Rugby World Cup

[Frenchy68 0]

I heard a similar tune last year during World Cup Soccer. Brazil was supposed to walk through the competition...

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[bob.dino 0]

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Wilkinson was not just a hero or a key player. He was the BEST player in the world back in 2002/3

My vote would go to Martin Johnson. He supplied the mental steel of the side. England lost the Grand Slam in the last match a number of times early in the decade. Every time, Johnson wasn't playing.

Ditto Leicester - their absolute dominance of the English game and back-to-back victories in the European Cup were achieved with Johnson wearing the captain's armband.

I seriously disliked the bastard. He was dirty, tough as nails, a leader to his teammates, and an incorrigible whiner to the ref. I'd still have loved to have him on the Irish team though!

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However since that world cup win you guys have been ripped apart since then and this is probably because wilkinson and the old captain have not been playing.

I'll agree. Two very crucial players - I'd just order their importance slightly differently.

[bigway 4]

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Wilkinson was not just a hero or a key player. He was the BEST player in the world back in 2002/3

My vote would go to Martin Johnson. He supplied the mental steel of the side. England lost the Grand Slam in the last match a number of times early in the decade. Every time, Johnson wasn't playing.

Ditto Leicester - their absolute dominance of the English game and back-to-back victories in the European Cup were achieved with Johnson wearing the captain's armband.

I seriously disliked the bastard. He was dirty, tough as nails, a leader to his teammates, and an incorrigible whiner to the ref. I'd still have loved to have him on the Irish team though!

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However since that world cup win you guys have been ripped apart since then and this is probably because wilkinson and the old captain have not been playing.

I'll agree. Two very crucial players - I'd just order their importance slightly differently.

100% agree with the order of importance. Though it is tough because 4-6 years ago Wilkinson was scoring 90% of the points and if he was not kicking them or scoring tries he was setting them up.

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[bigway 4]

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I heard a similar tune last year during World Cup Soccer. Brazil was supposed to walk through the competition...

I have not heard anyone say the All Blacks will walk through this competition.

You will never hear a New Zealander say that.

The favourites from the bookies are NZ though, they are $1.60, next in line is SA and they are way out at $5 .

I think South Africa has a huge chance to win this and it seems they are the world cup favourites. New Zealand always goes into the world cup as favourites but it never makes me think they will walk through it.
This is the World cup, nobody has ever walked through it.

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[Erroll 49]

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This is the World cup, nobody has ever walked through it.

Indeed.

One of our former great Provincial captains (Thys Lourens for those South Africans old enough to remember) would never predict a result. Instead, he always used to say: "A rugby ball is not round - you never know which way it is going to bounce."

[bigway 4]

will be all over for the usa now id think. tonga 25-usa 15

unlucky. they needed to beat tonga as that was there chance to beat a team in their pool. not likely they could beat SA or samoa.

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[bigway 4]

first 20mins of japan vs fiji and the japanese defence is excellent. score is tied at 3 a piece.
would love to japan take this. you can really see that coacj john kirwan has put hi mark on this team. they are playing the best i have ever seen them play.

most exciting game i have seen from this world cup. never thought i would enjoy his game.

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[bigway 4]

Japan just lost by 6 points. It was the most thrilling ending of a game i have seen in a long time. This was the best game of the world cup so far this year in my opinion. Brilliant.
Japan has never won a game in a world cup and they did so well in this game.

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[jakee 1,254]

Incredible game!

Gutted that Japan couldn't get that winning try past 80mins, but what an effort - they were dead on the turf when the whistle blew.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[sangiro 4]

36-0

Safe swoops
Sangiro

[bigway 4]

south africa is on form this world cup!

england, wow i reackon samoa will thrash you guys.

36-0. that is disgusting.

if england lose to samoa they will not make it out of the pool. I cant imagine the shame england will feel and the abuse the media will give them whn they return home. i really hope for the sake of english rugby that they beat samoa. if they dont and samoa also beat tonga then samoa will go through to the quaters.

I was really impressed with the playing standard of south africa. i think it was the cleanest game i have seen the usual dirty players play. no biting, no fighting no abuse and very intelligent decisions and smart, quick plays of the ball. SA showed alot of skill and disiplin in that game.

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[jakee 1,254]

Ugh!

All credit to SA, they played a great game. Relentlessly physical, won lots of turnover ball, dangerous running and absolutely superb kicking. Every team in the tournament will have their eye on you guys. England on the other hand... shockingly bad. The worst performance I've seen from them. Tonga will be really fancying their chances now.

I can't remember a single moment where I thought they might actually score any points. Even the few times they managed to camp in the SA 22 they never even looked like forcing a penalty! As little physical threat there was from the forwards, I think our backs (except Robinson) were the poorest part of the performance. Catt's tactical kicking was atrocious, Farrell looked slow, confused and non threatening and there was no danger on the wings.

Kudos for Robinson though for a quality display in what is looking like his last game of rugby. Rock solid under the high ball and seemingly the only Englishman on the pitch who really wanted to attack the Boks. Sad end to his career being carried off the pitch.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[bigway 4]

i also never once felt like they were about to score a single point.

i also think Farrell messed everything up he touched. he was the worst player on the field and he has never played that position before and it showed. he was shocking and ruined any chance england had in the 80 minutes. cats was the only guy on the english side who got any good kicks in, apart from that england is known for playing a good kicking game... todays game was showing an english team that should not play at the world cup. you know if they were not automatically in the competition this year (because the are the defenders) i believe they may not have made it in with that team. truley terrible rugbyfrom one of the top 5 teams in the world today and i am very dissapointed in them and especially the coach. the coach should have mde his way down to the sideline and been screaming at them throughout the game.
the first 5 minutes of the game england actually looked like they were going to give south africa a good run for their money.
i kind of wish i did not stay up to watch this game that started at 4:30 am over here as now i have to sleep away a saturday morning that is going to be UN degrees.

