Rugby World Cup

walkingbootweather

Not long to go now. Getting excited yet? Was down my local on Friday and they are selling tickets at £5 for each England match, but you get a free drink of your choice and an 'all you can eat breakfast' :shock: - Sounds tempting. Where will you watch from?

Do any of the northern hemisphere sides stand a chance?

Is it too late to draft Harry Aikines-Aryeetey into the squad? As the last leg runner of our 4X100m squad, he is quick, built like the proverbial brick ouhouse, and judging by the way he took out that yank, can tackle too :?

Wrath Rob

Getting excited now. Missed the last warm-up game so watched it on Sky+ this morning. BRING IT ON!

I'll mainly be watching from home, though may get together with some local mates for breakfast and rugby.

cjcp

Getting very excited.

Watching the Wales/SA match with an SA mate at his house, complete with a brai and Windhoek. Went to the SA/Wales match last November with him, so hoping/praying for a better result this time.

With Fiji, Namibia and Samoa in the group, there could be a lot of battered bodies all round at the end of the Pool D fixtures.

If (and it's a stonking great "if") we reach the QFs, looks like we'll face the Aussies, like in '99. If we beat them, then it's likely to be England or France.

cjcp

walkingbootweather wrote:

Do any of the northern hemisphere sides stand a chance?

I think England have a good shot of making the final. If they get their act together, they're capable of beating the Aussies in the SFs.

iPete

*digs out All Blacks jersey * come on!! :!:

Better take out France this time around, arg!

cjcp

iPete wrote:

*digs out All Blacks jersey * come on!! :!:

Better take out France this time around, arg!

Chokers.

sketchley

I'll be watching England vs Georgia and England vs Romania in NZ, the rest will be on Tele.

jamesco

Can't wait, got the usual mix of anticipation and nervousness a few weeks ago Hope that this is the tournament that produces a final of running rugby and a magnificent kiwi victory! We'll setup the big-screen telly in the office, but only the opening game will be of real interest as our sides (NZ, England, Ireland & France) all got allocated the 'good' dates & times to play, so they won't be played in UK working hours.

walkingbootweather

Lewis Moody out of England opener. With his recent injuries I think he will struggle to make an impact at this tournament.

t4tomo

walkingbootweather wrote:

Is it too late to draft Harry Aikines-Aryeetey into the squad? As the last leg runner of our 4X100m squad, he is quick, built like the proverbial brick ouhouse, and judging by the way he took out that yank, can tackle too :?

The yank went down a bit easy IMHO, wannbe football (soccer) player lookig at that.

HA-A is massive unit though, I'll give you that.

greg66_tri_v2.0

cjcp wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

Do any of the northern hemisphere sides stand a chance?

I think England have a good shot of making the final. If they get their act together, they're capable of beating the Aussies in the SFs.

Am secretly hoping that, but fear it won't happen. Surely the Aussies won't let us get one over on them *again* in the WC. And according to Jones, Barnes et al in the Sunday Times, us kicking out France in the QFs in a foregone conclusion. Don't see that at all.

Must admit, I think the Aussies might spring a surprise and win the whole thing. Nobbling the ABs in NZ is something I could see appealing to their psyche.

Interesting factoids: only two teams have made the final three times. Aus and England. There's only been one "repeat" fixture in the final: Aus v England. Three of the four tightest finals (for my money) have involved England. And of the five teams that have made the final, all have made it at least once, though France are the odd men out, having got there twice and never won.

So, if SA or Aus win it for the third time, do they get to keep the trophy, I wonder?

asprilla

Greg66 wrote:

And of the five teams that have made the final, all have made it at least once

So the five teams who have made it to the final have each made it to the final at least once?

I presume you mean won it at least once?

greg66_tri_v2.0

Asprilla wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

And of the five teams that have made the final, all have made it at least once

So the five teams who have made it to the final have each made it to the final at least once?

I presume you mean won it at least once?

