Forum Rugby Club

That was a good game. England played better again and are definitely improving. They're still not good enough to beat the Aussies but at least they've saved themselves the embarrasment of an early exit. There were even some flashes of good rugby in there!

There were still a few instances of slow play at the breakdown and a few missed tackles. Those Tongas really play with as much pace and power as any team I've seen, awesome! England were lucky in that Tonga made errors at crucial times and England scored at some very opportune moments.

All in all, England can go away from this World Cup and build for the future with some very exciting young players coming through (most of them still at home or injured) and breathe a sigh of relief that they made the quarter finals.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Rich Cundill:
Agree - the strips worn in the Scotland vs NZ game were ridiculous. If I had been the ref I would have sent one of 'em off to change. How he was supposed to figure out what was going on in ruck and maul situations I have no idea.

Cheers

Rich

Rich

I had heard that the officials had sorted the strips out well before the game so when the AB's were asked to change at half time they said "We didn't bring'em buddy."

J

PS - that's what I believe an AB would say...

quote:

Originally posted by Chillkram:
There were still a few instances of slow play at the breakdown and a few missed tackles. Those Tongas really play with as much pace and power as any team I've seen, awesome! England were lucky in that Tonga made errors at crucial times and England scored at some very opportune moments.

This is the critical observation. Tackles, yes improve (for me, Olly Barkley really isn't justifying his porridge at the moment). But a really big problem is the slowness at the breakdown. This is where England are really getting a hammering and falling behind the modern game.

We still also suffer from prima donna ball-hogs not passing at the right moment and getting bound, ineffectually, into mauls and rucks.

And whilst I'm pleased Sackey scored a couple of times, I was less than impressed with his 'look at me' slow down finish, allowing the Tongan defender to get close enough to cause the ball to be touched down wide-out. Had he kept up most of his pace for the last 20m he would have got much closer to the posts, giving Wilkinson more of a sporting chance at the conversion.

quote:

Originally posted by JWM:
We still also suffer from prima donna ball-hogs not passing at the right moment

I agree, James. I was calling Mark Cueto all sorts of names when he had a three on one 10m out and took the ball into contact rather than putting in one of his two colleagues. Luckily in the following phase they spread it back the other way and Tait ran over to score.

quote:

And whilst I'm pleased Sackey scored a couple of times, I was less than impressed with his 'look at me' slow down finish, allowing the Tongan defender to get close enough to cause the ball to be touched down wide-out. Had he kept up most of his pace for the last 20m he would have got much closer to the posts, giving Wilkinson more of a sporting chance at the conversion.

Again this annoyed me. You will not find this sort of wastefulness and lack of professional 'killer instinct' amongst the ranks of the All Blacks.

Mark

Blinkin 'eck!

I didn't watch the game as I was enjoying an extensive listen to some music. I wish I'd seen it now!

Martyn Williams did the same thing with his try today, even running away from the posts. Jones missed the conversion, and Fiji's try left Wales needing another try for the win.

I still maintain that England are nothing without Jonny. It was his smart thinking that resulted in Sackey's first try, and his drop goal was a vital score.

quote:

Originally posted by Chief Chirpa:
I still maintain that England are nothing without Jonny. It was his smart thinking that resulted in Sackey's first try, and his drop goal was a vital score.

You're probably right, Chief.

It was an excellent match. The first half was dominated by Fiji. The Welsh only really got a look-in when Fiji were down to 14.

One of the best matches so far in terms of result in the balance.
Gary

Agreed - Fiji vs Wales was the best match of the World Cup by far IMHO. Still hard to believe that Fiji have bundled Wales out, but all credit to the Pacific islanders - they played some stunning power rugby and deserved the win.

Come on Scotland

ryan

quote:

Tackles, yes improve (for me, Olly Barkley really isn't justifying his porridge at the moment).

I don't see a place in the team for Barkley in the Australia match as he would get steamrollered by Mortlock. I expect Farrell in the starting line up.

quote:

But a really big problem is the slowness at the breakdown. This is where England are really getting a hammering and falling behind the modern game.

And yet this can change very quickly as England were way out in front 4 or 5 years ago.

quote:

And whilst I'm pleased Sackey scored a couple of times, I was less than impressed with his 'look at me' slow down finish, allowing the Tongan defender to get close enough to cause the ball to be touched down wide-out. Had he kept up most of his pace for the last 20m he would have got much closer to the posts, giving Wilkinson more of a sporting chance at the conversion.

I simply couldn't believe my eyes when he did that, especially as Wilkinson is really struggling to find consistency with the new ball.
John

I admit to knowing very little about Rugby, but I put my £1 to win on England when they were 80-1: would you guys advise I'm safe to start planning what I'll spend my £80 on?

Well we got through after and a lacklustre performance in difficult conditions. Will need an eminently better performance against Argentina or France depending on who gets through and goes top.

At least Chris P was back on form!!

Ryan

ROTF - yeah, another bet - the Aussie's beating England in the next round.......but I don't think you'll get good odds.....

ROTF - Ipswich Town FC have a better chance of winning the Rugby World Cup than England - but then you knew that already.

quote:

Originally posted by Chief Chirpa:
ROTF - Ipswich Town FC have a better chance of winning the Rugby World Cup than England - but then you knew that already.

I'd settle for that.

Soooooo.....NZ to play France in the quarters. I hear alarm bells ringing!

An awesome display from the Argentinian pack to see off Ireland. And Hernandez' display at 10 was supreme. They really did a job on the Irish pack and the amount of turnover ball won at the breakdown was almost embarrassing in the second half. I was a little disappointed too with Brian O'Driscoll's graciousless acceptance of defeat when interviewed after the game. He said that only one team came to play rugby. I don't think that was the case at all. Argentina were fully in control and thoroughly deserved the win. It now puts England's defeat to Argentina at Twickenham last year slightly more into perspective. Worryingly for the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere teams appear to be pulling away again after a few previous years of catch up. Even more worrying, teams like Argentina, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa are forcing their way in front of the Home Nations too.

Mark

A kick arse irish try though - best of the competition imo.

quote:

Originally posted by acad tsunami:
A kick arse irish try though - best of the competition imo.

Definitely!

You weren't at Adams Park this afternoon, then, Mark...?

Ahhhehehehehemmm!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Jay:
Soooooo.....NZ to play France in the quarters. I hear alarm bells ringing!

Not at all

IHMO, 3 main points have been raised during this RWC:

The first, and I believe most important is how well the minor unions have played and fared against the traditional 16 major unions. It really was good for the game to see countries like USA, Romania and Georgia play very good rugby.

Secondly, the players and refs are at last playing the same rules. In the past, it was always "interesting" to note that there was a very definite, yet subtle rule interpretation differences between Northern and Southern hemisphere. Especially around the ruck and maul infringements.

Finally - What is happening to Northern Hemisphere rugby? I personally cant see any Northern teams making it to the semis.

Another point I'd like to put to you all is this......

Why is the tv official only used to decide if a try has been scored.

If he is a match "official" then surely he can intervene, or at least contact the main ref (just like the touch judges) if he spots something everybody else has missed.

There were a few occasions in the Scotland v Italy (ok, so I remember them 'cos I'm biased) but also the Ireland v Argentina game too - where clearly the rules had been flaunted, and in some cases completely ignored - high tackles, tripping the opponent 20 yards from a score, up-ending players in a tackle, blocking opponents......all of which had been missed by all three of the on-pitch officials but repeated in slow mo just to frustrate those watching at home!!

I know it's maybe dangerous territory, and you want to keep the momentum of the game going, but it's something that's been bugging me for a while......

Any thoughts on that one....???

Cheers,
Ali