I'm thrilled that Ireland have become a major rugby power. I was at the game on Saturday and they made a massive contribution to an epic occasion. I would go as far as to say only the B&I Lions and All Blacks can provide a better match day experience for a Bok fan, and only slightly. Well done Ireland!!!
Love that you are happy about Ireland's rise.. When rugby went professional, no Irish rugby fan ever imagined our team would one day be up there with the best.
I think too many read too much into the Irish loss to England in the Six Nations. England played well and deserved to win sure enough , but to see the English players celebrate so much after a one point last minute win, at Twickenham on front of a raucous home support , and the English rugby media rightly so , take so much positivity out of it , was , I believe great kudos to Ireland. Our record over the last 2 to 3 years is unmatched. Yes we have some great players, and indeed I would argue, quite a few world class players, but undoubtedly, our greatest strength is how we play as a team. This is down to Andy Farrell and his coaching team. He is the best coach in the world right now without a doubt, and I hope we can hold onto him. We have lots of plying talent in the pipeline at the provinces, and Farrell is a genius at gradually introducing them to the squad, and is not afraid to throw them in the deep end when the opportunity arises. We are a physical team, which receives little recognition in the press. Last Saturday we proved that soundly. Fair dues to the South Africans who generally recognized that after the test in Durban. England are now a young squad and no doubt they will be greatly improved in the coming year. Can’t wait for next years Six Nations. Great podcast 👍
Andy Farrell nailed Rassie again . Also developed his team while drawing the series over there. South Africa relied on the old guard to win that series and need new blood. Steve Borthwick also deserves massive praise for getting England into shape in such a short period. Getting felix jones in is looking like we could seriously challenge France and Ireland come the six nations.
I think you completely contradict yourself. Telling us we made too much over beating Ireland by backing it up with what a brilliant team they have been.
@@kev63inuk I think Felix Jones has done amazing so far. I certainly feel you will challenge for the six nations this year, as we are losing Andy Farrell to the Lions. I feel that will be a massive loss! I think Doris will be the captain going forward, except when O Mahony is starting!
Irelands head was down since the WC and they lost their mojo. Andy Farrell for the second time after the last two WC did his magic getting them back on track, he is one very special man and coach. And I believe Leinster losing Stuart Lancaster did not help with the moral either. But through adversity comes necessity and the remaining squad and Andy's selection, such as Osbourne were just class and now we have very much got a class replacement for Hugo Keenan , necessity has maybe brought forward the development of the younger players, but they have really stood up, which can only be a good thing. Only hope Frawley gets several games at 10 in Leinster as the vast majority of Leinster supporters have been screaming for for the last few years.
Heads down they came within a minute of winning back to back grand slams. I think Irelands problems are its not easy to be on it all the time and thats were Farrell seems to be great. I think he also had FRAWLEY and Osborne in his selection for many times now because he believes in talent and he can bring these gifted souls along in positions they have never been given a proper chance at . It’s not a fluke that POMs career spiked again once he was influenced by Farrell ..
@@davidwalker2402 Osborne was the biggest surprise on this tour. He was playing like a world class seasoned veteran out there for the most part. Most saffers said he was Irelands player of the series. That's some compliment considering it was his debut a week ago and has had limited experience at FB. Ireland are looking good going forward. They need more props to come through though.
@@PB22559 he was certainly best player in the second test, first test he was good but a couple of mistakes, great thing was how quick he learned from them.
Doris is the perfect captain for Ireland moving forward. He like O'Mahony Sexton and O'Connell before him, lead by example on the pitch. And even more he has a great understanding of the technicalities and possibilities of the game. I think this series was so important for Ireland after the poor finish by the Irish provinces failing to lift either European trophies and the sense of too long a season, fatigue and missing key players as Keenan and gibson-park. They got to blood players as Osborne, have others as Sam Prendergast in the squad ( meaning we have 3 prospective out halves) and to share the series with the Springboks where they played the best of the boks, as a full test team and not a trial team. So am very optimistic for the next 6 nations and Irelands prospects through to the next world cup in 2027. As to England, mainly young team apart from the front row, no doubt they will continue to grow in potential and will be vying for world number 1 over the coming seasons, if evidence needed pushing the all blacks very hard in both tests.
Crowley and Frawley great but Sam Prendergast is on the way through and he has X factor. Osbourne was great at FB. Casey played really well before getting injured. James Ryan got back in and played really well.
I think a Doris captaincy might just be what James Ryan needed. People have been talking him up as a Lions captain since he was barely even 20 years old. I think his recent benching and this have really taken the weight of expectations of him and allowed him to just play rugby again.
Interesting...I think Doris also suffers with captaincy and prefers the freedom to play...but he really stood up this week despite the yellow.. Not many other options however.
@@Zz-lm1no the doesn't seem to be too many natural contenders for the job, but time is on their side. We got spoilt going from O'Mahony to O'Connell to O'Driscoll.
Happy with Crowley and Frawley to keep pushing each other. Both are similar players the way they play and both are mentally strong. Kind of like the relationship Owen Farrell and George Ford had for England for years
Regarding Ireland, Farrell integrates two to three new players at each test window. Tom O’Tool is being converted to a loosehead like Porter. We have Bealham and Oli Jager but they need to lift the standards. Do we convert a Coombs to a loosehead? Izuchukwu, Ahern and Edogbo will come through this year and will add serious power to the pack depth. Edwins younger brother Sean and Brian Gleason look like they could be starting for Ireland by the next World Cup. Half backs look good and Paddy Patterson (Munster 9) is my pick for Ireland duty this year. We need to unearth another 13, Hume? Maybe convert a Cathal Ford or Jamie Osbourne from 12 to 13. Who will replace Lowe? He is so effective
If you think back to when Borthwick came into the England job, the naysayers - on the various forums and UA-cam - were predicting a boring stodgy play safe style and to be fair, from the evidence at the RWC this seemed to be an accurate summary. However it seems that from the last 5 games there is a definite air of swashbuckle coming out alongside a hard nosed pragmatic work ethic. In short I believe the team is heading in the right direction. Get that front row depth sorted out and this bunch will be a tough proposition in the next few years.
I’m not sure any of that makes any sense or is real in any way. First off in the last 6 games England have lost 4 won two one against a tier 2 nation, so results show that this is not working yet. The excuses ran big because England were “transitioning “ but that transitioning is now about 18 months in take out the WC and its 12 months in. But England reckon the results are morale victories against a transitioning NZ Sid who have only been transitioning for two weeks and I might add NZ had a full almost 100% management change. The front row has been a problem for all of Bortwick tender almost two years yet England still have the problem the bench also does not look so clever. Swashbuckling I’m not sure England have earned anything to show this as they keep losing. Remember the hailed themselves for ‘nearly” beating France but failing to acknowledge that the week before Italy drew with France . I think England faced the all blacks at a time when they are trying to find their feet under a very promising management team and by the time November comes around a proper test against NZ and SA will be a better barometer when the pressure will be on the home team to win . Sorry for raining on your parade but I think less of the swashbuckling and more humility until you actually prove something might be a better approach, because there was two tests last weekend and there was one of them that was streets ahead of the other.
