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Wales are going to lose to the aussies by the usual 7 points or so but are going to beat the boks by the same.
calm down aa, it's an Internet thread, about rugby, on an obscure cycling forum.
Exactly so why am I accused of displaying hate when I disagree with Wrecker and Jambo's view about a game of ****ing rugby? I dont mind people having a go at me for my views or what I've said but just making shit up because they think thats what I might think despite a complete lack of evidence of hate soes my head in. I want tovtalk about rugby on a thread about rugby so I'll leave it at that....
Mikey3. I think you may be right about the Aus game and wrong about the SA game tbh. But we have got to beat them sometime. The only team in this world cup I would have no hope of is beating is NZ.
Agree about NZ aa,i think N.Z. go into any game with wales knowing that even if the score is really close after 70 mins Wales will make a knock on or drop a pass at a vital game winning moment and then they will capitalise and its same old same old,but even that can't last forever(well it can but hey who knows :-))
Cheers chaps. It's been a pleasure.
Is "Jock" a racist term?
Well, for a chuckle, just find the alternative on arrsepedia (under "jockanese") 😯
wrecker - Member
Cheers chaps. It's been a pleasure.
Worst flounce ever. 😉
Not sure who's accusing @aa of hating anyone, the debate here seems robust but fair. Can't understand why anyone thinks I'm trolling, that's not me at all just putting my point of view as is @aa and others on here. I certainly don't think he's hating anyone. I'm reasonably certain @aa didn't think Wales would make it out if the group, England away, injury wracked and then Australia up last in a potential knockout match.
England could have been pretty good. Actually more than that they [b]should[/b] have been. With Ford at 10 and a midfield without Burgess I think we had a real shot. My comments on Wales where based upon the side that made it to the tournament with some of their best players out injured. My frustration at the loss to Wales was massive on the basis I think we should have won very comfortably, I said before the game our selection gave Wales a chance and with the wrong side we then threw the game away.
Now really this is enough about England from me. Must work out which games we can watch.
Might have to wear one of my Jambalaya branded shirts in Cardiff this weekend so anyone can come and say hi 🙂 Aux armes, citoyens
Wow the Georgia Namiba game was another corker. Gorgodze is awesome, but then Nambia came back and it was ace.
Press reporting that Mike Catt twice til Cipriani he would "end his England career" and that most of the players took Cipriani's side.
Think there is a lot more to come from what appears to be an extremely unhappy England camp.
Not sure who's accusing @aa of hating anyone, the debate here seems robust but fair.
From the last page...
The rest of the country have grown up now, its time you did too, hate is not a nice thing to see. It's also not very Rugby is it.
It's not hatred, it's rivalry. And it's very 'rugby', it always has been part of it. And I agree with you Jambalaya, the talk on here is very polite compared to what you'd get at an actual game .
Cipriani ended Ciprianis England career, or perhaps I should say his drinking and general lifestyle
OK,let's all get along nicely...tell you what,how about some nice retail therapy?
http://www.englandrugbystore.com/stores/ers/en?&CMP=KNC-Google2&portal=rfuppc&gclid=CjwKEAjwhdOwBRDFsYTfhvzX1hYSJAAfCUcLY_nWk38fisRxl10cc7rB79AedUlz7NpF6eBLxI69uBoC_BLw_wcB
tell you what,how about some nice retail therapy?
Going on previous RFU behaviour I'm disappointed that they don't have any "England World Champions 2015" T-Shirts. 😆
Brand Hask fair going for Neil Back in the twitter verse! #nevermeetyourheros Ouch! All the talk about Burgess staying in union and being back in 2019 at 6...Would that not just make him a less experienced Haskill,Robshaw or Wood?
Its easy to imagine that Cipriani becomes a gobshite after he learns he's out of the team, and yes his England days are most likely over unless a new coach realises his potential and throws him a line.
