dooog Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 3 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said: Japan got 3 wins fair and square already, more than they were expected to get. They deserve to have the weather gods smile on them, by crapping all over Japan, and secure their place it the QFs for the first time ever. So which team deserves to get knocked out, Ireland or Scotland? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 12 hours ago, Which Tyler said: If it's cancelled, then all the fans with tickets will be disappointed. Playing the match behind closed doors somewhere else in the country is better than cancellation - and doesn't affect those fans with tickets as they can't see the match anyway. Unless the whole country is rendered unplayable; then surely it's not beyond the with of man to find a location with acceptable weather a patch of grass with some white lines and rugby posts; and transport 49 blokes down there; within 24 hours. It does seem a shame that they're apparently not allowed to move the day of the match. Moving the England/France game a day earlier and the Scotland/Japan game a day later seems like potentially a better solution than moving to another part of the country, at least many (although not all) of the fans might be able to make the rearranged date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 4 hours ago, dooog said: So which team deserves to get knocked out, Ireland or Scotland? Deserve is too strong a word. Not un-earned I guess is more like it. They did win 3 games, which is typically what a team needs to get through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooog Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 3 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said: Deserve is too strong a word. Not un-earned I guess is more like it. They did win 3 games, which is typically what a team needs to get through. But the group was always going to hinge on the 3 matches between Ireland, Scotland and Japan. Nobody's earned a QF until all those games are played. I'd bet good money WR & organisers would come up with a practical solution instead of a nonsense draw if the situation had New Zealand exiting the tournament Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 43 minutes ago, dooog said: But the group was always going to hinge on the 3 matches between Ireland, Scotland and Japan. Nobody's earned a QF until all those games are played. I'd bet good money WR & organisers would come up with a practical solution instead of a nonsense draw if the situation had New Zealand exiting the tournament I didn't say earned, I said not un-earned. I heard an interview today. And apparently typhoon risk was a concern when Japan was being considered as a host, and there was an undertaking that if there was a typhoon problem things cold be shifted around to manage. That was either an outright lie, or a naively over-confident promise. Either way, Japan's chances of ever hosting another RWC is zero unless there an agreement can be made to hold the RWC outside of typhoon season. Edit: Well, the All Blacks have just set themselves a bad precedent. They've elected to demand that the game against Italy not be moved to Monday because they don;t want only a 5 day preparation for the quarter finals. This despite Italy's desire to play, according to Italy's captain. That means if this sort of thing does happen in the future and the AB's tournament life is on the line they've opened the door to the opposition refusing to agree to a re-schedule, and not be defaulted because of the refusal. IMO the ABs should be defaulted and Italy should get the 4 points for the win. South Africa finishes top, ABs still finish second on points differential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 I know the conditions have been wet and windy, but it's been an underwhelming and stilted performance by Australia in their game against Georgia. Lots of handling errors, and not very many line breaks or creativity in attack against a competent Georgian defence. A couple of tries in the last 10 minutes polishes the scoreline, but I don't think England will have very much trouble getting past us in the quarters. There was nothing in that performance to suggest that Australia have the offensive weapons to hurt them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 14 hours ago, Which Tyler said: Apparently World Rugby's 'robust contingency plan' was to move games 14 miles from Yokohama to Tokyo, which suggests they didn't really understand how typhoons work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 On 10/11/2019 at 1:29 PM, dooog said: I'd bet good money WR & organisers would come up with a practical solution instead of a nonsense draw if the situation had New Zealand exiting the tournament If the All Blacks were ever in a position to be booted out at the Pool Stage because of a single cancelled match, there'd be more anger directed at the team than the weather. Besides, no All Blacks means the rest of the tournament would be more competitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 On 10/11/2019 at 2:06 PM, The Anti-Targ said: I didn't say earned, I said not un-earned. I heard an interview today. And apparently typhoon risk was a concern when Japan was being considered as a host, and there was an undertaking that if there was a typhoon problem things cold be shifted around to manage. That was either an outright lie, or a naively over-confident promise. Either way, Japan's chances of ever hosting another RWC is zero unless there an agreement can be made to hold the RWC outside of typhoon season. Edit: Well, the All Blacks have just set themselves a bad precedent. They've elected to demand that the game against Italy not be moved to Monday because they don;t want only a 5 day preparation for the quarter finals. This despite Italy's desire to play, according to Italy's captain. That means if this sort of thing does happen in the future and the AB's tournament life is on the line they've opened the door to the opposition refusing to agree to a re-schedule, and not be defaulted because of the refusal. IMO the ABs should be defaulted and Italy should get the 4 points for the win. South Africa finishes top, ABs still finish second on points differential. Agreed. Yes, it's five days. But it's bloody Italy. It's not as if it's South Africa followed by Wales or England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 12 hours ago, williamjm said: Apparently World Rugby's 'robust contingency plan' was to move games 14 miles from Yokohama to Tokyo, which suggests they didn't really understand how typhoons work. Yeah, I just heard that - ridiculous. They've known that Japan suffers typhoons at this time of year, and earthquakes at any time of year since before awarding the RWC to Japan 10 years ago - and that's the best they could manage as a contingency? