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Rugby World Cup 2023
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How did those Iceland players get spotted though? Playing against England and getting smashed? Who knows which came first, however there are no doubt players from Portugal who have been identified by bigger leagues and will move into better teams after this tournament and improve further. The problem is Tier 2 nations hardly ever play Tier 1 nations so turn up every 4 years with no experience against those teams and are now playing under a huge spotlight. It's fundamentally sporting elitism at the extreme. World rugby treats them like fodder.Cafc43v3r said:
Would getting smashed by England, Wales, Ireland and France every year improve them?NornIrishAddick said:I have to say that I've been really impressed with Portugal, if they had more opportunities against top teams they'd be some side.
Or would getting players from their bigger clubs into the professional European leagues improve them? Or ultimately setting up their own professional league.
Did Turkey improve at football from getting thrashed in qualifying for major tournaments or because they improved their own leagues?
Did Iceland improve because they got thrashed regularly or because they got more players into top academy set ups at a young age?
Did you know when Fiji played England in a rare friendly a few years ago at a sold out Twickenham the Fiji players were paid a few hundred pounds each! England players were paid tens of thousands and God knows how much the RFU raked in on hospitality, tickets and booze.1 -
Odds ,, bookies very uncertain who wins the thing .. Ireland and SA both 3/1, next come NZ and France at 100/30 .. big gap to England 11/1, then Wales at 19/1 .. for what it's worth I backed NZ ages ago at 3/1, at least they are rock solid pricewise lol0
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Is it just me or is there a lack of momentum in this tournament ,I started full of enthusiasm but that seems to be waning. Don’t know if it’s the gaps between games or perhaps they should have played all of the games at the weekends ….1
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Lack of games, especially when many big teams didn't play last weekendbillysboots said:Is it just me or is there a lack of momentum in this tournament ,I started full of enthusiasm but that seems to be waning. Don’t know if it’s the gaps between games or perhaps they should have played all of the games at the weekends ….
Lack of jeopardy, as qualification is effectively just about all decided before the groups are finished.
To make groups of 5 exciting you need 3 decent teams in the group, AND for the final game to feature 2 of them.2 -
To have that, you need to fast track more Tier 2 nations to Tier 1 standards. There aren't enough Tier 1 teams to achieve such excitement, without drastically reducing the numbers playing (and undermining the suggestion that it's a World Cup).killerandflash said:
Lack of games, especially when many big teams didn't play last weekendbillysboots said:Is it just me or is there a lack of momentum in this tournament ,I started full of enthusiasm but that seems to be waning. Don’t know if it’s the gaps between games or perhaps they should have played all of the games at the weekends ….
Lack of jeopardy, as qualification is effectively just about all decided before the groups are finished.
To make groups of 5 exciting you need 3 decent teams in the group, AND for the final game to feature 2 of them.
Or watch Ireland v Scotland at the weekend.
As an Ireland fan, I'm half expecting the Scots to win.1 -
I’d be questioning your heritage if you aren’t quite frankly 🫣😫😂😂😂NornIrishAddick said:
To have that, you need to fast track more Tier 2 nations to Tier 1 standards. There aren't enough Tier 1 teams to achieve such excitement, without drastically reducing the numbers playing (and undermining the suggestion that it's a World Cup).killerandflash said:
Lack of games, especially when many big teams didn't play last weekendbillysboots said:Is it just me or is there a lack of momentum in this tournament ,I started full of enthusiasm but that seems to be waning. Don’t know if it’s the gaps between games or perhaps they should have played all of the games at the weekends ….
Lack of jeopardy, as qualification is effectively just about all decided before the groups are finished.
To make groups of 5 exciting you need 3 decent teams in the group, AND for the final game to feature 2 of them.
Or watch Ireland v Scotland at the weekend.
As an Ireland fan, I'm half expecting the Scots to win.2 -
Ireland/Scotland .. make or break tomorrow evening, Ireland without the slightly injured and influential James Ryan, he's sure to come on if/when the going gets tough .. it is sure to be a humdinger, though the Scots need Ireland to totally collapse if they are to win ,, It ain't gonna happen i m o..
Scotland select the tough Ali Price at scrum half, Ben White the first choice so far is not even in the 23 ,, injured, fell out with Gregor Townsend ?0 -
I love the RWC but they do have a really tough problem to solve in that how do you keep it interesting when there is such a massive gulf in the teams. The group stages have being going on for weeks and there arent many fans that keen to watch matches like last nights drubbing.