@@ronhall9394 England are definitely on the right track. Their performances against Ireland, France and NZ show this. They did not look so good just after Borthwick took over. But remember Farrell’s first year was not great either. It takes time for a new coach to deliver. Declan Kidney and Joe Schmidt are exceptions.
Hey Alfred... been following you for a bit and love your analysis, knowledge and non bias opinions on all teams... keep up the good work... One last thing, did you ever realise you are the spitting image of Penn Badgley from the TV show YOU... an acting career could be there for you 😂🤙
How could Frawley not have connected well with both drop goals if they went over.Thats a head scratcher😮 I thought the ref should have listened to his assistant who was trying to say that Blade had not knocked the ball on for offside.The penalty which resulted Pollard scored.On the restart the ref was heard saying what he assistant told him that it Irish player was onside.Why not ask the tmo? Same last weekend with James Lowe's try disallowed for Kelleher tipping the ball with leg in the ruck beforehand .It cost Ireland last week as it would been a draw.And the that Blade decision could have cost Ireland if it was not for Frawley's drop goal at the end .
Proud Ireland fan. I think we got away lucky with that. We're still an exceptional team but we're starting to show signs of ageing and we desperately need Crowley to step up more. Along with this we need far more depth especially in the pack.
How did we get away lucky? We scored the only try and had that biased muppet giving the boks more than they deserved,dickson that is,plus frawley took his kicks which by all accounts hes been practising like crazy,now look at who we were missing keenan,hansen,aki,conan,gibson park,and boks still could not score,luck had nothing to do with it,but very some dodgy officiating in first test we could have won that too.
@@amantedellopera1681 we lost the first game and won the second by a drop goal, to me that’s the dictionary definition of getting away lucky. One bad call is all that was in both results. I do like Frawley, far more than Crowley. The lad has balls
@@Gallalad1the Lowe try in the first test should have stood. I don't think you know what definition means if you think a purposely placed drop goal was "lucky". SA won three games on the bounce by a point en route to winning the WC. I guess by your metric, that was just all luck.
@@AfroGaz71 …. I did say South Africa were the luckiest team to win a World Cup 💀 I do think you need that rub of the green though, so that’s what I mean. It went our way this time. Easily could have gone the other way.
It's interesting you said england have to do something about their pool of props. Ireland just banned importing front row players to the provinces to make sure we have debt in our front row pool for the future
Was interesting for me my friend when I heard that on the radio. Also disappointed that I can only dream of England rugby looking after our own interests as well as Ireland do. 🏴🇮🇪
I learned england are a good team and if this is the abs at their weakest, they will in fact be world #1 by years end. I mean the abs just came with a new team, 9 days prep, new coach, with no Retallik! Mounga! aron smith! sam whitelock! Will Jordan! or their unliked captain sam cane. Its almost unbelievable they won.
The national psyche of England is different. It would be considered a disaster for the NZ rugby if the All Blacks played well but lost a test series 2 - nil.
But is that a good thing? If England had broken the Eden Park streak, Razor would be pretty uncomfortable right now, which is absolutely not fair. Meanwhile, Rassie will happily lose every Rugby Championship ever as long as he wins the RWC, and Boks fans go along with it. From an Ireland perspective, it’s great that we won a few 6Ns, and the tours tour to NZ and SA have been amazing, but I’d happily lose the 26 and 27 6Ns if it’s building to a plan for getting past the $#%^ing quarter finals!
If iteland wernt hobbled by their captain selection I think they would uncovered another class player at 6. Hopefully we will get to see this in autumn.
I think England have to just bite the bullet with props & go for it. There are plenty of young props that may just need the big stage to shine. This next year is the time to do it. Ireland need to do the same. Other than that i think both sides are close in filling positions. Ireland have found a gem in Osborne. Having Crowley & Frawley competing is only a good thing. Doris is Lion's Captain in waiting. M Smith is class, but i sense Finn is more consistent in nature. Lowe backup is my concern.
Apart from the front row there is also a short of backup lock options being developed for England. The world Cup is still three and a half years away. If one of the locks going down there is a need for an out and out lock.
For England, other than the concerns you mentioned, I think depth at scrum half and fullback is an issue too. I don’t think the new attacking structures suit Steward but wonder if they’d consider copying the ABs & Jordie Barrett and looking at how he could go at 12? And with Sleightholmes’s break on the outside, could we see him start on one wing and Feeeman moved into the 13 slot?
Leo Cullen still holds massive influence on the current state of this squad. Andy Farrell quite clearly sees, and is able to bring out, the potential of certain players., in a way Cullen is not. AF picked Frawley a couple of years ago for the AB's tour, ahead of the Byrnes, only for Frawley to pick up an unfortunate injury. He clearly sees him as ahead of either of the Byrnes in terms of what he can do, and Frawley repaid his faith in spades Ditto his vision/faith in Osborne who excelled at fullback in a way he's not been able to at Centre, and in one fell swoop has seemingly answered the back up to Keenan question and/or has given him options in the position. But the 10 issue at Leinster is crucial. Crowley is going welll and getting the game time he needs at Munster. Cullen needs to face up to the fact that the Byrnes are solid, but just don't have the ceiling required for the top levels. One or both need to be allowed to go, Frawley and Prendergast (with Tector and Murphy in the wings) need to be allowed to play on an ongoing basis.
Excellent video as always Alfred. England are certainly improved somewhat, however the jubilation from England after a 1 pt win against an Ireland having an off day and at home in Twickenham illustrates that England are not where they should be. It's a very good team, deserves that No.5 spot, but there's still a sizeable gap between England and the top 3. France are a step above England. Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand are just out there deservedly at the top. They're 3 titans of rugby at the moment. The difference is being able to grind out a win if necessary away from home in enemy territory in the toughest test matches. The Scotland games were immaterial as were France with a B/C team on tour. England didn't do it against the AB's. It's about the killer instinct. Being able to finish out a game against top opposition on top form. The 6 Nations 2025 will tell us a lot. I'll be honest, I still don't think Steve Borthwick is the right man for England.
I don't know what I really learned, but I think that win in SA is an insane achievement. Had every reason to lose and they didn't. Incredible respect. Will be interesting to see where Osborne and Frawley play next year. As for England. Outside of hoping Fasobogun or Sela are able to much international LHs like they can those at U20 level, I don't know. I'm not as worried about center. I think Freeman may move in for club and country. Still think Steward would be better bulking up and moving to 12. Chessum coming back could make a difference up front, but still need some power of the bench. Maybe from Hill or Pearson? But that's hard on Curry, Curry and Underhill.
