Rugby Union 21/22/23 Discussion | RWC time!

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unchanged_lineup said:
Nah he's just a prick prick :lol:
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No denying that, but it’s like when a random religious zealot is on the street corner shouting at everyone that they’re going to hell, they’re sinful abominations etc. if a more sensible person was saying that stuff to you, you might fee affronted or offended, but because they’re so unhinged it just becomes funny. Eddie Jones is like that to me, I can imagine he even shit talks his own mother, partner, waiters unfortunate to have to attend him.
 
Plastic Evra said:
Not to be confused with DuPond despite the working together as detectives for the Belgian police.
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Was waiting for this after reading though the thread :lol: Glad to see someone picked it up.

So on to this weeks games, there are no heavyweight clashes but some games that should deliver some good entertainment. Fiji vs Georgia should be quite the spectacle for the neutrals and I cannot wait to feel the shockwaves when the Tongan's and Springboks tackle each other. And the Chilean's must be fired up going up against Argentina.
Anyone see any upsets this week?
 
Champ said:
'worst thing '??
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People claiming it’s easy routes for wales and England to the semi’s as if they are just walking into it. I don’t think either are good enough to just claim semi final spots at this stage. That’s how bad the draw has been.
 
Ireland really did get properly shafted by this draw

Wales who are relatively shite compared to a few years ago have probably a similar chances of making the semis

whereas Ireland are the best team in the world arguably
 
@Pogue Mahone

Your suggestion about Dupont maybe wearing a mask seems correct. He is allegedly getting one fabricated.
 
The Cat said:
Hope he makes it back in time will be for the betterment of the competition.
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I have no clue about how realistic or reasonable it is but apparently he is back with the team this thursday and could start training Sunday. And Edwards stated that they expect him to be there for the QF or at worst semi final(if France actually beat SA or Ireland).
 
RoyH1 said:
Was waiting for this after reading though the thread :lol: Glad to see someone picked it up.

So on to this weeks games, there are no heavyweight clashes but some games that should deliver some good entertainment. Fiji vs Georgia should be quite the spectacle for the neutrals and I cannot wait to feel the shockwaves when the Tongan's and Springboks tackle each other. And the Chilean's must be fired up going up against Argentina.
Anyone see any upsets this week?
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Australia beating Portugal
 
Xaviesta said:
Australia beating Portugal
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As much as I love what I'm seeing from Portugal in this world cup, I just think that the Wallabies have much more individual quality regardless of how much Eddie Jones has lost the plot. Losing to a T1 country like Wales is one thing, if they lose to Portugal I can see them being denied access back into Australia :lol:
 
RoyH1 said:
As much as I love what I'm seeing from Portugal in this world cup, I just think that the Wallabies have much more individual quality regardless of how much Eddie Jones has lost the plot. Losing to a T1 country like Wales is one thing, if they lose to Portugal I can see them being denied access back into Australia :lol:
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My post was a little tongue in cheek but I wouldn't trust this Wallabies side to win a raffle if they had all the tickets.
 
Cyndi Lauper looked really disappointed after that yellow card.
 
New Zealand vs Italy
Sam Whitelock will become the most capped All Black with 149 caps overtaking Richie McCaw when New Zealand take on Italy. If New Zealand win, they probably secure a QF place. An Italian win would see 3 time champions out in the pool stages.
 
One of my colleagues was trying to convince me that all 4 semifinalists would be from the northern hemisphere. Yeah right. All Blacks are still a serious candidate to win this
 
RoyH1 said:
One of my colleagues was trying to convince me that all 4 semifinalists would be from the northern hemisphere. Yeah right. All Blacks are still a serious candidate to win this
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Yeah it’ll be interesting, but it feels like the winner of this tournament is coming from one of Ire, SA, Fra or NZ - no disrespect to anyone else. And how the draw have fallen means we could legitimately be without a southern hemisphere team in the semi and/or final!
 
RoyH1 said:
One of my colleagues was trying to convince me that all 4 semifinalists would be from the northern hemisphere. Yeah right. All Blacks are still a serious candidate to win this
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Because of the ludicrous fecking draw there’s an extremely good chance of England, Wales and France making up 3 of the 4 semi finalists. If Ireland beat Scotland then it’s between them and NZ for that fourth spot.

Because of Ireland’s QF record (and my own negativity) I wouldn’t bet against NZ but assuming Ireland do top their group, wouldn’t the bookies have them as favourites in that game?

So yeah, your colleague is probably right. At least in terms of the odds for that outcome.
 
Ish said:
Yeah it’ll be interesting, but it feels like the winner of this tournament is coming from one of Ire, SA, Fra or NZ - no disrespect to anyone else. And how the draw have fallen means we could legitimately be without a southern hemisphere team in the semi and/or final!
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England and Wales making up two of the four semifinalists is so fecking mad, yet here we are…
 
Ish said:
Hey, you’re going to trigger some on here again :lol:

But yeah, appalling schedule/draw and it only gets worse the more you think about it and the closer the QF get to us :lol:
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I’ve had plenty of moans about the draw already but now you mention the schedule…

Ireland-Scotland have essentially a knockout fixture, to see who makes the QF. And this is despite Ireland having won all their other fixtures in the group! So a winner takes all war between 2 of the 5 best teams in the world, one week before the opportunity to play a brutal QF game against 1 of the 3 best teams in the world.

