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Official Rugby Thread

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
Haha, well well. Even "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" starting up with a minute to go. I don't think England played out of their skins either, strange performance from Australia it must be said. Shocking miss from Giteau too, not the first time hes missed a kick that would've effectively won Australia the game (Australia's loss to Scotland last year comes to mind).
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Haha, well well. Even "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" starting up with a minute to go. I don't think England played out of their skins either, strange performance from Australia it must be said. Shocking miss from Giteau too, not the first time hes missed a kick that would've effectively won Australia the game (Australia's loss to Scotland last year comes to mind).
Was my first thought too. Mind you if we hadn't got over the line I'd have been less sanguine about Jonny's shank as well.

Only our 3rd ever win in Oz, ftr. :cool:
 

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
O connor actually looks good for Australia now. He used to be attrocious last year. Good for him.
From what I've seen hes still a bit inconsistent for my liking which is why I've tended to prefer Ashley-Cooper to him, though hes got immense talent for a young player - adding goal kicking to his repertoire certainly hasn't hurt him either.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Anyone that has seen Giteau kick for the last 18 months would've put money on it

Only being selected on reputation and should never be allowed near a kick at goal again for the Wallabies
Meant more who'd have thought we might win rather than Giteau would miss, but agree re his kicking. Crumbles under pressure.

Scored a couple of decent tries in fairness to him.
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
England win. Maybe they could cause an upset or two at the world cup. Could be a good tournament next year.

Wish some of the lesser teams at the world cup would join forces to make stronger teams. Like US and Canada - and some of the pacific island teams Fiji and Tonga etc I heard that the island nations did once join forces for a tour of New Zealand but they had mixed results. This was some years ago.

I guess it makes for a more rich tournament to have individual countries competing however. Hope that Argentina does well again. Can't wait for it.

Go Canada.

Pool A
New Zealand
France
Tonga
Canada
Japan

Pool B
Argentina
England
Scotland
Georgia
Play Off winner

Pool C
Australia
Ireland
Italy
Russia
USA

Pool D
South Africa
Wales
Fiji
Samoa
Namibia
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Pool B looks the stiffest with three former semi-finalists in it, although Samoa or Fiji could (again) make life difficult for the leekists.
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
Anyone that has seen Giteau kick for the last 18 months would've put money on it

Only being selected on reputation and should never be allowed near a kick at goal again for the Wallabies
He had the leading kicking average in the super 14 this year. 86% or something Carter was only around 75% - he must be stinking for the Wallabies only.
 

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
Anyone that has seen Giteau kick for the last 18 months would've put money on it

Only being selected on reputation and should never be allowed near a kick at goal again for the Wallabies
Thats a bit harsh IMO - he kicked 6/6 against Fiji and before the last two misses tonight (the first from relatively wide out on the left hand touchline) hadn't exactly kicked poorly. That stat in the Super 14 is fairly interesting too. I do see your point though (e.g. the poor display against Scotland last year) but do feel your final comment is a bit unfair.
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
Pool B looks the stiffest with three former semi-finalists in it, although Samoa or Fiji could (again) make life difficult for the leekists.
Samoa and Fiji blow hot and cold. So if they are on form which one of them will undoubtedly be it could be an exciting group. I am sure that Gatland will take the games seriously though. His job will be on the line.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Think sometimes the raw success stats are a little misleading as to a kicker's mettle. Chris Paterson's rate is amazing, but he generally only takes the gimmes for Scotland. Anything slightly tricky he passes on to Parks.

Now Giteau's was a gimme, but something went wrong. Clearly not his technique so looks a bit like it's a mental flaw.
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
Thats a bit harsh IMO - he kicked 6/6 against Fiji and before the last two misses tonight (the first from relatively wide out on the left hand touchline) hadn't exactly kicked poorly. That stat in the Super 14 is fairly interesting too. I do see your point though (e.g. the poor display against Scotland last year) but do feel your final comment is a bit unfair.
Yeah I feel they should persist with Giteau for a few more games. He has been a good servant of Aussie rugby. If they do take away his goal kicking duties then it is questionable if he should be picked ahead of Barnes at second five. At least Aussie is spoiled for choice at the moment.

I am not really sure how they lost this game. Just a few moments of individual brilliance from the English. Which is funny because you don't associate game breaking plays with the English. Wilkinson's kick from 40 odd metres proved to be vital as well.

Both sides were even up front. The Aussies were efficient - and the English just quietly did their jobs.
 