Insane achievement for Ireland for sure. I do normally as an Englishman support the NH sides against the SH except Scotland , but I was loving that Irish performance against the boks. Also I’d love to see Freeman in the center for England as he’s one hell of a player and needs to be in the side. As much as I hope I’m wrong as I’m a Leicester tiger but Freddie not good enough for the squad now . George Hendy at Full back for me.
@@kev63inuk I don't know who our replacement FB should be. Smith is the best playmaker obviously. Carpenter probably best all round. Maybe Atkinson could come through or Hodge add more to his game than run and hope?
Most Leinster and Ireland fans think that Frawley has to be the starting 10 for Leinster next season. With him and Crawley we are in good shape at 10. We need to buid debth in the props too.
I think Ireland are reaping the benefits from both the NZ tour midweek games and the Emerging Ireland tour in South Africa. A lot of what we do is about the systems in place, and those tours put those player in the system along with gametime together meaning they can slot in easily. Sure we'll still miss the xfactor of some player like Sheehan, Aki JGP etc. But the incoming players can fit into the systems and gameplans, while bringing their own abilities. We had 40 players on the NZ tour training in those systems/ Also out u20s have won 14 and drawn 1 in the last 3 6n, meaning we have more coming through
Andy Farrell will never have pay for food and drink in Ireland ever again. 🇮🇪 Well done to the team and Andy Farrell. Well done 👏 to England for pushing the All Blacks hard .
I'm an Ireland fan, and am about to commit heresy. I think both England and Ireland are worried about tight head props. With the Lions tour in mind, are Furlong and Bealham good enough to compete with the absolute best loose heads? They probably won't be tested in Australia but should they be picked for the Lions tour given that New Zealand is next. If you don't pick props over the age of 31, who goes?
Doris showed no fall-off despite the frustrations arising from dealing with a narcissistic referee (good but not as god-like as he feels he is) in game 1. With experience he will learn the finesse of referee handling. The early injury to Furlong showed why there is a search going on for alternative tightheads. In passing - as a spectacle and demonstration of skill, guts and intelligence, Durban didn't hold a candle to the All Ireland Hurling Final in Croke Park on Sunday.
I think you could have brought up the issue that Ireland has (AGAIN) with their Prop depth. The Ireland scrum struggled in both tests and, like England, the concern is the lack of quality back up. Ideally Andy Farrell should not be depending on Cian Healy as the back up to Andrew Porter. Leinster just signed Rabah Slimani from Clermont as the back up to Furlong at tight head - which just emphasizes how short Leinster are at that position. It would be nice to say that there are some real prospects coming through either the Academies or from the U20s - doesn't appear to be the case. The Ireland U20s lost their WC semi-final to England on Sunday and, like the senior team, they have been struggling at the scrum throughout this World Cup and, the 2024 U20s 6 Nations. We have great depth now at Lock & Back Row in the provinces. But, the reality is that opponents will target both England & Ireland in the set piece until both teams can fix this problem.
I am not sure if Will Stewart is not up to the job or he needs lessons on the dark arts of scrumaging . Do we need to have a seasoned prop like Dan Coles helping the scrumage coach with the latest tactics good and bad ???
England played a higher intensity game with that rush defence and more attacking threats - mitchell and smith sniping adds plenty. Propping issues though. Ireland are a team that never give up and could easily have won 2 zip without some key players like JGP
I think like the new Zealand tour in '22 , south Africa thought winning the first test would see them winning the series, this irish team very rarely lose two test matches in a row, a touring side always struggle in the first test, whether that's long flight, different environment or in some cases altitude, playing in south Africa in the urc makes it easier to cope with their national team when on tour, a third test would have been very interesting and well who knows...another tight bruising slog which could go either way.
We learned that England are wanting to, and capable of playing a good style of rugby, well. They have new found respect in New Zealand. They need some props though. Youve got one young one, Baxter but you need 3 more. We have 2 more props weighing 145 kilos at 23 years of age who you should watch against fiji at the end of the week.
We knew Joe we needed new props before the tour began and yeah think Fin Baxter up to the job for sure. And really looking forward to seeing you play against Fuji and seeing how your big boys go . Looking forward to seeing you back to your best against the Boks also.
I think a lot of nations have long term questions at tighthead. ENG and IRE definitely need to find a couple, do SA also need to find a long term alternative to Malherbe?Do france have a long term prospect there? In contrast NZ have Lomax and Newell who are both relatively young and have another young giant in Tosi about to debut.
Before this test Ireland thought to have stuck too long with same team and no ecperyon benchm they have now added three dependables. Hopefully in the next year they will find three more. Irish rugby pool is not deep and theycan only add a few at a time.
I think this 6 Nations should be a B Team outing for Ireland, whenever and wherever possible. Italy for sure, Wales for sure, maybe Scotland, we should find out a lot about some new players. Then England and France at home. I expect us to win the 6 Nations again. Anything less would be failure.
As an Ireland supporter, I think you nailed it. England are back and we can see a potentially very good side playing open rugby. You have a very good back three, have two great 10s with the Smiths, a great back row, very good engine room and like Ireland, need to uncover new props. Ireland are still there despite the loss to NZ in the World Cup and to England in the 6N. In the last three years we have had just five losses, once to each of France, England and SA and twice to NZ. We found we can play without Keenan, Hansen, Aki, Gibson Park and Sheehan. Our one area of concern is prop where we again have struggled in the scrum where we coughed up a lot of scrum penalties. For the next World Cup we will need to replace Aki and probably Lowe, Possibly Henshaw and find a few props.
Think Patrick you beginning to sound over confident. You won’t win the six nations playing a B team. You may well win the six nations playing your best available team.
@@kev63inuk assuming you are replying to the other Patrick,I would agree that we will need to play our best available players to attempt a three-in-a-row of 6N taking account of the way England are improving, that Scotland will,one day come good, that France with DuPont will be better and Italy away will not be a gimme and that we will be missing Farrell.
@@patrickmccutcheon9361 Apologies Patrick i did mix up the names . I’m thinking no one will rest any players home or away against Italy anymore , and everyone will be looking to be at their best against Ireland for the foreseeable future. England do excite me again after four years of misery, and things can change a lot before the six nations but like you’ve mentioned DuPont being back for the french will be the big threat for your boys. 🏴🇮🇪
The all blacks had a new coach, less than 2 weeks together to learn different tactics, england had a settled team and they missed the boat, the all blacks will only get better,
We were told they would be better in second test. Don’t think they were , in fact England were better . We had no Barrett to come off the bench though and change the game . What a class player he is .
I think England are on the verge of returning to serious annual.contenders. smith grew up, feyi and freeman make for a damn good pair of wingers. Steward might not be the answer at full back. far cry from 2-3 years ago. Ireland found a good plan b full back, casey can handle a big match, and it pains me to say but o'mahony might only be a sub impact player now.
