Rugby Union - Six Nations & Erc

Discussion in 'General Football & Other Sport' started by Sting, Mar 12, 2017.

  1. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Pretty convincing win for England - much tougher tests to come of course.

    Big game is Australia v Wales I guess.

    Nice to see a shock with Uruguay beating Fiji.
     
  2. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Japan beating Ireland - played very well and deserve to be ahead .
     
  3. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    Wow - Japan beat Ireland - and after Ireland took Scotland apart.
    Great discipline and defence by the hosts.
    Good game.

    SA Namibia next.
    Come on Bokke.
     
  4. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    SA captained by that great Japanese player Lappies Labuschagne.
    From a Springbok/Protea to a Blossom.
    Come on blossoms :)
     
  5. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    While it is great to see the improvements Uruguay have made it is unfair on Fiji in having a four day turnaround. Granted they were sloppy and missed multiple kickable points. This turnaround issue is something that WR have failed to address. The tier two teams constantly get shafted as if the tier one teams do not have enough advantages. Canada have to play four games in seventeen days. The format of the tournament needs changing. Six groups of four teams each with a round of sixteen results in 52 games as opposed to the current 48. It increases the exposure of developing sides and allows for a fairer rest schedule. You can see the clear bias below.

    [​IMG]

    The dinosaurs of which there are many among the supporters of the so called traditional teams would like the tournament downsized which is narrow minded and pathetic. If these neanderthals had a genuine love of the sport they would want it to be growing and developing. This attitude is prevalent among the older unions. Excluding Italy for more than a decade, refusing to countenance any mention of Georgia in the Six Nations while Argentina had to go through hoops to get into the Rugby Championship. Namibia were chucked out of the top level Currie Cup, Western Samoa out of Super Rugby when they were threatening to become top class teams and the PI's as a whole have been excluded from any SH top level rugby over recent years. Not to mention the lack of Test matches tier two teams get against those from tier one.

    While the success of Japan is great imagine the PI's with the backing of WR and the unions in NZ and Australia integrating them into top class competition and providing a route for PI players to make a living and remain playing for their country. Or helping to develop the physical infrastructure there rather than yet another Lions tour. The fear is from the old boys brigade is of others coming up and through to challenge their dominance.
     
  6. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Well aside from Argentina, Uruguay and Georgia they are all at it. Ireland for example with Aki and several South Africans, Scotland and England have Willi Heinz and several others in the past as well. If not for the financial situation of the PI's I am sure the Vunipola brothers even though they were developed in the Welsh-English system would have loved to play for Tonga. After all several players with parents from different countries who are playing at this WC always opt to play for the country that rewards them better financially.
     
  7. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Short turn around caught up with Uruguay- Georgia very dominate and powerful .

    Onto the big game of the day .

    Who will win ?
     
  8. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    Wales impressive so far. 10-0 up in first 12 mins.
    Come on Wales.
     
  9. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    23-8 up at half time .

    Surely going to win from here .
     
  10. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Well deserved win for Wales. They never really missed Howley although like Fiji they committed the cardinal sin of gifting possession away at restarts in the second half and barely had a sniff after the Patchell drop goal. Fiji did the same bewildering thing. Australia can count their lucky stars they are not out already. Cheika is living on borrowed time and the Wallabies as a whole are well below where they used to be.
     
  11. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    Best game of the World Cup so far.
    I was feeling the same watching Wales vs Aussies as I’ve done many many times watching Watford - winning but pressure and expecting to concede in the final moments.*

    Wales held out brilliantly with excellent defence despite giving away silly penalties.
    Great to beat the Aussies.

    * I’ve got a long memory, I can remember when Watford were winning.
     
  12. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    And South Africans emigrate to get away from the general malaise and serious crime and prospects for white children so it’s not surprising they can end up playing for their adopted country.

    And my boys could represent SA, Wales or England based on their parentage. Hence my general support
    ‘come on Bokke/England/Wales’

    Keeping my options open :)
     
  13. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    That is understandable SAhorn. :)The system does need tightening on residency rules. And as it stands always favours the Tier One who can offer money and other opportunities. No one sadly is going to turn out for the PI sides because they lack the money even if they wished too. Having said that it is admirable to see players like Jack Lam turning out for Samoa along with several others by severing club contracts. It is despicable what some clubs still do to PI players in offering them a stark choice. Stay withe club or lose your contract if you wish to play at the World Cup. WR needs to teach these clubs a lesson especially those in the Top 14.

    And sad to see how poor Samoa are. Yes they are missing players but even so their bite looks rather blunt. Again there are several Samoans although brought up in NZ waiting to see if they get called up to the ABs like Brian Alainu'uese currently at Toulon.
     
