9 point lead for Scotland 5 minutes to go. They were very lucky to play Japan after that pathetically short turn round. The Aussies and Welsh will go for it tonight for the chance to play the Scots....or the Japanese as the Samoans claw a try back - 3 points in it 2 minutes to go....
Lucky bastards,but what a fabulous match to watch!Well done Watford,have you had a bet on the next game?I've gone large on the Aussies,time to get the brandy out!
****ers have gone from 2-0 up at half-time to 3-2 down. In their defence they've made me a lot over the last few weeks
Brutal stuff at Twickers, Aussies have 2 in the bin deservedley and coaches will show their defence to generations of kids, holding out with huge skill and courage with the ball less than 10 yards from their own line for now over 10 minutes, including two 'held up' tries from the Welsh. And now with one player still to come back, they go up the other end and score a penalty to go 15-6 up with 8 minutes to go. Outstanding. Now let's see how the Welsh cope with one man binned. Bravo to both teams (who both played much better against England, bastards. Or England allowed them to play better, probably) complete commitment when they could have opted to save themselves for the quarters. Great entertainment for a tryless game, and Australia's defence was simply epic. By winning this group they deserve to go all the way.
Great match wasn't it. The defending by the wallabies when they were down to thirteen was outstanding. The Scotland match was one of the most enjoyable matches I've watched in a while as well. I doubt that tonight's game will match today's for drama or entertainment, but here's hoping.
Thoroughly enjoyed both games today. Not sure I will watch all of the England game, not feeling up to scratch after a week of working far too hard a long way off. What's happened to the board, you can see the tumbleweed blowing through? Is Swords banned again, or on one of his self imposed exiles?
He's decided to take a couple of weeks off, he should be back in the next day or so. As for the board it's a bit quiet but that's probably due to the International break as well as the reflection of the R's performances on the pitch. We could do with a thought provoking thread or two. Must dash as I'm just going off duty, I need to get home for the match.
Well done to the Aussies for their courageous display in holding out Wales. Well played both teams for their defence. Perhaps the greatest 'tryless' game of all?
A couple of minutes to go Iin Manchester and for some reason I really would like Uruguay to score a try just for the amature ethos.... also huge respect for the Aussies. ..those 10 minutes when they were down were quite incredible.....the defence was awe inspiring.
I only managed to see the 2nd half due to being 'dad the cab' when I got home. I quite enjoyed it. It was good to see the Exeter lads doing well.
You wonder why some of them waited so long for their chance, Slade in particular should have been in from the start. Amazing what Exeter have done over the past 6-7 years and Rob Baxter should be in the frame for the England job when Lancaster finally gets what's due...
It's been good to see some of the Rugby Union. However I am now fully converted to the Rugby League format and would take that over a Union game any day of the week. In union these days, tries don't seem to count for much unless you can push the ball over the line. The ball rarely goes wide across the line for the backs to run in. We always have the reverse pass back into the melee of bodies so that the forwards can pile in and try to push the ball over. The trouble is it takes nobody by surprise at this level. When England were forced to try it against the Aussies, we learn't that they had forgotten how to pass accurately. League is faster therefore exciting to watch, the players are infinitely fitter and so far as I can see it's much cleaner. Rucks,. mauls, line outs missing and none of that pointless kicking which seems to have as its only purpose, the opportunity to give the players a rest and for the winning team to run down the clock after 2 minutes have been played. I would abolish it like the pass back to the goalie in footie.
The two codes are distinctly different and I agree that League is a much higher tempo game. Last night's Grand Final was a cracker as have been quite a few of the games over the season. Union has become a game where teams seem to be doing their best to get the opposition to concede penalties rather than have a flowing game. It's one of the reasons teams like Fiji, Samoa and the like are so entertaining but described as naïve...
Amazing defence from the Aussies and they deserve huge praise for that. However, Wales really should have found a way through with a TWO man advantage. If that had been England they would have been criticised to the heavens for not making a breakthrough!
[/QUOTE] If England had 80 minutes against a 13 man Australia they'd still probably use it trying to smash down the middle
