@canefan said in RWC: England v Australia (QF 1):

Kick off 11.15 pm according to google (I thought it was 11.45pm). Is the team named today?

7.15 (11.15 NZ time) according to the WR page. Foxtel has it at 9.15pm here.

@kiwiinmelb He seems like a fluffybunny.

@reprobate Our reserve props concern me. Ofa at tighthead is fine but not sure he's good enough on the other side. Angus as a scrummager is average. Ofa at TH and Big Karl would have been better bench options imo.

@bayimports We've already got two tens so I don't think it's that.

@bayimports Not sure about Jordie ahead of BFA but pretty happy with the rest of the team.

Weather forecast looks shit. Is this a negative for us? The game slowing down will benefit the Irish but we are a pretty decent wet weather team as well.

https://www.yr.no/place/Japan/Kanagawa/Yokohama/long.html

@mariner4life said in [Poll] Who wins the Quarter Finals?:

i would like @akan004 and @fcc banned please

I usually get my picks wrong so now we will definitely win. Done on purpose.

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

@akan004 said in RWC: All Blacks v Ireland (QF2):

Discipline is crucial. We can't be giving away the silly penalties that we gave away in Dublin.
Whitelock and Brodie were the two biggest offenders that night. They both need huge games against Ryan and Henderson who are both world class.

Long periods defending concerns me most, that is where we are most likely to concede penalties and or cards , and not rocket science to think this what Ireland will try to do .... again

That's always the concern when playing Ireland. They average something like 200 rucks a game which often leads to the defending team infringing. Not too dissimilar to the Brumbies in the late 90s.

How the ruck is refereed will be important. Refs at this WC are allowing the attacking teams to not release the ball and pilferring stats have been way down as a result. This will obviously favour Ireland's game plan which is based on ball retention.

Cards also will be a factor. Since we will probably be making a lot more tackles than them, it's crucial that we don't give the ref a reason to send someone to the bin.

Discipline is crucial. We can't be giving away the silly penalties that we gave away in Dublin. Whitelock and Brodie were the two biggest offenders that night. They both need huge games against Ryan and Henderson who are both world class.

@canefan When was the last time Japan made the quarters? History doesn't count for much imo.