Rugby: A New Dawn

[Jeor]

11 hours ago, ljkeane said:

Less impressive win in a pretty scrappy game for England. The pack have started to look good though and after a poor start from Care Van Poortvliet looked excellent again. If England can sort their midfield out (a fairly big if) there at least looks the basis of something there.

There wasn't a huge amount between the sides though. From the Wallabies perspective if they can get a little more front foot ball from their pack, stick Cooper back in at 10 they might back themselves to come away with a win if you ran the series again.

Wallabies did manage to apply some pressure in the final 15 minutes and you felt they had a chance of getting a win. It was a weird game in that throughout the match the Australians had the lion's share of possession without necessarily stretching the English defence.

[Which Tyler]

And yet, the result of the week is that Chile beat USA to qualify for their first ever RWC

[ljkeane]

9 hours ago, Jeor said:

It was a weird game in that throughout the match the Australians had the lion's share of possession without necessarily stretching the English defence.

I think their pack were mostly fine as individuals but as a unit they really struggled to consistently provide quick, clean ball to attack with. The one period of the series they really did that, the second half of the first test, they blew England away.

England had the reverse problem, the pack were providing a lot of good ball and the backs were wasting it.

So Wales couldn't continue the Northern Hemisphere winning streak yesterday. They actually played quite well with ball in hand when they got some possession in the attacking third but they never really looked like getting enough territory to win the match. Ryan Elias' lineout throwing is emerging as a real problem for them I'd say.

The Springboks were unsurprisingly physical but they still look a bit lacking in direction to me. Pollard hasn't been playing much in France, Faf De Klerk's not in great form and they seem to want to move away from Le Roux at fullback so that's a lot of the decision making in the side not at their best for one reason or another.

The final game yesterday was fun. I don't think the Argentina - Scotland series was quite at the same intensity as the others with both sides experimenting a bit but both of them looked to play rugby so it was good to watch. Good win for Los Pumas in the end and from a Scottish perspective the Watson Darge combination in the backrow looks handy.

[Hereward]

Aussies, can you hop over and check the Kiwis are alright? I’m worried about them.

[Which Tyler]

1 hour ago, Hereward said:

Aussies, can you hop over and check the Kiwis are alright? I’m worried about them.

Englishmen - keep it down.

The Irish are nursing their heads next door - those who have made it to bed yet.

Edited July 17, 2022 by Which Tyler

[Padraig]

If we have peaked a year too early, at least we have peaked at new heights!

It could actually have been the biggest weekend ever for international sport on this island.  But golf didn't quite go to plan.

[ithanos]

Well done Ireland, outplaying and out-couching the ABs in our own backyard.  

These loses are like climate change. That hundred year event is now bi-annual! 

9 hours ago, Padraig said:

If we have peaked a year too early, at least we have peaked at new heights!

I don't think you've peaked, but you have to be at your best by that semi-final because if results go by the current WR rankings, it'll be France versus Ireland at Stade de France. The other option, if we're considering tournament tactics, is to win your pool (beating South Africa and Scotland) and then likely meeting a New Zealand side you know you've had the measure of recently.

[Padraig]

12 hours ago, ithanos said:

These loses are like climate change. That hundred year event is now bi-annual! 

Hah!

But yes, hopefully we haven't peaked.  Although the draw for the next WC isn't kind, so we are also going to need a bit of luck too!  A red card could change a match completely.  And we've never gone beyond a QF.

[Which Tyler]

https://www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk/news/club-statement-ed-slater

Quote

Gloucester Rugby is deeply pained to announce that Ed Slater has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

Following six months of testing, Ed’s diagnosis was confirmed last week and as a result, with the support of his family, friends and Gloucester Rugby, he has made the difficult decision to retire from professional rugby with immediate effect.

...

 

[Hereward]

I just came to mention this. What with other recent reports about Ryan Jones and Joe Marler, and many other less celebrated players, despite my (waning) love for the game, I’m not sure I can morally support it anymore. My love of the scrum and the “big hit” just feels reprehensible at this point. 

[ljkeane]

Unlike the more clear cut concussion related issues I'm not sure this is directly related to Slater's playing rugby but, regardless, it's pretty awful news. The effect of MND on Rob Burrow in a few short years has been terrible to see.

[ljkeane]

Really interesting set of games in the Rugby Championship this morning and it's looking set to be a good tournament this year.

The first game had an odd balance between the two sides. The Wallabies were really sharp when they had the ball in the attacking third but they really struggled to get much ball for large parts of the match with their set piece struggles. The lineout in particular looks a real issue to me. On the other hand the Springboks are struggling to turn possession and territory into enough points. Their defence is still decent but it isn't quite as suffocating as it used to be so they really need to find some more cutting edge from somewhere.

