A bloke in a pub told me last night that he thought Joe Launchbury would be in the England World Cup squad, though he didn't know for sure. He must be pleased that he was right, being Joe's dad. ;) He often does our Wednesday evening rides.
I know, I know - shameless name dropping.
In case anyone hadn't twigged Wales' victory over Ireland today has put them I their rightful place above England in the world rankings..
Because it's the best rugby stadium in the world and its inclusion was a cornerstone of the English bid. The WRU agreed to its use provided the English organisers agreed to Wales playing all their pool games in Cardiff - this would have brought big revenue To benefit everyone. Then England,Wales and Australia got drawn in the same pool and suddenly Wales weren't allowed to play their major pool games in Cardiff any more. It revealed a lack of integrity, cowardice and the familiar arrogance on the part of the English organisers.
Hopefully karma will prevail.
Because it's the best rugby stadium in the world and its inclusion was a cornerstone of the English bid. The WRU agreed to its use provided the English organisers agreed to Wales playing all their pool games in Cardiff - this would have brought big revenue To benefit everyone. Then England,Wales and Australia got drawn in the same pool and suddenly Wales weren't allowed to play their major pool games in Cardiff any more. It revealed a lack of integrity, cowardice and the familiar arrogance on the part of the English organisers.
Hopefully karma will prevail.
Ok, that's interesting. Weren't there potentially many of the large English football grounds that could have been used. I guess it's understandable that England play Wales at Twickenham, but the Aussies should be no problem for Wales even at Twickenham, shirley. ;)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Rugby_World_Cup#Pool_A
Does that mean I have to support the "home" team at Twickenham? :o
What happens if the losing side scores 4 tries and loses by a margin smaller than 7 points? Do they get 2 points?
This bonus points mallarkey is new to me. I have just read a piece by Clive Woodward explaining the situation, up to a point (ha!). 4 tries gets you a bonus point, as does losing by 7 points or fewer. What happens if the losing side scores 4 tries and loses by a margin smaller than 7 points? Do they get 2 points?
This bonus points mallarkey is new to me.
If that is so, then that's shamefully poor team preparation.This bonus points mallarkey is new to me.
It was new to Billie Vunipola as well. Apparently he had no idea his try was worth an extra point.
I thought the super-slo-mo of the disallowed Fiji Try was amazing. Watching Mike Brown's last-ditch grab, that just dislodged the ball, showed what an incredible all-round asset he is.
There are some seriously big feckers in the game now aren't there? The Fiji #11 was bloody enormous. What's more they are huge without the Beer guts of old. Not so sure I fancy getting hit by 19 stone travelling only slightly slower than Usain Bolt.
I'm pretty sure we have discussed this at some length. The combined increase in size and speed of the modern players, as well as the greater number of international matches, will lead to many careers cut short by injury and some seriously crocked middle-aged men when they retire.
they are only the fourth different side to beat South Africa at the Rugby World Cup. The others are New Zealand, Australia, England.
What happens if the losing side scores 4 tries and loses by a margin smaller than 7 points? Do they get 2 points?
I can find nothing about the French player's injury. It looked very bad, though I couldn't work out from the video replay how ithad happened. Surprised to see them letting him hobble off without a stretcher, though.
That was horrible. Which match was that?
I've never been a glory-hunting NZ fan-boi, but:
Matching boots: class above the rest. Hard to bellieve no other nation does this*
*cue YACF floodgates :P
Because it's the best rugby stadium in the world and its inclusion was a cornerstone of the English bid. The WRU agreed to its use provided the English organisers agreed to Wales playing all their pool games in Cardiff - this would have brought big revenue To benefit everyone. Then England,Wales and Australia got drawn in the same pool and suddenly Wales weren't allowed to play their major pool games in Cardiff any more. It revealed a lack of integrity, cowardice and the familiar arrogance on the part of the English organisers.
Hopefully karma will prevail.
Yawn. Sod off Torygraph.