  14. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    Agreed on your comments although I don’t know a lot about the Pacific Island situation.
    You seem to know your rugby Smudger.
    To be honest I follow the internationals but not club rugby.

    Was privileged to be at the World Cup Final 1995 when Nelson Mandela walked onto the pitch wearing the Springbok jersey and all the Afrikaners waving the old republican flag chanted his name - preventing a civil war imho.
    And SA beat the All Blacks in et, Francois Pienaar said it was for all 47m South Africans, and there was a countrywide Street party.

    upload_2019-10-5_10-21-40.jpeg

    And this WC could certainly help grow the game the way the Japanese are embracing it.
     
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  15. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    I certainly hope that schools rugby takes off in Japan Sahorn. You really need a good schools system or junior club system to get anywhere. A lot of nations are hampered by the fact that it is very limited or that the first exposure to rugby is often at a older age when it can be harder to get the basics instilled and technique refined as in the US. I really feel for the PI's. Because of their poor economies they are always going to lose players. I find it disturbing that NZ, Australia, France offer youngsters playing junior rugby there contracts to play in their countries.

    They if they are any good are then told you cannot play in the Top 14 or Super Rugby if you want to play for your island team. You have to remain eligible for NZ, Australia or France. Tonga lost Shannon Frizell this way, and Tonga narrowly lost to France by tries scored by two Fijians. Oh the sad irony. The bigger unions constantly abuse their financial power to the detriment of PI rugby.

    Of course most of the Tongan and Samoan teams are actually NZ by birth although their parents are from the islands so you could say they are getting plenty back. However if NZ and Australia were really concerned they would do a lot more to help out these teams and decline taking players like Sevu Reece brought up in the Fijian system and shoving him into an AB jersey.

    Once again the turn around schedule is awful for teams like Uruguay. South Africa could also do a lot more for Namibia given that as SW Africa they were in the top division of the Currie Cup. And while Lavanini deserved his card and Ledesma deserves the sack for turning a team which is mainly from the Jaguares into a shambles (not a sign of threat from Boffelli, Moyano and Moroni) where is the consistency and fairness ? Beale escaped for a similar hit on an Uruguayan player, England escaped the card for multiple infringments on their try line. France for pulling down the US maul. No card not even a penalty try. A couple of the ABs have escaped punishment as well. It does seem to me that referees even in rugby have the unconscious bias towards the favoured team.

    Sahorn love my rugby and love to see it developing globally. Sadly many supporters from the older unions seem to want to keep it in house so to speak. The same old formula. Some even want the WC slimmed down to 16 teams rather than helping and developing the aspirations of other nations.

    Chester Williams and Brian Lochore are two giants of the game that passed before this WC. Unfortunately with Chester there always seems to be the issue of you know what as with several players of that era who have passed away prematurely. It was a great game between two teams who have been locked in perpetual rivalry for decades. That poem Invictus by William Henley is one of my favourites. The words are perfect.

     
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  16. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Russia really did look out on their legs and Scotland took full advantage.

    Be rather different for them on Sunday v the hosts !r
     
  17. Aberdeen

    Aberdeen Academy Graduate

    Hope the game gets played. To go out because the game is cancelled is tough.
     
  18. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Would be tough on the Scots .

    Doesn't seem likely ATM with loads of flooding and sadly people missing and even one death

    And apparently it hasn't fully arrived yet ..

    Ireland get the job done despite only having 13 men for over a half .
     
  19. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    They got through the typhoon but Scotland are being undone by a Japanese hurricane instead .
     
  20. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    “The red and white barbarians”
    Handling excellent from the Blossoms
    28-7 after 47mins :eek:
     
  21. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Game back on though ..
     
  22. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    Who are the Scots going to sue now? Hahaha

    Fair play though. Who wants to go out on a technicality when this nation of sporting specialists in failure are in the equation?
     
  23. Smudger

    Smudger Messi's Mad Coach Staff Member

    Really ? This sort of sniping at the Scots is rather sad. Why cannot people just congratulate the Japanese on a game well played ? Given the resources Scotland have to draw from their sporting success at the Olympic level as part of Team GB is admirable.

    As for the postponements WR need a long hard look at themselves. With an event of this magnitude the contingency plans were woefully inadequate. What has also been disappointing has been the inconsistency from referee to referee. The number of times players lie offside at rucks as Wales did against Fiji to slow the ball, the scrum feeds being far from straight, the number of times a side can infringe without conceding a card or try ie England against Argentina in the opening minutes is poor. Nor is the bias against the tier two teams.

