Rugby World Cup: And the Winner is...

[finbar]

I also suspect that the tight-fitting jerseys are part of the reason for the increased number of scrum collapses. It's hard to bind when there's nothing to grip. Again, watching the old World Cup matches on Sky Italy, when sensible jerseys were worn, there were very few collapses.

[Havak]

I'm sure you have a point but in fairness scrums are engaging with far more force than they did in that era too. The Physics of lines of force must be collapsing a lot of them too?

[LDiCesare]

I also prefer loose shirts made of heavyweight cotton and with real collars for example (...) that makes me a 'dinosaur' of sorts.

I didn't get it. You look like a dinosaur when you wear the old jerseys?

[Havak]

Absolutely.

Just like the ones that look like beer barrels on four legs.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak
I'm sure you have a point but in fairness scrums are engaging with far more force than they did in that era too. The Physics of lines of force must be collapsing a lot of them too?

Absolutely. I think it's a combination of factors. But you can see props struggling to bind onto anything.

A. Farrell out. Presumably it's O. Barkley or M. Catt to replace him. Not sure which is the lesser of two evils. I can't imagine them risking T. Flood. But, then again, they're desperate. And he can't do much worse than the other two.

[Havak]

They do have the option of playing Hipkiss at 12. He is a more natural OC and his kicking game isn't great but he has strengths of his own.

I suspect it will be Barkley with Catt/Flood onto the bench though.

[finbar]

Goodoh. Barkley's major expertise is getting in everyone's way and clogging up the backline.

[Havak]

Yep.

That's Ashton - when the going gets tough he gets conservative and picks what has been tried (and failed) before.

Our tight five really are going to have to duff yours up for us to have any chance.

[Havak]

I see we also have the traditional pre match Wallaby psychology with Knuckles and McMeniman accusing the English of being 'dirty'.

We are many things right now - inept and incompetent for starters - but we aren't a particularly dirty side and this latest nonsense from the Wallaby camp is quite unecessary.

Maybe it was meant to be amusing?

[finbar]

Pathetic stuff, I thought. Only demeaning themselves.

[Caligastia]

In the same vein, SA are beating their chests about "not respecting" Fiji...which makes me dream of a Fijian victory. Won't happen of course.

[Havak]

It's just somewhat disatasteful when teams do this kind of thing. Finbar is quite correct. If he will allow me to expand the point to be more general I would say that it brings all those that do it no credit at all. And I fully accept that Sir Clive used to bring it out ocassionally.

In particular the Wallaby favourite of "we've talked to the ref to make sure X player is kept honest about Y behaviour" really annoys me. Eddie was fond of it - and Knuckles has picked up the batton.

The Wallabies have the better side playing the better rugby. Everything is in their favour so why are mind games like this even necessary?

I'm no fan of Mark Regan as a player but he isn't 'dirty' - to the best of my memory he has never been accused of eye scratching or gouging. I can remember him tackling Justin Marshall off the ball a few years back (that wasn't even carded or cited) but nothing else comes to mind.

Here is the clincher though - the referee I believe is the french speaking Irishman Alain Rolland. He has many faults but he will, unlike Andre Watson, allow real scrummaging. I suspect this latest Aussie barrage is a blatantly obvious attempt to derail that?

[finbar]

Why would they need to bother if M. Dunning is, as Knuckles claims, world class?

The Fijians were always going to be pushing the proverbial uphill against the Boks. The Boks have the strength, discipline and defence that the Taffys conspicuously lack. But whatever chance the Fijians might have had went out the window, methinks, with the injury to their #10. Not only has he one of the finest swinging forearms in world rugby, he could, in all likelihood, pot goals from the stadium car park.

[Havak]

He also had spells for Sale and Bristol IIRC - where both kicking and the swinging arm were often in evidence.

Your question was rhetorical of course.

[LDiCesare]

It's sad indeed that Nicky Little got hurt, but I don't think it changes much. The Fijians are unable to get the ball in the set pieces. They will be murdered in scrums, dominated in lineouts, and won't have a single ball to play. Sure they are great attackers ball in hand, but so is Habana, and he will have balls to play.