Rugby World Cup

[Swiss.]

Not a massive fan of this sport. Seems everyone forgets the rules when on the pitch and give away stupid penalties. One thing thoug I'm pretty sure it was meant to be played in 30C temperatures. Those big guys will be collapsing in this heat.

[happygilmore]

"Russ of the BML 11:33 Mon Oct 23 Re: Rugby World Cup I wouldn't entirely agree with that. Scrums were originally used to restart a game and give the team with the put in, the chance to restart the game and build forward movement. Now they are used to win penalties and a 3 point kick at goal, for essentially a knock on, which is a bit daft. And different refs will identify who to penalise leaving teams frustrated. They are being used a lot to run down the clock with resets by teams in front. Not sure what the fix is, but something has to change."

[Jonah Lomas]

MaryMillingtonsGhost Hopefully you can see this video. Finally a proper angle of the Kolbe chargedown. Shows just how quick he is! https://www.facebook.com/reel/196653476795638?mibextid=jaSYs6

[MaryMillingtonsGhost]

"martyboy 9:56 Northern and southern hemisphere refs intemperate the game differently. This is true, and makes the decision to award the final to an English ref somewhat perplexing?!? Surely an aussie, experienced in reffing in the tri-nations, would've been a better/safer bet?"

[southbankbornnbred]

"Jonah & Russ, Yep, agree with you Jonah - if they want to make the sport a better spectacle, then they need to prioritise the ball in play more and, more specifically, the ball in hand. Too many of the ""skills"" of union are technical aspects of scrummaging etc which fans can't see from the sofa - or the stands. Which is a problem for them. But, as Russ says, things like the scrum are what union types believe makes the sport unique. The problem is, it also makes the sport deeply uninteresting at times - and puts off casual viewers (like me, I admit). And that's why the club game in England is dying a slow financial death. I'd never pay to go and watch a game of union club rugby. Have done for league, when I lived up north (quite enjoyed it, even though the most local games were at St Helens or Widnes!). I'm very much a casual union viewer, though, so I get that I'm not really the market they're after."

[Lee Trundle]

"Eerie Descent 9:38 Sun Oct 22 ""Not a lot of noise on here about the racist comment made on the field."" The excuses they're giving are laughable. He'll get away with it, though."

[Lee Trundle]

"Eerie Descent 9:38 Sun Oct 22 ""Not a lot of noise on here about the racist comment made on the field."" The excuses they're giving are laughable. He'll get away with it, though."

[Russ of the BML]

SA got the ball in the scrum near the end and England knew they'd either move the ball 30-40 yards upfield due to scrum strength so they collapsed the scrum and hoped he'd miss the kick. He didn't. End of the day. Strong scrums have always won Rugby Union matches because that's what Union is about. Not sure why people are moaning. That's the basis on Union.

[Jonah Lomas]

"southbankbornnbred 6:54 Sun Oct 22 Thing is, countries like England and SA don't really want the ball in play longer, because that plays right into the hands of countries like NZ who thrive on momentum, continuity and broken play. England and SA have built their entire ethos around forward play, kicking and scrummaging for penalties. It doesn't make for a good spectacle, especially when they play against each other. So, even though i 100% agree with you that the game needs to be sped up and simplified, i have doubts that the NH sides and SA will want it sped up TOO much."

[happygilmore]

"Not sure what to think about it, running to the Ref like that. It was a bit like a school kid going ""teacher, teacher, he called me a white cսnt"" But agree, he really should have referred to him as Caucasian"

[Eerie Descent]

"Not a lot of noise on here about the racist comment made on the field. As we know with these things, proof isn't needed, an accusation is enough. Well, it normally is, but you get the feeling this one will be swept under the carpet..."

[southbankbornnbred]

"I read an analysis a while ago which suggested that, during the rugby word cup in 1995, the ball was in play for just 25 minutes per game. Out of 80. That increased to 34 minutes at the 2019 World Cup, following some changes designed to speed things up. BUT, both of those figures still include other phases of the game where the clock continues to run while the ball is not moving. So you're looking at less, realistically. Probably quite a bit less. All field sports have less 'open play' than expected, of course, including football. But I do feel ridiculously short-changed with rugby union."

[southbankbornnbred]

"I'd genuinely like to see a proper analysis of the movement of the ball across the entirety of professional rugby union matches: how long it is in open play for, how far it moves sideways, backwards and forward when in hand etc. In games like last night, if you strip away the scrum time, lineouts, ref's lectures, captains' whining, substitutions, water breaks, ref chatting to his earpiece, penalty preparation and kicking...you might get about ten minutes of ball in hand running. Out of 80 minutes. Zzzzzzz..."

