RWC 2015 - build-up thread

The Lost Sheep

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Not entirely World Cup relater but an interesting read on English rugby here.... http://www.theguardian.com/sport/ng-interactive/2015/sep/04/chasing-the-chariot-in-search-of-the-soul-of-english-rugby

Goes into the game as a whole, league vs union and the new attitude Lancaster has tried to install in his players. It also explains why League has such a stronghold in the North which I could never understand. Interesting to hear how many guys involved heavily in local teams have very little time for Twickenham too.

Super read. Would love a similar style article on rugby in Ireland but who would do it.

_Tyrrell_ wrote: »

I wouldn't really be that shocked, you have to remember that most people who played school rugby or even club rugby generally drop off after they leave school and get jobs or go to college.

And that's the fault of the system and IRFU. IRFU have let certain sectors have too much power and don't do enough to keep people playing

Interesting weekend of rugby. Who were the winners and losers?

Winners

England, certainly, were the greatest net winner this weekend. Victory over recent world no.2 was clearly very important to them. They approached this game like it was a 6N decider and went all out. Ireland seemed content to keep things very simple and get a good physical workout. I don't think England were as good as they looked, nor Ireland as bad but I'm of the opinion that Ireland have all eyes firmly on the RWC and these games were tools for preparation. None of the players looked in any way despondent after the game. The English media, sky commentary and post match discussion has been exuberant about England now coming into the world cup and honestly I reckon it's misplaced.

Scotland and Fiji would both have come out Winners. Fiji with a comfortable win albeit against a poor Canada and Scotland really should have held on to beat France. Scotland look like they have settled on their first choice and actually played very nice rugby for large parts of the game against France. I'm much more excited now to see them against SA, could be a big game.

Italy also just get a foot in the winners door, they came very very close to toppling Wales.

Losers

Of the Losers, Wales have to top the list. They were the opposite of last week, lacked direction and intensity. They along with Australia have serious depth issues coming into the WC and the loss of Webb and Halfpenny to my mind is catastrophic. They are firmly 3rd choice for that group now in my opinion.

Ireland have two losses on the run now, a first for a Joe team I think?. We didn't bounce back from the Wales games and whilst looking a little sharper in the second half when we turned it on, we tired badly with 10 minutes to go. As mentioned above, tournament conditioning is a very different beast, we have a fit squad that have plenty in the tank but our first team is yet to click. Sexton and Zebo going off with cramp is a sign of two things, lack of conditioning or lack of tapering. I honestly think it's the latter and that we will continue to focus on training until the week of the Italian game and from then on in it's all about recovering between massive game efforts.

France fall into the loser category just about, in the same way that Italy fall into the winners category. They look tremendously fit yet seem to struggle after longer passages of play so I wonder what balance there is to their conditioning.

They also lack structure. Watching back through the game at the weekend, I txted a mate joking that MOC had taken over for France after a passage of play that saw them pass 6 - 7 times and make absolutely zero ground.

Two weeks to go now, I think we know what NZ will bring but I reckon every other top 8 team has the capacity to surprise us (in a good or bad way).

This is going to be an amazing tournament.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I wonder how England and I suppose Wales/Australia will approach their pool matches. We saw England play brilliantly entertaining rugby against France at the end of the 6 Nations and they won that match convincingly. Will they do the same against Wales and Australia, or will they all be going for the tactical one score win? I suppose the fact they needed a points difference win in the 6 Nations was what influenced their play against France.

razorblunt

I didn't think the Webb and Halfpenny injuries were confirmed. I know Webb's is pretty much nailed on (though the guy himself tweeted about staying positive until they know for sure) but I've not confirmation on Halfpenny at all.

razorblunt

razorblunt wrote: »

I didn't think the Webb and Halfpenny injuries were confirmed. I know Webb's is pretty much nailed on (though the guy himself tweeted about staying positive until they know for sure) but I've not confirmation on Halfpenny at all.

Neither formally confirmed but I think the word going around is that they are both "to be confirmed" to be missing the tournament. The video of Webb's injury, unless he is one of the fantastic four would lead me to believe he is out. It's hard to figure how Halfpenny hurt himself, reminds me a bit of Felix Jones for the last world cup, just one of those things.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

razorblunt wrote: »

I didn't think the Webb and Halfpenny injuries were confirmed. I know Webb's is pretty much nailed on (though the guy himself tweeted about staying positive until they know for sure) but I've not confirmation on Halfpenny at all.

Halfpenny isn't having his scan until some time today so I'm pretty sure there is nothing official on that because they don't know yet.

