[Closed] 2015-16 rugby, world cup year

And thanks England, thanks for your sacrifice to the cause. 🙂

Flashy - I think most of us will.

mrhoppy - Member
Wilko is talking about an amazING group of players and coaches. Which are those? Also saying it came too soon, well they've had 4 years, if they'd gone about it properly that's quite a long time.

POSTED 1 MINUTE AGO # REPORT-POST

Was at the England France match 4 years ago when they went out the last time.
That really did feel like the end of an era, that the players and coaching team involved had had their shot, let people down, and deserved to go. This time they were just beaten by a much better team. Kind of understand Wilko's point, there's a lot of youth there and they really should have been looking at this one as experience towards peaking for 2019. Seems weird, but that's the age/experience level when more of these lot will be peaking.

Good points from Namaste,the aussies play week in week out at a much higher level of competition ,they are always going to start with a 70/30 chance of beating any of the 6 nations teams(in competitive matches where it matters)

possibly not the time to rip it all up and start again.

Not the team maybe, but certainly the coaching side of things.

In the Aussie world cup, many Irish, Scottish and Welsh supporters backed England as the tournament progressed.

So, England fans, don't mope around! Support Wales or Ireland from now on! Whoever gets furthest shall be your team as well!

(Sorry, Scotland. Just can't see it! ;- ) )

Can't see it either Flashy, but I'm still dreaming for a week maybe more - and we've got tickets for Scotland Samoa next week

Clueless performance from England. Maybe get the Japanese in to give a motivational talk?

This is in no way disrespectful to the Japanese, I watched them earlier. They believed, we didn't.

Wales vs Aus... play for the privilege of meeting Japan in the next round or save the few remaining players for a bruising encounter with RSA? Neither seem great but I guess you'd take Japan of the two

DanW - Oi! See earlier post. No wrecking dreams until after next Saturday.

Be fair.
England, Wales and Australia are all pretty decent outfits, and one of them had to go out.
As a Scot, I wouldn't have fancied my chances in that group (and we may yet join the Englanders with our team watching the second round from the bar).
Well done Wales & Australia, commiserations England. I think Jonny Wilkinson put it well - England are building a good team, it's just not there yet; possibly not the time to rip it all up and start again.

Very fairly put - problem is, the arrogance of the fans & commentators put everyone else's back up...

The English media trying to claim the glory of England being the first host nation to be knocked out in the pool stage. Up yours, England. Wales got there first, back in 1991. 😆

I like most of the England team, but there are other great eligible players out there that Lancaster should have used. I hope he gets ditched and Farrel, then we get a nice kiwi in to show us how its done. Also the butthurt will be strong so hopeful for the 6N..
I have no objection to being well trounced by such an excellent team as the Ozzies, they could easily win the whole show. I am supporting Japn Scotland and the Oirish now, will default to green machine in the event of having to choose. Would love to see Jpn go further this tournament, they have been my team of the World cup just for their sheer ballsiness.

I have no objection to being well trounced by such an excellent team as the Ozzies

True but England have enough players and resources to compete with anyone if only there was some proper leadership going on.

Aye but hopefully this loss will be the knock on the head the rfu needs to stop being such stuffy ****s by insisting on an english manager and just employ someone who can do it instead.

having the stop-start game as it is now with the TMO and all the camera angles just shows how farcical the rules of rugby are. can't they make it simpler? or at least the players more intelligent?

They're not rules they're laws and imo the game should not be dumbed down any further to pander to half witted kiss ballers who show a passing interested in rugby to bask in England rugby's (sadly passed) glory and bait co-workers from other home nations.

In the end beaten by 2 better teams although I suspect (and fervently hope) there's a decent team waiting to ultimately emerge from the confused selection and tactical decisions.

Not sure who (if anyone) to support now - would like Wales to do well but think that's unlikely given their injury list. Could never bring myself to support the French or SH - suppose that leaves Ireland...

I have to disagree with the idea that this is fundamentally a very good England side in development. Other than Mike Brown, George Ford, and Steffan Armitage (who needs to be brought back in), I don't see any of the current England players walking into a Southern Hemisphere side.
Australia look excellent, precise, cold, quick. England are moving backwards as they still won't address the lack of creativity in the backs. It's depressing how often an England back receives the ball in a stationary position. Australia had far more fluidity, movement and creativity in the final third.
A disappointment, but I said England would struggle to get through before the champs started.
I still think Ireland could make the semis, or even the final, which could give the World Cup some much needed local support.

