2015 Rugby World Cup

[JackRabbitSlims]

Scotland crush Japan 45 - 10 in Pool B.

Highlights - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/video.cfm?c_id=1503577&gal_cid=1503577&gallery_id=154534

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

Australia beat Fiji 28 - 13 in Pool A.

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

Lancaster re-jigs his midfield ahead of the Wales match.

In the single most radical upheaval of Stuart Lancaster's time in charge, England have ripped up their midfield for the crucial World Cup pool match against Wales.

George Ford has been dropped for Owen Farrell, Sam Burgess will start at second five-eighths and Brad Barritt has been switched to centre in place of the injured Jonathan Joseph.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11517959

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

Lancaster re-jigs his midfield ahead of the Wales match.

In the single most radical upheaval of Stuart Lancaster's time in charge, England have ripped up their midfield for the crucial World Cup pool match against Wales.

George Ford has been dropped for Owen Farrell, Sam Burgess will start at second five-eighths and Brad Barritt has been switched to centre in place of the injured Jonathan Joseph.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11517959

The Owen Farrell decision is quite surprising, not the Burgess on though. People are saying he's gone for brawn over fair by picking Burgess over Slade, but the immediate talk after the England/Fiji game was about the difference Burgess made. That difference was made my him breaking the line and off-loading, exactly what you'd want from a second five-eighths (inside centre). The British media is getting more and more ridiculous.


The Farrell/Ford decision. I get it, Farrell offers a more secure game than Ford with a better defensive kicking option. I would have preferred to see him come on to finish the game off though, I think it's harder to change from a closed, defensive game to a more open one.


At the end of the day all England want out of the game is a win, it's a toss up but this is a very good way for them to secure one.

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

on paper england look like the better side across the park

wales have too many injuries to first string players in key positions - however, i'm sure they'll be up for the contest and i hope it's a good battle

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

on paper england look like the better side across the park

wales have too many injuries to first string players in key positions - however, i'm sure they'll be up for the contest and i hope it's a good battle

Losing JJ has all of a sudden opened it up again. I think the pressure on England is so much higher now that Wales have 1/2 a team that this will be a great test for them, even more than against a full strength team. I have a feeling that Wales may sneak this through though, England are a reasonably inexperienced team. They have buckled under pressure before 2013/2014 and may do so again.

 

[Brullnux]

Impressive performance from Namibia to lose just 58-14 to NZ. Score line may seem bad but this is Namibia we are talking about.

 

[Eshnar]

Re:

Impressive performance from Namibia to lose just 58-14 to NZ. Score line may seem bad but this is Namibia we are talking about.

they scored more points than us after all

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

Namibia played well

All Blacks started well, then seemed to get bored and then frustrated with the speed of the game in the 2nd half - still improving though and definitely some good aspects to be taken from the game.

WC is about the players on the field, seems to me the refs, linesman and TMO all want their time in the spotlight as well!

Looking forward to RSA v Samoa & England V Wales this weekend.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Namibia played well

All Blacks started well, then seemed to get bored and then frustrated with the speed of the game in the 2nd half - still improving though and definitely some good aspects to be taken from the game.

WC is about the players on the field, seems to me the refs, linesman and TMO all want their time in the spotlight as well!

Looking forward to RSA v Samoa & England V Wales this weekend.

The sad moment of realisation that I will probably miss the first massive clash of the tournament

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

South Africa convincingly dispose of Samoa : 46 - 6

Well done, they were under much pressure to perform well here and have done so!

C'mon Wales!!

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

this is unbelievable!!

a fan invading the pitch and trying to participate in the game!!
https://vine.co/v/exXdvl1BBDI

 

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

The sad moment of realisation that I will probably miss the first massive clash of the tournament

Maybe G realized that the World Championship RR clashed with the Wales-England match and "suddenly felt drained" see

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/34352073

England have to be favourites, especially with Wales' injuries in the front row and the backs. I hoping though, in particular, that Gethin has a few great games in him.

 

[Tank Engine]

Wales finish with two scrum halves and two fly halves and somehow win after one of the most dramatic finishes I've seen

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

great result!!

we have a special place of dislike for all things "english rugby" down here in nz -

now england have to beat a pretty damn good wallabies side to advance out of pool play

 

[Eagle]

Re:

Great game, great result

we have a special place of dislike for all things "english rugby" down here in nz -

Everyone does

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

OK, so the RSA v Samoa game didn't live up to my expectations, was hoping for a much closer game - I'm sure there are some very sore bodies on both teams though.

England v Australia will be huge...at twickers......can't wait for that one.

 

[Brullnux]

3 on paper one sided games today. Ireland vs Romania, Aus vs Urugauy and Scotland vs USA.

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

South African Captain Jean de Villiers out of the cup with a broken jaw......again!

Poor fella has been riddled with injuries throughout his stella career.

RSA a real threat in this cup, despite the Japan hiccup in the first round.

 

[42x16ss]

Good to see that Cooper chose Uruguay as the team to have a hiccup against. Hopefully he's only used as an impact player for the rest of the tournament. He's just not a WC starting 10.

A gutsy win from the Welsh, hopefully them and Aus take 1st and 2nd

 

[Brullnux]

Great news for French, Italians and neutrals: Parisse is back for Italy. Italy now have a chance against Ireland. It is small, but still there is a chance.

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

well, I'm gonna have to lean towards Ireland in that one
Rugby is a team sport....relying on one player to carry a team is a futile exercise I'm afraid

All Blacks should dispose of Georgia without any concerns.....no injuries would be huge bonus!

Samoa v Japan is a bit of a coin toss for me......Japan ftw

RSA v Scotland will be a good match.....RSA are a real threat after their hiccup against Japan. Jean De Villiers is gone, but they have 3 amazing midfielders to step up into that role. Picking them to win convincingly and make a bit of a statement.

England v Aussie is a huge game and will have a final's like atmosphere at Twickers. Poms have their backs to the wall, their own media tearing them a new one and desperate to win this game to keep their hopes alive in their home world cup.
TBH, I can't see them beating the Wallabies.....man for man across the park they lose. The breakdown is so crucial in modern rugby and Pocock and Hooper just dominate that area......no one in the England team comes close to them.
Wallabies backline.....if it fires is lethal and they love the "Big Game" atmosphere - picking them to win well and make a statement also!

Have a great weekend and enjoy the footy!

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

Nice win for Japan over Samoa 26 - 5
Thats 2 very good wins for Japan so far in this cup - well done to them.
Seems like Eddie Jones is doing a great job.

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

bye bye England.

making history for all the wrong reasons

hosts dumped out of their own world cup in pool play

 

[wendybnt]

Yep, Poms outclassed. Wallabies will take it to the final