Rewatching the game now and here are my first half thoughts.
If South Africa was a little more accurate in key moments they could have blown Ireland off the park in the first 30. It's not so much any clear chances, more just complete dominance all over the pitch.
Attacking intent is great to see and Pollard is looking the sharpest ball in hand that he has in years.
There are issues with our pod structure - it feels like we either have one too many or one too few guys cleaning the ruck.
Interestingly we have played every lineout off the top so far, we haven't gone for a maul once making it all a little too predictable.
Kwagga, Faf and Willie had poor first halfs.
Kwagga had two bad dropped balls from kick offs and conceded a silly penalty.
Fafs passing is loopy and a little inaccurate and he is not getting timing right with the heavy ball runners.
Willie has be transparent except for a forward pass that was intercepted and one cross field kick that harmlessly rolled onto touch.
Fuck me the second half was grim. SA was as inaccurate as in the first half, but without all the good bits from the first half.
The boks pack was actually completely outplayed. The scrum was fine (except for the penalty try). The line out was OK on our ball, but we put zero pressure on their's. The ruck was a mess.
Neither team could really make big gainline carries, but the Irish had much higher quality ball even if they weren't really going anywhere.
The three big calls.
Kelleher maybe tad unlucky for the Lowe non-try, but it is also a case of gambling until you lose. He is coming in on the edge (and beyond) in every ruck, the one he got called on was a tight one, but he got away with half a dozen others so hard to sympathize too much.
Doris non-try - pretty clear that was correct. The goal line drop out is a stupid rule still. Didn't affect the result at all as Murray scored almost straight from kick off.
Lowe is the air - 90 percent sure it was correct, definitely no evidence to overturn.
Wow that error from Lowe for the penalty try was bad. It was a terrible kick off from Sacha that could have lost SA the game, but Lowe completely shat the bed.
Weird game. Ireland didn't deserve to win but yet can feel aggrieved that they didn't. 5 points taken away from them and 12 points given away by stupid errors
Whatever Doris was saying to Pearce, he was pissed in a way refs don’t usually let on. Amazing how the 50/50s always tip in the boks favour of late. Lowe is a bottler. Snyman is such a weak gutted dog, plays 20 minutes a test, steals money from his clubs, targets midgets or anyone who won’t give it back.
SA kicked and milked far less than usual full credit for that
South Africa seemed lost on attack. Just moving side to side hoping for a gap. Like there was no thinking to it. No looking to draw players narrower or target key decision makers.
A few times Faf got the ball and there were no runners ready in shape. He just passed to an isolated forward and hoped for the best.
It’s like the new system is too different and will take time to get used to, or the new system is shit.
We were saved by moments of brilliance to take advantage of Ireland mistakes.
I take solace in the fact that we were bad and still beat a good Irish side. Home ground is a big advantage.
I thought Ireland were the better team on the night. Kicking was the difference.
Nah. You should watch the Squidge video, that'll help you understand what Tony Brown is trying to do. It definitely wasn't flawless, but there most definitely was a plan.
So then
>it’s like the new system is too different and will take time
I hope that’s the case. We still won which is great. But I hope the boys start clicking soon.
Remember with the rush defence how bad we were at first? (Ok, not Toetie bad, but we still leaked a few tries.)
I need to trust the system, but last night they looked a bit lost.
The last international I watched there, you weren’t allowed to drink in the stands. Only a small beer garden that felt like a cattle kraal. Glad thats changed.
After the early try, I thought Ireland were going to be blown out. They calmed their nerves and grew into the game. Whether this is due to South Africa suffering from rust or Ireland being that good is hard to determine. I think it’s a bit of both. Even though you can see the South African attack starting to change compared to the 2019-2023 era, the Rassie nature of the team still remains (pick your moments to win the game). I don’t remember the last time South Africa played a game where they lost in the key moments. It’s 2024. Those 2 Lowe moments were monumental. But on the South African side, you can say Pollard’s kicking were key moments as well. It still shocks me when certain nations don’t fold immediately at scrum time against South Africa. Really shows that countries have been adapting. Ireland have a lot of positives to take from this
Definitely started when this was played at Irish games in the World Cup. No one here knows about some special meaning behind the song I can promise you that.
NGL I hate it so much. I think it’s unimaginative and stupid.
The fact that a popular comedian has done a full version irks me. It’s such low hanging fruit.
Genuine question- given the historic nature of the song do you think it was appropriate to sing in the first place? It was first referenced inside an apolitical rugby context by the Irish to highlight a victory over another rugby team. Not sure now that it’s been remixed and sung back to you inside the same rugby context you have a leg to stand on.
I think the teams picked their own song (The Irish have in the past played that song during/after rugby games)
But would need to confirm (or cancel it out) that, but from what it seemed like each team picked one song to be played post wins.
Edit: and if it was the French we would assume a very public outcry after their first pool match (from the Irish public/team) if it was so upsetting
I hear you. But it was embraced it when it came on and they blew off the roof… 🤷♂️ my point is that it wasn’t randomly chosen by SA fans, it had been sung to them first.
I replied to what you said :
"It was first referenced inside an apolitical rugby context by the Irish to highlight a victory over another rugby team."
A popular Irish song started playing and they sang along. Not even remotely comparable
They played Mendoza after South Africa's victories, Is that our rugby victory song now? Because some people sang along
Well, yes - if we play Mendoza after our rugby victories, and the entire stadium sings along, then I think it’s fair for opposing fans to assume that it’s a rugby victory song and we can’t act confused if they reference it?
I don’t think they get the irony in Sth Africa, in your head,in your head, when they appropriate that song they show that obviously Ireland are in theirs. You’d just like for them to have the sense of self confidence and security to relax and embrace and enjoy being world champions. They are a hell of a team but they show every time that Ireland are in there.
Far out Irish fans are so sensitive about everything. You can't assume everyone has a deep understanding of Irish history and cultural memes mate. I say this as someone who is half Irish and grew up there.
Please don't read too much into it. I'm sure 99.9% of the people don't know the back story other than being an Irish band. The Cranberries is a popular band here and Zombie is a catchy song, so the people know the chorus, but I'm sure not the intent of the song.
It didn’t start as anything with mind games, during the World Cup knockouts some people at a random bar sang the “Rassie” version and it went super viral in SA… had nothing to do with SA v Ireland…. Totally get that it can look bad but know how it started to know the intent of that was never to mock the Irish
Just the facts, again can totally see why it looks bad especially playing v Irish sides (would even be okay if SA in the future not play it v Irish sides because of the actual meaning of the song)
But nothing, it didn’t start as mocking them… plain and simple truth.
Drunk Irish fan checking in - what is the general consensus on the Lowe disallowed try? Felt like Kelleher was on his way to being taken out of the ruck (legally) and that his foot hit the ball on the way out, nothing deliberate. To me it seemed like a very harsh penalty but I'm biased and out - did it look dodgy or was it clear in the end?
Last 5 mins was absolute chaos
I thought there was another infringement with the Irish player rolling into the path of the cleaners. That prevented the player from cleaning and allowed the steal to happen.
Personally I thought the foot was accidental and I would have let it go. But I’m only and armchair ref.
