RWC 2015 - build-up thread

When is the dead line squads to be announced?

The Lost Sheep

Deleted User wrote: »

When is the dead line squads to be announced?

31 august but most sides will name them well in advance of that.

The Lost Sheep

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

31 august but most sides will name them well in advance of that.

So 31 August for Ireland around "lunchtime"

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask this but as it's RWC related I'll chance it...

I'm trying to make a Twitter list of various media/journos that cover rugby and I have a fair few for Ireland/UK but I was wondering if anyone knows of any good ones from the US or Canada. I'm not sure how much coverage the sport gets there and it seems any of the big sports media sources just have the general sports twitter rather than rugby specific ones.

Any ideas?

razorblunt

total former wrote: »

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jun/24/liam-williams-fitness-battle-foot-surgery-wales-world-cup

Foot surgery for Liam Williams, no timeframe on recovery, but he'd be a massive blow to Wales if unavailable.

Reports now surfacing that he's had to have two toes amputated to fight infection.

razorblunt

razorblunt wrote: »

Reports now surfacing that he's had to have two toes amputated to fight infection.

That sounds career ending. Can you ever run properly again after missing some toes?

razorblunt

Deleted User wrote: »

That sounds career ending. Can you ever run properly again after missing some toes?

Good question, would it depend on which toes? Might explain why he's indefinite to return too.

stephen_n

razorblunt wrote: »

Reports now surfacing that he's had to have two toes amputated to fight infection.

Reports from where? That sounds very unusual, would imagine it would be seriously career threatening if true, much as I dislike him as a player, I hope it turns out to be just a rumor.

nc6000

Deleted User wrote: »

When is the dead line squads to be announced?

The deadline is the 6th of September. The day after we play out last warm-up game against England in Twickenham.

Kiwi_knock

nc6000 wrote: »

The deadline is the 6th of September. The day after we play out last warm-up game against England in Twickenham.

Is it the 6th? Most other reports have it as the 31st of August, can't see anything on the tournament website though about deadlines so that reporting could be wrong.

exiledelbows

Anyone else think Ireland are playing too many warm up games? We seem to be the only NH team playing four times. Seems a bit of a risk considering these games have led to some serious injuries in the past - Murphy v Scotland in 2003, O'Driscoll v Bayonne in 2007, Wallace v England in 2011.

Podge_irl

exiledelbows wrote: »

Anyone else think Ireland are playing too many warm up games? We seem to be the only NH team playing four times. Seems a bit of a risk considering these games have led to some serious injuries in the past - Murphy v Scotland in 2003, O'Driscoll v Bayonne in 2007, Wallace v England in 2011.

Meh, injuries can happen at any time. We appeared to be fairly massively undercooked going into 2007.

My viewpoint would be that 4 games allows more opportunities for fringe players. I imagine the front line players would play the same number of minutes whether there were 3 or 4 warm up games.

homecouldbhere

I'm of the mindset that we're going to lose at least one of our 1st choice 15 between now and September 19th, be it at training or during one of the warm ups.
And there's part of me that thinks we might be fortunate if it's ONLY one. It's just the nature of the beast that is modern professional rugby.

I do think we're luckier than we've ever been with squad depth though. Apart from the obvious 9 & 10 positions, we're the rugby equivalent of the bad guy in Terminator 2 who just reforms back to his old shape after getting shot 50 times!

razorblunt

stephen_n wrote: »

Reports from where? That sounds very unusual, would imagine it would be seriously career threatening if true, much as I dislike him as a player, I hope it turns out to be just a rumor.

It was a Welsh lad in work mentioned it first, he's involved with one of the clubs down there, since seen it on the planet rugby forums too.

razorblunt

razorblunt wrote: »

It was a Welsh lad in work mentioned it first, he's involved with one of the clubs down there, since seen it on the planet rugby forums too.

And completely unfounded it would seem given that Welsh journos are now running with 10 weeks being the period of inactivity.

The Lost Sheep

nc6000 wrote: »

The deadline is the 6th of September. The day after we play out last warm-up game against England in Twickenham.

