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Rugby World Cup 2011


Jezza

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Fair point Ponky - just seems like the Aussie press love to get stuck into the Poms!!! (They were pretty quiet as the Ashes series went on, though!) But the British press (as we know) are notorious for putting the boot in wherever they can

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Thought Lawes was good. He stepped up to the physicality more than anyone else. Foden made one great break then completely fluffed the pass to Armitage - who also did well I thought - that would've sent him over in the corner.

Fair enough, Lawes probably did do okay. I do like him, too.

On the Foden/Armitage thing, surely that was Armitage's error? He should have got closer to Foden, I thought.

Agreed - Armitage should have been a lot closer anyway as he would have then been able to step the guy and do him on the outside (any international winger would have backed himself in that situation)... looked to me like Armitage was short on confidence and was hiding...

On the Wales aspect - handled that physical encounter well, even bullied them (they've come off worse with Matfield and their 12... forget the name... going off injured) - but the same old thing - can look at the referee (Hooks kick was clearly over), but we should have won it by 15-20 points given how much we crucified them all over the park.

Gutted in truth - good performance but should have won it and be preparing to take apart the Irish in the quarters, rather than a backs-to-the-wall game against Australia :(

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Agreed - Armitage should have been a lot closer anyway as he would have then been able to step the guy and do him on the outside (any international winger would have backed himself in that situation)... looked to me like Armitage was short on confidence and was hiding...

Absolutely. As a former winger myself that was pretty much my reading of the situation although I guess it could have been inexperience or that the moment got to him a little. Whatever it was he made a mistake, didn't pick the right line to run to support the play and left his team mate needing to make one hell of a pass to reach him.

On the Wales aspect - handled that physical encounter well, even bullied them (they've come off worse with Matfield and their 12... forget the name... going off injured) - but the same old thing - can look at the referee (Hooks kick was clearly over), but we should have won it by 15-20 points given how much we crucified them all over the park.

I thought Wales were outstanding. You should have won and would have won but for a poor decision and SA could have no complaints if you had won. You were right about the fitness of the side, they look in outstanding condition based on that performance.

I'm not knocking Wales but it also looked to me a fairly poor SA side by their own standards.

Gutted in truth - good performance but should have won it and be preparing to take apart the Irish in the quarters, rather than a backs-to-the-wall game against Australia :(

If you can play like that again against Australia then I'd say you have little to fear and you just never know.

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Jezza do you think the Aussie papers are saying anything the English ones aren't?

That will get stuck into the Aussie performances once they start sucking too!

Having lived in Australia for 12 months I have to say I the Aussie papers and media in general don't get even close to the English ones in terms of their coverage or criticism of negative performances or results.

Oh and they do absolutely love a good bit of pom bashing their is no disputing that.

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On the Wales aspect - handled that physical encounter well, even bullied them (they've come off worse with Matfield and their 12... forget the name... going off injured) - but the same old thing - can look at the referee (Hooks kick was clearly over), but we should have won it by 15-20 points given how much we crucified them all over the park.

Gutted in truth - good performance but should have won it and be preparing to take apart the Irish in the quarters, rather than a backs-to-the-wall game against Australia :(

Mortified after the Wales game and really don't know what to think about their chances anymore. I used to think that if Wales won enough ball upfront they could beat any team in the world. Now they have completely dominated a game against SA for nearly a whole 80 minutes and they still manage to lose!

I just hope they can keep up the concentration levels to dispatch the south sea islanders and then kick on whoever they meet in the QF (I don't think the Aussies beating Ireland is the given everyone is taking it as).

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On the Wales aspect - handled that physical encounter well, even bullied them (they've come off worse with Matfield and their 12... forget the name... going off injured) - but the same old thing - can look at the referee (Hooks kick was clearly over), but we should have won it by 15-20 points given how much we crucified them all over the park.

Gutted in truth - good performance but should have won it and be preparing to take apart the Irish in the quarters, rather than a backs-to-the-wall game against Australia :(

Mortified after the Wales game and really don't know what to think about their chances anymore. I used to think that if Wales won enough ball upfront they could beat any team in the world. Now they have completely dominated a game against SA for nearly a whole 80 minutes and they still manage to lose!

I just hope they can keep up the concentration levels to dispatch the south sea islanders and then kick on whoever they meet in the QF (I don't think the Aussies beating Ireland is the given everyone is taking it as).

On that performance against the Jarpies, I think it will be the teams who will be facing Wales in the following games who need to worry. Wales' game and their game-plan is basically pretty much in order.

