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

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RORY65 said:
Yeah from an Ireland perspective it's frustrating because the quarter finals have been such a tough barrier to overcome, although on most occasions I would say Ireland were underdogs going into them and then still underperformed on that lack of expectations, but to win the tournament any side was going to have to beat 2 of the top 4 sides in knockout games and Ireland weren't good enough on the day to win the first one so moaning about the draw (despite everyone agreeing it was silly that it was done so early) is a bit pointless.

There is a justifiable concern that the semi finals might not be that close but the other option was potentially having 3 or 4 not very competitive quarter finals, that's the reality when you have a sport that is only played by about 10 countries and several of them aren't currently that good.
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I fully understand the frustrations on the part of the Irish (both the team and fans were fantastic by the way and offered great entertainment throughout).

Just feel when you keep reading some of the things you see on here it takes the shine off it a bit which is a shame.

Along with the fixation some have with England. Let it go!
 
TheReligion said:
I’m sure that’s all it is!

You couldn’t even answer the question about getting behind the Lions.
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It was an incredibly stupid question. What website is this? You know full well that me and plenty of other United fans who aren’t English can get behind English footballers in a United shirt, while also hoping they lose in an England shirt. So of course I can root for English players in the Lions team. The shirt that an athlete pulls on in any given game does actually matter.
 
ABs in the quarters is tough no matter what form they are in, but the fact remains that Ireland passed up a great opportunity. They should have done what England would have done - kicked for goal and take any points on offer.

Had the Irish won that game, they would be licking their lips at the prospect of facing down Argentina for a place in a final rather than slating the draw.

That in itself is luck of the draw and now the ABs are the ones to profit. Ireland played well but they made some bad decisions and it cost them.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Imagine watching those four games and not thinking it’s a farce that France don’t make the last four but England and Argentina do?

Let’s ignore Ireland for the sake of argument, as I know how triggering that is for many in this thread.

The WC has had two absolute classics in the QFs but there’s an extremely high chance the semifinals will be completely one sided, crap entertainment. Which is not how these competitions should be run. The quality of the games is supposed to get better with each round.
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It makes no difference to me whether the big games come in the quarters or semis, or to be honest, whether England were to be knocked out in the quarters or semis. Same as when England drew France in Qatar. It was completely obvious that the winner of that game was going into the final, but no one spent months crying that the game was more worthy of a semi final.

Had the draw been as it should have been, we’d still be waiting to see some big games. I’m happy we got some in the groups to keep it interesting. Maybe it should be done like the cricket World Cup with one big group and the top four teams qualify for the semis.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
It was an incredibly stupid question. What website is this? You know full well that me and plenty of other United fans who aren’t English can get behind English footballers in a United shirt, while also hoping they lose in an England shirt. So of course I can root for English players in the Lions team. The shirt that an athlete pulls on in any given game does actually matter.
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That’s all you need to say. There’s hope for you yet!
 
Dan_F said:
It makes no difference to me whether the big games come in the quarters or semis, or to be honest, whether England were to be knocked out in the quarters or semis. Same as when England drew France in Qatar. It was completely obvious that the winner of that game was going into the final, but no one spent months crying that the game was more worthy of a semi final.

Had the draw been as it should have been, we’d still be waiting to see some big games. I’m happy we got some in the groups to keep it interesting. Maybe it should be done like the cricket World Cup with one big group and the top four teams qualify for the semis.
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That’s all fair enough. And I know the moaning about the draw is getting tiresome. There’s definitely an element of Ireland being denied a chance to fairly easily break our QF hoodoo, with a fairer draw. Which is making Ireland fans like me too obsessed about the draw. But that’s neither here nor there at this point, now we’re out of the competition. Deservedly beaten by an excellent team. Someone else said earlier that less attritional semifinals might mean a better final. Which is a good point.

To be honest I’m only still banging on about this because I get triggered when people (typically England fans) try to pretend that the draw hasn’t given some teams an incredibly easy run to the last four compared to others. Which goes against the aim of an even, fair competition. And that’s not the same as you see in, say a football WC, because usually it takes a giant killing to create that easy run. So you need to at least beat the minnow that beat a giant. Which doesn’t apply to England or Argentina.

But c’est la vie. I’ll try to stop bringing it up from here on in.
 
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TheReligion said:
I fully understand the frustrations on the part of the Irish (both the team and fans were fantastic by the way and offered great entertainment throughout).

Just feel when you keep reading some of the things you see on here it takes the shine off it a bit which is a shame.

Along with the fixation some have with England. Let it go!
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Ah now!

Pot meets kettle.
 
