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Ireland player ratings

  • Rob Hodgetts - 91热爆 Sport journalist
  • 17 Mar 07, 02:24 PM

Rob Hodgetts London - Ireland ran riot at Stadio Flaminio with a victory over Italy to leave France needing to beat Scotland by 24 points to win the Six Nations title.

See if you agree with my ratings of the Ireland team.

Dempsey - 8: A man in form. Dumped on his rear by Parisse early on but finished off a good move for Ireland's first try and ran a sweet line for an inside ball off O'Gara for his second.

Horgan - 8: Industrious, busy and always looking for work. Superb break-out and off-load for Easterby try, another break from deep on half-hour and scored himself after good work from Hickie.

B O'Driscoll - 8: Class as always. Great hands in attack, involved in most of Ireland's good stuff and a permanent menace. Trojan-like in defence until limped off injured with a suspected torn hamstring 15 minutes from time.

D'Arcy - 9: A real handful. His surge led to Dempsey's first try, and razor-sharp finishing brought him Ireland's third try, while there were other breaks aplenty. His more illustrious midfield partner may take more of the plaudits but D'Arcy in this form is arguably just as good.

Hickie - 9: A devastating weapon for the Irish. Intelligent and powerful running led to two tries and was instrumental in Horgan's score. Copy-book ever so slightly blotted when he was outjumped by Italian lock Marco Bortolami for a late score, but you can hardly blame him for that.

O'Gara - 7: Good link work, good hands and always sniffing out opportunities to release his back line. Missed a few kicks but otherwise an accomplished day at the office.

Stringer - 7: Struggled to escape the clutches of the Italian back row in the first-half but good, fast distribution in Ireland's second-half purple patch. Quick to join in the attacks and reacted well to avert an Italian try in the last 10 minutes.

Horan - 7: Under a bit of pressure in the scrum but showed his footballing abilities in the loose.

R. Best - 6: First line-out throw straight to Bortolami, others not straight and generally had trouble finding his jumpers.

Hayes - 6: Given a tough work-out in the scrum but good defensive effort.

O'Callaghan -7: Solid line-out work but too obvious a target at times and Ireland forced to switch emphasis in second half.

M. O'Driscoll - 6: Put himself about as a ball-carrier and tackler but unable to provide line-out presence of absent O'Connell. Forced off injured after 53 minutes.

Easterby - 8: Industrious and forceful. Twice involved in second try - superb support to claim scoring pass from Horgan.

D. Wallace -8: Opportunistic pick-up from Italian scrum led to Easterby try. Plenty of ball-carrying, linked well in attack and terrier-like at breakdown. An unsung hero for Ireland.

Leamy - 7: Not as imposing as normal at base of scrum but effective as a ball-carrier when the game opened up in the second half.

Replacements:

Hogan - 6: Replaced Mick O'Driscoll after 53 minutes and did nothing much wrong.

Trimble - 7: On for Brian O'Driscoll late on and keen to get involved. Couple of key tackles which could prove decisive in the championship run-in.

S Best - 6: Able late replacement for Marcus Horan.

Flannery - 6: Late replacement for Rory Best. Was closest to the action but unable to prevent Italy's final try.


Comments  Post your comment

  • 1.
  • At 04:01 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Bilbo wrote:

Ireland didn't exploit the lack of uninspiration on the Italian behalf.

  • 2.
  • At 04:11 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • tim wrote:

i think ireland eased off a little too early may end up costing them the six nations

  • 3.
  • At 04:12 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Ken wrote:

Ran riot? Maybe in the last half an hour.. Before that Ireland looked pretty clueless without O'Connell but took advantage of some pretty naive Italian defensive play. I am wondering what might have happened after half-time if the forward pass try had not been allowed.

You are right to mark Ireland's front and second row down - they were dominated by the Italians.

Trying to cheer Scotland on but they look like they're going to cave-in at the moment.....Oh dear. Oh hang on minute, Lamont's just gone over...

  • 4.
  • At 04:19 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • James Tully, Vancouver, Canada wrote:

Great win for Ireland on a great Paddy's Day (although it's early here!) Scotland need to restore some pride, and this is the ideal match to do it.

  • 5.
  • At 04:34 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • JJ wrote:

Why didn't you rated Italian players?
Think that they honoured the match playing hard till the end :-)
btw up the Irish and good luck for the trophy!
JJ

  • 6.
  • At 04:45 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • martin palmer wrote:

what can you say . i havent seen the match but with reports comming in . the irish sounded good and the team is there and i mean the whole 22. i live in australia and have watched the super 14 so far without the all blacks .the stanfdard is high to reach but the irish unit, and that is what counts ,is a great team .personally i think one of the best.i hope they can keep it going even with an odd surprise .thre world cup is there for us and the irish people should beleive .i know i do .

  • 7.
  • At 04:55 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • hawkiliam wrote:

They did great but that bad decision
at the end of time whenn the had the ball and didnt kick it out to make France have to win by more than 30 pts has cost them the chapionship i fear

  • 8.
  • At 05:16 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • springford wrote:

After O'Sullivan's ridiculous comments last week at the end of the game at Murrayfield, and his failure to show any maturity and apologise to the Scotland team when he was shown to be talking absolute garbage, I'm so glad that France have just won the title in the way that they did. Ho ho ho!

  • 9.
  • At 05:18 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • kjfrazer wrote:

This must be the only championship where the Irish have lost twice to France. Shame.

Naturally, being English I'm in tears!!!

  • 10.
  • At 05:19 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • hawkiliam wrote:

re comment 3

why does it matter when a team puts the points on the board and actually
ireland starting to run riot from about the 3rd minute of the second half...
if 51 points against a supposedly very good italian team away from home isn't running riot i dont know whats is

  • 11.
  • At 05:22 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Roy Allen wrote:

I am staggered by the total incompetence of the video refs. The last Italian try was a blatant double movement, and there was absolutely no video evidence of that final French try being grounded. Add these to the Jonny try against Scotland, and you have to wonder why we employ blind bastards as video refs.

The championship has ended in farce, and in disgrace.

Every other quality rugby competition uses the standard bonus point system, and also uses ref who can watch slow motion and make rational decisions.

In the end, Ireland, worthy champions, were robbed.

  • 12.
  • At 05:27 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • alan corrigan wrote:

just saw the end of the Scotland match
how lucky were France.I feel gutted that
we were so close to our first championship since 1985.To lose on points difference 2 years running is sick.Still we have 2 play France at the World cup lets hope we give them a good hiding in their own backyard.

  • 13.
  • At 05:29 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Sir Joseph Bloggs-Smith wrote:

I'm completely sick as an Irishman at the moment. We should have won this 6 Nations but threw it away by giving away sloppy tries. One against the French and two against the Italians. Sorry guys but you blew it and you are not going to get another chance as good as this one for a long time. The Irish have to wait a while longer before they have something to cheer about - sport wise.

  • 14.
  • At 05:30 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • EesyP wrote:

Re:kjfrazer

.....and everyone wonders why the other teams and supporters love to beat England - by thirty points or one.

  • 15.
  • At 05:33 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • joe d wrote:

To springford (post #8),

Well not sure what you are complaining about but who ever you support should be ashamed as you have a complete lack of sportsmanship.

End of the day it was a fantastic end to the Six Nations. Sorry Ireland couldn't pull it out and that Scotland couldn't hang on but fair enough to France.

So in closing grow-up springford.

  • 16.
  • At 05:33 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Aly P wrote:

Should have kicked it out, Ireland. Oops! Allez les bleus! And some Scottish tries to boot. The refereeing this 6 nations has been shocking. Sin binning the wrong player for something that wasn't even a sin bin-able offence in the Scotland match was just the icing on the cake.

