Rate the match: Wales vs Ireland, Six Nations 2015

We’d have called this match a ten… had we not picked #Ireland! 😉

Wow gave a 10 and so pleased for the land of my fathers as said in my last blog Wales will pinch this test match and no pressure on Sexton lol
From here in Sourthern Hemisphere was able to see Wales V Ireland to be both Teams as powerhouses to look out for in World Cup 2015
My rugby m88 were gob smacked at the pace and gladiator performance of the players who hammered each other for 80 min in this great 6 nations advertisement of the game
Cymru am byth
Taffy on Gold Coast

Great atmosphere and wonderfully brutal game as rugby should be . Spoilt by a very one dimensional ireland who could not come up with a plan B once the Welsh line refused to crack. Sextons worst game in a long while and both half backs should have been replaced after 50 min. Wales were amazing on defense but the Irish attack was always predictable . This match more than any showed up rugbys biggest problem today . A distinct lack of back line and loose forward guile needed to break stonewall defenses. For this reason I give the game a 7-8 .

Were you watching the same match?? True, defensively excellent but game showed any number of innovational and at times inspiring attempts to break BOTH defensive lines by BOTH sides. They were well matched but I would submit Ireland edged it in terms of threat and stature. Wales won, aided by Mr Barnes in the first 20 minutes and particularly in the last five. What ever happened to consistency – penalty try for the first driving maul and a SCRUM to Wales when the final maul was collapsed. How would YOU interpret that final scrum for which Barnes gave Wales a penalty? The game itself must rate as one of the most gripping ever.

Ah yes, Mr Barnes helped Wales so much he reduced them to 14 men for a quarter of the match and awarded a penalty try against them – one that was being debated long after the match. Out of interest I was surprised to see both Phillip Matthews and Keith Wood say it should not have been awarded.

That final maul? The penalty was for offside, after the maul had broken up. You might have noticed that if you’d taken off your green eye patch.

Whining about the ref being the difference. Priceless.

What a terrible match. Rugby was the loser today.

I jest of course. Probably the game of the championship.

Great match so setup a great closing weekend to the tournament.
If Ireland had won today the last week would be just for an incoming grandslam which would be easily predictable; this add’s alot of opportunity to final week so now a week of anticipation 😀

I rate it a Dingdong! – Not good for the health!

Wales defended heroically – congratulations.

DDD

PS – Wayne Barnes is an amazing ref – truly amazing!

As an Englishman I had Barnes as my motm!

Once again a brilliant game where end score was decided by probably worst ref at international level. Barnes should not be allowed to ref at this level!!!!!!

Bad losers always blame the ref! 😉

Brutal defence by Wales, great atmosphere in the stadium. Stunning silence for kickers of both sides. Could’ve gone either way tho, Wayne Barnes was the margin

Yeah the defence was brutal and heroic at times but think the heroic stuff outweighed the brutal – they won – so beyond that it’s coulda woulda shoulda!

DDD

Barnes was Welsh MOM.

Please explain, i mean 2 welsh yellow cards, penalty try awarded to Ireland…yet Barnes loves wales n all :p

Anyone know why Sexton wasn’t playing today!!!!

DDD

Not looking good for Scotland – Lawes just octopussed Finn Russel

Don’t debase yourselves by blaming the ref. Barnes had a great game and the game could’ve gone either way. The fact is, Wales led for 80 minutes and won the game. During one phase of Irish play, Barnes gave penalty advantage to Ireland 3 times. He consistently penalised both sides. Wales won, stop looking for excuses.

England are losing to Scotland right now because we’re playing attrociously, ref has nothing to do with it.

Agreed – lots of missed opportunities in the england v scotland game, win win for me though I’ll pocket £50 if scotland win (tied to a £1 double with wales 5-10) and if England win i’m lined up to win £25 tomorrow regardless of outcome (from £1 triples)

Mine’s a Thatchers Gold mate lol.