5:50 you mean the England game where thecTMO and refs gave England the win, where England scored on the 3rd phase of play, when the English foot was in touch on the 2nd phase. That game, ahh yea 1 for the ages.
Henry Slade is not good enough, he’s a great ball player but I’d rather have a 13 who will carry a touch more and not lean on the 12 standard carrying role. He kicks and he passes well, but does he position well defensively- not always and does he run strong lines - not really.
He knows this defensive system well and does lead the defence well. And this combination with Lawrence has worked well . But agree we could do with someone challenging him for his jersey . But Borthwick has a settled team which carries lots of threat . I’m happy with slade and Lawrence for now. 🏴
@aidanhamspn1910 yes but you can only field 23 players so population is irrelevant. At the end of the day, the 23 Ireland has to pick is more talented than the 23 England/SA have to pick meaning population doesnt play as big a role.
England need to develop TIGHT HEAD PROPS and be fitter and more accurate and clinical with their passing and offloading They will improve in these areas and will develop the needed props and other niche players For example J.Hodge as another G.Furbank type FB /WING/ FH with exceptional pace T,Ruminia as another powerful lock /backrow As for centre im thinking more along the lines of F.Steward and J.Conkasigia converting to inside centre Where they can really use their power and strength and pace to good effect Along with T.Freeman M.Ojhomo and O.Beard also coming though at pace for 13 Also lets not forget that despite all the NZ media talk of them being in transition [Which was all bull ] Most of the ABs players are very old heads when it comes to test rugby Having been together for in some cases years That overall experience and the immense performance of B.Barrett in the second test was what won them both test matches against England As for Ireland well what can you say Didn't turn up [intensity wise] for the 1st test against S.Africa and quite rightly got ROASTED FOR IT BY A.Farrell Turned up for the 2nd test and completely outplayed the S.Africa in the first half Second halfI i feel they started to tire and let their concentration and disapline waver But still had enough to grab victory at the end Ireland just need to manage the player transition from old guard to new as they have alot of very good young players right now Also perhaps work on being a tad fitter aswell??
I have to say an Englishman bringing up NZ transition and calling it BS is BS. So England under new management although many of the team under EJ still there have now been in transition for 20 months, you can feel free to take out the WC so lets call it 12 months and in the last 6 games they lost 4 won two one against a tier 2 nation. They claim loses against France as morale victories forgetting the week previous France were held to a draw by Italy who missed a kick to actually beat them and now more morale victories against NZ using the excuses that NZ were not transitioning, and had much more experience but looking at the tests England team 675 caps NZ 703 caps so that rubbishes the experience, I don’t think need to apologise for having B. Barrett in their team . But regards transitioning NZ change their whole management structure not just the coach but everything and it showed in the way they made many unforced mistakes improved in the second test but they had two weeks and made no excuses “remember we are listening to England using the transitioning excuse for over 20 months now and still listening to it almost daily as an excuse to not being able to win . There are as many old heads in fact a lot more older heads on the English team been there since god was a boy so another made up BS myth. I think England will have to step up next November against an ABs team that will have been together long enough now as well as fronting up to SA before . As for Ireland they don’t seem to have these transitions like England do or at least not for the last 20 years and this is the same for most countries England excluded.
To those who think Ireland won the series I have to say does point difference mean nothing? 😂 You had a coach in the press conference saying who ever wins with more points wins the series which is South Africa... 2ndly Ireland were shifting their pants thinking they about to lose the 2nd test if it wasn't for an amazing drop goal in the last second😂 consider yourselves lucky you didn't lose again... Worst game the springboks have played for a while and they still almost won that game 😂
Bevan Rodd can't currently match Baxter and needs to go away, put on 20kgs (same for Genge) and come back when he's ready to scrum - bottom line, no scrum, no win... Will Suart and Joe Heyes are not up to it and should not play ever again - Time for the likes of Val Rapava Ruskin, Beno Obano, Marcus Street, Trevor Davison, Iosefa-Scott, Harper, Ehron Painter to be invested in and given game time. That also means no more games for Marler and Cole - got to give guys time on the pitch. U20's lads look good as does last year's U20 hooker who's at Quins - Also, Sinkler will improve materially in France...
The bottom line is England are 5th ,New Zealand are probably 4th not 3rd, and Ireland are 2nd on the tests in South Africa and South Africa are No 1....both teams are in another time zone here ,that Drop goal loss to England was a glitch England fans don't expect any fall off ,there was blood there was change in Ireland there are repayments for retiring players and Paul O Connell has his coaching prints all over this team now ,Farrell record in 50 games is 40 wins 10 losses most by less than 6 points, remember too the URC will be back and Irish players it will be normal now to play in Kings Park,Loftus Versfeldt ,and Cape Town, and winning too,the same applies to Scotland maybe less to Wales....but going forward that's an advantage ...
SA won the world cup but didn't dominate anyone. They won their 3 knock out games by ONLY 1 pt and NZ had a red card in the final. The last 5 games between Ireland and SA paints an interesting picture and that is that the Boks can't say they're better than the Irish. 4 wins for the Irish and only 1 win for SA is ample evidence to back up that claim.
@@johnrichards2616I think he meant the game was a glitch and I think thats fair to say, after all since that game England have done nothing except lose and win one game against JAPAN , so I tend to agree Englands form before and after that game was to lose. They did claim a morale victory against France but a victory against France was not much as the week before Italy drew with them and had a kick able kick to win, also another morale victory against a transitional NZ team of one week was not as they thought as NZ came back and doubled down on beating England again. So yes it was a glitch .
I'm thrilled that Ireland have become a major rugby power. I was at the game on Saturday and they made a massive contribution to an epic occasion. I would go as far as to say only the B&I Lions and All Blacks can provide a better match day experience for a Bok fan, and only slightly. Well done Ireland!!!
touchè!
Love that you are happy about Ireland's rise.. When rugby went professional, no Irish rugby fan ever imagined our team would one day be up there with the best.
I think too many read too much into the Irish loss to England in the Six Nations. England played well and deserved to win sure enough , but to see the English players celebrate so much after a one point last minute win, at Twickenham on front of a raucous home support , and the English rugby media rightly so , take so much positivity out of it , was , I believe great kudos to Ireland. Our record over the last 2 to 3 years is unmatched. Yes we have some great players, and indeed I would argue, quite a few world class players, but undoubtedly, our greatest strength is how we play as a team. This is down to Andy Farrell and his coaching team. He is the best coach in the world right now without a doubt, and I hope we can hold onto him. We have lots of plying talent in the pipeline at the provinces, and Farrell is a genius at gradually introducing them to the squad, and is not afraid to throw them in the deep end when the opportunity arises.
