Rugby World Cup 2023

[Tim of the Oak]

There seems to be a lot of split second incidents. The commentators lauded a “fantastic” ball dislodging tackle by Wales only for replays to show the Welsh defender smacked the Fijian on the chin with his shoulder. Borderline errors like they are understandable IMHO. Contrast that with the clear head on on head collision by the South African against Scotland. That really was poor by the officials.

I would like to see ITV drop Sam Warburton from their panel. He’s a boring fooker and was outspoken in helping to get Farrell banned. Bigger offences have gone unpunished in the opening days if the World Cup, with hardly a murmur from Warburton. He might’ve have accidentally done us a favour as Farrell isn’t contributing a lot these days.

Out of the big contenders, I am backing Ireland to win their first World Cup, That would be fitting for the best team in the world over recent seasons.

 

[bluemoon32]

I thought it was strange that Carley pinged Fiji for being off their feet at the ruck and then ignored similar offences soon after.

For me it was a great game played by two very committed teams. Credit to Wlaes for getting over the finishing line.

Agreed, it was a great game, the world cup needed a game like that.
Friends of mine were at the game & they thought the atmosphere was the best theyd ever been part of, Welsh, Fijian & local fans made it a superb night.
France is the best country in the world to host a rugby world cup

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Tom Curry banned for an additional 2 games. England have to knuckle down, tackle low and create a siege mentality

 

[aguero93:20]

Tom Curry banned for an additional 2 games. England have to knuckle down, tackle low and create a siege mentality

That's over the top tbh, he'd basically already served a game with the card coming so early and while the tackle was reckless and stupid, it wasn't malicious. I do think the media reaction plays a huge part in these decisions from World Rugby though, seems like the more the home media complain about the decision the harder they try to drive it home.

 

[AlexWilliamsGloves]

There seems to be a lot of split second incidents. The commentators lauded a “fantastic” ball dislodging tackle by Wales only for replays to show the Welsh defender smacked the Fijian on the chin with his shoulder. Borderline errors like they are understandable IMHO. Contrast that with the clear head on on head collision by the South African against Scotland. That really was poor by the officials.

I would like to see ITV drop Sam Warburton from their panel. He’s a boring fooker and was outspoken in helping to get Farrell banned. Bigger offences have gone unpunished in the opening days if the World Cup, with hardly a murmur from Warburton. He might’ve have accidentally done us a favour as Farrell isn’t contributing a lot these days.

Out of the big contenders, I am backing Ireland to win their first World Cup, That would be fitting for the best team in the world over recent seasons.

We (Ireland) have a tough road to the final....i think we are capable to winning, but we'll likely have to play France or NZ in the Quarters

 

[aguero93:20]

We (Ireland) have a tough road to the final....i think we are capable to winning, but we'll likely have to play France or NZ in the Quarters

Looks on paper that the quarters will be the hardest match and the semi final much easier, but our run to the semi if we get there will be South Africa- Scotland- France/New Zealand and we could well be out of steam by that stage. Next two matches are key as a good bonus point win against Tonga and any result against SA takes a lot of pressure off the Scotland game, making the knockout games that much easier.

 

[AlexWilliamsGloves]

Looks on paper that the quarters will be the hardest match and the semi final much easier, but our run to the semi if we get there will be South Africa- Scotland- France/New Zealand and we could well be out of steam by that stage. Next two matches are key as a good bonus point win against Tonga and any result against SA takes a lot of pressure off the Scotland game, making the knockout games that much easier.

Would definitely take NZ over France in the QF

 

[aguero93:20]

Would definitely take NZ over France in the QF

Absolutely and barring any improbable sequence of results France will win their group now, so winning our group achieves that. But I'd rather go relatively fresh against France having eased to second than go in absolutely bolloxed against the All Blacks having fought tooth and nail in 2 tough games to win the group.
Said it in the build up, we've the group of death in more ways than one. Not only do we have 3 of the top 5 in our group, but we're facing one of the other 2 in our quarter, who will have (comparatively) eased through their group after getting their head to head fixture out of the way on matchday one, while our last 2 group games are the 2 difficult ones.
6N has shown us plenty of times how the organisation of fixtures can play a huge part.
Also wouldn't rule out one or more of Australia/England/Wales making the final for much the same reasons, they really fucked up the seedings.

 

[Protein Junkie]

Absolutely and barring any improbable sequence of results France will win their group now, so winning our group achieves that. But I'd rather go relatively fresh against France having eased to second than go in absolutely bolloxed against the All Blacks having fought tooth and nail in 2 tough games to win the group.
Said it in the build up, we've the group of death in more ways than one. Not only do we have 3 of the top 5 in our group, but we're facing one of the other 2 in our quarter, who will have (comparatively) eased through their group after getting their head to head fixture out of the way on matchday one, while our last 2 group games are the 2 difficult ones.
6N has shown us plenty of times how the organisation of fixtures can play a huge part.
Also wouldn't rule out one or more of Australia/England/Wales making the final for much the same reasons, they really fucked up the seedings.

I’m Welsh and I think you and Scotland have been royally shafted with the draw.
Not only that but the Whole tournament could suffer with such a lopsided draw.
Wish all the GB and Irish team the best.

 

[MillionMilesAway]

I’m Welsh and I think you and Scotland have been royally shafted with the draw.
Not only that but the Whole tournament could suffer with such a lopsided draw.
Wish all the GB and Irish team the best.

It happens each time - it typically comes down to who is 9th in the rankings. I think a few years ago, Argentina were the team who distorted a group.
It does at least seem that the gaps between matches aren't being complained about after previous tournaments saw some (lower ranked, shock!) teams had very short turnarounds vs teams with far longer breaks.