@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.

double movement.

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

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

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

Seriously, WTF are touchies doing nowadays?

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.

Fifita no mouth guard?

Getting very sloppy now.

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

@The-Irishman said in RWC Week 2: Ireland v Tonga:

Getting very sloppy now.

Jobs done though - roll the changes and keep the key players uninjured.

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?

That's not a penalty. It's unplayable

Very impressive performance from Ireland. Look the complete package.

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

Bundee Aki MOM

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

Tonga needs a decent skills coach. Atrocious.

Too many basic errors. Set piece horrendous.

Portugal would give this Tongan team a good rattle.

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.

@akan004 said in RWC Week 2: Ireland v Tonga:

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

Based on what we have delivered in the last 3 games... I wouldn't be putting the mortgage on it - Irish forwards are a tight unit that show urgency and to large degrees accuracy that we just haven't come close too.
Plus their backs run effective lines and don't have to deal with multiple playmakers and bullshit cross kicks etc.
The other glaring gap would be the kicking accuracy and chasing ...... we're not even close on that one

@Jailbreak7 said in RWC Week 2: Ireland v Tonga:

I mean, how old is Tameifuna?

32

Do have any chance against Ireland your discipline has to be top notch. Make them gain territory don’t hand it to them.

@Mattasaurus That's a worry. They have had very few injuries too compared to the other main contenders. The stars may be aligning for them this year.

@Billy-Tell said in RWC Week 2: Ireland v Tonga:

Do have any chance against Ireland your discipline has to be top notch. Make them gain territory don’t hand it to them.

Sounds like the abs will have no problem then

Guys, it's Romania and Tonga. The test to see how good this team is, that's next week. A loss next week and then all to play for against Scotland just to qualify.

@The-Irishman said in RWC Week 2: Ireland v Tonga:

Guys, it's Romania and Tonga. The test to see how good this team is, that's next week. A loss next week and then all to play for against Scotland just to qualify.

Yes - but the manner of the wins and the way the Irish team is playing should give you confidence.
The only concern would be discipline and getting on the wrong side of officials with the yap yap yap from Sexton et.al .. You have NZs spin the wheel BOK for next week and then Nic Berry (my personal least fav ref in the world) for Scotland

whatever the result next week I struggle to see Ireland going down to Scotland - unless there are several key injuries / cards against SA and some "interesting officiating" .....

Well that went all right. Roll on the next match. We've been here before.

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

@The-Irishman said in RWC Week 2: Ireland v Tonga:

Guys, it's Romania and Tonga. The test to see how good this team is, that's next week. A loss next week and then all to play for against Scotland just to qualify.

Yes - but the manner of the wins and the way the Irish team is playing should give you confidence.
The only concern would be discipline and getting on the wrong side of officials with the yap yap yap from Sexton et.al .. You have NZs spin the wheel BOK for next week and then Nic Berry (my personal least fav ref in the world) for Scotland

whatever the result next week I struggle to see Ireland going down to Scotland - unless there are several key injuries / cards against SA and some "interesting officiating" .....

Scots will be up for it and won’t have any fears or hang ups about playing a team they know so well from the Six nations……but in saying that Ireland will most likely be too clinical overall.

@Billy-Tell said in RWC Week 2: Ireland v Tonga:

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

It's silly to pretend that Aki was ever at AB level when he was in NZ. The year Saili made the ABs Aki was a bench player for the Chiefs, he then had one year as a starter for the Chiefs before leaving NZ rugby for money.