Bridgeman
Alfie Biggs
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Post by Bridgeman on Oct 10, 2015 18:00:25 GMT
As much as I dislike them they were absolutely awesome in defence going down to 13 men at one stage but still managed not to concede a try.
They should definitely get to the final and then who knows ?
Their front 5 stood up extremely well against a decent Welsh front 5 too, so it appears they've managed to sort that part of their game and have an excellent defence plus superb backs.
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Rex
Predictions League
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Post by Rex on Oct 11, 2015 6:16:04 GMT
Unbelievable defence, they deserved it.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Oct 11, 2015 16:18:16 GMT
The Aussie defensive effort was remarkable - so far they have definitely looked like the team to beat. New Zealand haven't quite gotten into top gear yet and South Africa's defeat against Japan still leaves question marks no matter how well they've played since. In the 2 key games they've played it's hard to see where the holes are in the Aussie lineup.
Having said that I did feel Wales also did a good job defensively against the explosive Aussie backline and I felt they got it wrong in that crucial period both in terms of the way they attacked the line and in the decision to go for jugular in a do or die kind of way. Wales basically threw all their eggs at that particularly period of the game. I think that so far the World Cup, as usual, has rewarded teams that have played conservatively gotten their noses in front. I felt Wales should have taken the points on the 1st penalty then come back up field to tie the game. It's all about points on the board. That's to take nothing away from Australia who were absolutely incredible and probably would have won anyway but I didn't feel Wales gave themselves the best chance of winning that game.
Looking like another good tournament for the Southern Hemisphere on the whole - big game going on in Cardiff at the moment. Very little between Ireland and France here. |
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brizzle
Lindsay Parsons
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Post by brizzle on Oct 11, 2015 16:38:57 GMT
As much as I dislike them they were absolutely awesome in defence going down to 13 men at one stage but still managed not to concede a try. They should definitely get to the final and then who knows ? Their front 5 stood up extremely well against a decent Welsh front 5 too, so it appears they've managed to sort that part of their game and have an excellent defence plus superb backs. At least if they did it might take away some of the English collective feeling of humiliation at the way in which things have panned out for us this time round. But then again, who knows? Still we always have the root and branch review to look forward to, as opposed (unfortunately) to further progression in our home-staged Rugby World Cup. I see that the media are predictably all over it. So far Stuart Lancaster is cast in the role of the woefully inadequate head coach (despite being extremely affable), whilst the other coaches are cast firmly in the role of the thoroughly bad guys. Chris Robshawe comes out of it all in a much better light than his singer girlfriend, which is more than Sam Burgess does, having been cast in the role of chief villain although what he actually did is rather tenuous. And we haven't even touched on the villainy and double-talk that surrounded poor old Luther Burrell's exclusion from the final squad. Still it's not all bad, is it? I'd love to know what Brian Moore makes of it all. Good luck to Australia I say (through gritted teeth), and good luck to England too . . . although not this time, unfortunately. |
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Bridgeman
Alfie Biggs
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Post by Bridgeman on Oct 12, 2015 20:39:01 GMT
The Aussie defensive effort was remarkable - so far they have definitely looked like the team to beat. New Zealand haven't quite gotten into top gear yet and South Africa's defeat against Japan still leaves question marks no matter how well they've played since. In the 2 key games they've played it's hard to see where the holes are in the Aussie lineup.
Having said that I did feel Wales also did a good job defensively against the explosive Aussie backline and I felt they got it wrong in that crucial period both in terms of the way they attacked the line and in the decision to go for jugular in a do or die kind of way. Wales basically threw all their eggs at that particularly period of the game. I think that so far the World Cup, as usual, has rewarded teams that have played conservatively gotten their noses in front. I felt Wales should have taken the points on the 1st penalty then come back up field to tie the game. It's all about points on the board. That's to take nothing away from Australia who were absolutely incredible and probably would have won anyway but I didn't feel Wales gave themselves the best chance of winning that game.
Looking like another good tournament for the Southern Hemisphere on the whole - big game going on in Cardiff at the moment. Very little between Ireland and France here. Never felt the French really got going in this game, the first half they comfortably held the Irish but came off behind on points. 2nd half the Irish up the tempo and despite losing Sexton and then O'Connell never looked like losing. It'll be just typical of France to win their quarter final match although I'm not expecting them too. It would be really good for the game if Argentina could progress further than the quarter finals. What did anyone think of the Georgian and Romanian teams, are they nearly on an equal footing with Italy to challenge for a six nation spot. It would be really good to see the game of rugby become even more popular but I guess that's going to require investment and the bigger nations getting a smaller slice of the income, can you ever see that happening ? |
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Oct 13, 2015 9:20:53 GMT
The Aussie defensive effort was remarkable - so far they have definitely looked like the team to beat. New Zealand haven't quite gotten into top gear yet and South Africa's defeat against Japan still leaves question marks no matter how well they've played since. In the 2 key games they've played it's hard to see where the holes are in the Aussie lineup.
