Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

https://news.images.itv.com/image/file/581150/stream_img.jpg

Hooray, it's that time again! That time when the sport I care about gets some coverage! Mostly from me!

Should be a great tournament this year. More teams have positioned themselves into genuine contenders. If the first eight tournaments of the Football World Cup are anything to go by we may see a new team be added to the four who have won the trophy so far.

Kicks off with England playing Fiji in about 21 hours time. Should be fun!

https://packages.qantas.com/uploads/supplier/120/RWC2015matchSchedule.png
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1927
The oldest chav in the world
+2,423|6643|Cardiff, Capital of Wales
I dont want to be pedantic, x8 games in Cardiff.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-34282743

Have a look what our council have done to The Castle, its about 100 yards away from The Millenium Stadium.

Good luck to Fiji today.
Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

Yeah, I know. Personally I'm hoping for a France-NZ 2007 quarter final re-match at Millenium Stadium. Still, brochure says England 2015 not Great Britain 2015 so... I mean no-one remembers that the 1987 World Cup was actually hosted by NZ and Australia with Australia having 12 matches.

Decent first match. Fiji has some really good players - Nadolo is an absolute rugby playing colossus - but don't gel as a team. If they could connect plays better they could be formidable. I wasn't sure if that last English try was off a forward pass and some angles didn't show it making the try line. Good for them to get a bonus point but I don't think the score reflected the contest.

Kind of wish NZ's pool was more competitive. I don't think they'll become complacent like they have in years past but when your only semi-decent hit outs are against Argentina and Tonga you don't get that toughening up you get in more challenging pools.
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Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

Japan beat South Africa. The biggest upset in rugby history, up there for biggest upset in sporting history.





Incredible South Africa would have been expected to get something like an 80 point victory. Instead the Japanese captain twice refused an easy penalty to make it a draw and Japan scored the winning try deep into the red zone. Amazing.

Heard someone equating it to a lion losing to Hello Kitty in a fight. Sums it up.
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coke
Aye up duck!
+440|6679|England. Stoke
Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

Looking at that video, Bok captain, (#12,) Jean De Villiers looks emaciated. The guys a centre, one of the toughest strongest players, and he looks fit but marathon runner fit, not rugby fit. Think there are some serious problems in the Boks camp. Scotland and Samoa may smell blood though I expect the Boks will respond hard.

Games today: Samoa beat the USA, Wales beat Georgia, New Zealand beat Argentina. Everyone's trying to act as if that last one was really close but it wasn't, NZ took the lead before the three quarter mark and din't look like relinquishing it even if for the most part they played like arse. People want another Japan I guess which isn't surprising but the Pumas are no Japan and the All Blacks are the All Blacks.

Discussion topic of the day was McCaw's yellow card for an idiotic trip. Deserved but if you listen to some people that one thing justifies all those who keep saying he should be yellow carded just for running onto the field.
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1927
The oldest chav in the world
+2,423|6643|Cardiff, Capital of Wales
Only match I have seen is us vs Uruaguay.  Was alright, 2 more players fucking injured though so thats us out then, we stood a slight chance but not now.

England are going to fuck us up the bum big time next Saturday night at 8pm, there will be 75,000 barbour jackets hiding their posh boners inside Twickers.
Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

Wouldn't be so sure. Japan beat South Africa, anything can happen.

Interested to see how the Wallabies go against Fiji. Expect them to win, likely more comfortably than England did, but I still think England will beat them later on. Wales I'm just not sure about. The injuries have gutted them no question but one back-to-the wall mongrel performance against either England or Australia will really upset things. Any team can have a bad day and England and Australia would be dumb to assume Wales will roll over.
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1927
The oldest chav in the world
+2,423|6643|Cardiff, Capital of Wales
I still fucks me off that Hook, Henson, Adam Jones wont get selected even with injuries, I can understand Hook and Henson to an extent as they act like cocks but fuck knows what Adam Jones did or said to be treated like this
Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

No surprises today. The Hooper-Pocock combo seems to be working for Australia, though it reduces their options in the line-out and makes them predictable there. Fine for Fiji but Wales and England will look to exploit that.
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1927
The oldest chav in the world
+2,423|6643|Cardiff, Capital of Wales
Wales might be looking for 2 more players, I cant remember which ones but they are the fat ones at the front of the scrum, either side of the hooker I think.

Im going to try and lend a pair of size 10 boots, I dont have any hockey this Saturday so I can play if needed.
Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

Big games tomorrow. Wales vs. England and South Africa vs. Samoa.

Anyone for predictions?

South Africa will be aiming to respond to their shock defeat to Japan but I have to say for the first time ever I'm concerned that they don't actually have anything else. They've played five matches this year and won one of them - Argentina away - with the loses including Argentina at home and the Japan upset. Samoa meanwhile ran the All Blacks pretty close at home and when they played in 2011 came close to undoing a much better Springbok team. They are big powerful units and most of them are products of New Zealand rugby, (not to mention most were born and raised here.) When the Boks have their backs to the wall they generally rely on crash-em bash-em rugby but they'll find themselves matched in this regard.

