Off Topic RUGBY UNION WORLD CUP.

Just thought it might be a good idea to start a World Cup Thread. With so many lead up games going on, it's hard to keep track of all that's happening. So hopefully we can chip in and get a bit better idea of what's occurring. Samoa had a narrow loss to the Barbarians going down 27-24 at Olympic Stadium last Saturday, while Nottingham hosted Tonga Last Friday. That match saw the South Pacific team run away to a nice 14-69 win that included an 11 try romp. Jeez I hope they go well in the Cup, they can play some exciting rugby when they click.

 

Just a few more updates.

28 - 8. Newcastle Falcons 27 - 7 Georgia. Tyne.
29 - 8. Japan 40 - 0 Uruguay. In Tokyo.
29 - 8. Ireland 10 - 16. Wales. Dublin.
29 - 8. Scotland 48 - 7 Italy. Edinburgh.
29 - 8. Canada 19 - 12 Glasgow Warriors. Halifax.
29 - 8. United States 19 - 24 Harlequins. PPL Park. Chester.

 

Smashing idea Cyc. RWC is always great and I'm heading over to Costa Del Sol for the weekend of the quarter finals so hoping England will have made it. I'm a massive Union fan.

Sadly, I feel that England are in danger of going out in the group phase. The balance of the squad simply isnt there, and neither is the leadership in all key positions.

The back row is amongst the slowest in the tournament- our Captain is not a true 7, whilst Vunipola il hasn't had a good game at 8 yet and Wood hasn't really had a memorable game at 6. We have the best 7 in Europe (Steffan Armitage) on a beach in France due to our selection rules.

The pack do not clear our rucks fast enough at the breakdown and to add insult to injury we have Ben Youngs and Danny Care at scrum half who have this irritating habit of doing a two step hot shoe shuffle every time they pass the ball which is allowing oppoisition defences up to around 2-3m closer to us and suffocating any momentum. If that isn't fixed then all I can imagine is us playing 10 man rugby where we try to mall our way into position.

Our wingers are very exciting and Anthony Watson could be a star if only we provide the service to release him. The centre combinations look imbalanced. Henry Slade is potentially the long-term answer at 12, yet he played at 13 outside Sam Burgess against France at Twickenham. Sam is an outstanding rugby player with all of the skills but only one international cap and has played two positions in his one season of Union- inside centre and blindside flanker. His speed and tackling would make him a real potential star in the back row and I could imagine him hitting rucks quickly and stealing a lot of ball, but I suspect his best times in 4 years time in either position and that this tournament is a little early.

Brad Barritt is a very good tackler but has neither the once not guile to set the backs alight and his selection tells me England will play a narrow, direct, cumbersome tournament built on defence. Worryingly, we need the tight 5 to get on top physically yet France annihilated them for two weeks in a row, so there is work to be done there.


Wales have been hit and miss at world cups but last time out they should have been finalists but for a terrible red card decision and their win in Dublin this week suggests that they could be peaking nicely. That said, they are missing key leaders like Jon Davis through injury, who is an outstanding outside centre partner for Jamie Roberts, and have dropped 99 cap Lions star Mike Phillips and Lions hooker Hibbard, and I just wonder will that lack of leadership tilt a close game in England's favour? That's what I hope but Wales will severely test England if their pack holds up.

Australia look rejuvenated and are a dangerous World Cup contender. Israel Falau (spelling?) is special and will light up the tournament. The key to Aussie success will be the pack. England's game against them will rest on the battle up front and in the scrum.if the Aussie front row crumbles then England could cash in with penalties and 3 points, but if they don't they have a top back row and 7 in Hooper, and their backs are outstanding. They beat NZ in the build up to this so again, it will be nail biting and there is a real danger of England struggling, especially looking at the obvious imbalance of the squad.

I hope we pick Farrell at 10 because young Ford looked all at sea in France when he needed to show calm and logical thinking and we can't kick so badly against these teams as they will punish us. I think Slade or Burgess has to play 12, and then Joseph or Barritt has to play outside of them. Any other way around and it just won't work.

Cipriani and Easter are both massively unfortunate to not be in the squad because both had incredible impacts on Paris last week. Cipriani I has the pace, vision, Flair and versatility to change a game and give us options. Easter looked like a real leader of men last week with a clear head and literally dragged Enfland back into the game and gave them some direction. I'm hoping to find a clip of the post match team talk on the pitch in Paris last week where Easter speaks to the team and everyone suddenly stands up and listens. Leadership like that is invaluable in these tournaments and sadly it wasn't coming from Captain for 70 mins.

Hope we make it through ur head says we will do well to get past a QF.

 

Bloody hell Toppy - you make it sound like there is no point in us turning up! Sadly, I cannot disagree with any of your analysis.

I fancy the Aussies to make it 3 from 3 in World Cups in the British Isles.

 

Well done, Cyc, you are well-qualified to start this thread.

Yes, have to agree with Toppy, it's going to be very tough for England in their group. Have to say, there are one or two missing selection (not Burrell) who I won't miss, one in particular gives far too many penalties away (easy name, but can't spell it atm). England have some sort of chance if they can find some kind of discipline in the rucks, breakdowns, etc., that's the big problem IMHO. You give easy penalties to the likes of Australia and Wales, and it's good night sweet chariot..................

 

I don't follow to much Rugby, though I watch the big international games, and like Toppy I think the England team is lacking in quality. We couldn't even finish top in the 6 nations, so we'll have little chance against the big 3 Southern Hemisphere teams. At the prices I think South Africa at 13/2 are the most appealing bet, New Zealand are worthy favourites but 7/5 is very skinny.

The selection rule we have, where we won't select players playing overseas is a disgrace. Players improve when they go abroad and play against different opposition. It should be encouraged, not frowned upon.

