Ireland tour to NZ 2022

[Ludraman]

@ACT-Crusader He's only played the odd game at lock to fill gaps. He moves between 6 and 8 for munster. Ireland are bringing 6 locks already if you include Baird who's listed as a back row so I'd say we're unlikely to see Coombes at lock.

I'm expecting a back row against the Maori of:
6. Baird/Prendergast
7. Timoney
8. Coombes

[Tim]

@Kruse The guy was a troll who posted through IP addresses in multiple countries. You absolutely did the right thing.

[Kruse]

@Tim said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Kruse The guy was a troll who posted through IP addresses in multiple countries. You absolutely did the right thing.

Cheers, that assuages the guilt a bit.
I do regret that I never got to see the responses to my very, VERY drunken post.
But still, he seemed like just a simpleton, with genuine (albeit cliche-d) passion for the sports for which we all share love.
The occasional injection of "Rugby Championship is just friendlies", "Prime Botha would kill you all", and "<constant bland pub-level commentary>" users - injects humour into this place.
Apologies to any recent comedy-accounts I've forgotten to mention.

[Tim]

@Kruse said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

I do regret that I never got to see the responses to my very, VERY drunken post.

Mate, I have made many of those, and it's normally better if you don't see them.

When a guy posts a picture of a can of Export Gold in the beer thread, and does some weird thing of posting the dumbest shit form multiple VPN accounts, we should have banned him long ago.

Question is, why did so many of you idiots try to argue with a troll?

[Kruse]

@Tim said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Kruse said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

I do regret that I never got to see the responses to my very, VERY drunken post.

Mate, I have made many of those, and it's normally better if you don't see them.

When a guy posts a picture of a can of Export Gold in the beer thread, and does some weird thing of posting the dumbest shit form multiple VPN accounts, we should have banned him long ago.

Question is, why did so many of you idiots try to argue with a troll?

That was my exact point. SO many people engaging with that thing, across many threads. I was very confused by it, and then, one night, just got drunk, and tried to make that point, but in an extremely offensive fashion.

[Tim]

@Kruse Mods got sentimental? Or maybe it was like that sci-fi story where the robot was so pathetic so no one would kill it?

[Crucial]

@Tim said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Kruse said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

I do regret that I never got to see the responses to my very, VERY drunken post.

Mate, I have made many of those, and it's normally better if you don't see them.

When a guy posts a picture of a can of Export Gold in the beer thread, and does some weird thing of posting the dumbest shit form multiple VPN accounts, we should have banned him long ago.

Question is, why did so many of you idiots try to argue with a troll?

I engaged with him because I also tried to bring him in to the fold and up his game. A little “coaching” with some ribbing to start with and yeah he just came across as a bit simple and tone deaf.

[Dan54]

So Josh Lord out of Abs for season, knees is ACL or something, and not replacing him in Irish series squad.

[Higgins]

@Dan54 said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

So Josh Lord out of Abs for season, knees is ACL or something, and not replacing him in Irish series squad.

No reason to as the versatile skyscraper Ardie Savea is more than adequate to cover lock.

[Dan54]

@Higgins said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Dan54 said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

So Josh Lord out of Abs for season, knees is ACL or something, and not replacing him in Irish series squad.

No reason to as the versatile skyscraper Ardie Savea is more than adequate to cover lock.

Well anyone knows 4 locks is plenty for a 3 test series!!

[Machpants]

@Dan54 said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Higgins said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Dan54 said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

So Josh Lord out of Abs for season, knees is ACL or something, and not replacing him in Irish series squad.

No reason to as the versatile skyscraper Ardie Savea is more than adequate to cover lock.

Well anyone knows 4 locks is plenty for a 3 test series!!

Locks are fine. It's our shitty props I'm worried about.

[Derm McCrum]

@Machpants said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Dan54 said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Higgins said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Dan54 said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

So Josh Lord out of Abs for season, knees is ACL or something, and not replacing him in Irish series squad.

No reason to as the versatile skyscraper Ardie Savea is more than adequate to cover lock.

Well anyone knows 4 locks is plenty for a 3 test series!!

