Fighting Irish: Visitors level the series with 26-21 win

Whilst I would have used the word insipid, I doubt that I used a cliche like "wet lettuce".

No. I've stopped going to Test matches or purchasing any Wallabies merchandise. I made that decision when Link was bustled out by the Sydney putsch. I want the players to do well but I am sad to see Cheika continue to stymie the development of Australian rugby in favour of Waratah rugby. He's not just driving the Wallabies down the world rankings, he's ruining the careers of seriously good players who don't happen to be in the Waratahs. I wonder how long before Hanigan pops up in a Wallabies side? I still support the Rebels with a membership and even travel to watch them interstate and overseas sometimes.

It all depends if there is an overlap and there clearly wasn’t because Folau had the outside man covered. Penalty only.

The refereeing has been ludicrously one sided. Thank god Gauzere will ref the final test. A fairer ref and Ireland would have won by 20.

First up, no excuses the better team won and proved the old adage, "forwards win matches and the backs just determine by how much". The Ireland forwards controlled the ball (and match) magnificently. So the big dance-off is next week and obviously there will be changes to both the WB team sheet and some of their tactics. I suspect that Ireland may also bring in some changes, I imagine they are not too happy with all that possession that their backs only scored ONE try and that was via a hole vacated by M.Koroibete sitting on the sideline. But as for the WB, their #1 problem is how to get more ball and win some territory. One thing for sure, the WB must play smart rugby, they will never win giving away so many dumb penalties and thoughtless plays as performed by Foley and Hooper at 33 minutes running the ball into a set Ireland defence off a hard-earned penalty. The Joe Schmidt rule book is and always has been: "the other mob can't score if you hog the ball". This leads to pressure, penalties and control of the territory. The Crusaders play a similar game but have a better backline (bar halfback). To have any chance the WB have to counter the possession at the breakdowns. With that in mind, I would suggest starting with T.Latu at hooker who presents a much harder edge at breakdowns. I thought D.Pocock played a great game but had little help from his backrow partners-in-crime, which comes back to the team selection and coaching. The 6-7-8 combo has to have at least 1 good lineout merchant and 2 good ruck monkeys. C.Timu went MIA at rucks and M.Hooper is neither, but has other qualities than cannot be ignored, so both the blindside and #8 have to be good at protecting our rucks, slowing down their ruck ball and stealing the occasional ball. C.Timu is gone but the main question is do you go for a tall player who brings power and hardness to the rucks and edges (L.Tui) or N.Hanigan who goes for 80 minutes, tackles well, is also tall but is as hard as lemon meringue filling? I would start L.Tui at #6 and perhaps N.Hanigan and P.Samu as reserve backrowers. A.Coleman says he is fine for Sydney so its Coleman, I.Rodda and R.Simmons for the locks and Tui as the extra reserve #6-lock hybrid if both locks have to leave the field. B.Foley suggests on the ARU website that N.Phipps and Joe Powell are the halfbacks for Sydney and that's most likely the best of the rest. You could argue for M.Ruru or J.Gordon as reserve halfback but Phipps must start as he has test experience and knows the plays from training. I thought the WB backline looked pretty solid with R.Hodge at #12 for the last 20 odd minutes, so you might see him kept as reserve Mr Fixit for the whole backlne bar halfback. The only other change that is likely is M.Koroibete to be dropped for T.Banks (fast and good at the back) or Sefa.N for pure speed. The whole WB team looked tired in the Melbourne match, even after 10 minutes. One would not expect an experienced coaching team to over-train their charges, perhaps it was the power of the Irish pack which overwhelmed them. I suspect a little bit of both. M.Cheika et al should look at why this happened and maybe adjust the training regime.

