General rugby thread

[Welshbeef]

Kermit power said:

Maybe part of the explanation for Wales' perennial underperformance at World Cups is their willingness to celebrate like they've won A World Cup whenever they beat England?

Could it be that to win a World Cup, Wales will need England to be the other finalists?

Maybe -I personally don’t think you can beat a Wal v Eng game. So much history so much friendly passion. The joking “old enemy”
The fact Wales are a tiny nation yet punch so far above their weight and funding that the might of England and let’s be honest here they in the NH are by far the best team (or should be so beating them with an “inferior” side means so much)

Wales beating NZ is mythical 3 times ever in so many attempts. It would be pure chance luck to beat them - trying is fun

[Jasey_]

If Wales get to the final and face the ABs when they are doing the haka the Welsh team should be told to imagine they are England doing a Morris dance. Could get them over the line .

[Welshbeef]

Jasey_ said:

If Wales get to the final and face the ABs when they are doing the haka the Welsh team should be told to imagine they are England doing a Morris dance. Could get them over the line .

A shame that in a Wal v NZ game they cannot do a Haka on numpty dumpty sat on a wall

Or

[The Mad Monk]

Welshbeef said:

Managed to catch the game in a few Tenby pubs - oh the singing afterwards.

Was with the family so no beer but what an atmosphere

Were you staying at The Imperial?

[768]

As another 6'5 man of solid muscle, Itoje continues to impress me. I'd have put him higher than a 7/10. Superb line speed, the strength to drive AWJ back, massive tackles even finding backs in space - including the man of the match. He reads the game so well though, he's so often in the right place to prevent a turnover or offer support - and that intercept of course.

What was Biggar doing to him though?

[Welshbeef]

Is the best option for tight 5 for all to be greater than 20 stone OR target 18stone max average?

Beefing the mauls is one thing but then you lose agility in open play.

20+ stone men full tilt into one another are going to have big injuries and likelihood of decreased playing careers all round.

I wonder if a cap of 18 stone for all players bar front row and then max 20.

[XCP]

How that is not a high tackle by Biggar I have no idea. He's jumping into the tackle so he can take him high!

[phil_cardiff]

Kermit power said:

Welshbeef said:

Managed to catch the game in a few Tenby pubs - oh the singing afterwards.

Was with the family so no beer but what an atmosphere

Maybe part of the explanation for Wales' perennial underperformance at World Cups is their willingness to celebrate like they've won A World Cup whenever they beat England?

Could it be that to win a World Cup, Wales will need England to be the other finalists?

Perennial underperformance? I'd say we're about even in achievement v expectation.

I'd fancy us to make the last 4 this time if we had a full team but our lack of depth will kill us.

Also, I personally prefer it when we beat Ireland rather than England. Beating both is better of course.

[Evanivitch]

Kermit power said:

Maybe part of the explanation for Wales' perennial underperformance at World Cups is their willingness to celebrate like they've won A World Cup whenever they beat England?

Could it be that to win a World Cup, Wales will need England to be the other finalists?

Or could be that Wales have always struggled with strength in depth during intensive World Cup campaigns.

[Welshbeef]

Evanivitch said:

Or could be that Wales have always struggled with strength in depth during intensive World Cup campaigns.

So do you address this competitive advantage England has over Wales by restricting the number of test players in any new year to a selected group of 35?

[basherX]

Clearly it’s true that England has a larger top tier of players to pick from and that gives an advantage in terms of depth, but I sometimes wonder if it also acts as a disadvantage.

Successive England coaches have found it very difficult to identify a good team and then stick with it in order to build familiarity and consistency of approach. Too much tinkering and also disruptive dalliances with the supposedly greener grass in League and/or recent recruits from overseas.

It may be the case that once you hit a certain critical mass of professional players the marginal gains from increasing that pool size diminish (and may actually reverse slightly) and, for example, the strength and structure of the domestic competition (which affects injury rates among other factors), academy structure, etc all start to have a bigger bearing on national competitiveness.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

phil_cardiff said:

Kermit power said:

Welshbeef said:

Managed to catch the game in a few Tenby pubs - oh the singing afterwards.

Was with the family so no beer but what an atmosphere

Maybe part of the explanation for Wales' perennial underperformance at World Cups is their willingness to celebrate like they've won A World Cup whenever they beat England?