Locks are fine. It's our shitty props I'm worried about.

Wouldn't worry about that. Furlong and Porter are both off their game, and after them, there's nobody.

Surprised other teams have not worked this out before now. This July it's coming home to roost - the famed prop development programme has ground to a halt.

[Ludraman]

@Derm-McCrum Tom O'Toole looked rock solid at scrum time against Kitshoff in the URC semi. He's very young for a tighthead so has a very bright future ahead. Bealham has never let us down either.

I agree on the loose head side our depth is poor. However i think Porter will have an easier time against the all blacks than he did in the champions Cup against Toulouse and La Rochelle. He is steadily improving since moving to loose head so I'd be optimistic in another 2 years time our prop situation will have improved.

[Derm McCrum]

@Ludraman said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Derm-McCrum Tom O'Toole looked rock solid at scrum time against Kitshoff in the URC semi. He's very young for a tighthead so has a very bright future ahead. Bealham has never let us down either.

I agree on the loose head side our depth is poor. However i think Porter will have an easier time against the all blacks than he did in the champions Cup against Toulouse and La Rochelle. He is steadily improving since moving to loose head so I'd be optimistic in another 2 years time our prop situation will have improved.

You're right - O'Toole and Loughman both need to come of age on this tour - there is that developmental side to the tour and squad that will be interesting.

[Derm McCrum]

This might be read as interesting or completely boil yer piss.

Take it away, Gerry Thornley, rugby corr with The Irish Times.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/2022/06/21/gerry-thornley-the-strength-of-irish-rugby-is-a-minor-miracle-given-how-few-play-it/

[Machpants]

@Derm-McCrum Interesting how he points out that the isalnds sort of add another pile of registered players, but doesn't mention that NZ provides the majority of players for both Tonga and Samoa! But this idea that rugby is number one is very outdated, old like most of the posters here. "rugby is the number one sport, the equivalent of Gaelic football, hurling and soccer, as well as rugby, rolled into one" In player numbers rugby is behind soccer, and in popularity behind basketball in youth.

But Ireland certainly punches above it's weight, NZ too, and England underperforms.

[Crucial]

@Machpants said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Derm-McCrum Interesting how he points out that the isalnds sort of add another pile of registered players, but doesn't mention that NZ provides the majority of players for both Tonga and Samoa! But this idea that rugby is number one is very outdated, old like most of the posters here. "rugby is the number one sport, the equivalent of Gaelic football, hurling and soccer, as well as rugby, rolled into one" In player numbers rugby is behind soccer, and in popularity behind basketball in youth.

But Ireland certainly punches above it's weight, NZ too, and England underperforms.

Stats and lies.
Soccer Football has out ranked rugby in NZ for a long time as far as player numbers go. Their problem (and one rugby is fast catching up with) is the massive drop off of participation post school age.
The causes are slightly different with football being the young persons 'safe' sporting option which is only done to participate and rugby having low attraction to the club rugby layer post school if players haven't attracted professional interest.

[Frye]

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/all-blacks-ireland-rugby-test-series-tab-ad-campaign-seeks-to-stir-pot-by-poking-fun-at-irish-record/AGF3SOQVC2GUNJQ3B6LCIOAWNM/

All Blacks-Ireland rugby test series: TAB ad campaign seeks to stir pot by poking fun at Irish record 

Ben Leahy
Reporter, NZ Herald

Ireland's touring rugby side are set to be reminded at every turn they have never won in New Zealand as part of a controversial marketing campaign likely to rile a few feathers.

The ads will focus on the All Blacks intimidating track record at home as New Zealand and Ireland face off in a three-test-match series, kicking-off at Eden Park on July 2.

Sports betting agency TAB NZ plans to post billboards in each New Zealand host city, with some located close to the Irish team's hotels and others on the routes they will travel to get to training and the games.

One billboard simply states: "0 wins in NZ".

Ouch. That's the amount of times Ireland has won in New Zealand.

Another billboard states: "Think the flight was long? Try a 28-year unbeaten streak at Eden Park".

