@ACT-Crusader said in Hansen needs his head read:

@Billy-Webb said in Hansen needs his head read:

@taniwharugby said in Hansen needs his head read:

@mariner4life so when we scrape past SA in the opening match?

a pox on you sir

I do hope the Boks and AB's play each other twice this RWC. First game, and last game.

Anyone got the stats on how many times teams in the same pool have gone on to play each other in the knock out/final. 2011 ABs and France. Any others?

SA v England 2007

Edit: Beaten to the punch.

@sparky That's a great shame despite in increasing England's chances considerably. The poor bloke has been through the wringer (much of it justified).

@jegga Why are we as a society wasting time in beating up Owen Jones when Wakefield is around?

It's very difficult to get past McCaw but IMO, Michael Jones in 1987 was so far ahead of his contemporaries and so dominant that he just eclipses McCaw, despite the latter's leadership qualities.

@jegga It's not just an NZ problem

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49393279

@pakman said in Hansen needs his head read:

@Catogrande said in Hansen needs his head read:

England.
France because 3 finals and no cup.
Wales because they’ve been playing well and despite the fact we’ll never hear the last of it.
Ireland.
No SH big 3, you’ve had it often enough.

Anyone NH but Scotland?!

Yeah, sort of, which is odd as I usually have a soft spot for Scotland but in recent years I’ve got a bit sick of them talking themselves up without anything to support it. Caveat: “Them” = mainly former players.

@Crucial said in Hansen needs his head read:

@Catogrande said in Hansen needs his head read:

England.
France because 3 finals and no cup.
Wales because they’ve been playing well and despite the fact we’ll never hear the last of it.
Ireland.
No SH big 3, you’ve had it often enough.

It’s not a fucking participation award.

May I refer you to a previous post that didn’t want the Boks to win ‘cos they’d be catching NZ up? Stop picking on me.

England.
France because 3 finals and no cup.
Wales because they’ve been playing well and despite the fact we’ll never hear the last of it.
Ireland.
No SH big 3, you’ve had it often enough.

@jegga said in Hansen needs his head read:

@booboo said in Hansen needs his head read:

@jegga said in Hansen needs his head read:

@canefan said in Hansen needs his head read:

@dogmeat said in Hansen needs his head read:

I reckon NZ were favourites in 07/11 and 15. 2/3 aint so bad.

We def weren't overwhelming favourites in any of the other years although we would have been close to that in 91. Don't think anyone was favoured in 99 - bit like this year....

We were not great in the year preceding 2015 if I recall. Laurie failed to settle on his combinations

I'm pretty sure the aussies were favourites in 87 and 95 .

I'd call 1999 a choke, the other losses I don't think really stack up as chokes . Its quite odd to see every ab rwc loss considered to be a choke but if it means the teams are undeserving pretenders I'm cool with it I guess. Hard to argue with that logic.

1995 we were outsiders.

There's a really good article on the front page that explains it:

https://www.thesilverfern.com/posts/booboo/2019-08/best-of-rwc-episode-5">

Very astute the bloke who wrote that.

New Zealand 45 v England 29

In retrospect it may surprise many that I include this match as an upset, but given the level of favouritism in the year leading up to the tournament where New Zealand were considered 5th placed outsiders at best, justifiably written off following a disappointing 1994 (a 2-nil loss to France at home, a disappointing draw in the third test against the Boks, albeit in a 2-nil series win, and the Gregan-Wilson Bledisloe loss), and England entering the tournament on the back of (unsurprisingly) massive Fleet Street hype as Five Nations Grand Slam champions this result surprised many.

One thing that impressed me about the poms in that semi was that they didn’t give up and from memory even outscored us in the second half .

Yes. Will Carling in particular.

@sparky said in Hansen needs his head read:

@mariner4life

I guess we are going to disagree about this one. But the 2015 team won a lot of admirers for the style in which they played the game and their manner off it e.g. SBW winning a global award for sportsmanship for giving away his medal. Dan Carter winning BBC overseas sports personality of the year.

Ultimately, the role of sports teams is to win. But the 2015 RWC winners (& the 1991+99Aussies, 2003 England, 1995+ 2007 South Africa) show you can win and be classy at same time. I'd like to think that whoever wins in 2019 has at least some of that.

So just the '87 and 2011 lot were a bit naff then?