Thread: The Rugby World Cup 2015

I would pick Burgess and Cipriani in the 31. No realistic option at hooker and the props looked pedestrian. Back row dreadful.
Poor leadership. Robshaw should be able to identify issues in the scrum playing at 7 but he failed miserably.
If the skipper fails to read the ref, the penalty count will carry on accumulating.
For all his good qualities, Ford looked exposed against the power of the French scrum.

PS Bruce Bayliss knows fuck all about rugby. McCaw reads and pays referees very well, as a good skipper should. It was a compliment you buffoon.

Originally Posted by chassamui

Bruce Bayliss knows fuck all about rugby. McCaw reads and pays referees very well, as a good skipper should. It was a compliment you buffoon.

You don't even know Richie. He isn't a talker like Sean Fitzpatrick, he is actually very quiet...Steve Hansen said recently he was quite boring. Thank you for allowing me to use my favourite emoticom

Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss

Originally Posted by chassamui

Bruce Bayliss knows fuck all about rugby. McCaw reads and pays referees very well, as a good skipper should. It was a compliment you buffoon.

You don't even know Richie. He isn't a talker like Sean Fitzpatrick, he is actually very quiet...Steve Hansen said recently he was quite boring. Thank you for allowing me to use my favourite emoticom

What the fok has that comment got to do with his ability to 'read' and 'play' by the referees particular syle and standards? He does not need to speak to the referee, just his own forwards. Gawd you are one dumb ball boy.

He oughta go back to his soccer threads.

Anyway nice to see Le Blues touch up England, unfortunately it might prove a bit of a wake up call the England prior to the serious games being played.

Les Bleus........

Australians trying to sound sophisticated.... they just shouldn't....

Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss

You don't even know Richie. He isn't a talker like Sean Fitzpatrick, he is actually very quiet...Steve Hansen said recently he was quite boring. Thank you for allowing me to use my favourite emoticom

Hansen's comment was nothing to do with McCaw being quiet / not vocal, it was a tongue-in-cheek reference to how - despite all his achievements and accolades - he is just a normal chap.

Watch any match and McCaw is always talking to the ref. In the loss to Australia he even threatened to take matters into his own hands if off the ball holding wasn't sorted.

Are you saying Ant, that Bruce is talking bollocks?

Originally Posted by Bobcock

Are you saying Ant, that Bruce is talking bollocks?

In a nutshell [help, I'm in a nutshell!]...




... Yes.

Rugby World Cup: Power rankings

Tried to cut 'n paste this but the team headings/records are images and I can't be arsed with the editing:

Rugby World Cup: Power rankings - Sport - NZ Herald News

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Watch any match and McCaw is always talking to the ref.

He is nothing like Sean Fitzpatrick or George Gregan...he is just a very gutsy and talented player who works at full pace for 80 minutes

Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss

He is nothing like Sean Fitzpatrick or George Gregan

Nobody is like Fitzpatrick or Gregan (with the notable exceptions of Fitzpatrick and Gregan).

That doesn't mean that McCaw is very quiet though.

Ant.... in Bruce's mind he is always right, if he feels threatened he will tell you irrelevant facts thinking that he is enlightening you... watch out for that one.

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Rugby World Cup: Power rankings Tried to cut 'n paste this but the team headings/records are images and I can't be arsed with the editing: Rugby World Cup: Power rankings - Sport - NZ Herald News

Interesting article. No way would I put the Australians up there. I still take the view that the SH sides will be at a higher standard because they arrive on the back of recent test level experience at a highly competitive level.

The NH warm up games are not at the same standard and are more like Possible v Probables. England had a good last ten minutes against a France side who were tiring. The players that were driving that part of the game are not all certain to be in the RWC squad.
I'm sure Lancaster would like to pick his RWC starting XV against Ireland for the final warm up game. I don't think he knows what that XV is.

The second tier sides always add an interesting element to the RWC and I hope for one or two surprises from them.

Originally Posted by chassamui

No way would I put the Australians up there.

They have improved a lot this year, but will they beat Wales and/or England? I'm not too sure...

Originally Posted by chassamui

I still take the view that the SH sides will be at a higher standard because they arrive on the back of recent test level experience at a highly competitive level.

Yes, but we just played a brutal game against France and have an Ireland match in 2 weeks - so that's two of the toughest packs around, both with good backs. That's decent preparation (even if we lose both...).

I doubt the CKBs are looking forward to playing France in the quarters (Ireland are gonna have to be at their very best to beat France); have you seen the bloody forward reserves France bring on - some big bad fellas there!

They'll beat Wales, they always do.....

Wales best chance is to beat England of which they are more than capable and rely on points difference, because I don't believe England will lose to Australia....

by the way, I don't particularly subscribe to the France are a real threat.... not yet.... they have been diabolical for the last two years.....

Christ even we have won on our last two trips to Paris....

Originally Posted by Bobcock

by the way, I don't particularly subscribe to the France are a real threat.... not yet.... they have been diabolical for the last two years..... Christ even we have won on our last two trips to Paris....

A shambolic England managed to make them look good and also pointed to a few weaknesses.
If France think they are any good they are dreaming.