TheReligion said:
Guess you’ll have to keep on scratching you head in that case!
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How come it seems that any time I notice you in a thread, you're in some petty bickering match, winding up people with weird snipes and made up stuff? "do you boo the Lions?"...what?
 
As a Scot, I spent a long time moaning about the draw but I think I'd accepted it as the tournament started. The rugby this past weekend confirmed what I already knew: if we'd been playing France, Ireland, SA, or NZ they would have blown us away (2 of these teams already had). While it would be great to progress to the latter stages, I don't want to have to rely on the draw to make it happen.

I genuinely feel for Ireland. We've never had a team that are good enough to win the WC (possibly 1991) and this was a big chance for them. I actually think that, as a collective, this might be the best team to come out of the 6 Nations in the professional era. Sometimes the best lessons come from defeat, the Provinces keep producing great players and they have the right Coach...they might well be capable of going again.

Anyway, there was some great rugby this weekend and it's not over yet. Looking forward to the rest of it.
 
T00lsh3d said:
@rimaldo
@TheReligion

been an excellent set of quarters. So good in fact, that I reckon a trip to the semi-finals is in order
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little perplexed at why half of the teams were playing like it was a final. you need to leave something in the tank for the latter rounds. but i guess that’s something that only comes from experience of deep runs into world cups.
 
Still digesting last night’s game. That 1st half was the best 40 minutes of rugby I’ve seen. France are very unlucky, possibly the best side lost. But all credits to the Boks for pulling it off, that was some effort. Will be interesting to see the fitness of some players on Saturday after the brutality of yesterdays game. All 4 QF’s were edge of the seat stuff, what an advert for rugby union.
 
As an England fan absolutely delighted that Ireland, Scotland and Wales will be watching the rest of the tournament on their TV's thinking about what might have been (mainly Ireland as the other two were never realistically going to win it).

The other GB&I countries quite rightly think England have a superiority complex without any real reason (especially when it comes to football) but putting the boot on the other foot, the smugness of Ireland if they'd won the World Cup ahead of England doesn't even bear thinking about.

I can't see anything other than a SA v NZ final although they did have to delve deeper in to the tank for 80 minutes than England who had a big scare near the end.

Either way some phenomenal rugby has been played so far.
 
The draw was the committee playing 4D chess. By giving the top teams the hard quarter final and easy semi final they ensure both are fresh for the final. There’ll be no repeat of England from the last WC, who were wrecked after the All Blacks. How’s that for logic? :wenger:
 
The southern hemisphere teams really came to the party this weekend. Fantastic rugby played. A real pity that there had to be losers but such is the nature of sport. Seems like it's going to be a NZ v SA final but in 2019, the English played out of their skin to surprise the AB's - but i figure that was a much better English side? (haven't been following their form/matches outside of rankings and this world cup).
 
Ish said:
The southern hemisphere teams really came to the party this weekend. Fantastic rugby played. A real pity that there had to be losers but such is the nature of sport. Seems like it's going to be a NZ v SA final.
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The chink I can see in the SA armour is the bench in terms of backs. Who really weren’t great yesterday. Explains why you so often pack the bench with forwards. Any injuries to 11 through 15 and you’re a good bit weaker IMO. Any news on that front?
 
Pogue Mahone said:
The chink I can see in the SA armour is the bench in terms of backs. Who really weren’t great yesterday. Explains why you so often pack the bench with forwards. Any injuries to 11 through 15 and you’re a good bit weaker IMO. Any news on that front?
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None this morning yet. Will keep an eye on things. Do you see England, at their very best, having much of a chance against us?
 
This morning I officially introduced O'Keeffe in the Raynal Hall of Fame.
 
Ish said:
None this morning yet. Will keep an eye on things. Do you see England, at their very best, having much of a chance against us?
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I think England on a good day can beat ye if ye are off it. England have some players that are fantastic on their day. Ye may win 9 times out of 10, but the SF could be the day. That said if I had to bet my house on it, it would be on ye!
 
moses said:
I think England on a good day can beat ye if ye are off it. England have some players that are fantastic on their day. Ye may win 9 times out of 10, but the SF could be the day. That said if I had to bet my house on it, it would be on ye!
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Yeah, absolutely. Admittedly outside of results, media and rankings, I haven't been following the northern hemisphere teams/6 nations, so it kind of "feels/seems" that this England side is a level or 2 below Ireland/France - and this was sort of shown during the tournament (yeah, they're the only unbeaten side remaining) with their "struggles" against Tonga/Fiji. Again, not to sounds cocky or disrespectful - because in a SF/one-off, anything can happen over that 80 minutes as you say. I think we're overwhelming favorites, but yeah, take nothing for granted here. Still need to go out and get the job done.
 
