Not a fan of rugby but adverts like this are almost enough to make me care... Almost. I'll keep the tournament in my peripheral vision but not much more. [yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXppMqUVMYE[/yt]
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3Mbd9W9u50[/yt] [yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ghArmsJjQM[/yt]
Oh, hello ! I'd started to wonder if the 'World Cup' didn't actually extend to the rest of the world. Kind of like the 'World Series'
Holy shit, that was an unexpected result! It being the middle of the night here when that game was on I didn't even record it as I was expecting South Africa to post a cricket score over Japan, but I did record the Ireland vs Canada game, how wrong I got that decision! Georgia meanwhile stunned Tonga 17-10 in the opening match of pool C, only their third win ever at World Cups, they look likely to take third place in the pool now, that is if they don't cause another upset or two! Watched France vs Italy just now as well, first half was a kickfest but livened up in the second half, still a very stop start affair though, France coming through deserved winners 32-10. Great to see we're starting our strongest 15 against Argentina tomorrow morning. Gonna get up and watch it live at 3.45 am before heading into work, being Monday morning and all, it will be well worth it if the matches so far are anything to go by.
So NCC, think you'll win it this time out ? The consensus sees to be that the players you left out would have stood a chance, let alone your first choices !
^ That's the million dollar question, isn't it? At this stage I'll take it one game at a time, especially with the two upsets on day two of the world cup, it's anyone's cup to win at this stage. I'd like to think we can at least make it to the semis this time, we always seem to be favourites to win but as past results show that means jack shit when it's a world cup! At least the core of our squad has experienced what it's like to be taken out at the quarter finals stage already. TL;DR: Can't tell yet
All Blacks win the usual gritty match against Argentina 26-16, New Zealand going down to 13 men just before half time, and the Pumas having a player sent to the sin bin very early in the match. Our bench certainly made the difference, going up a gear as the second half wore on. Nice to see Wayne Barnes has grown a backbone since 2007, standing up to Richie MaCaw at one stage. All in all, just the hit-out we needed to shake off the rust after not playing for the past five weeks!
Good to see a thread for this. Even better to see a few unexpected results. Japan's win over South Africa is the sort of thing that makes sport worth bothering with. It can only be good for rugby to have this sort of result. Perhaps the IRB, or whatever it calls itself these days, could be a bit less patronising and start sending some decent funding toward the so-called "tier two" nations. It won't happen but it should. Cheika has named a pretty decent side for our opener against Fiji, but how Genia has been selected is a bit of a mystery. He hasn't been the same player since his ACL injury and he's not long had more surgery on a knee. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong and perform to somewhere approaching his previous standard. Looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds, anyway.
C'mon Wales. I felt sorry for Canada. They were the better team and they put their heart and soul into that game.
Stupid stupid decision England. Should've kicked for the draw. Would still have had a couple more minutes to try for a win...
Nice to see Wales win the match against England with all the injuries they've had, frequent infringing by England keeping Wales in the game and ultimately winning it 28-25! The next big game in Pool A will be England vs Australia, which means I will have to support the Wallabies, makes me feel dirty all over, think I'll have to scrub myself with steel wool and meths afterwards!
Brilliant, brilliant win for Wales. Considering they were already missing four front-line players and lost three more during the game, it was a really gutsy effort. The only thing is I'm not sure if it makes our task easier or much harder. In any event I'll enjoy the result. Cymru am byth, indeed. Nah, it wasn't a stupid decision. Farrell kicked well but there was no guarantee he'd knock it over from that position at that stage of the match. What was stupid was England's execution. Why they went to the front of the lineout is beyond me. Go to the back, work a few phases and if nothing happens, set up for the drop goal. Instead they made it easy for Wales to shunt them into touch. Dumb rugby. Keeping it classy, I see, NCC. Speaking of class, there was a definite lack of it from some elements of the crowd at Twickers. Breaking into "their" Negro spiritual whenever a Welsh player was being treated for injury / leaving the field injured was just pathetic stuff. Hoping our "second" side doesn't stuff up against Uruguay. We have a history of doing so against their football side so hopefully we'll do better at rugby.
I'm still p!ssed off - that had shaped up as a comfortable win for England. Winning wasn't everything for that match - not letting Wales win was vital. We're in trouble now, and it's our own damned fault.