Thread: Any Rugby Union Fans?

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

I think Wales will win the group and play the runners up from the South African group which I have a funny feeling it will be Scotland.

You think Wales have a chance against the Aussies?

Wales had a good victory which puts them into the driving seat to qualify for the quarter-finals.

All down to how the Aussies play against both the Welsh & English.

Tony the Fiji game was very physical and by far the best Fiji team that I've seen the Aussies put out their first team against them and couldn't manage to get a bonus point, Wales have put themselves in a good position to qualify by winning their three pool games, I hope the Aussies beat England and that will mean we are automatically through and we would only be looking to play Australia for first or second spot, but If England win then It's still all to play for, good thing Wales now have a full 9 days rest before facing Australia.

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

Tony the Fiji game was very physical and by far the best Fiji team that I've seen the Aussies put out their first team against them and couldn't manage to get a bonus point, Wales have put themselves in a good position to qualify by winning their three pool games, I hope the Aussies beat England and that will mean we are automatically through and we would only be looking to play Australia for first or second spot, but If England win then It's still all to play for, good thing Wales now have a full 9 days rest before facing Australia.

I'm feeling positive for Saturday. Best case scenario England beat the Aussies and get the bonus points. Worst case we are beat and out then I hit the drink for the rest of the weekend. Fingers crossed lessons have been learned and it will be the prior.

All Blacks 43 - 10 win over Georgia wasn't convincing. The score doesn't reflect the game with the ABs struggling to find form. Not pretty, but we are through to the quarter finals.

Originally Posted by Grazor

All Blacks 43 - 10 win over Georgia wasn't convincing. The score doesn't reflect the game with the ABs struggling to find form. Not pretty, but we are through to the quarter finals.

Do you think they just switched off, as they wouldn't be tested against Georgia? Are is it a true dip in form?

I watched the highlights of the AB game and until the last 10 minutes it was still a pretty close game. Georgia played above themselves and the AB's probably thought they had that one in the bag before they kicked off, so the motivation was lacking.

If the Aussies win today, it will be the first time the hosts have been knocked out prior to the quarters. If England win, then the Wales v Aussies will be a do or die game for both.

Of course the Boks play Scotland today and that should determine the winners of the group.

Originally Posted by williamc

Do you think they just switched off, as they wouldn't be tested against Georgia? Are is it a true dip in form?

I don't think they switch off, and quite a few of the Georgia team are playing rugby in France which definitely showed.

So with England losing to the Aussies, I suppose William has been hitting the bottle.

Now to see who tops the group between the Welsh & the Aussies and I'll go with the Aussies (sorry Jamie ).

That will then match the Aussies vs Scotland and South Africa vs Wales in the quarters.

In the other groups, it looks increasingly likely that the quarters will be The AB's vs Ireland and France vs Tonga/Argentina.

The semi's will then look like Aussies vs SA & AB's vs France.

As an American who spends a lot of time in France, I've started to take an interest in rugby. We had a party here last night to watch the game, which wasn't even close. Ditto for the France-Canada game.

At this point, I find rugby more interesting than American football. Rugby is so much faster, with "turnovers" being such a large part of the game, it's surprising that it hasn't ever really caught on in the States. My theory is that this has to do with the lack of commercial breaks during the match (apart from the obvious half-time intermission). American television demands commercial breaks, to the point where the players are just standing on the field waiting for them to end, so they can go back to playing.