A reminder that no international team has beaten the All Blacks in Auckland since 1994.

The ads aim to intimidate the Irish and stoke New Zealand pride, but some might question whether the bold bravado could backfire and even if such shameless bragging is the Kiwi way.

TAB NZ said the billboards are simply sharing "helpful facts" with the visitors.

"From when they arrive in New Zealand until the moment they step onto the field, TAB NZ will be there to remind them that their odds aren't looking good," the company's general manager Marketing and Customer Experience Jodi Williams said.

"You have to go all the way back to 1994 to find the last time the All Blacks had a loss at the Garden of Eden. That was the same year Forrest Gump hit the big screen, and Friends began its glittering 10-season run on TV."

She said Ireland's three test matches in New Zealand gave them a lot of minutes to truly weigh up their odds of winning.

The campaign comes as the two teams have clashed on 33 occasions.

The first match was in 1905 but regular test matches between the two nations only kicked off in the 1970s.

Out of those 33 matches, Ireland has only ever won three tests and drawn one.

However, the Irish odds look remarkably better when taken on recent form.

TAB NZ plans to post the billboards on roads where the Irish team will travel and even close to their team hotel. 

Out of the last five tests played between the two nations, Ireland has a 3-2 winning record, with two wins on Irish soil and one win in the US.

That included the Irish winning the last match between the two sides 29-20 in Ireland last November.

Ireland also had a second-place finish behind France in the 2022 Six Nations on 4 wins and 1 loss.

TAB NZ's Williams said that despite the cheeky ad campaign her team like everyone else was looking forward to the contest.

Ireland's James Lowe scores a try past All Black Jordie Barrett on the way to an Irish victory on home soil last year. 

"Based on Ireland's strong showing in this year's Six Nations, this should be a great three-test series that will keep fans of both sides on the edge of their seats," she said

Absolutely shameless from the TAB. They nearly always take a bath when the All Blacks win so they're trying to stir the Irish into a victory or 2. Writing the motivational speeches for them if you will. Pretty cynical if you ask me.

[DaGrubster]

@Machpants yeah, its quite funny that he points out that we have access to 160,000 registered players in the pacific islands! I mean wtf?

funny how he doesnt mention the foreign born, raised and professionally trained players that Ireland have taken advantage of.

anyway, the horse has well and truly bolted with globalisation in international rugby.

He does make a very good point about Ireland though. They have never been very good at rugby historically. They have been the big movers over the last 15 years in internationally and are a country that optimises its resources very well. similar to NZ in cricket.

I wish NZ could optimise its resources as well as Ireland have recently.

[Derm McCrum]

@DaGrubster said in Ireland tour to NZ 2022:

@Machpants yeah, its quite funny that he points out that we have access to 160,000 registered players in the pacific islands! I mean wtf?

funny how he doesnt mention the foreign born, raised and professionally trained players that Ireland have taken advantage of.

anyway, the horse has well and truly bolted with globalisation in international rugby.

He does make a very good point about Ireland though. They have never been very good at rugby historically. They have been the big movers over the last 15 years in internationally and are a country that optimises its resources very well. similar to NZ in cricket.

I wish NZ could optimise its resources as well as Ireland have recently.

You're right - Thornley is well aware of the foreign-born cohort that plays in Ireland. How much it contributes or how big a cohort it is, of the overall playing pool is worth considering.

Next season, there'll be 35 foreign-born players out of a total of 183 senior squad players, plus a further 50 across the 4 provincial academies.
Those foreign-born players break out as:
11 - foreign capped - ineligible for test caps
17 - parent/grandparent qualified
7 - residency qualified by dint of old 3-year rule - 4 of them capped - Kleyn, Lowe, Gibson-Park, Aki.

24 of them born in Eng, SA and Aus (8 each) with the balance from NZ, Ton, Fra, US, & Zim.
Below that there are 220 amateur clubs that throw up an occasional top player who gets recruited into the provincial set-up.

The big push since 2015 IRFU decision to stop funding of foreign players, and invest instead to develop/recuit Irish players through academies is starting to pay dividends with 97 Irish players having been promoted from academy since then.