Exciting as it was close, thought standard was very poor.

My predictions for quarters – Argentina, Ireland, Fiji and France to win.

I would be pretty happy with that!

I would pick Farrell ahead of Ford for this game, his technique may be rubbish but he is a far better defender against big men, Biggar had to make a shed load of tackles against Fiji, Ford would be run over.

Actually feel sorry for Scotland, nothing worked for them. Can’t understand why they didn’t take points early. Line out is awful so we can just kick the ball out and know we will get it back

Ireland needed a last min penalty to beat Australia in the November Internationals. The lost a lot of close games and at least looked competitive.

Biggar gone! Massive

I thought we did ok in the scrums, was worried we would be mashed there and we even got a few penalties. Line out was abysmal at the start  but improved when Sheehan and Henderson were on the field.

sure SA can improve goal kicking by playing Pollard but the lose loads in attack as he is pedestrian compared to Libbok. I thought SA through the kitchen sink at us and we were still standing at the end, no injuries and actually should have Jack Conan back for next game and Sheehan with a half  under his belt.

Easy enough function if you only have to play half a game! Once PS DuToit gets sent off for a high late hit on Sexton the rest of them will only have to play 40 mins :)

“Blame the landlord for the action of a yoof who does not comprehend what dew point is.

Classy”.

@singletrackmind literally where did I say it was the landlords fault? it is the start of the Academic year, the house my son moved into last week has significant mould problems. Caused very likely by the previous set of students who lived there last year. Of course we are discussing the issue with the landlord, perfectly amicably I may add. All I asked was for was a dehumidifier recommendation!

Wondering would I like Ireland to play NZ or France in Quarters now, certainly tips the scales a bit towards France? This is of course if we win one of our remaining group games, certainly not writing off Scotland!

South Africa have gone with a 7-1 split on bench for game against Ireland, if plan A doesn’t work then do plan A harder seems to be the strategy!

Fiji’s yellow was a clear yellow, dragging down a maul heading for line, could have been penalty try even. Wales should probably had a yellow sooner and another one later, Biggar’s on the line was closest to a professional foul and perhaps should have been a straight yellow. Loved the game, best of the weekend by a mile for a neutral.

If you get a chance and weather is good visit Aran Islands. Dingle Way is well signposted and is excellent hiking.

Don’t discount Wicklow, Wexford and Waterford. Easier if you want to bring a car  and get about half the amount of the rain of the west coast. Glendalough in Wicklow has a series of well signposted trails, Spink loop is a great half day walk. Wexford has great beaches and Waterford also has good sea kayaking, beaches etc. All close to Rosslare or Dublin ferries. PM if you want some more info. I am back pretty regularly.

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/garden

Downstairs at the Science Museum is designed with 3-6 year olds in mind. We used to have to drag our kids out of it, not much fun for adults though.

The amphibious Duck tours were great also, much better than the open top busses for kids

Watson out of the World Cup squad with calf injury, not sure it makes a massive difference, great player but doesn’t see much ball at the moment.

Dan Sheehan’s injury for Ireland potentially a bigger issue, looks like he could miss group stages, Kellher is still injured, Rob Herring is a good solid alternative but doesn’t have Sheehan’s X Factor!

We get free bagels at work on Thursdays but they only come with various cream cheese based spreads never butter!

Probably should be 6 given his record but certainly better than getting off scot free which was the original verdict!

See it is backdated to include Ireland game also!

After nearly 30 years in London, I took a transfer to US a year ago at 52. Surprised myself to be honest after many years of taking the safe choices. Hasn’t been all good, missing close friends and adult children but it has certainly given me a new lease of life!

I must admit I think I thought he was in serious trouble before the hearing, his record meant any ban had to be substantial. I never thought they would simply find him not guilty. Gordian Knot thinking!

I’m not sure all the people who voted against Corbyn did so because of his economic policies, I think they were much more concerned about some of his crazier ideas on national security and maybe even anti Semitism. McDonald his shadow chancellor actually had some pretty coherent ideas on economy.

watched extended highlights of England V Ireland U20, looked like a very good game. Ireland possibly the happier team given they finished the game with 14 men and England camped on their try line.

Absolutely could easily lose to Scots, Also the teams makes it through that side of the draw could be in pieces with 5 plus frontline players injured, out with HIAs or suspensions and mugged by Eddie Jones’s Australia or England in semi or final. I’m sure Wales will outperform expectations but it is getting harder to create a narrative that sees them past the 1/4s

Need or happens to have been the in vogue offset when your frame was designed?

fair point I guess, love how bike handles and just don’t want to do anything to mess it up! Maybe wouldn’t be able to tell difference.