Having said that I did feel Wales also did a good job defensively against the explosive Aussie backline and I felt they got it wrong in that crucial period both in terms of the way they attacked the line and in the decision to go for jugular in a do or die kind of way. Wales basically threw all their eggs at that particularly period of the game. I think that so far the World Cup, as usual, has rewarded teams that have played conservatively gotten their noses in front. I felt Wales should have taken the points on the 1st penalty then come back up field to tie the game. It's all about points on the board. That's to take nothing away from Australia who were absolutely incredible and probably would have won anyway but I didn't feel Wales gave themselves the best chance of winning that game.
Looking like another good tournament for the Southern Hemisphere on the whole - big game going on in Cardiff at the moment. Very little between Ireland and France here. Never felt the French really got going in this game, the first half they comfortably held the Irish but came off behind on points. 2nd half the Irish up the tempo and despite losing Sexton and then O'Connell never looked like losing. It'll be just typical of France to win their quarter final match although I'm not expecting them too. It would be really good for the game if Argentina could progress further than the quarter finals. What did anyone think of the Georgian and Romanian teams, are they nearly on an equal footing with Italy to challenge for a six nation spot. It would be really good to see the game of rugby become even more popular but I guess that's going to require investment and the bigger nations getting a smaller slice of the income, can you ever see that happening ? Yeah - I made that comment at half time when I expected the French to up their game and they didn't. Ireland won without really getting into top gear and once again they are emerging as a relentless team that may be the Northern Hemisphere's best bet at the moment. A bit like the 6 Nations - no one really talked about them but they were quietly the best team in the tournament. You'd expect them to beat Argentina and make the Semi's for what I think would be the first time and then who knows.
Argentina have been very good and continue to quietly progress although I think they may be reaching the ceiling of their potential given that Rugby remains a pretty marginal sport in the country. The emergence of Japan is promising although it is hard for them to progress between tournaments. I thought Georgia made a decent case to replace Italy in the 6 Nations on Rugby terms - I think that's the biggest disappointment really, the stalling of Italian Rugby. Elsewhere there is evidence that quite a lot of progress is being made. Certainly considerably better than in Cricket.
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brizzle
Lindsay Parsons
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Post by brizzle on Oct 13, 2015 13:42:31 GMT
Never felt the French really got going in this game, the first half they comfortably held the Irish but came off behind on points. 2nd half the Irish up the tempo and despite losing Sexton and then O'Connell never looked like losing. It'll be just typical of France to win their quarter final match although I'm not expecting them too. It would be really good for the game if Argentina could progress further than the quarter finals. What did anyone think of the Georgian and Romanian teams, are they nearly on an equal footing with Italy to challenge for a six nation spot. It would be really good to see the game of rugby become even more popular but I guess that's going to require investment and the bigger nations getting a smaller slice of the income, can you ever see that happening ? Yeah - I made that comment at half time when I expected the French to up their game and they didn't. Ireland won without really getting into top gear and once again they are emerging as a relentless team that may be the Northern Hemisphere's best bet at the moment. A bit like the 6 Nations - no one really talked about them but they were quietly the best team in the tournament. You'd expect them to beat Argentina and make the Semi's for what I think would be the first time and then who knows.
Argentina have been very good and continue to quietly progress although I think they may be reaching the ceiling of their potential given that Rugby remains a pretty marginal sport in the country. The emergence of Japan is promising although it is hard for them to progress between tournaments. I thought Georgia made a decent case to replace Italy in the 6 Nations on Rugby terms - I think that's the biggest disappointment really, the stalling of Italian Rugby. Elsewhere there is evidence that quite a lot of progress is being made. Certainly considerably better than in Cricket.
Regarding Ireland's efforts so far in the competition, they have been excellent. But their problem going forward is that they have lost three of their team to injury, Paul O'Connell, Johnny Sexton and Peter O'Mahony; with the additional problem that Sean O'Brien may also miss the next match due to being cited. I think that this will make things very difficult for them, but they have done very well so far in the competition. Going off at a slight tangent I see that Stuart Lancaster's future (and presumably that of his entire coaching staff as well) is to be delayed for the time being. But I believe that it is inevitable that he will have to go. When you look at the Welsh team with Warren Gatland at the helm, doing very nicely in a consistent fashion, Ireland being led by Joe Schmidt and even Scotland having something of a resurgence under Vern Cotter the main thing that I see is a passion in their play, which is something that is sadly missing from England's performances . . . and not only at this world cup neither. I believe that England should be looking to employ the very best coach that they can attract, wherever he was born. The fact that the other three home nation coaches were all born in New Zealand is neither here nor there. I have read that of the English-born coaches that are interested in the head coach position (should it become available of course) are Jim Mallinder and Rob Baxter, and whilst they are clearly very fine coaches I don't feel that they have the capacity to take England to the next level. With the financial clout that the English RFU have, the world is their lobster so to speak. I just hope that they make a better appointment the next time that they are looking for a head coach, and are not swayed by the views and opinions of the players themselves as they reportedly were the last time when Stuart Lancaster was appointed. |
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Bridgeman
Alfie Biggs
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Post by Bridgeman on Oct 13, 2015 22:19:52 GMT
If Stuart Lancaster does go, I'd seriously consider Mike Ford if he's interested, he is a good coach and he has international experience with France so hardly a rookie, like Lancaster was.
