Phew!
Rugby 2011 Rugby World Cup
- Thread starter teabagyokel
- Start date
Indeed
Not sure I've ever seen so many penalties missed in an international...!
That was pure torture. It seems like I was wrong about the smaller nations. Romania, Namibia and Japan really played some decent rugby and the Romania Scotland match was a real wake up call for Scotland.
Definate improvement required from England.
Definate improvement required from England.
Great game this morning, Wales falling short as usual though. SA are vulnerable when on the back foot, but Wales will get a physical grind against Fiji and Samoa, unless we can rip them apart early. Hope springs eternal.
Exactly. Argentina can be a tough team to beat, so the result was crucial. Onwards and upwards!
Well done to the Welsh boys today, ran the South Africans so close, still think that James Hook penalty should have been given
.
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And giving Wales an easier route to the final!!,Never mind the lack of flowing rugby ..... GREAT result for Ireland.
finally beating the Aussies at a World Cup!
Looks like we're going to have a North half of the draw and a South Half of the draw (assuming results go as expected
1 Half will be: Winner B [ENG], Runner-up A [FRA], Winner C [IRL], Runner-up D [WAL]
The Other lot: Winner A [NZL], Runner-up B [ARG], Winner D [RSA], Runner-up C [AUS]
1 Half will be: Winner B [ENG], Runner-up A [FRA], Winner C [IRL], Runner-up D [WAL]
The Other lot: Winner A [NZL], Runner-up B [ARG], Winner D [RSA], Runner-up C [AUS]
Wales-Samoa was a good game, Samoa came close but Wales edged it.
ramilas1
Podium Finisher
... although this bloke isn't happy!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/welsh/14968400.stm
I guess he has a point (about the IRB, no disrespect to Wales), but hardly the most diplomatic way of expressing it?
It is an important point that needs addressing. Since the 5 team group format kicked in in 2003, the "smaller" countries have been having to cope with this.
In future, it is going to cause more problems than it has already done. While rugby is not the closed shop that cricket is, it can still seem like an Old Boys Club who've drafted Argentina and Italy in to give everyone else hope.
Professionalism will see teams joining the top table. Argentina have already done so quite emphatically and Italy have got to a slightly lesser level. Georgia and Japan stand out as obvious candidates to be the next nations to step up to the plate. (In fact, Georgia vs Scotland suggested that they're not far off at all!)
The Rugby World Cup should have a theoretically equal chance for its 20 participants. The best way to do this is to (as football does) assign match dates before the draw to "positions" in each group and thus draw teams randomly into those positions. The times of the matches can still be adjusted to meet TV needs afterwards (a problem that if FIFA needed to address, at least doesn't).
For the 2015 World Cup, this would mean New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the Pacific Islanders getting "first refusal" on night games (so they'd be on in the morning in the East) with the Americas teams not kicking off before (say) 3pm. This is eminently do-able, and really, to be fair to its upcoming nations, should be implemented by the IRB.
In future, it is going to cause more problems than it has already done. While rugby is not the closed shop that cricket is, it can still seem like an Old Boys Club who've drafted Argentina and Italy in to give everyone else hope.
Professionalism will see teams joining the top table. Argentina have already done so quite emphatically and Italy have got to a slightly lesser level. Georgia and Japan stand out as obvious candidates to be the next nations to step up to the plate. (In fact, Georgia vs Scotland suggested that they're not far off at all!)
The Rugby World Cup should have a theoretically equal chance for its 20 participants. The best way to do this is to (as football does) assign match dates before the draw to "positions" in each group and thus draw teams randomly into those positions. The times of the matches can still be adjusted to meet TV needs afterwards (a problem that if FIFA needed to address, at least doesn't).
For the 2015 World Cup, this would mean New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the Pacific Islanders getting "first refusal" on night games (so they'd be on in the morning in the East) with the Americas teams not kicking off before (say) 3pm. This is eminently do-able, and really, to be fair to its upcoming nations, should be implemented by the IRB.
ramilas1
Podium Finisher
The FIFA World Cup does have an easier format with groups of 4 teams, so 2 matches each round played on same days.
The five-team-groupings do throw up the scenario that sombody sits out the first pair of games and has to play catch up.
I can see where the IRB are trying to have a middle ground between extending the competition to 24 teams (4 groups of 6 - more games, longer tournament and more one-sided games) or cutting it to only 16 teams (4 of 4 - same length of tournament, only weekend matches but 4 developing teams are excluded).
The problem with the rant by Fuimaono-Sapolu is that he doesn't come up with a viable alternative, so.......
Article quote: "The fixture schedule is more testing on Tier Two nations as World Cup organisers want to timetable the leading countries in prime-time slots to maximise commercial revenue.
It is understood the only way the IRB can solve the current fixture issue would be to reduce the tournament to 16 teams, which would undermine the desire to grow the game."
Now; if he'd said he felt the schedule was unfair to Samoa (and others) but it would, at least, be nice if the extra 'commercial revenue' generated by RWC/IRB was distributed inversely proportional to the teams disadvantaged, as opposed to those advantaged, it would give them extra funding to gain ground...... I could have agreed with him even moreso.
The five-team-groupings do throw up the scenario that sombody sits out the first pair of games and has to play catch up.
I can see where the IRB are trying to have a middle ground between extending the competition to 24 teams (4 groups of 6 - more games, longer tournament and more one-sided games) or cutting it to only 16 teams (4 of 4 - same length of tournament, only weekend matches but 4 developing teams are excluded).
The problem with the rant by Fuimaono-Sapolu is that he doesn't come up with a viable alternative, so.......
Article quote: "The fixture schedule is more testing on Tier Two nations as World Cup organisers want to timetable the leading countries in prime-time slots to maximise commercial revenue.
It is understood the only way the IRB can solve the current fixture issue would be to reduce the tournament to 16 teams, which would undermine the desire to grow the game."
Now; if he'd said he felt the schedule was unfair to Samoa (and others) but it would, at least, be nice if the extra 'commercial revenue' generated by RWC/IRB was distributed inversely proportional to the teams disadvantaged, as opposed to those advantaged, it would give them extra funding to gain ground...... I could have agreed with him even moreso.
I get were the samoan's are coming from with there argument, but surely they have had plenty of time to express there opinions to the IRB as the fixtures have been sorted for months now. Also if they had beaten Wales on Sunday then would they be moaning about playing two games in such a short space of time i very much doubt it.
Tomorrow morning, the 1st of October 2011, sees the kick off of the game of the tournament, so far. At least for England and Scotland fans anyway!
Saturday morning. Kick off at 08:30 hrs. ITVsomething.
To progress to the knock-out stages, England need to win, but may get away with a narrow defeat.
Scotland need to win by a minimum of eight points to progress to the knock-out stages.
Saturday mornings rarely get tougher than this...
Saturday morning. Kick off at 08:30 hrs. ITVsomething.
To progress to the knock-out stages, England need to win, but may get away with a narrow defeat.
Scotland need to win by a minimum of eight points to progress to the knock-out stages.
Saturday mornings rarely get tougher than this...
It's going to be a tough game. England have looked shakey at times and the Scots will be well up for it.
