JB Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 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. It's quite simple, Wales have looked a far better team than us for a while now. For some time, England have looked one-dimensional. Against a better team than we faced, Wales produced a fantastic performance that makes me think they could be competitive against anyone. The likely QF against the Aussies will be one hell of a game that I can see going either way. England, on the other hand, look lacking in so many areas and based on our last few performances, I can't see us getting past France in the QF or Wales/Wallabies in the semis. Ben Dirs has written an excellent article on it on the BBC. As a proud Englishman, it really pains me to say it and I hate to be critical of my national team. Having gone to uni and lived in Cardiff, with loads of Welsh mates, I can't help but envy the passion of their support and how much it seems to mean to their players. I think we've got the players to be a hell of a side but the selection and coaching seems to be lacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissmith921 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 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. Id much rather have won than not (obviously) but the pleasing thing is we've got a good enough team to win our games against those bogey teams of ours - we've shown now over the last 3 games that we can stand with the best when it comes to a physical, battering ram approach of rugby (England, Argentina, South Africa) - and for once, our 6'10 weapon in the lineout did something useful! Our scrum needs no introduction - we will front up against absolutely anyone in that tournament with AJ in the front row and we'll turn them over - again, the recent 3 we've played are all scrummaging teams and more than held our own in the 3. Its just very disappointing that we failed to take the chances on offer. Hindsight would suggest Hook at 13, Halfpenny/Byrne at 15 would have been a better choice but we're in knockout rugby now and have to make it our priority to progress, and then think about (probably) Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissmith921 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 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. It's quite simple, Wales have looked a far better team than us for a while now. For some time, England have looked one-dimensional. Against a better team than we faced, Wales produced a fantastic performance that makes me think they could be competitive against anyone. The likely QF against the Aussies will be one hell of a game that I can see going either way. England, on the other hand, look lacking in so many areas and based on our last few performances, I can't see us getting past France in the QF or Wales/Wallabies in the semis. Ben Dirs has written an excellent article on it on the BBC. As a proud Englishman, it really pains me to say it and I hate to be critical of my national team. Having gone to uni and lived in Cardiff, with loads of Welsh mates, I can't help but envy the passion of their support and how much it seems to mean to their players. I think we've got the players to be a hell of a side but the selection and coaching seems to be lacking. I dont know what Andy Powell had been on - but as soon as SA went in front they should have wheeled him on. He either would have won us the game or killed someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Ha ha yeah I saw that. Although I've seen first hand what a bell end of the highest order he is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieB Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Have to agree that out of the home nations so far Wales were by far the best Rugby team. Gave the Springboks a real scare they did. What an absolutely fantastic game of Rugby it was as well, especially second half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 ^^^^ 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. touche! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezza Posted September 12, 2011 Author Share Posted September 12, 2011 ^^^^ 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. touche! Good on yer, Ponky! The RWC so far shows that the so-called "lesser" sides are getting better coached, physically bigger and more tactically aware - so that in a few years, in wouldn't surprise me to see the likes of the USA and Canada getting to the semi-final stages. Would still love to see a team like Tonga winning the cup, though - that would be awesome for the Pacific nations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 ^^^^ 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. touche! Good on yer, Ponky! The RWC so far shows that the so-called "lesser" sides are getting better coached, physically bigger and more tactically aware - so that in a few years, in wouldn't surprise me to see the likes of the USA and Canada getting to the semi-final stages. Would still love to see a team like Tonga winning the cup, though - that would be awesome for the Pacific nations. Agreed. Having been to Fiji and seen how awesome the people there are (and played a bit of rugby with them), they're my second team. I really want them to get through their group. I would bloody love to see them win it. Just seen that Courtney Lawes has been cited. A bit harsh to say the least. Loved the way he stepped up and put himself about on Saturday. I'll be gutted if he misses any games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunRickyRun Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I've been really impressed with the 'minnows' so far. Usually the group stages are largely poor games but there have been plenty of nailbiting games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDuck Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 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. What the Aussie press excel at is bragging about how awesome their teams are when they are winning everything, and finding something else to write about when they are not. And bashing poms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissmith921 Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 ^^^^ 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. touche! Good on yer, Ponky! The RWC so far shows that the so-called "lesser" sides are getting better coached, physically bigger and more tactically aware - so that in a few years, in wouldn't surprise me to see the likes of the USA and Canada getting to the semi-final stages. Would still love to see a team like Tonga winning the cup, though - that would be awesome for the Pacific nations. USA/Canada making a semi final, or Tonga winning it wont happen in our lifetimes. The lure of wearing an All Black shirt is too great for any youngster growing up in Tonga - the best ones are picked at an early age and taken - USA/Canada simply put, don't care enough about the sport for it to be successful there. Tonga winning the Rugby World Cup would be like Ghana winning the football one - great to think it might happen, would be fantastic for the nation and their region - but they just don't have the localised infrastructure to develop the players - and as the game gets more professional, the less chance they'll have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theunderstudy Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 It won't happen for a long while for me.... No-one for me outside of Aus, NZ, SA, Eng and Fra will win it in the next x amount of cups IMO... Before someone rubbishes me, its the same in football. When was the last time a non-top side won the World Cup?, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I've been really impressed with the 'minnows' so far. Usually the group stages are largely poor games but there have been plenty of nailbiting games I agree, Scotland weren't too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunRickyRun Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I've been really impressed with the 'minnows' so far. Usually the group stages are largely poor games but there have been plenty of nailbiting games I agree, Scotland weren't too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangkokVilla Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 USA/Canada making a semi final, or Tonga winning it wont happen in our lifetimes. Agree about Tonga and Canada I don't think they have the talent pool or resources but having spent time in the US I know they are very serious and dedicated athletes over there and I can see them improving in time. I don't think anyone would have predicted Argentina finishing 3rd in 2007 20 years previously. In other news, just read that Andrew Sheridan is out for the rest of the tournament... a big loss for England but the Aussie scrum will be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Yes when you consider how small a percantage of Australians follow Rugby (as opposed to the numbers that follow AFL and League) then consider we only have 22m people to start with, it wouldn't take a very big percentage of Americans to get into it for them to field a competative team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrissmith921 Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Yes when you consider how small a percantage of Australians follow Rugby (as opposed to the numbers that follow AFL and League) then consider we only have 22m people to start with, it wouldn't take a very big percentage of Americans to get into it for them to field a competative team. How American sport is setup domestically though makes it very difficult for any new sport to break through the ranks. You'd need their big colleges backing it, therefore creating a local talent pool to support a professional game on top. I cant see that happening and although they may get individuals playing at top clubs, they'll need the continual competitive games to become good enough to achieve that. Argentina - it was a perfect storm for them - kinda like Bulgaria in 94, South Korea in 02 for football - right place, right time for a group of talented individuals. Id love to see Rugby spread beyond its current core, but I really can't see the US being next. Eastern Europe would be a bigger shout for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theunderstudy Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 The likes of Georgia, Russia and Romania are testament to this. I'm surprised Germany haven't ever tried to assemble a decent side. Oh btw Scotland still top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 I will be shocked if Scotland make it through to next round. Abysmal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theunderstudy Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 All boils down to the match with England. Scotland were poor in attack today but very tough in defence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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