RWC 2011

[Antepli Ejderha]

Just read that there are 50 days to go until the Rugby World Cup starts, apologies if there is already a thread.

Wales look like they are in the toughest group. South Afirca, Samoa who beat Australia last weekend and Fiji.

[Antepli Ejderha]

RWC 2011

The pools.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

RWC 2011

I like the fact that all the 'big' games are on Saturday and Sunday mornings, UK time, as I don't have to take any time off work to watch them like I invariably do during a football or cricket world cup. Very considerate of them.

[linus]

RWC 2011

That situation for Wales is still better than ending up in Pool A with NZ and France...

Is anyone going to this?

[jefe]

RWC 2011

The US-Russia game is going to be on NBC, along with the final. Intelligently, the only game we have a chance at winning.

[Gangster Octopus]

RWC 2011

The final?

[jefe]

RWC 2011

That would be nice. But no. Considering that our warmup consists of home and away v Canada and a match with Japan, and that we just got trashed by England Saxons 87-7 in the Churchill Cup, definitely no.

[Flynnie]

RWC 2011

I read that NBC would cover the USA-Ireland game, since the USA-Russia one is on a weekday if I remember correctly.

Which sucks if true, since the USA will get waxed by Ireland. The Eagles are a sad joke right now.

[linus]

RWC 2011

What happened to the Eagles, guys? They had fairly respectable outings in '03 and '07...

[jefe]

RWC 2011

Apparently we couldn't bring in half the pros for Churchill Cup, and one guy just signed with Northampton and isn't being allowed to play RWC.

The squad list is amusing. 2 guys unattached, about half scattered through semipro clubs here and universities, the other half scrapping a living abroad. 3 or 4 in France, 2 at Saracens, 2 at London Welsh, 2 in Italy, some random dude down at Otago, and Todd Clever's in Japan God knows why.

[Paul S]

RWC 2011

I've got tickets for Wales v England at the Millenium and Ireland v England at Lansdowne Road in the WC warm-ups. I'm hoping we'll see a bit of running rugby and not just an exhibition match.

[Flynnie]

RWC 2011

Clever's kind of weird, he basically refused to play in Europe as he won't go to the UK/Ireland because of the weather yet wouldn't go to France because he didn't want to learn French.

Manu Samoa is allowed to play for the US in the RWC - you're not allowed to put a clause in a player's contract saying otherwise - but Northampton have basically told him he's better off staying with them, and Samoa's not really interested anyway.

Really it comes down to a lot of mismanagement from the USARFU and the IRB, though mainly the IRB as they installed the people in the USA rugby union. They're basically trying to build enthusiasm for rugby by professionalizing the Eagles through players with tenuous American qualifications. They've spent something like $10 million on the Eagles with about four Test wins to show for it and the team's gotten progressively worse. There's no question they'd be better off with the usual $100,000 subsidy, a part-time coach and a bunch of guys who have actually set foot in the country before they pull on the national shirt.

The amateur/professional gap isn't helping - Canada seem to not have suffered the same mismanagement we have, yet have fallen back too - but the mismanagement is truly epic.

[ursus arctos]

RWC 2011

Lots of parallels with US Cricket here.

[Flynnie]

RWC 2011

ursus arctos wrote:

Lots of parallels with US Cricket here.

What makes it worse than US cricket is there is a very obvious avenue to building enthusiasm for American rugby, which is through high schools and colleges. HS rugby has exploded in America in terms of numbers and college rugby is achieving ever higher standards of professionalism and play. Plus the college angle is an obvious route to spectators - 13,000 people attended the college final between Cal and BYU in Utah.

But they have all but ignored college rugby, at one point making the All-Americans pay to play. Almost all of the college initiatives have come via their own coaches and the USA Sevens, LLC, which is run by ex-USA legend Dan Lyle (top bloke).

[Eggchaser]

RWC 2011

Paul S wrote:

I've got tickets for Wales v England at the Millenium and Ireland v England at Lansdowne Road in the WC warm-ups. I'm hoping we'll see a bit of running rugby and not just an exhibition match.

Given that Martin Johnson managed to play two "They're not Probables vs. Possibles matches honest and this isn't 1954" games at The Stoop earlier this week and Courtney Lawes and David Mr Glass Strettle were both stretchered off, expect the usual England efficient grind at full pelt. Perhaps another four tries for Nick Easter would be nice.

Sadly, I suspect the good folk of Wales will not get to see His Royal Drunk Driverness Mike Tindall in action.

The All Blacks looked horribly efficient putting P Divvy's Boks "C" team to the sword this morning in the Tri-Nations. If they don't win it will be the biggest choke of all time. And that's by their standards.

