[quote]bluebear wrote:
perhaps we shouldn’t dwell on the knee drop on Johnnys head shown in slow motion then…[/quote]
nah, let’s not. And I won’t mention Lund’s mid-air tackle of Dempsey then… 
[quote]t-ha wrote:
Personally I think he was being obstructed deliberately after he chipped on the ball (i.e. a professional foul) and when the same used to happen to me I pretty much always took out the guy that did it on my way past - it sends a clear message to think carefully about how much you value your face before obstructing again.
[/quote]
agree with this statement. Its the ‘correct’ course of aaction to take, but it was illigal. Thankfully not a great deal has been made about it.
Strettle though was a positive for England. I think he needed to be given the ball more - he was more than capable of making Horgan look a dick. His pace is tremendous.
Looking at the world cup pools for later this year - Ireland have a TOUGH group with both France and Argentina. The all blacks have a breeze, whereas England have ANOTHER crunch match against the bloody south Africans.
http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/EN/Home/Pools/
if anyone can get hold of who would play who in after the pool places (ie 1st place B plays second place A etc etc), that would be great.
ok, here we go…
POOL A
England, South Africa, Samoa, USA, Tonga
POOL B
Australia, wales, Fiji, Canada, Japan
POOL C New Zealand, Scotland, Italy,
Romania, Repechage 1
POOL D France, Ireland, Argentina, Georgia, Namibia
winner pool B v Runner up pool A
winner pool C v Runner up pool D
(winner from this makes semi final 1)
winner pool A v Runner up group B
Winner pool D v runner up group C
so im thinking…
Aus v SA
NZ v France
Eng v wales
Ire v Scot/Ita
Thats a tricky quarter final for NZ - they will be facin either France or Ireland. Shame they cant meet at a later stage.
[quote]supermick wrote:
ok, here we go…
POOL A
England, South Africa, Samoa, USA, Tonga
POOL B
Australia, wales, Fiji, Canada, Japan
POOL C New Zealand, Scotland, Italy,
Romania, Repechage 1
POOL D France, Ireland, Argentina, Georgia, Namibia
winner pool B v Runner up pool A
winner pool C v Runner up pool D
(winner from this makes semi final 1)
winner pool A v Runner up group B
Winner pool D v runner up group C
so im thinking…
Aus v SA
NZ v France
Eng v wales
Ire v Scot/Ita
Thats a tricky quarter final for NZ - they will be facin either France or Ireland. Shame they cant meet at a later stage.
[/quote]
Cheers Mick. If thats how it pans out I dont think England could have hoped for a better draw. Looks like England v South Africa is gonna be a massive game as is Ireland v France.
Can anyone see any upsets on the card? Maybe Argentina to catch France freezing under the pressure of the home crowd? Has anyone seen Samoa, Tonga or Fiji play recentley? The last time I watched Fiji the All Blacks destroyed them by around 100 points!
[quote]Ashes wrote:
Cheers Mick. If thats how it pans out I dont think England could have hoped for a better draw. Looks like England v South Africa is gonna be a massive game as is Ireland v France.
Can anyone see any upsets on the card? Maybe Argentina to catch France freezing under the pressure of the home crowd? Has anyone seen Samoa, Tonga or Fiji play recentley? The last time I watched Fiji the All Blacks destroyed them by around 100 points![/quote]
Good things are happening in the World of Rugby. Argentina are applying for the coveted 4th team position in the Tri nations. Now i can see em turning over some teams on home soil in a few years if this goes though.
Jason Robinson is back for England V France. We NEED to win this game. The 6 nations is all about momentum and that Ireland loss has stopped Englands momentum dead in its tracks.
As for Samoa, Fiji and Tonga - who knows. I dont see them being a threat to the big 5 or 6 teams but they always posess the odd one or two world class athletes.
Remember Rupeni?
I Have a little sympathy for Samoa. A lot of their best players are based in England, and with English club rugby being a total shambles half there best players end up ‘locked’ in club commitments.
