@Catogrande said in RWC - how the poms beat us..:

@Smuts said in RWC - how the poms beat us..:

@antipodean that is some very tough marking.

But pretty much true. Eddie virtually admitted as much during an evening audience with him. From the word go he was targeting NZ in RWC 2019. It was the same in 2003 and both times it worked but maybe came a game too early.

I think the opening line of the vid summed it up well - he’s the master of the upset.

I wonder if he thought to himself (secretly) that he could afford to do that because England would have enough talent to beat whoever made it to the final from the other side of the draw without giving them as much focus as the All Blacks (certainly a year out I thought that might be his approach just looking at the way draw was likely to pan out)

@Bones YOU are the annoying one, how dare you summon me into the sports chat, you know I'm not to be trusted in here....

It's all a bit repetitive isn't it?

Re 2019 semi, for all the talk about mental toughness or selections if you tell me that Read, Whitelock and Rettallick were all going to have poor games I think I will tell you its really unlikely that the ABs could ever win. Don't think I could fault Hansen for choosing any of them. I still think he was right with the Mounga/ Barrett combo despite how hysterical some people were after the game. The only chance to recall Ben Smith to the starting line up was the SA game, but the young wingers came through again so it was next to impossible after that. I would have had him on the bench but watching Jordie's goal kicking this year I can see what he was thinking. Also I see what he was thinking choosing S. Barrett but in a way he lost a confidence in what was initially an unconventional decision to play Ardie at 6/8 with Cane.

Abruptly exits the sports Forum before the banning continues... Smells funny in here.

@NTA From 2007 to 2011 my TSF moniker was "Winning Ugly is still Winning." I think I might put it back

@Crucial said in MotM v Wales (3rd/4th Game):

Not a lot of love for Reado.?

Was awesome with his link play and tackle count.

He had a very good game. Ever since his injury he's had to reinvent himself as a tighter loose forward. At his best he was absolutely magnificent - hard hitting and beautiful skills.

The playing too wide off the ruck and getting always hit behind the advantage line has already been covered in detail here,but it just seems to me the forwards weren't fully recovered from the previous week and weren't recovered mentally and physically for the onslaught. With the benefit of hindsight,the game was won by halftime against Ireland,perhaps even earlier subs in that game would of kept a bit of energy in the tank for the next bigger challenge. Some of our forwards aren't young bucks and gave a flat performance.

Eddie had us sussed.

@mariner4life said in AB squad next RWC (2023)?:

@booboo said in AB squad next RWC (2023)?:

So, Kaleb Trask debuts for Chiefs. He a contender, or possible future option?

wait @Crucial someone wants a shot at your title

So ... Hoskins Sotutu ...

@Catogrande said in [Poll] Who would you prefer to win?:

@Tim said in [Poll] Who would you prefer to win?:

@booboo No, @Catogrande is having consolation sex with Katie Hopkins.

Which would explain my lack of posting yesterday, It took me ages to escape from her cellar.

She must watch too many movies

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Wales have 143 points in total in this RWC...All Blacks have 210...All Blacks get third place....now both teams can go home to get over not winning the 2019 RWC 🙂

That is rather amusing.

I wonder what the Lions did to him?

In hindsight a tough call probably needed to have been made and one of our stalwart locks shouldn’t have started. Scott Barrett was pretty good in that first half and he along with Cane would’ve been pretty handy with how the game was being played.

Given we barely competed at England’s LO ball, the loss of one of our 2 metre locks wouldn’t have mattered.

@booboo said in What matches you watching next weekend...:

It's another opportunity to fill a stadium is the only reason I can think of.

My guess is it’s mainly to sell to the high price tour groups from The SF or QF on.

Two years out from the tournament the idea of “well as long as they make the SF we will see them twice” makes sense.

@MajorRage said in France 2023:

Fiji have every chance of tipping on of these two over in the world cup. They are definately the next Japan.

Maybe, I just don't see Rennie or Pivac having a side that unprepared or vulnerable.

@ACT-Crusader said in AB MotM V England:

@Old-Samurai-Jack said in AB MotM V England:

A. Smith was a workhorse I thought. He was taking on the big boys when our big guys were missing.

Sheesh, I thought his decision making left a lot to be desired. If I was Rattue I’d be demanding a public square explanation as to the box kick just outside our attacking 22 alone. And that wasn’t one of those platform was a problem issues. We were on attack and actually building.

I can remember watching mccaw do the voice over for the 2015 final, in a similar attacking situation early in the game , smith kicks it in behind them into the in goal, and the Aussies took it away with ease, looked like a similar stupid play.

Mccaw adds , that kick in behind them was planned , didn’t really come off .

Maybe smith was working to Instructions, , hard to fathom why , but When I saw it , I thought of the above.

@Crucial said in RWC: Wales v South Africa (SF2):

@MiketheSnow one of his better ones.
When this guy stops trying to be a comedian his analysis is very good

Yep.