Buer

If the bloke was in so much pain that they had to give him oxygen on the field, I think we can take it that his injury is going to put him out for 6 weeks anyway.

rrpc

Deleted User wrote: »

Neither formally confirmed but I think the word going around is that they are both "to be confirmed" to be missing the tournament. The video of Webb's injury, unless he is one of the fantastic four would lead me to believe he is out. It's hard to figure how Halfpenny hurt himself, reminds me a bit of Felix Jones for the last world cup, just one of those things.

Halfpenny's injury reminds me of what happened to Felipe Contepomi during the 2009 HEC match against Munster. Tried to change direction but his foot got caught and the knee took the brunt.

English Lurker

rrpc wrote: »

Halfpenny's injury reminds me of what happened to Felipe Contepomi during the 2009 HEC match against Munster. Tried to change direction but his foot got caught and the knee took the brunt.

That has happened to me more times than I care to count (including, most embarassingly, on a dance floor) and I have been back playing within a month on most of them. A hyperextension will hurt like hell and swell like mad but not do that much damage.

Mindyou, I never actually went to hospital for any of them for one reason and another so my knowledge of what happened is a little shaky, and it's quite possible I shouldn't have been doing so on all those occasions, so take that one with a bucketful of salt...

b.gud

Reports from France are saying that Halfpenny done in his ACL and is expected to be out for 6 months

LuckyGent88

Confirmed that halfpenny is out of rwc. What a disaster for Wales.

aimee1

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Confirmed that halfpenny is out of rwc. What a disaster for Wales.

6 nations too

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Probably unrelated but I just saw reports that Toulon have changed their minds about allowing Quade Cooper to play 7s in an attempt to get him to play for them. Surely they have someone else to kick though? They'd be pretty desperate if they were relying on Cooper now.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Sorry, that's posted twice.

Eugene Norman

Very sad to see. Great kicker.

aimee1

https://twitter.com/Murray_Kinsella

very good post about flakey freddy posted a few minutes ago

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Thought I'd ask this in here rather than starting a new thread.

Anyone fancy doing a Boards league on Fantasy Rugger? http://fantasyrugger.co/

Wang King

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Thought I'd ask this in here rather than starting a new thread.

Anyone fancy doing a Boards league on Fantasy Rugger? http://fantasyrugger.co/

I'm in, I'm quite brilliant at this fantasy craic!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Wang King wrote: »

I'm in, I'm quite brilliant at this fantasy craic!

Should I start another thread for it then, do you think?

Stheno

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Should I start another thread for it then, do you think?

Yeah gwan

The Lost Sheep

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Should I start another thread for it then, do you think?

yeah do. Gets more people involved as theyre more likely to see it as long as thread stays on front page of the rugby forum...
Even though superbru competitions have their own thread I can throw code for that there as well....

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Done, it's over here... http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057489919

moleyv

Is any one else less enthusiastic about the RWC lately?

I don't know if it was the last two games or what that put me off, but I'm no longer counting down the days. I know they shouldn't be read into too much, but nonetheless..

Semi final or bust!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

moleyv wrote: »

Is any one else less enthusiastic about the RWC lately?

I don't know if it was the last two games or what that put me off, but I'm no longer counting down the days. I know they shouldn't be read into too much, but nonetheless..

Semi final or bust!

The Irish results haven't put me off but I am a little disappointed by the Welsh injuries. I was really looking forward to seeing Pool A play out, as I'm sure anyone not from those 3 countries was. Hopefully Wales can pull themselves together in time to still make it competitive.

moleyv

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote:

The Irish results haven't put me off but I am a little disappointed by the Welsh injuries. I was really looking forward to seeing Pool A play out, as I'm sure anyone not from those 3 countries was. Hopefully Wales can pull themselves together in time to still make it competitive.

I've no doubt I'll be enjoying it once it kicks off, Pool A hopefully lives up to the hype. I've a feeling they will be awful close slogs of games. If they are Wales will truly pay for their injuries.

Ireland will hopefully find their rhythm, I'm very interested to see how the pacific island teams get on.

Thinking about all this now is building back the enthusiasm!

Stheno

moleyv wrote: »

I've no doubt I'll be enjoying it once it kicks off, Pool A hopefully lives up to the hype. I've a feeling they will be awful close slogs of games. If they are Wales will truly pay for their injuries.

Ireland will hopefully find their rhythm, I'm very interested to see how the pacific island teams get on.

Thinking about all this now is building back the enthusiasm!

I'm looking forward to it so much I've planned my holidays away so as not to miss any Ireland match

moleyv

My biggest dilemma will be choosing what channel to watch the games on. Tv3 doesn't have HD?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

moleyv wrote: »

My biggest dilemma will be choosing what channel to watch the games on. Tv3 doesn't have HD?

It does. It launched a few weeks ago.

EDIT: Hang on, I've just checked and it's disappeared again. Maybe they were just testing it out?

moleyv

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote:

EDIT: Hang on, I've just checked and it's disappeared again. Maybe they were just testing it out?