Yes I remember Rupeni,
in fact I watched him personally dismantle Gloucester this year for Agen.
Fastest most talented fat bloke I’ve ever seen. I’d like to see him holding a shoe…
[quote]bluebear wrote:
Yes I remember Rupeni,
in fact I watched him personally dismantle Gloucester this year for Agen.
Fastest most talented fat bloke I’ve ever seen. I’d like to see him holding a shoe…[/quote]
we are not looking good here: -
wilkinson and vickery out. Toby flood at fly have against a french midfield thats cooking on gas at the minute.
comments anyone?
[quote]supermick wrote:
bluebear wrote:
Yes I remember Rupeni,
in fact I watched him personally dismantle Gloucester this year for Agen.
Fastest most talented fat bloke I’ve ever seen. I’d like to see him holding a shoe…
we are not looking good here: -
wilkinson and vickery out. Toby flood at fly have against a french midfield thats cooking on gas at the minute.
comments anyone?
[/quote]
It’s almost as if England’s decided to lose to France just to spite Ireland.
On a more serious note though, Catt could have a big influence, and having Robinson back on the wing should help. I don’t really know what to say about all the movement in the pack. The front row shouldn’t be too bad, White can hold his own, but putting Corry at second row when he’s only played there once seems a bit suspect. Losing Wilko and his golden boot is a big hit, but he’s played like 4 matches in a row now, did you really expect him to stay healthy much longer?
[quote]supermick wrote:
bluebear wrote:
Yes I remember Rupeni,
in fact I watched him personally dismantle Gloucester this year for Agen.
Fastest most talented fat bloke I’ve ever seen. I’d like to see him holding a shoe…
we are not looking good here: -
wilkinson and vickery out. Toby flood at fly have against a french midfield thats cooking on gas at the minute.
comments anyone?
[/quote]
Wow, 10 changes. I like the look of our wings, Strettle and Robinson… thats about as much as I can say on the positive side! Its going to be very hard for all the new combinations to gel against a pretty good French team. Also Im surprised Magnus Lund has been dropped.
Maybe this new look pack will be super hungry and bust the French up a bit? Not feeling too confident though, Im just glad theres an old head like Catty out there to lead the way.
[quote]m0dd3r wrote:
It’s almost as if England’s decided to lose to France just to spite Ireland.
On a more serious note though, Catt could have a big influence, and having Robinson back on the wing should help.
[/quote]
i actually think our backs, minus flood of newcastle looks like a good line up. France however, are looking a VERY good line up.
Im lost. We have plenty specialist second rows in England without having to move a number 8 in their.
The french pack as all french packs before them, pride themselves upfront and im glad to see white back at tighthead - i think his scrummaging is better than vickery’s. We could of had a better pack though, of that im sure.
No.
Im not holding much hope out and i have rarely felt so negative about an England international.
bump for the weekend.
predictions anyone?
I’m going with Ireland over Scotland, but I’m hoping the Scots are pissed about their performance so far and put up a good fight. Could be a good match, but I don’t see it being too close.
As much as I hate it, I’ve got to give Italy the nod over Wales. The Italians looked strong against England and are coming off a fantastic win at Murrayfield, while the Welsh have looked flat at best. Morgan returning from the cracked jaw is a bit of a boost, but I don’t think it’ll be enough.
And finally we have England vs. France at Twickenham. Coming off the loss to Ireland and in such disarray with injuries and player changes, I can’t see how England can stop the rampaging French. But good God I hope they do. As far as I see it, it’s going to come down to the performance of the English pack and whether or not Flood has the composure to fill Wilko’s boots against a French side that’s really superior in almost every way. If the forwards can retain the ball and keep it moving quick, and flood doesn’t choke, they might just have a chance. I’m going to go with England, just out of sheer hope.
[quote]m0dd3r wrote:
bump for the weekend.
predictions anyone?
