The Silver Fern

@Tordah said in RWC Week 4: Fiji v Georgia:

Fiji centre Tuisova's son died shortly before the game. https://www.planetrugby.com/news/josua-tuisova-told-seven-year-old-son-had-died-hours-before-georgia-game

devastating stuff. Unreal he still played.

Hugely sad. Am now on the Fiji bandwagon ... if we perchance don't advance. (I'm allowed to be selfish.)

Reminds me of the movie 'The Summer of '92', about the Danish soccer team at the '92 Euros (kinda fun touching moving movie).

The daughter of one of their players, Kim Vilfort, was dying of leukaemia during the tournament (true story), and he kept heading back to be with her, and the family kept sending him back to play (Denmark to Sweden not such a long way).

She apparently died shortly after the tournament.

Thoughts (and prayers) with Josua and family.

My favourite match so far. Was great to see a couple of the lesser teams really give it a go.

I’m a bit of a closet Georgian fan and have admired the fact that they have been able to make every RWC since 03.

Portugal have some pace out wide and in the middle and I was surprised with how their forwards held their own for large parts of the game against a more fancied Georgian pack.

In all fairness Georgia choked and had more opportunities to both extend a lead and win it in the end.

Anyway, that wasn't a bad performance in the heat. If you work ons maybe a couple of injury replacements for Fiji, who by the way still scare the shit out of me 😬

@booboo said in Wales v Georgia:

@Catogrande said in Wales v Georgia:

@Kiwiwomble

Just what is wrong with having the traditional colours with ONE back up change?

England have gone from white unless a clash, in which case black, to all the colours of the fucking rainbow including purple FFS and for no real reason at all, save for trying to milk a few quid. If ever there was an example of the law of diminishing returns better than that, I’d, well I’d cheer on Wales!

Why would England's change strip not be red? Or maybe blue?

Why would it?

Traditionally it was always black, though hardly ever used. Not sure why black but there you are, it is what it is. Until the marketing fluffybunnies get involved.

The Georgia Head Coach, Levan Maisashvili, is in hospital in South Africa with Covid on a ventilator after suffering severe lung damage.

Georgia coach Maisashvili in hospital Georgia coach Maisashvili in hospital

Georgia head coach Levan Maisashvili is in a Johannesburg hospital with "serious lung damage" after testing positive for Covid-19.

Wishing him all the best for a full recovery.

@Machpants said in RWC: Australia v Georgia (Pool D):

@junior said in RWC: Australia v Georgia (Pool D):

@mariner4life said in RWC: Australia v Georgia (Pool D):

Excellent, apparently we should expect Hooper and Pocock again next week. That'll work.

It just might against England, though. The Poms play two open sides in Curry and Underhill, so less reason to abandon Pooper against them than against a conventional back row formation.

Cunderhill or Underry?

Neither beats Pooper or Hocock

@nzzp said in RWC: Georgia v Fiji (Pool D):

@African-Monkey said in RWC: Georgia v Fiji (Pool D):

I'm still baffled as to how Fiji lost to Uruguay.

They switched off mentally, showboated, and didn't take them seriously. Uruguay tackled like their lives depended onit, and snatched every chance they got.

But yeah, the physical mismatch was remarkable

They were outpassioned I tells ya

It was a good solid effort tonight. Better work at the ruck and when they got a sniff they executed better than the Uruguay match.

Also posted in the "Judicial Happenings" thread:

Uruguay hooker Facundo Gattas suspended for 3 games

Uruguay hooker Facundo Gattas attended a disciplinary hearing on 1 October having received a red card from referee Wayne Barnes for an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous high tackle) in Uruguay’s Rugby World Cup 2019 match against Georgia on 29 September. The independent Judicial Committee was chaired by Jean-Noel Couraud (France), joined by former international coach Frank Hadden (Scotland) and former international referee Jose Luis Rolandi (Argentina). The player sought to overturn the red card. Having considered all the angles of the incident, together with evidence from the player and his representatives, the panel upheld the decision of the referee. The committee considered the High Tackle Sanction Framework (HTSC) and decided the following: * The judicial committee did not accept that it was a passive tackle. For the committee, the action was more akin to a dominant tackle with a high degree of danger * There was a direct contact of the player’s left shoulder to the ball carrier’s head * There was no evidence that there is a significant change of direction from the ball carrier‘s running line until after the contact * The player was in an open space and has a clear line of sight before the contact * There are no mitigating factors Therefore, on the balance of probabilities, the panel did not find that the referee’s decision was wrong and the red card was therefore upheld. Given the above outcomes, the committee applied World Rugby’s mandatory minimum mid-range entry point, which was introduced in 2017 to protect player welfare, deter high contact and prevent head injuries. This resulted in a starting point of a six-week suspension. Taking into account the mitigating factors that are considered in relation to sanction, including the player’s clean disciplinary record, the committee reduced the six-week entry point by three weeks, resulting in a sanction of three weeks, which equates to three matches in the context of Rugby World Cup 2019. Gattas will miss Uruguay’s two remaining pool matches (against Australia on 5 October and Wales on 13 October) and the quarter-final at Rugby World Cup 2019 or should Uruguay not qualify for the quarter-final, the player’s next club match in his domestic competition. Therefore the player is free to play again on 21 October, 2019.

Extended highlights: