The Rugby Thread- Merged Over The Years

[Nieghorn]

Agreed.

I have the feeling Ireland will be going home early.  I'm not sure there will be any more upsets than Argentina (small) one making the QFs, but it's plainly obvious that there is the potential for some nations to have their confidence shocked by the 'minnow' nations - which could affect their over-all game when they meet a fellow 'big fish' later on.  (or at least show them where weaknesses lie)

 

[Scott]

WTF are the rules governing video replay?

In hockey there must be a call made by an official, one way or the other, first.

In the angles I saw the try looked good but yet it wasn't awarded...kudos to Setanta for the worst sports coverage I have ever seen :

Good show, somewhat, by the Canucks but only for the last 20 minutes, the rest of the match they didn't look good. Still, I can't help but thinking that the outcome would have been different had we been awarded that try.

 

[Kat Stevens]

I'm less than impressed with Setanta's coverage of the tournament.  Four years ago, between Fox and Sportsnet, we got every game.

Canada put in a good effort against one of the tournament faves today.  They were never going to come even close to beating Australia, but it was good to see a strong 80 minute defensive effort for a change, without the "final quarter fade" usually seen. Being on the back foot for an entire game is very taxing, and they withstood it well. At the end of the day, we need to work on a few things, like absolutely crap lineout play, and needless penalties in the early minutes.  Big holes in the backs that the Aussies exploited mercilessly, but the scoreline did not reflect the quality, IMO.  Good job boys, overall.

 

[Scott]

Yup, Setanta sucks.

I urge everyone interested to write to Rugby Canada explaining this to them. How will rugby ever gain fans in Canada with delayed games? The whole thing was BS, 15 bucks a month and I have seen more soccer than rugby. Seriously, we can get all of our main sports without having to pay through the nose, imagine if the CBC started charging for HNIC? There would be a riot! The IRB has to take a long hard look at this.

Not quite the tournament I was hoping for from Canada but they did not disappoint me. We'll be that much better in four years.

 

[Kat Stevens]

So, England's holiday on The Continent continues, and the Wallabies get to go home and burn a few Union Jacks and winge about "boring" English rugby.  The English pack pushed them all over the paddock...AWESOME, where were these guys in the pool play?  The Mighty All Blacks (tm) also got handed plane fair home, courtesy of France.  BEST WORLD CUP EVER!!!!!

 

[Trooper Hale]

English Rugby is loved over here. I've never heard anyone complain about it being boring. And I'll personally knock anyone who burns a Union Jack. Come on Kat, don't bash Aussies for the sake of it. Thats just rude. I know i'll be watching England now and hoping they take it home.
I was really hoping the Kiwi's would thrash France too. I personally thought the French were arrogant coming into the comp and i loved it when the Argies knocked them over at the start!
Theres nothing like a French home game against New Zealand in Wales to really make a bloke laugh!

 

[Kat Stevens]

Nothing personal, Hale, me ol' cobber.  I get daily updates from rugbyheaven.com, and it comes from your part of the planet.  There's a columnist on there named Spiros Zavos, or some other fine Scottish sounding name.  He delights in spewing the most vitriolic anti England crap I've ever read in my life, as do most of their staffers.  We are led to believe that the only thing that it's worse to be than an Englishman down under is a rabid dingo.  To be fair, the Wallabies weren't putting their best foot forward, and the English forwards put on a great display of smash-mouth rugby.  Wilko's boot made all the difference....again.
  As for France v NZ, it was more a case of who I wanted to lose less rather than win.  You're right about the French arrogance, but the ABs were due for a taking down, and they got it.  I can only hope now that Fiji physically brutalize RSA,  and the Argies and Jocks batter each other into the ground.  It's been great stuff so far, and I said a month or so ago to watch for some upsets, Saturday had two of them.

