Well done Ireland - just time to whip up a quick shepherd's pie, then over to that other sport to watch Poland v Ireland.
Mind you, having avoided the All Blacks, Ireland will find the Argies no pushover, another physical encounter beckons...
That victory has come at a huge cost Next match no Sexton, O'Mahoney, O'Connell, Payne and O'Brien That's a third of our starting team
O'Brien only has himself to blame. O'Connell won't be playing again and judging by his emotion coming off Sexton is out for the tournament too.
QF's shaping up nicely.....not sure how the French will recover from such a beating in the 2nd half....Ireland were simply outstanding....... Injuries are Ireland's big problem now and no doubt O'Brien will be cited for the stupid punch..........
Absolutely no chance whatsoever - if there is one game in this tournament that the All Blacks will be up for it is this one. They have a huge hunger to avenge 2007 when they met at the same stage, and at the same venue
Despite England's early exit, I think the World Cup has been a great success so far and will get even better. My focus has been so much on the World Cup that I've barely paid any attention to the Euro qualifiers. My son came in earlier and said 'Ireland lost then'. 'No they didn't', I thought, before realising that he was talking about the football rather than the rugby.
Toulon didn't, nor did the Lions - when Halfpenny was named man of the series. But it's all opinions!
Don't really get your point. Kearney plays for Leinster. The most successful club over the last 5 years. Why on earth would he have left Leinster for Toulon during that period? Gatland managed that Lions team. Every non Welsh pundit commented on how biased his selections were. It was bordering ridiculous. Anyway, I mentioned earlier that we have sexton to kick therefore IMO Kearney was a better all round full back and much more attacking. Halfpenny is a superb player and probably the best kicker in the world IMO but he has limitations and is nowhere near the same all round player as Kearney. And in saying all that, I think Brown is actually better than both.
With Toulon's money, they can get who they want. As for the Lions, Gatland chose the best team and won the series If you don't want a kicking full back, then Brown and Hogg would come into consideration
Several of the Irish players were offered huge contracts in France but only sexton went. Heaslip, O'Brien and Healy all declined and signed new central contracts. They put the guaranteed availability of playing for Ireland ahead of money. Sexton couldn't get back fast enough as the top14 isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'm not having a go at Halfpenny. He is truly a top top player but I'll reiterate my point, Kearney is far more experienced and is a better all rounder IMO. Hogg is decent but not in that bracket yet. Brown is already heading for greatness. And I'm sorry but Gatland has a massive problem with Ireland having being sacked. The first 2 lions teams he picked were far from the best team and as mentioned most non Welsh pundits were scathing.
I agree Col, but it would be nice to have just one more upset .........and I hope it will be Wales beating SA, although they have come on strong after their surprise loss, it does show they are fragile
