Ireland v All Blacks I: Sweet Home Away from Home, Chicago

[zer0]

Not helping the cause by squandering golden opportunities, Julian.

[rowan]

That rampaging bull I was talking about...

[zer0]

Ardie Savea into the midfield? IIRC he was a second-five in high school.

[morepork]

Great Irish defense.

[zer0]

Bugger. Should be game over now.

[cashead]

That's the game. Ireland were the better team on the day.

[mcshinnertheligind]

Wow. Henshaw deserved that for all the defensive work he's put in

[canta_brian]

Jess wept. How many passes to the ground have we thrown today. Congrats to Ireland and all that but fuck me we have been awful

[Len]

Team selection wasn't on IMO.

[dk4]

Well done to Ireland.

Really liked the AB response on the second half.
Sometimes you need to loose to learn and this is a young team.

Again well done Ireland.

[Len]

Wow

[morepork]

Jess wept. How many passes to the ground have we thrown today. Congrats to Ireland and all that but fuck me we have been awful

No excuses from me. Ireland maintained consistency and blew us off any sort of rhythm. History made.

[dk4]

We could have won the game after the really bad first half performance so credit to the team for this.
But they need to respond on the second game vs Ireland.

[rowan]

Well, that should certainly settle it. This is the biggest upset in international rugby since, well, Japan beat South Africa at last year's World Cup. History has been made. Great day for rugby!

[Spy]

Terrific game. Great comeback from NZ, but Ireland just held on when it looked like they might crumble, then finished in style. Better team on the day, well deserved.

Fuck. Sad to see a record like that go.

[Len]

Better team won that hands down. A good lesson to learn though.

[Len]

So Schmidt, fancy a job bro?

[cashead]

The All Blacks weren't allowed to get going for much of the game, and when they could, they lacked the composure that they needed. Ireland on the other hand maintained their composure near the end when the usual wobbles that they have in these kinds of performances they put on against he All Blacks one in a while were starting to kick in.


Mind you, a good team needs these kinds of bitter experiences once in a while to learn from, and Kieran Read'll hopefully be better for this in the same way the 2007 quarterfinal turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to McCaw as a captain.

[zer0]

Team selection wasn't on IMO.

Hansen should be rightfully crucified for it.

On the bright side, another good showing from Joe Schmidt. Surely even the NZRU must acknowledge that he has to be involved post-2019, regardless of who he coaches at the RWC (ideally with Cotter).

[Which Tyler]

Just hope Ireland can keep the Raeburn Shield long enough for it to be for grabs in the 6N

[dk4]

They almost got it few years ago, so they deserve it.

They defended very well, run their plays well. Thought are forwards were not pushing them back in the tackle in thenfirst half.
How.come out lineout improved in the end? Was it Barrett?
Do they need to rethink the wings? Do we need a grafter?

[hellovating]

yep, winning beats losing.....

[Len]

Terrific game. Great comeback from NZ, but Ireland just held on when it looked like they might crumble, then finished in style. Better team on the day, well deserved.

Fuck. Sad to see a record like that go.

As nice as a record like that is for us imagine being an AB having to deal with the pressure of losing that record hanging over you a couple of minutes before kickoff. There will be less pressure next time for these blokes which isn't a bad thing.

[zer0]

They almost got it few years ago, so they deserve it.

They defended very well, run their plays well. Thought are forwards were not pushing them back in the tackle in thenfirst half.
How.come out lineout improved in the end? Was it Barrett?

Do they need to rethink the wings? Do we need a grafter?

Quite the opposite IMO. Hansen has now twice tried to re-think the wings by playing Savea and Naholo together, and it's failed twice. They just need to stick with the established dual fullback model.

[Spy]

Mind you, a good team needs these kinds of bitter experiences once in a while to learn from, and Kieran Read'll hopefully be better for this in the same way the 2007 quarterfinal turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to McCaw as a captain.

There is something in this. Ireland fully deserved the win, and I'm not trying to take anything away from their historic victory, but I think NZ went in over-confident and complacent as we often do when we've been on a good run. The team selection was over-confident, and the starting attitude was poor. Margins are fine in top-level sport, as I've always said, and the AB's winning by 15 in one match doesn't mean they're not far off losing by 5 in another. This is a kick in the pants, which is good for the All Blacks (and their fans) to experience every so often.