I cant see much wrong with that analysis. wales are not the hosts, but are getting home advantage.Because it's the best rugby stadium in the world and its inclusion was a cornerstone of the English bid. The WRU agreed to its use provided the English organisers agreed to Wales playing all their pool games in Cardiff - this would have brought big revenue To benefit everyone. Then England,Wales and Australia got drawn in the same pool and suddenly Wales weren't allowed to play their major pool games in Cardiff any more. It revealed a lack of integrity, cowardice and the familiar arrogance on the part of the English organisers.
Hopefully karma will prevail.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/rugby-world-cup/11878660/Rugby-World-Cup-2015-The-Millennium-Stadium-is-a-glorious-stage-but-Welsh-home-advantage-is-unfair.html
Anyone who feels that Wales playing all their pool matches at the Millenium Stadium would not give them a home advantage is either lying or daft! And I can't see how on earth it can be justified - this isn't a World Cup hosted by Wales, or even England AND Wales. It's England only. There should be no matches in Wales whatsoever, no matter how glorious the MS is. Just like there should be (and are) none in the Stadt de France.It could be critical too, if the battle for Gp A 2nd place is between England and Wales, which goes down to the wire with pts diffs/numbers of tries taken into account... etc
If that is so, then that's shamefully poor team preparation.This bonus points mallarkey is new to me.
It was new to Billie Vunipola as well. Apparently he had no idea his try was worth an extra point.Quote
I thought the super-slo-mo of the disallowed Fiji Try was amazing. Watching Mike Brown's last-ditch grab, that just dislodged the ball, showed what an incredible all-round asset he is.
There are some seriously big feckers in the game now aren't there? The Fiji #11 was bloody enormous. What's more they are huge without the Beer guts of old. Not so sure I fancy getting hit by 19 stone travelling only slightly slower than Usain Bolt.
I'm pretty sure we have discussed this at some length. The combined increase in size and speed of the modern players, as well as the greater number of international matches, will lead to many careers cut short by injury and some seriously crocked middle-aged men when they retire.
There used to be a correspondent calle John Reason, who always seemed to be very anti-Welsh. Mind you, that was in the Edwards/JPR era so almost everyone was who wasn't Welsh themselves.
Billy V is the same height (188cm) as me, but 126kg - so that's an extra 50kg of probably mostly muscle...
The prevailing narrative surrounding the size of professional rugby players is one of ever increasing mass.
It was with this in mind that Rugby Onslaught went about comparing England's 2003 World Cup winnng side with today's crop of players heading into the 2015 tournament.
And then something very odd started happening.
The 2003 team seemed to be heavier.
The maths weren't lying either. The 2003 weighed a total of 1537.2kg or 102.4kg per man - 4kgs heavier than the 2015 team that played Ireland, who weighed in at a total of 1533kg or 102.2kg a man - roughly 200g per man lighter than their 2003 predecessors.
The 2003 pack weighed an average of 111.3kg (17st7Ib), which was slightly lighter than the 112.1kg (17st9Ibs) pack of the 20015 side.
The only area of the modern team consistently heavier than the 2003 team was the backrow, where the 2003 gave away a total of 25kg to their modern day equivalents.
PS: So after 12 years, the England team have not gained in mass, despite a groundswell of opinion that would suggest otherwise. Yes, it's a comparison between a relatively small cross section of players, but interesting none-the-less.