    One there is the nonsensical scheduling they have to put up with and the number of times decisions have not favoured them. One of the most glaring being the French deliberately pulling down a maul to stop a certain try. Not even a card or the award of a penalty try. Ditto for Wales against Fiji. Fiji can count themselves hard done by. They and Uruguay have shown steps forward and Tonga and Namibia have played creditably.

    Argentina have been incredibly disappointing and Ledesma needs to go while Samoa are in a real mess which is sad to see. Their governing body is in absolute shambles as well which does not help.
     
  24. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    You seem to be a supporter of the underdog Smudger so no wonder you support Watford!

    It’s difficult for tier 2 nations I agree. And referees seem to have a built-in bias for top teams in many sports.

    I lived in the US for a while and played rugby there. It’s played on east and west coasts. I was the designated kicker as no American sports involve kicking so they were crap at it.
    No rugby in schools there of course and many players came from American football which is school, college and NFL. No amateur American football leagues exist so some play rugby after college as at least they can run and tackle.
    Disappointing how the Eagles performed in the WC, 4 losses and it doesn’t appear the game had progressed since I was there.

    And not only has Chester Williams passed (and what a beacon he was as the only black player (actually a ‘Cape Coloured’ which is a designation in SA) in that SA World Cup winning team and therefore an example of how black players can play rugby - they’ve made great strides in developing the game in the black community as football is their sport).
    - but also sadly James Small, Lomu’s nemesis as he tackled the man mountain and brought him down, unlike Mike Catt in the semi-final, Jonah Lomu himself of course, and Joost van der Westhuizen. All great players.

    I think the Japan win over Scotland and quarter final progression will really spark the development of the game there, and we could see Japan invited to the Southern Hemisphere National tournaments with SA, NZ, Aus.
    What a great advert for rugby their performance over Scotland was.

    So 4 tantalising quarters coming up.
    Come on England, Cymru, Bokke.
    I’ll have at least one of my teams in the semi’s.
    :)
     
  25. Aberdeen

    Aberdeen Academy Graduate

    I will be supporting England, Cymru, Ireland and the hosts Japan.
    So expect NZ, SA, France and Oz to be in the semis
     
  26. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    American Football. They have a player that does nothing else!
     
  27. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    yup - but they need specialist training and sometimes the NFL teams have imported specialist kickers from rugby and football playing nations.
    eg Naas Botha, a brilliant kicker of the rugby ball, became field goal place kicker for Dallas Cowboys.
    Even a VERY famous English footballer said he wants to be a place kicker in the NFL, and he doesn’t need the money.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/harry-kane-nfl-kicker-2017-8

    Great job if you can get it.
    1. Practice kicking all week.
    2. Come on.
    3. Kick ball over the bar.
    4. Go off.
    Maybe we could sell André Gray to an NFL team.

    I volunteered my services for the Philadelphia Eagles for only $1 million a season when I was there, but for some reason I never got the call, even after telling them I was price negotiable.
     
    Knight GT likes this.
  28. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    Isn't the prerequisite for a kicker to be able to kick the ball in the general direction required? I know the average yank is a little slow on the uptake, but they do seem to know sports and I'm not sure a Pozzo wheeze like the multimillion pound deal for Richarliason to Everton could be repeated with our friends across the pond.

    We can but dream.




    *the above was posted in jest. No offence above intend with respect to our murikan chums.
     
  29. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    Didn't Clive Allen do it for a season?
     
  30. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    And we know what happens to AG when he has more than a split second to contemplate finishing off a move. What the hell would he be like if he had a minute or so to trot off the bench, line up the kick, contemplate the abuse if he missed. Nothing compared to the abuse if he scored and ran towards the fans cupping his ear ....
     
  31. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    But our Andre can happily balloon the ball over the bar, a skill he’s been practicing even on match days..

    I’m sure they wouldn’t be offended - anyway I’ve been called a limey a few times.
     
  32. CleyHorn

    CleyHorn Reservist

    The prerequisite for an NFL kicker is to kick the egg in the only direction ever required.
     
  33. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    It's ok Smudger, they've got another thing to lose now.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50066095

    Potential misconduct charge from World Rugby for Scotland's pathetic and heartless threats to sue everyone if their match was postponed, despite the fact elsewhere people were dying.
     
  34. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    England blow away the Aussies - what a pleasure with 40 points on the board and also the Aussies biggest WC loss.

    That's one of my teams in the semis.

    And something to celebrate before the trepidation/nervousness/fear/inevitableness of a #°** Hornets performance at a Spurs away day.
     
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  35. Sahorn

    Sahorn Reservist

    Ireland blown away 22-0 in first half by All Blacks.
    Nothing they do is coming off and NZ are a notch above and making their own luck.

    Can’t see Ireland coming back from this ..
     

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