To be fair, England are no chance minnows as well, when was the last time they threatened to even get to a final, light years off the best teams and simply making up the numbers at tournaments despite the media orgy. 53m population, supposed football country, massive underachievers, would be even worse if it wasnt for immigration.
Aye Northern Ireland have romped it in style, not as if they scraped through, defies logic with the the players they have right enough. Ireland will probably finish 3rd, be surprised if Poland dont beat them in Warsaw tonight.
Exactly, they were a real suprise packet, O'Neil has got the best outta them for sure. Definitely an uphill struggle still for Ireland regardless of the Germany win. At least we have the safety net of a play-off so I would like to see us expressing ourselves tonight and have a go, as I said, if we lose at least we have that play - off there anyway. I'd not fancy a 2 legged play - off vs any of those sitting around 3rd In other groups. Ireland never make it easy anyway but one thing they will do is fight and scrap it out until the end and hopefully with lady luck they can get there.
Ding Dong in the RWC in a moment- Ireland v France for the chance to play Argentina instead of the All Blacks in the QF!
The Irish Caesarewatch is extremly tough as you would expect.I'm going to side with Silver Concorde but it's wide open.
and jumps boys, the flat starts at the craven meeting, the jumps starts at the open meeting these are simply the facts had the displeasure of seeing that lottery race at Chepstow yesterday, what a shambolic sight for the eyes btw, and reality hit hard that we only have Ascot, Keeneland and Sha Tin left before its non stop cheltenham build up.
Brilliant, what a game little horse. All these big types came at him and he just said "**** you, you're not beating me". Cracking stuff.
The reason English people are universally disliked is because of the ignorance and arrogance of a minority.... embarrassing.
Just seen this Ron and it does explain a lot and leaves me even more convinced of my immediate view after the race, which was that this was not the same emotionless who contested his previous two races, and whilst I can accept he may not be a match for Air Force Blue who was very impressive, I could in no way accept that he is inferior to every other horse in that race as the result suggested. I hope as the report suggests that he will be back healthy and well for the spring.
Never seen a horse less ready. Ignore Nicholls bumper runners, nothing more than an exercise canter that.
Probably a keyhole surgery Blue. Whether he will be a factor in the 2000 Gns though is anyone's guess. A lot depends on how bad the chip is and how easy it is to get out. We bought a horse that had a chip and hadn't had surgery at all. The vet advised that although we could choose surgery (in which case we would have knocked £1,000 off the price before buying) it was best to leave it unless it started to cause a problem. Never did and he ended up representing GB in France on several occasions. I reckon he got knocked in the race. The fact that he didn't appear lame yesterday could indicate that it is minor and a simple op to remove the chip will have little or no affect on his ability. However, there is a tendency for connections to understate injuries so I wouldn't be rushing to back him just yet
