The Rugby Union Thread

[SSD]

Headed the ball better than Collins 😉

[StockholmRam]

On 07/09/2023 at 23:30, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

South Africa will bludgeon their way to the final.  Ireland will totally dominate Wales at some point in the tournament and go out to a horrendous decision that will be reviewed after the event.  

As certain as a Derby 0-0 draw with Wigan every  Boxing day.

 

Against England in the semi final… Joe Marler header wins the match. 

[Comrade 86]

Another week and another round of matches and one or two real doozies to savour. Tonight we see France return and Galthie has picked a pretty formidable squad. Great news for the French and any neutrals hoping to see some running rugby, a horror story for Namibia. I can see France winning this by 60+. Jonathan Danty and Cyril Baille return from injury, Dupont returns after a rest week to partner Jalibert in the halfbacks and the metronomic Ramos returns at 15. Does he ever miss? 

Tomorrow we have Argentina, desperate for a result after a humbling at the hands of 14 man England. Samoa could sneak into the next stage with a win though, but I expect Argentina to put up a better show and keep their hopes alive. That said, Samoa have a bonus point win under their belts and will fly at the Argies from the off. This might not be pretty and won't be for the faint-hearted, but it could be a compelling watch.

On Saturday I'm expecting a routine win for England against Chile, but hoping to see a little more of the urgency and ambition we saw in the last 25 minutes against Japan, when we actually looked ok. For the love of god though Borthwick, play Arundell! If he's not worth a start against this lot, then why bloomin bring him? And if we do play him, let's try to get the ball in his hands before the 60th minute, pretty please! Seriously, Jonny May is not and never has been an international standard rugby player. His defence is suspect, he's horrible under the high ball and he has concrete hands. Likewise, Elliot Daly lacks the pace these days to dust any winger with pace and Max Malins surely needs looking at, given Cadan Murley's inexplicable omission from the squad. Whatever the line up, nothing less than a convincing win will be acceptable against the lowest ranked team in the tournament. Attack, attack, attack!!!

Saturday evening sees two titans go to war as the Irish take on the fearsome South Africans in a World Champs meet world #1 ranked crunch match. The starting line ups are as you'd expect and the Bokke go with a 7/1 bench split so we know exactly what's coming. This will be brutal and attritional stuff and whilst either team could win, my fancy is the Saffas by 1-7 points. I just think they'll suffocate Ireland, though I'll be screaming for an Irish win all the same.

Sunday sees a two decent match ups; Scotland take on a muscular Tongan team in a match of contrasting styles and I'd love to see them put a marker down with a strong performance. Finn Russell has been a little quiet thus far, likewise Duane Vermeulen but I can see that changing on Sunday and again I'll be cheering for a home nation win. I hope I don't jinx them, but I'm hoping for a statement performance from the Scots.

The second leg of the sunday double header sees Wales take on Australia with everything on the line; the Wallabies have copped for some awful flak back home after an insipid performance against an admittedly talented Fijian side and despite sitting pretty currently, I don't find Wales convincing at all, even with Gats coaxing some improvement from a beleaguered Welsh outfit. With neither outfit playing the way they can, it's very hard to call as both teams are capable on their day and both teams have strike runners who can turn a game in the blink of an eye. I'd like to see the Welsh win and with attacking threats like North, Adams and Rees-Zammit, who is to say they won't, but I fancy Australia to edge a tight game in the toughest pool to call. Wales have secured the two bonus point wins already though and with Fiji still in the mix, it's an absolute livewire of a group.

Enough of my waffling. Enjoy the games chaps. I'll be back to explain why I got it all wrong on Monday 🤣

Edited September 21, 2023 by Comrade 86

[Gaspode]

France scraped past Namibia 96-0

[Comrade 86]

Looks more and more like Dupont is out of the tournament. Looked like a broken cheekbone or eye socket to me. Horrible luck for him if so. He's the best in the world by a stretch. Two kick-passes; one an improvised flat bouncer off his right to put Penaud in, then an absolutely filthy left footed dink straight into the hands of Bielle-Biarrey for another try. I hope I'm wrong but the way he was touching his face suggested something was moving under his touch.

Grim news for him, for France and all the neutrals. Should he have been on the field second half though? 54-0 at the break, surely you don't push your luck. He was targeted (fairly, until the tackle that caused the damage) from the off, after all. Galthie has been pretty much perfect since he took the France job, but this was a strange call for me. Penaud who'd already scored a hattrick, should have been whisked off and wrapped in cotton wool. As it is, France will need to progress without either of their first choice halfbacks which is far from ideal. Such a shame when an incredible performance such as we witnessed last night is marred by injury, but it's rugby and them's the breaks I guess.

Edited September 22, 2023 by Comrade 86

[Gaspode]

England 71-0 versus Chile - 11 tries including 5 for Arundell. ‘Only’ Chile but some tremendous performances - love watching Marcus Smith….

[RadioactiveWaste]

C'mon Ireland.

[Ram-Alf]

Those Irish fans will be supping a few beers tonight...what a game 👍

[Comrade 86]

On 21/09/2023 at 16:49, Comrade 86 said:

For the love of god though Borthwick, play Arundell! If he's not worth a start against this lot, then why bloomin bring him? And if we do play him, let's try to get the ball in his hands before the 60th minute, pretty please!

LOL, laugh or cry? Well the wait was worth it; cometh the hour, cometh Henry Arundell, the lad everyone apart from Steve Borthwick knew is the deadliest finisher in English rugby. I thought after an initially turgid opening, the lads improved throughout the game. Quite what we've been doing in training camp, I don't know, as we have been undercooked for a year and are still seemingly learning on the job, so I think it's fortunate that we've ended up on the favourable side of the draw. WIll Borthwick revert to the 'more experienced players' against better opposition? I sincerely hope not! Distinct progress then, but I think it's a case of too little, too late. We won't beat any of the big 4, but I said I just wanted to see us compete and we have, so it's hard to be too upset about it all.

