Rugby World Cup general discussion
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@nostrildamus said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
Um if SA coaches were so brilliant tactically, shouldn't they have picked Pollard at the start? (Yeah, yeah, Rassie points to trophies on the wall as answer)...
Pollard wasn't originally picked in the squad because at the time of selection he was out injured and had been for some time. And the Boks have a policy* of not picking injured players
Same went for Am and Lood de Jager.
They were though all placed on the standby list.You could argue Kolisi was the exception. But by some miracle, he came back from knee surgery and was able to play a bit just before squad selection.
*Note: the actual policy I know of is that if you are not fit enough to train on the Monday, you don't get picked for the weekend.
Cases in point would be Vincent Koch not making it to this final, and in the 2019 edition, Cheslin Kolbe not playing in the Semi-final. -
@Machpants said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
We've had
910 world cups, but only 8 captains, has someone died? Nope, it's just the 2 x 🐐 double Captain power!Freshened up your post for you.
Nice thing is that photo will last until 2027 too. -
@Billy-Webb said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
@Machpants said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
We've had
910 world cups, but only 8 captains, has someone died? Nope, it's just the 2 x 🐐 double Captain power!Freshened up your post for you.
Nice thing is that photo will last until 2027 too.How thoughtful and generous of you! Try not to dwell on the new potential horror that Tom Foley the TMO can call back a play no matter how many phases (days ago) it was!
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@nostrildamus said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
@Billy-Webb said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
@Machpants said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
We've had
910 world cups, but only 8 captains, has someone died? Nope, it's just the 2 x 🐐 double Captain power!Freshened up your post for you.
Nice thing is that photo will last until 2027 too.How thoughtful and generous of you! Try not to dwell on the new potential horror that Tom Foley the TMO can call back a play no matter how many phases (days ago) it was!
TMO’s are a blight on the game.
Imagine having that power and not going back to penalize the 97 Lions’ scrum right off Newlands in the first test and award both Russell Bennett’s tries that were wrongly called back for forward passes.
Sort Bill Youngs out while you’re at it. Cowards.
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It would be good to see stats for the number of shit kicks per game. Pretty sure England would top that list too 😟
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@Catogrande said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
It would be good to see stats for the number of shit kicks per game. Pretty sure England would top that list too 😟
On an absolute basis, maybe.
But plenty of supposedly attacking teams put up a huge number of ale-house balls. back & midBarrett, Mounga and Jordan all hoofed and hoped with overlaps in the final.
And Kriel’s worst play of the RWC was his shocking effort after Kwagga’s turnover.
I was many beers in but I also vaguely recall one of the Irish players putting up a nothing kick right at the death when he had space to exploit. You could almost see his gears stripping as he tried and failed to come up with anything better to do. Pressure’s a bastard.
It’s a long while ago now but Scotland probably were the worst wasters of good attacking ball with low percentage kicks.
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@Bones said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
I think a better stat would be "kicks per minute of possession".
After all, if your opposition isn't going to kick it back to you, or there are a lot of stoppages, you're unlikely to have the same opportunity to kick.
I saw this stat before the Semifinal and it was quite low for the Boks BUT also need to keep in mind that, in their pools:
- Running over Romania meant less kicking and much more dead time due to tries and conversions.
- Smashing Tonga (17 kicks per game mind) meant less kicking
- Ireland and Scotland played high-possession rugby, so the Boks have less time or inclination to kick.
Context.
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Interestingly if you asked the casual observer who were the most exciting teams to watch in the RWC then many would say NZ, France, Portugal
And all 3 are in the top 6 of kicking
Context is everything
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@MiketheSnow said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
Interestingly if you asked the casual observer who were the most exciting teams to watch in the RWC then many would say NZ, France, Portugal
And all 3 are in the top 6 of kicking
Context is everything
Have to assume it's what they do between the kicks.
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@booboo you mean score tries
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@taniwharugby said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
@booboo you mean score tries
Except for Portugal
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@MiketheSnow I expect they were at least trying to though
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Hearing now that Tuilagi broke a bone in his hand v Samoa and had a plate inserted. Then they played him three times in the next three weeks. Re-broke it v Argentina. Club coach Sanderson is not best amused.
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@MiketheSnow said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
@Dodge said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
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
Hopefully by the next RWC cycle Pougach will be fucking put out to pasture and Flats will be running the show
He's brilliant
And funny as fuck too
If you have a chance to see him live, do it
I discovered Flatman during this world cup by listening to his podcast with Tom Shanklin. You're right, he's absolutely brilliant, most talented pundit I've come across in rugby for ages. What a breath of fresh air for a game that is becoming increasingly tedious and frustrating to follow.
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@Machpants said in Rugby World Cup general discussion:
Some interesting stats
We cross now to WR HQ:
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@Machpants so in 87, they were offloading in two out of every three tackles? Hmmm
Stuff