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted October 12, 2019 Author Share Posted October 12, 2019 So Ireland have got the bonus point they need, they just have to hold on for the win with 14 men for the rest of the game to ensure they go through to the quarters. Even down to 14 they should be ok with Samoa having not been great this World Cup. I do feel a bit sorry for both of the players who were carded. I don't think there was any malice, or even a huge amount of recklessness, in either challenge. They were just unfortunate collisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 3 hours ago, ljkeane said: I do feel a bit sorry for both of the players who were carded. I don't think there was any malice, or even a huge amount of recklessness, in either challenge. They were just unfortunate collisions. Yes, but I guess the referees have been instructed to be pretty uncompromising in these situations as we've seen all tournament. No doubt there will be debate about that directive but they can't well change it mid-tournament. My worry is that in one of the big knockout matches there is going to be a red card (somewhat like the Ireland one just then, where there wasn't any sinister intent) that really affects the outcome of the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted October 12, 2019 Author Share Posted October 12, 2019 2 hours ago, Jeor said: Yes, but I guess the referees have been instructed to be pretty uncompromising in these situations as we've seen all tournament. Yeah, absolutely. I don't think the officials have done anything wrong with the decisions today, they were the right calls under the current laws. I even understand why they're being directed to make these calls, concussion is a big safety issue in the game and World Rugby is rightly concerned about player safety. I can't help but feel sorry for players being sent off when they haven't done a huge amount wrong though. Lam today pretty much did exactly what he's supposed to and got sin binned because Stockdale ran face first into his shoulder. Aki was a bit more at fault but it was basically just an awkward coming together because two players were throwing themselves towards a loose ball. Rugby's a collision sport there's sometimes going to be awkward collisions with no malice on the part of the players involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Malice and intent hasn't been relevant (in play) for a long time. Most of the red cards so far this RWC would have been red cards a decade ago as well (including Aki today). Hitting people in the head has never actually been allowed, even if it was often got away with, and even if it wasn't meant to hit them in the head. Top of shoulder, neck, lifting in the tackle, taking out in the air etc absolutely have toughened up, and outlawed things that used to be legal. After the first weekend, we were complaining that refs were too scared to use the red card. WR clarified, now we're complaining that ref.s are too keen to use the red card... My bias - as a healthcare professional who's spent a good decade or so ranting about concussion - I'm all in favour of prioritising safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooog Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 The Lam yellow was a joke. Stockdale was the one lowering himself and the one with momentum. The Aki one was slightly worse but quite similar. Both carded players were clearly trying to bind their opponent and both times it was the other guy lowering their heads into a nasty position (especially on slowmo replay) Both looked very harsh. 22 hours ago, The Marquis de Leech said: If the All Blacks were ever in a position to be booted out at the Pool Stage because of a single cancelled match, there'd be more anger directed at the team than the weather. Besides, no All Blacks means the rest of the tournament would be more competitive. Competitive is good for the teams left in there. It would be absolutely disastrous for WR, the hosting nation, the sponsors etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 Looks like the Japan/Scotland game will go ahead, which is a great outcome. I have a feeling Scotland will take them. Re: the officiating, although there have been some calls that could be interpreted as borderline, I have to say at least the refereeing has been pretty consistent. From a pragmatic point of view for the tournament, you'd have to say consistency is the top priority. Referees and umpires in most sports can get away with murder as long as both sides know they can expect the same treatment. You do have some ball-carriers running low and hence putting their head/neck in dangerous situations in the tackle, but in those cases at least even if there is solid contact the referees have some discretion in only giving a yellow. I don't think teams are going to try and twist it by saying "run low and get hit in the face so the other guy can be carded" because at the same time every team will already be thinking "tackle low or you might be sent off". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 Good news about the Japan Scotland game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ithanos Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 Top notification when I checked my phone today was; New Zealand 0 - 0 Italy, Final - see stats, news and more. Google nearly got me, I was just about to click on the game stats. Lucky I checked myself. These days I value sleep more than watching what I eat or getting daily exercise. But tonight I'll forego an early night and wait up for the Japan v Scotland game. I have to give Scotland the edge slightly - mainly due to Japan's recent form elevating their chances, and the matter of every game being a home game for them. If Japan remain within one score at halftime then they may grow another leg in the second half. And with the game they've recently honed, of sideline to sideline probing, and phase after phase recycling, Scotland could be run down if they're not careful. I just hope this game gives us 15 men against 15 men for 40 mins of each half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 Good effort from Uruguay to keep it as tight as they did against Wales given how much time they spent in their own 22. They've been a surprisingly tough team to put away this World Cup. Amos dropping the ball going for an unnecessarily dramatic rugby league style finish in the corner was quite entertaining too. That result confirms two of the quarters then. It's definitely going to be England-Australia and Wales-France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.