Official 2015 Rugby World Cup Thread

[any craic lad?]

Australia man shamed England in the scrum. Foley was immense at 10 as was Hopper and Po**** at the breakdown. Genuinely felt for Lancaster at the poor fella won't sleep for a while

[PrinceNaz88]

Made a mistake playing Farrell at 10 for starters and not Ford.

Don't understand why he changed it against Wales to begin with.

[Hitman Hodgson]

Made a mistake playing Farrell at 10 for starters and not Ford.

Don't understand why he changed it against Wales to begin with.

Nepotism.

He's a poor man's Johnny Wilkinson.

Australia have struggled massively in the scrum against England the last few years, and that's why England have got the results they have against them, despite having a fraction of the ability Australia have.
England are dour shambles, and got what they deserved tonight.

All it means is that there will only one game of rugby that matters in Manchester next week.

[Weebler I]

Nepotism.

He's a poor man's Johnny Wilkinson.

Australia have struggled massively in the scrum against England the last few years, and that's why England have got the results they have against them, despite having a fraction of the ability Australia have.
England are dour shambles, and got what they deserved tonight.

All it means is that there will only one game of rugby that matters in Manchester next week.

It takes ability to scrum, and to maul too. Tighthead props are often the highest paid for that reason.

Agree on the team though, they are a shambles. But I do see things getting better, this is the wake-up call English rugby needs.

[Sine]

Nepotism.

He's a poor man's Johnny Wilkinson.

Australia have struggled massively in the scrum against England the last few years, and that's why England have got the results they have against them, despite having a fraction of the ability Australia have.
England are dour shambles, and got what they deserved tonight.

All it means is that there will only one game of rugby that matters in Manchester next week.

True, the English scrum was literally the best in the world, it was embarrassing getting demolished by it over the past few years. It's tough though - host nation going out in the pool stage, kills the buzz of the tournament for the locals.

I do think it will be a World Cup of upsets - the minnows are performing better than expected etc, I am sure there will be more twists to come. I'm hoping the All Blacks choke against one of the Northern Hemisphere teams.

[Earl-Hickey]

It takes ability to scrum, and to maul too. Tighthead props are often the highest paid for that reason.

Agree on the team though, they are a shambles. But I do see things getting better, this is the wake-up call English rugby needs.

The wakeup call english rugby needs was world cup 2007, then 2011, now 2015

I said before this world cup we had no chance of a win but people were saying it could happen which was farcical, to be honest though the way the draw went we should have made it to the final before being crushed by the all blacks.

What's going to change?

The establishment wouldnt even pick the most dangerous player we have (tuilagi) due to "disciplinery actions"

There was a good article in the New Zealand Herald a couple of months ago about that where they were saying there is not a chance in hell a first team all black would be dropped from the squad over that, winning comes firs, find some other way to punish him

We lack the commitment to win, the brains, the team selection.

When you have players with the TALENT of Cipriani, Tuilagi and Burgess in your country and you cant make them come together and play at their potential then you have serious problems.

Chris Ashton, another who dropped off from being class a couple of years ago and now everyone says "he was never that good", bobbins he was an awesome player who never lived up to his potential.

I'd like to see it turned around but it won't be.

[Hitman Hodgson]

It takes ability to scrum, and to maul too. Tighthead props are often the highest paid for that reason.

Agree on the team though, they are a shambles. But I do see things getting better, this is the wake-up call English rugby needs.

It does, but I was referring to the basic skills of running, passing and decision making. England's stubbornness to accept that to really be the best you have to have a threat away from the set piece. some people point to the 2003 world cup win, and say England won that in the forwards, which is true to a point, but they had a superb back line on the back of it.
In many ways last nights game showed how weak the English are away from the scrum, but it also shows how strong it's been over the last few years because they really are a shambles without it. Lancaster, and his coaches will no doubt be scapegoated, but England's problems lie in their poor core skills. The same goes for all the NH teams.

[Hitman Hodgson]

True, the English scrum was literally the best in the world, it was embarrassing getting demolished by it over the past few years. It's tough though - host nation going out in the pool stage, kills the buzz of the tournament for the locals.

I do think it will be a World Cup of upsets - the minnows are performing better than expected etc, I am sure there will be more twists to come. I'm hoping the All Blacks choke against one of the Northern Hemisphere teams.

Some of the minnows are doing OK, but I still think NZ or Aus will take it.

Btw, anyone interested in rugby should check out the NRL grand final from last night, one of the best games ever played in either code.

[Tom Cruise]

I was working nights for both the Wales and Aus games so have only watched highlights.

Seems like not having three of our best players available for selection (Armitage, Tuilagi and Hartley) was a huge miss. Having said that anyone could have gone out of that group. Probably the toughest group that I've ever seen.

I said before the tourney that England didnt look great and its played out like that. Some very good players in there surrounded by quite a few average ones

[Tom Cruise]

Made a mistake playing Farrell at 10 for starters and not Ford.

Don't understand why he changed it against Wales to begin with.

I can understand the thinking vs Wales. The idea of Jamie Roberts and Co running straight at Ford doesnt sit well with me. It's not like we were wrecked vs Wales either. They are a good team with a hell of a lot of experience

Vs. Aus though it makes sense to go back to what has worked.