The funny thing is that even if somehow England actually upset South Africa then some people will start talking about how South Africa had fatigue from the brutal QF
 
Ayush_reddevil said:
The funny thing is that even if somehow England actually upset South Africa then some people will start talking about how South Africa had fatigue from the brutal QF
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There is always "some people" for every situations. The vast majority of people will praise England if you beat South Africa and the vast majority of people will praise England if they win the WC. We will also hate your team even more, 2003 was enough luck. :D
 
Ayush_reddevil said:
The funny thing is that even if somehow England actually upset South Africa then some people will start talking about how South Africa had fatigue from the brutal QF
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Only an idiot wouldn't consider it, but what the hell do you care? If you beat SA you really shouldn't have time for what anyone says. Just enjoy it if it happens!
 
I didn't think Saturday night at the Stade de France was going to be topped but last night probably did top what we saw on Saturday night.

Kwagga Smith was very lucky to get that penalty which allowed the Boks to get a 4 point lead. There were 12 minutes to go so I won't say it cost France the match but it was still a blunder from BOK.
 
Ish said:
Yeah, absolutely. Admittedly outside of results, media and rankings, I haven't been following the northern hemisphere teams/6 nations, so it kind of "feels/seems" that this England side is a level or 2 below Ireland/France - and this was sort of shown during the tournament (yeah, they're the only unbeaten side remaining) with their "struggles" against Tonga/Fiji. Again, not to sounds cocky or disrespectful - because in a SF/one-off, anything can happen over that 80 minutes as you say. I think we're overwhelming favorites, but yeah, take nothing for granted here. Still need to go out and get the job done.
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As someone who has been following the 6N teams, I can assure you that England are definitely a level or two below Ireland/France. It doesn't just feel/seem like that. Our last match against them was weird in that we played terribly but still beat them with ease. Which would never have happened in the past. This is the worst England side I can remember in a very long team, with a string of poor results to confirm their decline.

Buuuuuuut, this is a one off game. And they do have a bunch of good players. So feck knows. Play as well as you did against France and Ireland and you'll win easily, no matter which England side turn up. If you play badly and they play out of their skins then it could get very difficult for you.
 
i think we’ve got less chance of beating south africa than i do of jennifer lawrence turning up at my house, wet through and desperate to give me a blowjob. doesn’t stop me leaving my door unlocked through the night though, just in case.
 
rimaldo said:
i think we’ve got less chance of beating south africa than i do of jennifer lawrence turning up at my house, wet through and desperate to give me a blowjob. doesn’t stop me leaving my door unlocked through the night though, just in case.
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So this is weird. And 100% true. I had a sexy dream about Jennifer Lawrence last night. Someone who hasn’t crossed my mind in years. A premonition?
 
Reading that England fans were booing Owen Farrell? Surely not? Madness if true.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
As someone who has been following the 6N teams, I can assure you that England are definitely a level or two below Ireland/France. It doesn't just feel/seem like that. Our last match against them was weird in that we played terribly but still beat them with ease. Which would never have happened in the past. This is the worst England side I can remember in a very long team, with a string of poor results to confirm their decline.

Buuuuuuut, this is a one off game. And they do have a bunch of good players. So feck knows. Play as well as you did against France and Ireland and you'll win easily, no matter which England side turn up. If you play badly and they play out of their skins then it could get very difficult for you.
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Thanks Pogue - that's the feeling this side as well, yeah. I don't think we'll be caught off guard, not under Rassie's Nienabers watch. Btw, what did you make of the referees performance last night? Read a couple of comments from DuPont & Galthier etc not too impressed.
 
Englands only hope is that SA have knackered themselves out last night.
If SA play like they did last night again we’ll lose by 20 points at least.
 
Ish said:
Thanks Pogue - that's the feeling this side as well, yeah. I don't think we'll be caught off guard, not under Rassie's Nienabers watch. Btw, what did you make of the referees performance last night? Read a couple of comments from DuPont & Galthier etc not too impressed.
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I thought he was ok? Made the one obvious error but can understand if he didn’t see it at the time. Maybe TMO could have bailed him out?
 
A shame Ireland are out as I think they are probably the best team in the comp. The Kiwis will win the whole thing if they play how they did against Ireland.

I still don't enjoy Union's emphasis on kicking goals vs tries. Aussie NRL/League is a far more entertaining game imo.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
I thought he was ok? Made the one obvious error but can understand if he didn’t see it at the time. Maybe TMO could have bailed him out?
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Are you referring to the breakdown penalty Kwagga Smith won which allowed RSA to get a 29-25 lead? The TMO can't bail him out for that one.
 
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