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I dunno, South Africa played much the same as England - poor against an aggressive side, but got the win. Wales need to watch out for the other teams in their group, as do Argentina. No doubt everyone now expects Argentina to go through, but I don't, in fact I'm confident Scotland will beat them. (Double-edged sword as the 2nd placed team will inevitably play the Kiwis.)

Have to say Digby Ioane looked class against Italy.

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And I fully expect to see Jonny May in this England side in a few years, been class so far this season, 2 tries in 2 games to his name from centre, bloody quick as well.

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^^^^ and that, my learned friend, is the beauty of any international tournament - something that I daresay the blinkered Aussie rules lovers here in Victoria know nothing about. Did I say that out loud???? :winkold:

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Wales were awesome in almost every area. It sounds strange but I'd rather have had that performance and lost than England's and won. It bodes much better, not just for the rest of the tournament but the future as a whole. Wales look arguably like the best team in the northern hemisphere at the moment for me. The attitude of "a win is a win" that England seem to take is quite dangerous I think. Sometimes you'll need something a bit extra than just grinding it out to win a game.

As for the kick though - I guess I'm in the minority but I genuinely thought it missed! It's not Wayne Barnes's fault as he was entitled to go with the decision of the two guys with the best view in the stadium. Haven't seen a replay since but I think there might also have been a hint of a forward pass from Priestland for Faletau's try...

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Wales best NH side? Best showing certainly, although England's victory was not against some terrible side, a lot of people have forgotten how well Argentina did at the 2007RWC.

England's problem for me is similar to the football side. Refusal to play younger talented hungry players and sticking with the old guard. I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Sharples, Burns and May, all got passed over for years, the same as Simpson-Daniel did for us.

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Wales were awesome in almost every area. It sounds strange but I'd rather have had that performance and lost than England's and won

Why? Wales will almost certainly face Australia in the quarter finals if they make it out of the group. The games against Fiji and Samoa become big games too, and Wales dont have the greatest record against the south Pacific sides. Cup rugby is all about results, yes, Wales will take a lot of heart for their performance against the Springboks, but I am sure they would rather have a win and some points on the table.

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Wales best NH side? Best showing certainly, although England's victory was not against some terrible side, a lot of people have forgotten how well Argentina did at the 2007RWC.

England's problem for me is similar to the football side. Refusal to play younger talented hungry players and sticking with the old guard. I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Sharples, Burns and May, all got passed over for years, the same as Simpson-Daniel did for us.

I totally agree with you mate. England just haven't been playing well for too long now. Wales look stronger, quicker and hungrier.

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^^^^ and that, my learned friend, is the beauty of any international tournament - something that I daresay the blinkered Aussie rules lovers here in Victoria know nothing about. Did I say that out loud???? :winkold:

Hmmm, 90,000 at Carlton vs Essendon at the MCG yesterday.

Did they get that for the first round of matches in total at the RWC?

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^^^^ and that, my learned friend, is the beauty of any international tournament - something that I daresay the blinkered Aussie rules lovers here in Victoria know nothing about. Did I say that out loud???? :winkold:

Hmmm, 90,000 at Carlton vs Essendon at the MCG yesterday.

Did they get that for the first round of matches in total at the RWC?

It aint the World Cup's fault that there is **** all else to do in Melbourne. ;)

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^^^^ and that, my learned friend, is the beauty of any international tournament - something that I daresay the blinkered Aussie rules lovers here in Victoria know nothing about. Did I say that out loud???? :winkold:

Hmmm, 90,000 at Carlton vs Essendon at the MCG yesterday.

Did they get that for the first round of matches in total at the RWC?

90000 drongos at an AFL match does not prevent it from being a shit sport :winkold:

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Wales best NH side? Best showing certainly, although England's victory was not against some terrible side, a lot of people have forgotten how well Argentina did at the 2007RWC.

England's problem for me is similar to the football side. Refusal to play younger talented hungry players and sticking with the old guard. I wouldn't be surprised if the likes of Sharples, Burns and May, all got passed over for years, the same as Simpson-Daniel did for us.

The problem for me with England is the way its bred into players to play that way.

In school (admittedly now, 10 years ago) we played against big rugby schools and they all played the same way - kept it tight, had pre-planned strike moves that in phase one were bloody tough but after that there was nothing.

When Armitage came in, he was a breath of fresh air (same as Foden, really) - picking different angles of running, playing on the shoulder and hitting the line, popping out of the tackle, but now seems all too happy to die with the ball - a shame.

A talent from this side of the bridge to watch - Matthew Morgan, a young 10 at Ospreys. Fantastic player. Maybe a bit small, but with Knoyle and Roberts either side of him in the next 10 years of international rugby, he'll be fine ;)

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