  • 17.
  • At 05:38 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • ROBERTO wrote:

I think Ireland diserved to win the championship,France has been lucky..Ireland has honourred this sport playng till the end,they could even trow the ball away, but thay decided to keep on going..i'm really sorry for irish,next time it will be better

  • 18.
  • At 05:39 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Jim W wrote:

Two moments of madness (one in Croke Park against France and one here at the end with the failure to end the game) have cost Ireland dearly this year.

While I understand the desire to run and run when the time was up Ireland should have taken the penalty on half way to end the game and even after that when Italy pushed into the Irish 22, Ireland secured the ball and still refused to end the game. That lead to the penalty and the Italian try. A complete lack of leadership was displayed on the pitch. I am angry and disappointed.

I firmly believe that if France were faced with a 30 point gap it might have been too much but when it was just over 20 you always felt that they could do it. Scotland tried hard and almost did us the favour but just came up short.

  • 19.
  • At 05:40 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Beak wrote:

Boo.
Why could that ref award to France?
Don't they have to be sure to do that?
Boo, boo, boo.
I'm very sad Ireland didn't win..
I'm Japanese and no connection to Ireland at all BUT I wanted them to win.
I love watching their style of game.

Well, my fingers and toes are cross for England to win/or France to lose the tornament...
It seems to be rather a tall order but you never know...

  • 20.
  • At 05:41 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • KMS wrote:

Re Roy Allen...

At least one of our tries in Rome should have been called back for forward passes. At the end of the day, we had our chance to win the Slam and didn't, we could have played better and scored more points against Scotland and Wales but didn't, could have kicked the ball out to end the game against Italy but didn't.

It's a pity, but that's the nature of sport... and that's why we're not quite yet in the leading group of World Cup contenders.

  • 21.
  • At 05:45 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • tom wrote:

Lets not forget that the italian team did have a some first team players missing

  • 22.
  • At 05:47 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Steve wrote:

What is the point of the TMO? They have got it so wrong it is silly. The last day will be remembered for incompetant TMOs and a South African ref who looked like a fish out of water, a total disgrace. Between him and that idiot Courtney they sent off the wrong man and how could he award that so called try??
These mistakes have to be rectified as the quality of the refs and some of the decisions in this championship has been dismal. Mssrs Walsh, White, Joubert, Courtney and the idiot TMO in Rome today should take a hard look at themselves. The last thing we need is the celbrity ref like in football and the last thing we should be talking about at the end of this championship are the resf and TMOs!!
Pity it had to end like that.

  • 23.
  • At 05:53 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Enda wrote:

Am I the only one disgusted at the decision to not kick the ball to touch. Ireland took a chance at running up the score after 80 mins, and they lost it, but got it again about 10 yeards from their own Try-line. **Now at this point whoever decided to run it out instead of kicking it is a complete fool**. It was always going to go wrong once we did that.

There should be no congatulations on a well played championship, we've just thrown it away. We in Ireland should no-longer be satisfied with this kind of "2nd place, lots of effort but no silver ware" result. This champoinship should be looked upon as a failure.

  • 24.
  • At 05:59 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Sean wrote:

Beak, a goog point if you cant ee it you can't give it. If the ref was happy with the grounding why was he going to the TMO! From the TMO's view you could not see the grounding. But remember we are looking at the same ref who sent the wrong player off!!! SHOCKING!

  • 25.
  • At 06:01 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Julien wrote:

A very tight tournament this year, and not finish yet. Even I think +57pts will be a very hard goal to reach for England. I hope this competition was a good training in order to a European team win the world cup and kicked back southern team. Go Europe

  • 26.
  • At 06:05 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Desmond wrote:

Have to say that decision to award France the last try raised My eyebrow...
As an ex-pat whose lived in Frence for the last 26 years, guess that makes me pretty neutral!

  • 27.
  • At 06:08 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Sean wrote:

#8 why in gods name would you be happy with the French winning. They run hot and cold and are in the process of trying to ruin the ERC because they think they should get all the money.

Not the types I could support if they were the last team on earth. They just got handed the 6N by a terrible ref. May be the Frence need the extra money from the ERC to pay off officials. ;o)

  • 28.
  • At 06:11 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Sean wrote:

Got to agree with #20 running the ball was fine until Ireland ended up back in their own half once we were back in our own half we should of put the ball out.

  • 29.
  • At 06:11 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Gator wrote:

Springford,

did you see the pictures of ROG lying on the pitch in Murrayfield? Does he not look like someone who has been choked?

EOS is not my favourite person, but I think he had every right to be upset and draw attention to the fact that one of his players was put in a life threatening situation.

If you are going to use this incident and EOS's words as an excuse to cheer against Ireland you need your head examined.

kjfrazer - get a life.

As for Ireland's performance - yet again we came up short...I am starting to believe that we do Lack the killer instinct necessaryt o win championships...let alone WC's. There have now been two occasions in this championship when a lapse in concentartion came back to bite us in the bum.

  • 30.
  • At 06:12 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Roy Allen wrote:

I agree, Enda (20) that Ireland should no longer be satisfied with second, but I think its a bit harsh to call the championship a failure. This is the best Irish team in living memory. But for some very dodgy refereeing they would be champions. They have shown their class in all of the games, sometimes more decisively than others.

I applaud the decision to try and pad the points difference and not to kick the ball out. Are they giving out PhDs in hindsight at Trinity now?

  • 31.
  • At 06:14 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Kieran wrote:

Ireland lost the championship when BOD was off the field both against France and at the end of today's game. At the end of the match they played like headless chickens snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The coach has talked about leaders all over the pitch for Ireland, but that's just not the case. Ireland should have won a grand slam this year, the other teams were quite ordinary. God knows we have waited long enough for one. If BOD is missing there is no clear headed leadership, god help us if he is injured for the world cup. I have to say I have very little confidence in this team doing anything at the WC. They are still insanely inconsistent and have very few real leaders.

  • 32.
  • At 06:17 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Mike wrote:

Surely the whole set up is wrong for the final day and extra TV money is more important than running a proper sporting competition. It is absolutely wrong the games take place at different times and it is this fact alone which affected the Irish decision making at the end of their game AND the french play at the end of their game. I will boycott the competition from now on until the final day games all commence at the same time.

  • 33.
  • At 06:19 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Sean wrote:

#12 I can't think of anything better (in the near future)than beatng the french in the RWC. La PortaLoo showed Irelnad no respect before or after the French win in Dublin. WOuld love to see them face the All Blacks in the QF's and exit early :o)

  • 34.
  • At 06:20 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Stephen Currie wrote:

Well maybe its just me but, I feel that the referees in this tournament have been poor. Not just in Irelands games, but in every game. lets start with the france scotland game...I dont see how the tmo could have seen the grounding of the ball(Ive watched it several times and all I can see is thata sotland player wrapped the ball up before it hit the ground...after that...I cant see the ball???) Then to the Ireland - Italy match- how come some referees are quite happy to call a double movement but others are not? This rule should be cleared up for one and for all before the world cup, because as far as I can see, the last italian try involved a double movement? discuss? I may be slightly Bias, but I still believe that the referees were penalising Ireland unfairly throughout the tournament...just look at the 1st irish match...after that the linesman said that ireland needed to be penalised at the breakdown.....and sure enough- he was still the referee for the next ireland match?

  • 35.
  • At 06:20 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Jonny G wrote:

To Roy Allen (post 11)

Completely agree ... He was an Irishman !! Maybe felt he didnt want to be accused if bias ....

  • 36.
  • At 06:27 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Sarah wrote:

I am OUTRAGED at how that French try was awarded.

IN relation to the match, I appalause Ireland for a impressive 8 tries. However, they should have learnt that you can't always have your cake and eat it.
They should have ended the last phase of play by kicking the ball out of touch. That's where they lost it, I'm afraid

  • 37.
  • At 06:30 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Sarah wrote:

I am OUTRAGED at how that French try was awarded.

