The Rugby Union General Discussion thread

Other games from day 2

Tonga v Georgia


Ireland v Canada


France v Italy

Originally posted by munst49ERS:

Other games from day 2

Tonga v Georgia


Ireland v Canada


France v Italy

I don't think Georgia was supposed to beat Tonga... What a super world cup so far. Hope Australia is paying attention.

Originally posted by munst49ERS:
Other games from day 2

Tonga v Georgia

Great job by Georgia as well, getting the victory over Tonga... I thought Tonga would beat them by 10+, I was wrong...

Week 1 surprises, fantastic result for Rugby...

Outstanding fans/crowd support as well... Well done England.

49ers fans will recognise a familiar name scoring Ireland's last try... well almost

OMG OMG WHAT LOL LOL CANT BELIEVE IT!!!!!! BIGGEST UPSET IN THE HISTORY OF THE RUGBY WORLD CUP UNBELIEVEABLE ITS LIKE A JARRYD HAYNE STORY ALL OVER
DAVID SLAYS GOLIATH!!!
JAPAN DEFEATS ONE OF THE MIGHTY GIANTS SOUTH AFRICA IN A ON YOUR SEAT SEASAW OF A GAME!!!
COME ON MINNOWS LETS BRING ANOTHER GIANT DOWN!!!

That was one of the greatest sporting moments in my viewing history. Especially sweet for me because I hate south Africans and revelled in their shocked faces. Live in a neighbourhood full of saffas and they're so arrogant, all the more so when it comes to rugby.

So not all teams play week 1? Confusing format. Australia's first game in week 2 against Fiji who have already played England?

Originally posted by Tonedog:
So not all teams play week 1? Confusing format. Australia's first game in week 2 against Fiji who have already played England?

Yeah that's what I was thinking but I guess with an odd number of 5 in each Pool they had to work it that way. Can't really recall it being that way in previous World Cups but who knows.

Watched the replay of Japans amazing effort. They would have troubled any team with that fluency in attack and never say die defence. It was an absolutely brilliant effort by The Cherry Blossoms and is the biggest upset I can think of in any code of football.

Originally posted by RealSapster4Niners:
Rugby has quite a presence and following in Japan these days. I really hope they go on to win some more matches and that it lifts the game in Japan. With a population of around 120 million, they could really contribute.

Agreed^^

With Japan set to host the next RWC & at some point in the near future (Possibly/probably next year? Although I was reading about some difficulties with administrations… Join Super Rugby.) The result couldn't have come at a better time to capture the imagination of the Japanese sporting public.

Japan are always a perennial RWC fan favourite, everybody at some stage adopts them as their second team. They have always played a very attractive style of Rugby that is a joy to watch…

Early on they lacked in the technical aspects of the game to be able to compete with more established sides… By the time they caught up in those aspects the game had changed, with a greater emphasis on power & winning collisions.

I think many people doubted Japan's chances in this era, with the thought process being the elite teams, if Japan matched them in skill/technique, would just beat them into submission through size, unless the Japanese included a heavy dose of foreign imports...

Happy to see that's not the case!

Japan played a terrific game (Perhaps flawless game, given their current status.) Using ball movement & their speed to exploit space & attack the flanks spreading the larger Boks from side to side across the field. They used their size to their advantage & leveraged well in both the rucks/mauls & at scrum time. They also displayed outstanding technique cutting down the larger team in old-fashioned copybook low tackles & then worked hard to secure turnovers after the tackles were completed.

However the two most important things were remaining disciplined with both their behaviour & execution of fundamentals/game-plan & most importantly just having the belief that they're capable of beating a side like South Africa…

The greatest thing about the result for me is the fact it showed Rugby could be won employing different styles of play, (Not just conservative/expansive) the way the Japanese ran the ball played to their strengths, getting low in contact, running at the space to the side of the opponent, rather than trying to dominate in the collisions. It was a great spectacle because of it….

Variance in style of play is one of the reasons both Rugby codes have difficulty creating the level of competition Football/Soccer has internationally… Technical ability trumps almost all else in Football, if your side lacks somewhat in the areas of size/speed/power you can still go out there & be very competitive in Football if you are technically competent… While in both Rugby codes in the era of bigger, faster, stronger it can be hard to negate the power game of elite teams if your side isn't as blessed in these areas… Japan did that, along with supreme fitness of course & it was great to see.

Hopefully they'll pick up a few more scalps along the way…
Remaining games are against very big teams in terms of physical size, but Japan just might have the formula to overcome that…
Japan v Scotland 23/9
Japan v Samoa 03/10
Japan v USA 11/10

After the RSA win, who knows they might just run the table….

Congrats to:
Samoa(25) Def US(16)
Wales(54) Def Uruguay(9)

All Blacks(New Zealand) v Los Pumas (Argentina) is on now...

Wembley looks great today...

Los Pumas try time!!!

McCaw to the bin... Lol... That's what you get for tripping, no need for it.

Argentina lead at the half, NZ with 2 yellow cards.. Maybe just maybe an upset?

Nehe blew it, Nice break from SBW... Try line open & dropped... Lol

ABs looking a little rattled....