New Zealand 22 – 19 Ireland: Match Reaction #1

Ireland’s tempo and intensity was where it needed to be, but the team didn’t show much cutting edge out wide. There’s room for improvement as to how we play once we have the ball.

While this was a very good performance from Ireland, it’s not as though it can’t be improved upon. In some ways it was similar to the 15-6 win over Australia in RWC11 โ€“ you couldn’t fault the intensity of the players on the pitch, or the decisions made by the management in selection or substitution, but tactically there’s still quite a lot of ground for improvement. That’s encouraging. It’d be downright grim if you had played as well as you could possibly play and not beaten a team who weren’t at their best. Continue reading

Match Review: Australia 32 – 6 Italy

Five Italians in his wake, hot-tempered larrikin James O'Connor gets over for a try. Bonzer.

Australia filleted the Italians with a second-half display of accuracy and precision thatโ€™d impress surgeons and intimidate future opponents. Continue reading