IN relation to the match, I appalause Ireland for a impressive 8 tries. However, they should have learnt that you can't always have your cake and eat it.
They should have ended the last phase of play by kicking the ball out of touch. That's where they lost it, I'm afraid

  • 38.
  • At 06:31 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Roy Allen wrote:

KMS:

The points you make are true, and sport is riddled with that sort of 'if onlys'. We could both list at least a hundred small incidents which made the difference at different times.

But the crucial ones today were the glaring errors by the video refs. Ireland's errors in previous games don't negate the blatant incompetence of supposedly professional and unbiased officials.

  • 39.
  • At 06:36 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Michael J wrote:

One of the most important points in the whole sorry day, is that all the games should have been played at the same time.
The French had a huge advantage in knowing exactly what they needed to do to stay ahead of the Irish.
If Ireland had been playing the second game today, would they have been pushing for a try from their own line in the last minute, if they had known they had enough points in the bag?
It's a very amateur way to run an important competition. This would not have happened on the last day of any major league competition.
Its a sad day when TV rights win out over fair play.

  • 40.
  • At 06:37 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • sebmcmichael wrote:

sorry we couldn't quite do it for the irish. another disappointoing performance by the lads- too many basic errors. chris patterson and sean lamont are class acts though. at least the team turned up at the game (they didn't for the english game)- i got stuck at waterloo as the eurostar wasn't running. two wasted tickets. COME ON WALES

  • 41.
  • At 06:38 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Jonny G wrote:

Re Roy Allen Post #11
Agree totally .... same again with the last French try ... and it was a bloody Irish TMO ...
Please tell me how they can get it so wrong ... WOEFUL...

  • 42.
  • At 06:38 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Oliver wrote:

Ireland lost the 2007 6 Nations in Croke Park against France. End of story. At least we have two NH teams able to do show something at the WC this year.

  • 43.
  • At 06:39 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Enda wrote:

Roy Allen, 30,

If you were in the same bar as me you would have heard me roaring at the TV (I know they cant hear me but...) to kick it out at that time. How many times have we seen these stupid decisions cost games and championships. Its one thing to be beaten by a better team but to be beaten by your own stupidity is another.

  • 44.
  • At 06:52 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Sean wrote:

Twas a bit naieve for Ireland not to end the game when they had the chance, but all bias aside what ois the point in video refs if they can;t make the right decision& side with the home side on 2 occasions. Poor decisions have cost a team a championship. I cannot find words for my disgust. At the very least France's winning try could not have been allowed due to the fact the ball was not seen to be grounded. Lovely to see home town decisions aren't limited to amateur sport!

  • 45.
  • At 06:54 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • delepinne wrote:

I think that the video referee in Paris was Irish.Am I right or wrong Check Please

  • 46.
  • At 06:56 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • David wrote:

Ireland lost this championship righ now because they let in TWO easy tries and O'Gara missed 6 points! Every chance had to count and some of them didn't! Unlucky better luck next year!

  • 47.
  • At 07:06 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • John K wrote:

All I can say is that I'm absolutely gutted

  • 48.
  • At 07:10 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Ado wrote:

Fair play to France, both at Croke park and today they regained possession from their kick-offs very late in the game when they needed a try. As an Irishman I'm gutted, agree we should at least have put the ball out when italy pushed us back into our own 22 well into injury time. How often this 6N have we managed to recover ROG's kickoffs? He seems to always go for distance, don't think that works. Not to mention, a few more successful kicks at goal from him today and we would have had enough. Irish back row were immense. We look rudderless without BOD and/or POC however.

  • 49.
  • At 07:13 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • liam meighan wrote:

I think it shows the improvement in our attitude to the six nations, that we can win the Triple Crown, finish with the same number of points as the champions, have two record breaking wins, and still not be happy! And yes winning the Grand Slam and or the World Cup, might be the cr茅me de le cr茅me, but at least we won something. It seems a long time since the only thing we ever won was the wooden spoon!
On another note: As most teams have played out of their skins at home and rubbish away, should we have a championship where the teams play at home and away?
p.s what an exciting and close finish.

  • 50.
  • At 07:20 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • JD wrote:

In view of the Six Nations standings prior to the last round of matches, the choice of video-referee for the France-Scotland game should have NOT been an Irishman! Because the last French try was so difficult to judge he clearly opted for the diplomatic decision rather than giving the benefit of the doubt to the defending side.
Bad call the administrators.

  • 51.
  • At 07:33 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • adraino wrote:

hi guys, i am italian, i am very proud of my team, but in the same time i am very worry you lost the 6N. it's true, you have trown away avictory you already had in your pocket.
hope u'll win the world cup!
have a nice S.Patrick's day!
cheers!

  • 52.
  • At 07:33 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • edward wrote:

Why are the match officials so awful? I am sure many of you will argue that i am being too harsh, but the wrong decisions that have plagued this seasons six nations have ruined it for me.
England vs Scotland - Jonny Wilkinson's none-try

Italy vs Wales -
Need i say any more ?

Italy vs Ireland -
2 successive forward passes that resulted in Irish try

France vs Scotland -
Wrong Lamont brother being yellow carded. .
Last minute try awarded

Why cant the TMO intervene when there is such a blatantly wrong decision being made ?

  • 53.
  • At 07:34 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • France Supporter wrote:

So there were no Italian players deserving a rating then?

Shame on you!

  • 54.
  • At 07:38 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Sean wrote:

I agree #34 it was a double move in Rome and a try no one could see given in Paris. Crazy crazy ref's. Who was that joker ref in paris. He need to got to the TMO for a clear clear try earlier in the game, he send the wornf scots player off and it was not a yellow card in any case.

  • 55.
  • At 07:51 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • fistikuffs wrote:

I don't believe it is in the spirit of this fantastic tournament to be complaining and whinging at this stage. I'm Irish and obviously gutted but it has to be said that as much as Ireland could be considered worthy champions there is no doubt that France are worthy winners and fair play to them. Never mind dodgy decisions or questionable refereeing, Ireland simply did not do enough and France did. If Ireland can learn from their mistakes they can have a good world cup ( and note i'm not saying anything about winning it!)

But as for today, what a thrilling end to a fantastic six nations!! And well done Wales!!!!

  • 56.
  • At 07:52 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Ian Montgomery wrote:

Ireland did not lose this championship because of one decision at the end of the Italy match. They lost it on a number of occasions, not least of which was not tackling at the end of the French match. We (I'm Irish) should be disgusted with ourselves for not being world class and making decisions and acting like winners. The French game was there for the taking and the Italian game was amateurish, nobody seems to mention ROG missing a number of conversions, I know he does not like the ball but couldn't he practise with it?

Ireland will never match up to the S Hemisphere teams (Aus excluded!) if they cannot learn how to close out matches - France being a case in point.

BTW I think D. Wallace deserves man of the championship - unbelievable work rate and deep down I am pleased that we won the Triple Crown ... but not content, we have no chance in the World Cup on this form.

IM

  • 57.
  • At 07:56 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Balfer wrote:

Well I for one am proud of them. I got so much enjoyment from seeeing an Irish team scoring 8 good tries against a good team. All these people who can now say what should or should not have been done at the end of the Italian match, would have been saying something completely different if Ireland had actually scored another try. It's so easy to be an expert from a distance.... Well done and thanks, Ireland.

  • 58.
  • At 07:57 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Siobhan wrote:

The French try was awarded because the ref said he'd believed he'd seen the grounding and it was up to the TMO to find something that could completely rule out the try like a knock-on, but there wasn't one, hence the try, more's the pity :( I really felt that Ireland deserved to win this year, especially after France's dismal dismay against England. On a plus note though, Wales beat England!! Wahey!!

  • 59.
  • At 08:08 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • George Kellie wrote:

To Ken

Mmmmmmmmmm.

The irish problem today was their under estimation of the Italian team and like as usual YOU underestimated the other teams courage and deterimation in the 6 nations.