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Oct 14, 2015 16:05:53 GMT
Yeah - I made that comment at half time when I expected the French to up their game and they didn't. Ireland won without really getting into top gear and once again they are emerging as a relentless team that may be the Northern Hemisphere's best bet at the moment. A bit like the 6 Nations - no one really talked about them but they were quietly the best team in the tournament. You'd expect them to beat Argentina and make the Semi's for what I think would be the first time and then who knows.
Argentina have been very good and continue to quietly progress although I think they may be reaching the ceiling of their potential given that Rugby remains a pretty marginal sport in the country. The emergence of Japan is promising although it is hard for them to progress between tournaments. I thought Georgia made a decent case to replace Italy in the 6 Nations on Rugby terms - I think that's the biggest disappointment really, the stalling of Italian Rugby. Elsewhere there is evidence that quite a lot of progress is being made. Certainly considerably better than in Cricket.
Regarding Ireland's efforts so far in the competition, they have been excellent. But their problem going forward is that they have lost three of their team to injury, Paul O'Connell, Johnny Sexton and Peter O'Mahony; with the additional problem that Sean O'Brien may also miss the next match due to being cited. I think that this will make things very difficult for them, but they have done very well so far in the competition. Yes - I think that evens up the Argentina match up quite a lot. Argentina have looked pretty good themselves and could well fancy a 2nd semi-final place in 3 tournaments. There could be a bit of soul searching all round if no Northern Hemisphere teams make the Semi-Finals. |
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Post by Foran for England on Oct 15, 2015 18:00:46 GMT
Never felt the French really got going in this game, the first half they comfortably held the Irish but came off behind on points. 2nd half the Irish up the tempo and despite losing Sexton and then O'Connell never looked like losing. It'll be just typical of France to win their quarter final match although I'm not expecting them too. It would be really good for the game if Argentina could progress further than the quarter finals. What did anyone think of the Georgian and Romanian teams, are they nearly on an equal footing with Italy to challenge for a six nation spot. It would be really good to see the game of rugby become even more popular but I guess that's going to require investment and the bigger nations getting a smaller slice of the income, can you ever see that happening ? Yeah - I made that comment at half time when I expected the French to up their game and they didn't. Ireland won without really getting into top gear and once again they are emerging as a relentless team that may be the Northern Hemisphere's best bet at the moment. A bit like the 6 Nations - no one really talked about them but they were quietly the best team in the tournament. You'd expect them to beat Argentina and make the Semi's for what I think would be the first time and then who knows.
Argentina have been very good and continue to quietly progress although I think they may be reaching the ceiling of their potential given that Rugby remains a pretty marginal sport in the country. The emergence of Japan is promising although it is hard for them to progress between tournaments. I thought Georgia made a decent case to replace Italy in the 6 Nations on Rugby terms - I think that's the biggest disappointment really, the stalling of Italian Rugby. Elsewhere there is evidence that quite a lot of progress is being made. Certainly considerably better than in Cricket.
Just being "that guy," but France were losing finalists last time around. They controversially beat Wales in the semis due mostly to questionable refereeing. |
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Rex
Predictions League
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Post by Rex on Oct 15, 2015 22:50:27 GMT
Yeah - I made that comment at half time when I expected the French to up their game and they didn't. Ireland won without really getting into top gear and once again they are emerging as a relentless team that may be the Northern Hemisphere's best bet at the moment. A bit like the 6 Nations - no one really talked about them but they were quietly the best team in the tournament. You'd expect them to beat Argentina and make the Semi's for what I think would be the first time and then who knows.
Argentina have been very good and continue to quietly progress although I think they may be reaching the ceiling of their potential given that Rugby remains a pretty marginal sport in the country. The emergence of Japan is promising although it is hard for them to progress between tournaments. I thought Georgia made a decent case to replace Italy in the 6 Nations on Rugby terms - I think that's the biggest disappointment really, the stalling of Italian Rugby. Elsewhere there is evidence that quite a lot of progress is being made. Certainly considerably better than in Cricket.
They controversially beat Wales in the semis due mostly to questionable refereeing. They should have won the final as well. I backed South Africa at the start of this tournament, and they remind me very much of the French last time out.
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Bridgeman
Alfie Biggs
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Post by Bridgeman on Oct 16, 2015 18:21:33 GMT
Looking forward to the weekend games, will miss not seeing Saturday's games live but have my away ticket for Mansfield....UTG !
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