Loosehead:
2003: Trevor Woodman 111kg
2015: Joe Marler 117kg
Hooker:
2003: Steve Thompson 118kg
2015: Tom Youngs 101kg
Tighthead:
2003: Phil Vickery: 125kg
2015: Dan Cole: 118kg
Loosehead secondrow:
2003: Martin Johnson: 118kg
2015: Geoff Parling: 117kg
Tighthead secondrow:
2003: Ben Kay: 112kg
2015: Courtney Lawes: 111kg
Blindside:
2003: Richard Hill 102kg
2015: Tom Wood 107kg
Openside:
2003: Neil Back 93kg
2015: Chris Robshaw 109kg
Number 8:
2003: Lawrence Dallaglio 112kg
2015: Ben Morgan 116kg
Scrumhalf:
2003: Matt Dawson 83.2kg
2015: Ben Youngs 92kg
Outhalf:
2003: Jonny Wilkinson 89kg
2015: George Ford 84kg
Left wing:
2003: Ben Cohen 103kg
2015: Jonny May 90kg
Inside centre:
2003: Mike Tindall 102kg
2015: Brad Barritt 96kg
Outside centre:
2003: Will Greenwood 100kg
2015: Jonathan Joseph 90kg
Right wing:
2003: Jason Robinson 82kg
2015: Anthony Watson 93kg
Fullback:
2003: Josh Lewsey 87kg
2015: Mike Brown 92kg
I read somewhere else [I can't remember where] that the increase in bulk increased drastically in the years initially following the game going professional but is now slowing down.
There used to be a correspondent calle John Reason, who always seemed to be very anti-Welsh. Mind you, that was in the Edwards/JPR era so almost everyone was who wasn't Welsh themselves.
I call tedious bigotry on that one.
Watched Wales several times in that era and there was full and proper respect for what was an outstanding rugby team.
There used to be a correspondent calle John Reason, who always seemed to be very anti-Welsh. Mind you, that was in the Edwards/JPR era so almost everyone was who wasn't Welsh themselves.
I call tedious bigotry on that one.
Watched Wales several times in that era and there was full and proper respect for what was an outstanding rugby team.
Well, I call one-eyed twattery.
I recall, with great amusement, the BBC lining up in the studio the entire England team that had last won in Cardiff before 26 (or something) years without an England wins. Must have been about 1987 or 89. Can't remember ('89, on checking the results). They were itching for an England win which is bloody poor from the British Broadcasting Corporation. I think England were after the grand slam as well. The two Roberts, Norster and Jones, played them out of the game. Hoist, petard.
There used to be a correspondent calle John Reason, who always seemed to be very anti-Welsh. Mind you, that was in the Edwards/JPR era so almost everyone was who wasn't Welsh themselves.
I call tedious bigotry on that one.
Watched Wales several times in that era and there was full and proper respect for what was an outstanding rugby team.
Well, I call one-eyed twattery.
I recall, with great amusement, the BBC lining up in the studio the entire England team that had last won in Cardiff before 26 (or something) years without an England wins. Must have been about 1987 or 89. Can't remember ('89, on checking the results). They were itching for an England win which is bloody poor from the British Broadcasting Corporation. I think England were after the grand slam as well. The two Roberts, Norster and Jones, played them out of the game. Hoist, petard.
Although it does seem a bit unfair on the Japanese that they have four days to recover after a very tough match whilst the Scots have it as their first match.I presume this is inevitable with 5-team groups?
First of all, though - come on Scotland!I'm cheering on Japan, in honour of Mrs B.
日本, 日本!
Billy V is the same height (188cm) as me, but 126kg - so that's an extra 50kg of probably mostly muscle...
Uini Atonio is 198cm and 152kg
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZN8x_oBwymA/UccNT_pIKtI/AAAAAAAABxk/PksNZ-QfPwA/s1600/uini+antonio.jpg)
Best just to let him carry on and not get in his way
I read somewhere else [I can't remember where] that the increase in bulk increased drastically in the years initially following the game going professional but is now slowing down.
Yes, I've read that too over the last couple of days.
Off to watch Scotland v Japan, tomorrow #twitchyYour brother has good taste. Where in Japan?
...
..and little brother is marrying a Japanese lass on 11th October...Mrs g & self off to Japan on 7th!
I said at the pub it'd be close. I wasn't believed.
I said at the pub it'd be close. I wasn't believed.
I don't know anyone who didn't think it would be close.
That was a game of two halves alright.
Now the big sponsors, and ITV, are having nightmares about the home side going out early, it's always a financial disaster when it happens.