The Scots and lesser the Welsh produced probabaly one of their best performances in the championship.

As for the future Scotland, Wales and England are are rebuilding for the future so when's does Irelands bubble burst after the world cup ?

see if your so chirpy then....

  • 60.
  • At 08:09 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • emerald star wrote:

9 kj frazer i hope you enjoyed the wales game! james hook is some player isnt he? where was toby flood all match i wonder? one hit winder sping to mind at all!

  • 61.
  • At 08:10 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • philip wrote:

I remain confident Ireland can take France in the WC, ideally with an erroneous TMO decision in the last minute! And let's hope there is a good close-up of Monsieur Laporte's face at the time.

  • 62.
  • At 08:11 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Ciaran O'Connor wrote:

The 8 tries were impressive, however, a 50% conversion rate was woeful for O'Gara.

Those 8 additional points we could have achieved would probably have pushed us out of France's reach... especially if we'd kicked it out when we ended up back in our own half in the dying seconds.

  • 63.
  • At 08:14 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Cheryl Omnes wrote:

Bravo !
The french team has played well in its own way the gentleman's game again. Superb team that deserves it all the more.
Here's to you.


  • 64.
  • At 08:15 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • jennifer moore wrote:

switch over and watch the cricket !! - Ireland in danger of beating Pakistan - not much to celebrate sports-wise
who says?

  • 65.
  • At 08:18 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • PG wrote:

On the last french try:
The ref was on his knees a yard and 1/2 from where the ball was grounded, with perfect view on what happened. He then told the TMO (and then the scotish players) that he believed that the ball was grounded and that it was a try, and he asked the TMO to have a look at the video to check if he had missed anything (like a hand under the ball, etc). Since the video was unconclusive (none of the angles shown on the 91热爆 showed the ball being grounded, ot not grounded), the ref had no option but to go with his first impression and award the try (unfortunately on the bbc broadcast we could not hear the TMO, but if he was watching the same slow-mo we were shown he had no option but tell his ref that the video was useless).
Rule 6.A.7.b says that the match official can be 'consulted' if the ref is 'unsure'. This is what happened this afternoon. The TMO had no reason to overturn or confirm the ref's decision, therefore the ref had to stick to his initial decision.

  • 66.
  • At 08:20 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Green Jimmy wrote:

That was no try for France the ball was Not shown in any replay as being grounded . Maybe the fact the the TMO was Irish and if he said no try then the French would be making noise

  • 67.
  • At 08:26 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Sean wrote:

Ireland should have kicked the penalty and not to keep running the ball when time was up, The last Italian try looked suspect but Ireland also got away with forward passes. The French should not have been awarded the try at the end of the game against Scotland, the scot had his arm underneath the ball so it was held up. Bad TMO's cost Ireland the title.

  • 68.
  • At 08:27 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Ivan wrote:


To the Irish fans: I understand it is hard, but you should not be disappointed as your team played really great rugby this afternnon. Against Italy, the behaved like real competitors and were unlucky at the end (last Italian try). You should be proud of their fighting spirit as it could have worked and secured them victory! In fact, the difference in points between France and Ireland is so small (4 pts!!) that they should be considered as even (I mean officially speaking). On the other hand, you can't tell that France didn't play well against Scotland... As far as that last try, I really don't know, I think that only the players may know...
Anyway, what a nice afternoon of rugby!

Cheers

Ivan, Nantes, France

  • 69.
  • At 08:32 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • peter wrote:

Referees are not that bad, players are just better at cheating. The All Blacks were the first ones to use the short forward pass in contact, a tactic succesfully copied by Ireland now and because it happens so quickly in a tight situation they are getting away with it. Today they scored at least 3 tries were there were passes that looked very much forward, they were penalised only once. Last week they got away with at least 3 forward passes and again were penalised only once. Same thing happens with coming in off-side at the ruck and handling the ball in the ruck, happens all the time , off course mainly at the side of the ruck where the ref is not standing.

  • 70.
  • At 08:33 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • patrick barry wrote:

the standard of referee, unfortunately, is abysmal. do they ever look at the inconsistenties of their decisions? i.e. holding a ball on the ground in a tackle. one ref allows a milli-second, while another allows five or more seconds. forward-passing, double movements, off-sides, etc., all seem to be arbitrary decisions. please get some consistency.

  • 71.
  • At 08:36 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • wrote:

scotland are the best by far , ireland suck , look how big ireland is compared to scotland , we will win next year :0

  • 72.
  • At 08:42 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • FERGUS wrote:

Springford fails to appreciate the "spirit" of this game of rugby.His comments are gratuitously insulting. The comments about the incident at the end of the Scotland and Ireland game are justified- refuted by Hadden, a most ungracious host!, but roundly condemmed by certain sections of the British Press, and rightly so. Me thinks that here was a an agenda by certain Scots - to "soften" O`Gara - witness Pattersons action at one point.!!
I am saddened by the attitude in certain quarters in Edinburgh - to this point the Scots were held in high repute in Ireland - their silence and failure to deal with such incidents are a sign, sadly , of their present position in the six nations. The Irish have been subjected to such lack of success in the past, and will, no doubt in the future. I trust that we will convey congratulations on those that have been successful and resolve to play the game in the spirit demanded in the sense of "fair play".
Congratulations to France - they were the best team in the championship - CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE.!!!

  • 73.
  • At 08:56 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Stuart wrote:

As a Scot and a sad romantic with over expectation as my biggest fault.
I do wonder why when we are playing "better" luck runs against us, We had a penalty a week ago at the death - ignored
Today the french back row spent the whole game off-side and a week ago hines did 10 in the bin
Then the binning of any lamont was questionable.

Not even mentioned JW try!

I just hope we keep this young team with potential and CP at 10, bring back JW and build and believe till we get/earn some luck - mabye just to much to expect!!

  • 74.
  • At 08:58 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Michael Peel wrote:

It is about time that the refereeing was improved 鈥 at least two tries were awarded to Ireland from forward passes. Perhaps it is time that touch judges came into play a bit more. The one just before half-time must have been very disheartening to Italy and altered the match significantly.

That brings one to the French鈥檚 last try. The referee was quite right to go to the 鈥榝ourth official鈥 but, as I understand it, the question the referee must ask is: 鈥淚s there any reason NOT to award a try.鈥 Therefore, the onus is on the fourth official to see if the ball was held up or allow the try to be awarded. It looked like a try to me.

In addition, the refs also need to tighten up on put ins at both the line out and the scrum 鈥 it is continually not straight and this reduces any contest for the ball, to the detriment of the game. Surely, at line outs, the linesman is perfectly placed to establish whether the ball is put in straight.

  • 75.
  • At 08:59 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Jack wrote:

Dont blame the TMO for awarding the France try against Scotland. the referee said to him that he was happy to award the try, but was asking for a specific reason not to award the try. What could the TMO do??
Anyway, TMOs have not decided the championship, France deserved to win it, Ireland blew it against France and can have no complaints.
If an Ireland side with so much talent cannot win a grand slam, (o'Driscol, O'Connell, D'arcy, Hickie, Horgan, Wallace etc etc), then we wonder if we can ever win one.
Here is a question, If a lions 15 was to be picked today, how would it look? very green I think..must be selected by a "fair" manager, not Sir Clive trying to recreate the England world cup win....as per New Zealand when he ignored the form sides at the time, Wales and Ireland..

