RWC 2019

[irocfan]

old Eddie made me laugh today as well. Told about Gat's retort about England's semi-final performance his response was:

“Well, guys, can you just send my best wishes to Warren to make sure he enjoys the third and fourth place play-off,” England coach Jones told reporters when Gatland’s comments were put to him on Monday.

[irocfan]

768 said:

Leins said:

Where’s Gavin Henson these days?

Struggling to sink Martin Ofiah's subs.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-ne...

[irocfan]

Jasey_ said:

McGee_22 said:

paua said:

NZ seems to be rather better adjusted to the realisation that we were fairly & soundly beaten than the victors to the realisation that they actually won.

Almost entirely but not quite; I watched one TV programme where one of the pundits was an female All Black (Black Fern?) and she was pushing the point that Slades tackle was definitely a yellow, possibly a red card and the match hinged on that point...

The ex-All Black captain sat next to her didn't disagree or agree on that point but did say the All Blacks didn't get some of the other marginal refs decisions...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/rugby-world-cup/rwc-2019-japan/116954125/all-blacks-v-england-five-moments-that-cost-new-zealand-the-world-cup-semifinal

Summary from that site "From the opening whistle to the last, this was an All Blacks effort littered with errors as the defending champions crashed out of the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

The 19-7 result wasn't just a loss, it was an embarrassment at times and the All Blacks were lucky to restrict it to that, such was their lack of performance and composure".

No mention of being completely outplayed by a much better team .

you want bile/vitriolic/funny go to Rugby365 and Planetrugby and see some of the comments on there (in fairness there are a lot of sensible comments too)

[irocfan]

prand said:

768 said:

There's a story doing the rounds on Tom Curry's twin being allowed to miss a Sale game against Bristol to fly out and watch the final. The bit I particularly liked about it is they have a family rule that means it's Tom who has to pay for the ticket!

Yes - was a twitter thread from Sale Sharks about it, if they had a certain number of retweets they'd let him go. I believe a lot of Bristol fans (who Sale are playing this weekend) were doing the retweeting!

Tom goes off for an HIA Ben comes on in his place

[irocfan]

Garces is the ref for the final.

[irocfan]

prand said:

There's a few threads on Twitter talking suggesting the introduction of Plate & Shield comps for the World Cup. it's pretty common in rugby, and you see this a lot in Sevens and other Rugby knockout competitions to ensure teams who've travelled miles to the competition at least get a good chance at playing more than just a few group games.

I'd love to have the RWC where you don't focus all the games around the weekend, especially during the final stages when nothing happens during the intervening week.

I'd rather be watching a plate final where Georgia are taking on Uruguay for plate honours and give us a great show than a valueless 3rd place game.

t'would be a great idea and generate a whole lot of extra interest I think.

[irocfan]

Coolbanana said:

I agree, while the Boks looked the stronger team on the day, Wales were always within grasp of a victory, no different to their game against France which they did convert to a win.

England looked good against the AB's, no question, but not as out of sight as some are claiming - they had to fight for the full 80 minutes - and the New Zealanders were close enough points-wise to have come back.

SA earned a draw against the AB's in New Zealand earlier this year and play a very different way, so it is not a given that England will beat them. England's World Cup has been great, no doubt, and they have definitely earned favourite status - as such, one could suggest it is theirs to lose now since a repeat of the Semi-Final performance would, one might think, be enough. However, the Boks have won this thing twice, against England once before, they are hugely strong and are very adept at grinding out results. Some think England only have to pitch up now and maybe they will be proven correct but I have my suspicions that the Boks are not going to be pushovers... .

there is absolutely no way the Yarpies will be a push-over, in fact I think that this will be our toughest match. I hope England will win but it'll be squeaky bum time

[irocfan]

Taylor James said:

I am more worried about the red card scenario than anything else.

the biggest concern I have with Sincler - I suspect the Saffas will be on a mission to goad him (and why not?). I'll also admit that Fazlet is, still, a bit of a concern

[irocfan]

interestingly enough Stuff.NZ has the final as being 71:29 in favour of us winning - the NZ game is only 69:31 in favour of NZ

[irocfan]

ok then all - combined best of Saffa/England team.... who'd be in/out?

[irocfan]

biggbn said:

Boks always my team 2, the cultural changes the country and team have seen is incredible although my boks support does go back to bad old days. I just like their old school physical approach to the game. Go boks. Will however be delighted if England win it so bit of a win win for me

i
I know what you mean. One of my all time favourite players s from that SA era - Dannie Gerber

[irocfan]

768 said:

TheGreatSoprendo said:

Sn1ckers said:

I think “overwhelmingly” may be a bit of a stretch though when I go through the teams I think I’d only choose 1 SA player over their England counterpart ( Faf). I’d even take Daly at FB over Le Roux given the latters poor form so far though I would like him to be better with the high ball given what he’s likely to face on Saturday.

A more balanced approach to a combined team might look more like:

15. Watson
14. Kolbe
13. Tuilagi
12. De Allende
11. May
10. Ford/Farrell
9. De Klerk
8. Vermuelen
7. Du Toit
6. Curry
5. De Jager
4. Itoje
3. Sinckler
2. Mbonambi/Marx
1. Vunipola

With apologies if I've spelt any names wrong!

You spelt Underhill wrong.

[irocfan]

BBC have a little fun up - 2003vs2013: who makes the joint team?

Feel free to rip mine to bits...

https://ranked-list-images.files.bbci.co.uk/combin...

Edited by irocfan on Thursday 31st October 17:40

[irocfan]

Sn1ckers said:

irocfan said:

BBC have a little fun up - 2003vs2013: who makes the joint team?

Feel free to rip mine to bits...

https://ranked-list-images.files.bbci.co.uk/combin...

Edited by irocfan on Thursday 31st October 17:40

Lots of 50:50’s but I’d definitely have George over Thompson who, if my memory serves, had lots of problems with his arrows (it was even discussed in the latest BBC Rugby Podcast) and wasn’t anywhere near as mobile. Also, I really like Greenwood but I’d rather have Farrell (Greenwood often says himself he only performed at his best with Cohen on the wing..).

I know, I know it's bloody hard though. Hooker was a real issue for me - I think that I am just a fan of Thompson's physicality (not that JG is a lightweight). I was really unsure about Greenwood vs Farrell but I figured I'd prefer JW to either of 2019's #10s and if I'm going Wilko I've got to go WG outside...

[irocfan]

BoRED S2upid said:

As for the best team in the world well we all know who will win tomorrow I expect by a huge margin considering our game against SA they really aren’t that good.

you're more confident than I - I just hope it's not misplaced

[irocfan]

oh bks

Hope that Sincler is ok

[irocfan]

it's a great start from the yarpies - squeaky bum time

[irocfan]

JonChalk said:

Help! I need a larger sofa and emergency Lego delivery!

I think I need to be in DFS at the moment!! fk me I'm having the jitters

[irocfan]

well done Jonny

[irocfan]

Lood De J looks to be in trouble