Official 2011 Rugby World Cup Thread

England looking under pressure...hopefully Georgia's goal kicker can get more penalties over next half and take advantage of that yellow card given against the Poms.
 
England : 41
Georgia : 10

England not very impressive.

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No way the Poms are coming even close to the final if they continue to play like that. Georgia played out of their skins and with a decent kicker it could have been a completely different story.
 
Canada have put on a good show against the French.

The french 2nd string have been dissapointing bar a few players.
 
Well played Frenchmen... the last 10 minutes that is ;)

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Been looking at the log now myself. We really don't want to win our pool but it might be difficult and/or risky to try and "throw" a game. We currently on 9pts so a bonus point win against Namibia takes us up to 14pts with Samoa on the 30th. Wales have 5pts with Namibia and Fiji to go, a bonus point win against Namibia takes them to 10pts and then they play Fiji on the 2nd of October. That's after we've played our last pool game. If Wales beat Fiji with a bonus point that takes them to 15. If we lose to Samoa without a point we on 14 and Samoa moves to 14 as well or 15 points if they beat Fiji with a bonus point on the 25th. I tell you what there still a mountain of permutations for this pool. Considering anything other than victory against all opposition may be too risky!! I guess a lot also depends on what Samoa do against Fiji. A win without a bonus point leaves them on 10 points with SA to come. Bonus points could decide who finishes where or alternatively we send our A team, beat the crap out of them and put them out of the world cup and take our chances with OZ and NZ. I would also prefer "the high road" though, which now looks like Ireland QF and Eng/Fr SF but this "underperform" strategy is not without risks...
 
There will be no under-performing, B-team or game throwing strategies necessary. Having pondered this situation through the weekend, I have come to realise a few things:
(1) Australia sucked arse. They sucked it so hard, that their very one dimensional game betrayed their Achilles' heel: change the weather, and they're screwed. Sure, we have no control over the weather...
(2) New Zealand is good. Really good. And hard. And tough. Nobody is going to walk all over them at any stage of this competition. Any opposition that crosses their path will be beaten, except maybe France as they have a mental block around the French. No matter what, we will have to beat them at some stage to life the trophy.
(3) Whoever wins this contest will need to be the best not just on the day but consistently. The winners will have to deserve to win.

Now, let's return to the route. If we take some sort of half-baked come second approach to get to the final, and then lose to NZ, we will have deserved that loss and we would not be able to hold our heads up high with pride because it will mean we did not earn a second. We got there through cowardice! I'd rather lose with honour to OZ in the QF than shame in a final. That, and OZ suck. And we can beat the crap out of them and they know it and we know and we will do it. Period. Australia will cross the Tasmanian in early October.

Whatever route we take, we will bump into NZ. And they can and do choke. And we have BMT. And they know we can kick their arse just as easily as they can ours. On the day, we need to bury them. And I would rather bury them in a SEMI where the emotion is weaker than it will be in a final. They'll be easier to undo in the semi.
 
John Smit got his black eye from playing Ching-Chong-Cha with Bismarck.

Bismarck chose fist
 
BobsLawnService said:
We need top keep an eye on that permanent overlap on the right.
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See how the person in the outside centre "herds" them back into traffic? Saw naas or someone also mention it, this against NZ / France / Aus will have one of two results, an intercept try for us or an easy-ish stroll in try for them...

SinghDude said:
FDP ...butter fingers
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Sad to say but yes he had a VERY average game, it does not change the fact that I will still give him the next two games to prove himself.
Better than Ruan Pienaar who stood by the first TWO rucks that he had to clear and watched as we lost the ball..... :mad:

Stickfigure said:
Not if Morne keeps on missing. Plus he's going to be kicking into the wind 2nd half so more misses to follow.
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Lol, give him a break he made two tackles so all his energy is spent :p:D

SinghDude said:
Smithy was pretty solid today... Bismarck being his normal monster self :)
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+1. Smith was really good imo, but Bismarck was still better.

But as someone suggested with our bench being able to WIN us the game from a position where we are trailing by 9 or less, I am not sure that I would change it just yet :)
 
MickeyD said:
Third time 49 points has been scored in this group....

/sniffs bookies!!! :p
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Lol, bookies whom have no imagination :D

dabbler said:
Anyone here hoping the Irish beat the Ausies?

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Well for SA I did not wish it but I just hate the Aussies soooo much :p

sandmanm34 said:
F uck it's either that or oz in the quarters followed by nz in the semis. Good god who wants that road to the final?
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Although I did not wish it on us and it really does make the road to the final (not even saying winning it) 4 times as hard, I still feel that that is the way the cookie is crumbling, we must just step up and hope for that bit of luck :D

alf101 said:
NZ will lose without Carter. The end.
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If Carter is injured NZ's chances halve to win the WC imo. Against a team with solid defence and that can keep the score board ticking (aka the boks) a Carterless NZ will suffer if their goal kicker is not on par.
 
sandmanm34 said:
http://www.supersport.com/rugby/springboks/news/110919/Potential_flyhalf_crisis_for_Boks
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With flyhalf Butch James missing training on Monday -- ostensibly because of a hip flexor -- and Pat Lambie running with the injured squad thanks to a wrist injury, it came as equally bad news when incumbent flyhalf Morne Steyn was confined to bed with flu.

Steyn tweeted about his illness, giving the reason why he was unable to train in the cold and wet: “Not a great day for me today.....sick in bed!!Thanks for the great support by everyone, appreciate it! Short week for us.....Cheers everyone”

REVAMPED MIDFIELD

Which means that by default the Boks don’t have a fit flyhalf and may be forced to look at Ruan Pienaar, or even Frans Steyn to fill the void if all three flyhalves are deemed too risky to play against Namibia.

The Boks are set to continue with their revamped midfield and lock combinations but have given no clue as to what they will do with the rest of the team. Several players -- including Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Danie Rossouw, Heinrich Brussow, Fourie du Preez and Steyn -- missed training on Monday but there are no real injury worries among them.

“We’re just a bit bruised…the body is a bit sore,” Burger laughed when asked on the sidelines after the bruising Fiji encounter.

Meanwhile Pienaar said he was looking forward to the stadium in North Harbour, a ground which he describes as a “great surface” for kickers. Pienaar added that Namibia would provide some stern opposition even though they were considered minnows by the rest of the world.

"They try to play a good brand of rugby. They're willing to throw the ball around a little bit,” Pienaar told journalists.

"There's a couple of guys who are playing rugby overseas and in the Currie Cup that we know.

"They have lost their first two games but have really been positive in the way they've played. They are asking a lot of questions of the defence. It's going to be a good challenge."
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Maybe we could play brussouw at Flyhalf :p:D

In all seriousness this would be a problem if it was not Namibia we were playing. If we beat Namibia with a bonus point etcetc (I am sure we will), then we can relax a bit for the game against Tonga and filed a B-Team as we will still go through to the semis no matter what.
 
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Devill said:
Maybe we could play brussouw at Flyhalf :p:D

In all seriousness this would be a problem if it was not Namibia we were playing. If we beat Namibia with a bonus point etcetc (I am sure we will), then we can relax a bit for the game against Tonga and filed a B-Team as we will still go through to the semis no matter what.
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Taking into account injuries, my backline for the Namibia clash:

9 - Hougaard
10 - Pienaar
11 - Ndungane
12 - De Jongh
13 - Fourie
14 - Pietersen
15 - Aplon

3 on bench (Steyn/Steyn, Du Preez, Lambie/James)
 
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