  • 76.
  • At 09:10 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • frant wrote:

right - im in th pub with about 120 irish supporters Leamy runs the penalty and everybody shouts simultaneously take the points take the points - theres is a collective groan from the crowd and the guy who was sitting in front if me turns around and says 'were going to need those points in paris' i agree and think if only there was a cool head on the pitch to calm the heads and take the 3 and finish the game - Anyway - why do punters in a bloody pub in Dublin know better than the players on the pitch - we were right along with every other pub in Ireland take the points take the points -- time and time again TAKE THE POINTS -- Jesus my heart is broken

  • 77.
  • At 09:12 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • adam o connor wrote:

one word: gutted

  • 78.
  • At 09:14 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Lar from Cashel wrote:

Lads/Lassies - calm down, it's taken me 4 hours to get over the "near miss" - not easy for any Irishman of my era I think. It's been a great championship for entertainment. Don't forget it took Munster 3 go's to win their first Heineken, I sense our day will come on September 21st. The boys will have got a taste for winning from this and will learn from their great dissapointment. Thanks to all the Irish players for some great memories from this 6 Nations.

  • 79.
  • At 09:20 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • KISS-ME-IM-IRISH wrote:

Basically ireland are amazing! The current irish team will be talked about and remembered in years to come! Wallace played out of his skin, and deserved a higher rating! Stringer palyed awesome, and the other lads were just all round great!

  • 80.
  • At 09:52 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • KISS-ME-IM-IRISH wrote:

i can't believe the decisions dat were made! #54 is right! it was a double movement 4 italy! and as for the france game - what the hell is wrong with the video referee ?!?!?! It was NOT a try and the video ref. (who is irish!) gave it as a try making ireland loose! Dat ref deserves a good slap!

  • 81.
  • At 09:57 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • James wrote:

As regards the last French try, the ref said he saw that the ball had been grounded, in which case why did he go upstairs???

I think that even if O'Gara had have slotted that last penalty the French would have got the extra 10 points had they have had to. The problem was clearly that the games on the last weekend should really all be played at the same time. But I suppose they'll even it up by allowing Ireland to play after France at this stage next year.

Personally, I think the championship was lost in the first half hour at Croke against the French, when the occasion just got to several of the team (in particular O'Gara).

Roll on the World Cup

  • 82.
  • At 10:05 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • leigh wrote:

how ironic that ireland should come unstuck actually trying to play some attacking rugby for a change! you're usual game plan is to keep it tight, give it to o'gara or stringer and then wait for the opposition to make mistakes - your lucky win in cardiff this year was a typical piece of irish scavenging!

but today i thought ireland really went for it - playing some great rugby in the process! So ironic then that you lost the championship - another one thats got way from you - because the irish players were actually trying to play some attractive rugby for a change!!

Anyway judging by the childish reactions of some of the irish on here i expect that by the time of the world cup ireland will be back to their boring safety first selves - an approach which has served ireland so well over the years of course! Now when exactley was the last time you won the grand slam or championship? Or the last time you got to the world cup semis?

Persevere with a attacking game and you might at long last break your rugby ducks! Go back to the dreary 'irish way' and you'll continue to fail when it matters most!

  • 83.
  • At 10:08 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • martyn wrote:

I have just about had it with the blatant disregard to one of the fundamental rules of the game.Namely that a pass should be made backwards ( it would appear that flat is ok !!!! ) It looks like there is some kind of agenda to not see/notice or talk about the proliferation of these in the modern game. Maybe the thought is that it speeds up (sexes up the game)and thereby will make union more popular?? The top team in the world at the moment (national) is the major exponent of this closely followed by Ireland. How many of the tries made today were born out of forward passes ??? Will someone please tell me why so many go unseen,or when seen simply brushed aside as unimportant.

  • 84.
  • At 10:09 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • popeth wrote:

Still celebrating wales' win today. The last 3 championships have been hugely enjoyable, and today was terrific for us welsh. For me though, the most important event in the championship was the way the irish people behaved when hosting England at Croke Park. They were a credit to the sport, and their team would have been worthy Grandslammers.

  • 85.
  • At 10:10 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • splodge wrote:


My guess is the southern hemisphere teams will rest easy tonight, all they have seen is 6 teams which lack consistency and the handling skills needed to compete with them at the very top. As close as Ireland came to winning the championship theres a huge amount of improvement needed to even live with the big guns, a step too far in my eyes. France have a chance in the world cup if they bring their best game along, the rest of the 6 nation teams will be watching the final stages on tv and that includes the Irish..

  • 86.
  • At 10:12 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • denis doherty wrote:

Elvis has left the building!!!!!!!!!!
It was quite clear, when Elvis was interviewed after the Scotland/France game, that he was uncertain about the try that was awarded to him at the end of the game. His comments clearly displayed a lack of confidence in the decision of the referee.(what a joke that prat was). Anybody watching would certainly notice how uncomfortable he was when questioned about 'that try'. I for one would like to suggest that the referee be deported to South Africa immediately where he should be restricted to refereeing schoolboy rugby games. Mind you I don't think that they would put up with the level of incompetence that was witnessed today.
How can a referee say that he thinks that he saw the ball grounded and then call for the TMO. Either he did or he didn't, and he should base his decision on that. If he felt that he needed to call on the assistance of the TMO then he should not have made any comment to them as to his view. Either he decides or they decide. I watched every camera angle on 'that try' and there was no way that he saw the ball being grounded and there was no way that the video ref could see it either. In this situation the try should not have being awarded. It was a critical decision that had huge implications for the outcome of the Championship so they had to be certain. Rugby was failed by their incompetence.
The ref was clearly not up to the job, not just for his error with the 'try', but he also made the ridiculous mistake of sending off the wrong Scotish player. If this happened in a soccer international he would be struck off; the same fate
should await him here.
Mind you, the organizers made a bit of a cock-up in that they had a video ref who was Irish??? How could he have been expected to have made the call against France and thereby award the Championship to Ireland.
I would suggest that we, as Rugby supporters, would be better served if we got a few lads down the pub to organize the next Six Nations and a couple of drunks to referee the games.
All in all, a disgusting end to what should have been a postive lead in to the World Cup.
Cheers and Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Denis

  • 87.
  • At 10:15 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Gary Fox wrote:

Let's face it we (Ireland) got our just desserts. Give credit where it is due Ireland never gave up and (rightly so!) ran the ball until the very end of the game with the intent of amassing as many points as possible. So the Italians scored a try which ultimately cost us the championship but hey we had been awarded a try from a blatant forward pass. France ran out fortunate winners of the 6 nations and as far as I am concerned I would far prefr it when we beat them in Paris in Sept than to win a 6 nations title.

As an expatriate living in Sydney for 20 years I was disappointed that in a world cup year Foxtel have not shown the six nations. Incidentally I have just seen the Waratahs lose their 3rd consecutive home game so I am being starved of decent rugby! Tog amach agus glan e!!!

  • 88.
  • At 10:29 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • philip wrote:

John Inverdale and No.65 have both said 3 of the Irish tries had forward passes involved. Clearly Darcy's try should not have stood but which are the other two? Watching the highlights its not obvious. Some pretty flat passes perhaps but of the sort which seem to be accepted these days

  • 89.
  • At 10:36 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Chris wrote:

So france win again but the best side finish second because as they have done before they can't kill a team off. The southern hemishphere will win again in France, Ireland our best hope but failed agianst France.

  • 90.
  • At 10:41 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Chris wrote:

So france win again but the best side finish second because as they have done before they can't kill a team off. The southern hemishphere will win again in France, Ireland our best hope but failed agianst France.

  • 91.
  • At 10:56 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • aupasf wrote:

So much whining from Irish fans! So little grace in defeat! It's the ref, the TMO, the bounce of the ball, the timing of the games, the ROG choking incident (little evidence, BTW) etc etc. What about your lack of appropriate leadership, the lack of impact of the replacements, your poor game against the winners of the tournament at home ,plus poor games against Wales and Scotland, what about the tries that should not have been awarded to you (how many forward passes in Italy today for god sake)? You played three times at home whereas France played home only twice and had to travel to Ireland and England...
Ireland may still beat France come September, but a certain hype, a certain delusion about your true strenghts (and there are many)won't help. The Irish may be disappointed, but they can't be so biased as to deny the quality of the winners.
Thanks post 61.

