Rugby Union Thread

[ForeverInLoveWithJus]

What a performance by Ireland!

England 13-19 Ireland!!

Woohoo!

[JammieJam]

amazing result - i was extremly glad. i watched pieces of the match (up to 67th minute) i just hoped Ireland held on, and they did. Congrats emma, u must be over the moon.

this weekend so far has had some magnificent rugby matches.

[ForeverInLoveWithJus]

It was amazing and to do it over in Twickenham just made it an even better result, I am delighted along with all of Ireland!

Here is an interesting article that I have just read on it: (Sorry its a little long..)

Ireland won a marvellous victory against World Champions England at Twickenham today to put themselves in with a chance of winning a first Triple Crown since 1985. A try from Girvan Dempsey and four penalties and a conversion by Ronan O'Gara were enough to give Ireland a narrow 19-13 victory. A Matt Dawson try and two penalties and a conversion by Paul Grayson put England close and they almost pulled the rabbit out of the hat, grounding the ball twice for what they thought were tries only to be denied. Ireland began brightly, forcing a penalty in the opening minutes but outhalf Ronan O'Gara made his first and only mistake of the game - missing badly to the left of the posts. He makes amends after 14 minutes thought, kicking a penalty from near his own touchline to give Ireland a well deserved 3-0 lead. That penalty came as a result of a rumbling Irish maul and this, allied to good kicking by, in particular, O'Gara gives Ireland the advantage in terms of territory while solid defence pins back England inside their own half.

Ireland showed they had another string to their bow in the 20th minute; Gordon D'Arcy danced free of the England defenders before stretching his legs and running into the England '22. Peter Stringer then excelled in defence, tapping Jason Robinson's ankle to trip him up after he had cut through the first line of the England defence. O'Gara capitalised soon after, landing his second penalty to put Ireland in the unfamiliar position of being 6-0 up, and playing better than, England at Twickenham. However, England were achieving parity or better at one phase of play: the scrum. It was from one of these near the Irish '22 that they managed to go ahead for the first time. A slight shove caused Anthony Foley to lose control of the ball at the base of the scrum. Stringer attempted an ill advised pass when he was lying on his back and O'Gara then fumbled. With the 8/9/10 axis taken out, Grayson picked up calmly and passed to his Northampton club colleague Matt Dawson, who took a clever angle to fool Ireland wing Tyrone Howe and coast over.

Grayson converted to put England 7-6 up and into a somewhat fortunate lead. His side had their tails up at that stage and they continued to pressure Ireland at the scrum. It was from one of these that Grayson's firsy penalty oppurtunity came. Foley and Stringer again lost the ball but this time O'Gara was able to hold on. near his own line. He held on for too long for the referee's liking, however, and Grayson was able to slot the simple penalty opportunity from within the shadow of the Irish posts. Ireland retook the lead with two penalties in the 10 minutes before half time to retake the lead. He got the first, a routine kick after Malcolm O'Kelly, back in magnificent form, took the ball up and England prop Trevor Woodman handled in the ruck. Ireland were somewhat fortunate to be awarded the second, Iain Balshaw was penalised for holding on in the ruck near halfway which O'Gara kicked into the Enlgand '22. His pack mauled again and England were penalised for O'Gara's fourth penalty.

England came out fighting after the restart, going over in the corner within a minute of kicking off.But wing Ben Cohen was ruled to have moved twice when held in crossing the line giving Ireland a penalty on their own line. Ireland made no such mistake in converting their chance when it came. They moved the ball, and England, from one side of the pitch to the other after D'Arcy's excellent line break. Paul O'Connell and Foley made the hard yards and offloaded to good effect before Brian O'Driscoll's mammoth pass to make Dempsey's task an easy one.

O'Gara converted from the touchline to put Ireland nine points clear. He continued to kick well, not allowing the vaunted English back three any chances to run the ball back. England made a number of changes, notably adding James Simpson-Daniel and Mark Regan to the mix and removing Balshaw and hooker Steve Thompson, who had had difficulty throwing in all day. That steadied the ship somewhat and they began to string some phases together. In the 65th minute they closed to within a score of Ireland, Grayson kicking an offside penalty. O'Driscoll attempted to put his side two scores clear in the 67th minute but, on a day when nothing quite came off for the centre, his drop goal hit the post under the crossbar.

Mark Regan crossed the line soon after and put the ball down but he had been forced into touch by Malcolm O'Kelly a yard from the line. England had possession enough to win the match in the last 10 minutes but a combination of strong Irish defence and uncharacteristic English nervousness on their part gave Ireland a fantastc win.

[JammieJam]

O'Gara converted from the touchline

that was a great conversion, we were quite excited when irealand scored cause S.AFrican's love to see ENG beat.

Congrats to ireland - hopefully now, they can continue the good work .. .. except against south africa when they take them on later this year - lol.

[ForeverInLoveWithJus]

I think its a huge achievement, I hope we can build on this.

[ForeverInLoveWithJus]

Here is another interesting article Jeremy.

Following Ireland's victory over England at Twickenham yesterday, the first time the World Champions have been defeated at home since the 1999 World Cup against New Zealand, Brian O'Driscoll revealed the secret of his side's success.

"The belief was the big thing," he said. "There were a few hairy, scary moments in the second half, but I'm so delighted to come through - this is a fantastic results for us."

His opposite number Lawrence Dallaglio felt his side had not played up to standard, but credited Ireland for an excellent display. "I don't think we can have any complaints. If you don't win set-piece ball at this level then you will struggle," he said.

"They disrupted our lineout and if you make as many errors as we did you are going to make life very difficult for yourself. But credit to Ireland, they came here with the belief that they could get into us and they deserved their victory."

His predecessor as England skipper Martin Johnson added his praise for Ireland's performance. "England made too many mistakes and when Ireland played with the ball they looked like scoring. You have to hold your hands up and say they deserved to win."

"The better side won," said England coach Clive Woodward. "We are bitterly disappointed with the way that we played, but you have got to hold your hand up. You can take losing, but when you play so badly, it makes it even harder."

[JammieJam]

It is good to see martin johnson, dallagio, and woodward give Ireland the credit they deserve for a win at the 'fortress' Twickenham.

"The better side won," said England coach Clive Woodward. "We are bitterly disappointed with the way that we played, but you have got to hold your hand up. You can take losing, but when you play so badly, it makes it even harder."

a team can only play as well the opposition allows them - and ireland were fantastic.

[ForeverInLoveWithJus]

It was a great achievement.

[JammieJam]

In the spirit of Irish Rugby

Ireland's 19-13 win over England in the Six Nations rugby clash at Twickenham on Saturday was an early wake-up call for the Springboks.

The South Africans will have to find someone to stop Brian O'Driscoll at inside centre

Allister Coetzee, assistant coach of the Springboks, said although he is excited about the local talent in the Super 12 series, a lot of work still has to be done if South African backs want to play in the same league as the All Blacks, the Wallabies, England, Wales and Ireland.

"We make too many basic mistakes - that is probably the main reason why no South African team could win a match in the Super 12 this past weekend. Our players must start thinking on their feet," Coetzee said

"Jake White and I meet in Cape Town on Monday and we already have plans for our backs. Although we would never have had any nightmares about Ireland four or five years ago, the Irish win over England was an eye-opener."

White was in England for a few days and watched the Six Nations clash between Ireland and England. Coetzee said he had always thought the Tri Nations series was the barometer for world rugby. However, Ireland's victory over the world champions has proved him wrong.

[ForeverInLoveWithJus]

Thanks for posting that Jeremy, an interesting read.