Good Luck walesfor today I really hope that their game is a tight one as i think it will be even though it is against australia.

New Zealand playing portugal as well today. on te england vs sa game i predicted beat england by 35 points... i reakon NZ will beat portugal by 80 points, definetly by 60 points.

I think the that is australia beat wales it will be by no more than 16 points.

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[Scoop 0]

As bad a result as it was, I didn't think England were playing that bad a game at first. After getting relentlessly demoralised, physically smashed it all went wrong, like the silly underarm lineout, kicks getting charged down, losing posession to turnovers.

I honestly still believe England are a good side, but SA didn't give us many opportunities. They played an incredible game. I wouldn't be surprised if they walk straight through this competition if they keep on form.

Hats off to Habana, he is an unbelievable assest to the team. DId you hear the stats in the game build up. He can run 26.3 MPH or something ridiculous and hes agile like a gazelle yet got the power to hand off too. Big respect to him. We needed to injure him early on really

We are in a terrible psychological state for the game against Samoa. I reckon as soon as they do their pre match war dance our lot will just be totally out-psyched. But I hope not.

[bigway 4]

welcome to your first apperance at a world cup Portugal!


scoop- england is a terrible side this year. sorry as i love english rugby but this year they one of the bottom teams in this tournament. portugal is playing better than them and working a lot harder than england has in two games. it is portugals first world cup.

i hope england gets through their pool. right now i would not bet on it though.

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[bigway 4]

scoop- what do you think of our B-team? only something like 5 of our A-team are on the field.

i personally think they are pretty sloppy. very strong and ver fast but also very sloppy.. mybe it just laziness though. i wish our first 15 were playing as a try fest would be nice to watch!

as much as i hope the semi finals is a southern hempisphere/tri-nations affair i am looking forward to wales playing soon and would love to see them come out on trumps. i have always said that this year will be the year of wales. maybe not winning it but showing some good game. ..

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[bigway 4]

what an excellent game. well played by Portugal. I really enjoyed watching Portugal score an excellent well deserved try. loved the support they had... very funny how many portugal supporters were also wearing all black jerseys. i believe playing the all blacks was the most memorable and happiest day for many of the portugal players if not all of them.

not very happy with nzs performance but boy they are strong and in some serious good physical shape.

watching portugal enjoy playing that game despite being beaten by 96 points was a really warm feeling and i think they played extremley well and hope they keep it up against italy.

i am loving this world cup!

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[skymedic 0]

Did you all see US and tonga?? what a great game by the americans. I thought they were going to get killed...but they kept it within a try for most of the game. Amazing job they did. all the way till the end it was close.

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....

[bigway 4]

you would hope so considering the tongan rugby team is and has always been terrible. I dont recall them ever winning a game or being good at the sevens rugby touneys. that is where the pacific island teams shine. Tonga was the usa eagles only chance at winning a game in their pool. there is no way they will beat south africa. they might score a few tries against samoa but highly unlikely they will beat samoa.

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[jakee 1,254]

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you would hope so considering the tongan rugby team is and has always been terrible. I dont recall them ever winning a game or being good at the sevens rugby touneys. that is where the pacific island teams shine. Tonga was the usa eagles only chance at winning a game in their pool. there is no way they will beat south africa. they might score a few tries against samoa but highly unlikely they will beat samoa.

So, a 13 man Tonga just held out for a 19-15 win over Samoa

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[bigway 4]

yeah i just watched that. pretty amazing considering tonga has trained a shorter time as a team that samoa.
not the game i thought it would be. thoughtthere would be alot more running and breaks from both sides.

that was their first win against samoa in 10 games. this pool is getting more and more interesting. If england lose to samoa then SA and samoa will be going through. if they win then it will be england and sa. this game is going to be so important.
i must say samoa suprised meby losing to tonga but that is what the world cup is all about.

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[skymedic 0]

I don't think Tonga is that horrible of a team. they have always showed some flashes of brilliance at times. Don't sell them so short. England this year is kind of a joke though...scary scary how bad they've come down.

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....

[bigway 4]

Dont get me wrong, Tonga has some excellent individual players. Though as a team they suck! They always have, in fact beating Samoa last weekend was their most famous victory in at least 10-15 years.
The reason they suck as a team is because their players play in australia, new zealand, japan, england and scotland. They never play together as a team and when they do they are onlt together for a short 3 weeks build up if that to the game. They are also the poorest rugby nation at the world cup so the odds have always been stacked against them.

Some of the best players in the world come from Tonga, just they do not play rugby in tonga as hardly any of the other players do.
Jonah Lomu, one of the most famous players of all time was born in tonga as was wasaki. My school was full of tongans coming over on rugby scholarships.

The players are excellent and some of the best in the world, however the team sucks and they always have and always will. It is the same with fiji and samoa thought these two teams spend alot more time together as they play in the seven a sid world champion tournaments each and ever year so spend alot more time as a team. This is also why they lose most of their games because they play their 15 aside like they are a sevens team, in fact they really are a sevens team.

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[jakee 1,254]

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The reason they suck as a team is because their players play in australia, new zealand, japan, england and scotland. They never play together as a team and when they do they are onlt together for a short 3 weeks build up if that to the game.

And on the flip side Ireland are fielding their most experienced test side ever, spent months together over the summer in preperation and are playing like they've never even seen an oval ball before! Did you see them against Georgia? I simply couldn't believe it I hope they haven't booked hotels for the quarter finals yet because I cannot see any way they are getting through this group.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[bigway 4]

I would love to see georgia get through. They played an excellent game towards the end. Talk about endurance!

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