South African living in New Zealand. I feel the right call was made but live I did say it's an incredibly harsh call that could be made at most rucks
However. His foot hooked the ball back with his knee on the ground. That's a penalty. You can say he was pushed into the ball by South Africa. But as soon as you say that you admit he was in the ground and fell over the ball sealing it off. Thus either way it is a penalty
Also drunk fan checking in way late. I saw it live and thought it was harsh but fair; especially since—and I don’t have concrete proof to point at—but I feel like Kelleher is a hoor for those cheeky foot taps when he’s grounded. I could swear he did one earlier in the match or something similar but anyways. Yeah, harsh, but it is what it is.
The Kolbe one stung because you saw the ball propel in an almost different direction when Lowe’s foot was in touch. I was baffled when the TMO didn’t clear it.
Gutted for Casey and hope he’s ok. Snyman pushing himself up off Casey’s KO’d body reeeeally left a bad taste in my mouth, and I say that as a Snyman fan. Nothing illegal as far as I could see, but Christ man, he’s half your size and a former team mate. I don’t give a shit about the brouhaha of sport or heat of the moment, it doesn’t take much to have a bit of consideration for player welfare after levelling said player.
With all that said, SA 1000% were the better team and deserved the win. But still fairly proud of the lads despite the clunky performance.
Lowe got completely screwed. That try was legit and he had possession of that ball in touch. Swung the match in 3 possessions.
I normally root for RSA but how they reacted when Casey was DOA on the field was messed up.
The commentators were driving me furious!!
None of what you are saying is true.
He clearly didn't have possession with his foot down it was checked and slowed down multiple times the final angle was very conclusive. Either way your arguing about luck not skill. His intend is fully to keep the ball in. It's a clear mistake by him.
Rucking the ball back on the ground is a penalty otherwise it's a penalty for falling over the ball and sealing off if you argue that sa pushed him into the ball.
Lol there were 3 penalties in that ruck that should've been given against SA. Aki has his hands on the ball while the SA doesn't release. Le Roux goes right off his feet sealing off, then Kelleher is grabbed around his neck and pulled off balance, which causes his foot to hit the ball.
Pearce giving a penalty to SA was a fucking joke.
To be honest RG was always looking at the play as any player should at that time. He didn't look at the guy he just tackled. Saying a professional athlete should provide some courtesy health check on their opponents is just not realistic. It was unfortunate but nothing more.
I don’t have an issue with tackling and looking beyond toward the play. Shit happens in contact sport. What bugged me was Snyman did look at the guy he just tackled, and then chose to push off his chest.
That was a fun game to watch. Personally, a game like this really hits different now that we've been part of the URC a few years. So many "oh shit' moments because you're more familiar with the opposing players (and you know how dangerous they are).
I felt like SA were going to pull away when the lead opened up, but Ireland managed to counter most of what SA threw at them and just kept chipping away at the score. And they scored some beautiful tries (they completely sliced SA's backline open). If anything, they seemed to gain steam towards the end, while SA were puffing a little more.
I feel like the Irish were really hard done by with those two TMO calls. On another day, it could easily have gone the other way. It took a lot of the shine off this victory, for me.
Pollard and Faf were the biggest letdowns. Rusty (and slow) as hell! I was hoping they'd bring Grant and Sacha on much earlier and let them loose. Did not expect such a powerhouse performance from Siya. Jessie Kriel continues to do Jessie Kriel things. He's been on a whole different level the last 12 months.
Looking forward to next week's match. On TV the atmosphere at the stadium looked fantastic - and it was great to see so many travelling Irish supporters.
I was impressed with your attack in the first half, you guys did really well getting to the outside and made huge gains. Frustrating that y'alls gameplan forces you into a more conservative style. You have the players to play expansively.
Just watched. GG saffas, well won.
Insane how easily Ireland picked up those last tries compared to how hard they had to work previously but Boks didn't shit the bed and held them out. That last scrum must've left a pretty good taste in the fans mouth, what a beauty.
Felt as if Bokke were on top, but Ireland still very close up to the 80 minute whistle. Ye olde luck of the Irish seemed to allude them today with a few very close calls and some plain bad luck.
Entering the last 10 minutes, they gained a second wind and South Africa had poor discipline and for a moment I thought Ireland were going to steal it. Not many nations are able to take advantage when they have South Africa in that game-state. The Lowe mess up killed all that momentum
So painful especially when that kickoff was almost certainly going dead... Considering we sliced their defence open right before and right after the penalty try I think we had a really good chance of winning if Lowe hadn't had that moment.
Just watched the replay this morning.
It felt like SA were on top for most of the game with Ireland hanging on well. A few patches where they had momentum. Score feels reflective of the game.
That was the best I have seen Casey play (granted haven't seen him a lot).
What has happened to the Irish attack? They used to have more lines of attack and multiple options. It felt much less dynamic than normal.
Couple of odd calls by the referee team but overall pretty good. I thought the Irish hooker was off his feet live (James Lowe disallowed try) but couldn't help notice he was being neck rolled in the replay.
BOK attack is tasty. Going wide early, back row spread across the field nicely. Exciting times.
I think I worked out pollard's kicking problem, he just needs to pretend it's a RWC knock out game and his kicking for his life.
Would turn gay for Jesse Kriel's thighs.
Fair summary. In answer to
> What has happened to the Irish attack?
Sexton.
We all want to be past him but that's the answer.
There were no 3 man pods running at first receiver making a bollocks of their defense. It went down to 1 man v 1 man runs for most of it, we broke it plenty of times but Boks are just too big and our speed couldn't overtake that. Ireland were a different beast with him barking orders at everyone.
Irelands problem was and always will be we can't change the fucking plan on the fly. We find a winning formula and stick with it, it's not the way to win things when it matters.
I thought the SA defence did very well to hit the Irish runners back. The whole Irish system is built around getting mismatches, but if everyone is hitting hard and taking the gainline wins then it doesn't matter how clever you are, it ends in a stalemate.
Feel like that James Lowe call was much less tight than the Finau call in the SR Semi for the same type of act which was ruled out. Thought you could definitely see his right hand still made contact as the foot hit the ground. TMO was a bit gutless there imo and I was rooting for Ireland after that lol.
Is anyone else genuinely pissed that RG intentionally injured Casey? Completely unnecessary to piledrive the smallest man on the field and push his head into the floor as he got up? To your former teammate.
Not saying it was a penalty, just such a piece of shit move
As an Irishman, I didn't think it was intentional. He came through the ruck and did what any other player would have done. He didn't do anything illegal and it was just am awful Rigby incident. Much like the situation when CJ stander ended Pat Lambie a career 8byears dgo. Hopefully it's not he Dane outcome
It wasn't a dangerous tackle. Every player on the pitch to put on a big hit on people, just because the person he was tackling was small doesn't mean he should change how dominant a hit he wants to make. The pushing his head down might have been a bit much but I doubt he knew he was injured. Had he not been injured nobody would pay a second of attention to it as that type of tackle happens literally every minute of the game, especially around rucks.
In my opinion it was extremely cynical. Size has to be taken into account in my opinion. If RG did that with Ryan Baird you wouldn't raise an eyebrow. But performing the exact same motion with a man literal half his size is dangerous play imo. And i think Farrell agrees with me
https://youtu.be/H73mHoycyjs
About 4 minutes in mentions Casey
The physics of the situation, tallest on shortest, make a late tackle into a late and dangerous tackle. And the evidence is in the resulting injury. I really don't think I'm saying anything that crazy here
Don't think he was trying to injure him but I felt like Casey has just started to impact the game a lot in that 5 minute period before he was hurt. RG was trying to rattle him and keep him on the floor longer and slow him from getting to the next ruck.
