One of my brothers lives in a Welsh valley so if Ireland -v- Wales happens and you hear a lone voice screaming with delight whilst Wales get a lesson in how to play the game you will know where one of my family live, lol.
Rugby World Cup
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One of my brothers lives in a Welsh valley so if Ireland -v- Wales happens and you hear a lone voice screaming with delight whilst Wales get a lesson in how to play the game you will know where one of my family live, lol.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
cynical professional cheats wearing red roses really get my goat. they have the talent, they don't need to do it, and against a side with a place kicker we (will) pay the price, and the trouble is it is so ingrained in the 'usual suspects' that they can't help themselves.
i hope today's brace of tries don't erase the question marks over Mr Hape's presence in a test team but way to go Simon Shaw. England captain at 38!
England will not be a contender unless they learn to infringe without the ref seeing it. They ought watch Richie McCaw to see how it's done! 
A good performance by Ireland, for sure, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. As a one-off result, it's a morale lifting performance for the Irish and will stay in the record books as a win but in context of the tournament it only really sees them out of the pool stages - which would probably had happened anyway even if they'd lost to the Aussies. The games that matter are yet to come.
Personally speaking, I've been really impressed so far with the performance of the so-called minnows of the game. They've played with real passion and no shortage of talent only to be found out in the final 20 minutes of the game. Canada impressed me again this morning against France.
That said, I don't think any of the favourites have really clicked yet. Perhaps keeping the powder dry, fielding weakened line-ups and/or resting key players... who knows?... as I say, important matches yet to come.
Looking forward to France v All Blacks next Saturday though! France are the ABs bogey side, it's the 'choker' for the ABs, and your average AB fan is concerned about that game!
A good performance by Ireland, for sure, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. As a one-off result, it's a morale lifting performance for the Irish and will stay in the record books as a win but in context of the tournament it only really sees them out of the pool stages - which would probably had happened anyway even if they'd lost to the Aussies. The games that matter are yet to come.
Personally speaking, I've been really impressed so far with the performance of the so-called minnows of the game. They've played with real passion and no shortage of talent only to be found out in the final 20 minutes of the game. Canada impressed me again this morning against France.
That said, I don't think any of the favourites have really clicked yet. Perhaps keeping the powder dry, fielding weakened line-ups and/or resting key players... who knows?... as I say, important matches yet to come.
Looking forward to France v All Blacks next Saturday though! France are the ABs bogey side, it's the 'choker' for the ABs, and your average AB fan is concerned about that game!
Chromatic
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
+1, but unfortunately I suspect it will only do the opposite, a lot of raving over his performance, which will then be followed by him putting in numerous useless performances the like of which he has put in in every other game he has played.
Also applies to Banahan, who is a one trick pony (carthorse, more accurately) and, remembering the Wales warm up game, if he cannot perform that trick against an opponent the size of Shane Williams then there is no point to him being there.
France didn't turn up. Well, the expected team didn't anyway. A "weakened team"? Perhaps, but no player wants to loose. That said, finishing 2nd in the group does mean a slighter easier route to the final. Hmmmm....
I kind of suspected Argentina would scrap a win against Scotland. They would have picked that match as the one to win and been fired up for it. A great result (unless you're a Scot!). Scotland to beat England? It could happen, but you wouldn't bet on it would you? I think Scotland are packing their bags.
All Blacks on fire though eh? That was pretty much a full strength team, no chances being taken and ghosts to lay to rest. I think we may have seen the best team in the tournament... but then the ABs do choke on the big day, so who knows if they are to be the winners.
There's some cracking matches to come methinks.
I kind of suspected Argentina would scrap a win against Scotland. They would have picked that match as the one to win and been fired up for it. A great result (unless you're a Scot!). Scotland to beat England? It could happen, but you wouldn't bet on it would you? I think Scotland are packing their bags.