That's an unusual score: Australia have, with only 10 minutes to go, notched up 53 points without kicking a penalty.Maybe they had no faith in their kicker! (he only slotted 5/11 conversions I think. that's pretty low for a quality side, isnt it?)
Off to watch Scotland v Japan, tomorrow #twitchyYour brother has good taste. Where in Japan?
...
..and little brother is marrying a Japanese lass on 11th October...Mrs g & self off to Japan on 7th!
Final score 65 - 3 with no penalties kicked. Surely a record?
Meanwhile, I have found out that the Samoan scrum half Mike Stanley used to play for Southend. Well there's a thing.
Fiji have a good chance of beating Wales, with all the Welsh injuries, but somehow......Well if WE couldnt beat Wales with all their injuries ... !
Fiji have a good chance of beating Wales, with all the Welsh injuries, but somehow......Well if WE couldnt beat Wales with all their injuries ... !
(More seriously) we certainly could beat Australia, and I think the bonus point situation is looking good; so its not all over yet. (I am certainly not betting on us beating AUS).
Fiji have a good chance of beating Wales, with all the Welsh injuries, but somehow......Well if WE couldnt beat Wales with all their injuries ... !
(More seriously) we certainly could beat Australia, and I think the bonus point situation is looking good; so its not all over yet. (I am certainly not betting on us beating AUS).
Wow, are you on on the English Rugby Team?
Mrs. Wow and I have just taken our GD to school. It was, unbeknownst to us, Rugby day, and all the staff and several of the children were dressed in bits of rugby kit. Different members of staff were dressed in different countries' kit, but I didn't see anyone dressed as Wales. I didn't have the heart to ask why, but I did hum "Bread of Heaven" quite audibly.
At Long Itchington at the weekend, the back room of the pub (our Skills Share area) was invaded by people wanting to watch the England/Wales game.
The room became very crowded after Charlotte had packed away her axes and other assorted sharps (They'd kept well away up until then ;D ) At a point when Wales scored there was a shriek of "Yessssss!" from the back of the room. The whole room of England shirt wearing locals turned round to glare.
Mrs. B shrank into her seat. "Oh my god", she muttered to me, "I'm turning native"
There seem to be a surprising number of Fiji supporters in Brum. :-X
How did England end up in a 'group of death', whereas NZ seem to be in a 'group of life' relatively? Just chance, or was simply England being too low in the rankings at a specific time?Dunno. But the fact is that Wales beat us. If we'd played them in the Semis there is no reason to imagine a different outcome.
There was a Graun piece I read today which was saying how well Fiji's scrum had performed in their two previous matches. Not consistently well, but on some scrums/lineouts they had embarrassed both England and Australia. And England, of course, dominated Wales in the set play last week.
Biggar hasn’t missed a kick throughout the entire tournament and he was not going to start doing so now.
<gogles>
According to WalesOnline, the GofD is Wales' fault, abnd WarrenG started moaning back in 2012:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/how-wales-end-up-same-9887142
25-10 to Wales.
... is it not the case that in the 6 Nations the final round games are played simultaneously?
Ah. Never been down that way. Closest to Kyushu I've been is Himeji, a bit west of Kobe.Off to watch Scotland v Japan, tomorrow #twitchyYour brother has good taste. Where in Japan?
...
..and little brother is marrying a Japanese lass on 11th October...Mrs g & self off to Japan on 7th!
Fukuoka initially then off to Beppu for ceremonies.
Two entertaining games this evening.
I hope that the rugby "powerhouses" find time in their programmes to invite some of the "lesser" nations to compete against them more frequently and meaningfully.
Actually I think I misread a comment somewhere and its Scotland who seem to holding players back for Samoa - probably wise!
Noone seems - IIRC - to have mentioned the obvious way to "game" the system:
e.g Scotland and RSA colluding to score 4 tries each. To mutual benefit.
