“I mean, come on! Stop this.”
Mike Tindall tried his best to temper his critique of Joe Schmidt’s Ireland, during an appearance on JOE UK’s House of Rugby, but he is certainly not convinced they are within touching distance of the All Blacks.
The former England international, and World Cup winner, praised Ireland for carrying out Schmidt’s game-plan to a tee but he feels they have some clear weaknesses. He commented:
“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…Â I always believe a team are going to beat them, which is weird because they don’t!”
The latest episode of Baz & Andrew’s House of Rugby provided a perfect opportunity for two Irish rugby stars to have their say [from 1:01:30 below] on Tindall’s hot take.
Andrew Trimble and Jenny Murphy were less than convinced with Tindall’s argument and his opinion of Ireland’s style of play. Trimble began:
“In summation, he says, ‘Okay, they beat the All Blacks. Okay, they win regular Six Nations championships and Grand Slams. Okay, they beat Australia in a three-match Test Series, but they’re not that good’.
“To me, that’s not really good enough. I think he just doesn’t want to like Ireland, but he concedes that we’re really good and we’re consistent performers. I think he rambles a little.”
“He did,” agreed show co-host Paddy McKenna. “He was trying, he kept on several occasions, to bring it back around and then… no, it’s just that blatant, blatant disregard for Ireland just could not be beaten.”
Murphy, an Ireland Women’s international, noted Tindall’s line about Ireland always managing to get results. “But, like, that’s what we want,” she said. “That’s what Ireland want.”
Trimble continued, “And Tindall said, ‘Sure, they make the most passes out of any team in international rugby but they’re not very good passes’… ‘or they’re one-out passes’. I mean, come on, stop this.”
To McKenna, he feels Tindall did not smooth the way into his critique by beginning with five words – ‘My issue with Ireland is’.
There is, of course, only one way to prove the former England star wrong and Ireland have a great chance to do so at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
