Rugby world cup

maxray – Member

…..if we can beat the scots playing that badly then we can only really get better.

Sorry – thats how good England are – just a bit better than Scotland. You will not get any better with Johnson in charge trying to play 2003 again.

You need some half backs with a bit of speed, a decent back row and centre who can run You have a half a good team

Trailmonkey. I think you will find, that there are more registered pro rugby union players in England than any other country in the world.
I may well stand corrected as this was explained to me by a welshman, allbeit a very well informed welshman 😀

We’ll trip our way(England that is) to the final, which will be against New Zealand, who will choke, and thats it and all about it!!!! 😆 😆 😆

trailmonkey – Member

“However, with the resources at their disposal England should be the world’s no.1 side”

but that’s just nonsense isn’t it. considering that rugby union is a game that only really attracts any kind of interest in england from the middle classes of the south then it’s amazing that we do as well as we do.

Nope – England have more players than the rest of the world put together I believe – they certainly are the biggest and richest union by a long long way.

2 main issues
1) the structure of the domestic game – too much emphasis on not loosing and
2) the wrong coach coaching the wrong tactics

Sorry – thats how good England are – just a bit better than Scotland. You will not get any better with Johnson in charge trying to play 2003 again.

And on the evidence of today’s game, neither are particularly good. England defended very well against a side that couldn’t attack its way out of a wet paper bag. Neither really threatened the oppositions try line.
The 3 teams from the top 10 is starting to lose water now tandem, Pool D is the new group of death. 😈

The arguments not looking too strong at the moment

that’s because you’re basing your argument solely on blind quantitive data. how many of those players in england are of welsh/irish/scots/other origin ? how many of those clubs and players are purely amateur ? how many of those pre teen players are working class and ever likely to be encouraged to pursue a sporting career.

you haven’t come up anything so far that contradicts my claim that rugby in england is almost exclusively a middle class game that bypasses the main talent pool a la tennis.

anyhow, numbers mean little. uruguay have a population the size of wales and have won the football world cup twice. wales on the other hand………..

wales on the other hand………..

That’s because the main sport in Wales is rugby, but that’s changing now as rugby was the sport of the working class and as there are very few who could be classed as working in Wales….. 😥

DS he wasn’t talking about wales wendyball performance..

Sorry – thats how good England are – just a bit better than Scotland

Quite a bit better teej , I know you are smarting like but how many rwc finals have Scotland been in again?

Better to be looking at how Scotland can improve than picking holes in the team that won.

Sorry toys19, I assumed he was talking about Uruguay’s 1930 world cup win in football, I assume that’s what wendyball is, as opposed to their win in the rugby world………. 😕

Maxray – Years ago – how about now?

Nothing England have done for several years looks anything but a wee bit better than Scotland and Argentina. Nothing to worry the 3n teams. Consistently a wee bit better but thats all they are – a wee bit better. Look at the points scores the last few calcutta cups?

You attitude is why its ABE! its the arrogance.

This is increasingly looking like Wales year.

The Optimism Gnome is rampant in Wales at the moment

You see I never said that, I just pointed out a couple of facts. if we can beat the scots playing that badly then we can only really get better.

What makes you think England were a. playing badly or b. can play better?

This is increasingly looking like Wales year.

The Optimism Gnome is rampant in Wales at the moment

I think Ireland will be too strong for Wales myself when push comes to shove Faletau et al wont cut it against their defence, they’ll be bullied bruised and held up in the tackle to turn ball over, I have foreseen it. England could very easily make the semi’s but Ireland look better than England. I still wouldnt discount the French, they always have one good game at a world cup. Lets hope its against England.

Bollocks to all this toffs Rugby anyway, Wigan are playing St Helens in the Super League play-offs – much more important. 🙂

Bollocks to all this toffs Rugby anyway, Wigan are playing St Helens in the Super League play-offs – much more important.

Right lads you’ve got five chances to do something positive, if you can’t we’ll give the ball to the other team to see if they can do any better. Coolio. 8)

Great result for Tonga today!

As others have said, winning when it matters is all that is important. You can’t criticize the team that does this best as they will be the world champions!

On the note of player numbers…

Right lads you’ve got five chances to do something positive, if you can’t we’ll give the ball to the other team to see if they can do any better. Coolio.

Yes it’s much better when the game is almost entirely based around kicking and penalties – makes it so much more exciting.

Yes it’s much better when the game is almost entirely based around kicking and penalties – makes it so much more exciting.

Agreed, I much prefer multi phase games when people are prepared to run the ball, ruck and mall until the opposition can win it or a try is scored. 😀

Ok teej, how many 5 or 6 nations have Scotland won compare to England?

It’s not arrogance, I cheer for the home nations when they are not playing England, in fact my manx routes would pr9baby give me a closer tie to the Celtic nations.

