All Blacks v Ireland
A few hours on, that was still as high a quality game as you will see. Two excellent rugby sides (and for all the angst, we tend to forget we are still a very good side) playing very well. Someone had to lose, thankfully it wasn't us. The difference i think was, as the game wore on, we were able to work the game in to our favour more than them.
So much today was little things that i wouldn't have called hallmarks of this iteration of the All Blacks. Our ruck work was excellent. On our ball our pacement and cleanout was highly accurate, and allowed us to maintain a lot of possession. On the other side we made them work really hard for it, got hands and bodies in over and over, and it really sapped their pack.
The defense was excellent. THe shape to shuffle out and keep snuffing out the wraps took their shape away. but the big change was, when they tried to play tight we absolutely smacked them in hard accurate tackles and stopped all momentum. We took their heart a bit there, and it showed in that incredible last set of phases.
On attack we were pretty pragmatic, happy to have the ball, keep the ball, and make them work. And when opportunity presented itself, we took it.
Scrum was dominant, and Porter rightly pinged repeatedly for his 90 degree scrumming. Our lineout was on point as well. And all that meant we had lots of ball.
It really was an excellent, high quality performance.
And yet, for all that praise, and all that good stuff, we won by 4. Credit to Ireland, they were incredible. I always thought scoreboard pressure would roll Ireland, but they never went away, they never lost faith in their plan, and they were in it right to the death. Every AB surge was met with a riposte. But in the end, we met their shape, and messed it up. Took JGP out of the game. Took their ball running forwards out of the game. And we made them resort to wide passes, to the admittedly still dangerous Lowe and Keenan.
The ABs will look back at this one with a well-earned bit of pride. Job not done, but a major hurdle overcome in a big way
@Wairau said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Machpants said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Wairau said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Tim said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Interestingly, Ireland stood at 17 wins for the Raeburn shield, one behind the 1987 AB team, who got to 18. So, that's a record we kept, thanks Foster and this current team.
Also, the 1987 team took 1155 days for those 18 wins, whereas Ireland took only 462 for 17-almost 2 years less (and had a possible 20 during RWC 2023 then 6 Nations coming up).
England have the same 18 wins, so not really just our record
not for Raeburn, that's NZ's alone.
The Raeburn Shield — THE RAEBURN SHIELD & UTRECHT SHIELDs
Ah
@chimoaus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
I'm assuming there are going to be lots of cheap tickets popping up online for the Semi-final, I can't imagine many Irish supporters hanging around now.
I knew that exact feeling in 2007.
@chimoaus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
I think Whitelock now has the record of most RWC games and he has two more to add to his total. Will be hard to beat.
Might have most RWC matches won as well? Maybe we need a Big Sam's Firsts thread...
@Machpants said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
One of the very few times under foster we have away less than ten penalties versus a tier 1 side
A key weakness this..hope they can ameliorate it.
@Wairau said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Commiserations to the supporters of Ireland and Wales, it's tough, lose and go home from the quarters. As good as we feel, they must feel just as bad. Ireland have had a fantastic run to get to this point, and it took a super effort from the ABs to just be holding on for the last few minutes.
I was reading a review of world media reactions (NZ Herald) and saw this one by Rúaidhrí O’Connor of the Irish Independent
*“The All Blacks needed a 37-phase defensive set in injury time to finally squeeze past them, Ireland going the length of the field into the end where Johnny Sexton had dropped his goal in 2018 but there was to be no fairytale end to the great out-half’s career as Sam Whitelock got over the ball to win it.
“So, the winning run ends at the worst possible moment and, in truth, they were beaten by the better team on the night."*
Yet, that is exactly what our 2013 team did to win. Ireland could have won, if they were good and fit enough. I wonder if BB and SW had a flashback.
I had a flashback! It was thinking "fůck, they're going to do what we did to them 10 years ago."
But unfortunately for them they didn't have Bros Franks to shift bodies!
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@Wairau said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Yet, that is exactly what our 2013 team did to win. Ireland could have won, if they were good and fit enough. I wonder if BB and SW had a flashback.
I had a flashback! It was thinking "fůck, they're going to do what we did to them 10 years ago."
But unfortunately for them they didn't have Bros Franks to shift bodies!
The talk about the minutes their starting XV had played leading into the quarter final showed in the final stanza. While they managed to get down to the other end of the field, it looked like the All Blacks were making seriously good decisions about contesting the ruck. The Irish attack looked predictable and increasingly ponderous until they simply ran out of effective cleaners.
Maybe being really harsh, but watching this morning and having watched it back, reckon James Lowe more or less showed today why we let him go. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't bad, but he is more Shaun Stevenson/Etene Nanai-Seturo than a Will Jordan.
I actually though Gibson-Park was really good even outside of the try, and Aki was obviously immense. Do think at times we tactically gave up soft metres to Aki in particular to ensure they couldn't freely attack the outside shoulder like they wanted. As opposed to risking being caught short as they folded around we dropped off and made tackles. A feature of Ireland in this tournament has been clean breaks, and without having the numbers, it didn't really feel like there were many, particularly meaningful ones.
@mariner4life said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Just on that last Irish possession, that was really smart accurate defense. Shuffled, covered everything, picke their moments to try the turnover. It was tense, but we never looked like breaking. Good shape, hard shoulders, smart play.