I’m going with Ireland over Scotland, but I’m hoping the Scots are pissed about their performance so far and put up a good fight. Could be a good match, but I don’t see it being too close.
As much as I hate it, I’ve got to give Italy the nod over Wales. The Italians looked strong against England and are coming off a fantastic win at Murrayfield, while the Welsh have looked flat at best. Morgan returning from the cracked jaw is a bit of a boost, but I don’t think it’ll be enough.
And finally we have England vs. France at Twickenham. Coming off the loss to Ireland and in such disarray with injuries and player changes, I can’t see how England can stop the rampaging French. But good God I hope they do. As far as I see it, it’s going to come down to the performance of the English pack and whether or not Flood has the composure to fill Wilko’s boots against a French side that’s really superior in almost every way. If the forwards can retain the ball and keep it moving quick, and flood doesn’t choke, they might just have a chance. I’m going to go with England, just out of sheer hope.[/quote]
i agree with everything written above but feel france will edge out England. Unfortunately. Feels uneasy to admit that to myself too.
Bloody hell. I can barely believe that was the same Irish team that I saw play two weeks ago. Once again the lack of consistency in the Irish pack is blatantly obvious. Talk about scraping a win, it was a far cry from a world class performance.
[quote]g’em wrote:
Bloody hell. I can barely believe that was the same Irish team that I saw play two weeks ago. Once again the lack of consistency in the Irish pack is blatantly obvious. Talk about scraping a win, it was a far cry from a world class performance. [/quote]
I only saw the first half as I went to watch Rotherham v Plymouth (great game by the way, we scored a vital try to get the bonus point from a charge-down in the 78th min) but from what I saw I have to say well done to the Scots for a putting up a good fight, I was worried this game would be a walk in the park for Ireland.
As for Ireland, it doesnt look like they will be consistent enough to put in 7 (is it 7 games?) good performances in a row to win the world cup. When England won we were very consistent in the two years before the tournament and just looked like we had the mental and physical strength and stamina to perform throughout the entire competition, built on our incredible pack of course.
Just watching the Wales v Italy last minute… incredible stuff, 10 seconds left, wales got a pen infront of the posts… kicked for the corner and the ref has blown! The Welsh are furious, Italians ecstatic, God I love rugby!!!
[quote]Ashes wrote:
As for Ireland, it doesnt look like they will be consistent enough to put in 7 (is it 7 games?) good performances in a row to win the world cup. When England won we were very consistent in the two years before the tournament and just looked like we had the mental and physical strength and stamina to perform throughout the entire competition, built on our incredible pack of course.
[/quote]
well that’s it. The word that keeps getting used about the Irish team’s performance is consistency, or lack of it. We have one of the best (the best?) back rows in the world but only shine when they’re given the space to do it. That space won’t be given by the French or the All Blacks. They crack under pressure and the simple basics are forgotten.
When the Irish pack are playing their best they are brilliant, but that kind of play isn’t seen often enough for a World Cup Win.
[quote]g’em wrote:
well that’s it. The word that keeps getting used about the Irish team’s performance is consistency, or lack of it. We have one of the best (the best?) back rows in the world but only shine when they’re given the space to do it. That space won’t be given by the French or the All Blacks. They crack under pressure and the simple basics are forgotten.
When the Irish pack are playing their best they are brilliant, but that kind of play isn’t seen often enough for a World Cup Win.
[/quote]
Gem - i must say im damn impressed with you.
Not only can you pull 3 plates each side but you know your rugby too.
Concerning the games, i actually found both to be a bit error strewn, patchy and not up to a great standard technically but for sheer drama, they were great spectacles, especially the italy v wales game. I People are already crying for the return of Mike Ruddock, which is a great shame for jenkins but thats top level sport i guess. A wooden spoon beckons.
Maybe Italy have more depth than we realise - there u21 team beat wales u21 too. If they had a quality fly half (Pez is terrible), that game would have been over long before the final 10 mins.
