Rugby 2011 World Cup

[Brahmsian]

Hello,

Is anyone following the 2011 Rugby World Cup?  I've watched a few of the matches (England vs. Argentina), a bit of the (Ireland vs. USA) and late last night I watched Canada (far from a Rugby powerhouse) defeat Tonga 25-20 in Canada's first match!   

[Lethevich]

Yip, the only ballsport I care about The England and Ireland matches were scrappy, Wales/SA, who knows, Australia is looking good.

[springrite]

After three matches, Japan is at -115. I wonder what the record is for the group stage.

[Sef]

After three matches, Japan is at -115. I wonder what the record is for the group stage.

Take a look here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Records_and_statistics_of_the_Rugby_World_Cup

Japan are doing quite well this year in comparison to earlier years! You've had worse stats after 1 game.

[Papy Oli]

ouh la la....took a lesson from the All Blacks this morning. that was painful 

[Sef]

ouh la la....took a lesson from the All Blacks this morning. that was painful 

That you did. Looking forward to a quarter final match up on the 8th! Surprised and not surprised at Scotland too. They had that one won and threw it away (and OK, Contepomi was well offside, but it was a bad drop goal attempt).

[Papy Oli]

and a further lesson from Tonga.... 

this French team is a disgrace... total apathy on this game...it's a world cup for goodness sake..what other motivation do they need  

[Sef]

and a further lesson from Tonga.... 

this French team is a disgrace... total apathy on this game...it's a world cup for goodness sake..what other motivation do they need  

Hey, England were not much better. What a quarter final to look forward to - not!

[Sef]

I was IM'ing a French colleague this morning. He was dismissive about France's chances and said that he wished Wilkinson was playing for them. Although I tried to argue that his form has been pretty poor of late, and that he is probably playing only for the psychological impact against the French, the only response I got was, "It's working".

There's an interesting blog on the BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tomfordyce/2011/10/revamped_england_ready_to_blit.html that talks about this "strange paranoid universe" in which England's very inability to perform is seen as proof of their likelihood of reaching the final.

Weird!

[Papy Oli]

Nice of our froggies to turn up this time.... great fight for 80 minutes on both sides, edge of seat stuff... 

Moderately chuffed 

[springrite]

Nice of our froggies to turn up this time.... great fight for 80 minutes on both sides, edge of seat stuff... 

Moderately chuffed 

After the two minor league simis, time for the real stuff tomorrow. 


PS: Merely echoing Vanessa, my ALL BLACK SUPPORTER wife's sentiment.

[Sef]

Nice of our froggies to turn up this time.... great fight for 80 minutes on both sides, edge of seat stuff... 

Moderately chuffed 

Congratulations! Didn't manage to see the game - my VPN account stopped working last night and I could only wait until about 3pm this afternoon before succumbing to peeking at the score! Not totally surprising. My support for England was more one of hope against hope than anything else based on the group stages. I think you've got your work cut out against Wales though, and they in turn will have their work cut out against the ABs. That' my prediction!