Rugby World Cup 2023

[RonnieTodger]

2 hours ago, Finnegan said:

 

No. We're trying to grow the sport not shrink it. 

 

Look at the development of the South American sides over the last decade, look at the strides Portugal have made, look at Fiji and Japan over the last couple of world cups. 

Yeah that was my point with the last sentence.

 

Fiji and Japan would be there come what may, in fairness.

 

As a cricket fan, I agree on the point of it needing to grow. Twenty is just a crap number for a sport in which rest is so important. 

Edited 24 September 2023 by RonnieTodger

[Finnegan]

1 minute ago, RonnieTodger said:

Yeah that was my point with the last sentence.

 

Fiji and Japan would be there come what may, in fairness.

 

As a cricket fan, I agree on the point of it needing to grow. Twenty is just a crap number for a sport in which rest is so important. 

 

Yeah but tbh better for the developing nations to be there and to be treated somewhat less fairly on the scheduling than to not be there at all. 

[fuchsntf]

17 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Yeah but tbh better for the developing nations to be there and to be treated somewhat less fairly on the scheduling than to not be there at all. 

Australia are a developing nation…

 

Well done Wales,outplayed Aussies on the pitch & through the whole of France..

funny that oppo coach is called Jones…

[Finnegan]

@Izzy

 

 

 

[Izzy]

3 hours ago, Finnegan said:

@Izzy

 

 

 

Nice one mate. Will have a watch of this later 

[Finnegan]

Unless I'm forgetting something obvious, quarter finals all but sorted now no? 

 

Wales vs Argentina 

Plays winner of

Ireland vs New Zealand 

 

England vs Fiji 

Plays winner of

South Africa vs France 

 

[leicsmac]

1 hour ago, Finnegan said:

Unless I'm forgetting something obvious, quarter finals all but sorted now no? 

 

Wales vs Argentina 

Plays winner of

Ireland vs New Zealand 

 

England vs Fiji 

Plays winner of

South Africa vs France 

 

Remarkable that England are (probably) going to make a World Cup semifinal again with the form they have tbh (really can't see Fiji beating them again). Shows how ridiculous it was to have the seeding three years in advance.

 

Ireland-France all NH final perhaps?

[Finnegan]

4 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Remarkable that England are (probably) going to make a World Cup semifinal again with the form they have tbh (really can't see Fiji beating them again). Shows how ridiculous it was to have the seeding three years in advance.

 

Ireland-France all NH final perhaps?

 

I've had this conversation with a few people but I do think a lot was made of the timing of the draw that's a little bit over the top. Scotland in particular love a moan about it but they were in exactly in the same place in the rankings in December 2020 (when the draw was made) as they were in December 2022 (when it probably should have been made.)

 

England and Ireland having opposite fortunes is probably the only major change so I can understand the Irish being grumpy about having to play the world champions and Scotland but eh. Let's say they were reversed and Ireland had your group, they'll still have wound up having a semi final with France or South Africa. Doesn't make a massive difference at the end. 

 

And you'd have fancied your chances still getting out of a group with Scotland in it and Scotland would probably still be going home. 

 

And we'd still have had Fiji and Australia because, let's be honest, we get them in like every fvcking world cup

 

[leicsmac]

9 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

I've had this conversation with a few people but I do think a lot was made of the timing of the draw that's a little bit over the top. Scotland in particular love a moan about it but they were in exactly in the same place in the rankings in December 2020 (when the draw was made) as they were in December 2022 (when it probably should have been made.)

 

England and Ireland having opposite fortunes is probably the only major change so I can understand the Irish being grumpy about having to play the world champions and Scotland but eh. Let's say they were reversed and Ireland had your group, they'll still have wound up having a semi final with France or South Africa. Doesn't make a massive difference at the end. 

 

And you'd have fancied your chances still getting out of a group with Scotland in it and Scotland would probably still be going home. 

 

And we'd still have had Fiji and Australia because, let's be honest, we get them in like every fvcking world cup

 

Yeah, someone made the point that Wales have played Aus in all but 2(?) of all the RWC's.

 

Fair point on the draw tbh, I do still think England are going to be lucky not to have to play a "marquee" side (France, Ireland, Saffers, NZ) before the semifinal, but that's the way things roll sometimes, I guess, and I'm not complaining.

 

Hoping for an all-NH final.

[Finnegan]

13 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Hoping for an all-NH final

 

Did have to laugh, was giving a bit of banter to SH fans on social. 

