Rugby World Cup 2023

[Vacamion]

 

The draw is so lopsided.  Either of these destroy most of the other teams on the other side of the draw.

 

 

[Bert]

New Zealand didn’t look great did they. 

[EastAnglianFox]

Been a long time since I’ve seen an All Black side look this poor.

 

France haven’t even been that impressive but have made it look kinda comfortable.

 

Who the heck beats South Africa from here

[walkerleeds]

4 minutes ago, EastAnglianFox said:

Been a long time since I’ve seen an All Black side look this poor.

 

France haven’t even been that impressive but have made it look kinda comfortable.

 

Who the heck beats South Africa from here

 

Yep, South Africa beat France with a bit to spare imo

[Finnegan]

22 minutes ago, PhillippaT said:

Not a Whose Line Is It Anyway (first US version) fan?  

 

No but I just thought it if you flipped that and took it to it's opposite extreme then an enraged war dancing Etzebeth might be the most terrifying sight on a rugby pitch. 

[Finnegan]

10 minutes ago, EastAnglianFox said:

Been a long time since I’ve seen an All Black side look this poor.

 

France haven’t even been that impressive but have made it look kinda comfortable.

 

Who the heck beats South Africa from here

 

I wouldn't read that much in to an opening game in a heatwave. Both of these will probably be strong for the rest of the tournament. 

[Super_horns]

28 minutes ago, Vacamion said:

 

The draw is so lopsided.  Either of these destroy most of the other teams on the other side of the draw.

 

 

Exactly .

 

No wonder England are confident of doing sell despite being rubbish for example whereas these 2 could go out in the last 8!

[UniFox21]

43 minutes ago, Super_horns said:

Excellent although not sure having a 2nd set of officials after the original TMO would go down well !

 

The hosts kick off with a win.

Well deserved too .

 

 

It wouldn't work in football with how our foul system currently works.

Works well in rugby, gives 8 minutes to let the initial hype and pressure calm and to fully review the decision to determine an outcome. 

We simply don't have that type of pause or stop in football. Not like you can stop a game for 10mins to decide if it's a red when the player is still running around the pitch 

[Nalis]

South Africa are going to proper snore their way to another WC lets face it

 

Still think its going to be a NZ SA final

Edited 8 September 2023 by Nalis

[Finnegan]

59 minutes ago, Nalis said:

South Africa are going to proper snore their way to another WC lets face it

 

Still think its going to be a NZ SA final

 

Look at the favourite pretending he isn't

[purpleronnie]

9 hours ago, Nalis said:

South Africa are going to proper snore their way to another WC lets face it

 

Still think its going to be a NZ SA final

Not sure about that, I bet on south africa so....

[Nalis]

8 hours ago, Finnegan said:

 

Look at the favourite pretending he isn't

I'm happy to be arrogant with Ireland predictions in the 6 Nations but I dont care how good our squad looks, when it comes to the world cup I'm as unashamedly pessimistic as they come 

 

 

[Finnegan]

14 minutes ago, Nalis said:

I'm happy to be arrogant with Ireland predictions in the 6 Nations but I dont care how good our squad looks, when it comes to the world cup I'm as unashamedly pessimistic as they come 

 

 

 

Yeah I get it. But history is the only reason Ireland fans are trying to play it down. In actual current context you're probably the best team in the world. 

 

Would suggest you enjoy it while you can, a Razor lead NZ is going to be a very different beast. 

[Tommy Fresh]

The poor folk who love ITV1 are gonna be spamming Whats On TV with letters, they get wound up enough when the football world cup gets spread over a few channels. ITV 1 is straight Rugby for almost 12 hours

[SouthStandUpperTier]

All I'll say is that Edith Piaf is getting on my nerves already.

[Nalis]

These choir anthems can fvck right off especially for rugby, brass band all the way

[whoareyaaa]

2 hours ago, Tommy Fresh said:

The poor folk who love ITV1 are gonna be spamming Whats On TV with letters, they get wound up enough when the football world cup gets spread over a few channels. ITV 1 is straight Rugby for almost 12 hours

the people that complain are probably the people that like Rugby though.

 

Edited 9 September 2023 by whoareyaaa

[CosbehFox]

Found last nights game an utter bore. I say that as a former player. Think the sports is at a real cross roads 

[Finnegan]

14 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

the sports is at a real cross roads

 

Behave. First game of any sporting tournament is often an anti climax and a heatwave is never ideal conditions for rugby. 

[CosbehFox]

Just now, Finnegan said:

 

Behave. First game of any sporting tournament is often an anti climax and a heatwave is never ideal conditions for rugby. 

You can’t deny the sport has structural issues within at least four of the main Tier 1 nations

[SouthStandUpperTier]

13 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

Found last nights game an utter bore. I say that as a former player. Think the sports is at a real cross roads 

I was amazed at how much time is lost with the ball not actually in play. It's a problem that is by no means unique to Rugby, but it seems much more apparent/obvious in Rugby. So much time is lost organising and resetting scrums, organising lineouts, waiting for penalties and conversions to be taken, replacement players etc. It really stifles the flow of the game.

[CosbehFox]

10 minutes ago, SouthStandUpperTier said:

I was amazed at how much time is lost with the ball not actually in play. It's a problem that is by no means unique to Rugby, but it seems much more apparent/obvious in Rugby. So much time is lost organising and resetting scrums, organising lineouts, waiting for penalties and conversions to be taken, replacement players etc. It really stifles the flow of the game.

The thing is I think you accept that’s part of the sport but it’s lacking real characters at the moment to elevate it. The ultra professionalism which is rightly admired has also become a downside. 

 

I honestly think a lot of general public would struggle to name many players. Although most would have a good go at naming the England team as it’s stood still for five years 

[Finnegan]

22 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

You can’t deny the sport has structural issues within at least four of the main Tier 1 nations

 

Rugby definitely has its issues but I think "at a real crossroads" is a bit melodramatic, especially based on the opening game of a world cup being a bit cagey in 30 degree heat. 

[FoxyPV]

France looked so good

[Finnegan]

New Zealand B doing better today than the first team did yesterday.