Rugby World Cup 2019

[Mandalore]

Slightly late... Anyone been watching the World Cup?

England and Wales knock out round matches have made for some great weekend breakfast TV so far. 

Highlights for me so far have been Wales Vs France last weekend and England Vs New Zealand earlier today. Both completely unexpected results and exciting right until the end.

Hoping Wales win tomorrow to set up an England Vs Wales final. 

[Londragon]

Congratulations England. Really a superb performance and a well won result. Let’s see if the Welsh boys can do the same to the Springboks tomorrow.


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[Happenstance]

I don’t care about Rugby so would like this thread locked please.

Thankyou for your time.

[Will]

It's been a great world cup so far, I had wanted to go over for it but job changes meant that I was unable to.

Very happy that England in the final, didn't expect it at the start of the tournament but they've really played fantastically, especially the match today. I expect (and hope) Wales will win tomorrow which will make for an awesome final. Japan also had a great run which would have been nice if they could have just gone one step further.

I did check flights earlier today and I'm more than a little tempted to go to Tokyo to watch the final, would love to be there for it.

[Ronnie]

I thought I was the only rugby fan on here, figured you well all footballzzzzzzz fans so didn’t bother starting a thread.

Outstanding performance today but I don’t understand why everyone’s calling it an upset. NZ might have been slight favourites but England were always more than capable of winning.

Hopefully South Africa will win tomorrow. England will have a much better chance against them than Wales. Plus I can’t stand Gatland so would hate to see him get to the Final. 

Great performance from 1-23. Hope Farrell knock isn’t too bad but I imagine he’ll play next week anyway.  

[Fierce_LiNk]

I've tried to do my best with following all of the games, due to the timings of the games. We managed to put the England vs. USA game on in our Sports Hall at work for the kids to watch, which was fantastic. Brilliant atmosphere.

Mammoth performance from Itoje today, especially in the first half. I originally thought that New Zealand may have a bit too much, but England's passing game (first half especially) was too good. I thought seeing those two tries being ruled out might come back to haunt the side, but luckily that proved to not be the case.

Tomorrow's game will be a close one. I'm part English and part Welsh, so I would love an England/Wales final! 

Hats off to Japan for running a tournament like this and for doing it during such difficult circumstances. It says a lot about their culture and their country. Brilliant Rugby side, too. Gutted they didn't manage to make it through for another round, but what a run that they were on. Some great performances along the way and to do it against such personal adversity. Remarkable. 

[Ronnie]

Just now, Fierce_LiNk said:

Mammoth performance from Itoje today, especially in the first half.

He was outstanding.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Woke up and turned the tv on in time to catch the anthems. I call that timing! 

My fellow Welsh friend in work has got a real problem with Moriarty and his tackling. "He should be sent off every game, really". Hope that's not the case today. He was our hero last week!

[Will]

It's an interesting game for how messy the whole thing is. Whoever wins will really need to up their game for the final.

[Fierce_LiNk]

5 minutes ago, will' said:

It's an interesting game for how messy the whole thing is. Whoever wins will really need to up their game for the final.

It's very scrappy. The only two quality moments of the game have resulted in the tries, so at least the second half has been a bit better.

Both teams seem a bit reluctant to pass the ball, or at least pass it quickly. I thought that was evident when Wales were working the phases, just before they scored their try. A few quick passes out wide would've been better than what they were going for. 

 

[Will]

12 minutes ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

Both teams seem a bit reluctant to pass the ball, or at least pass it quickly. I thought that was evident when Wales were working the phases, just before they scored their try. A few quick passes out wide would've been better than what they were going for. 

 

 

Totally. I think had they taken a few more chances the result could have been quite different. To be fair though, South Africa could have had a bigger margin had they of done the same. Kind of feels like this match was just whichever of them happened to trip themselves over the finish line first.

Would have preferred the result to go the other way but it really is England's to lose at this point.

[Fierce_LiNk]

1 minute ago, will' said:

Totally. I think had they taken a few more chances the result could have been quite different. To be fair though, South Africa could have had a bigger margin had they of done the same. Kind of feels like this match was just whichever of them happened to trip themselves over the finish line first.

Would have preferred the result to go the other way but it really is England's to lose at this point.

It was a very underwhelming game, especially after the game that we had yesterday. I thought both sides were too cautious and there was so little bravery on the field. Both sides were not really willing to take chances or at least work the passes to get into good positions. So much kicking. 

It's a disappointing end for Wales. But, well done to South Africa for making it to the final. If England perform against South Africa like they did in the first half yesterday, they'll win by a good margin.