Fact is Scotland were not good enough today, England were better, just enough to edge them out. Baring a real shock tom there will only be 1 of the two teams progressing, youre only as good as your last game 🙂

Ok teej, how many 5 or 6 nations have Scotland won compare to England?

It’s not arrogance, I cheer for the home nations when they are not playing England, in fact my manx routes would pr9baby give me a closer tie to the Celtic nations.

Fact is Scotland were not good enough today, England were better, just enough to edge them out. Baring a real shock tom there will only be 1 of the two teams progressing, youre only as good as your last game

now read your post back and tell me it isnt ever so slightly stupid.

Err, what bit is stupid? 😯

clutching at straws, all you need to be is a little bit better than the other team and you should win.
whether England play well, play badly, win, lose or draw there will always be armchair haters who will whitter on about what they’ve done wrong and why they won’t make the final and if they do it will be luck or a fluke or something the other team do wrong.
and don’t assume that English press/ media opinion is shared by that of the English fans.

England were better, just enough to edge them out.

maxray –

Quite a bit better teej ,

So which is it – thae arrogant “England are loads better than Scotland” or the truthful “they are a bit better”.

If you really think recent games between Scotland and England show anything but the fact that England are a only a wee bit better than Scotland you are deluded

only a wee bit better than Scotland when they play Scotland

They were a “wee” bit better in that game but are a fair bit better in terms of things won. You are both trotting out arrogant but I am really not, in any part of my life.

Right, stop bickering and let’s talk about the games tomorrow…..!

Argentina v Georgia -‘should be brutal! Pumas by 20, though
New Zealand v Canada – NZ by 40 or so.
Wales v Fiji -Week! Squeaky bum time! Wales by a single score
Ireland v Italy – a potential banana skin….Should be Ireland, but I’m not willing to totally write off Italia!

Ok captain! 😉 gotta be expecting wins for aeg,nz,Wales and Ireland but yeah out of them all I think the Ireland game has the potential for a shock.

Wales will put 30 past Fiji

Italy will have been targetting Ireland for 18mths or so now, but Ireland will still win

Bonus point win for argies
NZ will just be happy with no more injuries…if Slade looks anything less than 100% real deal against the canucks then the pressure on them is going to be huge

Who said Rugby is a middle class Southern England sport? Nonsense.

Yes, it has a strong presence in the South, especially in the South East, but apart from a band across the M62 and bits of Cumbria playing League, much of the North of England has a rich history of playing Union.

I’m still sulking

how many 5 or 6 nations have Scotland won compare to England

youre only as good as your last game

so England are slightly better than scotland.

Only really interested in one result and I hope it’s a 40+ point difference in our favour.
If I have to, wins for Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland.

Look, this is getting silly. England V Scotland is the oldest international match and we invented the game. So lets stop talking about running with the ball etc etc, all these other ‘foreign’ countries are the ones playing negative rugby.
Encouraging the backs to get involved before getting over the 22, forwards who can run like a winger, these are the things that are against the spirit of the game and should be outlawed.
What we saw this morning was a proper World Cup Final between the best 2 teams at playing proper rugby.
And England won so all is good. 😉

Fiji have seemingly dropped lot of the european stars I have heard to be replaced by people I have no idea about. I just hope Wales dont pick up injuries and gethin can play all game and look the real deal, he looked slightly weak at scrumtime against Samoa.

Quite a bit better teej , I know you are smarting like but how many rwc finals have Scotland been in again?

Er, have you not watched England play since 2003 or something? If you have, I don’t know how you can have missed the fact that they’ve spent good portions of that time playing absolutely terribly. So much so that I as a Welsh supporter felt sorry for them occasionally. They are now capable of the odd good spell of rugby, but are still really unsteady I reckon.

we invented the game

What was the game actually like back in 1286 AD or whenever it was?

Encouraging the backs to get involved before getting over the 22, forwards who can run like a winger, these are the things that are against the spirit of the game and should be outlawed.
What we saw this morning was a proper World Cup Final between the best 2 teams at playing proper rugby.

🙂

I have played on the very pitch where, with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time, William Web Ellis first took the ball in his arms and ran with it.

🙂

Flash, that’s an apocryphal story.

This is interesting:

http://www.rugbyfootballhistory.com/resources/Laws/Full/Rugby%20Rules%20of%201862.pdf

Some of it is familiar, some of it is bizarre…

Look, just a **** minute here. Can all posters puh-leeeeesase stop talking up Ireland’s chances. Not too worried about O’Flashearty – he’s just a plastique anyway. We’ll beat the Italians tomorrow, as unimpressively as possible so as to be underdogs in the Wales game. As for England, France’ll beat them anyway. As they said about the green machine, you can’t keep playing this bad forever.

How many NH sides have looked slick, well drilled and professional so far?