Ireland v South Africa AI 2017.

[artaneboy]

I think my favourite bit of skill in the whole match was Sweetnam's pick up (and retention) leading to Stockdale's try, fantastic moment.

Overall highlight of the day though has to go to ROG for comparing Zebo to Neymar!

Agree on Sweetnam’s moment. Both great skill and awareness there; he kept the whole move alive.

Very impressed with as the wingers- Stockdale and Conway obviously have the headlines with the tries, but that move by the Corkman was a gem.

Not coincidentally Rob also had a good day, with some less than inspired moments- e.g. running back into contact for little gain. But his low pick-up in the first half was also lovely. Aside from that highlight he did what Joe asked of him and allowed his partners in the back three to thrive.


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[Oldschoolsocks]

I think my favourite bit of skill in the whole match was Sweetnam's pick up (and retention) leading to Stockdale's try, fantastic moment.

Overall highlight of the day though has to go to ROG for comparing Zebo to Neymar!

Has Neymar grown a massive arse recently?

[CiaranIrl]

It was pretty extraordinary to watch how far the South African have fallen. Their woeful kicking, demolished scrum, their lack of aggression - it just felt ... Wrong. Our line was never threatened. Every one of their players was worse than their opposite number.

All in all, I felt bad for their fans, who turned up in big numbers all things considered.

[Ruckedtobits]

Among those who should feel very good this morning is Greg Feek. Superb performances at scrum time for all six front rows. Ryan, Herring and Kilcoyne produced two great scrums to add to the initial work of Healy, Best and Furlong. It almost makes up for the decades in which our front-row was a work of prayer and cheating.

[simonokeeffe]

I think my favourite bit of skill in the whole match was Sweetnam's pick up (and retention) leading to Stockdale's try, fantastic moment.

Overall highlight of the day though has to go to ROG for comparing Zebo to Neymar!

Honourable mentiom to Henshaws flick off the deck

I effing love ROG' punditry

[LeRouxIsPHat]

As bad as SA were, I still thought we were excellent.

Brilliant performance from everyone in the pack, including the subs. Thought POM was good but Ruddock was incredible when he came on. Only downsides were a couple of knock ons from Henderson, and a few penalties from CJ.

Our defence was outstanding and I don't care that SA were so poor, that was a brilliant defensive effort and a slightly new system from what I could see. In the past we've relied on Sexton or Henshaw getting off the line but it was more of an individual thing which often left us exposed out wide if we didn't get it right. Yesterday it was more in groups of two or three and while Sexton, Aki and Henshaw were all great at it, SOB and a few others in the pack were unbelievably good at getting off the line and trapping the ball carrier. SA didn't have the hands or the power to get away and then the numbers could pour into the breakdown and either win the turnover or just slow the ball down. And if the first up tackler did miss the ball carrier then the others behind him were able to wrap him up anyway. Sexton's workrate in that regard was particularly good, getting up off the deck really quickly, sprinting back into position, and then looking to smash the South Africans. Other teams would do better against us, but it's still a great system that we executed superbly.

Our attack was a bit different too although we did play similarly in the summer. We were a little bit sloppy at times but I thought that was okay because we wereconstantly trying to keep the tempo up and using lots of different options. There was none of the staid game plan from February when we just gave the ball to CJ and expected him to make yards, the guy on the ball had options and support, which got us moving forward and secured quick ball.

Great to see the young wingers doing so well. Conway looked really comfortable at that level. If you threw a scrumcap on Kearney I'm not sure I'd recognise him, he seems to have slimmed down an awful lot, the barrel chest has disappeared, and he seemed to be eager to run the ball back at space instead of looking for contact and trying to bounce people. He did get smashed a few times but still thought it was encouraging.

It also seemed like a very happy team. The whole team went mad after each of the tries and after winning penalties on the deck or at scrum time etc etc.

I'm not sure if this a positive or a negative but I did think we were lucky with a good few decisions, particularly with going off our feet at the breakdown. Something to keep an eye on, but if we were just playing the ref then maybe it doesn't matter and was actually smart play.

[Logorrhea]

I think my favourite bit of skill in the whole match was Sweetnam's pick up (and retention) leading to Stockdale's try, fantastic moment.

Personally I preferred Ruddock step away from the tackle and drive over for his try. Left one man swishing for his legs and drove another two (I think?) over the line. Unbelievable try.

However on that final try, look at the combination of players that contributed to it: South African error > Stockdale > Marmion > Carbery > Sweetnam > Marmion > James Ryan > Marmion > Carbery > Henshaw > Conway > Stockdale. A bunch of new caps and kids and they ripped South Africa to shreds at the end there.

[CiaranIrl]

Hard to know how many changes Joe will make for Fiji next week. I'd personally love to see Murray, Sexton, O'Brien & Henshaw get the day off.

Edit: And others. Would the below be too much change?

