[Closed] Rugby world cup

If France beat New Zealand in the final, there would be plane loads of NZ secret service heading to French ports.

🙂

I think for the New Zealand Secret Service, "plane loads" is overstating it a bit. Maybe one plane. A small one. Perhaps a chopper ?

The entire NZ Secret Service in action

[img] [/img]

France are in my top five.

Is the fighting finished?

who said there was fighting going on?
wanna make something of it?

This article got me thinking, what would be your world cup best 15?

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/world-cup/rugby-world-cup-dream-team-the-best-xv-ever-16047546.html?ino=1

1. Os du Randt
2. Woody
3. Euan Murray
4. John Eales
5. Ian Jones
6. Jerry Collins
7. Michael Jones
8. Zinny
9. Joost
10. Jonny W
11. Jonah Lomu
12. Scott Gibbs
13. BOD
14. Campo
15. Blanco

Jonny wilko rather than Dan Carter?

The Torygraph made this selection:

Loosehead prop: Jason Leonard

Hooker: Sean Fitzpatrick

Tighthead prop: Richard Loe

Second row front jumper: Martin Johnson

Second row middle jumper: John Eales (captain)

Blindside flanker: Ruben Kruger

Openside flanker: Michael Jones

Number 8: Wayne Shelford

Scrum-half: Joost van der Westhuizen

Fly-half: Michael Lynagh

Left-wing: David Campese

Inside centre: Tim Horan

Outside centre: Brian O'Driscoll

Right-wing: Jason Robinson

Full-back: Serge Blanco

I'd go with most of that except Lomu in on one of the wings and Wilkinson at fly half.

Jonny wilko rather than Dan Carter?

It's based on performances purely in RWCs.

Then there shouldn't be any green machine players in there

There's a good chance of both Eng/France and Wales/Ireland being amazing games...

The good French side turn up in the game England decide to actually string more than 3 phases of play together, a confident Welsh side putting immense pressure on the Irish...

OR

the woeful french and error strewn English teams will try their best to let the other win and the welsh and Irish will play a really cagey game desperate not to lose.

I hope its the former, would make a great weekends rugby!

Then there shouldn't be any green machine players in there

You're right. We'll put Jeremy Guscott in there instead. 😉

Yeah if it were based purely on RWC performance then there probably would be a few different selections, but sure a wee bit of sentimentality does no harm.

I think you really must have Lomu in any selection, his impact was huge in every sense.

Jonny instead of Dan? yes, I think that Joost, Jonny and Scotty Gibbs would be great in defence and then BOD, Campo and Blanco could be creative outside them

But with wilko there they would get the ball static behind the gain line every time 😈

Yeah but Gibbs will get over the gain line and free up space for the outside backs

You don't see NZ doing this do you?

Arrogance you say? Like wanting to take the RWC down to just the top tier nations, explicitly including the Argies, last time's semi-finalists?

Nah, not at all....

[EDIT] *[i][u]excluding[/u][/i] [/EDIT]

Area the size of Wales at risk of over-excitement about George North

An area approximately the size of Wales is reported to be genuinely at risk from some sort of explosion due to growing excitement over how good George North is. The thresholds of human capability for keeping a lid on such things are being sorely tested, as the Norfolk-Anglesey hybrid continues to process opposition defences like some sort of divine threshing machine.

The UN have already declared that containment is no longer the strategy and have moved on to planning for rebuilding society in the resulting crater.

From the often marvellous http://gwladrugby.com/

Brilliant CFH!

Roughly comparable with the alternative SI unit of "an area the size of Tasmania", I assume?

Howley as scrum half surely.

TandemJeremy:

.....let go man. You need to be able to accept criticism.

*chuckles*

*drop kick onto page 69*

Wot no glitch?

Also from gwladrugby, this had me giggling:

[b]‘Entitlement Leprechaun’ demands world cup victory[/b]

The Entitlement Leprechaun has presented the IRB with a seventeen-volume dossier detailing over three-thousand years’ worth of hardships visited upon the Irish race which in his view validates his case that it’s their year. An IRB statement confirmed that the route to winning the world cup would still be decided by the traditional scoreboard method rather than by finding the end of a rainbow.

😆

I think the only Wales players who could be considered in a world cup 15 are those who played in 1987, and maybe Shane for his performance against NZ in erm.... 2003.
So we need Paul Thorburn in to kick the goals, sod Blanco and that running crap! His conversion to win the 3rd place play off from wide out with the last kick of the game was something special.

video is not the world cup I know but this is great....bosh

PS More tabloid titletatle
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10756439

seems harsh to me:
http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16024_7222926,00.html

still as long as we never see some ****in dirty Saffa only get a yellow for a blatent gouge again I'll be happy.

blimey. Is that ban valid for domestic games too? To me I thought he was just reaching for something to grab, when he realised it was a blokes eye he noticably stops.. But then I think I might be considered one of rugbies bleeding heart liberals (unless you have a pony tail, then I'm vitriolic) ..

