Rugby World Cup 2007 - Twiddling Our Thumbs!

[finbar]

B. Ashton had said he'd put his best team out against the French. Now he's saying he's still not sure, and the best team will start in the first Cup round. At best, it could be said that he's trying different combinations, which only means that the combinations that start in the first Cup round will have had, at most, one outing together. It's ludicrous.

Seems to me that his only real decisions are in the centres and back row. I suspect this (as selected) back row is probably it, and I would put a couple of Civ gold on M. Catt starting at #12 in the first round, with, probably, J. Noon outside him. One ball player, one bash artist.

Looking forward to seeing T. Rees. Know little about him.

[Havak]

Big, quick, strong and a real ferret on the ground. I rate him highly despite his insect status.

I have a feeling you are right. I like Cozza but blindside flanker is not where I would put him. Ashton though seems to like having Martin as an option in the line out, and has chosen to play two specialist locks, so blindside is where Martin goes (no place for Moody therefore).

Here is what really annoyed me:

"It's a big game for Dan Hipkiss, and Mike Catt had a reasonable game last week so it's a big game for Andy Farrell as well."

Hipkiss did nothing wrong against Wales on scraps and now he has to fight his way past the one dimensional Noon? I don't doubt you are right that Noon will play on 8th Sept. If he does then Ashton officially becomes "Turnip 2" to me.

*edit*

Oh yes - the "angry dressing room" line was a favourite of Andy Robinson after his myriad failures. The similarities grow apace!

[finbar]

What I find odd is that B. Ashton was a backline coach but seems incapable of calculating what it takes to unleash a backline. It's patently obvious to everyone that A. Farrell, while he has a good brain and nice hands, is simply too slow. He's trapped before he can unwind anything. And, for the likes of J. Noon, linking up isn't a natural inclination.

Maybe he was just a bad backline coach.

Or, maybe, there are other fingers in the selection pie.

[Havak]

They always deny that. My own suspicion is that there must be massive pressure to play Farrell because of what he costs the RFU.

And if they can apply pressure about one player they can apply pressure about any player.

The sad fact is that this RWC squad for the backs is probably within 2-3 players of what Turnip would have picked. And that suggests either panic or that he is indeed as flawed a backs coach as you pose the question to.

[finbar]

Poor old BOD. Nasty grenouilles. Probably an ambush.

[Havak]

The conspiracy theorist would have to believe that Bayonne's attempt to kick the **** out of Ireland may have been ordered by Mr Laporte.

The truth is of course that French club sides quite often follow this straight forward game plan.

[Andydog]

Presumably Mr Laporte's backup plan was to have another of the kiwi imports viciously spear tackle BOD, should he be still be playing in the final 10 minutes.

[Havak]

I suspect you have been reading the same Irish fans posts on the BBC site as I have.

[finbar]

I'm spewing. I think. I'm not absolutely sure yet. At this point in time, I can't find any mention of Sky Italy coverage of England -v- France. There's Taffys -v- Argies, a couple of Kiwi NPC matches, but nothing at the time England takes on France. One of the local FTAs is covering Italy -v- Japan - they showed the 6 Nations here - and obviously have the rights to the domestic Italian Tests.

[Havak]

That is no loss really Finbar.

Now I think Tigers new coach is going to record a big win this weekend - I reckon the Argies will down Wales myself.

[LDiCesare]

Finbar, it's in Marseilles, that shouldn't be too far away.
To get a free ticket, pick up a lonely guy and tell a Marseillais he's parisian and you know him to be a supporter of the PSG (preferably buy an horrible 'OM' shirt or scarf before). You should be able to pick up the ticket after they've finished beating him up.

[finbar]

But it doesn't help me!

It must be because the match is being played in France. Sky Italy covers all the Tests in Britain.

I reckon the Argies could roll the Taffys, too.

[LDiCesare]

The Argentinians will probably roll over the Welsh pack without seeing them. The backs are another matter, but Argentina should stroll through that match.

[finbar]

Taffy pack coped a bit better than I thought it would, even if the ref bailed them out a few times. Taffys were better than against England, but if the Argies had turned up in the first half it might have been a different story.

[finbar]

Pity there was no England -v- France telecast. I think I would have enjoyed it. Apart from what reads like wasted French scoring opportunities. Not sure where B. Ashton goes from here. Retirement is looking like a good option.

Italy had more trouble with Japan than they should have. The most interesting part of the match was Japan's first try. They mauled the ball over the line. Quite an achievement against the big Italian pack.