(click to show/hide)
(click to show/hide)(click to show/hide)
(click to show/hide)(click to show/hide)
For the first half I persisted in the delusion that England had been unlucky. The second half persuaded me that I was wrong; they just weren't good enough. There was little imagination, and sadly lacking ball skills, in England's play.
For the first half I persisted in the delusion that England had been unlucky. The second half persuaded me that I was wrong; they just weren't good enough. There was little imagination, and sadly lacking ball skills, in England's play. The passion was there, most of the time. But they were outplayed by a superior team. Well done Australia; I hope you face greater challenges than this in this tournament - starting with Wales.
That was awful. If there was any justice in the world, both of these teams would be kicked out on aesthetic grounds, with Fiji and Japan allowed through in their stead.
As it is, Ireland qualify along with France, for the quarter-finals. Italy are knocked out on mathematical grounds, as they cannot pick up enough points to catch the other two now. And that’s about all there is to say about that dire slog.
The referees' pink shirts should be kicked out on aesthetic grounds, along with Wales's strip!To be fair, they do stand out - the players only wear pink on their boots.
It's very irritating that the media are focussing exclusively on England's failure, with mention no anywhere of Wales' and Ireland's success so far.Hear hear.
Can I whinge about the daft "away strip" decisions? Nothing new, I know, but ....+1
Why did RSA have to change when they played Scotland? Surely a green/yellow strip is perfectly distinct from a blue/white one.
Hrrumph ...
I'm supporting Samoa for the moment, & Japan against the USA regardless of the result of Samoa's next match. After that depends on those two results.For the first half I persisted in the delusion that England had been unlucky. The second half persuaded me that I was wrong; they just weren't good enough. There was little imagination, and sadly lacking ball skills, in England's play. The passion was there, most of the time. But they were outplayed by a superior team. Well done Australia; I hope you face greater challenges than this in this tournament - starting with Wales.
This. England weren't bad, they just weren't good. I shall now have to support Japan or even (shudders) Argentina.
The referees' pink shirts should be kicked out on aesthetic grounds, along with Wales's strip!To be fair, they do stand out - the players only wear pink on their boots.
Can I whinge about the daft "away strip" decisions? Nothing new, I know, but ....
Why did RSA have to change when they played Scotland? Surely a green/yellow strip is perfectly distinct from a blue/white one.
Hrrumph ...
It's very irritating that the media are focussing exclusively on England's failure, with mention no anywhere of Wales' and Ireland's success so far.Hear hear.
I
Someone even started a YACF thread about it! https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=93512.0
The referees' pink shirts should be kicked out on aesthetic grounds, along with Wales's strip!To be fair, they do stand out - the players only wear pink on their boots.
Can I whinge about the daft "away strip" decisions? Nothing new, I know, but ....
Why did RSA have to change when they played Scotland? Surely a green/yellow strip is perfectly distinct from a blue/white one.
Hrrumph ...
Oddly enough TLD asked this, and the only thing I could think of as a reasonable explanaton was that it would be a nightmare for blue/green colourblind people (zero contrast between the shade of green and the shade of blue)
(its gone very quiet in here. Are the YACF "welsh" gibbering in a corner about facing RSA, NZL, then AUS again?? )
Anyway ... We had a lovely day out in Twickers and RIchmond yesterday. Lots of australians "on tour" wearing matching yellow anoraks (which they claim they only wear in England)! Fan zone was surprisingly un-rowdy. And lots of non-ripoff prices :) Moving on to today:
Loved the final conversion attempt by Namibia.
And does anyone know what the graphics on the front and back of Romania's shirts are all about?
(its gone very quiet in here. Are the YACF "welsh" gibbering in a corner about facing RSA, NZL, then AUS again?? )
Anyway ... We had a lovely day out in Twickers and RIchmond yesterday. Lots of australians "on tour" wearing matching yellow anoraks (which they claim they only wear in England)! Fan zone was surprisingly un-rowdy. And lots of non-ripoff prices :) Moving on to today:
Loved the final conversion attempt by Namibia.