Ireland were brilliant tonight, but I do think they are gaming refs. They very much remind me of the dominant Kiwi sides who seemed to mesmerise refs when it came to officiating the breakdown, Richie McCaw being the best at sneaking a yard and 'accidentally' closing off ball I've ever seen. Farrell has taken a leaf out of their book in any case and you can see them tweaking how they approach the breakdown according to who is refereeing and their doing their homework thoroughly is paying dividends. Irrespective, they were brilliant over the ball tonight and the Saffas will know they were second best. Not sure what the turnover counts was, but I'm 100% certain it's in favour of the Irish. Stunning work. It was a strangely muted performance from SA, but take nothing away from Ireland, they turned up, they executed, they got they win their work warranted.

Not such a high profile game, but I'm looking forward to the Scotland game tomorrow. I'm hoping for a Finn Russell masterclass in a team that is very easy on the eye. Tonga will huff and puff and put in some borderline homicidal hits, no doubt, but I rate this Scottish side and I think they will be away and gone early doors. They will be taking on the Saffas at the right time and after a really energy sapping last game for their opponents, if Scotland are ever going to deliver at an RWC, surely this is their opportunity. There were some very tired looking Bokke at the end of that game and if Scotland can move the big men in SA's front 8 around, rather than getting into an arm wrestle, they will have their chance. If they need a blueprint, they can just watch the Ireland game.

Edited September 23, 2023 by Comrade 86

[RadioactiveWaste]

Enjoyed the Scotland match but they'll need a level above that v Ireland.

C'mon Wales, do it for leeks, for the sheep, the daffodils and most of all do it because Australia losing is almost always funny.

[sheeponacid]

On 21/09/2023 at 16:49, Comrade 86 said:

The second leg of the sunday double header sees Wales take on Australia with everything on the line; the Wallabies have copped for some awful flak back home after an insipid performance against an admittedly talented Fijian side

Problem for Australia is an ever shrinking interest in the game, which has resulted in an ever smaller player pool to select from. Small crowds at club level  ,poor tv viewing figures resulting in little revenue from their media deals. 

The game is getting slaughtered… caught up in the battle for supremacy between the AFL with their huge crowds and TV deal & the NRL with their huge viewing figures and TV deal.

Unions 25million TV deal is dwarfed by the one billion plus deals enjoyed by the AFL and NRL. Tonga and Western Samoa are now firmly under the NRLs spell and both codes are slowly eating into the games dominance in NZ.

It’s hard times for RU in the southern hemisphere currently….think of Rugby leagues position in the UK and then halve it, that’s pretty much were the game in Australia is currently, 

Anyway dewch ymlaem Cymru, time to add to RU Australias nightmare decade

[Stagtime]

4 hours ago, sheeponacid said:

Problem for Australia is an ever shrinking interest in the game, which has resulted in an ever smaller player pool to select from. Small crowds at club level  ,poor tv viewing figures resulting in little revenue from their media deals. 

The game is getting slaughtered… caught up in the battle for supremacy between the AFL with their huge crowds and TV deal & the NRL with their huge viewing figures and TV deal.

Unions 25million TV deal is dwarfed by the one billion plus deals enjoyed by the AFL and NRL. Tonga and Western Samoa are now firmly under the NRLs spell and both codes are slowly eating into the games dominance in NZ.

It’s hard times for RU in the southern hemisphere currently….think of Rugby leagues position in the UK and then halve it, that’s pretty much were the game in Australia is currently, 

Anyway dewch ymlaem Cymru, time to add to RU Australias nightmare decade

A survey last year put union at No42 on the list for participation between snowboarding and rowing. While rugby league is as big as it is, Oz will never be a major player in union.

[Comrade 86]

I thought Scotland were good against Tonga who are a capable and committed side. The Islanders were absolutely flying into tackles, but the Scots always seemed to be controlling the scoreboard and they moved away comfortably when the Islanders' legs tired. I don't think the margin particularly flattered them. We've seen them play better, but the stakes were high and IMO it's a job well done. 

I was looking forward to the Wales - Australia game as the evening match and because it seemed likely to be a good scrap, but it wasn't really competitive at all. You'd have to say that Wales under Gats are improving at a rate of knots and credit to them, Wales do tend to show up at this tournament anyway. To my eye, they never looked like losing last night and I'd imagine confidence is building nicely in their camp. It's quite a turnaround and to the credit to the coaches and players. I'm not seeing their journey ending easily.

Conversely, I also wonder WTF goes through Eddie Jones' head sometimes. His squad selection seems contrived, he's allowed the fact that he's looking for another job already to become public during the tournament and he just seems even more pigheaded than he became with England. God knows what the players must be thinking. 

[Curtains]

Japan 17-3 up against Samoa after 34 minutes 

Good to watch 

[Curtains]

FT Japan 28-22 Samoa

England qualify 

[Comrade 86]

Strong Kiwi side this 😬

[Curtains]

1 hour ago, Comrade 86 said:

Strong Kiwi side this 😬

All Blacks 49-3 up at half time against Italy 

[Curtains]

Italy try second half 

49-10 

[Comrade 86]

29 minutes ago, Curtains said:

Italy try second half 

49-10 

Men against boys I'm afraid. Italy are still prone to having a proper sulk when things don't go their way and good as the Kiwis have been, it's not great seeing an international side chuck it in like this. Kieran Crowley will be absolutely fuming.

[Curtains]

FT 
NZ 96-17 Italy 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2023 by Curtains
Altered