1. McGrath (if fit), 2. Herring, 3. Ryan
4. Henderson, 5. Ryan
6. O'Mahony (captain), 7. Leavy (if fit), 8. Conan
9. Marmion, 10. Carbery
12. Mcclosky, 13. Aki,
11. Stockdale, 14. Sweetnam, 15. Conway

16. Tracy, 17. Kilcoyne, 18. Porter, 19. Dillane, 20. Ruddock, 21. McGrath, 22 Keatley, 23. Byrne

[paddyor]

Hard to know how many changes Joe will make for Fiji next week. I'd personally love to see Murray, Sexton, O'Brien & Henshaw get the day off.

Ah I think it's fairly obvious he'll switch out the starters and bump the bench up. Possible exception being Conway to 15 and leaving the centres in place. 1-10 will definitely be rested.

[blockhead]

What is it with us Irish?
We smash the BOKs 38-3 and all we can do is lament the fall from grace of the once mighty South Africa. If anyone of the other 6N tems had a scoreline like that they would be c~*k-a-hoop. And they wouldn't give a fup about the BOKs.
If England won by 35 pts the narrative would be that it was confirmation of their status as the best team in the world. RSA's problems would be of no concern, they played as good as they were allowed to by the mighty chariot, etc, etc.
We don't really beleive we are good enough, do we?
And we'ed hate it if others thought we were displaying some, dare I say it, self-confidence (altough we would call it arrogance, as we can't tell the difference).

Anyway, back to the game. Our attack looked fairly good at times, but our defence was awesome. Farrell is doing a masterful job. The likes of Conway, Stockdale and Aki looked like they had 20 odd caps each they were so well prepped. Classic Joe.

[ronk]

Hard to know how many changes Joe will make for Fiji next week. I'd personally love to see Murray, Sexton, O'Brien & Henshaw get the day off.

Ah I think it's fairly obvious he'll switch out the starters and bump the bench up. Possible exception being Conway to 15 and leaving the centres in place. 1-10 will definitely be rested.

If Keatley or Sexton play then Carbery could be tried at fullback.

[paddyor]

What is it with us Irish?
We smash the BOKs 38-3 and all we can do is lament the fall from grace of the once mighty South Africa. If anyone of the other 6N tems had a scoreline like that they would be c~*k-a-hoop. And they wouldn't give a fup about the BOKs.
If England won by 35 pts the narrative would be that it was confirmation of their status as the best team in the world. RSA's problems would be of no concern, they played as good as they were allowed to by the mighty chariot, etc, etc.
We don't really beleive we are good enough, do we?
And we'ed hate it if others thought we were displaying some, dare I say it, self-confidence (altough we would call it arrogance, as we can't tell the difference).

Anyway, back to the game. Our attack looked fairly good at times, but our defence was awesome. Farrell is doing a masterful job. The likes of Conway, Stockdale and Aki looked like they had 20 odd caps each they were so well prepped. Classic Joe.

I care for the win, the margin not so much. It's nice to put up a record score on the Boks but it's worth remembering they're not that good a team. A better team would/will test us more. They'll be a lot further down the rankings by the end of this tour IMO.

Not that I didn't enjoy seeing an Irish team really twist the knife like that. Whats really great is getting so many new faces in the team and seeing them perform.

[Ruckedtobits]

What is it with us Irish?
We smash the BOKs 38-3 and all we can do is lament the fall from grace of the once mighty South Africa. If anyone of the other 6N tems had a scoreline like that they would be c~*k-a-hoop. And they wouldn't give a fup about the BOKs.
If England won by 35 pts the narrative would be that it was confirmation of their status as the best team in the world. RSA's problems would be of no concern, they played as good as they were allowed to by the mighty chariot, etc, etc.
We don't really beleive we are good enough, do we?
And we'ed hate it if others thought we were displaying some, dare I say it, self-confidence (altough we would call it arrogance, as we can't tell the difference).

Anyway, back to the game. Our attack looked fairly good at times, but our defence was awesome. Farrell is doing a masterful job. The likes of Conway, Stockdale and Aki looked like they had 20 odd caps each they were so well prepped. Classic Joe.

+1. Yes, absolutely classic Joe.

But let's not get down on ourselves for having a bit of humility and some compassion for the current demise of a previously great rugby Nation. They will be back. Not immediately perhaps, but they will be back.

[artaneboy]

What is it with us Irish?
We smash the BOKs 38-3 and all we can do is lament the fall from grace of the once mighty South Africa. If anyone of the other 6N tems had a scoreline like that they would be c~*k-a-hoop. And they wouldn't give a fup about the BOKs.
If England won by 35 pts the narrative would be that it was confirmation of their status as the best team in the world. RSA's problems would be of no concern, they played as good as they were allowed to by the mighty chariot, etc, etc.
We don't really beleive we are good enough, do we?
And we'ed hate it if others thought we were displaying some, dare I say it, self-confidence (altough we would call it arrogance, as we can't tell the difference).

Anyway, back to the game. Our attack looked fairly good at times, but our defence was awesome. Farrell is doing a masterful job. The likes of Conway, Stockdale and Aki looked like they had 20 odd caps each they were so well prepped. Classic Joe.

+1. Yes, absolutely classic Joe.

