leicsmac Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 I think you need to remember that the autumn internationals, while tests, are end of season exhibitions for the SH. In a world cup year, most of their internationals will focus their entire year on peaking their form, fitness and conditioning to be ready for the WC. No disagreement there. However there has only ever been one WC which had an all SH final (1995) and considering it's being held in the NH I don't expect a repeat.
Nalis Posted 2 March 2015 Author Posted 2 March 2015 Surprised people are writing us off for the world cup though, home advantage is huge. In 5 of the 7 World Cup a host nation has reached the final and England have major form of overachieving in them. I have to agree with this. From looking at the groups, I reckon the semi final line up will be England v Ireland and NZ v SA with a NZ v England final. As an Irish guy, I'd definitely rather play SA or Australia in latter stages of this years World Cup than England.
Finnegan Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Don't agree with that at all. Twickenham should hold no fear for that Irish side. This isn't the England of eight years ago, this is a young, developing side that gets a wake up call after every step forward. Result in Dublin couple years ago, slapped in Cardiff. Visa versa this year. Throw in Courtney Lawes getting stripped by Scott Williams in Twickenham the other year. I don't want to be overly negative, there's promise that Lancaster could be slowly building a generation that could have a good six or seven years strong run the same way Gatland has/had (I think he's been found out and needs to reinvent himself tactically or risk wasting a lot of guys in their prime) but I just think this is still too early. Nobody should be scared of this England side. If it wasn't for that useless second half from Wales in Cardiff I still wouldn't even be backing them as favourites to get out of a very tough group. If those were the semi finals, I'd expect Schmidt and Sexton to grind out another 7 - 10 point win and take Ireland to a WC final.
leicsmac Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Don't agree with that at all. Twickenham should hold no fear for that Irish side. This isn't the England of four years ago, this is a young, developing side that gets a wake up call after every step forward. Result in Dublin couple years ago, slapped in Cardiff. Visa versa this year. Throw in Courtney Lawes getting stripped by Scott Williams in Twickenham the other year. I don't want to be overly negative, there's promise that Lancaster could be slowly building a generation that could have a good six or seven years strong run the same way Gatland has/had (I think he's been found out and needs to reinvent himself tactically or risk wasting a lot of guys in their prime) but I just think this is still too early. Nobody should be scared of this England side. If it wasn't for that useless second half from Wales in Cardiff I still wouldn't even be backing them as favourites to get out of a very tough group. If those were the semi finals, I'd expect Schmidt and Sexton to grind out another 7 - 10 point win and take Ireland to a WC final. Were it anything but a WC knockout match I'd agree with you...but England and France have a tendency of ekeing out results against the other NH sides when it comes to the business end of World Cups. You could be right though - it will be interesting.
Finnegan Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Like I said, the England of 2003 and 2007? Definitely. But this is a much different squad. A country doesn't have a mythical special ability. You don't get to world cup finals because "you're England" you got there because you had an amazing generation of some of the hardest working, most solid professionals around. 2007 you got to the final hideously, playing turgid rugby with some crap, sub standard backs. But you did it with a brilliant core of Cory, Moody, Kay, Sheridan and Vickery, all backed up by Johnny and his monotonous boot. You don't have those players now. Ireland do. I get fed up of hearing myths and clichés perpetuated when they're long expired. Like the ones about French flair and not knowing which France will turn up. I said at the start France are shit and lo and behold, France have been shit. Rugby isn't some sort of poetic story that will always be the same, it's as forecastable as any other sport and right now France are shit, Ireland are peaking (albeit ugly), Wales are as inconsistent as Le Bleu were, England are the team in transition and Scotland... well, Scotland are still shit.
Steven Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 I get fed up of hearing myths and clichés perpetuated when they're long expired. Not only about Rugby.
Finnegan Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Not only about Rugby. IT'S NOT A ****ING YORKSHIRE ROSE. Woah, sorry, sorry.
leicsmac Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Like I said, the England of 2003 and 2007? Definitely. But this is a much different squad. A country doesn't have a mythical special ability. You don't get to world cup finals because "you're England" you got there because you had an amazing generation of some of the hardest working, most solid professionals around. 2007 you got to the final hideously, playing turgid rugby with some crap, sub standard backs. But you did it with a brilliant core of Cory, Moody, Kay, Sheridan and Vickery, all backed up by Johnny and his monotonous boot. You don't have those players now. Ireland do. I get fed up of hearing myths and clichés perpetuated when they're long expired. Like the ones about French flair and not knowing which France will turn up. I said at the start France are shit and lo and behold, France have been shit. Rugby isn't some sort of poetic story that will always be the same, it's as forecastable as any other sport and right now France are shit, Ireland are peaking (albeit ugly), Wales are as inconsistent as Le Bleu were, England are the team in transition and Scotland... well, Scotland are still shit. Fair comment. We'll all find out soon enough. But I think one cliche holds true - rugby is a game played for 80 minutes and then the All Blacks win.
