Japan to finish bottom of group B is my nap. 11/8 is some price, should be odds on. On Milner skudder at 33-1 top try scorer
Everyone seems to have got the best prices on skudder, 33s and 20s, shame ye didnt post that up when he was thoses prices a MONTH ago...8s and 9s now BP
Can only speak for myself cyc - People that like the sport are looking forward to a decent tournament and there's varying levels of optimism about England. People who don't like it will most likely moan about it taking over one of the 89 million TV channels they have access to for a couple of nights a week over the next month or so. I doubt anyone will realise it's taking place outside of the games being on. This weekend i'm just as bothered about Watford's chances up at Newcastle and how the roos will do in Sydney!
Strange that you should mention that Swanny. Not long ago, I watched some stuff about Al Jolson. He seemed to have some odd quirks about him, one of which was the need to be the centre of attention all the time. That famous scene in the Parks' film, where his missus loses confidence coming down the stairs in a show, and he jumps up and sings to get her confidence back, was bull ****. She had no problem at all, he was just jealous and wanted some of the limelight. Anyways, he was an avid punter who often visited the track, and according to friends who went with him, he needed to be seen as a successful punter, so often backed every horse in a race just to say he had the winner. One day I hope to be able to afford that kind of life style.
Saw the pre-game anthem nonsense and it did appear that the England team all sang (or at least mouthed the words). That might have been expected with Wills, Kate and Harry in the stands and most of the team being public school boys!
The soccer fans who want video technology to be used more widely should take note of this first half. Yep all the decisions are correct but it ruins the flow of the game.
They're all whinging and moaning about the referee changing his mind about awarding Figi a try when he seen the replay on the screen. I really don't see what the big deal is, the correct decision was made, so I don't get all the whining about it. If a wrong decision was made you would never here the end of it, and now there having a go at the ref for looking at the replay and changing his mind, so it seems referees in general can't win. There was no way he could of seen that the ball left the guys hand without the replay, when there's a crowd of players infront of him. Anyways was a pretty good game, Figi are a better side than I thought. Was pretty funny watching us trying to bring down the big 20 stone lad they have when he got through a few times
Fiji are a right handful and are very adept at stealing the ball. Had they converted their penalties things would have been a lot closer after 60 minutes? They tired a bit last 15 minutes I thought. England, well, a bit laboured sometimes, I thought? Will have to do a lot better. KingShergar, do spell Fiji correctly, that is insulting to this proud little nation. Very sloppy from you.
Important bonus point win for England so we got what we needed which is pleasing. The performance needs to be elevated against Wales and Australia though. A few of the weaknesses in our game were highlighted again- ruck speed (got turned over way too often), and we didn't make enough of the simple yards and break the gain line- we seemed to go wide a bit too early and I think we needed to earn that right a bit more. I'm not convinced about George Ford- looks a bit in and out and I'd have liked to have seen better decision making from him yesterday. I just think if we aren't picking a flashy back line (Barrett at centre) then perhaps Farrell should be the one who plays as he is a terrific goal kicker and a good leader. You then have the creative options off the bench if required through Ford, burgess etc. But job done and over if we are going to iron things out it was important we learn the lessons before Aus and Wales rather than during!
Nice summing up Toppy. This was always going to be tricky against a physical and very dynamic opponent. The discipline was worrying as were the turnovers but the good thing was they never panicked at 18-11 and found a way to close the game down. Plenty to work on this week which I dont think is necessarily a bad thing. Must say I thought singing Swing low during Fiji's pre match routine was poor form. Better to just enjoy the spectacle IMHO
I was at the game behind the posts. The issue isn't ford, the issue is Barrett. After about 25 mins he started crabbing across the field not holding any defenders so England ran out of room every time we went wide. When burgess came on he ran straight and the space opened up. Rugby 101 but the England coaches missed it which is more of a concern for me.
Japan beat the Springboks...what the hell great to see a victory for the minnows but I don't think anyone would have predicted that!