We are a physical team, which receives little recognition in the press. Last Saturday we proved that soundly. Fair dues to the South Africans who generally recognized that after the test in Durban. England are now a young squad and no doubt they will be greatly improved in the coming year. Can’t wait for next years Six Nations. Great podcast 👍
Well said. I agree Ireland are the full package and their pack is big and hard enough to not it with anyone. England still building..
Andy Farrell nailed Rassie again . Also developed his team while drawing the series over there. South Africa relied on the old guard to win that series and need new blood. Steve Borthwick also deserves massive praise for getting England into shape in such a short period. Getting felix jones in is looking like we could seriously challenge France and Ireland come the six nations.
I think you completely contradict yourself.
Telling us we made too much over beating Ireland by backing it up with what a brilliant team they have been.
@jamesturnbull7042 England will be there for the 6 nations
@@kev63inuk I think Felix Jones has done amazing so far. I certainly feel you will challenge for the six nations this year, as we are losing Andy Farrell to the Lions. I feel that will be a massive loss! I think Doris will be the captain going forward, except when O Mahony is starting!
Irelands head was down since the WC and they lost their mojo. Andy Farrell for the second time after the last two WC did his magic getting them back on track, he is one very special man and coach. And I believe Leinster losing Stuart Lancaster did not help with the moral either. But through adversity comes necessity and the remaining squad and Andy's selection, such as Osbourne were just class and now we have very much got a class replacement for Hugo Keenan , necessity has maybe brought forward the development of the younger players, but they have really stood up, which can only be a good thing. Only hope Frawley gets several games at 10 in Leinster as the vast majority of Leinster supporters have been screaming for for the last few years.
Ireland are still the most consistent side in world rugby. Only 3 losses in their last 24 games?
Heads down they came within a minute of winning back to back grand slams. I think Irelands problems are its not easy to be on it all the time and thats were Farrell seems to be great. I think he also had FRAWLEY and Osborne in his selection for many times now because he believes in talent and he can bring these gifted souls along in positions they have never been given a proper chance at . It’s not a fluke that POMs career spiked again once he was influenced by Farrell ..
@@davidwalker2402 Osborne was the biggest surprise on this tour. He was playing like a world class seasoned veteran out there for the most part. Most saffers said he was Irelands player of the series. That's some compliment considering it was his debut a week ago and has had limited experience at FB.
Ireland are looking good going forward. They need more props to come through though.
@@PB22559 he was certainly best player in the second test, first test he was good but a couple of mistakes, great thing was how quick he learned from them.
@@davidwalker2402He’s a fair weather fan I’m guessing.
Learnt something about the Boks .
You can fool them twice with the same play.
Ireland have test wins in new zealand and South Africa in the last 18 months. thats pretty impressive..no body in the northern hemisphere does that.
Doris is the perfect captain for Ireland moving forward. He like O'Mahony Sexton and O'Connell before him, lead by example on the pitch. And even more he has a great understanding of the technicalities and possibilities of the game. I think this series was so important for Ireland after the poor finish by the Irish provinces failing to lift either European trophies and the sense of too long a season, fatigue and missing key players as Keenan and gibson-park. They got to blood players as Osborne, have others as Sam Prendergast in the squad ( meaning we have 3 prospective out halves) and to share the series with the Springboks where they played the best of the boks, as a full test team and not a trial team. So am very optimistic for the next 6 nations and Irelands prospects through to the next world cup in 2027. As to England, mainly young team apart from the front row, no doubt they will continue to grow in potential and will be vying for world number 1 over the coming seasons, if evidence needed pushing the all blacks very hard in both tests.
Crowley and Frawley great but Sam Prendergast is on the way through and he has X factor. Osbourne was great at FB. Casey played really well before getting injured. James Ryan got back in and played really well.
I think a Doris captaincy might just be what James Ryan needed. People have been talking him up as a Lions captain since he was barely even 20 years old. I think his recent benching and this have really taken the weight of expectations of him and allowed him to just play rugby again.
Interesting...I think Doris also suffers with captaincy and prefers the freedom to play...but he really stood up this week despite the yellow..
Not many other options however.
@@Zz-lm1no the doesn't seem to be too many natural contenders for the job, but time is on their side. We got spoilt going from O'Mahony to O'Connell to O'Driscoll.
Happy with Crowley and Frawley to keep pushing each other. Both are similar players the way they play and both are mentally strong. Kind of like the relationship Owen Farrell and George Ford had for England for years
Regarding Ireland, Farrell integrates two to three new players at each test window. Tom O’Tool is being converted to a loosehead like Porter. We have Bealham and Oli Jager but they need to lift the standards. Do we convert a Coombs to a loosehead? Izuchukwu, Ahern and Edogbo will come through this year and will add serious power to the pack depth. Edwins younger brother Sean and Brian Gleason look like they could be starting for Ireland by the next World Cup.
Half backs look good and Paddy Patterson (Munster 9) is my pick for Ireland duty this year.
We need to unearth another 13, Hume? Maybe convert a Cathal Ford or Jamie Osbourne from 12 to 13.
Who will replace Lowe? He is so effective
If you think back to when Borthwick came into the England job, the naysayers - on the various forums and UA-cam - were predicting a boring stodgy play safe style and to be fair, from the evidence at the RWC this seemed to be an accurate summary. However it seems that from the last 5 games there is a definite air of swashbuckle coming out alongside a hard nosed pragmatic work ethic. In short I believe the team is heading in the right direction. Get that front row depth sorted out and this bunch will be a tough proposition in the next few years.
I’m not sure any of that makes any sense or is real in any way. First off in the last 6 games England have lost 4 won two one against a tier 2 nation, so results show that this is not working yet. The excuses ran big because England were “transitioning “ but that transitioning is now about 18 months in take out the WC and its 12 months in. But England reckon the results are morale victories against a transitioning NZ Sid who have only been transitioning for two weeks and I might add NZ had a full almost 100% management change. The front row has been a problem for all of Bortwick tender almost two years yet England still have the problem the bench also does not look so clever. Swashbuckling I’m not sure England have earned anything to show this as they keep losing. Remember the hailed themselves for ‘nearly” beating France but failing to acknowledge that the week before Italy drew with France . I think England faced the all blacks at a time when they are trying to find their feet under a very promising management team and by the time November comes around a proper test against NZ and SA will be a better barometer when the pressure will be on the home team to win . Sorry for raining on your parade but I think less of the swashbuckling and more humility until you actually prove something might be a better approach, because there was two tests last weekend and there was one of them that was streets ahead of the other.
@@davidwalker2402No need for an apology . You dislike England clearly and that’s fine.
@@kev63inuk never made an apology but if you think something I said was wrong point it out 😉
@@ronhall9394 England are definitely on the right track. Their performances against Ireland, France and NZ show this. They did not look so good just after Borthwick took over. But remember Farrell’s first year was not great either. It takes time for a new coach to deliver. Declan Kidney and Joe Schmidt are exceptions.