Deadline isn't the 6th. It's 31st August

exiledelbows wrote: »

Anyone else think Ireland are playing too many warm up games? We seem to be the only NH team playing four times. Seems a bit of a risk considering these games have led to some serious injuries in the past - Murphy v Scotland in 2003, O'Driscoll v Bayonne in 2007, Wallace v England in 2011.

Bayonne was a game against French team when we were going to play France in world cup and was arranged late as we were looking under cooked.
There's bound to be an injury anyway..
3 games are before the squad announcement deadline and one after that. Playing 4 gives JS et all plenty of time to look at players still fighting for a place in the squad. All players can get 1-1.5 games etc

total former

I thought it was August 31st too but the Irish Times today says September 6th, hence the confusion. Doesn't seem to be stated anywhere on the RWC website.

razorblunt

Bad news for Uruguay and strange timing too.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/uruguay/11699105/Uruguays-Rodrigo-Capo-Ortega-mysteriously-retires-from-international-rugby.html

ArmaniJeanss

razorblunt wrote: »

Bad news for Uruguay and strange timing too.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/uruguay/11699105/Uruguays-Rodrigo-Capo-Ortega-mysteriously-retires-from-international-rugby.html

Soccers controversial 'slave' rule, whereby no-one can completely retire from international football (if you fail to respond to an international call-up then you can be stopped playing for your club for a certain number of days) isn't an ideal rule, but it sure as hell stops this sort of carryon.

AbusesToilets

thomond2006 wrote: »

Manuel Montero has torn an ACL. Big blow to the Argies.

That's a shame, was really looking forward to seeing more of him. Class player.

The Lost Sheep

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Soccers controversial 'slave' rule, whereby no-one can completely retire from international football (if you fail to respond to an international call-up then you can be stopped playing for your club for a certain number of days) isn't an ideal rule, but it sure as hell stops this sort of carryon.

Its in the reg's already but would WR try it against a pro team in 6N/4N etc when the player is "only" from a tier 2/3 nation.... Not a hope

http://www.worldrugby.org/wr-resources/ ... ations.pdf

p. 163-164

9.31 If a Player is not released to attend and/or participate in a National
Representative Team and/or National Squad Session contrary to the
provisions of Regulation 9.3 then he shall not be entitled to play for any
Rugby Body or Club for the period for which he has been or should have been in attendance with the National Representative Team or National Squad and an additional 10 days thereafter,unless the Player’s Union agrees otherwise in writing. Such agreement shall be granted in the absence of evidence of a breach of Regulation 9.3. For the avoidance of doubt, additional sanctions may also be imposed in accordance with Regulations 9.34 to 9.37

but WR has created a loophole themselves by instering this lately Non-release due to retirement
9.29 If a Union having exercised its rights pursuant to this Regulation is
informed that a Player is not so released and/or is unwilling to participate on the grounds that they have retired from International Rugby then the Player shall be required to confirm his retirement in writing to his Union and sign a declaration. Such declaration will include an affirmation that the Player fully understands the consequences of his decision to retire and that the decision has been made on a voluntary basis and in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation 9. A declaration will also be required from the Player’s Rugby Body or Club confirming that it has acted in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 9 in connection with the Player’s decision to retire from the International Game.

exiledelbows

exiledelbows wrote: »

Anyone else think Ireland are playing too many warm up games? We seem to be the only NH team playing four times. Seems a bit of a risk considering these games have led to some serious injuries in the past - Murphy v Scotland in 2003, O'Driscoll v Bayonne in 2007, Wallace v England in 2011.

I think the 4 warm up games are a good sign and the setup are looking for our guys to have the conditioning required to play through to the latter stages of the competition.

There is certainly an injury risk and as has been said, we are unlikely to make it through to our first game without losing one or two primary assets, but at the same time we will have a wider squad with good game time and familiarity with what Schmidt is looking for the team to do which is what we want for a tournament like the RWC.

If we end up with a heap of injuries then yeah we will rue the number of fixtures, but I think it's a good idea and certainly intentional by Schmidt.

Swiwi.

