The Rugby Union Thread

[RadioactiveWaste]

SA's defence has completely snuffed out scotalnd's attacks - against a lesser defence this might have been a game, but hey ho, the rest of the group are good, but not this good.

Hopefully this result doesn't knock the spirit at all.

 

[Comrade 86]

6 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

SA's defence has completely snuffed out scotalnd's attacks - against a lesser defence this might have been a game, but hey ho, the rest of the group are good, but not this good.

Hopefully this result doesn't knock the spirit at all.

 

Having spent some years there, I came to realise that in rugby terms, the Saffa mentality is totally different to most other nations. They absolutely love the grind and the defensive side of the game. In fact, that's what they pride themselves on, that and the scrum. That said, if Darcy Graham does not have a complete meltdown with two flyers outside him, the score might better reflect the game.

Saffas worthy winners, but 3 points a very meagre return for the effort from the Scots. They'll need to bring their A-game for the Ireland match which is now an absolutely huge tie, but I fancy a less lopsided game there if this has not taken too much out of the Scots who have an excellent 1st 15, but perhaps not the strength in depth of the very top sides.

[CWC1983]

1 minute ago, Comrade 86 said:

 

Saffas worthy winners, but 3 points a very meagre return for the effort from the Scots. They'll need to bring their A-game for the Ireland match which is now an absolutely huge tie, but I fancy a less lopsided game there if this has not taken too much out of the Scots who have an excellent 1st 15, but perhaps not the strength in depth of the very top sides.

Agree, the SA defence was tremendous. 

Only crumb of comfort for Scotland is that SA play Ireland the week before the Scotland game and they may knock seven bells out of each other.....

 

[Comrade 86]

36 minutes ago, CWC1983 said:

Only crumb of comfort for Scotland is that SA play Ireland the week before the Scotland game and they may knock seven bells out of each other.....

I think that's a foregone conclusion 😂

[davenportram]

21 hours ago, Comrade 86 said:

Immense tonight wasn't he. Not seen a defensive set like this from England since the semifinal in 2019 when the Kiwis ran into walls all night, I was at the Fiji game and we are absolutely unrecognisable. I'm not complaining!

Argentina were poor, but even so, this was some performance.

We made them poor. They didn’t switch on to Fords drop goals early enough.

 

I reckon if Ford can shift it to centre quickly then there will be space and time out wide. Most teams now will flood the 9/10 area at pace to stop the drop goal.
Even playing poorly in the backs the forwards will create platforms for drop goals. I expect more penalties for off side too as defences try to get in Fords face.

[RadioactiveWaste]

Fiji v wales is fun.

Such a contrast to the SA/Scotland game.

 

[Comrade 86]

1 hour ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Fiji v wales is fun.

Such a contrast to the SA/Scotland game.

 

I'd be absolutely raging if I was Fijian. I think they've been really hard done by there. Welsh allowed to kill the momentum time and time again. You want the home nations to do well, but that one stank the house out. Two really poor refereeing performances today, sadly.

[Comrade 86]

Some thoughts on the home nations going into round 2 of the pools games:

Wales are first up and will have little problem disposing of Portugal. I didn't like some of what I saw from Wales on Sunday as us egg-chase fans are quite precious about 'the spirit of the game', even if that is a bit old-fashioned. That said, Gatts is slowly bonding them into a cohesive unit again and we all know the flare that they can bring when on-song. They were lucky to get past Fiji, but I think they made some serious errors that day and let's not forget, they crossed the whitewash 4 times themselves. I'm pretty sure Wales can certainly trouble any side in their half of the draw if the momentum continues to grow.

Ireland then take on Tonga and while I expect a comfortable win for the Irish, it may not be terribly comfortable in the contact areas with Tonga likely looking to collapse a few rib cages! It's a dangerous situation when you're playing a game mindful of avoiding injury and I do think the Irish will be hoping they can manage the game relatively unscathed, with bigger challenges to follow. Sexton will definitely be a marked man, but in fairness, he always is.