Hey Alfred... been following you for a bit and love your analysis, knowledge and non bias opinions on all teams... keep up the good work...
One last thing, did you ever realise you are the spitting image of Penn Badgley from the TV show YOU... an acting career could be there for you 😂🤙
How could Frawley not have connected well with both drop goals if they went over.Thats a head scratcher😮
I thought the ref should have listened to his assistant who was trying to say that Blade had not knocked the ball on for offside.The penalty which resulted Pollard scored.On the restart the ref was heard saying what he assistant told him that it Irish player was onside.Why not ask the tmo? Same last weekend with James Lowe's try disallowed for Kelleher tipping the ball with leg in the ruck beforehand .It cost Ireland last week as it would been a draw.And the that Blade decision could have cost Ireland if it was not for Frawley's drop goal at the end .
Proud Ireland fan. I think we got away lucky with that. We're still an exceptional team but we're starting to show signs of ageing and we desperately need Crowley to step up more. Along with this we need far more depth especially in the pack.
How did we get away lucky? We scored the only try and had that biased muppet giving the boks more than they deserved,dickson that is,plus frawley took his kicks which by all accounts hes been practising like crazy,now look at who we were missing keenan,hansen,aki,conan,gibson park,and boks still could not score,luck had nothing to do with it,but very some dodgy officiating in first test we could have won that too.
@@amantedellopera1681 we lost the first game and won the second by a drop goal, to me that’s the dictionary definition of getting away lucky. One bad call is all that was in both results. I do like Frawley, far more than Crowley. The lad has balls
@@Gallalad1Rubbish! If luck had anything to do with it? SA had it all.
@@Gallalad1the Lowe try in the first test should have stood.
I don't think you know what definition means if you think a purposely placed drop goal was "lucky".
SA won three games on the bounce by a point en route to winning the WC. I guess by your metric, that was just all luck.
@@AfroGaz71 …. I did say South Africa were the luckiest team to win a World Cup 💀
I do think you need that rub of the green though, so that’s what I mean. It went our way this time. Easily could have gone the other way.
It's interesting you said england have to do something about their pool of props. Ireland just banned importing front row players to the provinces to make sure we have debt in our front row pool for the future
Was interesting for me my friend when I heard that on the radio. Also disappointed that I can only dream of England rugby looking after our own interests as well as Ireland do. 🏴🇮🇪
I learned england are a good team and if this is the abs at their weakest, they will in fact be world #1 by years end. I mean the abs just came with a new team, 9 days prep, new coach, with no Retallik! Mounga! aron smith! sam whitelock! Will Jordan! or their unliked captain sam cane. Its almost unbelievable they won.
The national psyche of England is different. It would be considered a disaster for the NZ rugby if the All Blacks played well but lost a test series 2 - nil.
Completely agree. Our Winners Mindset / psyche needs updating
But is that a good thing?
If England had broken the Eden Park streak, Razor would be pretty uncomfortable right now, which is absolutely not fair.
Meanwhile, Rassie will happily lose every Rugby Championship ever as long as he wins the RWC, and Boks fans go along with it.
From an Ireland perspective, it’s great that we won a few 6Ns, and the tours tour to NZ and SA have been amazing, but I’d happily lose the 26 and 27 6Ns if it’s building to a plan for getting past the $#%^ing quarter finals!
If iteland wernt hobbled by their captain selection I think they would uncovered another class player at 6. Hopefully we will get to see this in autumn.
I think England have to just bite the bullet with props & go for it. There are plenty of young props that may just need the big stage to shine. This next year is the time to do it. Ireland need to do the same. Other than that i think both sides are close in filling positions. Ireland have found a gem in Osborne. Having Crowley & Frawley competing is only a good thing. Doris is Lion's Captain in waiting. M Smith is class, but i sense Finn is more consistent in nature. Lowe backup is my concern.
Apart from the front row there is also a short of backup lock options being developed for England. The world Cup is still three and a half years away. If one of the locks going down there is a need for an out and out lock.
For England, other than the concerns you mentioned, I think depth at scrum half and fullback is an issue too. I don’t think the new attacking structures suit Steward but wonder if they’d consider copying the ABs & Jordie Barrett and looking at how he could go at 12? And with Sleightholmes’s break on the outside, could we see him start on one wing and Feeeman moved into the 13 slot?
Leo Cullen still holds massive influence on the current state of this squad. Andy Farrell quite clearly sees, and is able to bring out, the potential of certain players., in a way Cullen is not. AF picked Frawley a couple of years ago for the AB's tour, ahead of the Byrnes, only for Frawley to pick up an unfortunate injury. He clearly sees him as ahead of either of the Byrnes in terms of what he can do, and Frawley repaid his faith in spades Ditto his vision/faith in Osborne who excelled at fullback in a way he's not been able to at Centre, and in one fell swoop has seemingly answered the back up to Keenan question and/or has given him options in the position. But the 10 issue at Leinster is crucial. Crowley is going welll and getting the game time he needs at Munster. Cullen needs to face up to the fact that the Byrnes are solid, but just don't have the ceiling required for the top levels. One or both need to be allowed to go, Frawley and Prendergast (with Tector and Murphy in the wings) need to be allowed to play on an ongoing basis.
Excellent video as always Alfred. England are certainly improved somewhat, however the jubilation from England after a 1 pt win against an Ireland having an off day and at home in Twickenham illustrates that England are not where they should be. It's a very good team, deserves that No.5 spot, but there's still a sizeable gap between England and the top 3. France are a step above England. Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand are just out there deservedly at the top. They're 3 titans of rugby at the moment. The difference is being able to grind out a win if necessary away from home in enemy territory in the toughest test matches. The Scotland games were immaterial as were France with a B/C team on tour. England didn't do it against the AB's. It's about the killer instinct. Being able to finish out a game against top opposition on top form. The 6 Nations 2025 will tell us a lot. I'll be honest, I still don't think Steve Borthwick is the right man for England.
I don't know what I really learned, but I think that win in SA is an insane achievement. Had every reason to lose and they didn't. Incredible respect.
Will be interesting to see where Osborne and Frawley play next year.
As for England. Outside of hoping Fasobogun or Sela are able to much international LHs like they can those at U20 level, I don't know.
I'm not as worried about center. I think Freeman may move in for club and country. Still think Steward would be better bulking up and moving to 12.
Chessum coming back could make a difference up front, but still need some power of the bench. Maybe from Hill or Pearson? But that's hard on Curry, Curry and Underhill.
Insane achievement for Ireland for sure. I do normally as an Englishman support the NH sides against the SH except Scotland , but I was loving that Irish performance against the boks. Also I’d love to see Freeman in the center for England as he’s one hell of a player and needs to be in the side. As much as I hope I’m wrong as I’m a Leicester tiger but Freddie not good enough for the squad now . George Hendy at Full back for me.