While England can play their reserves against Samoa and are guaranteed a QF spot. Same for Wales. Win, lose or draw their final game they’re through to the last 8. And both these teams will have about as easy a QF tie as you could dare to hope for.

Someone make it make sense…
 
As long as two from the same group don't win in the quarters... you'll (potentially) get a final where the two of them would of have faced off against the other 3 of the big 4 nations going in. What's not to love as a neutral. Admittedly, to be truly special, it kind of needs to be Ireland-France as the undefeated pair too.

You've got a World Cup with more genuinely interesting games throughout at the cost of, on paper, 2 soft semi's.

But it also makes a mockery of a ranking system to, since they realistically are there, to protect this kind of thing from happening mostly. Ronnie O'Sullivan would probably walkout mid-tournament if it happened in Snooker.
 
Zen said:
As long as two from the same group don't win in the quarters... you'll (potentially) get a final where the two of them would of have faced off against the other 3 of the big 4 nations going in. What's not to love as a neutral. Admittedly, to be truly special, it kind of needs to be Ireland-France as the undefeated pair too.

You've got a World Cup with more genuinely interesting games throughout at the cost of, on paper, 2 soft semi's.

But it also makes a mockery of a ranking system to, since they realistically are there, to protect this kind of thing from happening mostly. Ronnie O'Sullivan would probably walkout mid-tournament if it happened in Snooker.
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Not just two soft semis. Also two one sided, low quality QFs. Even if England and Wales get back to their best in time for the QF, they’ll be up against very mediocre opposition.

What makes it so infuriating is that the results/performances so far have gone as expected. The teams we knew would be the best two years ago look like the best teams now. This was all so predictable.

EDIT: Actually, maybe Australia being so poor was not predictable. Not until Eddie Jones took the job anyway…
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I’ve had plenty of moans about the draw already but now you mention the schedule…

Ireland-Scotland have essentially a knockout fixture, to see who makes the QF. And this is despite Ireland having won all their other fixtures in the group! So a winner takes all war between 2 of the 5 best teams in the world, one week before the opportunity to play a brutal QF game against 1 of the 3 best teams in the world.

While England can play their reserves against Samoa and are guaranteed a QF spot. Same for Wales. Win, lose or draw their final game they’re through to the last 8. And both these teams will have about as easy a QF tie as you could dare to hope for.

Someone make it make sense…
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Thank you world rugby :lol:
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Because of the ludicrous fecking draw there’s an extremely good chance of England, Wales and France making up 3 of the 4 semi finalists. If Ireland beat Scotland then it’s between them and NZ for that fourth spot.

Because of Ireland’s QF record (and my own negativity) I wouldn’t bet against NZ but assuming Ireland do top their group, wouldn’t the bookies have them as favourites in that game?

So yeah, your colleague is probably right. At least in terms of the odds for that outcome.
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I feel differently. South Africa and New Zealand will both win their quarterfinals. Both probably relish the underdog role here. But yes, the draw has allowed England and Wales to get a decent run to the semis.
 
Yeah NZ are looking fantastic! Can't wait for a QF against them again, if, and that's a pretty serious if, we manage to beat Scotland.
 
Actually weirdly feel or Scotland the most with the draw. The best team they have in ages, would be by far the best team the other side of the draw and they have to watch England and Wales walk through. Hopefully Fiji can make a good go of the QFs.
 
Watching Italy do this makes me feel for the likes of Tonga, Samoa, Uruguay, Fiji, Georgia and some European teams get almost no experience against tier 1 teams. Italy's 6N record 18 of the last 24 have been last, including the last 8 years. Never finished above 4th. Out of 119 games lost 106.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Not just two soft semis. Also two one sided, low quality QFs. Even if England and Wales get back to their best in time for the QF, they’ll be up against very mediocre opposition.

What makes it so infuriating is that the results/performances so far have gone as expected. The teams we knew would be the best two years ago look like the best teams now. This was all so predictable.

EDIT: Actually, maybe Australia being so poor was not predictable. Not until Eddie Jones took the job anyway…
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I really don't think England have an easy time against Fiji as long as Fiji show up. Wales, though, likely have an easy QF and a SF against a very battered team likely too.
 
I hate the way they do the draw. I really do.

but at the end of the day if you can’t beat a team in the QF you aren’t beating them in the final so it doesn’t really matter too much.

the best team will emerge at the end regardless
 
kidbob said:
Actually weirdly feel or Scotland the most with the draw. The best team they have in ages, would be by far the best team the other side of the draw and they have to watch England and Wales walk through. Hopefully Fiji can make a good go of the QFs.
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Yeah, Scotland have been ridden worse than anyone by this draw. Although if they can beat Ireland by more than 8 points (which they’re definitely capable of) then they’re through and Ireland’s out (despite only losing 1 game)
 
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