Last weekend: .. Australia beat NZ in Aus and looked the stronger team at the finish .. they outscrummaged them and their forwards look the best set ever from Aus .. fantastic back row and all round handling and mobility .. fantastic work rate and commitment .. (EDIT) .. Barnes, the English referee was in charge, he's the best in the world and doesn't let the NZs get away with their usual cheating tactics ... Argentina won in S A .. I still fancy NZ for the cup but Dan Carter is no way the player that he was and the same applies to captain McColl .. the Australians are prepared to stand toe to toe with them AND are looking increasingly like the team in form .. there is a NZ-Aus return this weekend in NZ .. I will be at Derby and will miss it ((:<) .. my rating as at 12/8:
Last weekend: .. Australia beat NZ in Aus and looked the stronger team at the finish .. they outscrummaged them and their forwards look the best set ever from Aus .. fantastic back row and all round handling and mobility .. fantastic work rate and commitment .. (EDIT) .. Barnes, the English referee was in charge, he's the best in the world and doesn't let the NZs get away with their usual cheating tactics ... Argentina won in S A .. I still fancy NZ for the cup but Dan Carter is no way the player that he was and the same applies to captain McColl .. the Australians are prepared to stand toe to toe with them AND are looking increasingly like the team in form .. there is a NZ-Aus return this weekend in NZ .. I will be at Derby and will miss it ((:<) .. my rating as at 12/8:
Last weekend: .. Australia beat NZ in Aus and looked the stronger team at the finish .. they outscrummaged them and their forwards look the best set ever from Aus .. fantastic back row and all round handling and mobility .. fantastic work rate and commitment .. (EDIT) .. Barnes, the English referee was in charge, he's the best in the world and doesn't let the NZs get away with their usual cheating tactics ... Argentina won in S A .. I still fancy NZ for the cup but Dan Carter is no way the player that he was and the same applies to captain McColl .. the Australians are prepared to stand toe to toe with them AND are looking increasingly like the team in form .. there is a NZ-Aus return this weekend in NZ .. I will be at Derby and will miss it ((:<) .. my rating as at 12/8:
Last weekend: .. Australia beat NZ in Aus and looked the stronger team at the finish .. they outscrummaged them and their forwards look the best set ever from Aus .. fantastic back row and all round handling and mobility .. fantastic work rate and commitment .. (EDIT) .. Barnes, the English referee was in charge, he's the best in the world and doesn't let the NZs get away with their usual cheating tactics ... Argentina won in S A .. I still fancy NZ for the cup but Dan Carter is no way the player that he was and the same applies to captain McColl .. the Australians are prepared to stand toe to toe with them AND are looking increasingly like the team in form .. there is a NZ-Aus return this weekend in NZ .. I will be at Derby and will miss it ((:<) .. my rating as at 12/8:
Last weekend: .. Australia beat NZ in Aus and looked the stronger team at the finish .. they outscrummaged them and their forwards look the best set ever from Aus .. fantastic back row and all round handling and mobility .. fantastic work rate and commitment .. (EDIT) .. Barnes, the English referee was in charge, he's the best in the world and doesn't let the NZs get away with their usual cheating tactics ... Argentina won in S A .. I still fancy NZ for the cup but Dan Carter is no way the player that he was and the same applies to captain McColl .. the Australians are prepared to stand toe to toe with them AND are looking increasingly like the team in form .. there is a NZ-Aus return this weekend in NZ .. I will be at Derby and will miss it ((:<) .. my rating as at 12/8:
1) NZ 2) Aus 3) Ireland 4) England</p>
Ireland better than SA ??
Right now yes .. the typical SA method of blunt instrument bludgeon has been neutered by modern defensive techniques, enhanced tacking skills and sheer bulk and tenacity of the opposition .. SA is still a good outfit of course ..