 

But actually do still think there's a distinct chance of a NZ - SA final after all of this

 

I fancy South Africa to beat France, especially a France with no Ntamack and Dupont either absent or injured. 

 

Ireland - New Zealand goes one of two ways for me. Either Faz Snr gets it absolutely spot on with the balance in the build up and gets Ireland the most pumped they've ever been, really go out there flying, lots of fans, big backing, finally determined to put the QF hoodoo behind them and go out and make a limp Fozzy All Blacks look mid tier with a 20+ point win.

 

... or they bottle it

 

My best hope for Wales is the latter with Ireland doing what England did in the semi last time and just absolutely gassing themselves, burning it all a round before and then losing the subsequent game. If we get NZ in the semi let's be honest we all know how that's going. 

 

[Arriba Los Zorros]

40 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

I've had this conversation with a few people but I do think a lot was made of the timing of the draw that's a little bit over the top. Scotland in particular love a moan about it but they were in exactly in the same place in the rankings in December 2020 (when the draw was made) as they were in December 2022 (when it probably should have been made.)

 

England and Ireland having opposite fortunes is probably the only major change so I can understand the Irish being grumpy about having to play the world champions and Scotland but eh. Let's say they were reversed and Ireland had your group, they'll still have wound up having a semi final with France or South Africa. Doesn't make a massive difference at the end. 

 

And you'd have fancied your chances still getting out of a group with Scotland in it and Scotland would probably still be going home. 

 

And we'd still have had Fiji and Australia because, let's be honest, we get them in like every fvcking world cup

 

Saying this as a Wales fan myself that's a pretty one eyed and unfair take. Scotland, and to an extent Italy, have been royally screwed over. Having the top 2 ranked countries in one group and 3 and 4 in another is heinous when you have our pool with 8th being the highest ranked team in it, then facing the other weak group in the QFs. 

 

England, Wales, Argentina, Fiji and Australia were given an absolute dream draw to do something in this world cup, put any of those teams in any of the other pools and they get eliminated without question. 

[Arriba Los Zorros]

Who do we have as the winners? I still fancy SA although if France knock them out Ireland look well poised. 

 

going to be bold and say Wales will squeeze past Argentina, then somehow upset Ireland to make the final to get absolutely pumped by SA. 

[Finnegan]

1 hour ago, Arriba Los Zorros said:

Saying this as a Wales fan myself that's a pretty one eyed and unfair take. Scotland, and to an extent Italy, have been royally screwed over. Having the top 2 ranked countries in one group and 3 and 4 in another is heinous when you have our pool with 8th being the highest ranked team in it, then facing the other weak group in the QFs. 

 

England, Wales, Argentina, Fiji and Australia were given an absolute dream draw to do something in this world cup, put any of those teams in any of the other pools and they get eliminated without question. 

 

Our pool probably wouldn't be any different. 

 

We (Australia, Wales, Fiji) were 6th, 9th and 11th in December 20 and 6th, 9th and 14th in December 22. 

 

If anything we might have gotten an easier group with someone like Samoa or Italy instead of Fiji because the Fijians dropped in the rankings over the last few years. 

 

It'd be a pretty valid question to ask why the highest ranked nation is 6th when there's only 4 pools but that would have been the case whether the draw was made when it was or when it should have been. 

 

And like I said, Scotland's ranking was the same in 20 and 22 so they'd probably have wound up in the same pool. 

 

The bigger issue for me isn't when it was drawn. Even at the time or the draw, New Zealand and France were 3rd and 4th, they shouldn't have been in the same pool. 

 

Edit: so just to be 100% clear, my argument isn't that the draw is particularly good or fair, it's that the timing of it is overblown and overly focused on when, in fact, even at the time it was shit and it probably wouldn't have changed massively if done two years later. 

 

Edited 25 September 2023 by Finnegan

[BKLFox]

10 hours ago, Finnegan said:

@Izzy

 

 

 

He is correct, i can not look at him, i can not look at him with a straight face

[Sir Steve Howard]

2 hours ago, Finnegan said:

 

Our pool probably wouldn't be any different. 

 

We (Australia, Wales, Fiji) were 6th, 9th and 11th in December 20 and 6th, 9th and 14th in December 22. 

 

If anything we might have gotten an easier group with someone like Samoa or Italy instead of Fiji because the Fijians dropped in the rankings over the last few years. 

 

It'd be a pretty valid question to ask why the highest ranked nation is 6th when there's only 4 pools but that would have been the case whether the draw was made when it was or when it should have been. 

 

And like I said, Scotland's ranking was the same in 20 and 22 so they'd probably have wound up in the same pool. 