Flashy. You won't get me supporting Wales while Italy are still in the fight. Parisse is back tomorrow, huzzah!

I need a new telly!

I'm 1/16th French, so allez les blues.

Well, now that's over we can relax and enjoy the rugby.

I believe there are nineteen other teams competing although ITV appear to be in denial of that.

Hopefully they won't feel the need to analyze the host's exit in the build up to every subsequent match that's coming up but I'm not confident.

Perhaps they can dispense with some of the English pundits and have some from countries who are STILL IN THE WORLD CUP.

Duckman feel free to disagree but you can't because Scotland are cack, you can't play rugby at this level static it is school boy stuff. Bottom of 6 nations is a fact.

Well I for one, am gutted 🙁

Still, I've loved every game of this WC that I've seen so far, so after the disappointment has gone hopefully there'll be a month if great rugby to watch.

As for England..... By God are we crying out for a decent 7!!! I'm an unashamed robshaw fanboi, but we need something more at the breakdown.

I agree to some extent with the Wilko comments, I mean we arrived at the tournament with barely 400 caps amongst the 31 man squad. The likes of Watson, Brown, Joseph, launchbury, are only going to get better, and I really do think that this tournament was a few years too early for this team.

However, whom knows what the strongest 15 for us is?!?! Certainly not the coaches!

Time for a SH coach to come in and sort us out methinks.......I'll be amazed if Lancaster stays!

Good luck to all of the other home nations left in.....

There were occasional glimmers of hope when we were running with ball in hand but any management team that thought bringing Easter on would be a positive move need to be replaced.
Now supporting Japan for their overwhelming desire to play good rugby.

Now supporting Japan for their overwhelming desire to play good rugby.

EVERYONE is supporting Japan!

dragon - Member

Duckman feel free to disagree but you can't because Scotland are cack, you can't play rugby at this level static it is school boy stuff. Bottom of 6 nations is a fact.

Reserving smugness for if we qualify, it's going to be a long week. We are shite like but we're fine with that, English fans in general have never got the hang of getting humped. It's an important life skill.

South Africa would have put England to the sword today and thee knows it.

DanW, you sir are a dick.

Gotta laugh at the pundits use of the term "England's tight five" come scrum time they were anything but both marker and mako step out. A tight unit moving forward will split that resulting in a penalty.

Scotland could be a surprise against Samoa as they looked out on their feet against Japan but we'll probably analyze their game and play to their strengths like we did for SA.

Well played Aus, by far and away the better side

Embarrassing U11 mistakes by England. Depressing to watch despite the mitigating impact of several nice bottles of St Emillion.

Very, very poor. We deserved no better. Clueless.

Back to Japan for a moment. I think there was some very poor decisions by the Japanese not to push for the 4 try bonus point. It could mean the difference between progress to the QF or going home. 20 points up at half time and they go into their shells and kick the penalties. At least give it a go.

Inexperience most likely.

Australia looked pretty polished, with a bit more to come I'd say. England looked clueless, not helped by the selection of very inexperienced players, or ones that are past being put out to pasture. Easter may be a form player, but there's a massive gulf between club rugby and international level. In his prime he'd stick his head down and charge into contact with his arse in the air, when he should be running into space and over the gain line.

Why were the likes of Cipriani, Care, Armitage, Slade, not in the England squad?

Slade was, I thought Care was, Armitage plays in France and Cipriani missed out due to depotism.

Ultimately they weren't in the match day squad because I believe Lancaster prefers 'honest muscle' over everything else and is so obsessed with having shades of grey in his team over individual passion and excellence that might actually require some management. Actually, he's just like a school pe teacher!

England got exactly what they deserved. Poor selection, poor coaching, poor results. All crystal clear in the warm ups. They changed nothing. Cole is ****ing shit, the youngs bris similarly shit. Barrit is a fine player but hasn't played any rugby! Burgess a failed experiment. Meanwhile players like ewers, slade,cipriani, Brooke's rtc etc scrape game time. Shit. So Stuart lancaster, Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree; **** OFF
What do I care? For the remainder of the cup, I'm Irish. Now just to get over myintense dislike of that complete prick Cain Healy.

Yup it was crystal clear in the warm ups. New coaches please.

Who are Englands pocock and hooper?? Is there anyone out there eligible for England who can do what they do?