[BRANDED]

I think what makes any port worth watching is closeness of the contest and understanding the game and its rules. The matches have been excellent.

[LeroysBoots]

I appreciate Farrell as a points machine however bloke is a grade A cսnt Hopefully last we see of him in an England shirt We should build a team for the next world cup so get rid of all the 30 plus year olds

[happygilmore]

Vunipola and sinckler on Versus Nche and Koch The bench swung it in the second half with the scrummaging and that was the winning of the game.

[Capitol Man]

"England did to SA what SA did to the Lions on the last tour. Forced them to play England’s game rather than the opposition’s strengths. Still not sure about that last penalty, but the England scrum really struggled once the changes were made. Scrums have become a bit silly, not sure the league version is the answer though. The game is already a lot more like league than it used to be. I don’t mind a forward battle - watching sides go nose-to-nose like that can be as compelling as flowing games, and it’s always a good test as to whether the flowing sides can overcome the side with the strong pack."

[stewie griffin]

"Agreed, herm... thought last night was a brilliant game and England's game plan was perfect for the conditions and the opponent given the weapons we have. To take on, and destroy, the strongest pack in the world was bold and very nearly came off but for their strength in depth. Very different to IreLOL v ABs and IreLOL v South Africa or France v South Africa but equally enjoyable for me. Thought Lawes was once again immense and gutted for him more than any of the others."

[Hermit Road]

"If you don't like it, you don't like it. It doesn't mean the game isn't good to watch. I've enjoyed a lot of the games at this world cup, yesterday's included. That being said, the refs' discretion in awarding penalties has always been a problem and is particularly harsh on England considering they're everyone else's most hated team. This ref, with his surname would have grown up wanting England to lose every game they played in"

[Westside]

"But you've got to encourage more running and open play Yes, completely agree with that. Instead of offering a kick at goal, or to touch, offer the side in receipt of the penalty, a distance advantage, say 30 yards, but that ball must be played from hand, at that point. International kickers, seem pretty good, from just inside their opponents half. Put his side 30 yards forward and they'll be 20 metres or so, from the goal line, which would be a tempting proposition, for a try attempt. I'd also make the try (before conversion attempt), 6 points, so twice as valuable as a kicked penalty."

[southbankbornnbred]

"West - then you could maybe sanction penalty numbers. After a certain number, the side involved has to remove a player for ten minutes. But you've got to encourage more running and open play. Last night was abysmal to watch - as many games in recent years have been. It was tense, because of what was at stake - and the weather didn't help, of course."

[southbankbornnbred]

"I don't really care about how England lost - the changes should be designed to make the whole sport more watchable and entertaining. It seemed to me that England's entire game plan last night was to break the game down and kick the whole time, as you said. They then got beaten at their own game with that when the Saffers brought on the players to dominate the scrum and hope for penalties - which they got. So you basically had both sides, in a World Cup semi final, just hoping to halt open play ""their"" way and hope for the penalties that would give them an advantage. What a dull, dull sport. If they want to improve it, then they need to make sure the ball is in hand, and in open play, a lot more regularly. But the union mob think that sounds more like league. So they won't do it."

[Westside]

"Place kicks should be a point. Two at the most If you do that, then sides can give away penalties, with little sanction."

[RM10]

Yes I don’t know the rules but it seemed nailed on a pen was going to happen as you say it was hinted then given without much reason?

[pdcwhu]

"Collyrob the Irish Soccer. Supporters are a Strange lot,I stopped going in 2012 Halftime 3-0 down to Russia and the Crowd starts a Mexican Wave....I fucked off"

[zico]

"I think if England had tried to play a passing game aiming on out try'ing South Africa they would have got mullered, especially in the conditions, hence the kicking game, although it just seems to give the ball back to the opposition albeit a lot further away from your 22. Not the sort of game that will give any long term success so hopefully Borthwick will not think that just because the tactic got England close he should make that his template. England do need more pace though if they want to play more expansive rugby,. I watched the Irish take on it on You Tube and as said before they panned the Referee and questioned the rules around scrums basically being a sure fire way for a side to just rack up the penalties the way the rules stand. So if you have a good pack for the scrums you will have an advantage. I don't know why England just didn't pop two players in there and let SA win the scrum easily without giving away a penalty unless the rules state how many players must be in a scrum. All a bit predictable as even the commentator before it happened predicted the scrum would give a penalty to SA and they would kick for goal."