Match thread

Jailbreak7

@kiwiinmelb Yes. It been a sell out for months.

Smart by Ireland taking Sexton off.

How many times will Barnes allow Ireland to lean over the ruck and touch the ball with hands. Clearly illegal and slows Tonga down.

Billy Tell

Just crap from the 10

Havili…must be the name 🙈

How many penalties have Ireland conceded now?

the bounce of the rugby ball ... but a clever little kick with chasers ready to chase....

taniwharugby

@hydro11 like thier defence line it.pushes up quick, flat and disciplined.

A Tongan on defence was tackled and brought to ground 5 meters beyond the ruck he was trying to get to in that phase.

gt12

Fuck me, how can you give that Barnes? He was crawling like a baby

MajorStokes

He was also being pushed by quite a few Irish. Not sure what else he could do.

gt12

I’m all for getting rid of the TMO, until I see the ineptness of refs and touchies.

Seriously, WTF are touchies doing nowadays?

Billy Tell

Fafita looks better at 8 than he ever did at 6 or lock

I think Wayne Barnes has been good - mostly consistent - not calling everything e.g. rucks and flopping, - but that's going both ways. and carded when appropriate all the while communicating reasonably well with the players.

MajorStokes

Fifita no mouth guard?

The Irishman

Getting very sloppy now.

Billy Tell

Still can’t believe we chose Francis saili over bundee. Think it was the Henry era still.

Bovidae

You would think that Tonga could select better wingers than Kata and Taumoepeau.

@MajorRage said in RWC Week 2: Ireland v Tonga:

Fifita no mouth guard?

Is an internal NZR rule for our Pro players to wear mouthguards, no one else has it

Tonga player was pinned in there by the Irish guy lying on top of him and holding onto a player underneath him. What hope did he have of rolling away?

Toddy

That's not a penalty. It's unplayable

Billy Tell

Very impressive performance from Ireland. Look the complete package.

Dan54

@Billy-Tell They do don't they? I can understand why they No 1 in world right now!

I like the way the Irish give the man in possession of the ball multiple options - eg there are usually several runners on good lines plus the security of passing back in and setting another ruck.

So simple and effective

Ireland cleaner 5m past the ruck stands in the way of the scrum half passing to the 10. No penalty 😂

Brilliant from Keenan

scribe

Tonga needs a decent skills coach. Atrocious.

Jailbreak7

Too many basic errors. Set piece horrendous.

Portugal would give this Tongan team a good rattle.

Jailbreak7

I mean, how old is Tameifuna?

Reasonably tidy effort from Ireland. Got out of it with no major injuries or card issues. Showed how effective basic rugby tactics are when applied cohesively across the park. Well played

Discipline will be an issue come the big boys of SA etc - (can see the inconsistent 50/50 officiating playing a big role in some of those clashes)

Thought Barnes was good (not perfect) - he is certainly one of the better officials at this RWC

I only just woke up and missed the game. Do we have a chance against these guys?

Ireland too good and Tonga were gassed at the end. Like the Tonga of old really, some big hits but slow to get up off the ground, and some massive errors.
Irrelevant but have got to say it, ABs won't get past Ireland.