Bad day at the office against a side that had a very good day at the office. The Kiwis struggled to deal with South Africa's intensity. The Boks were too physical and too good in the set piece, which laid the platform for them to run the show. New Zealand did well to keep the Boks out for as long as they did in the first half and Cam Roigard showed something in his late cameo.
Rugby Union 21/22/23 Discussion | RWC time!
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Bad day at the office against a side that had a very good day at the office. The Kiwis struggled to deal with South Africa's intensity. The Boks were too physical and too good in the set piece, which laid the platform for them to run the show. New Zealand did well to keep the Boks out for as long as they did in the first half and Cam Roigard showed something in his late cameo.
Fiji look like giving England a real game at Twickenham.
I'm eating popcorn as Fiji lead England 10-8 with half an hour to go.
God England are in big trouble. Thought they were very lucky that the Irish line out was rusty last week too, could have been an even bigger score if Ireland were a couple of games deeper into the preparations. Good try by Smith though!
Hearing Dewi Morris's audible frustration when England do something daft is amusing.
Fiji have beaten England at Twickenham.
Well if we didn’t already know, that pretty confirms England are going to be in a struggle to get out of the group.
Why have England looked a complete shower since about the last World Cup Final evening? They've been dreadful, absolutely dire, ever since. That was November 2 2019, and I genuinely can't remember them having had a good game since then. Maybe one or two entertaining games against Scotland but thats it?
A style, coaching and selection issue for sure. France were in this position last WC cycle.
This is probably our worst performance this year, dear god if loughman is going to go to the cup we better hope porter stays fit
England 
. Borthwick is well out of his depth.
. Borthwick is well out of his depth.England
To be fair, Fiji are good. They have the same athletic and technical freaks that they always had in Seven but added discipline, better set pieces(though still not great) and better tactical understanding. They are closer to a team like Scotland and distanced themselves from asian and pacific nations. Playing in Super Rugby and Top 14 in recent years has probably helped their players even the previously bad defenders are now respectable.
By level of Scotland, I'm thinking about their historic level, not their current elite level.
Fortunately I was watching United and babysitting for late stretches yesterday, so mostly missed our shitshow.
Congratulations to Fiji though, and as @JPRouve says they’re starting to get better at the fundamentals to go along with their stardust. I expect them to give Wales one hell of a game in the group stages.
speaking of group stages, sounds like we’ve a good chance of losing to Samoa as well if last nights game is anything to go by
Looking forward to todays game, don’t think it’ll be half as one-sided as form would suggest
Congratulations to Fiji though, and as @JPRouve says they’re starting to get better at the fundamentals to go along with their stardust. I expect them to give Wales one hell of a game in the group stages.
speaking of group stages, sounds like we’ve a good chance of losing to Samoa as well if last nights game is anything to go by
Looking forward to todays game, don’t think it’ll be half as one-sided as form would suggest
France were shambolic I remember, but they had tons of talent. They just always seemed to find a stupid way to lose games. England look shambolic, but also boring.
there needed to be a big reset and bringing through of new players. we stick with coaching that proved not good enough, with players that proved not good enough, and the game has moved on in 4 years. i don’t think england win anything again until the old boys at the rfu are dumped and fresh blood is brought in. as happened eventually with the cricket after one too many abject performances. i hope we crash and burn at the world cup and everything is torn up.
In 2019 the reset had already happen at youth level for several years which has been demonstrated by dominance at U20 level in the past 5 years. In fact Galthié was also appointed way before the WC and joined the team months before it. The point being that for the first time in a long time, FFR had a plan that they built for youth players and also a plan for the national team, they didn't do anything reckless and allow a smooth transition.
That’s my thinking too - it may force real change if England crash out in the group stages (when, unlike 2015, there will be no excuses about a tough draw). I increasingly think it might happen too if they continue on this trajectory under Borthwick, and, unlike in 2007, I don’t see a commanding group of senior players ready to take over from an inadequate coaching set up.
Good game so far. Pens starting to mount up for the Aussies though, they do seem consistently ill-disciplined
That fail from Jaminet was hilarious.
Cian Healy misses out on the Ireland squad due to the injury he picked up.
Must be devastating for him.
Must be devastating for him.
That is not good news
Sheehan and Kelleher are both recovering well at least.
So whats the feeling about this WC? Is it looking a little more open in terms of who could win? France, SA and Ireland being the most likely to take the title?
in the bag for england imo. probably not worth any of the other teams even turning up.
Ha!
C/D, not B/C,but...
The 3 in bold plus New Zealand can win the tournament. Yes, the Kiwis got smashed but I wouldn't write your lot off just yet.
Max from ''The Black Jersey'' on YouTube used the rankings as of December 2021 to come up with an alternate draw for the 2023 World Cup.
Yep, it's worked out exactly as expected. So daft.
Killer and loughman, I'd actually start Wycherley over them for Munster, not as big as those 2 but does better work than them off the ball.
Also I just don't like Henderson, he always looks so lazy when he's out there.
As neither of Scott Barrett's yellow cards against South Africa met the red card threshold, he is free to play in the World Cup opener on September 8.
No pressure my friends in green….but it’s officially yours to lose 
What the feck?
All the uproar about Faz and that blatant off the ball diving-shoulder-to-the-head from a monster lock is ok? Christ aliveNo pressure my friends in green….but it’s officially yours to lose
Ireland are odds on favourites I reckon.
No pressure my friends in green….but it’s officially yours to lose
Recent form shows nothing but wins, so you can see why we’re there, but our actual performances in those wins haven’t been great. Going all the way back to last 6N match vs England. Throw in the Cian Healy injury and I’d say they’ve got this wrong. If Jonny Sexton comes back completely unaffected by the long lay-off and stays fit for the whole tournament we’ve got a chance. Otherwise anyone who bets on Ireland is throwing away money.
Well call me extremely stupid then as I’ve got £20 invested
So much boils down to injuries though I agree, particularly in the games of Ireland vs South Africa & France vs New Zealand….I can see them being absolute blood baths considering how even the teams are and what’s at stake.
Well call me extremely stupid then as I’ve got £20 invested
So much boils down to injuries though I agree, particularly in the games of Ireland vs South Africa & France vs New Zealand….I can see them being absolute blood baths considering how even the teams are and what’s at stake.
Ah we’re worth a punt anyway! What odds did you get?
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