Err yeah Dragon, the 6n was six months ago,one thing that has been highlighted when commentating on the improvements in their game is the speed,ie lack of being static,at which they defend. I realise that you a) know better than anybody called Sir Iain about rugby,b) are just trying to kill time while you wait for the AA to come and fix your chariot.
Toys; Armitage and possibly the Glaws lad...but as many imports mention English academy players are more interested in pumping iron than building skills and playing touch etc. It is a mindset change needed at club level,OZ were smarter and made decisions better when playing what was in front of them. That can't be coached,it is instinct born of playing.

A few of things occur to me re England. 1. Steffan Armitage is a fat blob and wouldnt last 30 mins in a fast paced international game. 2. You missed the Kiwi gouger, a lot. 3. Ford, May, Tuilagi, Joeseph, Watson, Brown could be very good. 4. Ben Morgan was not fit and did nothing, you missed Vunipola combined with Wood and Robshaw not being great. Surely you have some other flankers.5. The tictacs that involved flinging it wide whilst playing with that backrow wre seriously flawed.

We are shite like but we're fine with that, English fans in general have never got the hang of getting humped. It's an important life skill.

This ^

Has no one noticed that against the odds England had the momentum and we're coming back into it, many by passing after committing the defender but before contact - until two daft tackles that they were lucky to get away with one yellow card from.
If Farrell and Burgess had some more discipline they might still have won that match - whether or not their general performance entitled them to.
That really could have been a big come back - and no I'm not dreaming about a fantasy England win, I'm Scots and dreaming about a bonus point win against Samoa.

South Africa would have put England to the sword today and thee knows it.

I've a feeling that England could have coped with SA's simple game plan.

Thanks for that intelligent contribution to the thread Stavaigan

Scotland have put themselves in a good position but seem to be going backwards slightly. I don't think Samoa will be an easy game but then USA vs Japan isn't a given either as the US came out hard last time around.

I don't think it has been mentioned yet but JD2 and 1/2p are reported to not be taking their final year contract options and could be leaving France at the end of the season

I really think all England are missing is a good captain. Robshaw isn't someone you would follow through the gates of hell. Johnson wouldn't have put up with the petulance of Brown and Farrell. He would of sorted that out. Warburton has the respect of all the Welsh team, can you say that about Robshaw?

Apologizing to the nation is way over the top, it is just a game of rugby, nobody died.

Have Australia peaked to soon, a really great performance.

I had to watch the game without sound and my lip reading wasn't too great... Did any of these happen? Could actually become Dai Lama drinking game in the future perhaps 🙂

Marler: Awww come on ref, don't tell me you are on Twitter too!

Commentators: Australia have no big ball carriers with lightweights like Pockock in the backrow... This is where England have an advantage
(Forgetting Australia have more intelligent runners than almost any other team)

Robshaw: We have a penalty advantage... Can someone remind me to take the three points some times

England forwards: Right the game is getting close. What I think we should do is play a bit like Scotland would

Lancaster: 50 minutes are up.... Time to let everyone have a go

Also Robshaw: Not sure he has the balls to bin both... Please let it be Burgess, Please let it be Burgess, Please let it be Burgess.... Oh damn

No need to repeat it all but Aus exposed everything that is wrong about that team, well done Australia, well played.

Burgess should go and paid-to-play stamped out immediately, no doubt the RFU whillst wearing blinkers were oversold some magic beans. May has proved he can't catch a ball under pressure without exposing his wing and letting it bounce, he needs to go.

Lancaster should resign and let someone else who can make a decision settle on the young guns for a revised back line at least for the 6N probably Care, Ford, Slade, JJ, Watson, Brown + an other wing. We need to find a genuine 7. If he can bear it Robshaw can play 6 but there needs to be a new dominant decisive captain. 2016 should be about forming a teasm plus understudies for the 2019 RWC.

Anyway moving forward, I shall cheer Wales, Ireland and Japan while they remain, and expect 2 of the the AB's Aus or Boks in the final.

England are missing good leadership from the coaches through to the captain and key players. There have been 40+ tests since the last world cup look at the number of caps there are in key positions and how unsettled the squad has been over the last 2 years. Now some of that is due to injury but even so players are being picked/dropped/moved seemingly at random and the selection policy appears to be throw the names in the air and pick 14, because Farell Jr is playing come what may. Add in a huge disciplinary issue both on and off the pitch and no one seeming to take control.