Watching it back, the only time they really threatened to break us was when Ringrose hit the line with a bit of acceleration, and in fairness he just about got through. Certainly beat a couple of forwards, but was then scragged by J Barrett I believe.
@taniwharugby Another angle, You will need a VPN to see it from NZ but he is chipping at Rieko. No doubt Rieko was congratulating him on a stellar carrier -
@Daffy-Jaffy RI asking him to text him with what movies were on the flight home?
Something really unlikeable about Johnny, but the rest seem good blokes.
One of the nz press even asked Cane about a bit of revenge on POM about his shit Richie comment, Cane just fended it off.
Lowe, Ethan and LF after the match.
@frugby said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@taniwharugby Allegedly Rieko.
I can’t blame him. R Ioane does come across as a cock, I can see how other teams wouldn’t like the cut of his gib.
@Daffy-Jaffy One of the Irish papers (Irish Times) was upset with Reiko for putting his finger to his lips and pointing to an Irish section of the crowd at the final whistle.
I wonder if the incidents were connected?
@nostrildamus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@chimoaus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
I think Whitelock now has the record of most RWC games and he has two more to add to his total. Will be hard to beat.
Might have most RWC matches won as well? Maybe we need a Big Sam's Firsts thread...
Be a fair bet. Been to four world cups and lost two games.
A bit of whining in that article from the Times (here).
Talking Point: Supporters deserve greater clarity in the stadium than a one-and-done replay
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The decision not to show further angles of Richie Mo’unga’s shoulder to Bundee Aki’s jaw was baffling
@gt12 said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
A bit of whining in that article from the Times (here).
The decision not to show further angles of Richie Mo’unga’s shoulder to Bundee Aki’s jaw was baffling
For starters, I think the angle people use to say it was shoulder to the head is quite clearly the chest anyway, but even then, the TMO/Bunker gets tons of angles anyway, they'd have checked everything with scrutiny, and I imagine with the reverse/side angle, you'd probably quite clearly see it is an optical illusion... did his shoulder nudge the chin? Probably, but only after bumping up off the chest.
The biggest miss from the TMO was a neck roll on Rieko on about the 32nd phase of that last movement.
@booboo said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@nostrildamus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
@chimoaus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
I think Whitelock now has the record of most RWC games and he has two more to add to his total. Will be hard to beat.
Might have most RWC matches won as well? Maybe we need a Big Sam's Firsts thread...
Be a fair bet. Been to four world cups and lost two games.
And, whisper it, possible only triple cup winner
A bit more here of the incident between Ioane and Sexton.
I won't lie, I think Rieko can be a bit of a dick, however since I was literally yelling 'fuck off back to Ireland you fluffybunnies Sexton and O'Mahoney', I think it's fair to say that I'm being a bit hypocritical.
Johnny Sexton Involved In Angry Exchange With Rieko Ioane After Ireland Lost To All Blacks | Balls.ie
The rugby career of Johnny Sexton ended in heartbreak in Paris tonight. After the fulltime whistle, he had some heated words with All Black Rieko Ioane
@gt12 said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
A bit more here of the incident between Ioane and Sexton.
I won't lie, I think Rieko can be a bit of a dick, however since I was literally yelling 'fuck off back to Ireland you fluffybunnies Sexton and O'Mahoney', I think it's fair to say that I'm being a bit hypocritical.
The rugby career of Johnny Sexton ended in heartbreak in Paris tonight. After the fulltime whistle, he had some heated words with All Black Rieko Ioane
Well the four more years was Gregan standing over an AB (Kelleher) and rubbing it in. And didn't get all whiny cockwomble about it. Took it as due
@gt12 obviously it was some smart arse comment from RI, given how pissed off Sexton was, I wonder if he reprimanded POM for his shit richie comments?
There will always be those who have something smart/funny to say that will piss some off, always passed as banter/sledging...
A couple of things.
That last phase of play started with Sexton's 22 drop out bang on 76mins. It finished at 82:18. 6mins and 18 seconds later.
NZ gave Ireland the ball (what the fuck was that kick Nuggie?) at 77 mins.
For the leaguies out there, the All Blacks withstood the equivalent of seven consecutive "6 agains", in 5 and a half minutes.
@chimoaus said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
I'm assuming there are going to be lots of cheap tickets popping up online for the Semi-final, I can't imagine many Irish supporters hanging around now.
Anyone know of any reputable ticket resale sites?
RWC have a ticket resale section, heaps of tickets available, all full price €550
Been out all day. Saw the last 5 minutes this morning so nice to get time this afternoon to get a look at the rest.
ABs first attacking raid going 29 phases without incident is pretty good.
Ireland's lineout and ruck are nervy.
I thought Barnes got the first scrum wrong tho - ABs THP folded in for me
@NTA said in RWC QF: All Blacks v Ireland:
Ireland's should spend more time playing and less trying to milk penalties.
Their attack looks disjointed and hesitant.
Yeah JGP tried it on a couple of times.
What an utter arsehole Rob Kearney is! He could have shown some humility on the final whistle and said “I called the All Blacks defensive passive. I was wrong.”
Instead he bagged his own team after they slogged their guts for 80 minutes. Irish Rugby deserves better than smug gits like him.