Could it be that to win a World Cup, Wales will need England to be the other finalists?

Perennial underperformance? I'd say we're about even in achievement v expectation.

Agreed. I'd also add that a group of Welsh rugby fans singing in the pub after a game most certainly doesn't constitute "celebrating like they've won A World Cup", it's just what groups of welsh rugby fans tend to do in pubs, win lose or draw, irrespective of the opposition. And long may it continue because it's bloody fantastic!

[Kermit power]

TheGreatSoprendo said:

phil_cardiff said:

Kermit power said:

Welshbeef said:

Managed to catch the game in a few Tenby pubs - oh the singing afterwards.

Was with the family so no beer but what an atmosphere

Maybe part of the explanation for Wales' perennial underperformance at World Cups is their willingness to celebrate like they've won A World Cup whenever they beat England?

Could it be that to win a World Cup, Wales will need England to be the other finalists?

Perennial underperformance? I'd say we're about even in achievement v expectation.

Agreed. I'd also add that a group of Welsh rugby fans singing in the pub after a game most certainly doesn't constitute "celebrating like they've won A World Cup", it's just what groups of welsh rugby fans tend to do in pubs, win lose or draw, irrespective of the opposition. And long may it continue because it's bloody fantastic!

Maybe, but if the first RWC had been in 1977 instead of 1987, would you have bet against the Welsh?

[phil_cardiff]

Kermit power said:

TheGreatSoprendo said:

phil_cardiff said:

Kermit power said:

Welshbeef said:

Managed to catch the game in a few Tenby pubs - oh the singing afterwards.

Was with the family so no beer but what an atmosphere

Maybe part of the explanation for Wales' perennial underperformance at World Cups is their willingness to celebrate like they've won A World Cup whenever they beat England?

Could it be that to win a World Cup, Wales will need England to be the other finalists?

Perennial underperformance? I'd say we're about even in achievement v expectation.

Agreed. I'd also add that a group of Welsh rugby fans singing in the pub after a game most certainly doesn't constitute "celebrating like they've won A World Cup", it's just what groups of welsh rugby fans tend to do in pubs, win lose or draw, irrespective of the opposition. And long may it continue because it's bloody fantastic!

Maybe, but if the first RWC had been in 1977 instead of 1987, would you have bet against the Welsh?

Probably, given the 70s lot couldn't beat NZ. Tests against them were few and far between in those days though.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

Kermit power said:

Maybe, but if the first RWC had been in 1977 instead of 1987, would you have bet against the Welsh?

Absolutely not and we didn't do too badly in the '87 one to be fair (we'll gloss over the semi final v NZ )

And, quite frankly, I'm still ruing the 2 easily-kickable missed kicks late in the 2011 semi final that would have seen us into the final, despite playing most of the game with 14 men. Damn you James Hook!

[The Moose]

I just read about Archie Bruce dying in his hotel room a couple of days ago straight after his debut.

Desperately sad of course. Wasn’t there another player who died in almost exactly the same circumstances (after debut)?

Could it be the step up in harder hits and a generally more physical game from what he was used to?

[JulianPH]

I have to applaud the England fans here for highlighting the under performance of Wales!

Is this the same Wales that kicked England out of the last World Cup, won the Six Nations, did so with a grand slam (beating everyone, not just England), recently won their last 14 international matches in a row - and are now the number 1 ranking team in the world...?

Just asking!

[Jasey_]

JulianPH said:

I have to applaud the England fans here for highlighting the under performance of Wales!

Is this the same Wales that kicked England out of the last World Cup, won the Six Nations, did so with a grand slam (beating everyone, not just England), recently won their last 14 international matches in a row - and are now the number 1 ranking team in the world...?

Just asking!

We just can't understand it when you beat us then bottle the next game.

Wales would be quite a good side were it not for the chippy shoulders about their Lords & Masters .

[the tribester]

Wales are certainly punching above their weight considering their population and number of top teir clubs.

Wales haven't faced New Zealand in their current winning streak though. In fact, Wales's consecutive loses against the All Blacks is a larger number of games than that current winning streak.

Beat the All Blacks and they can consider themselves number one.

I hope they do.

[phil_cardiff]

We're not the number 1 side in the world. We're 3rd at best, 7th at worst.