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
1(1) NEW ZEALAND 91.68
2(2) SOUTH AFRICA 89.46
3(3) AUSTRALIA 85.71
4(4) FRANCE 84.91
5(5) IRELAND 82.61
6(7) ENGLAND 79.95
7(6) ARGENTINA 78.89
8(8) WALES 78.58
9(9) SCOTLAND 78.47
10(10) FIJI 76.07
11(11) ITALY 72.97
12(12) SAMOA 72.39
13(13) JAPAN 70.42
14(14) CANADA 69.43
15(16) GEORGIA 68.09
16(17) USA 67.86
17(15) TONGA 67.81
18(18) ROMANIA 65.10
19(19) RUSSIA 64.64
20(20) URUGUAY 62.37
Seems a bit lame that NZ are number 1 - should be SA given they won the tri nations. Looking at this - it really is an upset that England won today. Well done England.

I must say that Robbie Deans has a poor record as coach. I am glad we didn't pick him for the All Blacks. I have a grudge against him anyways - he was involved with the decision to play Leon Mcdonald at centre in the semifinal in the 2003 world cup.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Think Easter & Croft having better games was crucial. We got decent yardage out of Easter's (& Lawes's) carries and Croft was a beast in the line-out and the break downs.

But Youngs made a massive difference. We might finally have found Dawson's long term successor. Has the most complete game out of the many candidates we've tried.

Should also be noted that both our successful pens in the second half came from pressure at scrums too. Was a closer contest in the tight this week, but we still won it fairly comfortably.
 

Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
Seems a bit lame that NZ are number 1 - should be SA given they won the tri nations. Looking at this - it really is an upset that England won today. Well done England.

I must say that Robbie Deans has a poor record as coach. I am glad we didn't pick him for the All Blacks. I have a grudge against him anyways - he was involved with the decision to play Leon Mcdonald at centre in the semifinal in the 2003 world cup.
I tend to agree that South Africa wouldn't be undeserving of a spot at the top of the rankings though I think they fell down by having a poor end of year tour last year, losing to France and Ireland (and two midweek matches) - from memory they were in first place before that tour. In saying that, it does feel a bit strange to be ahead of a side which defeated us three times in the 2009 Tri Nations, and in which has a franchise which has won the previous two Super 14 titles.

As for Deans, he can only select the players he can work with. He was brilliant for the Crusaders and when Australia settles on a cohesive backline and gets back a front row which can scrummage, they'll most likely be a handful. His record isn't great, admittedly, though would Australia really have performed better under another coach? Keep in mind they did manage to beat England and Wales away from home last year, draw with a strong Irish side, and would've beaten Scotland if Giteau hadn't had a kicking nightmare - they also beat South Africa in 2009, something we couldn't manage.
 
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Somerset

Cricketer Of The Year
Samoa and Fiji blow hot and cold. So if they are on form which one of them will undoubtedly be it could be an exciting group. I am sure that Gatland will take the games seriously though. His job will be on the line.
Half the issue with the Samoas, Fijis, etc. is actually putting a full-strength team on the park. Its a bit difficult to read too much into their pre-World Cup matches with their top players tied up in Europe. Almost a surprise to actually see Caucau appearing for Fiji a few weeks ago. I guess they'd also benefit if the likes of Isa Nacewa pledged their allegiance to actually playing rather than continually bringing up the eligibility rules.
Yeah I feel they should persist with Giteau for a few more games. He has been a good servant of Aussie rugby. If they do take away his goal kicking duties then it is questionable if he should be picked ahead of Barnes at second five. At least Aussie is spoiled for choice at the moment.

I am not really sure how they lost this game. Just a few moments of individual brilliance from the English. Which is funny because you don't associate game breaking plays with the English. Wilkinson's kick from 40 odd metres proved to be vital as well.

Both sides were even up front. The Aussies were efficient - and the English just quietly did their jobs.
Giteau's still easily a first choice player - would start him at 10 though. I rate Barnes a class international player at 12 and can't say the same for Cooper at 10. Both sides were even up front - really? Australia still looked terrible in the front row and conceeded a few crucial penalties. There just wasn't as many scrums as last week which minimised the damage. England's loose forwards were also more prominent IMO.
Think Easter & Croft having better games was crucial. We got decent yardage out of Easter's (& Lawes's) carries and Croft was a beast in the line-out and the break downs.

But Youngs made a massive difference. We might finally have found Dawson's long term successor. Has the most complete game out of the many candidates we've tried.

Should also be noted that both our successful pens in the second half came from pressure at scrums too. Was a closer contest in the tight this week, but we still won it fairly comfortably.
Hadn't seen Youngs play before but for a 20-year old was very impressive. Would start with Wilkinson too, I'm not sure of the benefits of using Flood ahead of him (besides giving another flyhalf international exposure as insurance if Wilkinson doesn't make the 2011 World Cup). Will be interested to see what side the English name to face the Maori on Wednesday - the NZ Maori is not a side to be underestimated (beating Ireland on Friday), with the likes of Hosea Gear, McAlister, Flynn, Messam and a collection of promising and young Super 14 players.
 

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