And does anyone know what the graphics on the front and back of Romania's shirts are all about?
Saw the last group match tonight.But what about the match? I found it entertaining.
Photos then comments...
Not as quiet as the English on here ....
Had a chat with Joe Launchbury's dad last night (he was on our Wednesday evening ride to the Swan at Three Mile Cross - nice pub). Disappointed, of course. Said Joe didn't seem unhappy with his own performance, but was deeply upset by the failure to get past the first round.
It would be wrong not to pay tribute to Paul O'Connell at this point, who will not be pulling on the green jersey of Ireland again.
In my book he is a complete legend and my primary role model as a grass roots lock forward.
One of the greatest leaders of recent years in any walk of life, a superbly skilled rugby player and a thoroughly decent bloke.
My first pint this weekend will be Guinness and I'll be raising the glass to the man.
It would be wrong not to pay tribute to Paul O'Connell at this point, who will not be pulling on the green jersey of Ireland again.
In my book he is a complete legend and my primary role model as a grass roots lock forward.
One of the greatest leaders of recent years in any walk of life, a superbly skilled rugby player and a thoroughly decent bloke.
My first pint this weekend will be Guinness and I'll be raising the glass to the man.
The question on everyone's lips is not why Wales lost but why some of the Springboks wore two blue boots, some two orange ones and some one of each?
If NZ and Aus are scheduled to meet in the final it should be a very good one. I didn't see today's match, but just looking at the tries scored tells you that one side is well ahead of pretty well anything else we have seen so far in terms of attacking flair. How will that match the defensive obduracy that Aus showed against Wales? I can't think that NZ will allow an opponent consisting of 13 players to go unpunished.
Well Scotland are making the aussies work for it at least..
My understanding is that the Scots thought the ball came off an Ozzie, so therefore it wasn't a knock on.Wouldn't have been, but it wasn't so it was. Mens rea doesn't come in to it.
What other decision could have been made? Knock on and caught by an offside player. Didn't see the sin binning. Scotland missed a conversion - that is what made the difference (oh, and capitalising on two mistakes by Australia that allowed them to get tries)
The knock on which lead to the sin binning was referred, IMHO [and several pundits'] the Scottish right wing's arm was already extended before the ball left the Aussie and there was no attempt to knock the ball forward. Knock on - yes, deliberate knock on - very doubtful, sin bin - very, very harsh!
I didn't see today's game, but Dan Lucas, the Graun's textist, reckoned that it wasn't a deliberate knock on, it shouldn't have been a penalty and it certainly shouldn't hve been a sin-binning. He also hoped that Joubert wouldn't be refereeing any more games.
Joubert is as much of a useless waste of space as André bloody Watson.
Argentina were bloody excellent, and Ireland were well beaten. I'm sure there was a degree of Argentina having nothing to lose, and Ireland having huge expectations on their shoulders to cope with (as did England and Wales), but this World Cup is ripping up the form book, and I think that's great!Indeed. Argentina has good backs now, not just forwards.
It seems proportionate to remember that he spotted a knock-on in the scrum by an Australian and so disallowed an Australian try. I'm glad I'm not a referee.
BBC says regulations wouldn't allow referal to the TMO. He had to call it then as he saw it, and clearly got it wrong. But for the missed conversion..
The TMO can only be used in the following circumstances:
Determining the grounding of the ball in-goal for a try or touchdown and/or whether players were in touch or touch in goal before grounding.
Determining whether a kick at goal has been successful.
Confirm if an infringement has occurred in the build-up to a try or prevention of a try (infringement must be within two phases of the try or touchdown).
Considering acts of possible foul play.
Japan & Argentina have grabbed headlines, but they're not the only teams to have played better than many expected.
It seems proportionate to remember that he spotted a knock-on in the scrum by an Australian and so disallowed an Australian try. I'm glad I'm not a referee.
I don’t think he saw that knock-on. I think it was spotted by the TMO.
