Rugby World Cup 2007 - Twiddling Our Thumbs!

[Havak]

Rugby - Who Cares Who Wins?

[finbar]

Couldn't agree more, LdiC. Last night was symptomatic of their whole tournament. de Marigny isn't a #10, he more often plays full back. Ramiro Pez is a much better #10, but even he is erratic in the extreme. OTOH, he's willing to try things that wouldn't occur to de Marigny. The steps that Italy took in the last 6 Nations are now only a distant memory!

Rugby - Who Cares Who Wins?

I'm sorry we've moved on from page 16 of this thread. Every time the thread opened on page 16, this line from Andydog's first post on the page greeted me:

What a ****house English rugby team.

It brightened my day every time.

[Havak]

English Rugby deserves all you are giving it (and more).

But please keep the thread title limited to the rugby team - a more generally anglophobic one wouldn't sit too well with me.

I find myself in the strange position of praying for a Scottish miracle. How low have I now fallen?

[finbar]

Pray for the Haggis Munchers? Lighting all the candles in all the cathedrals in all the world won't help them.

I thought Rugby - Champs to Chumps served every purpose - alliterative, non-race specific, and, sadly, true.

[Havak]

Yes that one is perfectly fine.

I always cling to the hope that NZ can lose when you least expect it. But Scotland is the longest of long shots that is for sure.

[Barnabas]

I heard the weirdest thing on the radio, something about Corleto of the pumas going to a disco a few years ago, and Madonna wanting to meet him, and him saying no to her, because he was with his friends, and people were phoning the radio calling Corleto a homosexual because of that.

[finbar]

Unfair. I thought he showed commendable judgement when he declined to meet the bint.

Watching last night's match was, with the utmost respect to those involved, and to their respective fans, like watching a contest between fairyfloss and marshmellow.

[Andydog]

I was at the game. Scored some free tickets so zipped over with a few mates for a bit of a laugh and a good night out.

I managed to chat with John Kirwan. He was sitting a few rows in front of us. He was saying that he gets treated like royalty over in Japan.

[finbar]

I've often wondered what sort of language difficulties he faces.

That aside - Stasera, Forza Francia!

[finbar]

Had a visitor last night. The deal was that I would only cook if I could have the TV on during dinner. Thus I only saw patches of the first half but most of the second half. Ireland are sunk in a mire of ill-disciplined ineptitude. Their kicking seemed to be mindless throughout. France's, in the first half, seemed not a lot better. France, never under real threat, seemed satisfied to play a strong, professional, disciplined, controlling game. Not a bad thing.

[finbar]

Well, I don't know. I think England have forgotten how to play well. I think they also lack a genuine on-field leader, someone who can kick ar*es when the need arises. The first half looked promising against the Samoans, a sad shadow of their former dynamic, dangerous selves. There was some rhythm and fluidity. M. Tait was proving why he should always have been picked ahead of J. Noon.

I can't imagine J**** having put up with the drivel of most of the second half. Mindless kicking, disorganisation, even drop goals for goodness sake. The couple of late tries resulted in a flattering scoreline.

Tonga are, currently, playing much better rugby than the Samoans, who are waiting for the Tuilagis to win matches for them. I only saw the last 20 minutes of their match against the Boks. Looks like the Boks took them too lightly. I think there was also an accusation of Bok biting.

[kittenOFchaos]

Originally posted by Havak
It's a funny line.

Lewis hasn't hit anyone for over a season now.

That is alot of suppressed rage he must be storing up for some monumental explosion

[finbar]

Argies aren't doing too much wrong.

Wallabies were a mixture of very good and wasteful. O. Barkley should have a look at a tape of the match to study how to play #12.

The All Blacks can do much better. Even if they were never out of second gear, and often in first gear. And so much for alternate strips. As far as avoiding confusion goes, the All Blacks would have been better off in their all black outfit. Watching two teams in grey is ludicrous.

[LDiCesare]

I thought the score of 40-0 was flattering for the Scots. It was more 50-50 in the bad taste jersey contest.
The French played an average game, lacking imagination, but the Irish are really below and perform poorly since the start of the World Cup.
I couldn't see the Tonga, but I have high hopes that they may cause a big surprise.
As for the Fiji, all they really need is a tight five. They can't reasonably play at 10 vs 15, particularly against a team that can counterstrike like Australia. Now, I think the referee was quite bad in this match.

[Joe Kick Ass]