Rugby World Cup general discussion
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A bit different, and a bit early
PA’s Rugby World Cup Team of the Tournament
15 Beauden Barrett (New Zealand): Two-time world player of the year set the standard for a playmaking full-back.14 Damian Penaud (France): Daredevil wing who topped the try-scoring chart until Will Jordan ran amok against Argentina.
13 Waisea Nayacalevu (Fiji): The Islanders’ skipper stood out in a backline full of lethal runners.
12 Bundee Aki (Ireland): A player of the tournament candidate through his powerful running, clever lines and slick footwork.
11 Will Jordan (New Zealand): Ruthless finisher who is in the company of greats such as Jonah Lomu after amassing eight tries.
10 Richie Mo’unga (New Zealand): The game’s most complete fly-half with the creativity to match his game management.
9 Aaron Smith (New Zealand): One of the World Cup’s smallest players is also among its smartest.
8 Ardie Savea (New Zealand): Pushed very close by England’s Ben Earl, but Savea is a class apart.
7 Jac Morgan (Wales): Blockbusting flanker who showed maturity beyond his years to lead Wales into the quarter-finals.
6 Courtney Lawes (England): A back-row warrior with a sharp rugby brain who excelled in the biggest games.
5 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland): Ever-present for Ireland who provided fight whether playing at lock or in the second-row.
4 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa): A snarling enforcer and still the game’s dominant second-row despite an off-night against England.
3 Ben Tameifuna (Tonga): Monster tighthead prop weighing in at 23st 11lbs yet has the carrying prowess to match his scrummaging.
2 Mike Tadjer (Portugal): A front-row all-rounder who was especially influential in the shock victory over Fiji.
1 Ox Nche (South Africa): The Springboks’ strongest scrummager may be on the bench, but what an impact he makes.
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Ramos over BB
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@mooshld said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
Also anyone over a prop that is only capable of playing 35 minutes of rugby. I don't care how good his scrummaging is.
Nche listed on Google search as 105kg 🤣
Wikipedia 114kg
He's 173cm tall and if he's a pound under 120kg I'm a Jesuit priest... -
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@Machpants said in RWC match threads & Tipping:
So the year ends
1 South Africa 94.54 (+1.75)
2 (↑3) Ireland 90.57
3 (↓2) New Zealand 89.80 (-1.75)
4 France 87.81
5 England 85.46 (+1.74)
6 Scotland 83.43
7 Argentina 80.68 (-1.74)
8 Wales 80.64
9 Australia 77.48
10 Fiji 76.38So after all the gnashing of the teeth the interlopers were the Scots and Fiji over performed
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I was watching on Stan with the Aussie commentary team and it had the ref mics and it’s as if the TMO was providing running commentary too. Far too interventionist in my opinion.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
I was watching on Stan with the Aussie commentary team and it had the ref mics and it’s as if the TMO was providing running commentary too. Far too interventionist in my opinion.
Yes, we could hear him chirrupping in regularly, Wayne could be excused for saying he could barely think at times!
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@scribe said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
I’m going to miss my daily fix of The Front Row show on NZR+; weirdly it grew on me. I think George Bower is reasonably natural in front of the camera.
I thought George Bower and Andy Ellis were excellent. I hope we see more of them.
The corpulent English lass was a strange choice though. I found her awkward and not funny.
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Over all I think its been a really weird world cup. Some cities in France blew it big time. Fan Zones need to be a thing now and they need a screen and a bar. If they can manage it for football I don't know why rugby can't do the same. They missed a trick here.
Also France going out let a lot of the air out of it. The last 2 weeks would have been hard to tell anything was going on.
Finally the draw I know they have a solution in place lets hope it works out better. Not many upsets in this world cup either which is a shame. I am hoping with another cycle the Island teams get a big benefit from the new eligibility rules as I feel Samoa and Tonga under performed a bit.
Whoever was in charge of the tv production needs an uppercut. To many here is a famous person shots. Not enough here is what the ref just whistled for shots. I know they went impartial but wouldn't it just be easier to get a few crews over and mix them up?
For the final well TMO is going to TMO. Its killed a lot of passion for me. As soon as they make a TMO call for me its a total lottery and I can't fault the players or even the refs when the outcome is affected. All I can say is thank god I don't gamble on games.
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@mooshld said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
Whoever was in charge of the tv production needs an uppercut. To many here is a famous person shots. Not enough here is what the ref just whistled for shot
i for one greatly appreciated them finding hot fans from each side during every broadcast
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@mariner4life said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
@mooshld said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
Whoever was in charge of the tv production needs an uppercut. To many here is a famous person shots. Not enough here is what the ref just whistled for shot
i for one greatly appreciated them finding hot fans from each side during every broadcast
Pretty standard operating procedure since forever,no problem with that
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Well this is a perfect fucking summary of what happened in this tournament. Flats is a top journalist / pundit. I hated thinking he was right the first time I saw this, I wanted France or Ireland to go all the way (I never thought we had a chance), but fuck me the simplicity of this message is perfect
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@Dodge i don't know who that guy is but he's alright
Some fucking genius in the "Who Will Win the World Cup" thread said the following
"I've said South Africa all along, because the style they play is perfect for tournament rugby. They are so very comfortable in the pressure and grind of knockout rugby, but they actually have the outside backs to take advantage of the few opportunities that come your way."
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@mariner4life said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
@Dodge i don't know who that guy is but he's alright
Some fucking genius in the "Who Will Win the World Cup" thread said the following
"I've said South Africa all along, because the style they play is perfect for tournament rugby. They are so very comfortable in the pressure and grind of knockout rugby, but they actually have the outside backs to take advantage of the few opportunities that come your way."
Flats is an ex Bath, briefly ex England prop, he’s a brilliant pundit / presenter on English rugby. No idea who you are in real life but it seems you might also be brilliant.
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@Dodge said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
it seems you might also be brilliant
my superpower is sounding like i know what i am talking about even though it is 100% bluff