Aussie squad for the 4N

BACKS: Adam Ashley-Cooper, Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper, Israel Folau, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Matt Giteau, Rob Horne, Samu Kerevi, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Lealiifano, Drew Mitchell, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Nick Phipps, Henry Speight, Matt Toomua, Joe Tomane, Nic White.

FORWARDS: David Pocock, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Scott Sio, Rob Simmons, Will Skelton, James Slipper, Toby Smith, Wyclif Palu, Ben McCalman, Sean McMahon, Dean Mumm, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu, Rory Arnold, Dave Dennis, James Hanson, Scott Fardy, Tetera Faulkner, James Horwill, Scott Higginbotham, Greg Holmes, Michael Hooper.

Missed out: JOC, Honey Badger

total former

Interesting to see Taqele Naiyaravoro named despite also being named in the Fiji squad...

sydneybound

Swiwi. wrote: »

Missed out: JOC, Honey Badger

Both have been extremely poor in super rugby this year so deserve to miss out.

Wonder how do they feel having come back from France and Japan to then not be included in their national squads.

Thought George Smith might have squeezed in on experience he has been immense for Lyon this season in a poor team. Interesting seeing the two Toulon boys in there.

I like the look of this squad will be interesting to see how that get on first in the rugby championship.

Swiwi.

sydneybound wrote: »

Both have been extremely poor in super rugby this year so deserve to miss out.

Wonder how do they feel having come back from France and Japan to then not be included in their national squads.

Thought George Smith might have squeezed in on experience he has been immense for Lyon this season in a poor team. Interesting seeing the two Toulon boys in there.

I like the look of this squad will be interesting to see how that get on first in the rugby championship.

I think it's thought smith might be added later. Unavailable for first 2 rounds of something like that.

.ak

So how is the quad nations working out this year? Is it a full competition, or a shorter one, or do they break and finish after the RWC?

pickarooney

They play one another once only

total former

sydneybound wrote: »

Both have been extremely poor in super rugby this year so deserve to miss out.

Wonder how do they feel having come back from France and Japan to then not be included in their national squads.

I'd say they're pretty p*ssed off that they came back to play by the rules, play in the Super XV and make themselves eligible, only for the rules to be changed and the likes of Giteau and Mitchell to come in and essentially squeeze them out while making no commitment to actually playing in Australia.

Also; Dean Mumm called up, wouldn't have predicted that.

Kiwi_knock

Swiwi. wrote: »

Aussie squad for the 4N

BACKS: Adam Ashley-Cooper, Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper, Israel Folau, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Matt Giteau, Rob Horne, Samu Kerevi, Tevita Kuridrani, Christian Lealiifano, Drew Mitchell, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Nick Phipps, Henry Speight, Matt Toomua, Joe Tomane, Nic White.

FORWARDS: David Pocock, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Scott Sio, Rob Simmons, Will Skelton, James Slipper, Toby Smith, Wyclif Palu, Ben McCalman, Sean McMahon, Dean Mumm, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu, Rory Arnold, Dave Dennis, James Hanson, Scott Fardy, Tetera Faulkner, James Horwill, Scott Higginbotham, Greg Holmes, Michael Hooper.

Missed out: JOC, Honey Badger

Some big name omissions but they are largely deserved due to form. The Aussies are rejoicing that finally Ben Alexander and Benn Robinson have been replaced. O'Connor and Cummins can have no complaints, neither of them had a good season. Naiyaravoro is a surprise, talented when running full speed at a defence but the rest of his game is lacking. The Highlanders totally exposed his lack of positional awareness last Saturday so I can imagine most teams wouldn't mind seeing him named in the starting team. Also raises the issue that Cheika is only giving him cap so he will stay with the Waratahs next year.

Second row continues to be a massive problem area, and for some bizarre reason Cheika has omitted Luke Jones. Most of the Aussie journalists and pundits had Jones down as a starting lock as he by far the standout lock in Australian rugby this year. A lot of dross in the second row stocks with Horwill and Carter there.

There is a lot of promise in the squad but I am not sure Cheika has the time to get them used to a new system.

sydneybound

total former wrote: »

I'd say they're pretty p*ssed off that they came back to play by the rules, play in the Super XV and make themselves eligible, only for the rules to be changed and the likes of Giteau and Mitchell to come in and essentially squeeze them out while making no commitment to actually playing in Australia.

