Rugby World Cup Thread.

[citizenerased]

Not that anyone probably cares here.

Ireland just knocked off Australia in Pool C, complete with Quade Cooper getting dumped into the turf several times and getting intercepted 2m out in the 78th minute to seal the Irish win.

Makes the All Blacks path easier as Australia will now face South Africa in the quarter finals, meaning 1 of our 2 biggest rivals for the trophy will be knocked out early.

 

[relaxedanderson]

It's looking like a Northern-Hemisphere/Southern Hemisphere split at the moment.

Assuming all the remaining pool matches go to the script then we could end up with every team except the runners up in Pool B thinking they have a genuine shot at the final.

IF New Zealand get to the final then they will win it because they have too much of a psychological stranglehold on the NH teams (although France may or may not have something to say about that, depending how they feel on the day). Although as history shows that is a very big IF.

If New Zealand don't make it then it is a very open tournament with every team capable of beating every other team on their day. Australia are always a contender, even when they aren't playing well; the Bokke, while not playing particularly well at the moment, seem capable of pulling results out; Ireland are probably on a downward trajectory from the Golden Days, have just pulled off their biggest World Cup result ever; England, while staid and stodgy, tend to excel at knockout rugby; Wales are still very lateral and prone to catastrophic brain-farts but are showing signs of possibly becoming a very good team; France are France and Scotland/Argentina* are not the walkovers they once were and are becoming a very solid if unspectacular unit/not quite the force they once were but still capable of pulling a big result out of nowhere*. (*Delete as appropriate)

Great tournament so far, I just wish the games weren't on at stupid o'clock in the morning. 4:30am on Sunday morning I had to get up for the Wales vs Samoa game. I reckon Australia and New Zealand should be banned from hosting any more World Cups until they move to a more sensible longitude. There's plenty of room in the Atlantic ocean.

 

[wr50l]

Australia can and will beat New Zealand if they do meet at any stage. NZ can't even win it away from home, no way they can take the pressure of breaking the curse on home soil.

I really wish Scotland could scrimmage, I think any team in the world could dominate our scrum. Ironically the "lynchpin" of our dire front 3 doesn't play on Sundays so he won't be seen for Scotland again unless we win the group.

I don't really care that much for the plight of the big teams this early because group stage form isn't that important to them as long as they qualify, it's just been great to see all the minnows improving across the board so far.

 

[relaxedanderson]

Australia can and will beat New Zealand if they do meet at any stage. NZ can't even win it away from home, no way they can take the pressure of breaking the curse on home soil.

I really wish Scotland could scrimmage, I think any team in the world could dominate our scrum. Ironically the "lynchpin" of our dire front 3 doesn't play on Sundays so he won't be seen for Scotland again unless we win the group.

I don't really care that much for the plight of the big teams this early because group stage form isn't that important to them as long as they qualify, it's just been great to see all the minnows improving across the board so far.

If Murray is still refusing to play on Sundays then I hope he is being docked 1/7th of his pay for the tournament and isn't paid at all in the week leading up to a Sunday game.

Having religious beliefs is fine but where in the Bible does it say "Thou shall not scrum down on a Sunday"? NFL players are about as God bothering as they come but you don't see them refusing to play on a Sunday.

Even Jonathan Edwards realised that there was no theological grounding for not competing on a Sunday.

 

[citizenerased]

Australia can and will beat New Zealand if they do meet at any stage. NZ can't even win it away from home, no way they can take the pressure of breaking the curse on home soil.

You mean the Australian team who hasn't won at Eden Park in 25 years and have lost to Ireland, Samoa, Scotland, England, Munster and us in the past 12 months and crack like an egg whenever someone hit's them in the mouth?

Be gone.

Everyone know's how to beat Australia now. The All Blacks wrote the blueprint in the Bledisoe Cup opener at Eden Park earlier this year and Ireland showed that any team with a decent set of forwards and solid backs can do it.

South Africa must be frothing at the mouth to have a crack at them in the quarter final now, if powderpuff Ireland can do that, those 8 Boers in the forward pack are going to go to town on them.

If Murray is still refusing to play on Sundays then I hope he is being docked 1/7th of his pay for the tournament and isn't paid at all in the week leading up to a Sunday game.

