Schmidt's incredulous claim: Ireland's confidence not dented by record 42-point hammering

I have held off from Pollockmania for a while (I saw him in Cardiff but that was a free ride) but this was top rugby in a hostile environment. He may be Gazza-like daft as a brush and the biggest cock of the walk since Campese, yes and more, but he bursts with mad energy and Bothamesque self-belief. He empties the bars to watch him, as they say. The Aussies will love to hate him!

Ireland were better than you in the RWC. We know that. NZ were better than you (1 point match and NZ had 14, they were better. End of story).

So why don’t you run along and boast somewhere else. By the way before attacking other peoples: please remember your nations despicable rugby and national history. By now!

Etzebeth withdrew it after the first test in Pretoria in November. Before that he had admitted that the 12-13 players he had claimed said it was also BS. It was two, maybe one.

What Etzebeth said at the time was hearsay not confiemd by anyone but himself. The only statement on the public record is Etzebeth saying SA would see Ireland in the final if Ireland were good enough. That was surely insulting to Scotland, France, England etc no? or doesn’t that count?

But carry on looking for red herrings to ‘prove’ Irish arrogance.

Leinster did not do enough to ensure ball security. All three attacking opportunities (disallowed try, midfield crash ball, and final tap penalty) should have resulted in a clean ruck recycle but all ended up with losing the ball.

The opponents did some naughty things in those tackles/rucks, and the ref made some bad calls, but that’s no excuse. Leinster should have protected the ball better, should have resourced those rucks better, and should have managed the recycle better.

The last penalty move was really bad, and was really the story of the game. Firstly, it was blatantly obvious to read what they were doing, even without it being a repeat of the earlier tap fake. If you look at the defenders they were fully lined up expected that crash ball on the 15m line, got that read reinforced when the Leinster forwards moved wider from the spot, and the defense were ready with a gang tackle. The ball carrier literally had no options other than to take the tackle, and what it looked like was a planned recycle with a pass to RG Snyman off 9, followed bby a Snyman offload and a famous try by a midfielder. But instead of setting the ruck properly the ball carrier face planted.

How does that happen? You have all of the initiative. It’s 7 forwards against 8. You know where and how you are going to hit the defense. You have your support players right in behind you. The Saints played the ball illegally in the ruck (and got away with it), but they should never have had the chance to do so.

This was like match point in a tennis final, with Leinster to serve for the game. They fluffed it.