  • 93.
  • At 11:06 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • Steve wrote:

Was I imagining it or did Serge Betsen stamp on a Scottish player?

  • 94.
  • At 11:07 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • confused wrote:

I think O'Gara played poorly.
As usual he missed two easy kicks.
He does this so often in important matches for Munster (remember Heineken Cup Final) and Ireland and yet he can surprise us with difficult kicks.
In short he is not reliable. With five minutes to go why on earth did he not grab the ball when Ireland was given a penalty in front of the posts.
This was poor field management to allow Leamy to take a quick penalty. The rest is history Italy get possession make their way down field and score. A real difference of 10 points.

  • 95.
  • At 11:19 PM on 17 Mar 2007,
  • leigh wrote:

i take it that irish rugby fan brian f has been drowning his sorrows - on ireland blowing another champinship - with a bit too much of the hard stuff judging by his prediction that wales wont get past the group stage in the WC!

Given that our opponents are fiji,canada and japan and australia - who we play cardiff - i think i can say with 100 percent certainty we'll be in the last 8! there we will met england or south africa - again possibly in cardiff - so a world cup semi may well be on the cards for us!

Ireland are in with france, argentina,georgia and namibia - so more likelehood of the irish not making it to the last 8 i think!!!!
But assuming ireland scrape through in second place in the last 8 they'll face.. the all blacks. world cup over for the irish again i think!!!!

  • 96.
  • At 12:17 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Iwan wrote:

I'm afraid that the question that the ref asked at the end of the france match was "I'm happy with the grounding, is there any OTHER reason why I can't award it?" Thus making it irrelevant whether the TMO couldn't find the grounding or not.
As for feeling hard done, Ireland have ridden their luck all tournament: v wales easterby illegally stops certain try on ireland's tryline, ref does nothing. V England, linesman should have signalled horgan's elbow on strettle's face and told the ref to send him off-cheap shot, no need for it. Against scotland, very dubious decision gives penalty to win them the game. And against italy, at least three of the irish tries had forward passes in the build up, so I think justice is done. The Irish never deserved to win the tournament in the first place, and although it would have pleased the romantics for them to win it on St Patricks's Day, they should never have been close, but for yet more erroneous refereeing in their favour. The decisions at the end also highlighted AGAIN how naive ireland are without BOD, which is why they will never be consistenly the best. Without him they look like a pile of rubbish, and it cost them the championship, against france, and in the dying minutes against Italy.
Not trying to sound too zealous here, but I really hope that by the world cup the french smash them to put them in their place, and so they get knocked ot by the all blacks, because they're certainly not deserving of any major honours. They're a team who have been together for about 6 years now, and STILL haven't won a tournament, only won triple crowns through dodgy refereeing (england last year, scotland/wales this year) and rely too much on POC and BOD. There is also a trend that they only ever register wins against teams with management problems or with injury problems-look impartially at the last two years and you might see what I mean-wales, england last year, wales, scotland, englandm italy this year. Sorry guys, but you'll never get anywhere by doing that, and I personally feel that your bubble will burst soon after the world cup, because they're an 'almost' team-they almost win things, but they're not actually good enough to go the whole distance.

  • 97.
  • At 12:20 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • chris wrote:

I would like to say to everyone who is angry at the last French try, it wasn't a bad call by the TMO. The ref said clearly that he saw the grounding and was there any reason he couldn't award the try. The TMO could NOT see a reason not to give the try if the referee had seen the ball being grounded. The TMO was not asked by the ref IF he saw the grounding. All this talk about bad refs is rubbish this six nations has been very close, four teams could have won it on the last day, I hope all the six nations teams can bring it to the world cup.

  • 98.
  • At 12:25 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • samuel sam wrote:

I think Ireland played very well today against Italy and should have win the championship. Regardless of this match result, I am absolutely gutted with the last try that awarded to France. Make no mistake that I agree that France played quite well but the ref was not up to the standard and eventually cost Ireland the championship!! The best team did not win!!! I am sure Ireland would come back in this World Cup. I will cheer for Ireland. Come on Ireland.
P.Curley, M.Meehan and D.Murray - I know your feeling now but Ireland will make it in the next championship.
Happy St.Patrick!

  • 99.
  • At 01:15 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Newbie7777 wrote:

Ireland need to be congratulated on a great season, that came very close indeed to achieving the grand slam. Had O'Driscoll been fit for all of the games I have no doubt we would be hailing Ireland as Grand Slam champions today. The centre partnership between O'Driscoll and D'Arcy is truely awesome.

On a separate note, I'm not so sure that the Southern hemisphere teams will have such an easy ride in the world cup in the Autumn. What we have seen in this seasons championship is that forwards win matches. Ireland, France, and even England when all their players are fit have packs that can more than hold their own against the feared NZ/Auz/Sa/Arg 8s. It remains to be seen whether the Welsh pack can replicate the form in today's game.

  • 100.
  • At 01:49 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • hawkiliam wrote:

i cant believe some of the comments i'm reading about ireland on here..
hello, they scored eight tries against a supposedly very good italian side
they out tried the french who are are rated so hightly even though they got hammered by the all blacks and lost to a england, in the last eight games that ireland have played they made austria look like amatuers
hammered south africa only lost in the last minute against france, gave 7 seven points back to italy after they had won the game by 30

ok they blew it but my god what a way to go about... made for a fantastic last day

  • 101.
  • At 02:05 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • hawkiliam wrote:

re 85
you have written one of the saddest pieces of crap i have had the misfortune to read on the blogs, get over yourself you eejit
so not a single bad ref decision has gone against lreland in the whole championship... dont be so stupid
it all evens itself out in the end

france got hammered by the all blacks last year and will do again in the world cup the only team recently to give the southern hemisphere sides a decent game recenlty have been ireland.

to say that france will hammer them in the world cup is pathetic

  • 102.
  • At 02:05 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • WILL wrote:

POST 85: Well Iwan, somebody seems to be very bitter, maybe you should spent more time trying to analyse your own teams performances, or is that just too depressing for you. Anyway ur fixation with all these negative aspects of Irish rugby that u churned out is quite sad,it probably underlines something abit more sinister, could it be that it's a hatred of all thing green infact,and you're using rugby just to vent your spleen.

  • 103.
  • At 02:13 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Ryan Cullen wrote:

I am a disappointed Ireland fan currently, however there are more important things than the six nations, not to say i wouldn't have liked to be celebrating at the minute. i don't think the Irish TMO should get too much flak, the ref did ask for a reason he couldn't give the try and to be fair there was nothing definite. However Ireland I don't feel were ever really in top gear in the Championship,save maybe when they destroyed England, but still managed to grind out the results. We all know they can play better...which bodes well for the World Cup. Ireland seem to raise their game against the bigger teams...France an acceptable anomally given the emotion of the day... such as Australia and South Africa and also when pushing New Zealand quite close in three tests the summer before last. I'm not saying that Ireland will win the World Cup, but I feel they are the best equipped of all the Championship sides.

PS. Like various teams in all sports, when people are having a go it means they fear you, after all who was having a go at Ireland 5 years ago.

  • 104.
  • At 02:22 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Hugonaut wrote:

I'm surprised by the amount of bitterness being expressed at the moment and I can only guess that it comes in the direct aftermath of matches with emotions running high.

I felt Ireland performed exceptionally well today; if you had told me that we'd break fifty, score eight tries and win by 27 points over the best ever Italian team (both results and performance wise), with them coming off two wins in a row and at home in Rome I would certainly have taken it. Some of our rugby today was as good as any we've played.

For people talking about "not being able to put away the Italians", I think they give little credit to the Italian effort and spirit of the last 10 mins, and also ignore the fact that, frankly, we absolutely hammered them.