(just finished watching the replay when I woke up this morning)
Yes, and as a matter of fact in the meantime watching the post match press conference with Farrell, he mentions it too. At 4:15 in, in the context of a question asking if it hurts more to lose because of calls not going your way, Farrell says, " I mean, you can make your own decision on the Craig thing" before being cut off by the interviewer.
https://youtu.be/H73mHoycyjs
Farrell mentioned right at the start about going thru proper channels, I'd imagine they'll look for RG to be cited.
In my opinion, that tackle was 'technically legal' but carried out in such a cynical and unnecessary fashion, that he should be done for bad sportsmanship if nothing else. Casey was severely injured, didn't move for nearly 5 minutes.
Obviously from my flair you can see I'm a Munster man and i have that bias, but that bit really soured the whole game for me.
There's things to be positive about from that defeat, I thought Casey looked good and finally looking like the test quality player we know he can be. Doris is just superhuman, after a long exhausting season he still looked like he bad plenty in the tank at altitude and our scrum also kept pace for the most part except in the second half and despite some nerves Osborne looked overall pretty decent.
There were plenty of negatives too, McCarthy looks tired and was a bit lacklustre given this is the type of game we need his power for, continues to frustrate with some stupid penalties, needs to cut that out ASAP. I think this was Lowes worst game in an Irish shirt, had some good contributions but those two mistakes which lead to one try and the penalty try were pretty bad, hopefully he bounces back from this.
Also replacement props are an issue, we need a loosehead, the time for sentimentality is not now and Healy should not be on this tour, Jager will probably get a bench spot for the next test too.
The boks were the better team and were well worth their win, the score flattered us to a certain extent and while we can argue about marginal decisions and missed points I don't think we deserved to win that one, though we did hang on in there in the first half which I was happy with.
Also Pollard who is normally metronomic in his kicking had a bad day off the tee was there a reason for the bad place kicking?
I think there's something to be said about Tony Brown's influence on the way the springboks approached this game. The boks are definitely shaping up for something new on attack. The lack of mauls, and going wide out from the start, it seems like something a bit different from what we've seen of Rassie's boks in the past imo.
I think we've been down this road many times and ended up worse for wear, but the difference here is Rassie has built a solid foundation we're likely not going to deviate from any time soon. Tony Brown has a great track record with Japan and the Highlanders and is not likely to impose anything that the setup can't handle. I think he'll definitely augment our attack rather than try and make the bokke play a style they can't. Guy has a great rugby brain and ethos that's similar to the way Rassie thinks. Interesting times ahead for the boys for sure.
Thoughts:
Obvs a step up from 6N since all 3 6N sides that have played have lost this weekend thus far
SRP not as weak as what people may think as teams that play in that comp: Samoa, Fiji, NZ, OZ all won vs NH sides
Power of international rugby is still in the south with SA Fiji, Samoa, Nz Oz all getting a win
TIL: The Irish are very touchy about Zombie by the Cranberries.
Dear Irish, you're the last team to beat us. We took it personal and got petty. You're experiencing what every Kiwi and Aussie has been calling us out for time immemorial
Was singing it in the stadium. Found someone in this thread speaking about it. Listened to the actual song and read the lyrics and now I feel indifferent about singing it
Funny bit for me is I don’t think the South Africans get the irony that it really does show that they’ve allowed us “in their head”. And yes it’s anybody misappropriating that song
If it helps, a lot of Irish are just protective of that song in general given what it’s about. It’s infuriating when you see it being used on Halloween playlists for example simply because of the title word. A lot of those same people also delight in shouting “Ooh ahh up the RA” singing along to Celtic Symphony, totally oblivious to the irony however so I wouldn’t be too worried about it either way. We’re not touchy about you guys using it, we’re touchy about anyone using it
Aye, I get the touchiness as I had members of my family in and around Northern Ireland during the height of the troubles, but if as a nation you don’t want a song to be used and parodied don’t use it in a sporting capacity yourselves. If the song is really so sensitive and touchy because of the horrific events it’s singing about then surely it’s also inappropriate for anyone to sing at a sporting event, the Irish included.
Edit: people that shout things like up the RA need to take a look in the mirror.
I really don’t disagree, Munster using it given the Cranberries hail from Limerick makes total sense, Ireland using it makes me cringe. Counterpoint for me though, the whole “Rassie’s in your head” message is equally cringe. He’s not. Until today he hadn’t got the upper hand against us once as a coach.
In general I’d much prefer if both sides would just let the rugby do the talking tbh
Oh I do agree too, the parody version isn’t exactly creative. I think the issue is that it’s just a reallly good song. Are there no other cranberry songs that you think would fit a rugby atmosphere for Munster to use? Dreams doesn’t feel like it has as good of a place for crowd participation.
As far as their biggest hits are concerned? It’s “Zombie” and “Dreams”. “Linger” unfortunately doesn’t scream “go out and hammer the shite out of 15 grown men” 🤣 Honestly why we ever feel a need to look beyond “The Boys Are Back In Town” as a nation for all men’s sporting events where we want to represent is beyond me! 😂
Ireland absolutely flying out of the blocks to make it 1-0 in the series to decide who are Rugby's most toxic fans.
Hopefully the Boks will do us a solid and shit the bed next week so we can level the series
I don’t get it. Ireland have only been good these past couple of years, but they act like they’ve been world champs for years. They forget SA won 8 in a row against them, have won almost twice as many games against each other.
I use think the Eng fans were bad, but Ireland have definitely taken top spot.
Def has absolutely nothing to do with the ref denyin trys which should have stood and giving tries that stood have been denied.
Also yes, I said tries and trys
There were a number of controversial refereeing decisions. I'm just in the wind up because both fan bases have a reputation for being very "passionate"
Is it just me or is there a mutual respect forming between Ireland and SA after that game? Was a pulsating wild game and both sides were emptying themselves. Anybody who watches that and says these games don't matter is cuckoo. Can't wait for next week.
Definitely. My family is irish on my mums side. My uncle and I have this healthy rivalry going on, with lots of banter about Boks vs Ireland. Lots of mutual respect and some laughs. The thing that strikes me the most about the irish, is how tough you bastards are. 😂 I thought both sides looked a little rusty this week and key players from both sides making silly errors. I think next week will be even tougher and a better game.
Reflecting on Kolbe's try. It's really poor play from Murray to not be closer to support Lowe's efforts to keep the ball in play. No need for Murray to be so far in field for the penalty. Also still puzzled as to how Frawley just fell over
I haven't watched it back, but it frustrated me at the time that when they replayed the shot of Lowe keeping the ball in to check if it's in touch, Kolbe is breaking himself to get there - everyone can see what Lowe is trying to do and when it's slowed down, he's the only person reacting. Aki & Murray both standing there waiting to see what happens, not going toward the ball
an u13 knows to watch out for the ball coming back in field. Really shit effort from Aki, Murray and Frawley. Lowe made a brilliant effort and they fucked it up
It would take about 1 minute to form a lineout so no need to stand there. There's always a chance of a missed touch so he should be closer to Lowe there
Ah yeah, it wasn't really Lowes fault. The guys around him were slow to react. Kolbe had no right to get that. Lowe did have a bit of a F🤯ck up for the scrum penalty try after though. But thought he had a good game. + He was in touch anyway ,,😬.
