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Rugby World Cup 2023

fucthest8 said:
So the serious point about these last two games for Fiji is they have shown a real tendency to go back to "old Fiji" - playing as individuals, fucking up the basics, throwing the ball around with abandon when what's needed is calm heads.

Lovely try, lovely conversion, good work Portugal!
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I think they will be up for England , and they beat us in the warm ups. I wonder about their fitness though and how that might affect them
 
Elpenor said:
Antoine Dupont has been passed fit by the doctors to play in the quarter final against South Africa.

Expect an early high tackle on him to test how healed it really is
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It's going to be a beast of a game, can't wait :cool: I'm less excited more bag of nerves about Saturday's 8pm fixture :eek:
 
Ireland marginal 1 point favourites with the bookies. Until we actually go and win a quarter final with all the pressure and history that comes with it I can’t see us as favourites. Especially against New Zealand.
 
All four quarter finals are very hard to pick.

I did some thinking on this and a potential winner

Ireland are the most complete team, but have a few injury concerns. Challenges will be QF hoodoo and beating France at the Stade. I think France win a final against Ireland but not sure if either team get there.

One thing I know is I’m terrible at predictions :D But I’ll say France fuck it to win the tournament, just

With that said, I reckon whoever wins the Ireland v NZ & France v SA quarters might be at risk in the semi if it takes a lot out of them. Lots of subplots going on certainly
 
Just watching the rugby league semi finals - also really enjoyable and includes a shot of one of my favourite bits of rugby where someone gets tackled and gets surrounded by a mass of players, and you see a hand appear out of the middle of it with the ball and pop it nicely backwards. Looking forward to the final on Saturday.

The scrums in rugby league don't make a lot of sense but I wish something could be about them in union. They take so fucking long with false starts and resets. The ref should almost stop the clock until the ball's actually in.
 
I cant understand how the points for each team in the top 7 of the IRB rankings have not changed for 2 weeks despite plenty of games being played in that time! anyone have any idea?
 
Our game with NZ is 50/50. I think we're a more complete team but they have the ability and motivation to beat us. I think in terms of the pack we have the edge on them. They obviously have the backs. I think the 12/13 match ups will be thrilling. Bundee vs Barrett at this point I think Bundee comes out on top. I hope Lowe and Hansen come through as does Henshaw, as a full Irish team are more than capable to beating the NZAB.
 
1927 said:
I cant understand how the points for each team in the top 7 of the IRB rankings have not changed for 2 weeks despite plenty of games being played in that time! anyone have any idea?
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Maybe they wait till the end of the pool stage as previously some teams would have played more matches due to the rest weeks?
 
flypanam said:
Our game with NZ is 50/50. I think we're a more complete team but they have the ability and motivation to beat us. I think in terms of the pack we have the edge on them. They obviously have the backs. I think the 12/13 match ups will be thrilling. Bundee vs Barrett at this point I think Bundee comes out on top. I hope Lowe and Hansen come through as does Henshaw, as a full Irish team are more than capable to beating the NZAB.
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No Lowe or Hansen and I’d start to worry. Their roaming play, aerial strength and kicking game so critical to Ireland attack and defence.

That said Gibson-Park did a decent job there - Ireland had clearly prepared for that eventuality
 
Refs are named for the quarter finals.

Wayne Barnes gets Ireland v New Zealand - this must favour Ireland and New Zealand had their only other QF loss with Barnes as a referee in 2007

Ben O’Keeffe gets France and South Africa. Think he’ll suit France.

Jaco Peyper does Wales v Argentina - best of luck Wales fans it’s Jaco time, can see him letting a few things go there

And England have the potential curse of the French referee with Matthieu Reynal against Fiji
 
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Elpenor said:
Refs are named for the quarter finals.

Wayne Barnes gets Ireland v New Zealand - this must favour Ireland and New Zealand had their only other QF loss with Barnes as a referee in 2007

Ben O’Keeffe gets France and South Africa. Think he’ll suit France.

Jaco Peyper does Wales v Argentina - best of luck Wales fans it’s Jaco time, can see him letting a few things go there

And England have the potential curse of the French referee with Matthieu Reynal against Fiji
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O'Keefe is the pick of those. It's not been a great tournament for reffing.

I was at that game in 2007 in Cardiff where Barnes totally missed the forward pass. I don't think he's welcome in NZ even now.
 
Irish winger Mack Hansen is passed fit for the quarter final. That must tip the balance towards Ireland. James Ryan is out, but otherwise it’s a full strength team and I’d always be happy with Ian Henderson at lock.
 
Have rewatched Fiji v Portugal

Think the Wales v Fiji game was better tbh, this is quite scrappy overall especially the first half, wonderful first try by Portugal though.

Suspect this game has been built up a bit post match due to the romantic appeal that both teams and their playing philosophy offer the neutral though I concede that the last 10 minutes were quite thrilling.

Fiji struggled under the pressure of being seen as favourites in this game I think, while they beat England a few months ago they may not be viewed as favourites on Sunday.

The commentator mentioned that Fiji have conceded a lot of tries from line outs and this is a strength of any team coached by Steve “Steve” Borthwick so I expect England - for a change - will play a set piece focussed game with a lot of kicking and bore Fiji into submission.

England in 2019 in the knockout stages had a superb QF demolition of Australia and of course the dominance of the New Zealand victory in the semi. Different performances and actually I think the Australia match gets forgotten and was one of the great attacking performances of the Eddie Jones era. Not sure I’ll be remembering England’s knockout games from this year so favourably but you never know
 
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Elpenor said:
The commentator mentioned that Fiji have conceded a lot of tries from line outs and this is a strength of any team coached by Steve “Steve” Borthwick so I expect England - for a change - will play a set piece focussed game with a lot of kicking and bore Fiji into submission.
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Must admit that's what I thought when I saw the headline:

www.theguardian.com

England happy to take ‘public enemy number one’ mantle on against Fiji

Billy Vunipola is staying defiant before Sunday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against opponents fast becoming others’ second favourite’ team
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
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