Ask the youngest Quinnell if he thinks that ban is lenient. Or ask Cueto if he thinks it is too long.

that isn't my point, there isn't a person on here who thinks eye gouging is tolerable or something you should be lenient about. The fact of the italians sudden withdrawal of his hand makes you think he was not aware of where his hand was and as soon as he realised he pulled back. Seems like a tough call to know exactly what the chap is thinking.

In cuetos case it was a bit more obvious as he could see where his hands were, so his 8 weeks or whatever it was is lenient compared with this italians ban. Weren't there some french guys who were banned for 26 and 52 weeks last year? Very naughty anyway.

Thorburn really could belt it, couldn't he? That was massive! Even more so when back thed with you remember the weight of the balls we played with back then!

the vid is here [url= http://www.itv.com/rugbyworldcup/2011/matches/ireland-v-italy/ ]game highlights look about 1.10 onwards[/url] tbh any contact with the eye is bad, maybe 15 weeks was lenient for benefit of the doubt. I guess you have to send that message. Those highlights are worth watching, the green machine looks devastating.

Seems harsh on the dirty Italian but I suppose, he did admit it, albeit saying it wasn't deliberate - his responsibility not to make contact with another player's eyes though.

his responsibility not to make contact with another player's eyes though.

Yep, like when New Zealanders didn't take that responsibility.

O'Driscoll speared at the Lions tour, anyone? Remind me, what was their punishment for that?

Oh yes, my mistake, they were from New Zealand, so it doesn't count.

*Self modded bad word*

Both the French guys last year had previous. I had some ****er from Orrel put his fingers in my eyes while I was at Scottish, I was in a maul and pinned, the feeling of helplessness as the finger hooked into my eye was only topped a second later as my teeth sank into his thumb and he screamed and removed his fingers. The worry was that even then,20 years ago, that was not unusual.Fingers in eyes is the lowest of the low, I am pleased to say in 5 years of reffing,I have had one complaint of it.

When a tackler lifts a player I am shouting "Tackler,careful!" that is instruction for Premiers up here. It is all the tacklers responsibility, you will get sent off for a spear faster than a punch.

Rees got 12 weeks for his which was deemed accidental too.

course this was "at least a yellow"

Ellis and Phiilips playing together that was bound to end in a fight!

Both the French guys last year had previous. I had some ****er from Orrel put his fingers in my eyes while I was at Scottish, I was in a maul and pinned, the feeling of helplessness as the finger hooked into my eye was only topped a second later as my teeth sank into his thumb and he screamed and removed his fingers.

That's horrid. The concept of someone sticking their fingers in my eyes makes me judder...

Coincidentally, it seems I've at least seen you playing when I was a kid, as I went with my parents to Orrell pretty much every week whilst the game was still amateur. The pro game (and Dave Whelan of Wigan's greed) killed that club. I couldn't bring myself to switch to Sale as the north-west's only premier club as in the first season they were promoted to Orrell's division and someone put Dewi Morris in hospital with a spear tackle and a stamping. (As if the tackle wasn't enough) Dirty dirty Sale.... At Edge Hall Road there was no tunnel as such, it took a strong police presence to get the Sale players off the pitch after that!

Playing for London Scottish, and I have to admit it was mostly 2xv rugby,was interesting in the early 90's due to the slam. Everybody was out for a wee bit of payback,INCLUDING refs. Northern teams were less of a problem,they hated their immediate neighbours much more than the Scots 😀

Wow flash you have some major grudge against NZ don't you ?
Tournament shouldn't be here, spear tackles, chokers you've covered a lot of ground well done. I'm not entirely sure what your point is ruhr enough. Oh yeah NZ cheat and get away with it. All the time. Because that happens. 🙄

best named in unchanged Ireland Team. Roberts and North warming up to charge down O'Gara's channel already! Some big calls for Gatland at 15, 6 and 1

Oh yeah NZ cheat and get away with it. All the time.

I shouldn't worry NZCol - the green machine do it too 🙂

best named in unchanged Ireland Team.

They're waiting till the 48hr deadline to submit. I had thought he was more or less out - but apparently not.

Scamper looks like you will be looking for a new centre.

Pigface, you talking about tindall? Nothing could make me happier Although my dislike of tindall was tempered somewhat with his performance against scotland - not brilliant but better, he managed some reasonably late offloads, about as good as you would expect from a top flight prop..