– House of Rugby, Together with GUINNESS –
“I feel really bad when I talk about Ireland because I never give them the credit they probably deserve.”
Mike Tindall helped England to a World Cup win back in 2003 but he does not feel Ireland will follow them, next year, as northern hemisphere champions.
Tindall joined host Alex Payne and Northampton and England back-row James Haskell on House of Rugby – JOE’s rugby show. Tindall made his comments on Ireland from 47:00 below:
During a preview of the November internationals, with host Payne and Haskell, Tindall expressed his doubts about Ireland as serious contenders at next year’s World Cup.
“They’re not over-inflated because they win those games, but my issue with Ireland is that I’m not sure if they will ever do well at a World Cup with the rugby they play, currently.
“If you go back to the Six Nations, they could have lost three of their games. I know they didn’t but Scotland should have, in my book, beaten them with the three tries they absolutely butchered on two-on-ones.
“Johnny Sexton [drop goal] in France, and if that [Welsh] pass goes a different way when Stockdale makes a read and it goes over the top [of him]. We’ve talked about Stockdale making a read and defenders doing what they are doing.
“I thought the way that teams got around them… I actually thought Australia would go really well against them because of how they defend and how easily the Six Nations team got around them, on the outside.
“And I know they make the most passes out of every team, probably, in world rugby but they are all one-out runners and how many times do the forwards score compared to the backs? Like Stockdale, how many of their backs’ scores intercepts?”
Tindall conceded that he was ‘doing Ireland down’ before saying they were “outstanding” with their rigid game-plan. “The way they break down teams in terms of where they are going to attack… and stick to their game-plan on match-day gets them those results,” he continued.
“I always believe a team are going to beat them, which is weird because they don’t!
“They are just great at getting results. Now, do they always play out of their skin? No, but they get the job done.”
Great at getting results even when they are not playing well. Sounds like a decent side to put together a cup run, but many fans have thought this in the past.
Ireland have never gone beyond the last eight of the World Cup. That being said, they look well set for a decent go of it in 2019.
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Episode three is an Autumn internationals special, with Alex Payne joined by James Haskell and Mike Tindall to talk England’s upcoming challenges, WhatsApp groups, rugby nicknames and fake tans.