But for coaches to use that kind of vocabulary to players is unacceptable, and then this is the second time we heard the players supporting themselves vs the coaches.
I'm not sure what makes the players so bound to defend the coaches in interviews - maybe they worry thier future international careers, but I'm faitly confident that post world cup someone who doesnt have a career anymore - Robshaw? Cips? will be part of some kind of expose that sees this coaching setup overhauled by the RFU.
There's far too much smoke to be without a fire.
What was said?
The RFU cleanup thing is a nice idea but that kind of assumes their meddling has no part in it. I can't imagine that they have no idea what is happening or are even to root of many of the issues... Big change might require the RFU to admit some mistakes and that just muddies progress further
Heard also that players don't trust the RFU and are unwilling to speak to them, RFU are trying to write a report about the failure of this World Cup campaign.
Welsh Team for Aus - looks a strong one:
[b]Backs: [/b]Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), George North (Northampton Saints), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Liam Williams (Scarlets), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Gareth Davies (Scarlets).
[b]Forwards:[/b] Paul James (Ospreys), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Racing 92), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Capt) (Cardiff Blues), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons).
[b]Replacements: [/b]Ken Owens (Scarlets), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Priestland (Bath Rugby), James Hook (Gloucester Rugby).
What was said?
A "robust exchange" including "I could end your England career" is whats reported, with Cips being backed by the players in the argument.
Seems to me the players don't trust the coaches, and they keep losing so why would they.
Pigface - Member
Heard also that players don't trust the RFU and are unwilling to speak to them, RFU are trying to write a report about the failure of this World Cup campaign.POSTED 11 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST
funny that...
after the players "confidential statements" were released to the press 4 years ago when the RFU were trying to write a report about the failure of that World Cup campaign...
Disappointing that Matthew Morgan wont get a chance against the Aussies.
Wales team changed. Should be stronger at scrum and breakdown. I would have preferred to play Lydiate and not worry about Aus. Hope Gatwards get it right. Anscombe at 15 a gamble to but the other option was T Morgan at 13 which would be a gamble (or M Morgan at 15 which would just be mad)
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34473830 ]Scotland squad[/url]
[img] 
[/img]
I'm concerned about Laidlaw starting, never mind captaining. Ford and Brown should swap as should Denton and Strauss. Otherwise looks pretty good.
I hope Jonny Gray is being groomed for future leadership. I hope they start sooner rather than later.
What do people in Scotland think of Hogg?, cheap shot red card and then the diving against South Africa
Bruce why are you concerned about Laidlaw?
I'm not sure what makes the players so bound to defend the coaches in interviews - maybe they worry thier future international careers, but I'm faitly confident that post world cup someone who doesnt have a career anymore - Robshaw? Cips? will be part of some kind of expose that sees this coaching setup overhauled by the RFU.
Yeah I think you're right. You're not gonna criticise someone if they'll still be around next time a squad is picked.
Nick Easter is a pretty forthright character and he's unlikely to play on for England, at 37, so he might spill the beans. You've gotta think there must have been a huge amount of disharmony. There was that report a while ago of a big argument between Farrell Snr and Catt with both parties being completely at loggerheads.
I'd speculate that Farrell is at the centre of a lot of it especially as the players weren't in favour of Burgess being in the squad and the obvious question of nepotism. The RFU should NEVER have employed a coach who's son was likely to be involved in being selected.
What do people in Scotland think of Hogg?
Great player. Absolutely electric when on form.
When things don't go well for him or he's off form he behaves in the manner of an Association Footballer.
I found an England shirt inside a plastic bag discarded on the roadside the other day.
What a waste - those bags are worth 5p these days!
@duckman who'd want to be seen in England 2015 RWC shirt !
Other internet forums are available for that kind of masochist...
😛
Hogg is a fantastic player and part of a centre partnership that gave bath's England backs the runaround...Can be a dickhead at times though.
