2007 Rugby World Cup

[conzer16]

I like that Catt has been dropped. He's useless imo.

 

But what the hell is Eddie O'Sullivan doing?

 

Okay I understand why he's dropped Stringer - he hasn't done a tap since he landed in France, but Denis Hickie?? The most glaringly obvious omission from the Irleand team to play France is Geordan Murphy. Okay, according to O'Sullivan he never plays well against France........this is a bloody world cup!!! Why not play him against Namibia (who??) and Georgia (who??) then just to get him on the pitch and playing????

 

O'Sullivan is destroying our team. Over trained, over hyped and underperforming...god...we've turned into England...

[motion]

Actually I think of Ireland and it cheers me up about our current nightmares I honestly thought Georgia were going to win and it would have been the biggest world cup upset ever.

 

What odds both of us packing up early?

 

Catt had a good Six Nations (ie, 2 games) sadly he's not been with it recently.

 

Reddan has been on fire for Wasps last season so you're getting a good one, and Stringer is pretty crap imo anyway. Still O'Connell, O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, O'Gara et al have to start improving, when they don't show form, the whole team doesn't. Murphy is one of those hot/cold players and it's up to him when he's class and when he's not.

 

At least England's crapness has been 4 years coming. Ireland's sudden crapness is just bizarre. Very strange.

 

I'm wondering about the intelligence of offering O'Sullivan a new contract, "BEFORE" the world cup!!

[conzer16]

Ireland's sudden crapness has to stop tonight.

 

Tension in Ireland is incredible. Everyone here thinks we're going home. Everyone in France thinks we are too, I just pray that the players have the wherewithall to come out guns blazing in the opening quarter and stun the shit out of them.

 

So excited about this game. The biggest game of the World Cup so far - and possibly in Irish rugby history.

 

The odds on us both packing it in early you say? I'd say about 3/1.

[motion]

I'd say about 2/1 on us both going home. I'm scared shitless that we'll lose either one or both our next games.

 

Although the odds are against them I actually reckon Ireland will do well tonight. I've got money (not much mind) on them WINNING tonight. Yes they've been crap these past two games but I reckon it'll all click tonight against an overconfident French team (one that Ireland know very well).

 

Pool D is the pool of death, but Pool A isn't much easier!!

[conzer16]

Pool D has the 4th, 5th and 6th ranked sides in the world. Definitely the worst group to land in!! Bllody typical we're in it!!

 

I'm unsure as to what Ireland will turn up tonight. All the French media hype (ROG and BOD rumours etc) and all the demoralising performances that have led up to this world cup could be the telling factor.

 

My heart says Ireland by 9 (no BP for the Frenchies!!), my head says France comfortably.

[Sparko]

And how right your head was..

[conzer16]

So very depressed I am.

[motion]

Ireland' team are too old, been together far too long, and have just become bored and stagnant, with no new faces coming in for years. Simple as that, while you have backs with electrifying pace and skill from France, Ireland's are just predictable. O'Connell has been shocking and he epitomises the forwards, O'Gara non-existant and him with O'Driscoll epitomises the backs. After this World cup, O'Sullivan HAS GOT TO start from scratch and build a new team. Keep a few of the old faces of course but a huge clearout after the WC methinks.

 

Tonga looked scary against South Africa, thank god they didn't win.

 

Very very pleased with a decent England win today. Four tries to 1 (dubious one). Balance between forward grunt work and back play was awesome, our lineout was pretty good. Kicking out of hand terrible and a big lapse in concentration in the middle part of the game. Still, pretty pleased and some nice confidence boosting before the winner takes all game next Friday.

[conzer16]

http://www.scrumoftheearth.com

 

 

 

 

[motion]

That looks so wrong.

[BeerMonkey]

 

 

derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr she looks so confused

[motion]

Yeah was gonna say the Welsh bird looks a bit dim. No surprises there though

[The fish]

My observations of the day's play: Scotland got fucking owned.

Fortunately, I don't have my school's Kiwi geography teacher anymore, because he would go on and on and on and on about it...

[motion]

Actually you could probably go on and on about how crap the All Blacks were faced with a second string Scotland side. They won't be winning the World Cup if they play like that!

[motion]

Portugal are doing well at the moment on ITV4 against Romania! The amount of pride and passion they've brought to their first world cup is unreal! Awesome stuff and of course the sell-out crowd is 100% behind them (well, apart from Romanian fans I guess).

 

Japan getting the draw earlier was great to see, you could tell they were thrilled and that last try was awesome, if hugely controversial LOL. Great kick at goal under pressure as well.

 

 

[conzer16]

I'm really enjoying seeing the so called minnows of rugby do well in this tournament. Okay - they aren't causing any upsets by a long shot, but Portugal scoring a try against the AB's, Georgia scaring the shite out of us and the Japanese doing so well just really warms to me!!

 

If we beat Argentina on Sunday, this country will go beserk! We really really need a win. One by more than 7 points and 4 tries would be perfect....

 

....but since when has anything gone the way we want it eh?

[motion]

I think Ireland will do well against Argentina. Heard about Simon Best being rushed to hospital for losing the feeling down one of his sides? Sounds horrible, all the best to the big guy.