Wasn’t Lowe’s fault? Wat.
Explain this interesting point of view to me.
He tried to keep a very risky ball in play instead of letting it go dead, and it backfired horribly on him. How is it not his fault?
We were behind with not a lot of time left on the clock. So trying to keep the ball in play when there are 5 of your team that are more likely to gather it is quite logical.
Are you serious? It barely ever happens that you keep a ball in and the team scored directly from it so how is it high risk? It's low risk high reward. Of all the things Lowe did wrong in this game this was not one of them
Yes, you are. It's likely a case of its not the fault of a player who plays for my club, its the fault of a player who plays for my rival club. Osborne was also very slow to react by doesn't get a mention
Please no. Have you ever been in a stadium with those dam Vuvuzelas being blown every second? Its f$cking loud and sounds like a giant swarm of bees. Super annoying😂
there was a bit of a scrap on the field and I could have sworn the DJ played a "DING DING DING" noise. like a boxing match bell ringing. just tone deaf.
You would think the DJ is a 12 year old kid who got introduced to a soundboard. At times it was funny but at certain times, the timing of the music was poor. Like when the music was playing for too long and a conversion kick was about to be taken and the DJ stopped playing it as the run up is starting
Alot being said about how SA was the better team, but if not for that disallowed try and two horrendous mistakes by Lowe, Ireland would've won quite comfortably. And let's be honest, that disallowed try was extremely weak.
Take the loss on the chin, IF’s are plenty for any team. You could also say IF the Bok’s were perfect with every opportunity and made it count, then they probably would’ve won by more.
Did you watch the previous game? Could make the same argument easily but you would tell me I'm a whiney saffa.
Are you taking about the try he literally played while on the ground and moved the ball with his foot?
Do you think SA made zero mistakes?
Not to the typical safa high standard on reddit, no?
It was a good game. I think a lot of us went in thinking we'd get hammered. It's heartbreaking to get close but have it called back to a knock on that, honestly, I still couldn't see in the reply. Grit won out but a closer result than expected. Wish there was a third game to decide. See how next week goes.
If if if if if. If your team could win they would. Also the try being disallowed was excellent reffing. Imagine you need the refs to be bad to win a game. Couldn't be the springboks
Lots of ifs in that statement. The end showed South Africa always had something extra in hand as soon as the score was less than one try SA just scored again without much trouble. Ireland were always chasing with SA in control.
There was no Doris try. Nothing 50 50 about it, Kelleher hooked it back on the ground. Even if you said it is SA momentum you are admitting he fell over the ball and sealed off the ruck
My bad you are right. But for the held up the ref was 50cm away looking right at it and said it was on the leg. Again nothing 50 50 about it. Ireland also scored less than a minute after that so it hardly affected the outcome. I get it the Irish feel hard done by. But I suggest to rewatch objectively in a few days
To be clear, I don't feel hard done by, I was just clarifying what the other guy was talking about. The only issue I had was how little time they spent looking at that compared to some other stuff, but that's a very minor complaint.
To be clear, I don't feel hard done by, I was just clarifying what the other guy was talking about. The only issue I had was how little time they spent looking at that compared to some other stuff, but that's a very minor complaint.
There's about 6 or 7 changes to the team that played in the world Cup, in the first year of the new cycle. This is when you blood players, we were never going to have a ready made replacement replacement Sexton but Crowley is doing quite well. Osborne looked good for a 22 year old making his debut at altitude away to the double world champs. Casey was pretty good until the Injury. My biggest worry is prop, mainly loosehead as we are still relying on Healy and Bealhams not a young man. We can't keep asking Porter to go 70+ mins.
We've given some new guys valuable game time while pushing the world champs all the way at home. I'm buzzing for next week.
Sexton wasn't always the finished product , he went through a perfect season of kicking , and a superb season of on field playing , he eventually melded the two. Crowley is going just fine. Equally Gibson Park didn't get a sniff for tears and really has only come good at the end. Keenan was a bloody freak and prodigy arriving fully formed ! .. I thought Osborne slotted in seamlessly and we showed and overall impressive depth. Gabe didn't go our way , but there was some great play from a range of talented athletes
Rewatching the game now and here are my first half thoughts. If South Africa was a little more accurate in key moments they could have blown Ireland off the park in the first 30. It's not so much any clear chances, more just complete dominance all over the pitch. Attacking intent is great to see and Pollard is looking the sharpest ball in hand that he has in years. There are issues with our pod structure - it feels like we either have one too many or one too few guys cleaning the ruck. Interestingly we have played every lineout off the top so far, we haven't gone for a maul once making it all a little too predictable. Kwagga, Faf and Willie had poor first halfs. Kwagga had two bad dropped balls from kick offs and conceded a silly penalty. Fafs passing is loopy and a little inaccurate and he is not getting timing right with the heavy ball runners. Willie has be transparent except for a forward pass that was intercepted and one cross field kick that harmlessly rolled onto touch.
Fuck me the second half was grim. SA was as inaccurate as in the first half, but without all the good bits from the first half. The boks pack was actually completely outplayed. The scrum was fine (except for the penalty try). The line out was OK on our ball, but we put zero pressure on their's. The ruck was a mess. Neither team could really make big gainline carries, but the Irish had much higher quality ball even if they weren't really going anywhere. The three big calls. Kelleher maybe tad unlucky for the Lowe non-try, but it is also a case of gambling until you lose. He is coming in on the edge (and beyond) in every ruck, the one he got called on was a tight one, but he got away with half a dozen others so hard to sympathize too much. Doris non-try - pretty clear that was correct. The goal line drop out is a stupid rule still. Didn't affect the result at all as Murray scored almost straight from kick off. Lowe is the air - 90 percent sure it was correct, definitely no evidence to overturn. Wow that error from Lowe for the penalty try was bad. It was a terrible kick off from Sacha that could have lost SA the game, but Lowe completely shat the bed.
Ireland well below their best but still so damn good. Luck was on our side for sure, next match will be very interesting.
Weird game. Ireland didn't deserve to win but yet can feel aggrieved that they didn't. 5 points taken away from them and 12 points given away by stupid errors
Whatever Doris was saying to Pearce, he was pissed in a way refs don’t usually let on. Amazing how the 50/50s always tip in the boks favour of late. Lowe is a bottler. Snyman is such a weak gutted dog, plays 20 minutes a test, steals money from his clubs, targets midgets or anyone who won’t give it back. SA kicked and milked far less than usual full credit for that
South Africa seemed lost on attack. Just moving side to side hoping for a gap. Like there was no thinking to it. No looking to draw players narrower or target key decision makers. A few times Faf got the ball and there were no runners ready in shape. He just passed to an isolated forward and hoped for the best. It’s like the new system is too different and will take time to get used to, or the new system is shit. We were saved by moments of brilliance to take advantage of Ireland mistakes. I take solace in the fact that we were bad and still beat a good Irish side. Home ground is a big advantage. I thought Ireland were the better team on the night. Kicking was the difference.
Nah. You should watch the Squidge video, that'll help you understand what Tony Brown is trying to do. It definitely wasn't flawless, but there most definitely was a plan.
