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Rugby thread (6 Nations, Heineken Cup etc)

Rex Grossman

By Rex Grossman,
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Tourist

Tourist

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Posted

Smashing to see Mike brown dropped. Much as it would be better to have him on the pitch so his ridiculous douchebaggery would benefit England's opponents its glorious to see him dropped specifically for being such a prick.

 

Also just picked up some tickets for England USA in Kobe. Had been hoping there would still be some available for Ireland Japan but obviously not so gonna take a trip out to Kobe via the yamanashi wine cave while my folks are over. 

 

EXCITING.

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phresh

phresh

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Was at the game yesterday - excellent atmosphere and a really good game (it obviously helps when you win!). Wales just looked a bit under-cooked really, i'd be very surprised if the result is in anyway similar next weekend, depending on who plays anyway.

 

England's squad looks really interesting. Lot's of quality and flexibility in the pack but an all too obvious reliance on Billy Vunipola. Hoping Curry's injury is only minor as he has had a big impact since getting into the team and looked really sharp before going off against Wales. Some decent flexibility at wing/full back but 2 scrum halves and 2 fly halves (although I assume Slade can cover if required) is maybe a touch risky.

 

On their day i'd fancy England to outscore anyone but the defence is still too soft out wide at times and the discipline lacking. It will be interesting to see how well the Saracens players do when under pressure - they were immense at the end of the season, by all accounts the best team in Europe, but Farrell, Itoje and others have been key culprits when England came under pressure in the 6N and weren't able to respond. 

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g wings

g wings

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I’ve only seen the highlights but I thought England looked great. The bullied well, were aggressive and sharp. They’ve got some serious young talent that look ready for the highest class international games.

 

Wales will be disappointed, they wouldn’t normally expect to concede close to the line and at the fringes like they did. I also think their basics (kick offs, line-outs etc) have never been up to the level required. 

 

Next week could be very interesting.

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Matt Defis

Matt Defis

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Yeah they did, Saturday Wales moved ahead with 91.09 points and New Zealand moved to second with 89.04 then Wales slipped back down to second after they lost to England on Sunday, Wales could still move back to Number one if they win on Saturday against England.

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merman

merman

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On 14 August 2019 at 17:08, Matt Defis said:

Yeah they did, Saturday Wales moved ahead with 91.09 points and New Zealand moved to second with 89.04 then Wales slipped back down to second after they lost to England on Sunday, Wales could still move back to Number one if they win on Saturday against England.

 

Seeing as the official rankings weren't updated and released in the time between the New Zealand game and the first England-Wales game, then Wales did not OFFICIALLY go to number 1 in the rankings.

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layten

layten

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23 hours ago, merman said:

 

Seeing as the official rankings weren't updated and released in the time between the New Zealand game and the first England-Wales game, then Wales did not OFFICIALLY go to number 1 in the rankings.

This isn't going to end well.

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merman

merman

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On 17 August 2019 at 17:56, Matt Defis said:

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/wales-officially-become-number-one-16771317

 

Yes really.

 

That game went pretty much exactly how I thought it'd go.

 

 

 

Including Wales taking a quick penalty while England had a player injured and another leaving the field?

 

That was a bullshit yellow card and bullshit from the ref to let Wales play on.

 

 

Oh, and it's not sour grapes. If the roles were reversed, the Welsh would be chuntering on for years about "England cheating to win".

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Tourist

Tourist

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I think the margins between the top sides are so fine now that there will be a lot of ref-related sour grapes during the world cup. I also think Wales look like they are in the best position of all the northern hemisphere sides going into the world cup: England always seem capable of imploding and always seem to have it in them to revert to a big-man game that other sides find it easy to deal with; Ireland seem completely off the boil to me and their reliance on structured play seems a little out of step with the top sides; Scotland and France haven't shown much to suggest they'll suddenly turn into world-beaters in Japan.

 

But you only have to look at the results over the past couple of weekends to see that anything could happen in Japan.

 

So Fiji to win it, obviously.

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phresh

phresh

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The Watson card looked a bit harsh to me initially but I think it was fair in the end. He has to go in arms out to try and wrap the player up to stop the offload but in the replay he clearly holds it out a slightly awkward angle to try and block the ball. If it looks normal then it's just a scrum - you can't have it both ways where players have to tackle with their arms but then tell them not to tackle with their arms in case there is a knock on. Either way, Watson has looked good the last couple of games, still got great acceleration and good in the air.

 

From an England perspective I think you have to look at the inability to convert a number of excellent line breaks into points as the biggest negative, along with the failed mauls and a few turnovers too many. The starting lineup was still a good few players short of a starting 15 too (versus Wales starting line up) so i'm sure the team will take some comfort from that.

 

For Wales their defence was outstanding (as it was in the 6N) and a lot of good teams will struggle to score against them. Great turnover work and really good at tying up the maul. The worry would be that they look slightly blunt in attack (were there any line breaks?) and the scrum looked a bit flaky.

 

I agree with Tourist that Wales are the most consistent team and look most capable of winning the WC from the northern hemisphere, with one big caveat - I din't think they can beat NZ. I think England are capable of it, and Ireland have done it, but those line breaks by England would be a >20 point win for NZ. Who knows though!

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merman

merman

Posted
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On 18 August 2019 at 23:12, Matt Defis said:

The yellow card was fair, Wales had a 2 man overlap, the only reason the try didn't come was because of Watsons knock on, that's why he got the yellow. 

 

Still number 1 in the world though. 

 

Watson's arm was raised because the laws say he has to have his arms wrapped around the opponent in a tackle. What is he meant to do with his arms?

 

The yellow card is meant for a clear and deliberate attempt to stop play progressing by slapping or knocking the ball downwards. And it doesn't matter how many people are overlapping.

 

There was an earlier penalty against England inside the 22 where the same thing happened, so why the different interpretation?

And why was there no penalty or yellow card against the Welsh player who jumped into an English player, or the Welsh player interfering on the ground inside the 22?

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phresh

phresh

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I think the replays make it look pretty clear that the arm is at a ‘look like I’m tackling but also blocking the ball’ angle. I’d completely forgotten about Biggar’s flying clothesline though, fuck knows how that was missed.

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