[Ronnie]

11 hours ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

It's very scrappy. The only two quality moments of the game have resulted in the tries, so at least the second half has been a bit better.

Both teams seem a bit reluctant to pass the ball, or at least pass it quickly. I thought that was evident when Wales were working the phases, just before they scored their try. A few quick passes out wide would've been better than what they were going for. 

 

Wales are a good team, they do the basics exceptionally well and their defence is pretty good, but are totally missing the sharpness in attack that makes the difference at this level. South Africa are similar to be honest, and basically let De Klerk handle their attacking game on his own. He's a fantastic 9.

As an England supporter I much prefer facing the Boks next week. Wales would have been an emotional and distracting nightmare to have to deal with. England are playing probably the best rugby in a couple decades, fingers crossed it's enough but anything can happen on the day.

[WackerJr]

2 hours ago, Ronnie said:

As an England supporter I much prefer facing the Boks next week. Wales would have been an emotional and distracting nightmare to have to deal with. England are playing probably the best rugby in a couple decades, fingers crossed it's enough but anything can happen on the day.

It was a hard one to pick a ‘favourite’ to face next weekend, but I agree with your thinking.  Hard luck on Wales today though, and it would’ve been amazing for Warren Gatland to have coached them to a World Cup Final.

I’m coaching next Saturday morning so I haven’t worked out yet how I’ll be able to watch it, or if I risk somehow trying to avoid the score (not easy being based in a Sports Hall!) and watching a recording at home...!

[Ronnie]

40 minutes ago, WackerJr said:

it would’ve been amazing for Warren Gatland to have coached them to a World Cup Final.

If by amazing you mean unbearable, then sure. I think (and hear) he's the biggest bellend in rugby at the moment.

[Will]

4 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Wales are a good team, they do the basics exceptionally well and their defence is pretty good, but are totally missing the sharpness in attack that makes the difference at this level. South Africa are similar to be honest, and basically let De Klerk handle their attacking game on his own. He's a fantastic 9.

As an England supporter I much prefer facing the Boks next week. Wales would have been an emotional and distracting nightmare to have to deal with. England are playing probably the best rugby in a couple decades, fingers crossed it's enough but anything can happen on the day.

I think Wales played badly in the last two games but they were strong in the groups and six nations earlier in the year. I guess you could say those are the level below the knockouts but I'd still say the skill is there - they just didn't manage to use it.

Agree with your thinking on who England face next week, but for those reasons, I'd have preferred to play Wales. With South Africa it's clear cut that the only result I want to see is England win. With Wales I'd at least be happy to see that team do well if we'd lost.

[Mandalore]

A bit disappointed, England got dismantled. Very well deserved from South Africa though. Glad there were a couple of tries, it was painful watching penalty after penalty in the first half.

[Fierce_LiNk]

South Africa really dictated this game. Can't say that they didn't deserve it, so well done to them. Unfortunately, too many penalties given away and no real way through that South African defence. That Kolbe try made the victory even better for them, but it's the type of moment that England were just not able to create in this game. I don't want to say that England didn't really get going, but I think it's an accurate statement to make. 

[Will]

Just now, Fierce_LiNk said:

South Africa really dictated this game. Can't say that they didn't deserve it, so well done to them. Unfortunately, too many penalties given away and no real way through that South African defence. That Kolbe try made the victory even better for them, but it's the type of moment that England were just not able to create in this game. I don't want to say that England didn't really get going, but I think it's an accurate statement to make. 

I'd agree with that. South Africa were able to control us and what little chances we did put together were slowly but surely taken apart by their defence. Disappointing for sure but without doubt the better team on the day won.

Overall though it's been a great World Cup. I enjoyed every game and it was clear that the people there had a great time no matter the result. I really wish I'd managed to get over to Japan and seen it in person but managing to watch pretty much every match live is good enough for me. I'm not sure what countries coverage we get here or if it's a world feed but they said at the end that it could be considered the best World Cup we've had and I'd be inclined to agree with them. 

Moving forward Japan proved they have what it takes to put on a worldwide sporting event so now I'm even more excited for the Olympics next year. I'll definitively be trying my best to get over there for that.

[Ronnie]

Heartbroken. 

The scrum and nervous play early on killed us. Those tries at the end would never have happened if we weren’t chasing the game. 

Losing Sinckler after 1 minute was an absolute disaster but you could tell the occasion got to the players.  

[gaggle64]

Surprised at how England failed to break out in the final, nowhere near as good as they were against NZ. I've got a SA colleague at work you'll be pleased though. 

[Ronnie]

Hard to break out when your scrum is toast from minute 1, annoying how there were no warning signs before the Final, it was solid all tournament.