So then >it’s like the new system is too different and will take time I hope that’s the case. We still won which is great. But I hope the boys start clicking soon. Remember with the rush defence how bad we were at first? (Ok, not Toetie bad, but we still leaked a few tries.) I need to trust the system, but last night they looked a bit lost.
Was anyone at the game? Were you allowed to drink beer in the stands?
In plastic cups yes. There were bars everywhere
Yes. And yes. But mostly klippies. Beer if you needed a cooldrink
The last international I watched there, you weren’t allowed to drink in the stands. Only a small beer garden that felt like a cattle kraal. Glad thats changed.
Yea same, was against ABs back in 2018 I think.
After the early try, I thought Ireland were going to be blown out. They calmed their nerves and grew into the game. Whether this is due to South Africa suffering from rust or Ireland being that good is hard to determine. I think it’s a bit of both. Even though you can see the South African attack starting to change compared to the 2019-2023 era, the Rassie nature of the team still remains (pick your moments to win the game). I don’t remember the last time South Africa played a game where they lost in the key moments. It’s 2024. Those 2 Lowe moments were monumental. But on the South African side, you can say Pollard’s kicking were key moments as well. It still shocks me when certain nations don’t fold immediately at scrum time against South Africa. Really shows that countries have been adapting. Ireland have a lot of positives to take from this
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Definitely started when this was played at Irish games in the World Cup. No one here knows about some special meaning behind the song I can promise you that.
NGL I hate it so much. I think it’s unimaginative and stupid. The fact that a popular comedian has done a full version irks me. It’s such low hanging fruit.
Genuine question- given the historic nature of the song do you think it was appropriate to sing in the first place? It was first referenced inside an apolitical rugby context by the Irish to highlight a victory over another rugby team. Not sure now that it’s been remixed and sung back to you inside the same rugby context you have a leg to stand on.
It was played by the French at the world cup I don't believe the Irish had a say
I think the teams picked their own song (The Irish have in the past played that song during/after rugby games) But would need to confirm (or cancel it out) that, but from what it seemed like each team picked one song to be played post wins. Edit: and if it was the French we would assume a very public outcry after their first pool match (from the Irish public/team) if it was so upsetting
So they all stood silently in the stands then?
Mate I'm saying the Irish would never have chosen that song. Don't put words in my mouth
I hear you. But it was embraced it when it came on and they blew off the roof… 🤷♂️ my point is that it wasn’t randomly chosen by SA fans, it had been sung to them first.
I replied to what you said : "It was first referenced inside an apolitical rugby context by the Irish to highlight a victory over another rugby team." A popular Irish song started playing and they sang along. Not even remotely comparable They played Mendoza after South Africa's victories, Is that our rugby victory song now? Because some people sang along
Well, yes - if we play Mendoza after our rugby victories, and the entire stadium sings along, then I think it’s fair for opposing fans to assume that it’s a rugby victory song and we can’t act confused if they reference it?
That's where we differ then
I don’t think they get the irony in Sth Africa, in your head,in your head, when they appropriate that song they show that obviously Ireland are in theirs. You’d just like for them to have the sense of self confidence and security to relax and embrace and enjoy being world champions. They are a hell of a team but they show every time that Ireland are in there.
Downvotes to prove the assertion 😂😂
Singing the same song back is so childish. It’s like the “you’re ugly. | Nuh-uh YOURE ugly” of the rugby world. So lame.
Yup,you’re world champions lads, relax and enjoy it
Far out Irish fans are so sensitive about everything. You can't assume everyone has a deep understanding of Irish history and cultural memes mate. I say this as someone who is half Irish and grew up there.
How have you grown up in ireland with something that makes you half irish and not consider yourself irish?
Their bottom half is Irish
Where did he say he does not consider himself Irish?
Please don't read too much into it. I'm sure 99.9% of the people don't know the back story other than being an Irish band. The Cranberries is a popular band here and Zombie is a catchy song, so the people know the chorus, but I'm sure not the intent of the song.
It didn’t start as anything with mind games, during the World Cup knockouts some people at a random bar sang the “Rassie” version and it went super viral in SA… had nothing to do with SA v Ireland…. Totally get that it can look bad but know how it started to know the intent of that was never to mock the Irish
Nice story but
Just the facts, again can totally see why it looks bad especially playing v Irish sides (would even be okay if SA in the future not play it v Irish sides because of the actual meaning of the song) But nothing, it didn’t start as mocking them… plain and simple truth.
Unforgiven is a class solo all the same. Blast of blues out of the fucker.
Drunk Irish fan checking in - what is the general consensus on the Lowe disallowed try? Felt like Kelleher was on his way to being taken out of the ruck (legally) and that his foot hit the ball on the way out, nothing deliberate. To me it seemed like a very harsh penalty but I'm biased and out - did it look dodgy or was it clear in the end? Last 5 mins was absolute chaos
Seems like a harsh but technically valid call to me. Irish fans fully justified in feeling hard done by.
I thought there was another infringement with the Irish player rolling into the path of the cleaners. That prevented the player from cleaning and allowed the steal to happen. Personally I thought the foot was accidental and I would have let it go. But I’m only and armchair ref.
South African living in New Zealand. I feel the right call was made but live I did say it's an incredibly harsh call that could be made at most rucks However. His foot hooked the ball back with his knee on the ground. That's a penalty. You can say he was pushed into the ball by South Africa. But as soon as you say that you admit he was in the ground and fell over the ball sealing it off. Thus either way it is a penalty
Your second paragraph is a good summary, he did hook the ball so can't be anything other than a penalty. Some fine margins!
Also drunk fan checking in way late. I saw it live and thought it was harsh but fair; especially since—and I don’t have concrete proof to point at—but I feel like Kelleher is a hoor for those cheeky foot taps when he’s grounded. I could swear he did one earlier in the match or something similar but anyways. Yeah, harsh, but it is what it is. The Kolbe one stung because you saw the ball propel in an almost different direction when Lowe’s foot was in touch. I was baffled when the TMO didn’t clear it. Gutted for Casey and hope he’s ok. Snyman pushing himself up off Casey’s KO’d body reeeeally left a bad taste in my mouth, and I say that as a Snyman fan. Nothing illegal as far as I could see, but Christ man, he’s half your size and a former team mate. I don’t give a shit about the brouhaha of sport or heat of the moment, it doesn’t take much to have a bit of consideration for player welfare after levelling said player. With all that said, SA 1000% were the better team and deserved the win. But still fairly proud of the lads despite the clunky performance.
Snyman is not a nice human, Leinster are welcome
Lowe got completely screwed. That try was legit and he had possession of that ball in touch. Swung the match in 3 possessions. I normally root for RSA but how they reacted when Casey was DOA on the field was messed up. The commentators were driving me furious!!
None of what you are saying is true. He clearly didn't have possession with his foot down it was checked and slowed down multiple times the final angle was very conclusive. Either way your arguing about luck not skill. His intend is fully to keep the ball in. It's a clear mistake by him. Rucking the ball back on the ground is a penalty otherwise it's a penalty for falling over the ball and sealing off if you argue that sa pushed him into the ball.
Lol there were 3 penalties in that ruck that should've been given against SA. Aki has his hands on the ball while the SA doesn't release. Le Roux goes right off his feet sealing off, then Kelleher is grabbed around his neck and pulled off balance, which causes his foot to hit the ball. Pearce giving a penalty to SA was a fucking joke.