BUT .. Ireland have many strings to their metaphorical bow .. terrific half backs, a unified and very experienced pack, good wings and full back .. all in all though any of six sides could win the W Cup .. did you spot the deliberate mistake .. he's not a McColl, he's a McCaw
I'm no expert on Rugby, but a friend of mine (he has played at quite a high level and seems to know his stuff) is predicting an Ireland V NZ final (assuming they don't meet in the quarters or semis).
I just hope England are not missing the wood from the trees by obsessing with fitting Burgess in by hook (er) or by crook.
Rugby Union and Rugby League are different games. It is possible to shine at both a la Jonathan Davies (for the youngsters the commentator rather than the Welsh centre) for example but it is by no means a given.
The $64,000 dollar question for England is how match fit are key men like Lawes and Launchbury (to name just two) going to be?
Last weekend: .. Australia beat NZ in Aus and looked the stronger team at the finish .. they outscrummaged them and their forwards look the best set ever from Aus .. fantastic back row and all round handling and mobility .. fantastic work rate and commitment .. (EDIT) .. Barnes, the English referee was in charge, he's the best in the world and doesn't let the NZs get away with their usual cheating tactics ... Argentina won in S A .. I still fancy NZ for the cup but Dan Carter is no way the player that he was and the same applies to captain McColl .. the Australians are prepared to stand toe to toe with them AND are looking increasingly like the team in form .. there is a NZ-Aus return this weekend in NZ .. I will be at Derby and will miss it ((:<) .. my rating as at 12/8:
1) NZ 2) Aus 3) Ireland 4) England</p>
Ireland better than SA ??
Right now yes .. the typical SA method of blunt instrument bludgeon has been neutered by modern defensive techniques, enhanced tacking skills and sheer bulk and tenacity of the opposition .. SA is still a good outfit of course ..
BUT .. Ireland have many strings to their metaphorical bow .. terrific half backs, a unified and very experienced pack, good wings and full back .. all in all though any of six sides could win the W Cup .. did you spot the deliberate mistake .. he's not a McColl, he's a McCaw
Well, if its a Ireland v SA final, i know who i would be betting for !
I just hope England are not missing the wood from the trees by obsessing with fitting Burgess in by hook (er) or by crook.
Rugby Union and Rugby League are different games. It is possible to shine at both a la Jonathan Davies (for the youngsters the commentator rather than the Welsh centre) for example but it is by no means a given.
The $64,000 dollar question for England is how match fit are key men like Lawes and Launchbury (to name just two) going to be?
Agree with you about Burgess. Can't understand how Lancaster views him as better centre than Eastmond, but I suspect he is scared of the likes of Jamie Roberts, Kuridrani etc running at small centres.
France gave us a wake up call on Saturday. We are in desperate need of being able to stop the opposition up front, throw the line up ball straight and make gains in the middle of the park from centre.
At home we'll see some advantage but I can't see past a NZ win. England MIGHT make the final. MIGHT.
@Northlondonaddick - I believe the Webb Ellis trophy IS booked in to turn up at Leicester Square on the 2nd - if you're in attendance, I'll buy you a pint :-)
I don't think we were poor in both games - the first game, we had three or four players playing for a place in the squad and they achieved that, as did Cipriani on Saturday.