Having religious beliefs is fine but where in the Bible does it say "Thou shall not scrum down on a Sunday"? NFL players are about as God bothering as they come but you don't see them refusing to play on a Sunday.

Even Jonathan Edwards realised that there was no theological grounding for not competing on a Sunday.

Scotland should've just done what we did with Michael Jones in 1995 and just leave him at home. Not that it matters, either way Scotland were always just in a battle to hold off Georgia for the 3rd spot in the pool behind England and Argentina.

 

[wr50l]

Argentina is on the verge of losing four of its last five meetings with us so how about no?

New Zealand are gonna bottle it. CAN'T WAIT.

:wayne:

 

[relaxedanderson]

Argentina is on the verge of losing four of its last five meetings with us so how about no?

New Zealand are gonna bottle it. CAN'T WAIT.

:wayne:

Pool B is wide open. It wouldn't surprise me to see Scotland win both matches, lose both matches or have it end up with all three teams on Won 3 Lost 1 and come down to bonus points.

Anyway, there's only one thing I want to happen in this World Cup and that is to see Chris Ashton drop the ball while doing that fucking swan dive thing. Preferably in the 82nd minute when England are down by 4 points. It'd make my year that.

(and before anyone accuses me of being chippy or bitter, I shout "Don't do that you fucking TWAT!" at the screen when Shane Williams does it as well.)

 

[citizenerased]

French waving the white flag (shock!) already and sending out a weakened side.

It's all good, Israel Dagg will have fun putting them to the sword. Sonny Bill on the bench as well so all the French Ladies will have something to keep them amused.

 

[relaxedanderson]

French waving the white flag (shock!) already and sending out a weakened side.

It's all good, Israel Dagg will have fun putting them to the sword. Sonny Bill on the bench as well so all the French Ladies will have something to keep them amused.

Come on CE, all teams rest key players for games that are guaranteed wins. When you haven't lost to a team in the World Cup for nearly a quarter of a century then you're entitled to put out your seconds.

:smug:

 

[citizenerased]

Come on CE, all teams rest key players for games that are guaranteed wins. When you haven't lost to a team in the World Cup for nearly a quarter of a century then you're entitled to put out your seconds.

:smug:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Rugby_World_Cup#Third-place_play-off

:lesmug:

 

[relaxedanderson]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Rugby_World_Cup#Third-place_play-off

:lesmug:

That's not a proper match.

(At least that's what the Australians told us in 1987.)

 

[citizenerased]

Currently getting council permission to build a 4 story high Dagg statue in my backyard

 

[wr50l]

Groaning myself now.

 

[citizenerased]

Wayne Barnes screwing a team out of a must-win game in the World Cup with a pathetic performance?

Well I never...

 

[wr50l]

An agnostic prop, the correct centre selection, not playing that daft cunt Ruaridh Jackson and not letting Argentina pull off an impossible try would have helped us overcome that.

If someone said ten years ago that Argentina side are going to pull off a scalp sometime in a World Cup and one of the old guard are going to go out without a doubt everybody in the world would have said it would be Scotland.

FFFFFUUUUU

 

[relaxedanderson]

An agnostic prop, the correct centre selection, not playing that daft cunt Ruaridh Jackson and not letting Argentina pull off an impossible try would have helped us overcome that.

If someone said ten years ago that Argentina side are going to pull off a scalp sometime in a World Cup and one of the old guard are going to go out without a doubt everybody in the world would have said it would be Scotland.

FFFFFUUUUU

6 October 1991 - Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
Wales 13 - 16 Western Samoa

14 October 1999 - The Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Wales 31 - 38 Samoa

29 September 2007 - Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
Wales 34 - 38 Fiji

My heart bleeds wr50l!

 

[wr50l]

My heart bleeds wr50l!

At least you've won the Six Nations.

 

[relaxedanderson]

At least you've won the Six Nations.

You haven't (yet) failed to qualify for the quarter finals at a World Cup and if Gavin Hastings had his kicking boots on you could have had a final under your belt by now.

We would have struggled to win our only semi final even if we'd been allowed to arm our pack.

 

[relaxedanderson]

Carter out?

 

[wr50l]

Carter out?

Obviously would be a huge loss for the All Blacks. And yet they can bring in Colin Slade whose better than most of the other 10s in the tournament put together.