Just a little something I knocked up this morning. ;-) apologies in advance to all my English friends. xx
Ben Youngs' performance was as bad as any. He spent a large part of the game trotting across the field, like an already-selected player at a training session, and was left open-mouthed and leaden-footed twice as Australia tore past him to score tries.
As is so often the case with those who have the loudest mouths before the game. "We have to give Australia a reason to quit". Well done there then Ben...Originally Posted by Tinker
I'm a Wales supporter, but I wanted England to win last night (and us to beat Australia next weekend!).
I really thought it was going to be a close game - the English players, on an individual level, are a good crop, the Twickenham crowd seemed in good voice before the game and I thought passions would be running high after the defeat against Wales.
How wrong I was.
England looked lost for ideas for most of the match and, frequently, rudderless.
Quite why George Ford hasn't started every game is beyond me. Admittedly I regularly go to watch Bath, but I really think England has a truly world class star in him.
England didn't seem to know how to unpick the Australian side after "Plan A" didn't work - creative players like Ford, if given the freedom, can find a way.
My overriding impression that England is a team of talented individuals and have real potential, but that they've been poorly coached off the field and lack leadership on it.
As for Wales, we're definitely below full strength with the injuries.
That said, despite the result against England and the win against Fiji, I don't think the Welsh team has shown their true colours yet, especially George North.
If this happens, I think the Australia match will be a lot closer than many have predicted.
Even if Wales are runners up and we play South Africa rather than Scotland, that need not be the end of our World Cup.
I saw the Wales vs South Africa match in Cardiff at the end of 2014 in which Wales beat them for the first time. I don't think they're in the same league as Australia or New Zealand (despite the improvement since the Japan game) and, despite the injury difficulties Wales face, I wouldn't rule out Wales making it to the semi finals; as a big a challenge that might be.
Beyond that, who knows?!
Careful you will be accused of being a racist! Then again maybe not as they don't pick on men he heJust a little something I knocked up this morning. ;-) apologies in advance to all my English friends. xx
Haven't you got some ironing to do?
Haven't you got a wife to beat?
Last edited by Dontblowsmoke; 4th October 2015 at 17:29.
Haven't you got some HRT tablets to take as you are driving a lot of us nuts with your hormonal swings and bouts of being a vindictive harpie/ mellow poster?!
Mike
I never bet these days, certainly not on England. I suppose I just got caught up in all the hype. Long and the short of it was that we were way way off the mark. I hope the tournament does not suffer from our early exit. Forcing myself to watch Ireland v Italy as I have a few drops of Irish blood in me, and I want to keep interest in the event.
Not until she has finished the ironing, made tea and cleaned the car.;-)
I might change my mind about Ireland after that game. They didn't exactly look like world-beaters, did they?I never bet these days, certainly not on England. I suppose I just got caught up in all the hype. Long and the short of it was that we were way way off the mark. I hope the tournament does not suffer from our early exit. Forcing myself to watch Ireland v Italy as I have a few drops of Irish blood in me, and I want to keep interest in the event.
Because it is all so one sided isn't it Mike!! NOT - Why not have a go at the baiters or are you in the same boys club?Haven't you got some HRT tablets to take as you are driving a lot of us nuts with your hormonal swings and bouts of being a vindictive harpie/ mellow poster?!
Mike
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But still a wife beater none the less; It shows Chris it really does.Not until she has finished the ironing, made tea and cleaned the car.;-)
Problem is, she's never cleaned the car.
I've never struck a woman, but I'd understand if your husband hit you.
Nope, that's probably the worst performance I've seen Ireland have under Schmidt. Italy's poor lineout probably about all that separated us. Very disappointing.
Hardly racist, because Whelsh is not a race - it's a nationality.
You may however be accused of triumphantism, demonstrating poor sportsmanship, luxuriating in other people's sadness or misfortune, small minded or being a bit silly.
Lets hope Wales can achieve what England managed in 2003 and 2007 and get to the final.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Yes, and the really good thing is you never read England fans being any of those things do you...
As for the second bit, a more grudging and through gritted teeth 'good luck' message I've yet to see!
Here we go. Diagnosis and prognosis.
The facts are perhaps clearer than we think.
England are out.
Wales, Scotland and Ireland are still in and could all progress. So what!