@@kev63inuk I don't know who our replacement FB should be.
Smith is the best playmaker obviously.
Carpenter probably best all round.
Maybe Atkinson could come through or Hodge add more to his game than run and hope?
Most Leinster and Ireland fans think that Frawley has to be the starting 10 for Leinster next season. With him and Crawley we are in good shape at 10. We need to buid debth in the props too.
I think Ireland are reaping the benefits from both the NZ tour midweek games and the Emerging Ireland tour in South Africa. A lot of what we do is about the systems in place, and those tours put those player in the system along with gametime together meaning they can slot in easily. Sure we'll still miss the xfactor of some player like Sheehan, Aki JGP etc. But the incoming players can fit into the systems and gameplans, while bringing their own abilities. We had 40 players on the NZ tour training in those systems/ Also out u20s have won 14 and drawn 1 in the last 3 6n, meaning we have more coming through
WatchSam Prendergast - he is the future fly half
Andy Farrell will never have pay for food and drink in Ireland ever again. 🇮🇪 Well done to the team and Andy Farrell.
Well done 👏 to England for pushing the All Blacks hard .
I'm an Ireland fan, and am about to commit heresy.
I think both England and Ireland are worried about tight head props.
With the Lions tour in mind, are Furlong and Bealham good enough to compete with the absolute best loose heads? They probably won't be tested in Australia but should they be picked for the Lions tour given that New Zealand is next. If you don't pick props over the age of 31, who goes?
you have a terrible name.
Ireland improving fast England improving
I’d like to see Freddie steward at centre. I think he’s the right profile to flourish in that position
Doris showed no fall-off despite the frustrations arising from dealing with a narcissistic referee (good but not as god-like as he feels he is) in game 1. With experience he will learn the finesse of referee handling. The early injury to Furlong showed why there is a search going on for alternative tightheads. In passing - as a spectacle and demonstration of skill, guts and intelligence, Durban didn't hold a candle to the All Ireland Hurling Final in Croke Park on Sunday.
I think you could have brought up the issue that Ireland has (AGAIN) with their Prop depth. The Ireland scrum struggled in both tests and, like England, the concern is the lack of quality back up. Ideally Andy Farrell should not be depending on Cian Healy as the back up to Andrew Porter. Leinster just signed Rabah Slimani from Clermont as the back up to Furlong at tight head - which just emphasizes how short Leinster are at that position. It would be nice to say that there are some real prospects coming through either the Academies or from the U20s - doesn't appear to be the case. The Ireland U20s lost their WC semi-final to England on Sunday and, like the senior team, they have been struggling at the scrum throughout this World Cup and, the 2024 U20s 6 Nations. We have great depth now at Lock & Back Row in the provinces. But, the reality is that opponents will target both England & Ireland in the set piece until both teams can fix this problem.
I am not sure if Will Stewart is not up to the job or he needs lessons on the dark arts of scrumaging . Do we need to have a seasoned prop like Dan Coles helping the scrumage coach with the latest tactics good and bad ???
England played a higher intensity game with that rush defence and more attacking threats - mitchell and smith sniping adds plenty. Propping issues though. Ireland are a team that never give up and could easily have won 2 zip without some key players like JGP
I think like the new Zealand tour in '22 , south Africa thought winning the first test would see them winning the series, this irish team very rarely lose two test matches in a row, a touring side always struggle in the first test, whether that's long flight, different environment or in some cases altitude, playing in south Africa in the urc makes it easier to cope with their national team when on tour, a third test would have been very interesting and well who knows...another tight bruising slog which could go either way.
We learned that England are wanting to, and capable of playing a good style of rugby, well. They have new found respect in New Zealand. They need some props though. Youve got one young one, Baxter but you need 3 more. We have 2 more props weighing 145 kilos at 23 years of age who you should watch against fiji at the end of the week.
Agreed Joe!
I think last weekend they went back to kicking instead of holding on to the ball and I wonder is this reverting to type.
We knew Joe we needed new props before the tour began and yeah think Fin Baxter up to the job for sure. And really looking forward to seeing you play against Fuji and seeing how your big boys go . Looking forward to seeing you back to your best against the Boks also.
@@davidwalker2402just you reverting to type my friend.
I think a lot of nations have long term questions at tighthead.
ENG and IRE definitely need to find a couple, do SA also need to find a long term alternative to Malherbe?Do france have a long term prospect there?
In contrast NZ have Lomax and Newell who are both relatively young and have another young giant in Tosi about to debut.
Think Doris if he continues to play well will be the lions captain and it will be well deserved.
Before this test Ireland thought to have stuck too long with same team and no ecperyon benchm they have now added three dependables. Hopefully in the next year they will find three more.
Irish rugby pool is not deep and theycan only add a few at a time.
I think Ireland are doing just fine I think England would love some of that.and remember you can not win everything how boring would that be 😊
England don't play 80. Ireland plays 80. Best team today, Ireland. My Kiwi opinion.
marmalised great word
I think this 6 Nations should be a B Team outing for Ireland, whenever and wherever possible. Italy for sure, Wales for sure, maybe Scotland, we should find out a lot about some new players. Then England and France at home. I expect us to win the 6 Nations again. Anything less would be failure.
As an Ireland supporter, I think you nailed it. England are back and we can see a potentially very good side playing open rugby. You have a very good back three, have two great 10s with the Smiths, a great back row, very good engine room and like Ireland, need to uncover new props. Ireland are still there despite the loss to NZ in the World Cup and to England in the 6N. In the last three years we have had just five losses, once to each of France, England and SA and twice to NZ. We found we can play without Keenan, Hansen, Aki, Gibson Park and Sheehan. Our one area of concern is prop where we again have struggled in the scrum where we coughed up a lot of scrum penalties. For the next World Cup we will need to replace Aki and probably Lowe, Possibly Henshaw and find a few props.
Think Patrick you beginning to sound over confident. You won’t win the six nations playing a B team. You may well win the six nations playing your best available team.
@@kev63inuk assuming you are replying to the other Patrick,I would agree that we will need to play our best available players to attempt a three-in-a-row of 6N taking account of the way England are improving, that Scotland will,one day come good, that France with DuPont will be better and Italy away will not be a gimme and that we will be missing Farrell.
@@patrickmccutcheon9361 Apologies Patrick i did mix up the names . I’m thinking no one will rest any players home or away against Italy anymore , and everyone will be looking to be at their best against Ireland for the foreseeable future. England do excite me again after four years of misery, and things can change a lot before the six nations but like you’ve mentioned DuPont being back for the french will be the big threat for your boys. 🏴🇮🇪
The all blacks had a new coach, less than 2 weeks together to learn different tactics, england had a settled team and they missed the boat, the all blacks will only get better,
We were told they would be better in second test. Don’t think they were , in fact England were better . We had no Barrett to come off the bench though and change the game . What a class player he is .