The other game was pretty strange watching. Argentina didn't play particularly well for me. Their defence was reasonable but they were just not committing numbers to the breakdown and filling the pitch, it wasn't anything exceptional. Their attack was honestly fairly poor. For a team to put in what I'd call an okay but not great performance and come away with a win in New Zealand just feels outlandish after the last couple of decades of Kiwi rugby dominance.

And all of that leaves Argentina top of the table after three rounds.

[Consigliere]

That was a horrendous performance. The scoreline is a bit flattering too. The Wallabies played us off the park for 70 minutes of that game.

eta. Can't believe Argentina pulled off an away win against the All Blacks. The ABs are not at their best but that is still a massive result.

Edited August 27, 2022 by Consigliere

[Which Tyler]

Looks like Worcester Warriors are going into administration tomorrow.

Subject to a winding up petition from HMRC, owing something like £12M, unable to pay anyone for August, meaning they're in breach of contract as of tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is also the day they need to be able to confirm that they can fulfill the entire season's worth of fixtures.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Which Tyler

[ljkeane]

Bizarre finish to the Rugby Championship game this morning between Australia and New Zealand (not sure why it was on a Thursday). Australia basically had the game won so long as they won their own lineout from the 78th minute penalty they'd been awarded then the ref gives the All Blacks a scrum because Foley was taking his time over the kick. He was a bit but that's a very big call. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

Good game overall though. The commentators were saying it was because of the good performances from both sides but I actually thought it was pretty ropey from both teams. The Wallabies made a lot of errors and New Zealand let an 18 point lead slip only to get lucky at the end. It came together to make a fun match in the end though.

[ljkeane]

Eddie Butler died yesterday. My immediate reaction to news like this is that they have probably been privately battling cancer or something like that but apparently he just suddenly died in his sleep while doing a charity hike on the Inca Trail with his daughter. It can't ever be easy to lose a loved one but that must be particularly awful. It's strange to think we've heard the last Eddie Butler monologue. RIP.

Back on the pitch Darcy Swain is a horrible bastard who should cop a very lengthy ban. I had a fair amount of sympathy with his red card against England given Jonny Hill had clearly set out to wind him up but this is clearly well beyond the pale.

[lessthanluke]

On 9/15/2022 at 1:22 PM, ljkeane said:

Bizarre finish to the Rugby Championship game this morning between Australia and New Zealand (not sure why it was on a Thursday). Australia basically had the game won so long as they won their own lineout from the 78th minute penalty they'd been awarded then the ref gives the All Blacks a scrum because Foley was taking his time over the kick. He was a bit but that's a very big call. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

Good game overall though. The commentators were saying it was because of the good performances from both sides but I actually thought it was pretty ropey from both teams. The Wallabies made a lot of errors and New Zealand let an 18 point lead slip only to get lucky at the end. It came together to make a fun match in the end though.

AFL Semi Finals is in Saturday and the rugby didn't wanna clash as AFL is far more popular.

 

It was bizarre but also very little sympathy for Foley, was told countless times and even had his own team mates screaming at him to kick it.

[ljkeane]

Really poor performance from the Wallabies this morning. They have at various points of this season looked pretty good but they don't seem to have a coherent idea for how they want to be playing or how they're going to consistently improve as a team. They picked as many big ball carriers as they could in the pack today but they didn't seem to have a particularly clear idea how they were going to use them and just give it to the big lad probably isn't going to work in international rugby.

The All Blacks have probably had their worst Rugby Championship in 20 plus years but the somewhat fortuitous win last week combined with the big win this week puts them into the box seat to end up winners so long as the Pumas don't fall apart in Durban. I'm not sure that wipes away all the concerns about them but at least it's something to build on.

Back to English domestic rugby in addition to Worcester looking almost certainly gone it appear Wasps are also in serious trouble. The pandemic does look to have seriously hit the already somewhat tight finances of a lot of rugby clubs hard. I think the Premiership could probably take losing one club but two would be a really significant blow.

[lessthanluke]

Yeah it's very worrying. Really hoping someone comes out of the woodwork to save Wasps.

 

Womens World Cup starts in two weeks.

Hard to see anyone beating England honestly but obviously homefield advantage for NZ.

 

 

[ljkeane]

A bit of rugby league for a change. Penrith absolutely steamrolled Parramatta yesterday to win their second straight NRL title. It really wasn't very competitive and unless something significant changes in next year it's hard to see them not being big favourites to win three straight.

The Rugby League World Cup starts in a few weeks and I'm quite looking forward to it. Australia and New Zealand have named their squads and it's probably the weakest Kangaroos squad for a long time (although still pretty good). New Zealand and Tonga look good. On the downside the England squad is definitely a lot weaker than the last couple of World Cups, losing Walmsley, Newman, Lomax and Hodgson to injuries are pretty big blows with already thin looking depth. Hooker in particular looks a real problem. Adding to England's problems going back to Penrith about half of that Panthers side are in the Samoa squad.