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Rugby World Cup 2007

Good old channel 10 didn't play the Irish game. Stupid me got up for nothing.

Funniest moment so far? Me taking the piss out of my Aussie mates when it was 12 minutes gone with no score and Aussie decided to take the 3 points rather then run it. Bit scared were they??? bahahahaaa! Oh, then they kicked another one a few minutes later. Good to see they woke up to themselves and prevailed once their nerves had settled.....

NZ played fantasticly. A couple of dropped balls but overall their intentions were clear and they played the best rugby of the weekend.

I'm looking forward to Japan v Fiji on Thursday, Poms v South Africa, NZ v Portugal, and Wales v Australia on Saturday. The latter being a very important game for both sides.
 
gash, i REALLY wanted samoa to win against south africa... they had such a strong opening 38 minutes, then pissed it all away.
 
^^

They looked fantastic with the ball in hand, but they couldn't win a scrum or a lineout to save themselves.

Seriously, it really isn't very often that you see Schalk Burger laid out on his ass in defense...

They were good, but without the set piece, they've got nothing...
 
Great result for Argentina & what a way to open the tournament! France looked as nervous as any team I think I've ever seen on a major occasion. Their half-backs were dreadful, but the decision-making throughout the team was well below-par. They need to improve, & fast, if they're going to mount a realistic challenge for the title.

Ditto England, as they were fucking awful. No penetration, no cohesion, no clue. They were quite obviously busy thinking about Friday's game against South Africa. What with the captain Vickery now being out for the next 2 games, it's looking as if they're going to get slaughtered by the Springboks, who admittedly took a while to get going against Samoa, but produced some nice play in the 2nd half. In the long term though, the loss of De Villiers for the rest of the tournament could prove costly for them.

I expected Italy to give a better account of themselves to be honest. But that's the effect running out to face the All Blacks can have, I suppose: they've got you beaten before a ball has been kicked. They looked ominously good.

Australia had a predictable walk in the park, but they too are showing signs of being typically well-prepared for the tournament ahead.

I was disappointed with Ireland's performance, but like England I think it was very much a case of the players minds being on the tough pool games to come against Argentina & France. They'll improve, I'm quite sure of it.

So what margin do we reckon the All Blacks are going to beat Portugal by? A World Cup record is in the offing surely. Great weekend ahead though, with the Wales v Australia game in Cardiff sure to be an electrifying event, if only for the immense home support the Welsh are going to get.
 
^ Regarding the Blacks and Portugal, I read an interesting article saying that they need to concentrate on working the ball up with the forwards instead of running away with the game by spinning it and dominating with their superior athleticism. We aren't playing any decent teams until the quarters and need to make sure we are using the whole team properly instead of relying on moving the ball wide. Teams like Australia and South Africa will kill that sort of ball completely.

The Cardiff game will be awesome! I think Wales will rise to the occasion. They are so passionate about their football.

Great weekend coming up. :)
 
I saw somewhere that they thought the ABs might beat Portugal by 100. I think that's a definite understatement. I agree that a world cup record is on the cards. (Portugal, I believe, have lost by 50 or 60 to Italy...).

Looking forward to England-SA tomorrow. Could be interesting.
 
^^

NZ are resting almost three quarters of their regular starting 15 though... however it shouldn't matter what with the rotation policy etc... it may even trump the 142 - 3 or whatever it was Australia over Namibia last world cup...
 
Infinite Jest said:
Looking forward to England-SA tomorrow. Could be interesting.
Click to expand...

I seriously don't think England have a chance. However I will be getting up a 5 to see the first decent game of the tournament. Will be good to see what sort of form the boks are in.

Jerry Collins is captain tomorrow night. I'm not sure he's the best choice but will be an interesting game. This time we need to defend for 80 and not let in any weak try's.
 
I'm new to watching Rugby. I'm all for the Springboks and the Italians, but I doubt the azzurri stand much of a chance.

Good game's up tonight! RSA-ENG!
 
^Unfortunately England are playing predictably weak and not putting any pressure on the boks. It was interesting for a while when it was only 10 - 0 and the score was in their grasp but the only reason for that was because every time RSA got the ball in their attacking half, they tried to kick bloody drop goals!! And missed, 3 times I might add. Strange as they had great opportunities to score trys yet they obviously wanted to kick drop goals. :X Two try's were scored but only because of very poor English defence and lack of concentration. I doubt their game plan involves actually crossing the line.