The English football team hasn't benefited from the whole first 11 playing in the English top flight, so I don't see why it'll improve our Rugby team.

 

Rugby is my third sport of love. Not mad about the rugger bugger toff element that go to the matches so I just stick to watching it on the box.I might be wrong but if Ireland beat France and top the group we get Argentina in the quater final which is very winnable,can't see us getting further than that.

 

On my mobile at the mo so il correct all my typos later!

I hate being negative about England Rugby Dan but for me there just hasn't been that growth since we lost the first of our Grand Slam deciders against Ireland back in 2011 was it? In the true high intensity games the ruck speed gets found out and it ties in with the talk about discipline and giving penalties away. Struggled in Dublin in the big deciders and were taken apart in Cardiff in the big decider. That's where leadership and especially a top back row and number 10 really come to the fore because it's about decision making, kicking accurately to play the game in the right areas and pin back opposition, and of course winning or keeping possession.

I always get the impression with Chris Robshaw that he talks a good talk but doesn't really understand how to implement it on the field. When was the last memorable carry he made it the last crucial steal?

I always thought we would make subtle refinements in those areas on the back of our defeats in those games but we are stil no nearer to a successful midfield combination and still we play the same back row.

I just can't see the spark at the moment- but I hope I am wrong.

Anyone else gutted that Cipriani misses out? What an option to have on the bench surely?

 

Shergy, I fully agree, not playing overseas players is dumb, I didn't know that was policy there. We've only just begun letting our overseas lot play. There has been a stink here for years over the stupidity of it all.

 

I have to admit that im with you on this Toppy... Ford to me just hasn't got the little bit extra that you need sometimes to unlock a tight defence... I also agree with most of what you put up earlier but maybe i'm thinking we will go a little further than your thinking. We shall see, and I for one cant wait for it to start.

Though my playing days are well and truly behind me now, these lads are just huge compared to some of the grippers I used to face in the front row - (I was a tight-head prop...) and they must be like tackling stone the way they are built... I do think that we can surprise a few but in truth I don't see us troubling the top 4 and a semi-final appearance would be the furthest we could manage. But once it's down to that stage of the comp then who knows...

I like the Aussies, and they could possibly win it, whisper that one though, and NZ are going to be there again, but I think SA could do it this time.

I'm going for a SA to beat NZ in the semi final, England losing to SA in the q's, with a SA v Aus final, the Springboks coming out on top by 9 points in the final...

 

Is there a better Anthem than the Welsh? And the passion that goes with it is a beautiful thing. Fill the screen, turn up the volume and enjoy.

 

Only the French anthem "La Marsellaise", Cyc, learnt it word for word at school in England, and it always has me reaching for my sword. It is with great sadness that my country's national anthem barely has me reaching for my water pistol. Noble, I guess, but very uninspiring. However, the Welsh do teach the French how to sing though, and how! Was told a true story once of an old Welsh lady who had lived most of her life in the United States, and decided that, before she died, she would pay a last visit to her childhood home in the Welsh valleys somewhere. The locals in the village where she was born all turned out at the train station to meet her, and, you guessed it, sung the Welsh anthem. It was almost too much for the good lady.

 

Ours is awful. Some time ago, I posted this version by a comedian called Adam Hills, it's styled after a JImmy Barnes song. First thing tommorra, I'm on the blower to the PM. With a bit luck this is what we'll get by the time Rio rolls around.

 

Wow!

 

England have named their squad for the final warm up versus Ireland and I think that is pretty representative of their final XV thoughts.

Worryingly, Brad Barritt plays at inside centre, so I cannot see much quick ball coming out wide but perhaps we can get over the gain line- something missing in our warm ups so far.

 

It will be interesting to see how Parling and Wood go. I don't know how the England line outs are going, but in comps such as the WC, turnovers are a killer. Oz has had some problems in this area for years, but we're better than we used to be. Stealing balls at the breakdown is vital too. Is this team to play on the weekend, close to being the best side England can put on the park?

 

A friend of mine is a Rugby Union nut but has been surprisingly quiet in the run up to the World Cup. Perhaps he has sold all of his possessions – including his mobile phone – in order to fund a rip-off ticket for Twickenham. Or perhaps he is guzzling his way through 10,000 litres of fizzy liquid and 5,000 horse burgers for a 50,000 to 1 chance of winning a ticket with one of the sponsors.

Apple have clearly missed a trick here – they could have sponsored the hosts and renamed them iEngland – not really worth the money and guaranteed to disappoint eventually; soon to be superseded by iEngland 2.

Why is this tournament being padded out with so many no-hopers? Is there that much to be made out of TV rights in Namibia getting hammered by New Zealand or Romania getting thrashed by Ireland?

The bookies have priced England RU just like they would price England at football or cricket, factoring in the mug patriotic support that means the odds do not have to reflect reality.

If England fail at the Group stage they would attain the same future status as the football and cricket teams obtained at their World Cups, with failure becoming the expected norm. If they reach the knock-out stages, when the competition actually begins, they will surely lose on penalties (albeit the three-point kind) as teams will look to kick any time that they are in the opponents’ half and presented with the opportunity. Now why do those of us that prefer fast-paced, high-scoring League find cauliflower-eared Toffs’ Union so dull?

 

Yep, nothing like 90 minutes of furious football for a nil all result.

 

And the rugby league Challenge cup final was a thrill a minute as well - no mismatches with so called super league teams....

 

True, the Challenge Cup semi-final with Leeds against St Helens was effectively the final; and the only interesting thing about the actual final was watching a former Hull FC player run in five tries against the other Hull team.

I would like to think that the remaining games for the Super League campaign will be more competitive whereas I already know that half the Group stage games in the World Cup are not worth watching.