Boks probably just about deserved it. Good game for the neutral.
Next game could be embarassing...
Agree there.
"Actually, apart from the misses, Biggar's kicking is good"...
A bit like saying "the operation was a success but the patient died" !
These are not great RU sides but well matched hence the close game.
Actually, apart from the misses, Biggar's kicking is good but he doesn't appear to be playing too well.
Good tussle between two well matched teams. Yep, discipline isn't helping and Biggar missed a good chance before the break. Come on you taffies !!!
Welsh indiscipline is throwing away a possible good lead by conceding penalties for stupidity. Hope they get their whatevers chewed during the break. If they pull together they could do this...
They didn't just 'try to claim', John. They were vomiting - and seen to be vomiting - even on the sideline. Whatever the cause, it doesn't alter the fact that it happened!
I was at the Irish match with my daughter in Cardiff. The last RWC match I'd been at before that was in 1995 when RSA beat the All Blacks (who subsequently tried to claim they had upset tummies before the game. Ahhhh, poor dears) . I've never seen the Irish team with more determination and courage than they had on Sunday. You could feel they were going to do or die. If only our Irish politicians had 10% of their gumption it would transform the Country :-) Now if my adopted country can do job on the All Blacks this evening (I'll never forgive New Zealand for that spear tackle on Brian O'Driscoll during the Lions tour) my week will be complete.
I'm afraid they are only trying to repeat what once worked, as a magical trick, without any positive element to make it work . They did the same in football actually : after their brilliant rebellion of 2006 in Germany they did a second ridiculous one in South Africa 2010, ending in a lame performance .
It will be a remake transposed in rugby : a brilliant rebellion in 2011 and probably an utterly ridiculous one now . I never liked PSA, including his bull ways as a 3/4 when he played . When the power appointed him I dropped any hopes . I don't even watch the French team this year, not even in the 6N . The last French team that suited my taste and what I think of French spirit was the 1987 one : Blanco, Charvet, Bonneval, Lagisquet, Sella, these are what I call French back lines .
This year, well, come on, Gaelic cousins !
Oh yes, there are one or two players who did not even get put in the box who deserve a real ban for a season or so. The TMOs thing is not working, too many things they have not seen that watching on TV could be seen.
Lancaster & St André are a right pair of charisma bypasses. At least that ghastly lumbering numpty Bastareaud is on only as a substitute but frankly I think we are in for a spanking & it'll be all our own fault. & I'm not sanguine about Scotland either, I think we're ifas there too, NOT helped by Ross Ford & Jonny Gray being out - that said, what a swizz, I think the uneven sanctioning is an absolute shocker.
& it doesn't help that, rather like Wales, with all the injured players there's not a huge pool of possibles (applies to Fr & Scotland but particularly to any numerically challenged nation).
A friend of mine was asked down to the football club in Bergerac to give the midgets a bit of an intro to Rugby but oh dear what a shambles, they don't listen to anything & mess about & clearly model themselves on all the worst possible examples (of which football alas has so many). Not nice having my prejudices confirmed.
Sure, the difference about that team, as too the football world cup, was that they were fantastic teams. This one is bland, too many players past their prime, little exciting play and lacking a coach with vision, well little more to be said. With my own lot about to be massacred by Australia I suspect I may be left to cheer Ireland on.
I don't know if you knew this, but the French players already did a revolt during the last world cup in NZ . They self-managed and achieved the great 2011 final we witnessed, without their coach Lièvremont. And the same thing had happened in 2006 in Germany, with the football team this time . The coach Domenech was a nightmare, Zidane and co stopped listening to him and self-managed . They reached the final, only losing at penalties after having dominated the whole extra-time .
So the French are always better in a revolution, the only problem this time is I can't see the individualities of this team able to achieve something . Too late .
:-D :-D
An English man walked into a pub....There's normally a Scotsman, Welshman and Irish man too, but they are still at the world cup.
P St A and Lancaster appear to have been cast from the same mould. Both nice blokes everybody liked, but neither dynamic nor having leadership skills. Great coaches, err... I agree about getting out of second gear, well tears will be shed on Sunday no doubt. Tomorrow might be interesting, the Springboks have been talking themselves up. Sometimes the fall is from greater heights. Monday is probably a walkover and let's see if Ireland come out of it without injuries which could be the grace that will get them to the final. Tuesday, well yes. Wallabies I suppose, but then will they keep the momentum?
Rugby World Cup ‘technically still going on’
The English have admitted that, according the strictest interpretation of the rules, the Rugby World Cup is still in progress.
‘Obviously the important question of how far England get has been answered,’ said one English rugby fan. ’But a few minor technical points, such as who wins the tournament, remain to be addressed. For that reason, I believe there are still some games being played somewhere.’ Asked where one could find coverage of these games or reports of the results, he demurred: ‘Dunno, really. If you Google it, there’s probably something.’
Others, however, cautioned against believing all the unsubstantiated nonsense you find on the internet. ‘Look, when the Rugby World Cup was going on, the newspapers and TV were full of it, especially since England were the hosts. Why would they be ignoring it now?’
P st A was due to leave his post after the WC so it's no great surprise he's walked beforehand. French RU needs a radical re think. Michalek & others should have been replaced a while back. NZ may actually need to get out of second gear for this one...
Ireland remain the strongest side in the northern hemisphere even after losing the mighty O'Driscoll & O'Gara et al.
I wonder if the <England policy of not selecting French based players will continue after the appalling Stuart Lancaster has been replaced ?
Oh dear, oh dear. France have thrown out their teddy even before the All Blacks make a light snack of them. It appears they have rebelled against their coach Philippe Saint-André, sacked him and are self-managing the team. That is a recipe for disaster. The biggest problem is that the team is not up to it. Like England, their game is uninspired, they have too many players past their prime who should have been replaced by younger players but somehow or other they have not really been properly fired up for the World Cup. Sunday promises not to be a joyous occasion, so I do not think I shall be joining people at the local big screen showing.
Bastareaud is now a plodding shambles who shouldn't have lasted just over an hour. Actually, like England, most of the team must go. But no, it sure does not make the young ones coming on seem especially promising.