Are there any South Africans here? Is this what you like to watch? Are drop goals more exciting to you than trys? Are you proud of Percy when he takes the soft option? I'll aim the same questions at the Poms. You guys don't mind the less confrontational points either.... Pity Johnny wasn't playing huh?

If the Super 14 started to be dominated by drop goals then no one would watch.:|
 
Drop goals are an art.

And they are relatively rare. If somebody scores one then it´s a testament to the vision and flexibility of the attacking side.

If you understand anything about union you will know that if a scoring opportunity exists then it has to be taken whether it be for a try, penalty or a drop at goal. The team who neglects those options to push for an unlikely try will always lose a close game.


BTW, I am not English or a Saffa.
 
^
I see your point, but I do find it interesting that some teams use the drop goal option a lot more than others; SA have historically been big dropgoalers, NZ haven't. From where we're standing, it seems like the drop goal is a weak option, because it doesn't often seem to result in points; playing for territory and forcing a penalty, or a try, is more in the NZ style.

And remember, SA are missing their drop goals, at least in this game.

Anyhoo, England were even worse than I expected, and it's hard to tell how tough SA really are. Seems like they could be vulnerable if you could move the ball wide on one side, and then switch it back to the other quickly.
 
jude101 said:
If you understand anything about union you will know that if a scoring opportunity exists then it has to be taken whether it be for a try, penalty or a drop at goal. The team who neglects those options to push for an unlikely try will always lose a close game.
Click to expand...

The problem is that the opportunity for the try was bigger than the opportunity for the drop goal.

Hey, if the Boks want to give away their possesion every time they get it against the All Blacks then be my guest. 3 points here and there won't do squat against solid All Black Try's.
 
What a depressingly, humiliatingly predictable defeat for England at the hands of the Springboks. It's shocking how far England have fallen from the heady heights of 2003. They didn't look like scoring once, & the Samoans will definitely fancy their chances against them after watching that game. I really hope that that's not the last we see of Jason Robinson, as aside from being an absolute legend of both codes, he was the only player in the whole England side who was prepared to take the game to them.

The Springboks played well within themselves, I thought, although du Preez was exceptional - I doubt we'll see a better scrum-half performance all tournament.

Wales v Australia was a good game. If Wales had performed in the 1st as they did in the 2nd half, then it could've been a bit closer. Australia aren't the same team without Mortlock on the field.

Ireland looked dodgy again against Georgia. Hope they improve, or else they'll get hammered by the Pumas & France.
 
The refereeing in the Aus v Wales game was fucked.

I find it a touch ridiculous that people who have never been in a scrum (the overwhelming majority of referees) seem to be absolute experts on everything scrum related. The amount of absolutely baffling decisions made was atrocious. Granted the Aussies had a couple of shockers - continually engaging before the call - but other than that it was useless.

CB :)
 
i wish i could watch live games, but i never see them on over here. i watch highlights, but thats all i can get, i think, w/o paying alot more.

saw this article on yahoo:

Rugby-World-New Zealand not the All Blacks for Scotland match


AIX-EN-PROVENCE, Sept 17 (Reuters) - New Zealand players will not be wearing black shirts at a World Cup game for the first time in 12 years when they face Scotland on Sunday but said it would not put them at any disadvantage.

As the home team, Scotland have chosen to wear their traditional dark blue jerseys for the Pool C match at Murrayfield meaning that New Zealand will have to don their silver-grey second strip to avoid a colour clash.

The last time New Zealand wore a non-black jersey at the tournament was against Scotland in the 1995 quarter-finals. Wearing white did not appear to hurt them as they won 48-30.

"We're still playing for New Zealand and running out with the same guys. I guess it won't make a difference, but we'll see," second row Chris Jack told reporters on Monday.

Prop Tony Woodcock agreed with his team mate.

"It's still got the silver fern on, that's the main part," he said.

http://sports.yahoo.com/sr/news?slug=reu-worldzealandshirts&prov=reuters&type=lgns
 
Ireland have dropped Stringer and Hickey for the France game. They are bringing in Reddan for Stringer which is a huge gamble as he only has three caps and none won at this level. That said he was the best in the english premiership last season.

Strange that stringer is not even going to be on the bench though.

And Trimble for Hickey is less of a shock. Trimble is a dangerous and fast young player while Hickey has his best days behind them.

I reckon that Ireland have not played at top form since their two tests against the All Blacks last summer (They narrowly lost each of those games) and I just hope they can pick it up now . .
 
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