Well done Wales, they have finally turned up to the 6N. At last they used their backs and don’t they look good when they do. Maybe Gats has learned at last. Defence was outstanding as well. My only gripe was from what I saw Edwards needs to eat his words on blocking. Twice in the run up to the try, Welsh attackers blocked tacklers. Now all sides do it but don’t moan about it if you do it! Anyway well done Wales, great performance and also thanks for helping us English, much appreciated.

“My only gripe was from what I saw Edwards needs to eat his words on blocking. Twice in the run up to the try, Welsh attackers blocked tacklers. Now all sides do it but don’t moan about it if you do it!”

Staggy, I agree that Edwards comments were a bit rich – or rather, they were just part of the tactical buildup that is so often played out in the media now e.g. Hansen and his “boring rugby due to breakdown/mauls” comments.

However, I’ve watched the Welsh try a few times and saw no blocking? Players hitting the man in front after the ball had passed, but never before?

Exciting second half. Another game ruined by Barnes who loves to be centre of attention.

Barnes the performance of the weekend so far.Managed to get players who went to ground to keep away from the ball allowing multi-phase play to develop. Accurate decisions and penalties in the first half meant when the pressure was on players didn;t think they could get away with cheating,

Contained the best 20 mins of rugby, just after half time, I have ever seen. A 10 of a match. Utter magic.

Barnes was excellent – ten mins of whistle happy but got his message across such that the breakdown was cleared up and an amazing game of rugby emerged. Anyone who blames Barnes for the result is a one eyed loser.

I hate agreeing with you Brighty! Mind you, you might have to admit that Shane knew what he was talking about as well.

Staggy – I’ll concede that yesterday we used our backs well and most effectively so far in this championship.

But (you knew it was coming) it was because it was on. That was how to win that game. Horses for courses. Scott Williams would be in most other teams starting sides. Brilliant player.

Brighty, you are right, I knew there was a but coming from word 3. I didn’t think concede was in your vocabulary!

I’ve said several times you have a fantastic backline and I have included Scott Williams in that. I prefer him to JR.

However I disagree with you (you probably knew that was coming!) that Gatland should only use his backline as a weapon on ocassions. Would the kiwis or Aussies (the only two comparable backlines IMO) do that. Of course they wouldn’t. They would use their dangerous weapons. Anyway, I’m hoping Gats returns to type next week and its a low scoring game in the wind and rain!

If Barnes was excellent please explain his scrum interpretation? Wales were clearly under pressure at scrum time being driven backwards yet time after time it was a Welsh penalty? Agree that Wales would have won regardless of the referee as they were the better team

Sure – as he clearly said, Ireland pinged for stepping to the left before pushing. They gained the scrum dominance illegally so he pinged them for it and told them exactly why he did it. Good refereeing.

Hope that clarifies.

Hi JS; have a close look at the scrum laws; it’s not quite as simple as just penalising the team going backwards! I suspect Barnes could see EVEN more of what was going on than you could!

Good result Wales, well played, I retract my commen about Wales not being in the same tier as Ireland and England, looks a bit silly now.

Down to points difference now, Wales on +12, so think it’s between England and Ireland. Heart and head are saying england, but the way they butchered their chances against Scotland im not so confident!

Great results for the six nations today, Scotland a very tenacious side

I think counting out wales after today would be a little short sighted. If we consider next week’s games.

Wales v Italy
Ireland v Scotland
England v France

Wales go against Italy, the weakest side in the tournament.
Ireland go against Scotland, who tend to butcher there games but can cause tight games and the occasional upset.
England v France, a team who generally under achieve.

All three games could potentially include a shock result, the 3 weaker teams either causing an upset,or a close game. If we ignore Wales/Ireland/England and listed Italy, Scotland & France which team would you expect to be blown out? Italy, who might be expect a “surprise” win from, France, who might keep a game close til the last 10, Scotland.

I agree for Wales to win would need a big result +30 at a v.minimum, but it’s doable. Let’s say +40 assuming Ireland win by less than 19 and england 15 both feasible scorelines (im expecting both to win by approx 10) it would just take a huge effort, but I wouldn’t count them out just yet.

Also worth remembering, Scotland will be playing to avoid a wooden spoon and to finally get a win this year (in vein no doubt), Italy already got there typical 1win and France need to show they are capable of winning games like this cos they have continually under-achieved.