Also; Dean Mumm called up, wouldn't have predicted that.

Cummins seems like a decent fella and even said after the second win against the Waratahs that his place in the squad was not certain since form dipped. JOC will be so pissed.

There was talk of Mumm coming back in after his immediate move to the Waratahs straight after his season ended with Exeter. In fairness he was excellent for Exeter calling their lineouts among other things this season. I'd say Cheika strongly indicated if he came back to Oz a place in the squad could well be his.

Looking again at this Australian squad I think its fairly strong and if Cheika can put manners on these boys they could do very well. Whats the odds at one point he'll try and play both Pocock and Hopper in the backrow, that would be interesting to watch.

Kiwi_knock

total former wrote: »

Also; Dean Mumm called up, wouldn't have predicted that.

Ah it was pretty clear that Cheika got him to come back early because he wanted him in the squad. I don't think he looked great in the small cameos he had for the Tahs, but I say he is tired after a long season.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

England are releasing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot as a single in the run up to the WC. Ella Eyre is recording it with fans as backing.

http://www.englandrugby.com/news/ella-eyre-release-swing-low-sweet-chariot-single/

thomond2006

Giteau was in phenomenal form before injury troubles around the New Year. He returned for the season run-in but wasn't himself. Maybe a break and a pre-season will get him back on form. If he's on form then Australia have another string to their bow. At worst Giteau is a perfect squad player who can play 10/12 and 9 in an emergency. Drew Mitchell had a quiet first season at Toulon but he came good towards the end of the season.

A on-form Matt Giteau in a playmaker role feeding the likes of Israel Folau is quite a prospect! Incidentally Folau has signed a three year deal with NSW but has leave to go to Japan in the off-season. It looks like this is the best way for the SH countries to hold onto their stars: Let the Japanese pay the big bucks!

sydthebeat

some quality in the aussie back row though...

Pocock, Hooper, McMahon, McCalman, Higgenbottom, Palu... with Mumm and Fardy also suited. No room for Liam Gill.

I agree though, an awful lot of medicore players behind the starting 15 in the rest of the forwards. Horwill / Mumm / Fardy over Luke Jones is illogical.

I don't care if Nick Cummins is playing badly. I need him in my life. He better go to the world cup.

PTH2009

England vs New Zealand final for me i think

Ireland will finish 2nd in the group and play the All blacks in the QF

b.gud

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I don't care if Nick Cummins is playing badly. I need him in my life. He better go to the world cup.

http://www.rugby.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1699/ArticleID/15657/Cummins-joins-Extended-Qantas-Wallabies-Squad.aspx

b.gud

b.gud wrote: »

http://www.rugby.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1699/ArticleID/15657/Cummins-joins-Extended-Qantas-Wallabies-Squad.aspx

I'm going off like a bull in a china shop :pac:

its_phil

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I don't care if Nick Cummins is playing badly. I need him in my life. He better go to the world cup.

If TV3 really wanted to impress people with their rugby coverage for the RWC, a plane ticket for the Honey Badger to TV3 studios is all they would need

Coburger

What possible upsets may occur amongst the top teams in the tournament?

Pool A
Very hard to call. I think both Australia and England will go through but what order I have no idea. Wales are ranked above Australia at the moment but it would be more of an upset if they beat the Ozzies.

Pool B
Scotland will find it tough against Samoa and Japan (here's taking if for granted South Africa will win). Could Japan have the beating of them?

Pool C
No upset on the cards for this one.

Pool D
Who knows with this group? I'd say France and Ireland to go through but no idea who will come first and second. I wonder how good Canada and Romania will be against Italy (ranked two and three places respectively behind Italy in current rankings)?

Podge_irl

I think Wales are more likely to beat England than Australia, but honestly I think they're in trouble. It's always hard to know with the PI teams, they get a lot more time together leading up to the world cups so are at their best. Samoa could certainly trouble Scotland, but I find it hard to see them actually beating them. Japan are a non-runner.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

With ITV having the rights in the UK I assume we won't be able to see that here now we've had the horrific UTV Ireland forced on us. TV3 is the only option for viewing?