It's not a bad group of players but the best aren't great (some have potential) and there are a few average (with better options sitting at home). In itself that's not the end of the world, but it requires strong leadership, an overriding gameplan and strategy and some discipline to stick to it to work.

wrecker - Member
Barrit is a fine player

Agreed with everything you said there wrecker apart from the above statement.

Barritt is a solid duffer at club level, no doubt. At international level he is a one-paced, leaden footed, mindless waste of space who can't run, kick, pass or even tackle that well despite the "defensive leader" tag bestowed on him. His main attacking strength seems to be as a dummy runner although that's somewhat mitigated by the fact that the opposition know he probably won't get the ball and aren't worried if he does. He looked ok alongside the human-wrecking-ball Tuilagi in the win over the ABs (who wouldn't?) and he got blood on his shirt in a "heroic" performance against Australia where he didn't miss too many tackles. I can't recall too many other games when I didn't think anything other than - "He's shit."

Am I missing anything?

Listening to the radio, I'm amazed the bookies had England as second favourites to win the world cup after the All Blacks.
Hasn't it been widely understood that the southern hemisphere sides are generally light years ahead in rugby terms? That's what we saw last night.
The northern hemisphere sides which have dominated up here, Ireland and Wales, have Kiwi coaches. Even then, they have been unable to regularly compete against the Southern hemisphere sides. England beat NZ and Oz but only in friendlies.
When England did win the world cup, it was during a period of transition for Southern Hemisphere rugby. They have now rebuilt tactically and the gulf has been re-established.

No.

We need someone with actual talent inside JJ or Tualigi. .

anagallis_arvensis - Member
A few of things occur to me re England. 1. Steffan Armitage is a fat blob and wouldnt last 30 mins in a fast paced international game.

2. You missed the Kiwi gouger, a lot.

3. Ford, May, Tuilagi, Joeseph, Watson, Brown could be very good.

4. Ben Morgan was not fit and did nothing, you missed Vunipola combined with Wood and Robshaw not being great. Surely you have some other flankers.

.5. The tictacs that involved flinging it wide whilst playing with that backrow wre seriously flawed.

Agree.

Adam Jones wasnt an openside. Armitage has played international rugby. He was shit.

teamhurtmore - Member 
Watching NZ v SA last weekend made me nervous for the rest. It felt like the whole match was on FF. And the physicality seemed on a different level.

Just had to turn down QF at Twikerd due to friends birthday
POSTED 2 MONTHS AGO #

Should have added Aus 2 months ago. Simple fact, England are a good but not a great team. Could/should have beaten Wales but it doesn't matter. Other teams are better, that is clear. Not the end of the world but at least turning down the QF tickets doesn't seem so bad now!!

The only extraordinary thing was the basic nature of England's errors. U11 stuff.

I'm not sure if Scotland are moving forward or not. I think that we've got better individual players than we've had in recent years but there's something missing. Scotland have always played better than the sum of their parts. I think Al Kellock was a very underrated captain. He was never the best second row but he was a real leader and always seemed to bring the team together both for Glasgow and Scotland. That's the reason he kept his starting spot long after bigger faster stronger second rows were coming through.

I hope we can find someone to replace him soon.

If we beat Samoa and make the second round, that's moving forward.

Delighted Wales are through, but not jumping for joy at England being knocked out, I've never been in the "I support anyone playing England" crowd - staggered thier fans were marching out of the grown with 10 mins to play - I know they say "England expects" but it's disgusting, you've got to clap your team off the field especially if they lose.

What about Wales though - does Gatland send out the reserves against Australia and save the A team for the Semis or play to win and try to secure an easier game in the Semis?

I did think there was a massive difference when ford was first distributor. Farrell was seeing people off slowly way behind the gain line. Ford was at least putting the first reciever on the ball at speed.
I can't believe they picked farrell for so many games as first choice. If nothing else ford was at least getting animated and passionate about it during the game. Whereas farrell just thought he would tackle off the ball and have a sit down.