I don't care anything about friendlies - the REAL competition starts on the 18th September
I've written before on here that England's 'coaches' are a shambolic lot .. an ex RL stalwart who's managed to get his son into the side, Rowntree, a second rate prop who believes that an 80 minute game should ideally consist entirely of scrummaging (I paraphrase an actual quote) and can't even get the scrummage to work after all this time .. and in charge of the merry men ? .. Lancaster, a very nice man but a time serving RU bod who is employed well above his real pay grade in this role .. bring back Woodward before it's too late
why has the squad not been finalised ?, why are players being given game time if their selection is very unlikely ? .. answer .. Lancaster after four years still has no clue as to what is his best XV .. he still selects people like Cole, solid English oak through and through, especially in the head .. never seen to make a run of more than a yard and a half and a serial giver away of penalties .. two loose heads in Marlar and Vunipola and a hooker in Youngs who can't scrummage .. Vunipola junior, Billy, the most overrated player in the northern hemisphere, a back row of three slow to the breakdown wallahs when every other country picks fast specialist break down experts, a set of backs which changes every game and is no better than it was four long years ago ... I could go on and on and on (please don't .. OK I won't) ... it's still not too late to sort it out, but by feck it needs doing VERY quickly
Props: Kieran Brookes (Northampton Saints), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Hookers: Jamie George (Saracens), Rob Webber (Bath Rugby), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Second rows: George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Geoff Parling (Exeter Chiefs)
Back rows: James Haskell (Wasps), Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby), Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Scrum-halves: Danny Care (Harlequins), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Fly-halves: Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath Rugby)
Centres: Brad Barritt (Saracens), Sam Burgess (Bath Rugby), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Back three: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Alex Goode (Saracens), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
Back row nowhere near fast enough to challenge for the world cup. Will be lucky to get out of the pool when you look at who Aus and Wales have available in that vital position.
I'm no expert on Rugby, but a friend of mine (he has played at quite a high level and seems to know his stuff) is predicting an Ireland V NZ final (assuming they don't meet in the quarters or semis).
That's my thinking as if both come top of their groups, they will meet in the final if they do not lose on the way as both are in totally different halves of the draw.
Comments
(Not a stalker honest)
Leicester this sat in, London in a week in wimpole St then Brighton
1) NZ
2) Aus
3) Ireland
4) England
http://www.worldrugby.org/rankings
Ranked 2nd as of 10/08/15
http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/ranking-table/men/
BUT .. Ireland have many strings to their metaphorical bow .. terrific half backs, a unified and very experienced pack, good wings and full back .. all in all though any of six sides could win the W Cup .. did you spot the deliberate mistake .. he's not a McColl, he's a McCaw
Rugby Union and Rugby League are different games. It is possible to shine at both a la Jonathan Davies (for the youngsters the commentator rather than the Welsh centre) for example but it is by no means a given.
The $64,000 dollar question for England is how match fit are key men like Lawes and Launchbury (to name just two) going to be?
This article also gives an interesting viewpoint on the whole Burgess debate..... http://samrobertsrugby.com/2015/08/12/into-the-reckoning/
Burgess sin binned
At home we'll see some advantage but I can't see past a NZ win. England MIGHT make the final. MIGHT.
@Northlondonaddick - I believe the Webb Ellis trophy IS booked in to turn up at Leicester Square on the 2nd - if you're in attendance, I'll buy you a pint :-)
I don't care anything about friendlies - the REAL competition starts on the 18th September
why has the squad not been finalised ?, why are players being given game time if their selection is very unlikely ? .. answer .. Lancaster after four years still has no clue as to what is his best XV
.. he still selects people like Cole, solid English oak through and through, especially in the head .. never seen to make a run of more than a yard and a half and a serial giver away of penalties .. two loose heads in Marlar and Vunipola and a hooker in Youngs who can't scrummage .. Vunipola junior, Billy, the most overrated player in the northern hemisphere, a back row of three slow to the breakdown wallahs when every other country picks fast specialist break down experts, a set of backs which changes every game and is no better than it was four long years ago ... I could go on and on and on (please don't .. OK I won't) ... it's still not too late to sort it out, but by feck it needs doing VERY quickly
Props: Kieran Brookes (Northampton Saints), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Hookers: Jamie George (Saracens), Rob Webber (Bath Rugby), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Second rows: George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Geoff Parling (Exeter Chiefs)
Back rows: James Haskell (Wasps), Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby), Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Scrum-halves: Danny Care (Harlequins), Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Fly-halves: Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath Rugby)
Centres: Brad Barritt (Saracens), Sam Burgess (Bath Rugby), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Back three: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Alex Goode (Saracens), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)