I think England are on the verge of returning to serious annual.contenders. smith grew up, feyi and freeman make for a damn good pair of wingers. Steward might not be the answer at full back. far cry from 2-3 years ago. Ireland found a good plan b full back, casey can handle a big match, and it pains me to say but o'mahony might only be a sub impact player now.
5:50 you mean the England game where thecTMO and refs gave England the win, where England scored on the 3rd phase of play, when the English foot was in touch on the 2nd phase. That game, ahh yea 1 for the ages.
Henry Slade is not good enough, he’s a great ball player but I’d rather have a 13 who will carry a touch more and not lean on the 12 standard carrying role. He kicks and he passes well, but does he position well defensively- not always and does he run strong lines - not really.
He knows this defensive system well and does lead the defence well. And this combination with Lawrence has worked well . But agree we could do with someone challenging him for his jersey . But Borthwick has a settled team which carries lots of threat . I’m happy with slade and Lawrence for now. 🏴
Frawley has been around for years. Just leinster won't play him
Population S A 60 million
England 67 million
Ireland 5 million
Ireland (North and South) = 7 million
You have quoted the UK population. The population of England is 57 million.
@aidanhamspn1910 yes but you can only field 23 players so population is irrelevant.
At the end of the day, the 23 Ireland has to pick is more talented than the 23 England/SA have to pick meaning population doesnt play as big a role.
Which explains why SA and England have 5 world cups and lots more semi finals and finals between them , And Ireland none. What’s your point Aidan ?
@@kev63inuk Oh god, just take the L and quite embarrassing yourself 🤣
England are good enough. Ireland are the boss. South Africa and NZ can challenge. France - it depends on who turns up and their attitude on the day!
England need to develop TIGHT HEAD PROPS and be fitter and more accurate and clinical with their passing and offloading They will improve in these areas and will develop the needed props and other niche players For example J.Hodge as another G.Furbank type FB /WING/ FH with exceptional pace T,Ruminia as another powerful lock /backrow As for centre im thinking more along the lines of F.Steward and J.Conkasigia converting to inside centre Where they can really use their power and strength and pace to good effect Along with T.Freeman M.Ojhomo and O.Beard also coming though at pace for 13 Also lets not forget that despite all the NZ media talk of them being in transition [Which was all bull ] Most of the ABs players are very old heads when it comes to test rugby Having been together for in some cases years That overall experience and the immense performance of B.Barrett in the second test was what won them both test matches against England As for Ireland well what can you say Didn't turn up [intensity wise] for the 1st test against S.Africa and quite rightly got ROASTED FOR IT BY A.Farrell Turned up for the 2nd test and completely outplayed the S.Africa in the first half Second halfI i feel they started to tire and let their concentration and disapline waver But still had enough to grab victory at the end Ireland just need to manage the player transition from old guard to new as they have alot of very good young players right now Also perhaps work on being a tad fitter aswell??
😴😴🛌🛌🛌🛌🛌🛌...💤💤💤...
I have to say an Englishman bringing up NZ transition and calling it BS is BS. So England under new management although many of the team under EJ still there have now been in transition for 20 months, you can feel free to take out the WC so lets call it 12 months and in the last 6 games they lost 4 won two one against a tier 2 nation. They claim loses against France as morale victories forgetting the week previous France were held to a draw by Italy who missed a kick to actually beat them and now more morale victories against NZ using the excuses that NZ were not transitioning, and had much more experience but looking at the tests England team 675 caps NZ 703 caps so that rubbishes the experience, I don’t think need to apologise for having B. Barrett in their team . But regards transitioning NZ change their whole management structure not just the coach but everything and it showed in the way they made many unforced mistakes improved in the second test but they had two weeks and made no excuses “remember we are listening to England using the transitioning excuse for over 20 months now and still listening to it almost daily as an excuse to not being able to win . There are as many old heads in fact a lot more older heads on the English team been there since god was a boy so another made up BS myth. I think England will have to step up next November against an ABs team that will have been together long enough now as well as fronting up to SA before . As for Ireland they don’t seem to have these transitions like England do or at least not for the last 20 years and this is the same for most countries England excluded.
We learned that Ireland are still better than England
England - the eternal optimists; the perennial seekers and claimants of moral victories from defeat. 🤔😕😴
To those who think Ireland won the series I have to say does point difference mean nothing? 😂 You had a coach in the press conference saying who ever wins with more points wins the series which is South Africa... 2ndly Ireland were shifting their pants thinking they about to lose the 2nd test if it wasn't for an amazing drop goal in the last second😂 consider yourselves lucky you didn't lose again...
Worst game the springboks have played for a while and they still almost won that game 😂
Eat your pancakes 😂😂
Bevan Rodd can't currently match Baxter and needs to go away, put on 20kgs (same for Genge) and come back when he's ready to scrum - bottom line, no scrum, no win... Will Suart and Joe Heyes are not up to it and should not play ever again - Time for the likes of Val Rapava Ruskin, Beno Obano, Marcus Street, Trevor Davison, Iosefa-Scott, Harper, Ehron Painter to be invested in and given game time. That also means no more games for Marler and Cole - got to give guys time on the pitch. U20's lads look good as does last year's U20 hooker who's at Quins - Also, Sinkler will improve materially in France...
The bottom line is England are 5th ,New Zealand are probably 4th not 3rd, and Ireland are 2nd on the tests in South Africa and South Africa are No 1....both teams are in another time zone here ,that Drop goal loss to England was a glitch England fans don't expect any fall off ,there was blood there was change in Ireland there are repayments for retiring players and Paul O Connell has his coaching prints all over this team now ,Farrell record in 50 games is 40 wins 10 losses most by less than 6 points, remember too the URC will be back and Irish players it will be normal now to play in Kings Park,Loftus Versfeldt ,and Cape Town, and winning too,the same applies to Scotland maybe less to Wales....but going forward that's an advantage ...
SA won the world cup but didn't dominate anyone. They won their 3 knock out games by ONLY 1 pt and NZ had a red card in the final.
The last 5 games between Ireland and SA paints an interesting picture and that is that the Boks can't say they're better than the Irish. 4 wins for the Irish and only 1 win for SA is ample evidence to back up that claim.
A glitch my arse,sorry who made it to the semi final again?
So what about South Africa,and Irelands drop goal was that a glitch uckfay fooay
@@johnrichards2616I think he meant the game was a glitch and I think thats fair to say, after all since that game England have done nothing except lose and win one game against JAPAN , so I tend to agree Englands form before and after that game was to lose. They did claim a morale victory against France but a victory against France was not much as the week before Italy drew with them and had a kick able kick to win, also another morale victory against a transitional NZ team of one week was not as they thought as NZ came back and doubled down on beating England again. So yes it was a glitch .
@@davidwalker2402would it be fair to say you don’t like England David ? 😂. You do spend an incredible amount of typing time educating us about them .