This stat on the bbc website: “So too may the history. Wales have won their last three games in Rome by an average of just 10 points. Scotland have won the last two home matches against Ireland. France have not won at Twickenham since 2007, and have lost their last three visits by an average of 14 points.”, could be interesting next weekend!

True but stat’s can be used to prove anything, I’m just saying I wouldn’t count out Wales just yet. Tis a big game next week but keep an open mind.

Wales v Italy, wales won the last 7games
England & France played, france won by 2pts last year.
Ireland v Scotland, last 2 games at Murrayfield won by Scotland and a take in turn of winning for the last 7games which if continued would lead to a Scotland win next week.

Based on those “stats” there is no reason both France & Scotland couldn’t win next week; I don’t see it happening that way but it’s plausible.

Also another small one, last 2 closing games of wales 6nations, 48pt & 27pt winning margins. So they close strong.

2014 – Wales v Scotland 51-3
2013 – Wales v England 30-3

I wonder how much that took out of the Irish and Welsh players, both physically and mentally. Certainly I can see a Scottish side desperate for a win taking advantage.

Gatland got the tactics right. Ireland looking like the average one trick pony they are. They dominated possession and territory second half, but are not that good at scoring tries…. just causing opponents to give up penalties. Heck there was that amazing sight of 3 man Ireland overlap 20 yds from Wales line with half width of field to play. I could hear the players shouting and waving for the ball in my living room, but they were true to form…..they stayed in traffic and found an opponent to run into.

I am loving the taste of Flora on my toast this morning….

Comment of the day, my head is spinning. What a game!

Superb Welsh performance in defence and enforced use of replacements showed WG that picking the same guy every game is not the most sensible policy.

Thought the decision to replace Lydiate when Barnes gave him a final warning was very astute. Maybe WG learned from 2014 and Gethin Jenkins v England.

My Conspiracy Theory says Barnes made sure Wales won, as it was Ireland standing in England’s way for the 6n title. Barnes through gritted teeth ensured Wales won at the end and he can still point to the yellow cards and penalty try as his defence!

Enoch, even by your standards that is a barking thing to say about Barnes. If you want gritted teeth, it was me quietly hoping for a Welsh win!

Staggy

If Ireland had won against Wales then England would not crowned champions this coming Saturday night.

Barnes has a track record of screwing Wales with awful decisions every single game in which he officiates apart from this weekend when an Irish defeat was essential for England to win the 6n trophy on points difference. How odd???

Had it been Wales going for the GS then Barnes would have made sure that Ireland won on Saturday

Two of his decisions at the end of the game with the Irish rolling maul and the final scrum Welsh scrum going backwards beggared belief.

This is one of the those parody Welsh accounts isn’t it? The one that goes on about how flouride is a way of just slowly poisoning the Welsh and English tourists falling off Snowdon is just part of how they use our resources to bankrupt us?

Final scrum – ball came out. Ireland then defended offside. The call was from the linesman on that side, not Barnes.

Rolling maul – they’re so often 50/50 and subjective. The one that led to their penalty try? Keith Wood and Phillip Matthews, for example, thought it should not have been a penalty try.

Laughable for anyone to blame this result on the ref. Paranoid in the extreme for a Welshman to claim it was about ensuring England could win – especially in a match where he’d reduced Wales to 14 min and given Ireland 7 pts in 2 decisions that were subjective. Nobody can seriously believe this. You’re just trolling.

It’s getting to the stage, with the World Cup so soon now, that the points difference outcome is of relatively little interest; there will essentially be no outright winner, that’s the truth. But performances, individual and team, are very relevant. We know Wales have a superb defence – we knew that from the Springbok and France games of course (though not the England game) – that Ireland need more variety in attack now people are sorting them out, and that England need to see off opportunities. Back with Wales, they will be sweating on young Samson Lee; without him, I’m afraid Gats will be going cap-in-hand on his knees to dear old Adam J!

43 replies on “Rate the match: Wales vs Ireland, Six Nations 2015”