Rugby World Cup 2015

[TANGODANCER]

I see only Sky Sports have got tonioghts unfriendly against France.

i think the beeb have highlights somewhere...

i'll go check..

hang on...

aye! 11:45-12:45 tonight - BBC1

Thanks. An hour's highlights sounds decent.

[TANGODANCER]

Tough battle, we won and some good stuff in defence and three good tries, but a bit distressing to see us gift the French nine points from penalties(their kicking was excellent) Never professing to know too much of the game, I've still been watching England for a fair old while. I just wonder exactly how many penalties we've actually given away over the last few years?

[jaffka]

It was a physical battle and for the most the French pack were on top. That should be down to the respective selections though, theirs closest resembled a first choice 8 than ours. Still it allowed our backs to show what they are capable of without a dominant pack in front of them and they did do very well.

Slade was man of the match and his centre pairing Burgess also impressed, he showed good physicality and aggression and tackled really well. Wilkinson said the players he was knocking over from his experiences in France knows they are very difficult to knock over. His flaws at centre though are going to be inexperience as per the sin binning and a lack of pace.

Players needing to be worried are LCD, both locks Parling and Kruis and Corbisiero.

[TANGODANCER]

I always get the gripes when the French are running at us. Their possesion and passing game coupled with swift attacks always cause concern. Had we not got the early lead I felt we could have been in trouble yesterday. That said, they're a good side and it was a creditable win for us. I also noticed our line out throw-ins deteriorated later in the game. Did we swap the guy throwing the ball in?

[jaffka]

I always get the gripes when the French are running at us. Their possesion and passing game coupled with swift attacks always cause concern. Had we not got the early lead I felt we could have been in trouble yesterday. That said, they're a good side and it was a creditable win for us. I also noticed out line out throw-ins deteriorated later in the game. Did we swap the guy throwing the ball in?

Yes, Luke Cowan-Dickie plays for Exeter, he has a strange mullet hairstyle. He is young but didn't seem able to handle the occasion and probably blown his chance of making the final squad. It's an area where Hartley is reliable but he has been cast aside already.

Yesterday was like a stereotypical role reversal, we had the flair and they had the muscle. Next week in Paris I think our pack will be closer to the first choice eight.

[Worthy4England]

Delighted to know that I can still get tickets for England v Uruguay @ City of Manchester Stadium from Official Website. Fairly standard seat - think East/West Lower @ the Macron.

Snip at £250 a pop....

It makes the "bog standard" hospitality ticket for England v Wales at Twickers look fairy competitive @ £895....

[jaffka]

Delighted to know that I can still get tickets for England v Uruguay @ City of Manchester Stadium from Official Website. Fairly standard seat - think East/West Lower @ the Macron.

Snip at £250 a pop....

It makes the "bog standard" hospitality ticket for England v Wales at Twickers look fairy competitive @ £895....

Now that is expensive!

Club issued tickets have gone. Good to see the rfu have kept some aside for open sale.

[Worthy4England]

Delighted to know that I can still get tickets for England v Uruguay @ City of Manchester Stadium from Official Website. Fairly standard seat - think East/West Lower @ the Macron.

Snip at £250 a pop....

It makes the "bog standard" hospitality ticket for England v Wales at Twickers look fairy competitive @ £895....

Now that is expensive!

Club issued tickets have gone. Good to see the rfu have kept some aside for open sale.

Yeah - the "cheap seats" at the Council House are £50 a pop - can see the value in that, just about, for Uruguay in a World Cup, but £250 - think they're going to have some left over at this rate.

[jaffka]

Delighted to know that I can still get tickets for England v Uruguay @ City of Manchester Stadium from Official Website. Fairly standard seat - think East/West Lower @ the Macron.

Snip at £250 a pop....

It makes the "bog standard" hospitality ticket for England v Wales at Twickers look fairy competitive @ £895....

Now that is expensive!

Club issued tickets have gone. Good to see the rfu have kept some aside for open sale.

Yeah - the "cheap seats" at the Council House are £50 a pop - can see the value in that, just about, for Uruguay in a World Cup, but £250 - think they're going to have some left over at this rate.

Which would be a dispointment.

Although the rfu do have a tradition of giving away free tickets, armed forces personnel usually benefit from it.

[TANGODANCER]

Any news of a stream tonight? I don't have Sky and they've grabbed the rugby just like everything else.

Edit: Think I found one at: http://streams.tv/channel/1717-france-2/rugby" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jaffka]

I have sky so sorry cannot help.

Our pack should do better this week.

Big game for Burrell as its anticipated that him along with twelvetrees are going to be dropped.

The ossies named their 31 today, going with only 2 scrum halves and horwill dropped.

[TANGODANCER]

Really hope this is a game of two halves, because we were pretty dismal that one. Same old giving away silly penalties, bad put ins at line outs and giving possesion away. Buck up lads....

[Worthy4England]

I'm off to the Ashes thread to cheer myself up. France playing decent. England woeful.

[TANGODANCER]

Finished up a real game that we were short of five more minutes to possibly win. 25-20 at th end and we played a lot better. First half we didn 't get withing twenty yards of their line. Might just be English bias on my part, but the French are real masters at appealing to refs for everything. Arms out wide, that distressed vinegar smelling face that looks just short of tears and of course, the Gallic shrug. We were our own worst enemies at times mind. And Mickalac? I thought he went to grass years ago?

Edit: Oh, and that pitch? Must have had the cosistency of a bale of straw in parts. Pretty bad for international level.

[jaffka]

That pitch was shit and verging on dangerous at times.

The final score in my opinion doesn't reflect the dominance of the French but Paris is a tough place to play and win.

Not so often you see an England pack pushed off the ball in a scrum but it happened last night.

More seemed to go wrong than right, the line out clearly needs addressing. However in context although it was a test match it was still a warm up game and that's the time to get the mistakes out of the system.

Players missing out in my prediction will be cipriani, twelvetrees and burgess. I think Burrell will get the nod over Burgess this time due to experience.

[jaffka]

England's 31 announced today.

[Prufrock]

Rumours Burgess is going to make it at the expense of Burrell.

Not that surprised to see Burgess make it, but surprised it's at the expense of Burrell!

[KeyserSoze]

[jaffka]

Not many surprises really. The main one being Burgess and Burrell contending for the fourth centre spot. Interesting that our probable first choice centre pairing of Barritt and Joseph have played twice together.

Cipriani unlucky but realistically he was up against the not good enough at top international level Goode for the back up full back.

It's at hooker and open side flanker where England's worries are.

[Worthy4England]

Not many surprises really. The main one being Burgess and Burrell contending for the fourth centre spot. Interesting that our probable first choice centre pairing of Barritt and Joseph have played twice together.

Cipriani unlucky but realistically he was up against the not good enough at top international level Goode for the back up full back.

It's at hooker and open side flanker where England's worries are.

Yup. Set piece lineout was atrocious, last week.