Rugby World Cup

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Perhaps I could stir things up by saying I thought Gregor Townsend had a good match, and that he would still by my pick for a British Lions team at fly half.

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I don't think Gregor would get in the English or Irish world cup squads. Still, you did say 'your' pick ....

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Perhaps I could stir things up by saying I thought Gregor Townsend had a good match, and that he would still by my pick for a British Lions team at fly half.

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Dozy, surely you're joking. He had a lousy game, completely lacking in any imagination, always kicking the ball unnecessarily and losing possession.

...and the Scottish coaches seem to agree. Paterson is selected at No.10 for the Fiji game.

Bruce

Anyone else get the feeling that if England participate in a semi-final against say...France,that England stand a very good chance of being booted out of the tournament?

The ABs on the other hand should beat SA and Australia..

I reaaaly hope the final is NZ vs England



red

Well redeye, France are very good in semi-finals I believe (tee hee), but England have beaten them consistently over the past year. Mind you, France did look pretty good against Scotland (but then, doesn't everyone?)

Seems like the Aussies think the way to beat England is to get them kicked out for fielding 16 players for 34 seconds! God knows how that can happen. Surely it's up to the match officials to police who is coming on and off the field during a game? Anyway, I don't think Luger's good enough to be much of an advantage.

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I reaaaly hope the final is NZ vs England

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Me too!

Anyone else get the feeling that if England participate in a semi-final against say...France,that England stand a very good chance of being booted out of the tournament?

If we play to our full ability we will blow France off the Park as we proved in the Six Nations as well as in the warm up game at Twickenham before the WC. The problem is, we have not got anywhere near to playing our best Rugby...
As for the ABs, you are still a long way from that final with Australia, SA/Samoa in your way.
John

I like it how the Aussies are trying anything to diss England and their chances of winning.
Another thing worth pointing out is the RWC is not a 1 off test match (group stages). The important thing is to win each game. England have done this so far, all be it with a below par perfomance (Samoa).
But, they STILL won. They keep winning. They now have got into the winning habit. Can the other teams (OZ, NZ, SA, FRA) claim the same recent consitancy?
I think not, because England have beaten them all at least twice in the last couple of years.
But, as usual with an England team, we build it up to be disappointed... or will we be...
Mmmm

Dave J - not joking at all. He was under immense pressure from the french back row, and his defense was great.

Bruce - I don't think Paterson gets the next game because of any problem with Gregor Townsend - other than GT might need a rest after his exertions, and we will need our best fly half for the quarter finals.

Everyone else - would Jonny Wilkinson make a good full back? The silence has been deafening!

Alan

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Everyone else - would Jonny Wilkinson make a good full back? The silence has been deafening!

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Not really. It's a bit of a waste to put the world's best fly half at full back - especially when you also have Robinson, Balshaw and Lewsey too.

But Patrick - not everyone thinks JW is "the world's best fly half". For example, I think Gregor Townsend is better at running through defenses. The question was whether he has what it takes to be the world's best full back.

Alan

Alan, you're clearly looking through 'blue' tinted glasses.

To be the world's best FB, you have to be as quick as a wing. Therefore JW would not be the world's best FB.

If you remember England v Ireland last year, JW ran through the Irish defence almost at will - so he can do it as well as anyone when the conditions are right. At the moment he has two big problems; a scrum half that can't pass properly (short and either too low, or high and slow) and several other team mates that insist on running in his channel.

Patrick - thanks for the sensible reply. I freely admit that my outlook may be biased!

So JW lacks speed - I can understand that.

Although JW does not float my boat with ball in hand, I think his tactic of kicking for the wing threequarters is first rate, and is something other fly half's have ignored in the past.

Alan

Watching very early stages of France vs USA

I think the fundamental difference is this..