An ex colleague of mine went to school with Mike Catt and his brother and knows them well. Just sent him a note to say I hope Mike told Cips whats been reported
Why would you do / say that? I know Cips is a bit of an idiot but wish for / wallow in his misery is a bit off isn't it?
Hogg, Brown and Williams all have anger issues!! Coincidence or is that what full backs need. It used to be 9's!
Kearney's calm enough I think. 🙂
Alfie had his moments too. and Byrne.
I'm supporting Catt. I won't comment on the reply I got. IMO Cipriani shouldn't have been in the big squad, aside from anything it gave him false hope.
Not doubt Cipriani comes with some baggage but as a rugby fan he didn't do much wrong on the pitch when given a chance again in an England shirt. I guess an argument could be made for the real making of a strong coach and/or strong captain being able to manage different personalities and have them work towards a common goal. Not saying that isn't happening but the nicey nicey squad selection seemed to be about avoiding problems and ignoring some great players as a result... and then all went to sh1t when some great guy got parachuted in to mess things up anyway
Strong looking Wales team....interesting to see them go with 2 opensides....that's 2 more than we played against Aus, so maybe you'll compete more at the breakdown 🙂
Shaping up to be a great game!
[b]Backs:[/b] Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell, Bernard Foley, Will Genia.
[b]Forwards:[/b] Scott Sio, Stephen Moore (capt), Sekope Kepu, Kane Douglas, Dean Mumm, Scott Fardy, Sean McMahon, David Pocock.
[b]Replacements:[/b] Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Greg Holmes, Rob Simmons, Ben McCalman, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Kurtley Beale.
Every name in that back line scares the wotsit out of me. The forwards don't look any more relaxing either!
Its a little annoying when a winger gets broken and they bring in Drew Mitchel.
Suprising to say the least that nobe of Gethin, Lydiate or Davies make the bench given Wales were supposedly picking from a fully fit squad.
I don't quite know what to make of the Wales selection...
I can't help feeling Charteris and Tipuric are forced changed despite Gatland claiming he had the full squad to chose from. If that were true then I'd expect to see Lydiate at least on the bench (EDIT: agree with you there a_a).
Putting Williams on the wing is quite astute I think. His tackling and lines will be of more use there. Plus, I think the idea with Anscombe is probably if you are going to put an inexperienced young player in then best hide them at 15 as if Aus get that far it is probably try time anyway (and just set the expectation to do the basics well- key for any 15 though I guess).
James and Lee are necessary I guess to settle the scrum despite being fresh from injury.
North is the interesting one and I guess the slight weakness in defense is still preferred to Morgan's inexperience... and he'll no doubt give Giteau's ribs a test or two
Arf, arf, arf.
[img] 
[/img]
With any luck it may mean North gets more ball. Biggar will be playing 10 and 15 again I think. He'll be the main bloke catching high balls from broken play. Cuthbert must be due a non calamitous game too I suppose.
Irish press reporting Healy, Toner and Payne to start against France. Tough on Iain Henderson, Mc Grath and Earls as they have all been in good form.
POSSIBLE IRELAND XV: Rob Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Jared Payne, Robbie Henshaw, Dave Kearney; Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Mike Ross; Devin Toner, Paul O'Connell; Peter O'Mahony, Seán O'Brien, Jamies Heaslip. Replacements: Jack McGrath, Seán Cronin, Nathan White, Iain Henderson, Chris Henry, Eoin Reddan, Ian madigan, Simon Zebo.
Could be a big party this weekend in Ireland if we win and the ROI join NI at the Euros
Especially tough on Henderson- invariably Ireland's best player. He's only had one game so far this WC, is that right? Certainly he hasn't started all of them so I kind of assumed he was being rested for big games like France 😕
I have to say Ireland will need to step up a lot to beat France. France look strong to me
It has been reported Joe thinks his impact off the bench in the last 30 mins will be more fruitful as gaps begin to appear. I suppose we will see. I'm feeling quite confident this morning. Although this could be footy euphoria and too much beer last night, hic 😀
I'd agree with that AA. The performance is in them, they just need to find it. The forwards in particular need to step up a lot.
