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Tokyo Calling - Rugby 2019

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    Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
    Are you by yourself, or with other Welsh supporters?

    I'm curious as to what first time visitors' impression of the country is
    I've spent the last two games with two other Welsh supporters and first time visitors, we were with 5 or 6 other people around the Wales v Georgia game on Monday night.

    I think the general impression is that it's an exciting but bewildering place, which I think I shared when I first came here. The warmth of the welcome and huge desire to make the tournament a success is absolutely clear, those of us going to Japan v Ireland on Saturday can't wait to see what the atmosphere around that game is like.

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      I wish I could be there. Enjoy!

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        Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
        I think the general impression is that it's an exciting but bewildering place
        Exactly my first time impression as well

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          https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...wsApp_AppShare

          Interview with the Russian full back and captain. He's got a great accent.

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            It's really unsatisfying watching rugby highlights, isn't it?

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              Yeah, it's pretty bad. If I can't watch the whole game, I might as well just watch the tries and move on.

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                Well that was pants.

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                  Originally posted by Flynnie View Post

                  Rugby on US TV is one instance where I really throw on my tinfoil hat and say "IT'S THE NFL!!!" Considering the drive for content, and the fact the US has had actually quite a large rugby-playing population for a while now, the drive to get rugby on US TV is very slow. It's getting better, but slow, and I wonder if the NFL wants the competition.

                  Having said this, 26 games are supposed to be on NBCSN/NBC, which still makes it the best covered World Cup in the US in terms of live or same-day delay since 1995. But NBC are being real fucky with what games are actually on NBC/NBCSN. It seems their strategy is to give you very short notice as the next three games ARE on NBCSN (Fiji-Uruguay, Italy-Canada, England-USA - the USA games will all be on NBCSN) with no news beyond that.

                  And, unless I missed something, replays of games, even the ones that were on the regular network, are not available without the package. Which, given that the games are on in the middle of the night here, is a problem.

                  Your NFL-meddling hypothesis may not be far off. I wouldn't put it past them. But it's not the NFL's fault that this event is in Japan, which makes the timing of the matches suboptimal, obviously.

                  NBC is trying to help rugby 7s because its in the Olympics and they want to juice the ratings for it every four years, but not sure they care about this as much or are interested in putting too much effort behind it. After all, they show skiing and what not because those are in the Olympics and it hasn't really moved the needle on the popularity of any of those sports between Olympics. And interest in Olympic sports largely depends on the success of the USA (though NBC had gotten a lot better about that over the past few games) and the USA is hopeless in this event, so that doesn't help.

                  Rugby union does not seem to lend itself to upsets. A vastly inferior opponent can draw or win a cup match in football with a bit of luck and everyone having an especially good match while the better team is a bit off. But RU doesn't seem to lend itself to that. Over the 80s minutes, the stronger team is not only going to win, but it's going to win big. Even American football has more opportunities for upsets because the scoring team kicks off to the other team after a score and because turnovers can be so costly.

                  It would be better if teams like Canada and the US were in some kind of second (or third?) tier Plate competition or somesuch. But, as mentioned above, they're largely in it now to just pad out the competition with more matches. If there were only 10 teams, there'd have to be many days within the tournament window with no matches. That's not good for TV or promoting the event. Or maybe just have two or three different separate tournaments happening at the same time in the same place. Lacrosse does it that way with its world championship.

                  As we've discussed, rugby could have a future in the US, especially if it can be proven to be safer than American football, though it might not be able to do that to the satisfaction of the kind of players and parents who are worried about such things. It certainly has a much bigger presence than cricket and its doing much better among girls and women than American football is (women's football barely exists, really).





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                    But isn't that the exception that proves the rule? Japan beat SA in the last World Cup. That match and this is your one upset per tournament.

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                      Yeah, I wasn't really trying to take down the argument, in fact the opening paragraph that I quoted makes the same point as HP. I just thought the article was a great insight in to one of those occasional upsets.

                      I do wonder how much less prone to shock results the Rugby World Cup is compared to the football and cricket counterparts or other similar tournaments. I wonder if anyone's ever tried to analyse the statistics on it.

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                        Rugby League is even more predictable.

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                          Originally posted by jefe View Post
                          Is the Namibian team composed of Namibians, or are they South Africans who couldn't make the Boks?
                          The vast majority are born in Namibia (or it's South-West Africa predecessor for some of the older ones) with a few South African born players.

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                            Originally posted by longeared View Post
                            *smashes dinner plate*
                            I'm still entirely flummoxed by this post in the middle of Scotland v Ireland.

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                              It was posted when England scored their first points against Tonga, and referencing Motson's commentary in the 2002 World Cup in the same stadium.

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                                Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                                Yeah, I wasn't really trying to take down the argument, in fact the opening paragraph that I quoted makes the same point as HP. I just thought the article was a great insight in to one of those occasional upsets.

                                I do wonder how much less prone to shock results the Rugby World Cup is compared to the football and cricket counterparts or other similar tournaments. I wonder if anyone's ever tried to analyse the statistics on it.
                                The All Blacks have lost 5 times. So there have been at least 5 unimaginable shocks.

                                Looking ahead to the weekend, it feels like the tournament's least anticipated fixture (Georgia v Uruguay) has now become one of the most intriguing, perhaps second only to Wales v Australia from this batch of games. Though in the Search For Shock, only Namibia are complete no-hopers, any of the others could provide one.

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                                  2003 wasn't a shock, and 1991 really shouldn't have been one in hindsight.

                                  1999 shouldn't really have been one either, but nobody gave France a chance even with Christian Cullen inexplicably playing centre (with Tana Umaga on wing and Jeff Wilson at full-back...three of the all-time greats at each other's positions).

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                                    Lively start - Ringrose with an early try, but Japan respond with a penalty.

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                                      Argentina scored 4 tries in the first half and got their bonus point. In the second half zero points. Was that a job done mentality?

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                                        12-9 in the second half, really on a knife-edge.

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                                          Japan playing all the rugby here: running pretty much everything, it's invigorating and entertaining stuff. I daresay Irish power will prevail but Japan's joyous attitude to the game will win the game more friends.

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                                            Well now - Japan are 16-12 up after 60. All down to fitness and game management from here.

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                                              Japan go 16 - 12 ahead with a terrific try with 20 minutes left. Wonderful stuff.

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                                                Originally posted by Vicarious Thrillseeker View Post
                                                Well now - Japan are 16-12 up after 60. All down to fitness and game management from here.
                                                Not good news for Scottish fans, either, given the performance levels of the Brave Blossoms.

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                                                  Bloody hell, I nearly didn't watch this. 7 points up now with 8 minutes left.

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