The only people who SAID England would TRULY win were the press and media. And so the plebs (us) got hyped to actually not just believing but expecting it to happen. Let's get real. World rugby has left all but maybe Wales and Ireland standing. And even then they will win, but only if one of the true great nations has an off day - not because we are so consistently good. We, as a 4 Nations as was, are not even close to the consistency of SA, Oz, NZ. We dream.
It's the press and media who lead us the dance and we comply. Stuart Lancaster made a good team perform quite well. They are playing as well as the players capability and ability allows. They aren't great players, just good.
We as the plebs believed the hype. We are the mugs. Lancaster will succumb not because he can't coach but sadly because it's what we do at times like this. Wake up folks. We - Scots, Enlgish Welsh and Irish are just bloody good triers. That's it.
Enjoy the rest of the WC 😀
Well, I'm not sure it was meant as good luck, it'd be great to see you get to the final. As we've shown winning is something completely different...
My favourite quote is from my seven year old son after watching England crash out last night:
"Well that was a bit disappointing Daddy."
I am so far from a rugby expert unlike many here who know far more about rules and intricacies, I'll stick to what I know, (I.e. motorcycles) rather than comment directly,
I did think it interesting your point of plan A and lack of leadership as I heard will carling talking about just that after Wales and got load of stick for it ...
one of players was also saying what does he know, long retired doesn't know the modern game....believe he capitulated a bit but that's a shame because unfortunately he seemed to be proved to be absolutely right....
Last edited by lordloz; 4th October 2015 at 23:37.
Well, two things Will Carling does know about are leadership and winning.
No they didn't, can't see past the Aussies or Kiwi's to be honest!
I've only recently developed an interest in Rugby, probably because my kids are now of an age that they are playing in schools and the local rugby club. That Ireland game I found hard to watch to be honest. Wasn't the best match I've seen and they'll need to up their game a bit.
Me neither to be honest.
England seems to have gone backwards in the past 12 months.
I imagine after the WC we will be getting a new coach - most likely South Hemisphere, although I would like Dean Richards given the job.
However after "Bloodgate" this is unlikely.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I cannot speak for all English Fans, however I know this is something which England fans are accused of, so personally I am very sensitive to it.
If you read this thread from the start do you see any English fans being arrogant ? Say before the Fiji or Wales games - I think not. But perhaps you are confusing English Rugby fans with English Football fans??
As for the good luck message - it was actually meant as positive encouragement - the problem is however that I simply do not believe Wales will make the final and neither will Scotland. Ireland and France might however have a chance. But if they do, I will be cheering them on.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Thats maybe the difference right there. Even if the Scottish media told us we were going to win we wouldn't believe them. We remember the football world cup in 78' and won't be caught like that again. Ally's tartan f*****g army.We might even blow it against Samoa. Watch this space.
Still think Wales have a good chance, Ireland not so much after seeing the pool games. Any one of Aus/NZ or SA again.
England faired badly in the 1999 World Cup as well.
For anyone that hasn't watched it, I'd recommend "Building Jerusalem", which is an interesting insight into how England went about identifying and addressing their shortcomings, which as we know put them in a very different competitive place in 2003.
http://www.theguardian.com/film/vide...m-video-review
There's a lot of mudslinging going on in the English press at the moment. Apparently Farrell Snr insisted on the selection of Burgess, despite resistance from the players.
I also read that he's responsible for training, with Lancaster in more of a figurehead role. If this is true he should be resigning with Lancaster. I don't know what input Rowntree and Catt had so I'm undecided about their fate, but it will be interesting to see what comes out.
I'm finding all these ex-pro's coming out with their vitriol a bit vomit worthy. We were in a group with Aus & Wales and we made some mistakes. You can't afford to do that
when playing teams of their calibre.
We certainly had no god given right to qualify and I'm surprised that there is such a degree of shock that we didn't.
We need to go back to the drawing board and improve in the area's where we gave the games away.
I'm not sold on the idea that wide scale replacements are going to yield better results. Maybe thats another thread.
Looking forward to some more good games this week! Wales vs Oz on Saturday should be interesting!
I agree, Carling has been at since the squad was selected, but some of it came from Billy Vinipola too (allegedly).
That's a fair point, and Australia were so good that there's no shame in losing to them.
There were a few avoidable things like parachuting Burgess in, using 18 different 10/12/13 combinations in the space of a few years, squad selection and then whatever other backroom stuff that's going on. Captaincy could be an issue, given the number of almost-results over the last few years, though I'm a firm believer that few outside of the dressing room are in a position to say whether someone's a good captain or not.
