The Rugby Thread

[Arnoldtoo]

Well that was 80 minutes of mistake-ridden shit from England.

Well deserved Fiji.

 

[talkshowhost86]

Was at Twickenham today

Fiji were much the better team

England were properly terrible but Fiji deserve a huge amount of credit

England aren't getting out of their group at the World Cup

 

[tototoner]

Was at Twickenham today

Fiji were much the better team

England were properly terrible but Fiji deserve a huge amount of credit

England aren't getting out of their group at the World Cup

Was just thinking England will struggle to get out of their group

100% World Cup winners will come out of Pool A or B

 

[Barmy_in_Palmy]

Lol.

Holy shit, double lol today.

what a weekend of rugby.

 

[tototoner]

So I arrive in Bordeaux Friday afternoon, got tickets for Ireland Romania on Saturday and Wales Fiji on Sunday, looks like it will be very hot, so will need a few

 

[jimbo]

England aren't getting out of their group at the World Cup

I think they will, but mostly by virtue of being a fairly easy group Argentina aside.

If they’d ended up in the Ireland, Scotland, South Africa group in place of one of those 3, they’d definitely be in trouble.

I don’t think this current Japan team are strong enough to upset England, even this particularly shit England.

Fiji have a particularly strong team this time out, I don’t think Samoa can match that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fiji make the QFs this time and Argentina the semis again. Would be good for world rugby if they did I think.

 

[UncleBuck]

I can see us losing by 10-15 against the Pumas and just managing to bulldoze Japan aside.
Fiji or Wales in the QF’s which is where it’ll end luckily because if we fluked it to the SF’s it’d get embarrassing,

 

[talkshowhost86]

I think they will, but mostly by virtue of being a fairly easy group Argentina aside.

If they’d ended up in the Ireland, Scotland, South Africa group in place of one of those 3, they’d definitely be in trouble.

I don’t think this current Japan team are strong enough to upset England, even this particularly shit England.

Fiji have a particularly strong team this time out, I don’t think Samoa can match that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fiji make the QFs this time and Argentina the semis again. Would be good for world rugby if they did I think.

Yeah I was looking at Samoa and Japan potentially being on the same level as Fiji, but the results don't appear to bear that out where Japan are concerned.

Losses against Samoa, Fiji and Italy in the warm-ups and a narrow win over Tonga don't suggest they are on form.

Samoa may actually be the bigger concern.

Definitely can't see us beating Argentina though.

 

[jimbo]

I think Argentina are a bit underrated in some corners (not here) - joining the Rugby Championship has really helped their development, and beating the All Blacks in New Zealand for the first time last summer (albeit a fairly disfunctional All Blacks at the time) is testament to that.

It's curious that joining the 6 Nations hasn't helped Italy in the same way. It wouldn't be a total shock for Argentina to make the final, if they win the pool and get a kinder QF. Strength in depth might hinder them though.

England will need to improve and get their tournament heads on, if they turn up the same way they have for the warm-up games it's not beyond the realms of possibility they could find themselves embarrassed tomorrow.

Very excited for the opener tonight in any case!

 

[jimbo]

Yeah I was looking at Samoa and Japan potentially being on the same level as Fiji, but the results don't appear to bear that out where Japan are concerned.

Losses against Samoa, Fiji and Italy in the warm-ups and a narrow win over Tonga don't suggest they are on form.

Samoa may actually be the bigger concern.

Definitely can't see us beating Argentina though.

Samoa definitely gave France a good game - though it was a heavily rotated France XV. It's hard to tell, England could benefit from a bit of tournament mindset once it kicks-off, similar to the last World Cup in France, but it doesn't feel that way.

I guess the other thing that England look like they might suffer from is the bunker review system and their poor tackle height discipline. Bit of a random variable that, but playing Samoa with 14 for any length of time might not turn out too well.

 

[joshua_snodgras]

My bets on france to win the world cup. France v SA Final possible with the route?

 

[Arnoldtoo]

Wouldn't surprise me if tonight's game is a dress rehearsal for the final.

 

[jimbo]

My bets on france to win the world cup. France v SA Final possible with the route?

It is possible, and might be the likely line-up on present form. The pools could throw up some interesting results though, which will mess with the QF line-ups - some big teams will likely go out earlier than usual I think.

 

[jurgen11]

we will finish second in our group , then god knows - Ireland to lift the WC

 

[TheHoddleWaddle]

This is an outstanding game. Evenly matched and such high quality. (France Vs NZ)

 

[TheHoddleWaddle]

England & Wales aside,.I think this may be the highest quality of rugby in a WC for a long time.

I fancy (unfortunately) SA to win it. They look formidable. But I'm hoping for a.french romp.

 

[talkshowhost86]

If France don't win it this year they never will

 

[jimbo]

I really enjoy watching this France team play, they’ve got a bit of everything. I don’t think they were at their very best last night, and that’s probably a good sign for them.

I agree that SA look very strong, it’s going to be a huge game for Scotland but they’re capable of upsetting teams that look stronger on paper so we’ll find out how that goes tomorrow.

 

[CanadaSpurs]

Not that it matters but the officiating in the Ireland/Romania match was so poor. Several questionably “flat” passes (looked forward to me) weird knock-on calls and a very strange yellow card. Hopefully we don’t see the same in matches that matter.

 

[jimbo]

Hilarious.