Finnegan Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Haha, I'll give you that one and this year... it's Savea time.
Guest MattP Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Are New Zealand that far superior? Odds against to win it still, a grand on pays 2 and a half back.
Finnegan Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Lump it on and if you win I'll have a pint or twelve.
Guest MattP Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Lump it on and if you win I'll have a pint or twelve. Cheers mate
Finnegan Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 You're welcome... unless they bottle it then I'm leaving the country.
GaelicFox Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Of course we are, we're at home. An ill-disciplined performance away from home today (standard 6 nations fair for England) doesn't change that. Plus England, unlike Ireland, tend to consistently perform at World Cups. 10 times the population of Ireland and 12 times the number of rugby players as we have in Ireland and still we out play yea and win without really sweating Twickenham won't phase these Irish boys can't see England making semi finals , have a young team and they have a future , but coach is a bit of a fraud to be honest
Nalis Posted 2 March 2015 Author Posted 2 March 2015 4.5m people live in New Zealand. Rugby union is by far and away the national game there though. You could argue that Rugby Union in Ireland is probably the 4th most popular in terms of participation.
Guest MattP Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 4.5m people live in New Zealand. And when you go there you see why they are so successful. The country lives and breaths the sport. I stayed in Devonport which is a small suburb of Auckland and they had a huge photo of Devonport Rugby all age groups in the ferry port - it had about 600 kids on it. It's everywhere, it would be impossible to live there not liking rugby from my experience.
BlueSi13 Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 10 times the population of Ireland and 12 times the number of rugby players as we have in Ireland and still we out play yea and win without really sweating Twickenham won't phase these Irish boys can't see England making semi finals , have a young team and they have a future , but coach is a bit of a fraud to be honest Congratulations, you beat us for the first time in four years. Come back and brag when you've won more 6 Nations titles, Grand Slams or World Cups than England . But joking aside your first line illustrates why most England fans will never consider Scotland, Wales or Ireland as significant rivals in any sport. If England win it's 'oh you should beat us' but if we lose we never hear the end of it (Sunday being the perfect example). It's pretty tiresome TBH .
GaelicFox Posted 2 March 2015 Posted 2 March 2015 Congratulations, you beat us for the first time in four years. Come back and brag when you've won more 6 Nations titles, Grand Slams or World Cups than England . But joking aside your first line illustrates why most England fans will never consider Scotland, Wales or Ireland as significant rivals in any sport. If England win it's 'oh you should beat us' but if we lose we never hear the end of it (Sunday being the perfect example). It's pretty tiresome TBH . The English always find it tiresome being average , bad losers , and thank god for that as we would all be speaking german otherwise At least your rugby captained by an English man , the one day boys at cricket captained by a useless traitor
Finnegan Posted 3 March 2015 Posted 3 March 2015 And when you go there you see why they are so successful. The country lives and breaths the sport. I stayed in Devonport which is a small suburb of Auckland and they had a huge photo of Devonport Rugby all age groups in the ferry port - it had about 600 kids on it. It's everywhere, it would be impossible to live there not liking rugby from my experience. Sorry, I should have been more clear. I agree with both of you. That's generally the point I was making, population isn't everything. There are other factors. I didn't bring up population, I was responding to someone else.
DANGEROUS TIGER Posted 3 March 2015 Posted 3 March 2015 New Zealand will of course be the team to beat, while South Africa look strong. The Aussies are having a tough time of late, but that could change. Anyway, I expect New Zealand to do their stuff again, and lift the World Cup. Ireland could be a dark horse.
Lionator Posted 3 March 2015 Posted 3 March 2015 The 2013 game between Ireland and New Zealand said it all. Ireland probably put in their best performance in history that day yet still lost at the final whistle to a knackered kiwi side, that's how far ahead they are. If NZ aren't to win it then they'd have bottled it again.
StanSP Posted 21 March 2015 Posted 21 March 2015 Italy doing England the first favour of the day so far. Giving Wales a great game, defending well, and currently in the lead 13-11. Halfpenny took a knee to the head in a tackle (his own fault) and probably won't come back on.
Finnegan Posted 21 March 2015 Posted 21 March 2015 Winning by a point at half time. Got to murder them in the second. Good news is Italy will run out of stamina and we typically have one shit half per game and can't get much worse. We're not going to lay down a marker, though, we're pretty much out of this. Just crap really, haven't turned up.
purpleronnie Posted 21 March 2015 Posted 21 March 2015 Is there any reason why the kick off times are staggered, gives England a big advantage knowing what score they need to win....not that I'm complaining.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.