Rugby world cup thread

clydebest

France ?

nheather

England setting rugby records.

First host nation to go out in the group stage.

Biggest loss to Australia at Twickenham.

There have been moans that the media is too pro-England.  Well wait to see the flip side in the papers tomorrow - England will be crucified.


Cheers,

Nigel

Sloppy Bob

That's the joy of the UK media.

Build you up and tear you down. Teams, sports people, celebs (A-Z list). They're all fair game.

Greg Hook

I thought with Rugby we wouldn't have the same crushing disappointment that we get when the useless England Football team goes out early, but I was wrong!

gibbsy

I enjoyed the game and in all honesty I'm not saying that because I'm Welsh. I'm pleased because Australia eased our progress into the quarrters. When England scored their try I thought game on and if they had gone on to win I would have smiled through gritted teeth and said well done. But yet again the English bottled it, simply lost the plot like they did last week.

Never mind, at least by finishing third in the group you will have automatically qualify for Japan in 2019.

Now my English chums learn a different bloody song. 'Cos you've got no wheels left on that chariot.

PU6HY

Yep. Boring song. Boring anthem aswell.
Mate of mine tweeted Mike Brown earlier today and he bit [emoji23]

mentasm

I think some Welsh supporters (and I don't necessarily mean anyone on here) have very short memories. Wales narrowly beat an England team that practically handed them the game, and Wales has lost the previous two Six Nations encounters, yet the way some of them are carrying on in the England FB group you'd think they'd smashed England in every meeting since the dawn of time and are going to go on and win the thing with ease... Some downright nasty comments from other fans in there as well, particularly Kiwis, which doesn't surprise me. A lot of their supporters don't know the meaning of grace in victory. Still, that Aussie team was a class above anything I've seen in the tournament so far (and I include the All Blacks, although they've hardly faced stiff opposition) and I could see them going on to win it.

I'm strangely zen about the whole England thing though. I think perhaps it's because I had largely resigned myself to the fact that the team wasn't going to progress after the last game. Lancaster is clueless, his support staff seemingly equally so, they don't have a strong leader, the selection policy is a joke, etc., etc. They've gone through four years of the Six Nations as also-runs and while England played well in patches this evening, they lack finesse, a killer instinct and, dare I say, the passion required to beat the best teams on a regular basis. Japan has looked far more passionate in its games, for example (and entertaining).

Regardless of what Wilkinson and some others were saying, I believe wholesale changes are required for the team to be effective, be that policies or personnel. The selection for the tournament was incredibly negative, leaving out players with a touch of magic in favour of boring players with no creativity. What does Barritt bring to the team? Burgess was nowhere near ready (he could quite easily have seen yellow at the same time as Farrell) and if I was someone like Eliot Daly or Kyle Eastmond I'd feel incredibly hard done by to have been omitted for a recent league convert who doesn't even play centre for his club... Cipriani must be wondering why he didn't take the French money. Wigglesworth? Jesus. Bringing in 137 year old Nick Easter? The list goes on. Even the few flair players he did pick (like Slade) didn't get any game time.

Anyway, good luck to the remaining NH teams. I hope one of them can raise their game enough to win it. I'll still be watching as I'm a rugby fan, not just an England supporter, and after more than twenty five years I'm used to the low points. I had both Welsh and Irish grandparents, so I've never had the animosity towards them that some (sad) England supporters do. I'm not quite 'cymru yn byth', but credit where its due.

gibbsy

I'm sorry but you've fallen into the trap that the English press perpetuate. Apart from the World Cup win in 2003, which was won by probably the best English team in your history their other results have not been as good as that of Wales. In the 6 Nations, since 2000; 1 Grand Slam to Wales 3, Campionships and Triple Crowns are shared at equally at 4 and 3 respectively. England were Champions in 2011, prior to that it was 2003.

That's the trouble with England, you're not as good as you think you are. Wales does as well with a much smaller pool of players to call upon.

England have performed poorly at this world cup, Wales may only be two games from going out yet the players have given everything. The Welsh will pat themselves on the back, moan about the injuries and say we'll do better next time, fingers crossed. To be a Welsh supporter you have to be the eternal optomist, but be under no illusion that an English XV is far superior to the Welsh, recent history will dismiss that.

mentasm

I haven't fallen into anything, trap or otherwise. Check the 6 Nations all-time table - I think you'll find it enlightening (hint, England are first, Wales are fourth). In all competitions England has also won more slams overall than Wales, way more triple crowns, and has never received the wooden spoon. Wales hasn't won any World Cups that I can remember either (or been in any finals). So I could equally say, that's the trouble with Wales, you're not as good as you think you are, but hat wouldn't make any sense.

While I'm at it, what's with all this 'not as good as you think you are' anyway? Last I checked I didn't have any international caps and I suspect the same of you. You've completely missed the point of my post, which didn't in any way profess the superiority of England over Wales in recent times (quite the opposite in fact). The first paragraph of said post was merely intended to convey my disappointment with the schadenfreude displayed by some of the Wales fans, who took the time to come into an England rugby group and gloat like a bunch of ungracious anchors. That's not what the game is about. It didn't take you long to twist my post into anti-English sentiment either.

PU6HY

You're beaten us the two previous games blah blah blah. All irrelevant. We beat you last week. You handed nothing to us. We came back and took it from you. We defended well then scored a good try. If your stupid full back gives a penalty away then that's not our fault. We gave penalties away too. You could say we handed you the first half as you were the better side. Doesn't work like that. You could say we hammered you 30-3 the other year but what's the point? It's all in the past. There's one game in it in our overall record v each other but again all irrelevant. We are through (this time) and you aren't. Move on.