But let's not get down on ourselves for having a bit of humility and some compassion for the current demise of a previously great rugby Nation. They will be back. Not immediately perhaps, but they will be back.

South Africa still has the playing numbers- and the tradition; it will be back- and probably quicker than most people expect, now that Erasmus is in charge.

I would not be surprised to see them beat France next week, for a start. We essentially out-thought them on Saturday. France haven’t bothered too much with ‘thought’ as a tactic for a while either.


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[simonokeeffe]

Hard to know how many changes Joe will make for Fiji next week. I'd personally love to see Murray, Sexton, O'Brien & Henshaw get the day off.

Ah I think it's fairly obvious he'll switch out the starters and bump the bench up. Possible exception being Conway to 15 and leaving the centres in place. 1-10 will definitely be rested.

Farrell and McCloskey in the one midfield, thats some level of bosh

Boks will be back once they sack Coetzee. Theyre badly coached and selected. They have the forwards to demolish most teams

[CiaranIrl]

What is it with us Irish?
We smash the BOKs 38-3 and all we can do is lament the fall from grace of the once mighty South Africa. If anyone of the other 6N tems had a scoreline like that they would be c~*k-a-hoop. And they wouldn't give a fup about the BOKs.
If England won by 35 pts the narrative would be that it was confirmation of their status as the best team in the world. RSA's problems would be of no concern, they played as good as they were allowed to by the mighty chariot, etc, etc.
We don't really beleive we are good enough, do we?
And we'ed hate it if others thought we were displaying some, dare I say it, self-confidence (altough we would call it arrogance, as we can't tell the difference).

Yeah, we could say all that, but it would be a bit premature. That match didn't make me any more or less confident that we'll win our opening 6N match against France in Paris in February.

[TerenureJim]

What is it with us Irish?
We smash the BOKs 38-3 and all we can do is lament the fall from grace of the once mighty South Africa. If anyone of the other 6N tems had a scoreline like that they would be c~*k-a-hoop. And they wouldn't give a fup about the BOKs.
If England won by 35 pts the narrative would be that it was confirmation of their status as the best team in the world. RSA's problems would be of no concern, they played as good as they were allowed to by the mighty chariot, etc, etc.
We don't really beleive we are good enough, do we?
And we'ed hate it if others thought we were displaying some, dare I say it, self-confidence (altough we would call it arrogance, as we can't tell the difference).

Anyway, back to the game. Our attack looked fairly good at times, but our defence was awesome. Farrell is doing a masterful job. The likes of Conway, Stockdale and Aki looked like they had 20 odd caps each they were so well prepped. Classic Joe.

I care for the win, the margin not so much. It's nice to put up a record score on the Boks but it's worth remembering they're not that good a team. A better team would/will test us more. They'll be a lot further down the rankings by the end of this tour IMO.

Not that I didn't enjoy seeing an Irish team really twist the knife like that. Whats really great is getting so many new faces in the team and seeing them perform.

This is still an SA side that came within a point of NZ a few weeks ago

[dropkick]

What is it with us Irish?
We smash the BOKs 38-3 and all we can do is lament the fall from grace of the once mighty South Africa. If anyone of the other 6N tems had a scoreline like that they would be c~*k-a-hoop. And they wouldn't give a fup about the BOKs.
If England won by 35 pts the narrative would be that it was confirmation of their status as the best team in the world. RSA's problems would be of no concern, they played as good as they were allowed to by the mighty chariot, etc, etc.
We don't really beleive we are good enough, do we?
And we'ed hate it if others thought we were displaying some, dare I say it, self-confidence (altough we would call it arrogance, as we can't tell the difference).

Anyway, back to the game. Our attack looked fairly good at times, but our defence was awesome. Farrell is doing a masterful job. The likes of Conway, Stockdale and Aki looked like they had 20 odd caps each they were so well prepped. Classic Joe.

Agreed. Ive always said the Irish players lack confidence. It explains the shambolic world cup performances and even in the EOS days when Ireland would snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and seem to end up second in the 6 nations every year. I think it was down to that generation growing up, seeing Ireland lose all the time. It takes a long time to change a rugby culture.


I think that lack of self belief is slowly being eroded and you can see that the new generation have grown up seeing Ireland win things.


It also helps the squad when they see the likes of Stockdale, Carbery and Ryan coming through!

[the spoofer]

One of our two Saffa's (Herring) scored more that their 23 put together.

They were awful but ref was poor too. He needed a lot of help from his assistants. The penalty against Kolisi for kicking the ball was mad. The ref called ball out so ruck over, Kolisi kicks the ball, he penalised him for kicking the ball and then realised he had screwed up so said it was for not coming through the gate.

[Hippo]

One of our two Saffa's (Herring) scored more that their 23 put together.

They were awful but ref was poor too. He needed a lot of help from his assistants. The penalty against Kolisi for kicking the ball was mad. The ref called ball out so ruck over, Kolisi kicks the ball, he penalised him for kicking the ball and then realised he had screwed up so said it was for not coming through the gate.

Yes I thought he gave us the eh benefit of the doubt on a few occasions. It can make quite a difference!