Rugby World Cup 2023

[OldieButFrenchie]

so @dunc very nicely sent me a message to say congrats from New Zealand, because of the French victory over the All Blacks friday. and that was enough to convince me to make a thread!

Anybody else following this World Cup?

as a French guy who grew up playing rugby, I am obviously very hyped at the moment. A win over the AB's is never to be taken for granted and I really thought they were going to steamroll us at first, considering the way the game had started....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgfcFjBWC2s

It's shaping up to be a real exciting tournament, and I got my hopes up....but could it all go south real quick, I've seen it before...
Watching Scotland-South Africa in a few minutes and then Wales-Fidji tonite! 2 games that could be turn out to be pretty epic....(rooting for Scotland and Fidji, exciting underdogs with pretty fiery style of play)

[Mean salto]

I'll probably just watch the highlights until later rounds. I'm not the biggest rugby union fan (think Australia is the only place where league is the bigger of the two) and have to admit I don't fully know what's going on sometimes lol

[Frank and Fred]

Yeah. As a welsh person who grew up playing rugby also. It's hard not to care. Wales' first game today....

I drew France in a little family sweepstakes we have going on so I'll secretly be routing for Les Bleus also.

[OldieButFrenchie]

I'll probably just watch the highlights until later rounds. I'm not the biggest rugby union fan (think Australia is the only place where league is the bigger of the two) and have to admit I don't fully know what's going on sometimes lol

I think noone understands everything in this sport     it's pretty complex and rules change every other year... I always played with the backs (I was a skinny dude...) so a lot of the intricacies of scrums and rucks, forward play in general, escape me too!

->Frank and Fred I did not know you were Welsh! Wales seems to be like NZ, rugby is the biggest sport there right?
Fiji are going to be a handful I think, lots of skill and power in that team, and better organized than before. could be a cracker of a game!

Scotland holding their own atm.....It's going to be a tight group with Ireland

[Frank and Fred]

Yeah, was just back in Wales recently but live in Oregon which makes keeping up with rugby tricky but the matches are about lunch time and earlier(west coast time) for this world cup so I should be able to find a few places to watch a match or two.

Rugby is massive in Wales. Almost a religion to some. In my school you played rugby in the winter and cricket in the summer. There was a point in the early 80s where footballs were banned by the headmaster... maybe that was a joke but we all believed it.

[OldieButFrenchie]

that's funny I heard the exact same story about football being banned at school, from an Irish friend a few days ago!

It's very different in France, sports don't revolve around school, especially not rugby. It's more of a regional divide, football is the number 1 sport everywhere except in the southwest (Toulouse, basque country, places like that). But rugby is a close second.
some cities are all bout football like Marseille, but just 40 km east, Toulon lives for rugby.

Scotland finally caving in right now....Boks just too powerful.

[Frank and Fred]

Jesus what a game. Fair play to Fiji. Absolute beasts. Wales had to make over 200 tackles to keep them at bay.

[dunc]

Nice thread. Thanks for the shout out. I love the all blacks and have grown up watching and playing rugby. It's a tricky game for us to watch at the moment because our team is out of sorts. I think they are over coached and have lost their natural flair because of this. FINGERS CROSSED THEY SORT IT OUT.

I also think the game is also becoming very pedantic and over analised.  Ref now plays too much of a roll in the final outcome.
I was loosing faith in the sport after the England game. But the Fiji one restored my love. Wow.
I think SA , Ireland or France could take this one out. I hope the All Blacks do, but if not I want france to win. The deserve it after all these years.

[OldieButFrenchie]

holy crap what a game. Very glad I watched that one, heart-attack stuff but a real good watch for a neutral. Both teams giving it all!
and when you think that Fiji lost their playmaker and kicker just 5 days before the 1st game of the WC.... so congrats to Wales for making it through.

->Dunc: the ref has always played a very big part in rugby union. And I felt it was the same in this game. Ref was much more lenient towards Wales IMHO. some decisions quite baffling honestly. The one that irked me the most was when fijian scrum was advancing towards welsh tryline real fast....and then the ref blows to give Fiji a penalty?? why interrupt play, that surely would have been a try?

[dunc]

Yeah dito on that scrum call. I couldn't believe it.

[dunc]

I was also un impressed by Dan Biggar going off at his players for having a go at running from their try line just before half time. In Canterbury, where I come from we are always taught to turn up the heat at the half time mark because your opponent often switches off just before the whistle . I know that mentality has won a few games for Canterbury and the All Blacks.
Wales will never be world champs with that attitude .

[dunc]

Lucky France. Well played Uruguay!

[OldieButFrenchie]

Lucky France. Well played Uruguay!

Indeed! we were very lucky especially that that yellow was not deemed worthy of a red....At 13-5 things could have gone very wrong.
Only France can beat the AB's by 14 points and then struggle vs Uruguay 6 days later I guess!
just to remain positive, I will take it as a good omen, as I remember the French football team struggling in the same way vs Paraguay during the home WC in 98.   

I have to say I find it quite strange that a kiwi ref was in this game, considering France and NZ are in the same group. Generally I think World Rugby really has to make an effort for diversity if they want the game to grow, as they say: out of the 12 refs for this WC, 4 are English! Another 4 Australian. How is that balanced?? Only one French ref, when the WC is in France and the French league is the biggest in the world? No ref from Argentina, Italy, Wales, Scotland??
in the end that's 10 refs out of 12 from english-speaking countries. Rugby still an old boys club from the Commonwealth days.

