Wilber Posted September 18, 2015 Report Posted September 18, 2015 Starts tomorrow. Yay! Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
SpankyMcFarland Posted September 18, 2015 Report Posted September 18, 2015 At least we can see it on TV, more than can be said for 6N rugby these days. One challenge has been the continuing dominance of the Big Five at the business end of the competition. It would be great to see a new country or two in the semis. Quote ‘How small we make our worlds. Gather them in, tighten them up into little castles of fear.’
Wilber Posted September 18, 2015 Author Report Posted September 18, 2015 (edited) Agreed. I used to look forward to watching the 6N. I agree that it would be nice to see some different teams in the semis but all sports seem to be dominated by the same few countries. Hockey is one good example. Even though soccer is the most widely played sport, only eight different countries have ever won a World Cup. Since the Rugby World Cup came into being there have been 4 different winners. In the same time, there have only been 5 different Football World Cup winners in spite of it being a much larger tournament. Bright side. We are pretty highly ranked in sevens (actually beat the All Blacks once this year) and we are one of the heavies in women's rugby. Edited September 18, 2015 by Wilber Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
Big Guy Posted September 18, 2015 Report Posted September 18, 2015 Played a little in University but mainly for the post game celebrations. Am still impressed by the NZ All Blacks Maori 'Haka' War Dance. Makes the NFL pre-game group chants look lame. Quote Note - For those expecting a response from Big Guy: I generally do not read or respond to posts longer then 300 words nor to parsed comments.
SpankyMcFarland Posted September 19, 2015 Report Posted September 19, 2015 The Hakarena. http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/17/rugby-world-cup-all-blacks-matt-dawson-hakarena And one suggestion for the Irish team - a Riverdance routine. Quote ‘How small we make our worlds. Gather them in, tighten them up into little castles of fear.’
Derek 2.0 Posted September 19, 2015 Report Posted September 19, 2015 Bright side. We are pretty highly ranked in sevens (actually beat the All Blacks once this year) and we are one of the heavies in women's rugby. I don’t think its impossible to imagine Canada getting out of the first round/pool……We’ve beat the Kiwis, so on paper, we should be competitive against the Irish and maybe even the French….big game against the Irish in the morning.. And I expect the Boks to destroy Japan after it. Quote
SpankyMcFarland Posted September 19, 2015 Report Posted September 19, 2015 Canada have gone backwards in rugby. Quote ‘How small we make our worlds. Gather them in, tighten them up into little castles of fear.’
Wilber Posted September 19, 2015 Author Report Posted September 19, 2015 Canada have gone backwards in rugby. Sure have. Ireland is the 6N champ but I didn't think it would be that bad. Canada and the US are the bottom ranked teams in their pools but maybe the Americans can do better. Japan is sure playing SA tough at half time. Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
Wilber Posted September 19, 2015 Author Report Posted September 19, 2015 Japan 34, Bocs 32. Who saw that coming? Has to be the biggest world cup upset ever. Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
Derek 2.0 Posted September 19, 2015 Report Posted September 19, 2015 Japan 34, Bocs 32. Who saw that coming? Has to be the biggest world cup upset ever. No doubt, the Boks have already dug themselves a hole. Quote
SpankyMcFarland Posted September 19, 2015 Report Posted September 19, 2015 (edited) Sure have. Ireland is the 6N champ but I didn't think it would be that bad. Canada and the US are the bottom ranked teams in their pools but maybe the Americans can do better. Japan is sure playing SA tough at half time. Ireland narrowly won the 6N. I am biased on these matters, but I have to admit Ireland were a bit lucky and I would put Ireland with Wales below England and probably below France in this competition, although we all know how unpredictable the French are. So being hammered by Ireland is not a good sign. Canada recovered a bit in the second half. They just don't have enough top class pro players to compete at this level. Edited September 19, 2015 by SpankyMcFarland Quote ‘How small we make our worlds. Gather them in, tighten them up into little castles of fear.’
