Well played Australia, gave England a right old thrashing. Sod this, must renew my interest in tiddlywinks and pétanque. Erm, giving away nine penalties (I think it was), is this nothing to do with discipline? Come on now.
Small margins boys. If you'd have beaten Wales (as you should have done) tonight could have been a different story. The pressure told in tonight's performance. It literally was last chance saloon.
All I can say is thank God I don't have to watch that rubbish again. Who invented this stupid game? Catch the ball, run into a pack of opposing players, get mauled to the ground, everyone piles on and takes an age to tear themselves away. On top of that England are useless FFS.
Didn't affect the result but the TMO insisted on the sin binning of Farrell over ruling the on pitch referee. One of the things that drew me to rugby union from football in my teens was the respect shown to the referee who was always right even when he was wrong. Both teams tonight at times were encouraging the ref to engage with the TMO. I don't like that. That said there was a brilliant rebuke from Nigel Owens in an earlier game this afternoon. The Scottish fullback made a bit of a meal of a late tackle when he wasn't touched. Owens called him out and told him he wasn't playing soccer and to come back to St James' Park in a few weeks if he wanted to cheat.
The difference between the two teams were the back rows Glad sir Clive brought up How stupid it is having Armitage not being allowed to play. The gap between him and robs haw is vast
Woods absolutely fine as our 6. If you think there's a better player in England please flag him up because I've not seen him.
We've been playing this brand of lumbering multi phase nonsense for years...forward based set piece reliant garbage. It's ****ing mind numbing to watch and the game has moved on,we haven't. South Africa were always hard up front and at times methodical but they always had another aspect with explosive backs when needed. The coctail we have been searching for rather than the flat half of lager shandy we continually get served time after time. Nothing to do with sin binning..we were outclassed in our own back yard. All credit to Australia..well played.
Sorry the guys missed out, but have to say that the England fans on this forum took it well and had no problems congratulating the Wallaby team. Gentlemen one and all.
Say's cyc...as he sits in his armchair, cigar in the right hand, glass of sherry in the left...smiling wryly as he look's to the heavens!
Long way to go yet STH, Aust. need to beat Wales or risk a game against South Africa in the quarters. If the Wallabies top the pool and South Africa do the same, then we get to play Scotland. So still a lot to play for yet.
You'll beat Wales, and then Scotland pretty easily IMO, and I don't see any of the Irish, French, or Argies giving you any bother in the semis either. We're atleast as good as all those sides and you rolled us over easily so I think you've got an easy passage through to the final. The only sides that'll give you a game are the other 2 Tri Nations. Though as you won't see them til the final I think your a good value bet at 7/2 to win it. I'm almost tempted to have a few quid on myself
Ron, this is no time for levity from English folk but, really, you should not allow yourself to be tortured like this. Now let's see, if it happens again, adjourn with some of your cyber technology to the stables, hook everything up, shove in a DVD movie that you like, and watch-along with a few of your equine Arab friends, dogs, cats, et al. Just don't watch my own self-torture film "It's A Wonderful Life", which seems to descend on me every Christmas season. I usually try to disable the TV to avoid this damn black-and-white thing which seems to have been following me around for ever. Even the cat is fed-up with it. Enjoy your visit to Longchamp today btw, back all the winners including the big one!
Very poor peformance there from Ireland but fair play to Italy the made it tough.We will have to up our game if we are to be the French next week.
Has there ever been a more obvious final than Australia v New Zealand or will one of them get a shock in the semis? Usually happens in the RWC.
It does look like those 2 will contest the final. Australia have made massive strides in 12 months. As for a shock how about Japan to sneak into the quarters? Scotland only have to beat an out of sorts Samoa to finish ahead of Japan but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Pacific Islanders put in a much improved performance in their last game. They'll need to stay on the right side of the ref which they haven't managed so far. Japan should take care of USA in their last game.
England didn't play well but it should really be all about the Wallabies. Fantastic peformance and had it been against anyone else I'd have spent half the game appluading.
Had a look at the handicap against Wales for next week. Its +7 for the Aussies. Generally these handicaps greatly favour the team with the start. In this case I feel the opposite, but is the danger Australia will put out a weakened team? Bit risky in doing so if they want to ensure topping the group. If they send out their best 15, I'll be going heavy on them to beat Wales by over 7.
I don't think Michael Cheika will take too many chances against Wales, there is too much on the line. Does he want to play South Africa or Scotland? But all teams now have to rely on the squad as there is no chance that the top 15 can play all games. Big time juggling from now on.
I think the Aussies will do to Wales what they did to England, so -7 does look generous. I'd of had the handicap at around double that. It's not just an easier quarter for the Aussies if they beat Wales, it's also likely an easier semi as it puts them on the opposite side of the draw to the All Blacks. So it's a huge game for both teams. Wales will be thinking if they can pull off the upset that they'll then have a very good chance of making the final. So I don't think either side will be resting players