That said, they could still turn over the AB's in the Quarters.... that's kind of a tradition....

(yeah yeah, I know they've only they have only actually done that once)

The French have a pack that's on par with any other team. If they turn up then I reckon they have a real chance. If...

I also reckon that Wales will beat the Convicts.

Originally Posted by Bobcock

That said, they could still turn over the AB's in the Quarters.... that's kind of a tradition....

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

The French have a pack that's on par with any other team. If they turn up then I reckon they have a real chance. If...

and they ALWAYS turn up against the All Blacks

Originally Posted by chassamui

Originally Posted by Bobcock

by the way, I don't particularly subscribe to the France are a real threat.... not yet.... they have been diabolical for the last two years..... Christ even we have won on our last two trips to Paris....

A shambolic England managed to make them look good and also pointed to a few weaknesses.
If France think they are any good they are dreaming.

The thing with France (all the usual cliches being taken as read) they seem to be the one team that can be in an absolute shambles yet still threaten.

In 2011 they were a complete dysfunctional mess. Apparently the coach and players weren't even talking, they managed to lose to Tonga in pool play, and yet somehow beat England and Wales on the way to the final where they lose by one point.

With less a month to go until the Rugby World Cup the Labour party has accused the government of “failing fans” by refusing to ban ticket resale and unveiled research showing prices on the secondary market have soared to more than 40 times face value.
Pointing to prices of more than £11,800 for a pair of tickets to England v Wales and £20,252 for a pair for the final, Chris Bryant, the shadow culture secretary, said that fans were being “ripped off left, right and centre”.
Bryant’s office has examined the range of prices for every seating band in every game in the group containing England and Wales and discovered that England fans are facing mark-ups of between two and 8.5 times face value in every one on popular secondary ticketing sites.

All Black Keven Mealamu announces he will retire after Rugby World Cup



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England Rugby 2015 lobbied with no success for legislation to outlaw resale except through official channels, as was the case for the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games.
The new Consumer Rights Act contains a clause that forced secondary sites to display detailed ticket information and allowed governing bodies to cancel tickets if they felt they were being sold in breach of terms and conditions.
But Bryant said the limited provisions in the Act, used by the England and Wales Cricket Board to monitor ticket sales during the Ashes, were insufficient to discourage tickets being resold on an industrial scale because the maximum penalty is only £5,000.
“The government promised to protect the tournament from unfair ticket touting but with less than a month until the World Cup, it is clear that fans are being ripped off left right and centre and ministers are doing nothing about it,” said Bryant. “Rugby is crying out for extra investment in pitches, coaches and kit but it is a scandal that the government is allowing fans to be charged 40 times the face value of a ticket with nothing going to the grassroots game, the players or the stadia. That money just goes into the pockets of parasitical rip-off merchants who add no value whatsoever.”
When the legislation was passed after rebels in the Lords forced a climbdown, a statement said: “This government believes strongly in our sporting and cultural sectors. The provisions agreed today will allow them to flourish, whilst ensuring consumers are better informed when buying second-hand tickets.”
But Bryant wants to see the resale of sporting tickets for major events outlawed, as in Australia. The so-called secondary marketplace has exploded in recent years. Sites such as Viagogo and Seatwave, who both comply with the law, argue that they provide a valuable service allowing fans to exchange tickets for the market value in a safe environment.
A spokesman for Viagogo said that the Rugby World Cup was the most popular event it had ever seen on the platform and defended its business model.
“It is perfectly legal to resell a rugby ticket if you want to. We believe once you’ve bought something, whether that’s a house, a car, or a ticket, it’s up to you what you do with it and you should be allowed to resell it at whatever the market value is,” he said.
“Since the days of the gladiators, people have been reselling tickets to sporting events. The difference is that since Viagogo introduced our safe and secure marketplace, nobody need now take risks buying from classified ads, auction sites, or even worse from a shady character outside the venue.”
Rugby World Cup organisers long ago gave up on convincing the government to bring in legislation and instead have focused on warning ticket holders they may be refused entry if they buy tickets on the secondary market.
“Our message to rugby fans is clear – buy official to protect from possible ticket fraud or inflated prices. We have thousands of great tickets for the Rugby World Cup on sale now on the official website,” said a spokeswoman for the event, which begins on 18 September18 when England face Fiji at Twickenham. “We also offer a safe and secure resale service for rugby fans to sell tickets they can no longer use to other rugby fans at face value. Over 35,000 tickets have already been sold in this way.”
Organisers have promised that every game will be a sell out. Last week, Rugby World Cup managing director Stephen Brown said that with a month left 90% of the 2.4m tickets available had been sold.


Rugby World Cup fans face huge ticket rip-off, says Labour?s Chris Bryant | Sport | The Guardian

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

The thing with France (all the usual cliches being taken as read) they seem to be the one team that can be in an absolute shambles yet still threaten.

To quote Margaret Thatcher...it is called "Frenchness"...weird feckers...and then they have the Germans next door...and the English complain about the Scots being strange

It's the same wherever you go, look at what the Australians were allowed to do on the last Lions tour, that was a fucking disgrace and against all sense of fair play.