[Flynnie]

RWC 2011

Great moments in rugby punditry

[ursus arctos]

RWC 2011

I bet someone wrote an article like that about Wally Pipp losing his place to that kid from Columbia.

[Eggchaser]

RWC 2011

Heh. Mind you, I was watching McCaw in the match, he must have a cloak of invisibility because he is the best cunning cheat ever to play the game.

[Brandenburger Toro]

RWC 2011

Ever since the ELVs, a little-known sub-clause has allowed him to enter rucks from anywhere.

[Eggchaser]

RWC 2011

England have cut five from their initial vast training squad -

Joe Melonhead Worsley (Ding, fucking, dong, the witch is dead! At fucking last!)
George Chuter (Third banana when in his prime at his very best, shit now)
Thomas Waldrom (Just out and out fat poach)
James Simpson Daniel (Surely one of the great What Ifs? of English rugby)
David Strettle (No arguments there)

So it also looks like Brand Haskell is being lined up for the no 8 cover slot and probably the gig long term once Easter's lured back to the pie and pint training regime.

[Antepli Ejderha]

RWC 2011

Tragic news about Joost van der Westhuizen.

[Eggchaser]

RWC 2011

The same thing got Jarrod Cunningham, formerly of London Irish. My parents went to his testimonial which was played at The Stoop, the first person who kicked from their own 22 got booed to bits. Everyone ran everything from everywhere after that.

England Team to face Wales this weekend.

15 Delon Armitage London Irish
14 Matt Banahan Bath Rugby
13 Manusamoa Tuilagi Leicester Tigers
12 Riki Flutey London Wasps
11 Mark Cueto Sale Sharks

10 Jonny Wilkinson RC Toulon
9 Danny Care Harlequins

1 Alex Corbisiero London Irish
2 Dylan Hartley Northampton Saints
3 Matt Stevens Saracens
4 Simon Shaw London Wasps
5 Tom Palmer Stade Francais
6 Tom Croft Leicester Tigers
7 Lewis Moody (C) Bath Rugby
8 James Haskell Ricoh Black Rams

Replacements

16 Lee Mears Bath Rugby
17 David Wilson Bath Rugby
18 Mouritz Botha Saracens
19 Tom Wood Northampton Saints
20 Richard Wigglesworth Saracens
21 Charlie Hodgson Saracens
22 Charlie Sharples Gloucester Rugby

and Wales

15. Rhys Priestland
14. George North
13. Jonathan Davies
12. Jamie Roberts
11. Shane Williams

10. Stephen Jones
9. Michael Phillips

8. Toby Faletau
7. Sam Warburton (c)
6. Dan Lydiate
5. Alun Wyn Jones
4. Bradley Davies
3. Craig Mitchell
2. Huw Bennett
1. Paul James

Replacements:

Lloyd Burns
Ryan Bevington
Luke Charteris
Ryan Jones
Tavis Knoyle
Scott Williams
Morgan Stoddart

England to win, but our wingers are painfully slow...

[jefe]

RWC 2011

Canada 28-22 USA in Toronto last Saturday. From the bits and pieces I saw, we weren't bad, but we weren't any good either.

NBC announced the broadcast schedule. USA-Ireland, New Zealand-Canada, and the Final are on NBC itself.

[Eggchaser]

RWC 2011

Well bravo Wales for a sterling display of defence, very Shaun Edwards. Someone likened it to the old Wasps vs Leicester Prem Finals with the blunt instrument of set piece, pick and drive and sloooooooooooooooooow ball foundering on the rock of well-organised (and occasionally desperate) defence before a killer blow was struck.

If Banahan's risible effort to avoid a man about two-thirds his size don't convince the management that he's a flat track bully, then they certainy won't have noticed Tindall's "Grandad with shit in his trousers" shuffle towards the line when put into acres of space. The contrast between the line he took and the pace he hit it with compared to Tuilagi's try the match before shows why England are just the most frustrating team around, because we all know HRH Tindall will be lining up at 13 and that fucking useless piece of meat with eyes Hape will be at 12.

[Flynnie]

RWC 2011

jefe wrote:

Canada 28-22 USA in Toronto last Saturday. From the bits and pieces I saw, we weren't bad, but we weren't any good either.

NBC announced the broadcast schedule. USA-Ireland, New Zealand-Canada, and the Final are on NBC itself.

That's so dumb. Why the hell is anybody going to watch Ireland steamroll the USA? The ratings are going to fall through the floor after 10 minutes. Much better to show USA-Russia, a game the US might actually win and is an easy, easy sell to any American over the age of 25 that can remember communism.