No, send the old enemy packing, the welsh are falling apart at the moment, England will only get stronger if they get out of the group and would you like to meet England in the final on home turf, i think not.
Rugby World Cup 2015 | Reminiscing Thread
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Yep, I'd much prefer to see England go through. All those factors play a part, as does Gatland's personality, as does the fact that this English side is a lot more likeable than previous incarnations.
That said, I was in a pub for the Wales/England game and the crowd was very much against England. Old habits...
I think it's great that Irish rugby fans have this terrific sense of confidence, even if it isn't in the slightest bit merited. But as I say, hopefully you don't find yourselves in the position of having to face us (Wales) because we will have no choice but to put you in your place like we put England in theirs. It's not a nice thing to have to do but I guess that is the burden of greatness.
As the best team in the Northern Hemisphere (as confirmed by the world rankings), the only side that concerns us is NZ.
We can only be so worried by a Welsh team that has finished third in the last two Six Nations. It's quite sad to see such a great rugby nation struggling like this.
Bless them. They've already played their World Cup final.
We didn't seem to be struggling when we beat you at this year's Six Nations. You might have won the tournament but you did so with the same number of points as us (8), fewer tries scored (8 to our 13) and after having lost to us in our head-to-head. Hardly what I would call champions.
Their little faces were so happy! Teams like them and Japan really add so much to the world cup, I don't even mind that they needed more than the normal 31 man squad to get to this point.
Wales were obviously the moral victors. Ireland will just have to make do with actual victory.
Ye are a damn good team when fully fit, its going to be hard for ye to compete for this tournament at the rate ye are getting players injured and i certainly want ye to get out of the group if anything to stop the English getting any sort of momentum
Ah but we're just little old Ireland, pluckily stepping up to win the championship two years in a row. For the mighty Welsh team finishing third twice in a row must have been a bit of a humiliation? Disgrace even?
I hear there was a time when you guys used to play attractive rugby too...
Still, I'm sure the Gatlandball approach is bound to be successful again, eventually. Next year will be your year!
Let's just let this tournament's rugby do the talking, shall we. If we meet, Wales will emerge victorious. Mark my words.
Welsh rugby doesn't talk, it grunts. But yeah, we'll see how things go if you guys manage to get out of your group. 
Welsh rugby doesn't talk, it grunts. But yeah, we'll see how things go if you guys manage to get out of your group.
That's an unfair accusation. As anyone who has witnessed Gethin Jenkins and Alun Wyn Jones moaning at a referee could tell you..
So New Zealand vs Georgia today...is my birth country (Georgia) going to get thrashed tonight? 
So New Zealand vs Georgia today...is my birth country (Georgia) going to get thrashed tonight?
Being within 40pts would probably be an achievement.
New Zealand vs Georgia
It will be very ugly...but the Georgian players will treasure this moment for the rest of their lives...its the All Blacks, the Haka, world cup..win , lose or draw..this is a once in a lifetime thing for most of them.So New Zealand vs Georgia today...is my birth country (Georgia) going to get thrashed tonight?
NZ's skill levels are so far ahead of any northern hemisphere side. Any overlap is taken advantage of while other teams regularly mess up.
God I hate the Mexican wave.
Lots of errors now though, they're not putting Georgia to bed just yet.
Edit: 9 handling errors to 1
Another handling error... surely this is just getting it out of their system though, they will be machines at some stage in this match yet.
All blacks so sloppy today
When you think of how Cricket seems determined to sideline their Tier 2 nations and ostracize them from the big stage, the future for Rugby is starting to look very bright. Nearly all of the Tier 2 nations have showed that the investment put into them has been hugely beneficial. They are all able to put it up to the big nations now for 60mins. Hopefully they'll make up that last 20mins over the next decade or so and we'll have a really really exciting competition.
This is a really poor performance from the AB's, so many basic errors from so many players. Other sides will be looking at where to apply the pressure. So far at the WC the AB's havent shown they are as good as the hype.
Australia don't want to play twice against home nations needing to win in the pool stage, so essentially they need to win as well. Massive game, best pool game in a long long long time. fecking not going for the draw. Gutted none of my tickets for England(big pool games not Uruguay) didn't go through, had an absolute blast in Cardiff yesterday.
Georgia looking decent, another growth nation. Really expected an slaughtering at this point.
Georgia looking decent, another growth nation. Really expected an slaughtering at this point.
Yeah rugby has become very popular in Georgia and more money is getting invested in it.
The reality is, given history, someone should be lining them up for a shock this world cup. The precedent is there and history is on the side of someone causing an upset. It's funny that it's happened so often yet is still such a massive shock because of their constant form outside of WC time.
It makes me very happy. There couldn't be a world cup without them so it's in the competition's interest to invest in them. They'll shock someone before too long like Japan did.
The big problem for the Tier 2 nations has been this 60min mark when the big nations empty their benches. They just have so much quality beyond their starting 15 that the smaller nations get blown away in the last 20.
Really good point, still the nice thing is that its clear the gap is shrinking. The more the gap shrinks the better it is for rugby.
Because those nations are a bit isolated outside of WC years and off the radar, it's a really nice shock. It'd really be something if we could have a massive breakthrough this year like Japan making the QFs.
There needs to be an avenue for Georgia and Romania to get into the 6 Nations. Should be a relegation/promotion playoff between the bottom placed 6N side and the top placed 6NB side each year.
Georgia are ahead of Italy on current evidence and lightyears ahead of where the Italians were when we first let them in.
Georgia are ahead of Italy on current evidence and lightyears ahead of where the Italians were when we first let them in.
Gorgodze was a beast today as usual before he got subbed.
Best team in the world undoubtedly , but in a foreign world cup , the All Blacks are beatable..
That's a tough call. It'd be Italy or Scotland at the moment and both unions are struggling. It'd be a pretty bitter blow to see one of them out, Italy because they've come on so much and Scotland because of history. I think more tests would be the first step. An 8 Nations or whatever should definitely be the end goal though within the next ten years.
France?
100 plus points for this big teams used to be the norm not so long ago...the gap is shrinking quickly..with the Olympics now featuring rugby, I see good things for the sport.
Scotland are on the up and regardless, the history of sport has shown that protecting underperforming teams from relegation and blocking aspiring sides from promotion does nothing to further the game.
More test games would be irresponsible. Test rugby is unbelievably physical and there are a lot of good arguments that guys are playing too many tests as it is.
It'd be a sacrifice from the bigger nations to accomodate the growth of the game and they should make that sacrifice. I don't think Georgia are ready for 6 Nations, but a development schedule of 5 or 6 big tests per year spread out against all of the big nations would be great. The Tier 1s don't have to play their first team - their reserves are good enough. It would make a huge difference and give them great exposure.
I think it'd be so cruel and totally counter-productive to have Italy sitting out for a year.
Going back to this match, the other big difference between the Tier 2 nations and big guns is finishing. The Tier 2 nations have done really well in possession, continuity, hard tacking and turnovers but they've really struggled when it comes to converting chances. They've got a real problem when they get into the opposition 22, which is a combination of lack of that final spark and also just how good all the Tier 1 nations are at do-or-die defending on the try line. Georgia did great on possession for long stretches against the World Champs tonight, for example. That'll be another big stride that the Tier 2 nations will have to overcome but it's all in the coaching and finding that player or two who has the talent to finish. And, Argentina shows that they will get there if the current investment path is continued.
England-Australia tomorrow is a cracking match, right?