Remarkable when you consider the drivel which comes out of SCW's mouth most of the time, and he's a WC winner ffs

@mariner4life I record and avoid during the day, not hard during reg season. Much harder during playoffs and finals when every cnt suddenly becomes an expert and fan

Smith easily MOTM. His passing is pretty much rugby porn, and he makes everyone else's job easier.
Then Read and Goodhue I went for. Best game by Read in ages, and not many on here picking Jack to start, but he smashed it.
Hell of a team effort though.

Some harsh comments on Todd given what utter bullshit his card was.

@rotated said in Risk Analysis / Confidence Levels:

it was effectively a points decision which went the wrong way.

You reckon that we should have lost that?

@taniwharugby said in Tie-Breakers:

@Bones why do you think this man is conveniently in Japan?

a64791d4-8d2a-4004-8987-989867808c38-image.png

Shopping for whitebait at Tsukiji market?

@taniwharugby said in [Poll] Who wins the Quarter Finals?:

@canefan nah this one was a good cnut!

What's in a name right? 😉

@Bovidae said in RWC: Japan v South Africa (QF 4):

The good sauce is that both Foster and Robertson want Brown as their attack coach.

Party at Tony Brown's?

Let's just take a moment to consider how self unaware the moron is who posted the picture online. Jacques says thanks mate! Nice reward for playing along for your joke.

Intercept passes are classified as turnovers.

Stu was the AB captain by default on that tour. One to forget too.

I thought BFA might have captained from the wing but he was at fullback.

Hated the last try. Defend for you life for 84 minutes then ref let's a team take a quick tap way perpendicular to the mark. Soft, (by the ref). It is a pet hate of mine.

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@SynicBast said in RWC: All Blacks v Ireland (QF2):

@Bones said in RWC: All Blacks v Ireland (QF2):

@Billy-Tell well yeah, if your foot is on the line, you're outside the field of play right?

In touch and field of play are separate concepts. You can have one part of your body in the field of play and still be in touch. Howver if you are required to be outside the field of play then no part of your body can be inside the field of play. That's why they use separate terminology.

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@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

Well Ledesma will be ruing a few things right now, no doubt. They're going home because he made some less than sensible selections IMHO.

The coaching team for the USA are either shit at rugby or shit at man management - their gameplan should be simple: pound the fuck out of opposition 5m either side of the breakdown, and learn to maul. As long as the backs can tackle, you'll be competitive.

They've got some big units who can move at pace but from 10 out the ball skills are practically zero at this level. That won't come until the next decade has seen their domestic competitions grow, and kids starting to play from junior high upward.

And they need external influence in some of those coaching ranks, because just playing against each other will just create the same problem Australian rugby has: biggest kid wins.

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@Bones said in RWC: Scotland v Russia (Pool A):

@Chris-B said in RWC: Scotland v Russia (Pool A):

@Bones It's the fortnight where Ireland has become easier to beat than Scotland (or Japan)!

Now you get it.

You both need to lay off the hard stuff! 🙂

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

@NTA said in RWC: Wales v Fiji (Pool D):

If Skeeny didn't see it, it didn't happen

there's got to be a Skeen meme mashup with the grassy knoll somewhere. If he didn't see the second shooter, it didn't exist 🙂

The FBI just never looked at enough angles.

clear and obvious second shooter

@sparky said in RWC: All Blacks v Italy (Cancelled) (Pool 😎:

Very easy to make the right call with hindsight, but I think if they had moved the kickoff forward three and a bit hours to 10:30 on Saturday morning Japanese time, then this game could have gone ahead and everyone would have got back indoors ahead of the typhoon arriving in Nagoya.

I would imagine, given the seriousness of the situation and the unpredictability of the typhoon, this was simply not possible. The authorities had to shut down the trains, and other utilities, the last thing on their minds was transporting rugby teams and their spectators to and from a ground in the middle of a typhoon warning zone

@Salacious-Crumb fair enough. Yet another reason why I resent our press.

@Bovidae said in RWC: MoM All Blacks Vs Namibia (Pool 😎:

@Kirwan said in RWC: MoM All Blacks Vs Namibia (Pool 😎:

ALB and Jordie were the standouts for me, struggled to pick a third so didn't. Lots of players around the same level

I was the same but went for Frizell as my 3rd pick. The top tackler for the ABs, 2 lineout steals and a couple of decent carries. He's having a solid RWC so far.

He's going really well, as is Pat T. Those two hitting some form has given us some much needed depth at lock and 6.

@Frank said in RWC: France v Tonga (Pool C):

Typhoon can be tracked here. (cool site)

https://www.windy.com/?31.522,124.453,5

Nice. Probably the same api as used by https://earth.nullschool.net which I've always liked.

But for predictive path, I use https://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/