Irish World Cup Training squad announced – 42 players to be cut down to 33. 21 from Leinster, 9 Munster, 8 Ulster and 4 Connacht. 4 uncapped players (*) Pretty uncontroversial selection although a single club supplying 20 is pretty surprising especially as they ended the season empty handed. I’ll still be delighted if we make it past 1/4 finals given the draw we have.
Ryan Baird (Leinster)
Finlay Bealham (Connacht)
Tadhg Beirne (Munster)
Jack Conan (Leinster)
Gavin Coombes (Munster)
Caelan Doris (Leinster)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster)
Cian Healy (Leinster)
Iain Henderson (Ulster*
Rob Herring (Ulster)
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster)
Dave Kilcoyne (Munster)
Joe McCarthy (Leinster)
Peter O’Mahony (Munster)
Tom O’Toole (Ulster)
Andrew Porter (Leinster)
Cian Prendergast (Connacht)
James Ryan (Leinster)
Dan Sheehan (Leinster)
Tom Stewart (Ulster)
Kieran Treadwell (Ulster)
Josh van der Flier (Leinster)

Bundee Aki (Connacht)
Caolin Blade* (Connacht)
Ross Byrne (Leinster)
Craig Casey (Munster)
Jack Crowley (Munster)
Keith Earls (Munster)
Ciaran Frawley* (Leinster)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)
Mack Hansen (Connacht)
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster)
Hugo Keenan (Leinster)
James Lowe (Leinster)
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster)
Conor Murray (Munster)
Calvin Nash* (Munster)
Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster)
Jamie Osborne* (Leinster)
Garry Ringrose (Leinster)
Johnny Sexton (Leinster)
Jacob Stockdale (Ulster)

Does anyone know the offset on these, need 51mm which is becoming increasingly rare?

Losing the man to the red card wrecked things for Glasgow. It was an absolute nailed on red though.

Haven’t seen a red that clear for a long time, not sure what he was trying to do there. Munster have no players left for next week, 4 players removed with HIAS in one game,

Anyone on here watch the French league? watched a highlights program from the weekends matches and must say looked amazing. Might try and catch some of the games in the run in and playoffs as they are shown on Viaplay which I have access to already.

This is straight out of the Republican play book in the USA. In the liberal areas in North East it is almost impossible to find out who is Republican and they try to come across as reasonable people with sensible policies on wasteful public spending, crime etc. not a MAGA hat in sight. Occasionally works but usually people can sniff them out!

As long as your not head coach the work load should be bearable, the level 1 course was a full weekend when I did it but was really good fun. One thing I would say is ask your son about how he feels about having his dad as one of the coaches?

It might not be even be Dombrants most embarrassing play in the tournament. He just looks ponderous in international rugby.

probably get some grief for this but I own one, bought last summer after moving to the US for work. I love it, probably not worth the money but a lovely shirt. I probably wear it more often than anything else I own. I wear kit out as I commute every day and ride most weekends. I can give a fair insight into the durability of most brands from Aldi / Lidl specials to Rapha & Assos. I would say the shirt is next level in terms of quality.

Now the dust of the 6N is settling which one player from any 6n side would you want to add to your team? for me its Peter O’Mahony. There are faster more skillful forwards out there although he is no donkey but what he has is a hard edge that he keeps just about inside th elaws. Never a backward step, never does his head go down. He never knows his team is beaten.

It’s funny because many Irish fans question how he gets on the team, he is a divisive figure along Provincial lines with most Leinster fans think Conan should start ahead of him and Dorris move to 6. I disagree but I would as a Munster fan :)

For me it would be Thibaud Flament, the area Ireland could do with some strengthening is 2nd row. Ryan & Beirne together is a little light weight and anyway you need at least 4 top quality locks for a tournament given number of injuries in this position.

Ollie Chessum’s “little” brother Lewis looks like a serious prospect. England beaten in the end but well in it until the cards started to come out. Green machine production line in good shape!

Thanks, England definitely turned up, gutsy performance with a limited game plan. Knocked Ireland out of their stride.

I know England can feel a little hard done by with some decisions but even before that their discipline was terrible.

It was always used to be zero wins, that was before people started to use points scored, tries etc to separate teams with the same number of points. I was at the Ireland V Wales game in 1990 when Wales got their first one. Game was a Wooden Spoon decider something we thought was quite funny but Wales were seriously unhappy about.

I think foreign born is a slightly arbitrary measure, lots of people work abroad and many return home to raise their kids, Ronan O’Gara was born in the US, Jamie Heaslip was born in Israel. I don’t think anyone is seriously arguing they are not Irish. The project players are different, Lowe, Stander etc. First thing Stander did after retiring was return to SA, I cheered him playing for Ireland but looking back I would have preferred someone with a stronger connection to the country, even if he was another bloody Leinster squad player.

Hogg and Russell out for Italy. KInghorns gonna have to play 10 and 15

Interesting, could Ben Healy get a game?

Really looking forward to weekend, three games that may not be 50:50 but you can at least make a strong case for either outcome. Scotland really worrying me but part of me thinks a narrow loss Sunday with a bonus point (or 2) and hopefully clinch the Championship at home to England might prepare us better for the world cup than a grand slam.

Anyone here skied Killington in Vermont, thinking of a trip at Easter, it’s about a 3 hr drive for me. I’ve had a couple of short breaks so far this winter in Vermont and Quebec and while skiing is fun its way off a top Alpine resort. Lots of man made snow, ice and wind. Piste map for Killington shows more promise though./