In response to carping about why we didn't put the ball into touch when we regained possession in the 22 during injury time, I can only reply that in hindsight it is frustrating, but given that three of our tries (Easterby, O'Gara and Hickey's second) came from within our own half, we must have felt that given a single line break we could get in behind them again and get a ninth.

We were at a clear disadvantage to the French in that they knew exactly how many points they had to score. Does anybody really imagine that if the roles had been reversed, France vs Scotland being first, that Leamy would have tapped and gone from the penalty on half-way? Of course not.

If we (the Irish) can feel aggrieved at anything it is that we were put at a clear disadvantage through no fault of out own, but owing to broadcasting demands. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed all three of today's games, so it would be hypocritical of me to complain ...

Kudos to the Welsh, and James Hook in particular, for their performance against England today. Similarly, I though that Geraghty, Flood and Rees had immense games against France the preceding week. Just trying to balance my post, realised it's all Ireland so far!

Finally, congratulations to the French on their championship. Ireland and France finished equal on points, but they beat us (and in Croker) in the head to head, so we can't complain. A bit gutted, but a great 6 Nations.

PS Really can't agree with anything said in comment 85. Nothing personal, Iwan.

  • 105.
  • At 02:57 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • cr wrote:

who was made captain after o'driscoll left? with a bit if luck in the future both POC and BOD won't be off the field at the same time and thus prevent such farcical decision making to keep the ball in play during ET... we'll get there yet!

  • 106.
  • At 03:13 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • elchupacabra wrote:

hello,

i am lucky to have my family in law who are not as bad loser as some of the post that i read here

i was in Dublin with my father in law and my wife ( who are both irish). France won , maybe they did not deserve it but at the end we won. Against England, we were just bad and lost. Today we won because we had the will to do it.

today, at least three of the irish tries were forward passes so Ireland should not have had so many points.

i am very disapointed with some of the comments from the irish supporters. It is a shame that you put in cause the referee when in your case you had some decision in your favor. And all my family in law agree on that. But at the end, they were all fair play and paid me a few pints of guiness and some nice irish whisky.

I am looking forward to the match of the WC and looking for the fantastic (true) supporters of Ireland.

Happy Saint Patrick day

  • 107.
  • At 04:34 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • wilko wrote:

To post 80, aupasf, get your facts right before you come on here. Ireland have not played at home three times this year. You'll find they've played only twice - v France and v England.

  • 108.
  • At 06:00 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • foobar wrote:

It's nice the Ireland lets the mentally challenged make end-of-game decisions. Really. It's great. I mean that. After giving up a late try at home to lose to France, it was an excellent decision to make risky plays against Italy rather than go to the showers with thirty points in the bag.

  • 109.
  • At 06:35 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • sandeno wrote:

Totally agree with post 85. What have we learned from this pre-WCup series:

France will not win the WCup, they might be the rooster among the chickens up here, but doesn`t have that cutting edge you`d expect from an unbeatable team. They still "go to sleep" during matches and can`t seem to grow that killer instinct.

England are just terrible but I feel they need a proper coach, it`s not a lack of talent. Thay play with a lot of heart but that`s not enough to compensate for the lack of skill and intelligence.

Scotland does everything right but they are a lightweight team, a smashing bunch of lads who really deserve a break and a bit of luck. But their skill are still mediocre and they get intimidated far too easily.

Ireland, well, so close but still so far. Their arrogance cost them. They are firing on all cyllinders at the moment but still came up short. This is reason to worry because they can`t do anything more really. Their weakest link are their trio of O`Connell, Driscoll and O`Gara, if they lose one of them they fall to pieces. Might cause an upset against the French in the WCup but will get murdered in the semi-final.

Italy have made massive strides but lack the mental strength to compete, a wee bit of pressure and they get routed like yesterday. Berbizier can be very proud of his team.

Wales are without a doubt the most exciting team in world rugby after the ABs. They can rip any team apart if the dice falls correctly. What they lack in muscle they make up for with flair and guts. Had a bad tournament but will be back I feel to be a real underdog for a WCup semi-final spot.

  • 110.
  • At 08:00 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • wrote:

The ref in Italy was not "perfect". Try for Ireland with one irish flanker alreay out of the scrum while the ball was still in. Irish try when an irish player came in a ruck from the side. Try for Ireland after a blatant forward pass.

Ireland had a very good tournament and is a top team, the best european team with "Les Bleus" and amongst the world top 6, but they can't "really" complaint about the refs.

And why having an irish referee at the video for France-Scotland ?? Thanks god he was impartial...

  • 111.
  • At 08:03 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • oldhoss wrote:

Whats all this moaning about the refs .Of all the people who shouldnt gripe are the Irish eg handeling the ball on the ground,deliberatly slowing the ball,your captain going mental(scots game)and last but not least,the forward passes that resulted in tries against the italians.DONT BLAME ANYBODY BUT TERRIBLE TACTICS AND WRONG DECSIONS.STOP BLUBBING AND LIVE WITH IT

  • 112.
  • At 08:34 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Ed Williams wrote:

To sum up a memorable 6-Nations:

Ireland: Electric & robbed
France: Inconsistent & fortuitous
England: Inconsistent & lacklustre
Wales: Forgetable but improving
Scotland: Hearty but out-of-touch
Italy: great lasagne and fine wines

Frankly, I couldn't give a monkey's who wins the WC, so long as they have a european shirt on and it isn't Oz.

  • 113.
  • At 08:44 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • rugbypat wrote:

Don't blame the ref or the TMO. Blame Horgan. Why doesn't he just pass the bloody thing?

  • 114.
  • At 08:47 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Agnostic wrote:

Agree(partially) with martyn #83 - the number of forward passes being allowed is getting ridiculous. 4 of the Irish tries were questionable in that regard and its time the tj's and ref's applied the rules! Don't get me wrong - Ireland thoroughly deserved the win, they were by far the better team on the day but I think, because of the forward passes, the score may have been a bit flattering. I disagree at the assertion that the AB's are the 'masters' of the forward pass - England take that title by a long way!!

Overall, it was a bit cruel that Ireland didn't win the championship - they did play the better rugby for the duration. But I don't think anything here will worry anybody in the SH, including Argentina. Based on the skill, match intensity, and pace, most S14 teams would roll any of the 6N sides at the moment.

Enjoy the celebrations anyway!

  • 115.
  • At 09:26 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Peter L wrote:

I never comment on comments but must take exception at Post 109. How anyone can say that Wales are the second most exciting team in world rugby is beyond me!
For excitement in this tournament read the tries scored column!
Yes Wales may make it to the World cup semi but its not because of their flare! Its becuse of the draw they have got. Ireland look like the unlucky ones with 2 teams who are above Wales in their group!
No doubt we will have the pro Welsh lobby complaining when there are very few of their boys picked by the experts on the Best of th 6 nations team!

  • 116.
  • At 09:33 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Sean Proctor wrote:

Please correct me if I am wrong here but I am not sure way people are complaining about the Italian 'blatant double movement' for the final try. If you watch the replay, the Irish tackler has clearly lost contact with the Italian player long before he attempts to ground the ball. As this is the case the Italian players is no longer deemed tackled and is well within his rights to crawl forward to cross the line. He even could have got up again and walked over the line, just like if a tackle is broken anywhere on the pitch.

The 'double movement' rule only counts if the player is IN THE TACKLE whilst attempting to ground the ball. Which the Italian clearly was not.

I cant believe the commentators didnt spot this.

  • 117.
  • At 09:58 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • J Scott wrote:

I agree its not very sportsman like to moan about referees. However I feel they were inept! (Not biased)

Am I complaining because my team lost? No Scotland have to play better and they will win, they had brief moments of brilliance and glory and many spells of poor performance - end of story! Just not good enough thus year!

A good team won, and good team came in second. I have no bias one way or the other, so cannot say "We was robbed!"

The loser was the game of rugby due to poor refereeing...............