All Blacks on fire though eh? That was pretty much a full strength team, no chances being taken and ghosts to lay to rest. I think we may have seen the best team in the tournament... but then the ABs do choke on the big day, so who knows if they are to be the winners.
There's some cracking matches to come methinks.
Dayvo
just passin' through
- Location
- 59° 50′ 5.55″ N, 10° 47′ 41.89″ E
Must have been something in the beef! Mind you, Scotland have beaten England on several occasions when being the 'underdog'.
May the best team win.
Keith Oates
Janner
- Location
- Penarth, Wales
Agree with that Dayvo, it's not all over yet and next week England will have to be in top form to overcome Scotland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have you watched Scotland of late Keith? Very patchy imho. They beat Ireland earlier in the year but they've been a shadow of their former selves, imho. It's why I had a feeling that Argentina would rumble them.
Scotland will be psych'ed up to beat the auld enemy and they'll have everything to play for. True, England are not being overly consistent of late (can be awful in truth) and lack discipline... plus - unlike Scotland - don't have to win (in fact, can loose and still finish top of the pool!) BUT, even after saying all of that, I reckon England could still win it at a canter! Scotland really are pretty poor at the moment..
lukesdad
Guest
I think the welsh game has improved a lot this year. The set piece midfield and defence is more robust. The real change though has been the difference in discipline. Finally we are starting to play the game like the rest of the world.
I've always been an admirer of the Welsh game. Certainly for me they play the best game of the home nation's teams.
People here will know that the Southern Hemisphere teams play a different game; it's faster, they keep the ball alive and there's more emphasis on attack. So you tend to see higher scoring matches. That wasn't the case maybe 20 years ago, games were more of a slog. I sort of track it back to the way the Aussies changed the way League was played in the 80s. Union in the southern hemisphere seemed to pick up on those changes.
However, up here in 6 nations land, we've kind of stayed behind the times. England seem resolutley stuck to trying to slow the game down (at least in the forwards) and control it. It's old school, dull to watch (except for the purist) and does my head in! The Irish have made good attempts to adapt, and I think their game is a good example of maximising your strengths.
To come back to the Welsh game (and bring my witterings to a close!), I think they are perhaps the team closest to being able to play in the southern hemisphere style - that's why I rate them as I do. (Btw, the French have always been a law unto themselves!)
A final btw. I'm not talking about results here; we've seen old school beat the new boy, for sure. I'm talking about how I like to see the game played. Fast, attacking rugby rather than a slog fest!
People here will know that the Southern Hemisphere teams play a different game; it's faster, they keep the ball alive and there's more emphasis on attack. So you tend to see higher scoring matches. That wasn't the case maybe 20 years ago, games were more of a slog. I sort of track it back to the way the Aussies changed the way League was played in the 80s. Union in the southern hemisphere seemed to pick up on those changes.
However, up here in 6 nations land, we've kind of stayed behind the times. England seem resolutley stuck to trying to slow the game down (at least in the forwards) and control it. It's old school, dull to watch (except for the purist) and does my head in! The Irish have made good attempts to adapt, and I think their game is a good example of maximising your strengths.
To come back to the Welsh game (and bring my witterings to a close!), I think they are perhaps the team closest to being able to play in the southern hemisphere style - that's why I rate them as I do. (Btw, the French have always been a law unto themselves!)
A final btw. I'm not talking about results here; we've seen old school beat the new boy, for sure. I'm talking about how I like to see the game played. Fast, attacking rugby rather than a slog fest!
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
running rugby played between two fairly well matched teams is what we want. not ridiculously one sided try fests a la the romania game. i call it that because it was literally no match.
my heart says england will improve with each game and go all the way, my blood says ireland will be the dark horse of the tournament and my head says an all SH final, with the (penalty) kickers deciding the outcome.
my heart says england will improve with each game and go all the way, my blood says ireland will be the dark horse of the tournament and my head says an all SH final, with the (penalty) kickers deciding the outcome.
david k
Hi
- Location
- North West
who cares, watch rugby league instead