IIRC the chat between ref and TMO was partly about a possible try. That seems to justify the TMO's involvement. (They concluded that a try was unlikely, as it happens).BBC says regulations wouldn't allow referal to the TMO. He had to call it then as he saw it, and clearly got it wrong. But for the missed conversion..
Yes, I've just checked and you [and the BBC] are correct.
World Rugby Laws state:QuoteThe TMO can only be used in the following circumstances:
Determining the grounding of the ball in-goal for a try or touchdown and/or whether players were in touch or touch in goal before grounding.
Determining whether a kick at goal has been successful.
Confirm if an infringement has occurred in the build-up to a try or prevention of a try (infringement must be within two phases of the try or touchdown).
Considering acts of possible foul play.
A gray area but under these regulations he then shouldn't have consulted the TMO with regard to the sin binning. There was no try, no foul play and by his own admission no infringement in the build up to a try [there was no try or likely try]. He had already indicated that there had been a knock on and scrum awarded to Aus. I think the TMO called in to Joubert which, under the letter of the law, he shouldn't have done.
World Rugby have said that the penalty was the incorrect decision and it should have been a scrum to Australia.... but taken in the context of sport, where players AND referees make mistakes, it's just bad luck.
World Rugby have said that the penalty was the incorrect decision and it should have been a scrum to Australia.... but taken in the context of sport, where players AND referees make mistakes, it's just bad luck.
(haven't read the report - I assume Scotland are still out?!? )
If Scotland had managed to hold their line-out and kicked the ball miles downfield then we most likely would be looking forwards to a semi-final against Argentina (which we’d probably have lost).
There were plenty of equally important decisions. Just cos they happen with an hour left, doesn't make them unimportant.
It's an 80min game. Of 2 halves!
It would feel very artificial - rather like the false drama of X-Factor - to use the TMO for any "last-minute" decision. [and how do you decide what is a "match-changing" decision?!? ]
YOU may think so, but the rules state otherwise! (see a few posts back for when the TMO is used)There were plenty of equally important decisions. Just cos they happen with an hour left, doesn't make them unimportant.
It's an 80min game. Of 2 halves!
It would feel very artificial - rather like the false drama of X-Factor - to use the TMO for any "last-minute" decision. [and how do you decide what is a "match-changing" decision?!? ]
TMO is designed to be used when the referee "can't be sure".
When the ball is pinging about at a failed lineout, through a bunch of flailing arms, and the final touch is so important, it's a clear case for the TMO.
Luckily though, in the end, we got the correct decision.
The one that led to Scotland losing :demon::thumbsup:
Luckily though, in the end, we got the correct decision. The one that led to Scotland losing :demon:
Luckily though, in the end, we got the correct decision. The one that led to Scotland losing :demon:
Luckily though, in the end, we got the correct decision. The one that led to Scotland losing :demon:
In the quarter finals :P
I suppose I would quite like to see the Pums beat the Wallabies for the novelty value and, well, it's Australia, isn't it? Otherwise I think I am pretty neutral. I am expecting a NZ v Aus final though.
What is this 'ITV' of which you speak ???
World Rugby have said that the penalty was the incorrect decision and it should have been a scrum to Australia.I thought this was a bizarre thing for the governing body to do.
I'm tempted to wonder why we're raking over this a week after it was the top story on the BBC Sport website.
Did I see noted Australian arse-owner and songbird Ms K Minogue drinking a pint in the stands during the first half?
Did I see noted Australian arse-owner and songbird Ms K Minogue drinking a pint in the stands during the first half?
Yup. Well, according to Mrs P.
I thought Nigel played a blinder.
Nigel was excellent. I think McCaw was sin-binned earlier in the competition, wasn't he?
Ah, the vertical scale on the image I saw made him look closer. So actually the best all round coach since Sir Clive. And he's been hounded out.
Hands up who wants the job?
I thinks it's more a case of which games he lost rather than how many.
Does that not tell you something about media pressure on England that perhaps isn't there, or at least, not so intense, on the other countries?