 

Okay - they aren't causing any upsets by a long shot

 

Well I wouldn't go that far considering Tonga came to within a hair's length of beating South Africa and Georgia coming 'this' close to beating Ireland (which they should have). Still I agree with your point. Seeing the passion of nations like Portugal is awesome as well.

 

I've now come to realise that Pool A has become the toughest pool. England, South Africa, Samoa and Tonga! 4 awesome teams and the USA are pretty handy as well.

 

Scared shitless about our game against Tonga tomorrow.

[ThePigMarcher]

Just curious to know if anyone else has suddenly become a fan of the sport since this started ?

 

I never had the time of day for the sport before , but after watching England get demolished by the Springboks (not the best time to appreciate the sport) I was suddenly hooked. Been watching pretty much constantly since then.

 

It won't replace American Football as my sport of choice but it is infinately more entertaining than soccer (I have no intention of re-igniting the rugby/football debate).

 

Really looking forward to tonights game although I do feel that England may struggle as what I have seen of the Tongans so far has impressed me.

[Ellmeister]

Some good rugby ( well I thought so anyway) tonight =] I thought England deserved to win. And that first try by england, and even the first by the tongans were both pretty great. I thought Moody was a complete legend.. some of the tackles and hits he endured made me squint. Especially that knee to face hit after the first few minutes! OUCH.

 

Go england =]

[Mr-Paul]

We've got hardly any chance in the next round though... Australia.

Typical that we get one of the best teams.

[gmac]

well if you finish second in the group, then you're going to get a hard team in the quarter finals

[conzer16]

Great to see Moody starting and boy didnt he take some tackles!

 

Wilkinson had a hit and miss kicking game, but he has already complained about the ball (So has the illustrious Dan Carter) but England were slow to start overall.

 

Forgive me for not knowing the names of any of the Tongans (I'm sure motion does!) but they played well. The belief and determination that they could bet England shone through in the opening quarter.

 

England were too strong in the end and although Tonga scored a couple of tries England won out easily in the end.

[motion]

England 36 - 20 Tonga

 

England game was great and I was there at the stadium for it cheering the lads on! Nothing fantastic from our boys, but an entertaining game, a nice win with some nice tries. Front row great, fantastic lineout, Moody awesome and his usual enthusiasm was good to see (think he deserves a couple of days rest though!), Gommers great, Wilko decent, Sackey great, Tait was fantastic with some great running angles and even strong in defence!

 

Barkley/Tait midfield doesn't work however, too lightweight and could be a genuine target for Mortlock and co next week. Farrell looks sharp with some cracking distribution. Kicking out of hand still looks decidedly dodgy. Do that against Latham next week and it's goodnight England. Sheridan was a beast in the scrum and that certainly gets me going!

 

 

 

(That's ma boy!)

 

 

 

Wales 34 - 38 Fiji

 

Quite possibly the best game of rugby I've ever watched in my life!!!!! I'm still giddy with excitement, what a fantastic match!! And Wales lost which certainly makes me smile

 

Wales' loose style of playing played RIGHT into Fiji's hands. I knew they wouldn't manage to front up to the physical Fijians.

 

 

 

 

Just curious to know if anyone else has suddenly become a fan of the sport since this started ?

 

I never had the time of day for the sport before , but after watching England get demolished by the Springboks (not the best time to appreciate the sport) I was suddenly hooked. Been watching pretty much constantly since then.

 

It won't replace American Football as my sport of choice but it is infinately more entertaining than soccer (I have no intention of re-igniting the rugby/football debate).

 

Really looking forward to tonights game although I do feel that England may struggle as what I have seen of the Tongans so far has impressed me.

 

Nice to see more people getting into the sport, it's seriously growing as a worldwide sport every day. Agree about it being infinitely more entertaining than football/soccer. Hope you enjoyed the England game, very entertaining.

 

We've got hardly any chance in the next round though... Australia.

Typical that we get one of the best teams.

 

To be honest, I doubt very much we'll win next week agreed, but if it rains heavily and Mortlock/Larkham are both out injured (as I think they might be)... we've got a pretty decent chance.

 

Put up a good fight and even if we lose I'll still be happy and proud of the lads.

 

Great to see Moody starting and boy didnt he take some tackles!

 

Agreed, he adds a bit of pace to our back row!

 

Forgive me for not knowing the names of any of the Tongans (I'm sure motion does!) but they played well. The belief and determination that they could bet England shone through in the opening quarter.

 

Lol I only know Latu, Maka and T-Pole! Awesome backrow. Oh and Tonga'weia their prop from Saints.

[conzer16]

Well that was expected.

 

Here's that quarter-final line up in full.

 

# Saturday 6 October:

Australia v England, Marseille (1400 BST)

New Zealand v France, Cardiff (2000 BST)

# Sunday 7 October:

South Africa v Fiji, Marseille (1400 BST)

Argentina v Scotland, Stade de France, Paris (2000 BST)

[motion]

Argentina were quite brilliant though, and that was Ireland's best game. They just gave up in the second half and didn't commit anywhere NEAR enough men to the breakdown, hence the amount of needless turnovers.