Im nervous but looking forward to England v France. I just dont think Floods the guy for England. We will see.
[quote]supermick wrote:
Gem - i must say im damn impressed with you.
Not only can you pull 3 plates each side but you know your rugby too.
[/quote]
lol, I eat my steaks bloody and rare enough that I’m waiting for it to jump off the plate too - guess that makes me the quinessential tomboy?!?
Well my, my that was a hell of a match!! Mick initially I would have agreed with you about Flood but by God did he prove himself today, along with Geraghty and Strettle (again). In fact it was the younger, more inexperienced players who settled into the game much quicker and easier than their older, supposedly wiser counterparts.
Its often said that the French don’t travel well and I think today was a prime example of that. They completely lacked the driving force that usually sees them tear apart more inexperienced teams leaving England to play with flair and intiative. The first 20 minutes of the first half were more than a little bit dodgy with bad ball handling by the English though and they were lucky not to have conceded any French tries. Of course the lack of any French tries in the whole match is very telling in itself - credit where its due to the English but in my mind it shows a French team playing very sub-standardly.
I’m hesitant to credit Ashton with any of the glory, he’s still a prime twat of a coach if you ask me. And what was with taking Catt off with two minutes to go? If you’re going to recall him after a six month absence from the National team at least give him the dignity of finishing the match.
Anyway, I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but thank you England!! Bring on next weekend - we need to beat the Italians by five points more than the French beat the Scots and the championship is ours. And it’s Paddy’s weekend to boot, woohoo!!!
well well well. The 6 nations is awesome. Fair play to flood - he stood up but im still convinced the guy who replaced him (Geraghty) is the man for the future. The pack were good, rees and corry in particular but what a dull strange match in the first half!
Another good game for Strettle. He could be the find of the championships.
Talk about neves though.
[quote]g’em wrote:
supermick wrote:
Gem - i must say im damn impressed with you.
Not only can you pull 3 plates each side but you know your rugby too.
lol, I eat my steaks bloody and rare enough that I’m waiting for it to jump off the plate too - guess that makes me the quinessential tomboy?!?
Well my, my that was a hell of a match!! Mick initially I would have agreed with you about Flood but by God did he prove himself today, along with Geraghty and Strettle (again). In fact it was the younger, more inexperienced players who settled into the game much quicker and easier than their older, supposedly wiser counterparts.
Its often said that the French don’t travel well and I think today was a prime example of that. They completely lacked the driving force that usually sees them tear apart more inexperienced teams leaving England to play with flair and intiative. The first 20 minutes of the first half were more than a little bit dodgy with bad ball handling by the English though and they were lucky not to have conceded any French tries. Of course the lack of any French tries in the whole match is very telling in itself - credit where its due to the English but in my mind it shows a French team playing very sub-standardly.
I’m hesitant to credit Ashton with any of the glory, he’s still a prime twat of a coach if you ask me. And what was with taking Catt off with two minutes to go? If you’re going to recall him after a six month absence from the National team at least give him the dignity of finishing the match.
Anyway, I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but thank you England!! Bring on next weekend - we need to beat the Italians by five points more than the French beat the Scots and the championship is ours. And it’s Paddy’s weekend to boot, woohoo!!![/quote]
Hold on a second matey, arn’t you forgetting about England? Its unlikeley but given the way Italy and Scotland played this weekend maybe they could keep it tight or cause upsets whilst England give Wales a 35+ points thrashing and just pip it. Ha ha, im probabley getting carried away with myself, Ive just been jumping around the living room like a mad man watching that game! Swing Low!
Team P W D L F A PTS
1 France 4 3 0 1 109 67 6
2 Ireland 4 3 0 1 98 60 6
3 England 4 3 0 1 101 88 6
4 Italy 4 2 0 2 70 96 4
5 Scotland 4 1 0 3 76 107 2
6 Wales 4 0 0 4 59 95 0