote:Irish whingers, first Barnes and now Joubert? Maybe it's just you lot and not the officials... What I will add though is that I think Joubert is a poor referee. His interpretations a lot of the time seem wholly made up right on the spot. Wales have unfortunately been on the receiving end a lot of the time in the past, yet we will still be seeing him referee our pool game against Australia. I think that one is a definite loss before it's kicked off!

Joubert hates Ireland more than he hates Wales.

Barnes hates Ireland. Loves Wales.

These are undeniable facts...