WIth Scotland not playing until the following week, England are last up versus Japan, who looked a tad undercooked against Chile. It's difficult to know which England will turn up but if they put in the defensive sets they did against Argentina, they may simply bludgeon a much smaller Japan side into submission. While we have at least seen some defensive vigour from the lads, we've yet to see anything in attack and the jury remains out despite the heroics of the weekend. I'd like, for once, to see us putting the ball wide and giving the likes of Arundell time and space to run. That said, Marchant / Lawrence on the angle might work just as well against a smallish Japanese midfield. Of the 9's available to start, Mitchell, pretty please! 

[Comrade 86]

I'm hiding in here tonight 🤣

[Comrade 86]

Urgh. Another red card inbound. After the 4/5 that got missed on the weekend, they've got to give this one now, I suspect.

EDIT: Phew. Common sense prevails and it's still 15 vs 15. Uruguay playing out of their skins. Disallowed try but they are flying 🙂

Edited September 14, 2023 by Comrade 86

[EtoileSportiveDeDerby]

8 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Urgh. Another red card inbound. After the 4/5 that got missed on the weekend, they've got to give this one now, I suspect.

EDIT: Phew. Common sense prevails and it's still 15 vs 15. Uruguay playing out of their skins. Disallowed try but they are flying 🙂

We (France) need a strong second half. Uruguay are up for it. TMO still works a lot better than VAR. The players reaction to referees decision is great to watch, footballers watch and learn.

[Comrade 86]

1 minute ago, EtoileSportiveDeDerby said:

We (France) need a strong second half. Uruguay are up for it. TMO still works a lot better than VAR. The players reaction to referees decision is great to watch, footballers watch and learn.

France yet to get out of third gear. Not sure about the midfield pairing to be honest, but Dupont and Ntamack are kinda hard acts to follow.

I'm expecting the French to stretch their legs a little in the 2nd 40, but fair play to Uruguay, they've deffo come to play and the contest at the breakdown has been interesting to say the least.

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

Sport gets more ridiculous as the years progress.  How can you get full caps and then play for someone else.  I blame the England cricket team in the 80's and early 90's  for starting this drivel.  It's become a monster.

Toutai Kefu’s starting team features no fewer than four former All Blacks in Malakai Fekitoa, Charles Piutau, Vaea Fifita and Augustine Pulu, with Tonga benefitting from the changes to World Rugby eligibility rules that now allow capped players to switch their international allegiances after a three-year absence.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Gee SCREAMER !!

[Comrade 86]

7 hours ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

Sport gets more ridiculous as the years progress.  How can you get full caps and then play for someone else.  I blame the England cricket team in the 80's and early 90's  for starting this drivel.  It's become a monster.

Toutai Kefu’s starting team features no fewer than four former All Blacks in Malakai Fekitoa, Charles Piutau, Vaea Fifita and Augustine Pulu, with Tonga benefitting from the changes to World Rugby eligibility rules that now allow capped players to switch their international allegiances after a three-year absence.

Less than a dozen players out of the 660 at the World Cup is not that many, especially when the majority are reverting to countries that are their place of birth. It's mostly South Sea Islanders who were poached by NZ and Oz in the first place.

https://www.planetrugby.com/news/every-player-who-has-changed-nationalities-for-the-rugby-world-cup

[Ram-Alf]

It's England init Bro

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/66826046

Edited September 16, 2023 by The Last Post

[oomarkwright]

This Aussie Fiji game is a cracker. Go Fiji! 

[RadioactiveWaste]

C'mon Fiji!

[Ram-Alf]

And breath 

[oomarkwright]

As good as we were last week, this week we are dreadful. So many errors. 

[ram59]

3 minutes ago, oomarkwright said:

As good as we were last week, this week we are dreadful. So many errors. 

I blame Warne.🙄