Those of us with a fondness for the 15 man game are about to spend the next 6 weeks overdosing as the third biggest global sporting event kicks off on Friday evening with England playing Fiji at Twickenham in the so called group of death. This is the first time England has been the main host of the event since 1991. Feel free to post predictions, observations, memories of previous tournaments and relevant articles / vids etc. Obviously I hope England win but my money is on the Australians who have won the previous two torunaments where the final has been contested on British soil. The wumming has started already http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ru...orld-Cup-says-Blacks-legend-Ali-Williams.html
LOL - 'their' offside rule is definitely easier to understand than 'ours' and makes a great deal more sense these days too. England to beat Fiji by 25+ points but a brutal game on Friday. Fiji are great at 7's, a joy to watch, but lacking a bit of discipline in the full game. Overall winners? Not a clue. I think it will come down to discipline and who concedes the least penalties at any given match. I don't think England will win it, alas.
Yes NZ poor you My dad's second wife was a Kiwi and it used to be murder when they won big games - some tend not to be the most gracious in victory.
The offside rule is simplicity itself. Draw a line through the ball laterally across the pitch. Any player in front of the line is 'off the Side' and not entitled to play it. Logically this explains the need to pass behind oneself. At the scrum, ruck or maul the offside line is drawn through the feet of the rearmost player in the bunch, because of course the precise location of the ball is usually unclear. Logically this explains the requirement that a player joins the ruck or maul from behind. Joining from the side would be from an offside position. There are special conditions at the line out too. A player in an offside position can get back 'on the side' by retreating behind the ball or waiting for the ball carrier (or kicker) comes past him. That's my take on it anyway, haven't read the laws since I ran a rugby team 35 years ago on my first teaching post.
Don't get me started about Welsh rugby, particularly the WRU. In the pool stages, I like to watch matches between the minnows as they know they are unlikely to qualify and those are their finals - usually the excitement makes up for the relatively poor quality. I then watch the big teams when the knockout stages start.
Rugby is fairly straight forward when it comes to offside. In football the rule has been designed to allow everyone to criticise the ref. it is the offside rule in cricket that really confuses me.
Not particularly happy with Nigel Owens speaking up about refereeing football. Never been a great fan of his and appears to have an ever expanding ego which isn't good for a referee in any sport. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34251778
I love both games but get really annoyed about people from within rugby using football incidents as a reason to try and take the moral high ground. Have to agree about Owens - much too fussy for my liking and certainly isn't shy of publicity. Never been the biggest fan of Alain Roland but you wouldn't see him give that type of interview
"I'm afraid they'll be down to five a side by half time" Best he goes away and learns the laws first.... you can't play with less than seven on one team.
Quite simply there is abuse and dissent in football because generally they are allowed to get away with it despite there being laws to punish it. Would Wayne Rooney and co run 50 yards to scream and swear at somebody in any other public place (unless drunk maybe)? When was the last time you saw a player being booked for what they say? (They get booked for kicking the ball away but never for verbal dissent) Also if you sent off one player in football you'd have to send everyone off as that rugby guy says which might sound good but he'd get abused even more! In rugby giving away 10 yards at a penalty or getting sin binned is quite an offence to suffer and cost your team quite a bit. Anyway the key seems to be England coming top of their group to give us a chance otherwise its another disappointing tournament. I thought Ireland could get to the final as New Zealand and South Africa would clash in the other semi but not so sure now..
Also I hope we don't get endless chit chat about the value and moral rights of each sport as actually its unfair on the players and fans who just want to see some good games. It's rugby's big show so the talent on the pitch should be talked about the most.
going back to your other post Mark, 20 odd years ago some players did get sent off for swearing. I have no idea why it changed but it could be changed back anytime especially as it still happens in the amateur game as far as I am aware.
They probably still do in the non league as well but the refs are probably too scared to enforce it at the top level. You could have all sorts going on if one player got sent off but another didn 't..
The tournament has not begun but if I hear one more SW trains announcement telling everyone to plan their journey because of the world cup I think I might scream!
Well today's the day - come on England. In 2003 Watford's opponents on the same day as the final were West Ham at the Vic. Guess who it is on 31 October?. Just saying...