No, I mean there is no team that has made it to the final only once:

1987: NZ beat Fra
1991: Aus beat Eng
1995: SA beat NZ
1999: Aus beat Fra
2003: Eng beat Aus
2007: SA beat Eng

France have got to the final twice and never won it.

walkingbootweather

Greg66 wrote:

And of the five teams that have made the final, all have made it at least twice

FTFY

greg66_tri_v2.0

walkingbootweather wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

And of the five teams that have made the final, all have made it at least twice

FTFY

Ah yes. That would be right. :oops:

Kieran_Burns

Two friends of mine are going over (in fact I think they are there or on a flight now) for 3 weeks. They've rented a mobile home which they're going to use to camp around NZ in

They've got the tickets sorted, and hopefully I'll be getting regular emails letting me know how things are going

walkingbootweather

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Two friends of mine are going over (in fact I think they are there or on a flight now) for 3 weeks.

What - not going to watch England's victory in the final then? On second thoughts, returning home early they might be on the same plane as most of the Home nation sides

joelsim

Greg66 wrote:

France have got to the final twice and never won it.

Shame 8)

To be honest I can't see past the Kiwis.

asprilla

Joelsim wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

France have got to the final twice and never won it.

Shame 8)

To be honest I can't see past the Kiwis.

That's because they are all really big.

walkingbootweather

To be honest I can't see past the Kiwis either.

TommyEss

I'm just looking forward to watching an international sporting event at a reasonable time of day...

fidbod

Joelsim wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

France have got to the final twice and never won it.

Shame 8)

To be honest I can't see past the Kiwis.

I think the All Blacks have been "found out" to some degree. The biggest mistake is to play them at their own game - see how SA beat them in the tri-nations, ten man rugby for eighty minutes. Presume that the ABs will score three tries so you know that every time you get inside the 22 you need to leave with a drop goal, penalty or try.

Of course -running big forwards through Dan Carter and giving McCaw a right royal shoeing in the first ruck is going to be a big help as well.

benno68

cjcp wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

Do any of the northern hemisphere sides stand a chance?

I think England have a good shot of making the final. If they get their act together, they're capable of beating the Aussies in the SFs.

Cough cough, and I thought you were a Welshman

MonkeyMonster

cjcp wrote:

iPete wrote:

*digs out All Blacks jersey * come on!! :!:

Better take out France this time around, arg!

Chokers.

This - where is Alex when you want to wind him up

cjcp

Benno68 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

Do any of the northern hemisphere sides stand a chance?

I think England have a good shot of making the final. If they get their act together, they're capable of beating the Aussies in the SFs.

Cough cough, and I thought you were a Welshman

I know. I reckon we could beat the Boks, though.

cjcp

Greg66 wrote:

cjcp wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

Do any of the northern hemisphere sides stand a chance?

I think England have a good shot of making the final. If they get their act together, they're capable of beating the Aussies in the SFs.

Am secretly hoping that, but fear it won't happen. Surely the Aussies won't let us get one over on them *again* in the WC. And according to Jones, Barnes et al in the Sunday Times, us kicking out France in the QFs in a foregone conclusion. Don't see that at all.

Must admit, I think the Aussies might spring a surprise and win the whole thing. Nobbling the ABs in NZ is something I could see appealing to their psyche.

Interesting factoids: only two teams have made the final three times. Aus and England. There's only been one "repeat" fixture in the final: Aus v England. Three of the four tightest finals (for my money) have involved England. And of the five teams that have made the final, all have made it at least once, though France are the odd men out, having got there twice and never won.

So, if SA or Aus win it for the third time, do they get to keep the trophy, I wonder?

England are quite good at this RWC lark, though. If Wilkinson can keep kicking for territory, and keep the points ticking over (something he's pretty handy at), England are definitely in with a shout.

Sounds simple, really.

OT, I remember watching the Wales/Eng QF match in 2003. i was in India, so had to listen to Aussie commentary on some Star Sports or something. When Colin Charvis got the ball just before the half-time whistle on Wales's try-line and started to leg it upfield, the commentators went nuts in a sort of Harry-Carpenter-and-Frank-Bruno-against-Mike-Tyson kind of way.

walkingbootweather

cjcp wrote:

If Wilkinson can keep kicking for territory, and keep the points ticking over (something he's pretty handy at).

You reckon Wilkinson should be fly-half then?

I'm torn on who England's best No 10 is - Jonny / Toby / Wayne?

cjcp

Yep, Jonny boy. He's more solid. Alternatively, he could play 12, like Catt did, to support Flood, but not convinced.

pst88

England are so boring to watch. The only points they get are from penalties and drop goals. Yes, they may win but not exactly riveting entertainment.

London_Falcon

walkingbootweather

Grand first post Mr Falcon. Welcome