Rugby World Cup!

[Glennsallnighter]

Well need I say anything? Ireland 3 France 25. We have a mathematical possibility of moving into the next round, but unless we beat Argentina convincingly it'll be the plane home for our lads next weekend

Good luck to SA who play Samoa tomorrow.

Also to Namibia who play Argentina tomorrow as well. Namibia could do us a favour here

Or is it later today?

[glenneaglesfan]

What an up and down weekend so far. Wales came back from certain defeat in the first half of their match against Fiji, only to lose in the last few minutes.

England have at least managed to scrape into the quarter final after a good match against Samoa.

GA, I'll be gunning for Ireland tomorrow, but they haven't given us much confidence so far.

[glenneaglesfan]

Commiserations to Ireland, who just got beaten by a better pack in the end. Scotland won't stand a chance in the quarter finals.

England, Scotland and France through from the Northern Hemisphere. Let's hope they keep up the spirit!

[Glennsallnighter]

Well, sadly GEF, you were right. Argentina were certainly the better team on the day. So we bow out gracefully!

I suppose of the Northern Hemisphere teams France probably stand the best chance of progressing furthest!

Me? I'm changing my allegience to.......South Africa!

[Mrs Frey]

I was disappointed at the way Ireland lost to Argentina (and the way they've played in this whole tournament so far). They are a much better team than that - I've witnessed them giving the Springboks many headaches over the years. However, with their pivot, flyhalf Ronan O'Gara in poor form, one cannot expect the team to fire. Most teams rely heavily on their flyhalf (especially New Zealand) - he dictates whether there will be any kind of backline play or not. Because of Ronan's poor form, he made poor decisions, kicking the ball away instead of retaining possession, and his kicking (place kicking and territorial) also left a lot to be desired. As a result, poor Brian O'Driscoll couldn't get going either.

I'm just happy that the Springboks are still in with a fighting chance. They didn't play as well as they could have against the USA - too many missed opportunities and loose play against a team nowhere near their league - but hopefully they will learn from their mistakes and play to their potential from here on in.

[Glennsallnighter]

I totally agree MF! The only consolation we can take from the group stages is that we were the only team to score tries against Argentina (Brian O'Driscoll and Geordan Murphy). It didn't help either that we were in a 'Group of Death' with both France and Argentina seeded ahead of us. That said, we underperformed and cannot make any other excuses.

[glenneaglesfan]

Wow - England were 50 to 1 to win their quarter final against Australia, and they did it!! 12 - 10.

They went in fighting in the first half, with good possesion and rucking, winning two penalties. Andy Gomersall and Mike Catt were firing at scrum half and fly half; Paul Sackey was ready on the wing and only just missed a try. The England forwards totally dominated in the scrum, and for most of the match, they were deserving to win. Jonny Wilkinson missed a couple of penalties, as did Berrick Barnes for Australia, but in the end it was the result we hoped for.

France v New Zealand tonight! Wouldn't it be great if France won?

[Freypower]

Well, well. GEF, you must be happy! Both Australia and New Zealand lost! I'm secretly relieved because Australians can be so obnoxious about this sort of stuff, especially when it comes to England. Perhaps some of our more jingoistic types may realise that England's World Cup win was not a fluke after all.

And as my husband constantly reminds me, Australia is highly unlikely ever to win the REAL World Cup. I'm going with Argentina now.

[glenneaglesfan]

Yes, FP, I'm delighted about England, and completely amazed about the All Blacks going down as well. Now if Fiji could spring a surprise against South Africa (sorry MF and GA ), we could have the most remarkable semi-finals in the history of the tournament!

[Mrs Frey]

Well, I must say I was very surprised that England pulled it off against Australia. I couldn't watch the match, but I believe they were far more impressive in that match than they were in the Pool game against South Africa, in which they were just plain awful (sorry, GEF ).

FP, I must say I felt sorry for Australia - George Gregan and Stephen Larkham deserved a better send-off than that, but from here on in Australia are going to have to think about strengthening their tight five. They have been getting away with it up until now, but the run has finally ended. England, however, rely heavily on their forwards, with not much of a backline to speak of.

I was also surprised that France pulled it off against New Zealand, although I thought it possible as they've done it before. They certainly are determined enough, being the hosts of this World Cup.

As for South Africa against Fiji, I was not particularly impressed with my team. Granted, Fiji was better than people expected, tackling well and giving South Africa nothing, but our guys need to learn to do FIRST TIME tackles. They let Fiji get away with a lot, and had us all sweating profusely at times.

On paper, South Africa is good enough to beat any team in this competition, as they have it all: great forwards, a great backline and great goalkickers (Francois Steyn is blossoming alongside the reliable and excellent Percy Montgomery). They just need to believe in themselves and put it together.