Oh, yeah. Sorry, I only watch on TV occasionally and listen on the net when its convenient (and maybe delay-torrent a few games here and there).
— Alan
Not at all SFW, but very funny if ever so slightly :rolleyes: oriented to an NZ POV.
You couldn’t make this up - Brian O’Driscoll has a suspected cheek fracture after getting punched, by a Kiwi born player playing for Bayonne.
It’s a sinus fracture and hopefully he’ll be ok to play after the initial games against the minnows.
However, how stupid do you have to be to play a notoriously thuggish French side a month before you play the national French side in the World Cup?
In English news, Tom Rees is back from injury to play against France on Saturday - we’ve really missed him as Joe Worsley, 'ard bastard though he is, cannot play openside. Or pass.
I was at Twickenham for both warmup matches (and had a great time), but I’ll be watching this one from the comfort of my sofa, much to the delight of whichever poor bastards sat next to me in the stadium…
As ever, I will surreptitiously hope for an upset from one of the Pacific Island teams, but that appears to be even more unlikely than normal.
I’ll probably follow one of the two Celtic teams for a while, but they’re not likely to win so I suppose France is my ‘fair weather’ team- I’m not a huge fan of the English game.
Woohoo. Guy from my club, Takudzwa Ngwenya, made the USA cup squad. Unfortunately, after looking at the USA pool, I’m not sure he’ll ever touch the ball at wing. I’m hoping he can get some good tackles in though.
Grrr.
England got munched by France in Marseilles on Saturday - not a humiliation in itself (a 12 point defeat at a venue France have only lost in once) but a major step backwards from the last couple of matches. Big question marks surrounding Wilkinson and Farrell’s ability to create anything, and the scrum minus Sheridan is a real problem.
Depressing. Roll on the 2008 6N when we can unleash the kids.
Awesome, off to a fantastic start.
What a fucking brilliant game that was.
Argentina tore into them from the start and put incredible amounts of pressure on the French, who cracked with an audible “ooh la la”. Fantastic game and immensely brutal with no little skill.
I dont think Argentina made France crack, I think france would have cracked against any halfway decent team.
Not that I’m complaining, delivered what may be one of the matches of the cup and just made this group a whole lot more interesting
I am so glad Argentina won. They really are an under-rated team that doesn’t get the breaks they deserve. Now maybe the SANZAR chiefs will seriously consider including them in the Tri-Nations
FWIW I’m hoping the same thing - giving Australia an expansion team was a joke.
The only downside to France losing is that it sets up a possible AB’s vs France quarter final - might be our quickest exit from the cup yet! :)
Oh, oh! I care. I know my team, England, hasn’t got a chance of retaining the cup, but it’s nice to hope. We won our first game today (against the US, which is hardly difficult) though, alongside wins in Football and Cricket.
It might not have been difficult but England sure tried. That was an extremely poor performance, at this rate the Poms will be very lucky to make it out of the quarter finals.
All Blacks vs Italy - clinical dismemberment.
The US was much improved compared to its play against Munster a few weeks ago, and Munster was missing a lot of starting forwards. So they’re at least showing some improvement. I’m proud a clubmate of mine is on the squad (#11 winger Ngwenya), but groaned every time he was out of position, which was a lot. And the flat back line on the attack - that isn’t going to work USA.
I think, at a minimum, the US squad does not practice together enough to gel as a competitive side, but if they keep improving, they might beat Tonga.
It’s my first anniversary weekend so I’ve only seen the beginning of NZ vs Italy (The All Blacks looked awesome) and parts of the last half of Australia vs. Japan (Shame. It looked like Dirt wrote the script for that one.). I am looking forward to SA vs. Samoa. They are a huge team and always give us a decent physical challenge. I’m looking forward to seeing whether the Springboks gel together and hoping we don’t pick up any injuries.
I care, but i cant watch it because its not on regular tv/fsc/goltv
Uh, the Brit teams and Ireland so far have been very un-inspiring and quite lax. They should have looked at what the biggies did on Saturday, but instead they played tamely. If they perform against the better teams they will be in serious trouble–England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Big trouble.
— Alan
It’s definitely been the southern hemisphere teams showing the skills so far. The inevitable clash between us Aussies and the Kiwis is shaping up to be awe inspiring.
C.