Ireland won't beat France - Italy exposed the lack of creativity. They managed only 16 points from that much territory and possession against Italy. Too few line-breaks. Too few turnovers. Heaslip can be fantastic but he seems to be back into his "I have space, but, no, I must find an opposition forward to run into" mode. The only thing they've done very well is the line-out but even that hasn't been tested. Murray's kicking too much too (not blaming him for that, I assume he's being told to).
Thing is France will not be bullied up front and after that and high kicks ireland have shown nothing.
BlindMelon - Member
Irish press reporting Healy, Toner and Payne to start against France. Tough on Iain Henderson, Mc Grath and Earls as they have all been in good form.
Glad Payne's fit, but It's going to be a 23 man game so Henderson and McGrath will still play a big part. They've proved themselves international class players.
It'll be tight, but it's good to be going into it ahead of them with 2 draws in the last 4 games. WC France are ten times the team in the six nations but might not need to beat them, dd. 😉
IMO, Ireland have looked a carrier short in the pack whenever Toner and Mcgrath have been in the same side.
At least one of Healy or Henderson is always needed, really. But Toner's almost unique in the way he makes the lineout and maul tick, and that could be crucial 'cos they won't dominate the French scrum. So with Healy back as a carrier, they can afford to have Toner's strengths start too and use Henderson later on, maybe even for POC or POM if it's needed.
Not bothered about Earls missing really, he's done brilliant ,against smaller teams, but the players picked are big game and defend better. He's improved his defence no end, but his technique still makes him liable to knock himself out in big tackles. horses for course here
Feel more for Zebo (better game all round imo) 'cos he's spent his last few games proving he could do a job at full back whereas if he'd had a chance on the LW, he might just have nailed a starting spot
Ireland won't beat France - Italy exposed the lack of creativity
Well maybe but a lack of creativity didn't prevent you from winning the 6N did it?
The thing is - since the 6N has either side played a meaningful game? A bunch of half-arsed warm up games and a scrappy win over a poor Italy apiece?
France were dire in the 6N and easy wins over Canada and Romania have done nothing to change that impression. THey may yet beat Ireland but going on form, consistency, personnel and coaching nous you'd have to make Ireland clear favourites.
I'd argue that even the 6N wouldn't count as "meaningful games" for France these days. They really don't seem to give a ****. Even more so in WC year.
NotHeinekan cup wins is a better measure of the state of French rugby outside of World Cups. And that's not even as meaningful to them as their own league tables.
They all care far more about club rugby than these "friendlies" they play every spring.
They peak nationally every 4 years without fail for the WC where they come together for a decent period of time and really go for it. otherwise, they don't really do meaningful internationals much these days, maybe depending on who's touring in the autumn.
It makes any arguments about [i]form[/i] and [i]consistency[/i] as a national side pretty pointless really.
The old "what France side will turn up?" line is bollox now. They always turn up for World cups, and don't bother their arses outside of them.
[i]Personnel[/i] wise, front row (all 6 of them), back row, centres, and wide they'd challenge to be in any world team. And the rest - they'd still probably want to keep what they've got over most other offerings.
Ask a French if any English player would make their squad and they might consider Steffon and maybe Manu from 2 years ago, Any more?
So [i]"coaching nous"[/i]? - Whoever wins will have got their tictacs right - Joe's good, but PSA knows his onions too.
Both know that the six nations results meant nothing for this game.
OH, and [i]lack of creativity[/i]...
"absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
All good points until you said
PSA knows his onions too.
Does he? Not so sure.
France didn't really turn up for the last RWC either. Shambolic in the group. Mutiny against Lievremont then followed by a 20 minute purple patch which allowed them to defeat a useless England. A fortunate win over 14 man Wales and then, unbelievably a great performance against a choking ABs side which should have brought them victory. They "turned up" for the final, no doubt, but that was it.