P_1

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

With ITV having the rights in the UK I assume we won't be able to see that here now we've had the horrific UTV Ireland forced on us. TV3 is the only option for viewing?

Feck you're right :mad:

bilston

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

With ITV having the rights in the UK I assume we won't be able to see that here now we've had the horrific UTV Ireland forced on us. TV3 is the only option for viewing?

Is UTV Ireland different to UTV? ITV's coverage will be on UTV and ITV4 in NI.

I assume you can probably get ITV4 still down South? Though the big games will all be on ITV1 I imagine.

ITV's team is a mix of BBC, Sky and BT commentators (Harrison and Mullins), presenters (Inverdale and Doyle) and analysts (BOD, Dallaglio,Woodward and Wilkinson) plus plenty of others.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

bilston wrote: »

Is UTV Ireland different to UTV? ITV's coverage will be on UTV and ITV4 in NI.

I assume you can probably get ITV4 still down South? Though the big games will all be on ITV1 I imagine.

ITV's team is a mix of BBC, Sky and BT commentators (Harrison and Mullins), presenters (Inverdale and Doyle) and analysts (BOD, Dallaglio,Woodward and Wilkinson) plus plenty of others.

UTV Ireland came into existence at the start of the year and is a completely different entity to UTV (the Ulster regional version of ITV)
If you're in the Republic you only get the new UTV Ireland now which is completely useless. So far any sports they've shown where it's also been on ITV 4 is blocked here if an Irish station has the rights. The French Open tennis for example is shown on ITV and mainly on ITV 4 during the week but because Setanta Ireland has the rights to show it here the ITV 4 channel is blocked for the duration of the broadcast. Same goes for the odd football match that might be shown on ITV 4.

So yeah... I'm pretty sure we're stuck with TV3 down here. Who knows, they might be alright, but they don't have anywhere near the lineup ITV has.

EDIT: The last paragraph of this article confirms it http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/ireland-s-six-nations-win-boosts-tv3-s-world-cup-campaign-1.2156372

Coburger

Coburger wrote: »

What possible upsets may occur amongst the top teams in the tournament?

Pool A
Very hard to call. I think both Australia and England will go through but what order I have no idea. Wales are ranked above Australia at the moment but it would be more of an upset if they beat the Ozzies.

Pool B
Scotland will find it tough against Samoa and Japan (here's taking if for granted South Africa will win). Could Japan have the beating of them?

Pool C
No upset on the cards for this one.

Pool D
Who knows with this group? I'd say France and Ireland to go through but no idea who will come first and second. I wonder how good Canada and Romania will be against Italy (ranked two and three places respectively behind Italy in current rankings)?

I was discussing pool A with a mate the other week and honestly, England could struggle in my opinion.

They will be under intense pressure and have have been a bit mentally frail at times over the last two seasons.

I think if France have won all their games by the time we face them this would be the best outcome. Hard to call it but I think we can beat them and with the game being played in the millenium there should be good Irish support.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Looks like James O'Connor could make the Wallabies squad yet...

Cheika has him doing a specialised fitness program

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/australia-rugby/james-oconnor-to-work-on-speed-michael-cheika-20150705-gi5bp5.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Swiwi.

Coburger wrote: »

What possible upsets may occur amongst the top teams in the tournament?

Pool A
Very hard to call. I think both Australia and England will go through but what order I have no idea. Wales are ranked above Australia at the moment but it would be more of an upset if they beat the Ozzies.

Pool B
Scotland will find it tough against Samoa and Japan (here's taking if for granted South Africa will win). Could Japan have the beating of them?

Pool C
No upset on the cards for this one.

Pool D
Who knows with this group? I'd say France and Ireland to go through but no idea who will come first and second. I wonder how good Canada and Romania will be against Italy (ranked two and three places respectively behind Italy in current rankings)?

Scotland vs Samoa is probably the only pool upset on the cards. I reckon Samoa will do it.

DrFloppy

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

So yeah... I'm pretty sure we're stuck with TV3 down here.

:eek:

Do TV3 even broadcast in HD yet? I'm not sure they do?