 

The bigger issue for me isn't when it was drawn. Even at the time or the draw, New Zealand and France were 3rd and 4th, they shouldn't have been in the same pool. 

 

Edit: so just to be 100% clear, my argument isn't that the draw is particularly good or fair, it's that the timing of it is overblown and overly focused on when, in fact, even at the time it was shit and it probably wouldn't have changed massively if done two years later. 

 

You're wrong here mate, Wales (4th) were seeded in top band for the pool draw as seedings were based on 1st Jan 2020 (!!!!).

Wales and England seeded above Ireland and France, let that sink in.

[Finnegan]

4 minutes ago, Sir Steve Howard said:

You're wrong here mate, Wales (4th) were seeded in top band for the pool draw as seedings were based on 1st Jan 2020 (!!!!).

Wales and England seeded above Ireland and France, let that sink in.

 

You know what, I'll put my hand up here, I forgot about that part. I remember them doing the draw in December and completely spaced on when the rankings were taken from. 

 

Makes far more sense. My bad folks. 

 

[Izzy]

16 hours ago, Finnegan said:

@Izzy

 

 

 

I quite like this chap 

 

I suspect he's slightly on the spectrum but sounds like he knows his stuff. Really admire his passion!

[Finnegan]

1 minute ago, Izzy said:

I quite like this chap 

 

I suspect he's slightly on the spectrum but sounds like he knows his stuff. Really admire his passion!

 

His knowledge of Northern hemisphere is terrible. He gets a whole bunch of stuff wrong about Wales but he's deeply knowledgeable about the Wallabies and the Aussie Super Rugby teams. 

 

And yeah I'm not sure what my read on him is. He's definitely super passionate but I'm not sure if he's doing a bit or if he's a tiny bit irregular. 

 

I love the bits where he just stares at the camera for an uncomfortably long time

 

[Nalis]

The winnners of the pool c and d qfs are going to have a lot of confidence and belief behind them, dont think its a forgone conclusion that the pool a/b teams will automatically win.

 

Still though, sticking with the Boks to win the whole thing

[Tielemans63]

 

Not usually a fan of these things, but this is pretty apt.

[Finnegan]

On 25/09/2023 at 20:32, Nalis said:

The winnners of the pool c and d qfs are going to have a lot of confidence and belief behind them, dont think its a forgone conclusion that the pool a/b teams will automatically win.

 

Still though, sticking with the Boks to win the whole thing

 

If New Zealand beat you, I think they might sneak the whole thing tbh. As I said earlier, my hope is you beat them but do "an England" and absolutely gas yourself in the process. 

 

But honestly, the two years we've had, just getting to a semi would be a great result. 

[grobyfox1990]

https://www.jerseyreds.je/news_article/jersey-reds-financial-challenges-lead-to-club-ceasing-trading/

 

Jersey reds, top of the second tier last season, cease trading. I believe they are funded through a few people based here as a 'labour of love' - so hopefully this is just a smoke screen to get said dudes to pay up. Hope so as well, really boring sport but they do the corporate side really well and we are regulars there, due to be there next Friday v Ealing

[Super_horns]

Japan beating Samoa .

 

Sounds like there has been more inconsistency over the head to head tackle situation.

[RonnieTodger]

12 hours ago, grobyfox1990 said:

https://www.jerseyreds.je/news_article/jersey-reds-financial-challenges-lead-to-club-ceasing-trading/

 

Jersey reds, top of the second tier last season, cease trading. I believe they are funded through a few people based here as a 'labour of love' - so hopefully this is just a smoke screen to get said dudes to pay up. Hope so as well, really boring sport but they do the corporate side really well and we are regulars there, due to be there next Friday v Ealing

Horrendous really. I get the stadium argument but they and Ealing should have had chances to play in the Premiership.

 

Lack of meritocracy in English rugby is a big reason I’ve lost interest in Tigers. 

[grobyfox1990]

27 minutes ago, RonnieTodger said:

Horrendous really. I get the stadium argument but they and Ealing should have had chances to play in the Premiership.

 

Lack of meritocracy in English rugby is a big reason I’ve lost interest in Tigers. 

Yeh the stadium is a shed. Rumour is they have killed off the club to get the land sold off for a hotel development that has been blocked for years, then the club will form again.

Either way there’s absolutely no chance it’s due to a lack a funds, that’s a bare faced lie. There’s so much wealth on the island and people love the club. They could have a whip round upstairs on a match day and raise a few hundred k.