Derek 2.0 Posted September 22, 2015 Report Posted September 22, 2015 With Samoa beating the Americans, the Boks are now sitting on the outside looking in......We'll need the Scots to knock off Japan this Wednesday, and a rebound against Samoa this weekend....... Quote
Wilber Posted September 26, 2015 Author Report Posted September 26, 2015 Scots did their part. Bit of a heart breaker for Canada against Italy today. Good to see them play well though and a couple of their tries were quite spectacular. Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
Derek 2.0 Posted September 26, 2015 Report Posted September 26, 2015 Scots did their part. Bit of a heart breaker for Canada against Italy today. Good to see them play well though and a couple of their tries were quite spectacular. Yup, and the Boks regained some of their composure against Samoa. Didn't watch the Canada game, I am surprised how strong the French look (granted they have played two weak teams), as there were questions surrounding their team going in.......waiting on England/Wales, starts at noon. Quote
Derek 2.0 Posted September 26, 2015 Report Posted September 26, 2015 WOW!!!!! Wales beats England, that's up there with the Japanese win against South Africa Quote
Wilber Posted September 27, 2015 Author Report Posted September 27, 2015 (edited) Well not quite, England was ranked #3 in the world, Wales #4. Now it may be the other way around. SA dropped from 5th to 6th and Japan went from 13th to 11th after their game. I imagine Japan will have dropped some again after their Scotland match. and SA might be back in 5th after their last match. Edited September 27, 2015 by Wilber Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
Derek 2.0 Posted September 27, 2015 Report Posted September 27, 2015 Well not quite, England was ranked #3 in the world, Wales #4. Now it may be the other way around. SA dropped from 5th to 6th and Japan went from 13th to 11th after their game. I imagine Japan will have dropped some again after their Scotland match. and SA might be back in 5th after their last match. I don't know if Wales has ever beat England in a World Cup.......to boot, Wales was missing 3 of their best players from injury on their squad!!! England will be in tough against Australia, and if they loose, and Wales beats Fiji, England could find themselves on the outside looking in for the next round......on home soil!!! Quote
Wilber Posted September 27, 2015 Author Report Posted September 27, 2015 It's definitely the toughest pool. Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
Derek 2.0 Posted October 2, 2015 Report Posted October 2, 2015 No surprise with the All Blacks win today.......big game (really big game in our household) in the morning between South Africa and Scotland, could very well decide the first quarter final games between Pool A (currently Wales and Australia) and Pool B (currently Scotland and South Africa)......as it stands now (baring an English rally), its looking like the first match-ups will be: Scotland vs Australia Wales vs South Africa Quote
Wilber Posted October 11, 2015 Author Report Posted October 11, 2015 Irish eyes are smiling. Great match with France, the Irish looked really impressive in the second half. Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
SpankyMcFarland Posted October 16, 2015 Report Posted October 16, 2015 Irish eyes are smiling. Great match with France, the Irish looked really impressive in the second half. Yeah, they pulled a Wales there, losing Sexton, Peter O'Mahony, and Paul O'Connell to injury and still managing a win. Joe Schmidt is the best coach Ireland has ever head. He varies his approach within the limitations of his players and plans meticulously. I am surprised he hasn't been lured away yet by England or France - they certainly need him. The French are a brutally physical side, and NZ may lose some players to injury, but they just don't seem to have any team spirit or direction at the moment. Sexton is back for the Argentinian game but O'Connell is finished for the tournament. I would fancy Ireland's chances against Argentina and Wales are awkward buggers to beat. Canada's backline really came good after the Irish game. The back three looked excellent, especially Van der Merwe. Quote ‘How small we make our worlds. Gather them in, tighten them up into little castles of fear.’
Wilber Posted October 16, 2015 Author Report Posted October 16, 2015 The All Blacks seem bit of a mystery, ranked #1 but haven't had to show it. Remains to be seen if they will. I didn't see a lot of the Canada games, the times didn't work to well for my schedule but some of what I did see was pretty entertaining, if inconsistent. Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
Wilber Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Posted October 17, 2015 Wales gone. Sniff. Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
Wilber Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Posted October 17, 2015 Holy Crap, the All Blacks aren't a mystery anymore. Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
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