I think with the return of Willie le Roux and a few other playmakers the Boks will have the edge but I also think this is possibly the best opportunity Samoa has had to roll them. With being determined to respond to the Japan game comes the additional pressure and nerves and it may be too much for an unimpressive South African outfit. Either way I don't expect the game to end with all 30 players on the field.

As for Wales vs/ England... who knows? England at home in Twickenham are the favourites but pressure is a funny thing and this is a young England team. Wales have been hit hard with injuries but that gives them an air of "nothing to lose, everything to gain" and they certainly have the ability to beat England. England will want to dominate the midfield so Wales will look to attack on the outside. Will be a great clash of two even teams looking to win in different ways.

My predictions: South Africa by around seven, (too much history to discount the Boks just yet.)
                       Wales by less than five, (predicting the pressure to be too much for England and Wales to go for broke.)


Both games worthy of knock-out matches, (both in many ways are.)

Bring it on!
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pirana6
Go Cougs!
+682|6260|Washington St.
The US will defeat Scotland on Sunday in the Rugby match by scoring more Trys than them.

I predict the US Loosehead prop as well as the Tighthead prop will each score 2 Trys each. Also, in a surprise, the Outside-Center Back will score a Try.
Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

South Africa routed Samoa. Well done to them for that.

England-Wales seems to be a traditional northern hemisphere three-times-table slug fest. Scores are tied up three quarters into the first half.

Edit: Wales just let in a weak try. Gotta be better than that.

Edit: Half time; England 16, Wales 9. Only that try in it. England don't look to be letting the occasion get to them though Wales finished the half stronger.

I still find England fans singing an old slave song to support their team odd. Waltzing Matilda it ain't.

Edit: WHAT A TRY WALES! Soon to be even 25 each with nine minutes to play!

Edit: Wales ahead by three! Five minutes left!

Edit: One minute! Ty's prediction so far on point!


WALES BEATS ENGLAND AT TWICKENHAM, INJURES AND ALL!!! What a match!
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Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6075|eXtreme to the maX
Well done Wales, it was a good match.

Shame Wales are so fragile, 20 years ago they would have played on with a dislocated shoulder - too much oestrogen in the water supply?
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
FatherTed
xD
+3,936|6470|so randum
lol england
Small hourglass island
Always raining and foggy
Use an umbrella
Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

Indeed. Still hope they make the knock-out rounds though. As hosts it'll bring a downer to the tournament if they don't. They're a young and inexperienced team though and don't have that ability to draw on any experience to close out close games or perform under immense pressure. I don't think anything less than the game of their lives will see them beat Australia.

Am a little pleased that England fans are getting a lesson in actually how hard it is to win the World Cup at home in the professional era.

Also - pirana6, sadly the US only scored one try against Scotland but it was from a prop. So there you go.
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pirana6
Go Cougs!
+682|6260|Washington St.
close enough
1927
The oldest chav in the world
+2,423|6643|Cardiff, Capital of Wales
Ruggggby


What a win, I fucking hate The England Rugby team and always have.  Its to do with growing up there and having it ripped out of me along with my OTT step dad.  Rarr rarr twickers, range rovers, barbour jackets, toffs, blazers and Jonny loving egg chasers, Matt Dawson, Clive Woodwood, John Fucking Inverdale, fuck you, fuck the fucking lot of you.  I watched you beat Fiji and all answered 'England' when asked who would win the WC.  Arrogant fucks.

Well fuck you, our 2nd team beat you, not quite our 2nds, but half our squad are fucked now, all this in your back yard, at H fucking Q.


Yeah you can tell us 'stfu till you win it' but we're still 50m behind you in regards to population so rightly have some catching up to do.

I disage TY I think if England do go out next Saturday night vs AUS, the toruney will still have the most amazing atmosphere that there have been at WC's, just not when England are playing.

As for predictions, I thought we were going to get it handed to us big time, I couldnt off been more wrong, we were only just in the game at times, but also, never really out of it.  I think going for the try was the right choice, but perhaps not in a WC group game.  Certanly dont blame them though, credit where its due, we knew it was coming.
Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

The more I think about it the more I think Robshaw's decision to go for the touchline was less brave and more stupid. There was time for a restart to try and position for a penalty or drop goal to take the win and a draw would have been a preferable result over a loss for England. It was an over-estimation of their own ability, maybe a desire to win in one swoop and replicate what other teams had done, but tactically in a crucial World Cup pool match it was dumb.

I mean they threw to the front of the scrum, obviously out of the fear that Wales might nick it even though Wales' lineout wasn't particularly good. Robshaw surely would have known that while throwing the ball at the front of the lineout may give the other side less opportunity to snatch it, it also provides the weakest attacking platform for a rolling maul which he planned to use. Wales responded just as they should have, by shunting the English into touch. That sealed it.