Oh and well done Wales for pulling back some dignity, even if you presented the Scots with the wooden spoon in the process.

  • 118.
  • At 10:12 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • emerald star wrote:

to the irish fans balming the ref, ridiculous. i'm irish and ireland were lucky to have gotten 2 tries that were forward passes! france deserved it after hammering the scots!to those slagging off ireland and being glad we lost the championship, ye're equally ridiculous. despite yesterday ireland finished up with the same amount of points as france having scored a similar amount of tries. we won 4 out of 5 despite some below par performances. we are still along with the french the only possibility of playing a good game against the all balcks and oh yeah we ended up with silverware this year. those begrudgers among will say it's only the triple crown but it's been a while since scotland, wlaes or england have gotten it! also italian fans are the nicest most gracious fans ive seen on these blogs! so ya yesterday was disappointing by our standards despite being 2nd in the 6 nations and winning another piece of silverware! we are still a force to be reckoned with.

  • 119.
  • At 10:41 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • chuck wrote:

I can't be bothered to read all the comments but thought i'd chuck in my 2 pence. Gutted, absolutely gutted with the French try that was given, how he saw it was grounded it was beyond me. Yes we can point to tries given away against Italy that cost us, or missed penalties but at the end of the day we set France a target that each and everyone of us would've taken before the games began - a 27 point victory over Italy in Rome in the form they're in is an amazing result, lets not forget that.

Regarding to not kicking the ball out and Italy getting a try late on, that's life I guess? Fortune favours the brave and we were brave enough to go for that last try - it surprised me for a so called conservative EOS led Ireland side that they were going for that and I was impressed with it too.

We can point fingers at missed opportunities and choking against France etc but the experience, no matter how galling, will (hopefully) spur the team on at the World Cup. France have had two bits of luck in this Six Nations, lets hope theirs has run out come September.

Congratulations guys, 17 tries, the meanest defence but alas, just fell short.

This team deserves something, a semi final at the world cup is all I ask!

  • 120.
  • At 10:54 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Ceara wrote:

Surely when it all came down to the final day, the Irish official in Paris should have been replaced?!! Can anyone explain how/why he wasn't?

  • 121.
  • At 10:56 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • hawkiliam wrote:

1 becomes 3 becomes 4....

All 8 tries will have been foward in a couple of days at this rate

  • 122.
  • At 11:00 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • GiusCo wrote:

Well, it was a good campaign for Italians but we can't win against the top teams (Ireland, France, England) yet: Scotland and Wales have only been very weak, they're always capable of competing at the top level (as Wales showed yesterday), not the same for us. England were a massive delusion, France and Ireland performed ok, but if I had preferred Ireland as the winner.

For the upcoming World Tournament, I suppose Ireland are the most consistent of our emisphere. Italy have to prove their strength defeating Scotland and reaching the QF. Cheers to everybody and see you next year.

  • 123.
  • At 11:27 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Peter Tormey wrote:

Ireland blew it at Croke Park when they didn't switch on for the first quarter and then failed to field the kick off at the end. This also cost the Grand Slam.

I agree the Italy try should have been disallowed due to double if not triple movement. I also agree that the French try should not have been awarded at the end as the TMO could not see a grounding and I think that a Scot hand was under the ball.

Perhaps in agreement with an earlier post the 6 Nations should adopt the bonus point system as in the other major competitions.

Irelands line out and scrum came under a lot of pressure from the Italians and they will need to sort both set pieces out before the World Cup.

A pity we didn't get to see the use of whatever they were going to do when 4 of them queued up behind the scrum!?

  • 124.
  • At 11:40 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • dave wrote:

Ireland Cannot complain about last minute tries- they lost Championship when they lost concnetration for that final kick off against France at Croke park. For me they were far and away the best side in the six nations and should've won the grandslam with a bit to spare. Looking good for WCC expect them to do well- Semi's at the least.

  • 125.
  • At 11:54 AM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Tom wrote:

Like all irishmen absolutely gutted at the end of the 6N yesterday. In relation to the TMO I think he was put in an awful position by the Ref as he asked the TMO to give him a reason why the try should not be awarded as he had seen it grounded. Not the other way around. He basically said you disallow it as I am not going to.

Also as this is supposed to be a professional tournament why were the 3 games not played at the same time. TV Money again.

  • 126.
  • At 12:15 PM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • Dave wrote:

Re: 82. leigh

Ireland don't play an attacking rugby game???! hmm i haven't seen the statistics for most line breaks or anything but i'd be willing to place a wager tht the irish backs are right up there! how can you call a side tht before this game had scored the joint most tries in the competition not attacking enough...i know you commented on this being the one game they did attack, but this game was extremely attacking for the reason tht they had seen a weakness in the italian back line they could exploit...i'm guessing you're thinking ireland's territorial game is defensive but its far from it! they don't do that simply to keep the opposition away from their try line, they do it as they have the forwards to really put the pressure on and its worked time and time again! Can't blame the Irish for running it, place yourself out there with the fear that it might not still be enough, they have the ball and they've torn 8 tries in already they backed themselves, leave it at that

As for the TMOs and match officials they made some poor mistakes agreed but if Ireland had put in a decent performance against France they'd have won the GS...though i would say that the organisers did screw up big time in not having all the last matches at the same time (though then again for obvious financial implications i'd be sure this will continue to be the case!)

France have so much quality on the counter attack its breath-taking they don't give a side a moments break! Dominici was on the bench, need i say anymore?! Mignoni showed us something Ireland badly miss...Its France's 6 Nations they beat us in our own back yard so although i've been absolutely devastated lets be gracious enough to congratulate them...just hopefully come WC we'll beat them in their own back yard too! France were worthy winners i'd say because they beat the Irish and showed at times their undoubted quality but equally if ireland had won it i don't think many would deny them it at the same time!

Inconsistency may well be the downfall of every NH team at the WC but at least at times they've put their hand up and shown they can play some great rugby particularly France and Ireland

Wallace this tournament has been immense, player of tournament...D'Arcy now hopefully has put any insane doubters to bed, Easterby (i backed Best at start) totally justified his selection as did Hickie (great player but so is Trimble!)

  • 127.
  • At 04:20 PM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • joe wrote:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I think we should have kicked for points at the end. Having scored 8 tries Im not sure there was much else we could do. Im proud of the boys. Revenge is scheduled for September.

  • 128.
  • At 04:23 PM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • joe wrote:

aupasf get your facts right. Ireland played 2 home games and 3 away. If youre going to put comments on this page make sure you know what you are talking about.

  • 129.
  • At 05:31 PM on 18 Mar 2007,
  • aupasf wrote:

Sorry, Wilko and Joe. Yes, I got the facts wrong about Ireland playing three times at home. (post 91)
I hope it does not mean the rest of my comments were irrelevant. I respect and admire the Irish team, you've got great players and a wonderful spirit. They always put on a great show. But you do have your problems: it seems you rely too much on a few players, the bench is not that great, the forwards were not dominant either against Italy nor France. Because you had great autumn games and a good run at the ABs, does not mean you are the sole contenders from the NH in the WC. Most teams, including France, will be more settled, having spent plenty of time together, which is the one advantage Ireland had over the others during the 6N. Let's not forget Australia, SA, and even a resurgent England. We wrote them off a week ago and lost a grand slam... No one can tell what will happen in September and if I was Irish, I would certainly not concentrate just on the french game. I'd think in terms of the final. After all, to be world champions, you (or us) will have to beat the ABs, right? So, whether this happens in a quarterfinal or a final does not matter... Since I am based in Paris, I hope to see some of you guys next fall.

  • 130.
  • At 08:34 PM on 19 Mar 2007,
  • alex wrote:


# 13

First Italian try was far from
sloppy,fly half chipping the ball
across the pitch far right corner
for Bortolami towering over Irish
back...

Yes, De Marigny try should have
been disallowed...together with
O'Driscoll try in the first half

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