P-jay i suspect a lot of the England fans thought they would try and get their last trains home.
Stupid idea playing the games with an 8pm kick off.
But yeah am sure a load of them just thought sod this I'm off

Quite right, you don't abandon your team just because they disappoint. You can still chuckle when people take the piss out of you though

[img] ?oh=4f4a1210c338f5d12bb9dd7548c20126&oe=56A79AF1[/img]

Fundamentally it's the sloppy and careless loss to Wales which cost Englandcombined with poor selection. You cannot be 10 points up in a vital game with 10 mins to go and lose it. Ford was by far the best 10 in the 18 months prior to RWC but Lancaster insisted on reverting to Farrell. I have no idea how Lancaster was given a 6 year contract to cover 2 world cups. We've questioned Farrells temperament on here before and it was certainly a yellow card. It will be fun to watch the next Saracens Toulon game as I have an incling Ownes going to take a battering.

England had the right squad, aside from Tuilagi who ruled himself out Imwouodnt have made any squad changes, to me it was selection. Launchbury was excellent. Armitage isn't dynamic enough for international rugby in my view. It was interesting that it's widely believed the Aussie coach got the eligibility rules changed so he could pick Giteau, having watched him many times alongside JW at Toulon he's a very creative player and a match winner.

Australia had a fabulous first half and really the game was done there.

@aa yes the seeding was strange I think it was done based on combination of last RWC and the rankings. Given England's dominance of Welsh scrum and Australia's performance last night that's going to be an interesting area. As above Wales will get RSA and Australia will get Scotland or Japan assuming Australia win the group.

An amusing anecdote to end with, the wife sent a message to a friend of hers saying good and bad news, bad news England lost,mood news Andynwint be watching as much rugby 😯 I quickly put her right on that one 😀 Will be supporting France at the Mikenium next week and then either Japan or Australia depending on who gets through and thereafter on a game by game basis with a bias for the Northern hemisphere sides

P-Jay I imagine some people had a long trip home. The 2007 final finished at about 10:30 and by the time we got out of the stadium (freezing in December) all the bars where shut as it was a Sunday. TV drives the schedules and Southern Hemisphere audiences want to watch too. The game was lost and I'm not sure England deserved clapping off the field. Certainly glad I hadn't paid £350 a seat for those two group games

Seeding was based on Dec 2012 rankings, when Wales were ninth after that uncharacteristic run of defeats.

Will be supporting France at the Mikenium next week and then either Japan or Australia depending on who gets through and thereafter on a game by game basis with a bias for the Northern hemisphere sides

I suppose I hadn't considered the practicalities of getting home, I know it's been a nightmare getting home from Cardiff - the train companies didn't seem to be able to cash-in on all that trade.

But personally I wouldn't have paid so much money to see one a game that was always going to be very important and likely a great game without any sort of a plan as to how I was going to get home if I watched it all.

Funnily enough the 'am I glad I didn't get a ticket now' thought went through my head as watching at home I never genuinely thought we were going to win. Too many turnovers and too little speed in receipt of the ball. Tough group but the team only has itself to blame after the Wales slip.
Disappointing for the competition.

Armitage has played international rugby. He was shit.

He was hardly given a fair go - 5 caps, some from the bench, 2 against Argentina when Moodos was injured; all back in 2009.

Since then he's moved to Toulon and been named European player of the year which surely merits another look at him particularly given that our back row has been a key weakness this RWC?

The problem is that the premiership doesn't develop decent open sides - it's much better value for money for a club to have a 6'4 battering ram who can play anywhere in the back 5 of the scrum rather than a specialist openside, particularly given the focus is on not losing rather than scoring tries.

Going back to the draw, I has kweshtun.

I realise one group was always going to get Wales as they were 9th at the time. How were the other teams sorted? Was it 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5; 1-4, 2-5, 3-6, 4-8 or just an open draw?

Drawn from pots I believe. 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 4 quals.

Fiji were in the last pot, Wales in the 3rd, Eng 2nd, Aus 1st seeds.

duckman - Member

Japan are in the SH,...
POSTED 50 MINUTES AGO #

?

You speak more sense on rugby than on geography

Tokyo, 35 degrees N? 😉

They play with and are lumped with the SH teams Loum.

Agreed with everything you said there wrecker apart from the above statement.

This Armitage thing gets right on my tits! He was shit for england (he got 5 attempts FFS! - certainly a fair go) He wasn't exactly pulling up trees for the not-nots either. Then he gets put into one of the most fearsome forward packs we have ever seen and all of a sudden he's superman!
He seems to want his cake and eat it; the money of france and playing for england. It doesn't (and can't) work like that.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to a new broom in the coaching set up; Mallinder, Greenwood and Baxter please!