Nice comment Derm and congratulations to a pretty conclusive win by the Spuds. No excuses, Ireland played the game pretty much as well as everyone expected and the WB came up short. Next week in Sydney is another day, sell-out crowd. I'll be there with an Irish mate who says he is gonna dress as a leprechaun; we have a bet that loser shouts the apres-match drinks so them WB had better play out of their skins for my bl00dy FREE beer. Onto another big match that will surely bring a smile to both our dial, was it not a thing of beauty to see England belted again in South Africa? :)

Spot on jesse, I commented on it in the game blog. At 33minutes with Ireland leading 19-15 and a forward on the naughty chair, and wtf does B.Foley and M.Hooper do off a penalty? They decided to run the ball into a set Ireland defence line with not one WB player in support. Yes you might run the ball if the defence isn't set or you have people in support or waiting for an up-n-under, otherwise you take the easy 20-30 metres and put pressure on the other mob. Anyone with a smidgen of nous would kick for the line, it's your throw-in so hit them with a rolling maul or a set move. What Foley and Hooper did is not rugby, that is total dumb play you might see in Subbies seconds.

CP, wait till next week. Its a French referee with NH interpretations of rucks and scrums. By half time in Sydney, I imagine most Aussie supporters will be on their knees begging for tonight's referee. WB lost the match for a number of reasons but the refereeing was not one of them; in fact you could argue it should have been a loss by >12 points if he had carded B.Foley for that knockdown as most referees would have.

Blocking, whether planned or done adhoc, is still blocking. It’s not unique to Ireland as evidenced by Australian players doing likewise. And you’ll find other teams doing it too.

I always miss your posts, PiratesRugby :P they always make me chuckle even when I don't 100% agree with you. One particular post from a few years ago in which you referred to a certain player as an 'insipid wet lettuce' was particularly inspired. In terms of this post I absolutely agree with you on Phipps. It's a strange thing, isn't it? In terms of showing heart and the right attitude Phipps is just about the best guy in the team. If he was a bit quicker or more powerful he would be a top class winger or centre, but he just doesn't have an accurate pass or a really clear head on him. Did you go to the Test?

I'm a massive fan of Korobeite but his error cost us big time. Ireland were always going to be up for this game. Beale's try must have tightened Irish sphyncters. . Korobeite's tip tackle would have had him carded in any Rugby or League comp in the world. It took the pressure off the Irish and put the pressure on the WBs. It was the the turning point of the game.

Phipps is a great little player. He's a demon in defence. Utterly fearless. He works harder than any player to cover in defence and in attack. He just can't pass or kick very well. As a scrumhalf, that's a problem. This Super season has seen Ruru, Powell and Gordon come on. None of them are as good as Genia or even Test standard. Yet. This series was Cheika's opportunity to develop one or more of them. He's failed again the same way he failed to develop our second row for his first two years. We're developing a decent attack with Beale, Folau, Korobeite, DHP and Kerevi with Maddocks waiting in the wings. With Phipps' flakey service and Foley's stodgy playmaking we might as well have Will Skelton in the backline.

Haha the idea of that is important to you eh?

You made a tight fought test series about Superugby Geoff, not me. If you bring Superugby in then you cannot ignore the axing of the Force. I saw on Perthnow that Twiggy is asking for a new investigation into how the ARU mishandled the axing of a team. Nothing on roar...as usual.

Agree CP...Its as tho any comment about the ref is a "Ref cost us the game" comment when sometimes we just want to say what was missed and what was ruled incorectly...The ref DID NOT decide the game......but he certainly was not perfect and I dont see why we cant comment on that

Hilarious. Baiting riddler with Foley comments. He can't help himself. No defense of anyone else commented on but his boy Foley gets a response.

Paulo I dont think last night was a good guage.....It looked like a race where 1 guy was injured so the other runner just did enough to keep ahead. Lets hope next week shows a real test with 15 on 15

Cliff, intentional or not is not relevant....We are told the difference between a yellow or a penalty only is whether their is a chance of a line break or not...There was a definate line break opportunity so therefore Foley very lucky...Im just glad it had no influence on the outcome

Drongo how would you know? or are you are just making that up...You have no involvment in Irish training so have NO IDEA...also you have no involvment in Aus training so have no idea what they train to do....

Of course his brother is similar. They're twins.