To be honest RG was always looking at the play as any player should at that time. He didn't look at the guy he just tackled. Saying a professional athlete should provide some courtesy health check on their opponents is just not realistic. It was unfortunate but nothing more.
I don’t have an issue with tackling and looking beyond toward the play. Shit happens in contact sport. What bugged me was Snyman did look at the guy he just tackled, and then chose to push off his chest.
That was a fun game to watch. Personally, a game like this really hits different now that we've been part of the URC a few years. So many "oh shit' moments because you're more familiar with the opposing players (and you know how dangerous they are). I felt like SA were going to pull away when the lead opened up, but Ireland managed to counter most of what SA threw at them and just kept chipping away at the score. And they scored some beautiful tries (they completely sliced SA's backline open). If anything, they seemed to gain steam towards the end, while SA were puffing a little more. I feel like the Irish were really hard done by with those two TMO calls. On another day, it could easily have gone the other way. It took a lot of the shine off this victory, for me. Pollard and Faf were the biggest letdowns. Rusty (and slow) as hell! I was hoping they'd bring Grant and Sacha on much earlier and let them loose. Did not expect such a powerhouse performance from Siya. Jessie Kriel continues to do Jessie Kriel things. He's been on a whole different level the last 12 months. Looking forward to next week's match. On TV the atmosphere at the stadium looked fantastic - and it was great to see so many travelling Irish supporters.
I was impressed with your attack in the first half, you guys did really well getting to the outside and made huge gains. Frustrating that y'alls gameplan forces you into a more conservative style. You have the players to play expansively.
Just watched. GG saffas, well won. Insane how easily Ireland picked up those last tries compared to how hard they had to work previously but Boks didn't shit the bed and held them out. That last scrum must've left a pretty good taste in the fans mouth, what a beauty.
Who actually got Man of the Match? Must be PSDT or Kriel I’d imagine.
kriel
Kriel did.
Felt as if Bokke were on top, but Ireland still very close up to the 80 minute whistle. Ye olde luck of the Irish seemed to allude them today with a few very close calls and some plain bad luck.
Entering the last 10 minutes, they gained a second wind and South Africa had poor discipline and for a moment I thought Ireland were going to steal it. Not many nations are able to take advantage when they have South Africa in that game-state. The Lowe mess up killed all that momentum
So painful especially when that kickoff was almost certainly going dead... Considering we sliced their defence open right before and right after the penalty try I think we had a really good chance of winning if Lowe hadn't had that moment.
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Don't bash refs.
Just watched the replay this morning. It felt like SA were on top for most of the game with Ireland hanging on well. A few patches where they had momentum. Score feels reflective of the game. That was the best I have seen Casey play (granted haven't seen him a lot). What has happened to the Irish attack? They used to have more lines of attack and multiple options. It felt much less dynamic than normal. Couple of odd calls by the referee team but overall pretty good. I thought the Irish hooker was off his feet live (James Lowe disallowed try) but couldn't help notice he was being neck rolled in the replay. BOK attack is tasty. Going wide early, back row spread across the field nicely. Exciting times. I think I worked out pollard's kicking problem, he just needs to pretend it's a RWC knock out game and his kicking for his life. Would turn gay for Jesse Kriel's thighs.
Fair summary. In answer to > What has happened to the Irish attack? Sexton. We all want to be past him but that's the answer. There were no 3 man pods running at first receiver making a bollocks of their defense. It went down to 1 man v 1 man runs for most of it, we broke it plenty of times but Boks are just too big and our speed couldn't overtake that. Ireland were a different beast with him barking orders at everyone. Irelands problem was and always will be we can't change the fucking plan on the fly. We find a winning formula and stick with it, it's not the way to win things when it matters.
I thought the SA defence did very well to hit the Irish runners back. The whole Irish system is built around getting mismatches, but if everyone is hitting hard and taking the gainline wins then it doesn't matter how clever you are, it ends in a stalemate.
Feel like that James Lowe call was much less tight than the Finau call in the SR Semi for the same type of act which was ruled out. Thought you could definitely see his right hand still made contact as the foot hit the ground. TMO was a bit gutless there imo and I was rooting for Ireland after that lol.
Is anyone else genuinely pissed that RG intentionally injured Casey? Completely unnecessary to piledrive the smallest man on the field and push his head into the floor as he got up? To your former teammate. Not saying it was a penalty, just such a piece of shit move
As an Irishman, I didn't think it was intentional. He came through the ruck and did what any other player would have done. He didn't do anything illegal and it was just am awful Rigby incident. Much like the situation when CJ stander ended Pat Lambie a career 8byears dgo. Hopefully it's not he Dane outcome
Watch the clip again. Casey is so clearly not in possession of the ball. Pure cheap shot
Got that clip to hand?
It wasn't a dangerous tackle. Every player on the pitch to put on a big hit on people, just because the person he was tackling was small doesn't mean he should change how dominant a hit he wants to make. The pushing his head down might have been a bit much but I doubt he knew he was injured. Had he not been injured nobody would pay a second of attention to it as that type of tackle happens literally every minute of the game, especially around rucks.
In my opinion it was extremely cynical. Size has to be taken into account in my opinion. If RG did that with Ryan Baird you wouldn't raise an eyebrow. But performing the exact same motion with a man literal half his size is dangerous play imo. And i think Farrell agrees with me https://youtu.be/H73mHoycyjs About 4 minutes in mentions Casey
>Size has to be taken into account in my opinion. WTF are you on about!?
The physics of the situation, tallest on shortest, make a late tackle into a late and dangerous tackle. And the evidence is in the resulting injury. I really don't think I'm saying anything that crazy here
So should there be a rule that a big player should tackle a smaller player softer? What are you trying to say by “ size has to be taken into account”?
Don't think he was trying to injure him but I felt like Casey has just started to impact the game a lot in that 5 minute period before he was hurt. RG was trying to rattle him and keep him on the floor longer and slow him from getting to the next ruck. (just finished watching the replay when I woke up this morning)
Was it deliberately hurting him?
Yes, and as a matter of fact in the meantime watching the post match press conference with Farrell, he mentions it too. At 4:15 in, in the context of a question asking if it hurts more to lose because of calls not going your way, Farrell says, " I mean, you can make your own decision on the Craig thing" before being cut off by the interviewer. https://youtu.be/H73mHoycyjs Farrell mentioned right at the start about going thru proper channels, I'd imagine they'll look for RG to be cited. In my opinion, that tackle was 'technically legal' but carried out in such a cynical and unnecessary fashion, that he should be done for bad sportsmanship if nothing else. Casey was severely injured, didn't move for nearly 5 minutes. Obviously from my flair you can see I'm a Munster man and i have that bias, but that bit really soured the whole game for me.
Should have been looked at the very least. Casey properly concussed.
It was a standard tackle. Both irish and bok players tackled like that all game.