I have no idea how Lancaster was given a 6 year contract to cover 2 world cups.

Fairly standard practice I think to stop the coach doing a bit of a "Scott Johnson" and lose interest in the team with a WC approaching as they are looking for work elsewhere and the coach also benefits from a nice payout if they get fired before the contract is up. So both sides have some benefits from this.

The problem for England will be that they will always be under immense pressure to win every single game. That makes the development a bit stagnant since they'll be reluctant to try new things, new players and play to win rather than play to not lose, even in a "friendly". They need a BC-esque development cycle where you can accept some defeats for a better team every 4 years

his Armitage thing gets right on my tits! He was shit for england (he got 5 attempts FFS! - certainly a fair go) He wasn't exactly pulling up trees for the not-nots either. Then he gets put into one of the most fearsome forward packs we have ever seen and all of a sudden he's superman!
He seems to want his cake and eat it; the money of france and playing for england. It doesn't (and can't) work like that.

He ate the whole cake and went back for more. He also tried to qualify for France! He plays in France where power is even more important than the aviva. In play time and aerobic fitness are low in France. If you thinkvthis will make your backrow more dynamic you are living in Lala land.[img] http://img0.thejournal.ie/inline/2308390/original/?width=630&version=2308390 [/img]

Who are the up and coming backrowers in England?

Wood may be solid but you wouldn't have known he was playing if it were not for the team sheet at the start of the match. Robshaw is either immense or absent. I thought Morgan was actually quite good, as is Billy although neither is possibly as well rounded (no pun intended) as England really need. The Hask actually looked alright in the 6N so it was odd he didn't get any game time (not that he is England's long term solution)

Should have given Man of the match to Brown for a laugh...Poor old Joe![img] [/img]

Lancaster must still be in shock listening to the rubbish he came out with post match so far

Lancaster must still be in shock listening to the rubbish he came out with post match so far

The interesting thing is that there is almost universal support for Lancaster amongst pundits and ex players alike.... and no mention of Farrel. Some even spell out that he should/ could be offered to continue on the so long as all the other coaching staff are swapped

How does Brown still manage to come across like a total jebend, even in an apology note? Two lines in.... "some of us".... great team spirit

[img] [/img]

That kind of grovelling from a professional sportsperson makes me feel quite nauseous, even more than I already am.

He was shit for england (he got 5 attempts FFS! - certainly a fair go) He wasn't exactly pulling up trees for the not-nots either. Then he gets put into one of the most fearsome forward packs we have ever seen and all of a sudden he's superman!

He wasn't a great player then. He is now - at club level. The interesting point is that, chosen in a team of "Galacticos" he is frequently MoM and a lot of his esteemed team mates were glad they wouldn't face him in the RWC. Being at Toulon has developed him into a far more effective player. Besides, Robshaw has 40 odd caps and he's still average.

He ate the whole cake and went back for more. He also tried to qualify for France! He plays in France where power is even more important than the aviva. In play time and aerobic fitness are low in France. If you thinkvthis will make your backrow more dynamic you are living in Lala land.

He didn't try to qualify for France. The French looked into it themselves. To his credit, he hasn't moaned about not playing for England. He seems happy training and playing in the sunshine and getting loadsa dosh and winning European Cups. He's definitely one of the best breakdown forwards in the NH and the training camps could have shed that spare tyre. I'm not saying he's the messiah but the RFU should have backed the loan deal with Bath and then we could have tried him for a season. Besides, he couldn't make the England back row LESS dynamic - could he?

Ultimately it would have made no difference - SL would probably have tried him at 12........

We might be out, but the legacy has started!

[img][URL= http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq25/dantsw13/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsgq1ewb0q.jp g" target="_blank">http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq25/dantsw13/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsgq1ewb0q.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL][/img]

Also the straightest feed I've seen this WC!!

there is almost universal support for Lancaster amongst pundits

The same pundits who, almost universally, predicted England to beat Australia.

In the DT and Grauniad they both ran pundit predictions and of around 20 contributors only one went for Australia - Campo.

A blind man could have seen that the Wallabies were going to win.

Armitage wouldnt cope with an international game. Look at him, then look at Pocock, Hooper, Mcaw, SOB, Warburton, Dusatoir, Nyanga are they fat tubs of lard? Playing in a dominant pack he's fine. I find it amazing. A bit like Henson 5 years ago the more he didnt play for Wales the better he seemed to be in everyones mind.