FIRA U18 SF: Ireland 22 – 20 France
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Tag Archives: Ireland
Match Reaction #1: Sins Of Omission
From an English perspective, it has been a hugely encouraging Six Nations: the team improved with every performance, won four out of five games, were narrowly [and somewhat controversially] beaten in the single game they lost and finished with a resounding thumping of a team who have had their number in recent years. Continue reading
National Stereotypes and Psychology
E crept past S, who were hammered by W, who won late against I, so E v I = ?
The English never fear the French. The French never fear the Irish. The Irish no longer fear the Welsh. The French are always wary of the Scots. The Welsh fear nobody, but hate the Irish (according to Gatland). The Scots always fancy themselves against the English. The Irish don’t know how to beat the French and when it happens it’s by accident. Ireland love the English as favourites, and always assume they can beat them. Continue reading
Match Reaction #3: All Kinds Of Everything
Morrison has Tommy Bowe pinned for the one-two-three! Whatchu gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild on you, brutha?
This was an oddly splintered sort of match, which suffered quite badly from the spectator’s point of view from innumerable breaks in play. The Mole doesn’t want to belittle the injury suffered by Scottish winger Lee Jones in a clash of heads with Andrew Trimble; while that provided for the longest delay, it was a fair and correct call from referee Pollock in order to safeguard the health of the player. Continue reading
Match Reaction #1: Rory Best’s Try
Chunk Jacobsen has gotten past the Healy-Ross contain, but it's too little and too late: Best has smashed through Mike Blair and is about to dot down Ireland's first try of the day.
The Mole enjoyed Liam Toland’s early morning article in today’s Irish Times – a good read all the way through, and you can tell that he enjoyed the technicality of Rory Best’s opening score, a well-contrived lineout move that created a potent mismatch of running a big forward at a small back over a short distance. Continue reading
Revenge Of The Alistairs?
Scotland are on the up, powered by youngsters like Gray, Denton and Hogg and steeled by a couple of captains in Ford and Barclay.
The attacking threat posed by the Scots on Saturday is sharper than it has been for a number of years; no Irish fan should underestimate the task in hand. Even before Ireland suffered the loss of O’Connell, Murray and O’Brien, their opponents had shown with their last display that they would be a handful. Continue reading
Match Preview #1: Ireland vs Scotland
The mighty Fangio is reporting that captain-elect Rory Best is a significant worry for Ireland’s forthcoming clash against Scotland. Besty had a relatively poor day with the darts against a super-charged French lineout, but the Ulsterman has been in the form of his career for both country and province over the past season and is a well-respected member of the leadership group. Continue reading
O’Connell Out, Irish Lineout Holed Beneath The Waterline
O’Connell had another great game against France, and it turns out that he played half of the second half on one leg. He has been one of the three best players on the pitch for Ireland in every game thus far, and while some have raised a few questions over his decision-making as captain, his on-pitch performances have been of the highest calibre. He has been the standout second row in the tournament and has cemented his place as one of the best in the world – in The Mole’s list, there’s James Horwill of the Reds and Australia, Pato Albacete of Toulouse and Argentina and O’Connell of Munster and Ireland. Continue reading
Bob Dwyer on France vs Ireland
Green & Gold Rugby is a smashing site for all your SH rugby needs – and some of your NH ones too. Here’s a good article from Bob Dwyer on last Sunday’s France vs Ireland draw.
Dwyer has certain tenets that can might seem a little repetitive if you’re a regular reader, but then again a tenet is something that is an unchanging principle: it should be repetitive.
France 17 – 17 Ireland – Match Reaction #2: Tommy Bowe!
Tommy Bowe: with five tries in three matches so far, he's giving Ryle Nugent every chance to roll that name out with abandon.
The first one may have been a gift, but Bowe’s second try was a thing of beauty born of a turnover in the Irish half and two key attacking decisions. It certainly qualifies as playing rugby in your own half … but probably ‘just enough’, rather than ‘too much’. Continue reading
Digging Like a Demented Mole 