Heinekan cup wins is a better measure of the state of French rugby outside of World Cups
Toulon have won the last 3 but how many French players did they feature? It measures the state of the Top14 but not necessarily how many good French players there are. Even then you can put 15 great French players together in one team and they can still play shit.
I'd love to see France play like we all know they have the capacity to but I'm not holding my breath. 😉
PS
"absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
Yes, very true and Ireland have been hinting they've been keeping something up their sleeves which I sincerely hope is the case because I don't want to watch them kickingitintheairandrunningafterit for 80 minutes again - even though they do it extremely well.
If the rugby world cup site is right Earls is in at 13 for Ireland and Payne isn't even on the bench. Must be injury to Payne
Nice one aa!
Haha great vid!!!!
Friday night, let's turn the rugby on.................
NZ v Tonga. Oh, yawn. These schedules are really crap.
Its due to the football isnt it.
No idea, I don't follow football. Who's on?
Ben Smith tackle there....legs above the horizontal.
That's a one week ban, isn't it?
[url= http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/21/dominiko-waqaniburotu-fiji-ban-australia-jonny-may-england ]Well, it was for Waqaniburotu[/url]
#doublestandards
England v somone or other on itv 1
And then, after a yellow card, three straight penalties at the scrum. For anyone else, that would have been under the posts.
Did Lacey bottle it? Tonga are getting the shitty end of things here. Shit refereeing. NZ should really have had another yellow, and a penalty try there.
#CFH, thing is, I agree with the commentators - it wasn't dangerous. No intent, nobody hurt, just a collision.
Lacey is such a cowardly ref. That last passage of play should have been a penlty try to Tonga and arguably another AB in the bin but he couldn't do it. 👿
Has someone been ploughing in the tatties?
That so should have been penalty try to finish first half.
it wasn't dangerous
Nor was the Fijian tackle on May, though. Precedent set.
Lacey is such a cowardly ref. That last passage of play should have been a penlty try to Tonga and arguably another AB in the bin but he couldn't do it.
I'd wager my left testicle he'd have given a penalty try and another yellow if it had been at the other end of the pitch, though.
Oh look, an international centre who converted over from League just scored. 😆
It must be so depressing when playing against the ABs and they start making replacements - they're normally taking off arguably the best player in the world in his position and replacing him with the reason it's arguable...
That's the definition of a yellow card for a tip tackle.
What's the current ruling on forward passes btw? There was one in the Waikato v Hawkes Bay game this morning that travelled about 5m forward but was ruled ok because his hands moved backwards. (It was an excellent game though.)
What's the current ruling on forward passes btw? There was one in the Waikato v Hawkes Bay game this morning that travelled about 5m forward but was ruled ok because his hands moved backwards.
aka New Zealand Flat.
😉
IMO, ball should go backwards. Nothing to do with the hands, it's always been the movement of the ball.
I think that's pretty much it - so long as the direction of pass (as defined by hand position on release) is backwards then it's ok even if it's traveled forward over the ground due to a player running at full pace when it was passed.
There's a youtube vid that explains it more clearly...
Yeah, seen the video etc but I thought it had been changed to 'ball actually has to go backwards..' Or flat!
If you're running at full tilt, lift the ball over the back of your head, and drop it then it will travel forward. It's the direction of the hands that matters.
Many refs still get fooled when the passing player is tackled just after he passes the ball.
IMO, ball should go backwards. Nothing to do with the hands, it's always been the movement of the ball.
Flashy, valuable as your opinion is, the IRB disagree...
There's a more modern one somewhere.
Well, that's just it, isn't it? It's my opinion. I'm not the IRB. Therefore, we may not agree on everything. 🙂
Lacey was awful in that game. Awful.
Here's the newer one.