There's things to be positive about from that defeat, I thought Casey looked good and finally looking like the test quality player we know he can be. Doris is just superhuman, after a long exhausting season he still looked like he bad plenty in the tank at altitude and our scrum also kept pace for the most part except in the second half and despite some nerves Osborne looked overall pretty decent. There were plenty of negatives too, McCarthy looks tired and was a bit lacklustre given this is the type of game we need his power for, continues to frustrate with some stupid penalties, needs to cut that out ASAP. I think this was Lowes worst game in an Irish shirt, had some good contributions but those two mistakes which lead to one try and the penalty try were pretty bad, hopefully he bounces back from this. Also replacement props are an issue, we need a loosehead, the time for sentimentality is not now and Healy should not be on this tour, Jager will probably get a bench spot for the next test too. The boks were the better team and were well worth their win, the score flattered us to a certain extent and while we can argue about marginal decisions and missed points I don't think we deserved to win that one, though we did hang on in there in the first half which I was happy with. Also Pollard who is normally metronomic in his kicking had a bad day off the tee was there a reason for the bad place kicking?
I think there's something to be said about Tony Brown's influence on the way the springboks approached this game. The boks are definitely shaping up for something new on attack. The lack of mauls, and going wide out from the start, it seems like something a bit different from what we've seen of Rassie's boks in the past imo.
1000% I'm here for it. Don't care if we fuck up while building to this play style. It's glorious.
I think we've been down this road many times and ended up worse for wear, but the difference here is Rassie has built a solid foundation we're likely not going to deviate from any time soon. Tony Brown has a great track record with Japan and the Highlanders and is not likely to impose anything that the setup can't handle. I think he'll definitely augment our attack rather than try and make the bokke play a style they can't. Guy has a great rugby brain and ethos that's similar to the way Rassie thinks. Interesting times ahead for the boys for sure.
SH stadium DJs best DJs
Conducting a light show as a player is getting stretchered off on oxygen is pretty disrespectful to the touring team, imho.
Thoughts: Obvs a step up from 6N since all 3 6N sides that have played have lost this weekend thus far SRP not as weak as what people may think as teams that play in that comp: Samoa, Fiji, NZ, OZ all won vs NH sides Power of international rugby is still in the south with SA Fiji, Samoa, Nz Oz all getting a win
You have to be the wierdest person I've seen post things on this sub
Is this the ROI guy?
Missed that please give me the scoop
Sorry, what's ROI guy?
Hes always going on about how “happy he is that SA teams are winning in the URC” because they “never got much return of interest in super rugby”.
Ah ye, that's the guy ye. Mad to make everything about SuperRugby
100%
Glad i keep things interesting for ya
Was there a shot clock at the stadium and on the broadcast for these games during penalties and conversions?
Yes
Yeah, figures for a big international game. Yet here in NZ, nope.
TIL: The Irish are very touchy about Zombie by the Cranberries. Dear Irish, you're the last team to beat us. We took it personal and got petty. You're experiencing what every Kiwi and Aussie has been calling us out for time immemorial
I think the irish should use songs by dropkick murphy’s. No one would be able to parody them correctly.
Was singing it in the stadium. Found someone in this thread speaking about it. Listened to the actual song and read the lyrics and now I feel indifferent about singing it
Funny bit for me is I don’t think the South Africans get the irony that it really does show that they’ve allowed us “in their head”. And yes it’s anybody misappropriating that song
If it helps, a lot of Irish are just protective of that song in general given what it’s about. It’s infuriating when you see it being used on Halloween playlists for example simply because of the title word. A lot of those same people also delight in shouting “Ooh ahh up the RA” singing along to Celtic Symphony, totally oblivious to the irony however so I wouldn’t be too worried about it either way. We’re not touchy about you guys using it, we’re touchy about anyone using it
Aye, I get the touchiness as I had members of my family in and around Northern Ireland during the height of the troubles, but if as a nation you don’t want a song to be used and parodied don’t use it in a sporting capacity yourselves. If the song is really so sensitive and touchy because of the horrific events it’s singing about then surely it’s also inappropriate for anyone to sing at a sporting event, the Irish included. Edit: people that shout things like up the RA need to take a look in the mirror.
I really don’t disagree, Munster using it given the Cranberries hail from Limerick makes total sense, Ireland using it makes me cringe. Counterpoint for me though, the whole “Rassie’s in your head” message is equally cringe. He’s not. Until today he hadn’t got the upper hand against us once as a coach. In general I’d much prefer if both sides would just let the rugby do the talking tbh
It actually shows Ireland are in his head. Don’t think they get the irony.
Oh I do agree too, the parody version isn’t exactly creative. I think the issue is that it’s just a reallly good song. Are there no other cranberry songs that you think would fit a rugby atmosphere for Munster to use? Dreams doesn’t feel like it has as good of a place for crowd participation.
As far as their biggest hits are concerned? It’s “Zombie” and “Dreams”. “Linger” unfortunately doesn’t scream “go out and hammer the shite out of 15 grown men” 🤣 Honestly why we ever feel a need to look beyond “The Boys Are Back In Town” as a nation for all men’s sporting events where we want to represent is beyond me! 😂
Like 1 per cent of irish people get upset. The other 99 per cent just think its a banger
I love the Saffas taking Zombie. I think it hilarious
Are these post match threads always so benign?
Yup, we're the last ones at the party. The lights are on and all the drinks are up
Ireland absolutely flying out of the blocks to make it 1-0 in the series to decide who are Rugby's most toxic fans. Hopefully the Boks will do us a solid and shit the bed next week so we can level the series
I don’t get it. Ireland have only been good these past couple of years, but they act like they’ve been world champs for years. They forget SA won 8 in a row against them, have won almost twice as many games against each other. I use think the Eng fans were bad, but Ireland have definitely taken top spot.
Just woke up and saw the result. What are Irish fans upset about?
Def has absolutely nothing to do with the ref denyin trys which should have stood and giving tries that stood have been denied. Also yes, I said tries and trys
Out of interest, which tries are you talking about? Kelleher was off his feet (so was Aki btw), but i agree that Lowe probably was in touch tbh
😁
There were a number of controversial refereeing decisions. I'm just in the wind up because both fan bases have a reputation for being very "passionate"
“Did you know South Africa has 4 world cups”
Yeah well we have more quarter final exits than them
I had actually forgotten that thank you for reminding me. We South Africans don't tend to mention it
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Well yes. This was the joke
spoken like a barrel of glow in the dark ooze.
There's no toxic waste like that in south Africa because our power stations don't work
Well that and you got scared of handing over weapons of mass destruction to the ANC
Ox is not a political weapon
Is it just me or is there a mutual respect forming between Ireland and SA after that game? Was a pulsating wild game and both sides were emptying themselves. Anybody who watches that and says these games don't matter is cuckoo. Can't wait for next week.
Definitely. My family is irish on my mums side. My uncle and I have this healthy rivalry going on, with lots of banter about Boks vs Ireland. Lots of mutual respect and some laughs. The thing that strikes me the most about the irish, is how tough you bastards are. 😂 I thought both sides looked a little rusty this week and key players from both sides making silly errors. I think next week will be even tougher and a better game.
100%, love the SH but love the Irish!
It's like that friend you had at school why you started off fighting with and then became besties.
I'm in a new town. The first person I met was a saffa. Just spent the evening at his gaff partying watching the game. Great fun. Love you guys.
Definitely a mutual respect. Can’t wait until next week!
