Official Rugby Thread

[ripper868]

Well, that whole coaching team is mic'd up with the refs words in their ears, and with Jaco Peyper on his staff 2 seats from him, so I'd say he'd very well of heard/known the ref has said "clear headbutt action" or whatever it was at the time.

Doesn't really matter though, Boks were far to classy, even if it was classic Bok kick chase rugby, which I can't grumble too much about being down to 14 for an hour.

 

[Ali TT]

England take the series 2-0, wouldn't have bet on that to start with.

 

[weeman27bob]

Would be interested if any neutrals watched the England vs. Argentina game. Felt like the ref was all over the place.

We seemed to have none of the clinical nature from last week, and the breakdown seemed like a bit of a lottery.

 

[ashley bach]

Breakdowns often do appear like a lottery. Well done to England though that's an excellent series win.

 

[ripper868]

I saw patches of it, breakdowns did seem like a lottery, the ones I saw seemed to go England's way, but yeah, I only got about 15 minutes of it all up.

 

[ashley bach]

Once again just to prove it was no fluke England > British and Irish Lions

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Well done England, but that's a terrible result for Argentina after wins over all of the big 3 (NZ, SA, and France) in 2024.

It will also strengthen England's chances of staying in the top 6 for the World Cup draw in November. Prior to this weekend it was England in 5th, Argentina 6th, Scotland 7th, and Australia 8th.

 

[Molehill]

Well done England, but that's a terrible result for Argentina after wins over all of the big 3 (NZ, SA, and France) in 2024.

It will also strengthen England's chances of staying in the top 6 for the World Cup draw in November. Prior to this weekend it was England in 5th, Argentina 6th, Scotland 7th, and Australia 8th.

Australia moved up from 8th to 6th without even playing a game.

England now close to France in 4th and clearly improving rapidly. Fantastic effort given it was almost an entirely second string team.

Top 6 get seeded for the revamped World Cup (draw in December).

 

[Molehill]

Would be interested if any neutrals watched the England vs. Argentina game. Felt like the ref was all over the place.

We seemed to have none of the clinical nature from last week, and the breakdown seemed like a bit of a lottery.

I watched it all and whilst I’m not neutral, I had no ref issues. The breakdown was just messy, England were slow to provide support at times whilst Argentina were always trying to slow it up.

England should’ve won by a lot more really given pretty much the entire second half was played in Argie territory. Ford kicked too much away.

 

[BoyBrumby]

In Ford's defence I think from about sixty minutes onwards the backs seemed to be blowing out their arses as they weren't giving him many options other than to kick.

Great performance generally though. Especially given we lost our captain and most experienced campaigner <24 hours before kick off.

 

[Molehill]

In Ford's defence I think from about sixty minutes onwards the backs seemed to be blowing out their arses as they weren't giving him many options other than to kick.

Great performance generally though. Especially given we lost our captain and most experienced campaigner <24 hours before kick off.

And that was key as I doubt we’d have lost so many line outs if he was playing. Dan is a great impact sub but not a starter (yet).

 

[ripper868]

4 weeks for Wiese's headbutt...got off quite lightly tbh...Springbok twitter is certainly an....interesting read. Some wild takes about how he's hard done by and the referee should be punished.

 

[ripper868]

Georgia giving a decent account of themselves here v the Boks, never threatening to win, but holding their own up front for sure.

 

[James]

The Boks really are going to dominate for the next 15 years it seems. Their U20s side is massive - South Africa just seems to produce rugby players different compared to the rest of the world. Built with size and skill all over the park.

 

[Ali TT]

England had to dodge a few thunderstorms to win 40-5 v USA last night. Argentina took a while to get going before running away v Uruguay.

The Boks really are going to dominate for the next 15 years it seems. Their U20s side is massive - South Africa just seems to produce rugby players different compared to the rest of the world. Built with size and skill all over the park.

I saw that Australia u20s between England in the 5-6th play off 68-40

 

[Molehill]

The Boks really are going to dominate for the next 15 years it seems. Their U20s side is massive - South Africa just seems to produce rugby players different compared to the rest of the world. Built with size and skill all over the park.

Perhaps the biggest concern is that they’ve never really been that competitive in the U20’s before. First final for over a decade.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Bit of good news for all the Zimbabwe-affiliated union fans out there as the Sables secure their return to the world cup for the first time since 1991 with a 30-28 win over Namibia in the Rugby Africa Cup final.

They've produced some world class talent over the years, but it's almost invariably ended up in the colours of another country.

Be interesting if any ex-pats decide to return to the fold in light of this.

 

[Tom Flint]

The Boks really are going to dominate for the next 15 years it seems. Their U20s side is massive - South Africa just seems to produce rugby players different compared to the rest of the world. Built with size and skill all over the park.

I used to watch quite a lot of domestic SA rugby when it was shown in GB a few years ago. I was never that convinced the standard was better than ours despite the national team being better.

 

[Chin Music]

Bit of good news for all the Zimbabwe-affiliated union fans out there as the Sables secure their return to the world cup for the first time since 1991 with a 30-28 win over Namibia in the Rugby Africa Cup final.

They've produced some world class talent over the years, but it's almost invariably ended up in the colours of another country.

Be interesting if any ex-pats decide to return to the fold in light of this.

Seven GREAT Zimbabwe-born players representing other nations This is quite an old article but does set out a few players here.

 

[andruid]

Bit of good news for all the Zimbabwe-affiliated union fans out there as the Sables secure their return to the world cup for the first time since 1991 with a 30-28 win over Namibia in the Rugby Africa Cup final.

They've produced some world class talent over the years, but it's almost invariably ended up in the colours of another country.

Be interesting if any ex-pats decide to return to the fold in light of this.

Which means another four years for Kenya's Simbas to lick their wounds and make another bid to break our World Cup bid.