The WC seedings were ridiculous, having been set 3 years ago! Based on the last 12 or even 24 months, the top four seeds would surely be Ireland, NZ, South Africa and one of France, England or Scotland. Ireland, SA and Scotland were in one group! So the competition loses two favourites and wastes two great games at QF stage! Rugby Union is forward thinking in many aspects of the game, but this administrative ****up was totally avoidable.
The fact that twelve teams have already qualified for the next Rugby WC by virtue of finishing in the top three spots in their groups - yes, four teams eliminated in the first round still qualified for the next one - underlines just inept their seeding and qualification processes are
I'm surprisingly enough really enjoying the Cricket World Cup, partly because it happens to be available on an app I got for other reasons. I'd prefer T20, but ODI is nice. It starts before the crack of dawn and goes on and on, providing pleasant, interesting entertainment. I'm reading up on cricket terms. I have a VAR opinion as a result. If you can create a simulation which can decide challenges, great. Otherwise, no VAR. In cricket and tennis, the challenge system and the ensuing simulation actually enhance the interest of the game for spectators as well as providing better decisions. The interesting point is that while the simulations can't be perfect, it doesn't matter. All that anyone asks is that they're definitive and impartial. So, a challenge system and simulations for offside and probably handball (use stick figures and body angles to determine if the hand is too far from the body). No review for pens during the game. Consider issuing retrospective bans if a player won a pen with a dive, or fouled a player in the box without being penalized. One change I'd make is to use North American protocol for calling penalties, which is, do it instantly, or as near to instantly as possible. First guess, best guess. And you don't give players the chance to exercise their thespian skills.
South Africa currently 227 - 3 against England.....probably a fair indication of the likely result in the rugby!
England didn't lose against SA! Just fewer points turned out for England on the night! If that was the Final it would have been different #Tamworth&MidBeds
Bookies have always been crooks, but now they're just taking the piss. The police should've nicked this twat for wasting their time. Absolutely blatant.
Very poor batting. Started well with the ball, but Root missed a chance to catch Kissel Mendis off Willey. Hard to defend a score of 156 - especially in India. A miracle needed
England’s mistake was picking the same players who won in 2019 despite the majority being over 30 and past their best - especially the bowlers, although the batters have failed too. Most of those players were around 30 in 2019 and at their peak. Their tactics worked in England. But they needed to be more savvy in India. Traditional English seam and swing bowlers are useless after the first few overs - see Woakes and Curran. Spin is needed in the middle overs. You need more than Rashid. Batters can’t go hard from the start; you need to play yourself in and play smart. Batting is always easier in India when the ball is older and softer England’s batters never hung around until conditions suited them. They never realised that most pitches are batting friendly, but you need to build an innings. See off the danger, then build steadily. The big scores happen when teams are able to go hard in the last 10-15 overs. England were never in a position to do that. Replicating 2019 was a one dimensional tactic which didn’t work. And Buttler isn’t a patch on Morgan as a captain.
So Fury got a big wake up call. An opponent who didn’t want to be held by him or allow him to dominate the centre of the ring. Makes Fury v Usyk less likely to happen any time soon.
I think Fury will be very happy with the press that it got. He won, made plenty of money, created lots of hype and can now cash in on a rematch. Before or after Usyk remains to be seen.
Afghanistan have been a revelation. Set to beat Netherlands and go joint 4th with NZ with 8 points from 7 played. And they have to play NZ. I doubt they’ll beat them, but they have a chance. It would be a great story if they got to the semis.
A new one on everybody - first time ever in international cricket. The batter has to be ready to face his first ball within two minutes of the last dismissal. Shame the law is so harsh on the batting team when the fielding team seems to be allowed to go at a snail’s pace. If equally draconian punishments were meted out to fielding teams for slow over rates, we might actually get through 90 overs in a day in Test matches.