 

[Trooper Hale]

I think its a great spectacle and its great to see some of the smaller teams create those upsets like you said. I havent seen the match from last night yet (Yay VCR and taping stuff!) but i wouldnt doubt that the Aussies dropped their bundle. Its something they seem to be doing lately. Their definately not the Wallabies of old.
Wilkinson is amazing. I heard somewhere (and i had been drinking at the time so i could very easily be wrong) that he's played less then 6 internationals since the last world cup? He's the perfect Five Eight. He creates things that Da Vinci would be proud of. I know people (girls) who know nothing about Rugby and guess who their favorite player is?
I've got a little while off work so i'm really looking forward to staying up over the next little while and watching a few more of the games. Fiji are fantastic and as someone who used to really love 7's and 10's rugby, the way they play is awesome. The speed is something to behold. I reckon they'll be smashed by the Bok's though. Should be good however.

 

[cobbler]

English Rugby is loved over here. I've never heard anyone complain about it being boring. And I'll personally knock anyone who burns a Union Jack. Come on Kat, don't bash Aussies for the sake of it. Thats just rude. I know i'll be watching England now and hoping they take it home.
I was really hoping the Kiwi's would thrash France too. I personally thought the French were arrogant coming into the comp and i loved it when the Argies knocked them over at the start!
Theres nothing like a French home game against New Zealand in Wales to really make a bloke laugh!

You havnt spoken to too many people about it then mate.

Northern Hemisphere rugby sucks the big one, oh well whatever works so congrats.

I guess I'll root for the Scots now, or the argies.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Interview with the SA coach I read yesterday says that if his side lets Fiji play sevens style rugby when they meet, they'll run his side off the park.

You havnt spoken to too many people about it then mate.

Northern Hemisphere rugby sucks the big one, oh well whatever works so congrats.

I guess I'll root for the Scots now, or the argies.

Point made, another Southern Hem ABE (Anybody But England) fan.  You guys down there need to stop pissing about and allow the Islanders and Argentina into SANZAR to liven things up, Tri-Nations is becoming a bit of a stale concept.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Let's hear it for rugby that sucks the big one, England through to the final!  Not the prettiest rugby ever, but the forwards ground the French pack down, and Wilko put them to the sword, again.

 

[geo]

Next Sat's day should be interesting.
North VS south hemisphere

same as Friday's battle for 3rd.

 

[Kat Stevens]

I hope Argentina wins tomorrow, but I hope RSA physically batter them in the process.  I'm doubtful, but optimistic, that England can find 80 mins of smash mouth rugby in the gas tank.  Gonna be a cracker!

 

[Benny]

Argentina was never going to beat SA, but well done to them for getting this far. I'm tipping england to take the whole thing out, and deservingly so. The wallabies just aren't in good form, and the all blacks world cup curse continues. So imho the 2 best teams are in the final.

oh, and a note to friends, don't send sms' at 6am in the morning on a saturday whilst you're still out drinking. I DO NOT need to know the result straight away!!

 

[Trooper Hale]

oh, and a note to friends, don't send sms' at 6am in the morning on a saturday whilst you're still out drinking. I DO NOT need to know the result straight away!!

I dont remember doing it but... My bad. ;D

 

[geo]

oh well....
3rd place match on Friday (3PM EDT) Argies VS French
Final on Saturday (3 PM EDT) Brits VS Afrikaans

I already have my place reserved for Saturday afternoon

 

[Falange]

I hope the Pumas get the third place. Most of them do the rugby thing part-time so it is really awsome how far they got.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Looks like you get your wish.  The Pumas smashed France this afternoon 34-10.  Argies go home as proud as peacocks, and the hosts end up with nothing for the silverware drawer... C'est la guerre (sp?).  $25  $30 to see the final on PPV tomorrow... my expressvu bill is going to be the size of Luxembourg's defense budget.



edited to change the ppv price, like it matters

 

[Kat Stevens]

Well, congrats to South Africa on a hard fought and well earned RWC 07 championship.  England fought the good fight, just not enough left in the tank, and they got 3 more games than they should have based on the pool play.

Lt. General Frederick "Boy" Browning: "Well, as you know, I always felt we tried to go a bridge too far."

Good job, boys, I'm proud of ya! 

edited for a typo

 

[geo]

Hey Kat,
Watched the game yesterday. As you say, RZA played well and earned their victory. 

Some of the refferee's decisions were a little dodgy (dissalowed try), but in the end the trophy went to the better team.

Up the Springboks!