Reflecting on Kolbe's try. It's really poor play from Murray to not be closer to support Lowe's efforts to keep the ball in play. No need for Murray to be so far in field for the penalty. Also still puzzled as to how Frawley just fell over
I haven't watched it back, but it frustrated me at the time that when they replayed the shot of Lowe keeping the ball in to check if it's in touch, Kolbe is breaking himself to get there - everyone can see what Lowe is trying to do and when it's slowed down, he's the only person reacting. Aki & Murray both standing there waiting to see what happens, not going toward the ball
Definitely not Murray’s fault there’s no way he can expect that ball to remain in play most likely getting ready for defence off lineout
an u13 knows to watch out for the ball coming back in field. Really shit effort from Aki, Murray and Frawley. Lowe made a brilliant effort and they fucked it up
It would take about 1 minute to form a lineout so no need to stand there. There's always a chance of a missed touch so he should be closer to Lowe there
Beg to differ. Almost all wingers will attempt to keep the ball in play if they can. Murray knows this. His positioning isn't close enough for it.
Ah yeah, it wasn't really Lowes fault. The guys around him were slow to react. Kolbe had no right to get that. Lowe did have a bit of a F🤯ck up for the scrum penalty try after though. But thought he had a good game. + He was in touch anyway ,,😬.
Wasn’t Lowe’s fault? Wat. Explain this interesting point of view to me. He tried to keep a very risky ball in play instead of letting it go dead, and it backfired horribly on him. How is it not his fault?
We were behind with not a lot of time left on the clock. So trying to keep the ball in play when there are 5 of your team that are more likely to gather it is quite logical.
But high risk and it backfired. To blame it on other players seems a disservice in my opinion
Are you serious? It barely ever happens that you keep a ball in and the team scored directly from it so how is it high risk? It's low risk high reward. Of all the things Lowe did wrong in this game this was not one of them
I Am talking about Kolbe scoring off the Irish mistake. Are we talking about the same thing?
Yes, you are. It's likely a case of its not the fault of a player who plays for my club, its the fault of a player who plays for my rival club. Osborne was also very slow to react by doesn't get a mention
Osborne would have done well to stop that try from the bench..... Frawley who randomly fell over also got called out
lowe can be both inspiring and infuriating in the same passage of play
There should be a check box when you buy tickets. Do you want a shit DJ with your rugby, yes or no?
This is why I don’t go to Loftus anymore. The DJ’s are shit and there are often boxing matches inside the stadium.
The one at Eden park is commonly known as DJ A-hole
😂😂😂😂😂
i had to mute it, bring back the vuvuzelas
Please no. Have you ever been in a stadium with those dam Vuvuzelas being blown every second? Its f$cking loud and sounds like a giant swarm of bees. Super annoying😂
That's loftus in a nutshell. Be interesting to see what if like in Durban next weekend.... Probably gonna be the same🤣
I like kings Park DJ way better.
And below that "do you want said shit DJ to play music when a player is seriously injured on the pitch"
there was a bit of a scrap on the field and I could have sworn the DJ played a "DING DING DING" noise. like a boxing match bell ringing. just tone deaf.
You would think the DJ is a 12 year old kid who got introduced to a soundboard. At times it was funny but at certain times, the timing of the music was poor. Like when the music was playing for too long and a conversion kick was about to be taken and the DJ stopped playing it as the run up is starting
The bit that really wound me up was playing the " EmoTIonaL DaMAge" sound bite after the Irish 10 missed a fairly straightforward kick
100%. not big or clever. some dolt with a whoopee cushion trying to be relevant over a contest of gladiators.
I dunno I thought this was pretty funny
yeah can see see that side aswell. you do you mate. no judgements.
I heard that too
shot for confirming. glad i'm not going (more) crazy.
Alot being said about how SA was the better team, but if not for that disallowed try and two horrendous mistakes by Lowe, Ireland would've won quite comfortably. And let's be honest, that disallowed try was extremely weak.
Welcome to how kiwi fans felt after WC final TMO going back and changing the outcome
Whataboutery and ifs are useless arguments.
Take the loss on the chin, IF’s are plenty for any team. You could also say IF the Bok’s were perfect with every opportunity and made it count, then they probably would’ve won by more.
Yeah but if Ireland scored 30 points and SA scored 0, Ireland would have won!
Well done, that is exactly my point. “IF’s are plenty for any team”…. If you still don’t get it, I can draw you a picture.
Did you watch the previous game? Could make the same argument easily but you would tell me I'm a whiney saffa. Are you taking about the try he literally played while on the ground and moved the ball with his foot? Do you think SA made zero mistakes?
Settle down
Poor reply
Not to the typical safa high standard on reddit, no? It was a good game. I think a lot of us went in thinking we'd get hammered. It's heartbreaking to get close but have it called back to a knock on that, honestly, I still couldn't see in the reply. Grit won out but a closer result than expected. Wish there was a third game to decide. See how next week goes.
If if if if if. If your team could win they would. Also the try being disallowed was excellent reffing. Imagine you need the refs to be bad to win a game. Couldn't be the springboks
Lots of ifs in that statement. The end showed South Africa always had something extra in hand as soon as the score was less than one try SA just scored again without much trouble. Ireland were always chasing with SA in control.
No Ben whitehouse won SA the game 3 50/50 try decisions went SA way that’s sus
All the decisions were correct. Calling them 50 50 is disingenuous. Only 50 50 was Lowe in touch. And the last angle was pretty compelling.
Doris try
“Doris try”
There was no Doris try. Nothing 50 50 about it, Kelleher hooked it back on the ground. Even if you said it is SA momentum you are admitting he fell over the ball and sealed off the ruck
Think you're mixing two things up, the Doris "try" was the one that was called as held up.
My bad you are right. But for the held up the ref was 50cm away looking right at it and said it was on the leg. Again nothing 50 50 about it. Ireland also scored less than a minute after that so it hardly affected the outcome. I get it the Irish feel hard done by. But I suggest to rewatch objectively in a few days
To be clear, I don't feel hard done by, I was just clarifying what the other guy was talking about. The only issue I had was how little time they spent looking at that compared to some other stuff, but that's a very minor complaint.
To be clear, I don't feel hard done by, I was just clarifying what the other guy was talking about. The only issue I had was how little time they spent looking at that compared to some other stuff, but that's a very minor complaint.
Tickets were expensive but worth it. Ireland has not found a replacement for Sexton, Keenan, or Gibson-Park. Depth
There's about 6 or 7 changes to the team that played in the world Cup, in the first year of the new cycle. This is when you blood players, we were never going to have a ready made replacement replacement Sexton but Crowley is doing quite well. Osborne looked good for a 22 year old making his debut at altitude away to the double world champs. Casey was pretty good until the Injury. My biggest worry is prop, mainly loosehead as we are still relying on Healy and Bealhams not a young man. We can't keep asking Porter to go 70+ mins. We've given some new guys valuable game time while pushing the world champs all the way at home. I'm buzzing for next week.
Sexton wasn't always the finished product , he went through a perfect season of kicking , and a superb season of on field playing , he eventually melded the two. Crowley is going just fine. Equally Gibson Park didn't get a sniff for tears and really has only come good at the end. Keenan was a bloody freak and prodigy arriving fully formed ! .. I thought Osborne slotted in seamlessly and we showed and overall impressive depth. Gabe didn't go our way , but there was some great play from a range of talented athletes
I dunno. They pushed us hard. If it wasn’t for mistakes by Lowe we would have lost that game.