I'm still surprised that Fiji denying bonus points to Aus and Wales won't be a factor at all.
I'd be surprised to see a non-Englishman get the job.
There was an interesting post-mortem on Sky last evening, with Stuart Barnes, Dean Richards, Neil Back and Will Greenwood. The consensus appeared to be that Lancaster and Robshaw should probably go, and a new ethos needs to be introduced to allow more freedom of expression.
The introduction of Sam Burgess came in for criticism, as did the omission of Dylan Hartley and Steffon Armitage. The argument was that this is our home World Cup, and we should have the best players who are eligible and available. Hartley would have been available after the opening game against Fiji, and is, apparently, the only hooker we have who can actually throw the ball in accurately at a line-out.
There's nothing to lose now in our final match. George Ford at 10, and bring in Slade, who was brilliant against France in the warm-up. There's only pride at stake now. Let's salvage as much as we can.
http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/107078
I'm really proud of our team! I know that compared to the really big players we are in the 2nd league, but it's still a great result for us.
Go Oaks!
Cheers,
Christian
What do you call an Englishman in the second round of the Rugby World Cup???
A Referee!!
:-D :-D :-D
Sorry couldn't resist :-D
So you should be - great result!
Christian, your team did you proud! To come back from 15-0 and win the match was something quite special.
I've been very impressed with quite alot of the '2nd league' teams in the tournament so far! Your guys, georgia.. and in particular Argentina!
Thats it, i'm cheering on les bleus from now on :D
Biggest comeback in world cup history - that's some achievement!
The developing nations have been great; the gap is closing.
My 14 year old son said something similar!!!!!!!
I would hardly call Argentina a 2nd league team.
Not confusing rugby fans with football fans no, though don't know why you had to have a dig at them either...
I have read this thread from the start yes, and as you say no England fans as far as I remember were unpleasant about anything until the expected wins didn't materialise. But, it's difficult to be triumphalist, enjoying others misfortune or displaying poor sportsmanship before you've actually won the big games, and unfortunately England haven't managed that this tournament so I suspect that's the main reason for the absence of it.
As somebody who has stood in Twickenham and Cardiff as well as numerous rugby clubs with my Welsh shirt on when we've suffered defeats to Emgland, I can assure you there is far worse said than that displayed by any Welsh fan on here!
I was just puzzled as to why you singled out some comments from a Welsh fan, that's all. It's all part of the game, and sometimes you just have to take the usually good natured ribbing. That should work both ways though shouldn't it...
I think Argentina can beat anybody on the day, it's just consistency they seem to be lacking.I would hardly call Argentina a 2nd league team.
They've really come on since they started competing in the Rugby Championship.
I said to my girlfriend that the Rugby World Cup isn't like the one in football where, occasionally, lowly ranked nations can upset one of the top tier teams.
Well, I had to eat my words after the Japan vs. South Africa game!
I agree that the rest of the world really do seem to be catching-up with the established nations - and long may it continue.
The stronger that teams like Japan, Canada, Romania et al. get, the more engaging and richer the international game will become.
Now, all we need is a new tournament winner (I'm biased, but how about Wales?!).
England Prepare For The Quarter-Finals
Oh well, might as well have a sense of humour about it.
Going with a few friends to the England V Uruguay game in Manchester. It's a lad's weekend away, just a shame England are out as I expect the game will be rather a subdued affair.
Last edited by mylofitz; 9th October 2015 at 09:16.
I feel sorry for Uraguay. A bit of an anti-climax for them, having to play England.
Ouch !!
I watched the Uruguay match at Milton Keynes on Tuesday, so they certainly do not have a lot of recovery time. Also, all their players are tiny!!
Certainly enjoying the Samoa Scotland match at the moment!!
Well done Scotland! QF place and all!
Just watched Wales vs Austrialia - epic game (war!)
how the aussies survived going down to 13 with the welsh camped on their line, for what 10 minutes? was fanstatic - even George North could not get the ball down.
I thought wales shaded the first half but the Aussies just had the extra 1%.
I still fancy Wales against SA. How England must be kicking themselves!
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
You're right...not much else left.England Prepare For The Quarter-Finals
...image...
Oh well, might as well have a sense of humour about it.
Two good games today...what comes next?
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