If you want a fantastic, exciting World Cup Final with outrageously brilliant tries being scored from every bit of the field you go for NZ v France

If you want a dour, uneventful arm wrestle where sod all really happens you go NZ v England


O c'mon...you know its true

red

Redeye,
would your suggestion have anything to do with the point that NZ want to face the French 'cos the French defence is crap compared to Englands when under pressure?
And all this is supposition because NZ have got to get past South Africa and Austrailia potentially... (and England have got to get past Wales? and France (not easy))

Redeye, sounds like you should be watching sevens. OK, it's fun, but it's not the real thing.

Patrick..

Thats like saying Brazil don't play "real" football

Having said that I still believe the final will be Eng vs ABs. And I still believe this AB side have the creativity and the wheels to win it.

Bring it on

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Thats like saying Brazil don't play "real" football

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Well actually they don't!

Brazil might have won the World Cup but the Champions League is a much higher standard of football.

The problem with the World Cup is that the teams have to pick players based on where they were born or where their parents or grandparents were born.......without any transfer market.

Ridiculous!

Chris

And I still believe this AB side have the creativity and the wheels to win it.

Assuming England play to their full ability and remembering you have lost the last two games against us, what makes you think you will do better this time?
John

So where are all the Aussies here? A narrow win at home against the third best team in the Northern Hemisphere. Doesn't look like world cup winning form to me. Well done to Ireland though - I bet Scotland aren't quite as tough.

Looking forward to warching the ABs against Wales tomorrow. Shouldn't be too difficult, but it will be nice to watch the fantastic rugby redeye is talking about ....

Assuming England play to their full ability and remembering you have lost the last two games against us, what makes you think you will do better this time?
John[/QUOTE]


Assuming the All Blacks play to their full ability what makes you think they won't?

Reasons to be cheerful...

We now have a goal kicker (2 even)

We now have a hooker who can throw to the lineout (phew!)

We have Brad Thorne

Home and away wins against Australia and SA in the last couple of months (incl 50 odd points scored in a couple of those games)

A hard nosed coach who used to work for England and has no illusions

Possibly the best backline in world rugby



Most people over here are pretty realistic (me included, believe it or not) and know that winning the thing is a huge ask.
Professionalism has changed rugby forever. England used to be soft, they'd always squeal eventually. Not anymore..

I'm optimistic because this All Black side shows all the signs of being one of the great ones. They're certainly young enough

red

Assuming the All Blacks play to their full ability what makes you think they won't?

I think what I was really getting at was, if an Englishman claimed we were going to win the WC despite not being ranked number one in the World and having failed twice in the last year or so to beat their main rival they would be accused of being arrogant, ignorant (or worse).

We now have a goal kicker (2 even)

Yeah, but we have a better one!

We now have a hooker who can throw to the lineout (phew!)

But I bet he can't run as fast as ours.

Possibly the best backline in world rugby

And we have got unquestionably the best pack, which is what makes it so interesting.
John

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Possibly the best backline in world rugby

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Just watched ABs v Wales. I guess we should hear your excuses first redeye, but you definitely don't have the best backline without the ball.

Wales played well - but they're really not that good. They beat the ABs time and again when they ran at them with the ball. The ref was a bit relaxed about the ABs diving over at the ruck I thought, and as for the forward pass for the try ... hard luck on Wales.

You might score 50+ points, redeye, but I reckon you could easily leak more to a really good side.

Now it all gets really serious.

I'm just glad Wales only put out their second team, otherwise NZ may have landed in the wrong half of the draw and Australia may have started fancying their chances for the cup.
John

Wales did play well but had a leaky defence. Then again the AB's were made to look ordinary by some of the Welsh play. However, class told in the end.

Beware the French!!

Milan

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Originally posted by Milan:
However, class told in the end.

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I think it was fitness that told in the end as Wales really struggled for the last 20 minutes. I did enjoy the game though, especially as after the early NZ try I really thought Wales were in for an absolute hammering - but overall they gave a decent account of themselves.

The NZ defence was surprisingly poor but some of their running play was impressive.

Regards
Steve