RWC 2023

[Harry Genshaw]

By George that was a grand try by the Springboks then. Belting play

[Worthy4England]

Yeah, they're certainly in the top few, with a chance of winning it. Think the Scots will be a bit disappointed they didn't take certainly one of their first half opportunities...

[Worthy4England]

Feel a bit sorry for Scotland. If the finals pool groups weren't determined way in advance, they'd have been in the top 2 seeds for each group, so couldn't end up in same group as Saffers and Ireland...Whilst 9th and 10th seeds are in group C (Aussies and Wales) and both likely to go through from that group...

[TANGODANCER]

Thanks for the clariffication Worthy. I'm always willing to learn. Re line-outs,I meant when you chuck the ball in for that ariel ballet thing and hope you hit one of your own side.

[Worthy4England]

Thanks for the clariffication Worthy. I'm always willing to learn. Re line-outs,I meant when you chuck the ball in for that ariel ballet thing and hope you hit one of your own side.

You wouldn't believe how much they train that ballet.

Dunno about anyone else, I'm enjoying this Wales/ Fiji game!

Got the popcorn out!

[Prufrock]

Feel a bit sorry for Scotland. If the finals pool groups weren't determined way in advance, they'd have been in the top 2 seeds for each group, so couldn't end up in same group as Saffers and Ireland...Whilst 9th and 10th seeds are in group C (Aussies and Wales) and both likely to go through from that group...

Let's be honest that timing worked out well for us though

They must be looking at the Curry red card last night and the south African head on head in the first half that wasn't given anything and asking questions too.

[Worthy4England]

Yeah. Not very consistent...

Edit: I can see why it was given, but it feels overkill in light of some others...it was head first, but you have a shed load more reaction time on super slo-mo

[Prufrock]

Yeah not a fan of slo-mon replays for anything that's about dangerousness. Doesn't properly reflect it. Zoom in to see if something's grounded, or if someone offside has touched it fine. But not for that sort of thing

[Worthy4England]

Fiji been really unlucky on some of these calls. How Wales haven't had someone binned for continually fouling is beyond me.

[TANGODANCER]

Gonna be a few shock results I feel. The sports world has caught up the chosen few grand style. Saffers still look very sharp.

[Worthy4England]

Spot the difference...

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[TANGODANCER]

Thought the French score didn't quite do Uruguay justice. A cancelled try ? and hitting their own player with a clearance kick. French are razor sharp and very well drilled, but....

[Worthy4England]

Missed the game TD, but sounded like Uruguay put up a fight. I think France rested a few players and got some running into some second string legs

[Worthy4England]

C'mon Fiji. Big 40 coming up!

[Worthy4England]

And what a way to start the second half...

[Worthy4England]

Lovely stuff from Fiji.

[Worthy4England]

Whereas, pretty dire stuff from England...Best you can say about that half is "we're in front"

[TANGODANCER]

Not much to tell except as you say, we finished with a bit of a flattering scoreline. A scrappy untidy game, but we handled it better defensively. Slippery pitch causing handling errors and mistakes all round. Good job Courtneyt Lawes had his smarts about him to ground the ball after Joe Marlers "header", but overall we deserved the win. Hard to tell much from the game except our effort was good against a difficult side. We only really started to play in the last quarter. Clear as mud.

[Worthy4England]

Not much to tell except as you say, we finished with a bit of a flattering scoreline. A scrappy untidy game, but we handled it better defensively. Slippery pitch causing handling errors and mistakes all round. Good job Courtneyt Lawes had his smarts about him to ground the ball after Joe Marlers "header", but overall we deserved the win. Hard to tell much from the game except our effort was good against a difficult side. We only really started to play in the last quarter. Clear as mud.

It's often the case in Rugby, of either code, that the better team will pull away in the last 20 minutes. To give them some support, it wasn't great handling conditions, it was muggy and 26C (so pushing 80). Very draining, very damp ball etc. That said, I do question whether they had the game management right or whether they should have blasted it a little earlier...It felt pretty uninspiring and the real question is, was there a gear above the one they needed to beat Japan, that would beat anyone higher up in the rankings. That said 2 from 2 is fine as we've still got a tricky tie with Samoa to come who are just below Argentina in the rankings and usually have a few "tanks" available to them...

[boltonboris]

Rugby union is such a tactical game. I think sometimes you can deliberately limp through these games, so as not to show your hand, so to speak. Some of the play designs that you need to win games and score tries will be kept under wraps for as long as possible and saved for the games they're genuinely needed in.

From what I gather, we don't have any proper big teams on our side of the draw until the Semi's? Expect more of the same until then, if that is the case.

'keep the playbook closed' is probably the order of the day