Hopefully they will have it for the start of the RWC. I'll likely watch it on itv, I used to watch the premiership highlights on there, the lads are a bit drole but at least they have an idea what they are on about.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

moleyv wrote: »

Hopefully they will have it for the start of the RWC. I'll likely watch it on itv, I used to watch the premiership highlights on there, the lads are a bit drole but at least they have an idea what they are on about.

Unfortunately we don't get ITV anymore since the switch over to UTV Ireland at the start of the year. I think the lineup TV3 has isn't too shabby. I'll have to put up with them whether they're good or not.

Wang King

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

It does. It launched a few weeks ago.

EDIT: Hang on, I've just checked and it's disappeared again. Maybe they were just testing it out?

TV3 is only available on skys HD package
Not available on Saorview

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Wang King wrote: »

TV3 is only available on skys HD package
Not available on Saorview

I have UPC. Like I said it appeared for a few days maybe 2 weeks ago but is gone now.

Kiwi_knock

Rhys Webb is confirmed to be out, Mike Phillips and Eli Walker called up. A lot of calls for Phillips to be the starting 9 now, I say England, Australia and Fiji would be happy enough with that.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Isn't Phillips a bit of a liability to have on the pitch for 80 minutes? I seem to recall him trying to get involved in argie bargie on a couple of matches with Ireland. Maybe he just doesn't like us.

Happy to see Eli Walker get the call up. Thought he was their one bright spark in the first warm up match again us.

thomond2006

Gareth Davies will surely start? He is a try machine for Scarlets.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Calling for Phillips to be starting 9 makes no sense given he was axed before the final squad was even decided. He wasn't considered good enough to keep in camp for the full period but people think he should start?

moleyv

I think every team is well aware that all you need to do is get under Phillips skin a little and he will fly off the handle.

thomond2006

Parisse has had surgery to remove a hematoma. No word as to how long he'll be out.

Coburger

thomond2006 wrote: »

Parisse has had surgery to remove a hematoma. No word as to how long he'll be out.

I read that he's battling to be fit for the world cup. Would be such a shame if he wasn't able to make it. A true legend of the game.

aimee1

might be an idea to start a thread for each of the four pools?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

aimee1 wrote: »

might be an idea to start a thread for each of the four pools?

I suppose rather than having individual match threads for non Ireland matches 4 pool threads would be a good idea.

thomond2006

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I suppose rather than having individual match threads for non Ireland matches 4 pool threads would be a good idea.

I'd say the big Pool A matches warrant their own threads.

Stheno

Coburger wrote: »

I read that he's battling to be fit for the world cup. Would be such a shame if he wasn't able to make it. A true legend of the game.

Really hoping he recovers to make it, Italy are a different team without him

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

thomond2006 wrote: »

I'd say the big Pool A matches warrant their own threads.

Probably right. But as far as Canada v Romania or the likes all in the pool thread I think.

Yeah_Right

Yeah pool threads are probably the way to go. Obviously Irish matches and any big games can have their owns threads (if someone wants to start them). Who knows, I might even do a match preview for a game. Maybe. Unlikely. Possibly. We'll see how I feel nearer the time.

phog

Simon Thomas interviews Warren Gatland

phog

phog wrote: »

Simon Thomas interviews Warren Gatland

It's a fair enough interview. Tiny bit of humble pie towards Phillips maybe.

Can't understand the Halfpenny criticism he is getting.

rebel girl 15

Bit of a weird one, if anyone hears any Ireland promos for radio, involving Simon Lewis (voice of Twickenham Stadium) can you let me know. He interviewed me for the piece and would like to hear it

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Deleted User wrote: »

It's a fair enough interview. Tiny bit of humble pie towards Phillips maybe.

Can't understand the Halfpenny criticism he is getting.

You can understand in a way people wondering why Halfpenny was on the pitch at that point but at the same time Wales weren't the only team to put out a full strength team at the weekend and plenty of starters were still on the pitch at the end of our game with England. If he hadn't been hurt nobody would be questioning it. Sounds an obvious thing to say but that's how it is. If Halfpenny had finished that match in one piece the talk would all be about how important it was to get the win and go into the WC on the back of two wins.

Buer

Criticism of Halfpenny being on the pitch is very silly, to my mind. Are they supposed to just wrap the guy up in cotton wool and let him play only the England and Australia games when he's completely undercooked and not match fit? He did his ACL with nobody near him. He could have done it in training or in a previous game. If he did it in April, he'd still be out of the RWC.

You can't simply avoid game time for a player. He needed to play and had only one appearance for Wales in the warm ups prior to the weekend. He got hurt. It happens. Bizarre logic by those blaming Gatland.

Shane Williams is a daft sod for raising it.