Maybe easy to say in hindsight but I think England's decision making turned to pudding when Wales kept refusing to let them get away and then landed that killer blow that they always seemed to be holding in reserve in the form of Davies' try. For Mike Brown to give away a penalty in kicking range immediately afterwards was bizarre and simply reflects panic. Lancaster wasn't particularly good either. Why, when Wales was clearly the dominant attacking team, would you take off Sam Burgess? I still don't rate him as much of a union player but he still probably represented one of Wales' biggest obstacles and Lancaster replaced him with George Ford, bringing Owen Farrell into the inside centre position. Wales scored their try almost immediately after that because they recognised the chink in the armour this represented. I'm not sure if it was genius or good fortune but either way Lancaster's decision made it easier for them.

I predicted this might happen back in May when England were talking up their ability to win the cup. I tried to point out that winning home World Cups in the professional era is actually really hard given the amount of pressure you're under and that with a young and inexperienced squad that hadn't had a lot of results to boost their sense of belief would have trouble handling it. I asked what would happen if England lost their first big match up. Would the pressure cause them to crumble or would they be able to rally? Now that it's happened I'm still not sure but at least I get to find out.

The gut feeling that made me think Wales would get a narrow win makes me think England's going to pull this out of the fire against Australia. That's IF they can psychologically deal with the pressure of a must-win match. The Wallabies are coming in confident but that confidence isn't really backed up by much. They won the Rugby Championship but it was a half-length tournament and Australia got to play both big rivals at home, both of whom were foxing and experimenting for the World Cup. In the games since they've been utterly flogged by New Zealand and performed nothing better than adequately against lesser sides, including Fiji which gave them a far tougher time than they gave England. Add to that the fact that Australia doesn't perform in hostile territory, particularly when their opponent brings a do-or-die attitude, (though in fairness examples of this have mostly been against the All Blacks.) Cheika's either playing his cards close to his chest or he's bluffing and I'm not sure which. I think the Wallabies of the last few years are at their worst when they're confident and at their best when they're under fire, it will be interesting to see if Cheika has changed this.

I'd feel sorry for England if they're the Pool of Death casualty, they were so confident and it's a tough blow to take at your own tournament. It'd be kind of funny too of course. Easy to feel sorry for England when we mostly beat them but remembering how they act when they get that once-in-a-decade win over us makes me feel better about the prospect of them bowing out early.

Still personally I'd rather they go through than Australia, simply because I don't like the prospect of Australia holding the league, union, and cricket world cups at the same time while enjoying at least four years of taunting us about having more Rugby World Cups than us despite rugby being in our blood and rugby over the Tasman being a third, fourth, or fifth choice sport depending on who you talk to.

Predictions for the rest of the pool:
Wales will beat Fiji.
England will beat Australia.
Australia will beat Wales.
England will beat Uruguay.

(Fiji will beat Uruguay but that result will have no bearing on anything.)

Wales need a big win against Fiji in case they finish on 14 points with Australia and it comes down to points differential. England simply needs to beat Australia. If Australia loses to England, they need to beat Wales either with a bonus point or by a margin that prevents Wales from getting one. If England does beat Australia and Wales loses to Australia England can take top spot by flogging Uruguay. So many ways it could go.

Of course if Australia beats England this all becomes academic.
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1927
The oldest chav in the world
+2,423|6643|Cardiff, Capital of Wales
I think AUS will beat ENG, only because they usually do.  I think Wales will beat Fiji but it wont be convincing by any means, which is ideal at this stage.

I also think (as mentioned) im shit at predictions.

Mike Brown is a prick, thats not a prediction btw
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,810|6075|eXtreme to the maX
Aus will beat England
Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй!
Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

I see Australia has lost two players to injury so have finally brought in that third specialist Hooker that was risking them a points deduction. It's either very fortunate or I'm very cynical but the injured were Australia's two weakest performers and Cheika has shown in the past he treats rules more as obstacles, (like confronting referees mid-game, like saying Hooper would be playing a club game so he'd be free to play against the All Blacks in Sydney.)

Hope England rallies. England has had Australia's number in recent years and Australia isn't as strong as they think they are. The key thing for England will be composure and mental strength, I think if they can get this they will beat Australia. If not expect Pocock to run rampant.
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1927
The oldest chav in the world
+2,423|6643|Cardiff, Capital of Wales
If England win then that keeps them in it, for that reason I hope AUS win.  If England were to play again I think they Eng would beat Wales that time aswell (as I wrongly predicted last week).  They'll be stronger in the knock out bit.
Ty
Mass Media Casualty
+2,398|6744|Noizyland

Wales beat Fiji - only by an unconverted try less than Australia did. Dan Biggar may have been injured though. Seriously, something somewhere really hates Wales.

Canada meanwhile is performing pretty well against France, only nine points down early in the second half. Obviously the shit French team turned up. You never know with them. Ireland will be paying attention though.

Edit: France running away with it now. Not a strong performance from them though.
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