[Síota]

I was trying to explain to some french lads last night that it's good for rugby as a game for Uruguay to do well against France they were to daft to understand. Was a great game wasn't expecting France to struggle that much. Wonder if the kiwis will do better than we did against Romina tonight.

[OldieButFrenchie]

I was trying to explain to some french lads last night that it's good for rugby as a game for Uruguay to do well against France they were to daft to understand. Was a great game wasn't expecting France to struggle that much. Wonder if the kiwis will do better than we did against Romina tonight.

it is! Maybe they had had too much of a scare watching the game haha....
I could not watch live as I had band rehearsal, I probably would have been much more stressed watching it without knowing the result.     

[Síota]

Watched most of yesterday's match's, Chile started well but ran out of steam. Wales are horrible. Luckily we didn't get any injuries before South Africa next week.
Looking forward to the English match today. I was gonna miss all the match's and go to Lyon for the slappy but I'm dead tired and not feeling it.

[Frank and Fred]

Rugby is fun to watch. Slappys are still better.

[Síota]

Rugby is fun to watch. Slappys are still better.

Oh don't worry mate I went for a skate, just wasn't in the mood to go to Lyon this morning.

[dunc]

Australia really have fallen off . No wonder the All Blacks have a false sense of reality.  Well done Fiji. Big athletic dudes who can go a whole game.

[Dad_Brains]

It’s great how little I’ve had to hear about the All Blacks lately even with a World Cup on. It’s all about the warriors. Up The Wahs!

[OldieButFrenchie]

Wales kind of had the same scare vs Portugal as France vs Urugay.
Maybe the big teams will stop sending the B squad when playing so-called tier 2 countries in the future....

On the other hand, it's a long competition and the impact of the modern game on players looks crazy. Tuisova was absolutely rocked when he came off the field vs Australia. I wonder if he's really going to recover for the next games. similarly losing Sexton for Ireland or Dupont for France would be a big, big blow. One injury and the WC looks very different.

anyways....Uruguay Italy could be a cracker!

[Síota]

Uruguay kinda didn't turn up, after the French match I though they would have had a chance, ok well the two yellows help them in the first half but ran outta steam in the second.
Wonder if France will have learnt any lessons from last week...should be an easy 50+ points win but we will see.

[OldieButFrenchie]

Not surprised by the second half beating in Italy - Urugay.... I felt the ref helped Urugay a lot in the first half, don't think I've ever seen 2 yellows + penalty try in the same passage of play!

As for France today, they are bringing out the big guns, no more B squad so I expect a bonus point win for sure.

Some people are saying Italy could take the AB's but I just don't see it, considering yesterday's game. Kinda bummed Capuozzo did not feature more up to now, he's one of my favorite players to watch!

[Síota]

Not surprised by the second half beating in Italy - Urugay.... I felt the ref helped Urugay a lot in the first half, don't think I've ever seen 2 yellows + penalty try in the same passage of play!

As for France today, they are bringing out the big guns, no more B squad so I expect a bonus point win for sure.

Some people are saying Italy could take the AB's but I just don't see it, considering yesterday's game. Kinda bummed Capuozzo did not feature more up to now, he's one of my favorite players to watch!

Was gutted when Capuozzo left FCG, forsure one to watch.
Yeah you guys need the bonus point win! Shame its on at 21H gonna be dead tired, prob go to the pub so I don't fall asleep on the sofa and miss it.

[OldieButFrenchie]

FUCK
GODDAMN IT
SHIT
FUCK
GODDAMN IT
SHIT
FUCK
GODDAMN IT
SHIT
FUCK
GODDAMN IT
SHIT

I'll come back to this mess (Dupont out)....gonna go for a skate first to start the day on a more positive note!

[Síota]

FUCK
GODDAMN IT
SHIT
FUCK
GODDAMN IT
SHIT
FUCK
GODDAMN IT
SHIT
FUCK
GODDAMN IT
SHIT

I'll come back to this mess (Dupont out)....gonna go for a skate first to start the day on a more positive note!

Yeah what a stupid tackle...took away from the win.

[OldieButFrenchie]

I was actually saying that Dupont should be subbed at half time. But apparently he wanted to play more!   

I'll be very surprised if he plays in the tournament again.... Facial surgery is no joke. The French coach Fabien Galthier will maybe call back Serin, another gifted player....But losing Dupont remains a huge blow. For everyone actually, not just French fans, some of the stuff he did yesterday was amazing. That kick pass under pressure to the winger (with his left foot!) was a thing of beauty.

Oh well. NZ lost Dan Carter in the pool stage as well in 1999, I'll just hope Les Bleus will have the same fate.

And now....let's see Ireland-SA ! Planning to see it at an Irish buddy's house and I 'm gonna cheer on the Saffas,  as a revenge for him cheering on the AB's last time hahaha....

[Frank and Fred]

Little nervous about Aus to be honest... Eddie is confident...

[Síota]

@OldieButFrenchie all my french mates are up for us...but whatever hahahaha.

@Frank and Fred um...both teams are really slipping...gonna be a great match but completely understand your stress. I wouldn't have any confidence in Eddie....

[Frank and Fred]

Eddie dropped the ball.

Wales have some real momentum now. But it is only going to get harder after Georgia.