I appreciate that the tier 2 nations need to play the top teams but I personally think they should do that outside of the RWC. Teams like Georgia, Portugal etc should be playing teams from the 6 nations every year and not just when the RWC comes around. Cut the number of teams in the actual RWC down dramatically so you dont get most of the group matches completly onesided affairs0 -
Neither.Lincsaddick said:Ireland/Scotland .. make or break tomorrow evening, Ireland without the slightly injured and influential James Ryan, he's sure to come on if/when the going gets tough .. it is sure to be a humdinger, though the Scots need Ireland to totally collapse if they are to win ,, It ain't gonna happen i m o..
Scotland select the tough Ali Price at scrum half, Ben White the first choice so far is not even in the 23 ,, injured, fell out with Gregor Townsend ?
Horses for courses!0 -
same with cricket world cupAndyG said:I love the RWC but they do have a really tough problem to solve in that how do you keep it interesting when there is such a massive gulf in the teams. The group stages have being going on for weeks and there arent many fans that keen to watch matches like last nights drubbing.
I appreciate that the tier 2 nations need to play the top teams but I personally think they should do that outside of the RWC. Teams like Georgia, Portugal etc should be playing teams from the 6 nations every year and not just when the RWC comes around. Cut the number of teams in the actual RWC down dramatically so you dont get most of the group matches completly onesided affairs0 -
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The cricket WC has too few teams, the rugby one too many...Lincsaddick said:
same with cricket world cupAndyG said:I love the RWC but they do have a really tough problem to solve in that how do you keep it interesting when there is such a massive gulf in the teams. The group stages have being going on for weeks and there arent many fans that keen to watch matches like last nights drubbing.
I appreciate that the tier 2 nations need to play the top teams but I personally think they should do that outside of the RWC. Teams like Georgia, Portugal etc should be playing teams from the 6 nations every year and not just when the RWC comes around. Cut the number of teams in the actual RWC down dramatically so you dont get most of the group matches completly onesided affairs2 -
I know you can have some serious fast bowling and most of the players at the cricket World Cup are professionals but it can't be much fun, or safe, for an amateur fly half to take some poor pass while he is milliseconds away from being hit by a professional flanker.killerandflash said:
The cricket WC has too few teams, the rugby one too many...Lincsaddick said:
same with cricket world cupAndyG said:I love the RWC but they do have a really tough problem to solve in that how do you keep it interesting when there is such a massive gulf in the teams. The group stages have being going on for weeks and there arent many fans that keen to watch matches like last nights drubbing.
I appreciate that the tier 2 nations need to play the top teams but I personally think they should do that outside of the RWC. Teams like Georgia, Portugal etc should be playing teams from the 6 nations every year and not just when the RWC comes around. Cut the number of teams in the actual RWC down dramatically so you dont get most of the group matches completly onesided affairs1 -
Screeching commentator making France game unwatchable.
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Pretty grim that Italy, an "established" country, have been stuffed in both games when they've come up against decent sides.0
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They've established themselves as the bottom country in the six nations.2
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Unlikely, BUT worth a thought .. Ireland vs Scotland match-fixing claim at Rugby World Cup is insulting and scandalous (msn.com)0
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Reminds me of that scene in brave heart. The Irish were sent charging in on the Scots, who also charged. They met in the middle of the battlefield and stopped short of each other before hand shakes and hugs were had.Lincsaddick said:Unlikely, BUT worth a thought .. Ireland vs Scotland match-fixing claim at Rugby World Cup is insulting and scandalous (msn.com)
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So when after 75 minutes the 2 captains meet up for chat with a piece of paper and calculator, I shouldn't suspect anything
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Samoa playing the sort of rugby England could only dream of.0
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England shit today.0
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Big fuck up from Farrell there, taking too long on the penalty0
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Farrell????? Embarrassing0
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that is simply inexcusable. just glad it happened now not in a knockout match, he won't do it againDaveMehmet said:Big fuck up from Farrell there, taking too long on the penalty0 -
well todays game won’t change my opinionMrOneLung said:I only occasionally dip in and out of England rugby, but I have never seen anything in Farrell other than being a good kicker who cannot tackle properly.
obviously to have so many caps there must be more to him than that but as a casual viewer I have not seen it.0 -
Lucky England0
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Cobbled the win today but massive improvement needed to progress further now the knock out stage is here.0
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20-0 to Ireland already. Scotland's WC nearly over1
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26-0 HTkillerandflash said:20-0 to Ireland already. Scotland's WC nearly over1 -
Had hoped for a less one sided affair…0
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Most pressing thing for me in this tournament is the haircuts. What the f is going on? Its like the players are trying to out-shit each other.1
