Coupe du Monde de Rugby 2007 France

[from the plaines]

Yea watching the RWC here is going to suck, since almost every way outside getting Setenta is going to give you a days delay. Does anyone know if there are going to be match trackers online at all like during the soccer world cup? All I know is on saturday during my teams game I am sure its all going to be hush hush who won till everone can get to the bar and hopefully catch the replays of the games after our game :D Well I think France will take the Argies tomarrow, any one else have any thoughts? Best of luck tomarrow!

[toulousain]

Well, Argentina is now a very good team and we know it very well as they beat France 4 times in the 5 last games !
But I can't imagine a French loss tonight ! Allez les Bleus !

[Catfish]

Well, Argentina is now a very good team and we know it very well as they beat France 4 times in the 5 last games !
But I can't imagine a French loss tonight ! Allez les Bleus !
I think the opening match will be a classic. France are the host
and ARG are improving every year. I will have to follow it
via on-line matchtracker. Are there any audio links?

[from the plaines]

Catfish, if you can wait The Globe Pub is playing the game at 2, than replaying it at 7.

[Breakwood]

http://videos.tf1.fr/video/

Looks like we'll get some free streaming on TF1

[Carefree 95]

Game 1:

France 12 - 17 Argentina. FT.

[AfrcnHrbMan]

WoW...I turn on setanta and the france argentina game is at the 60th minute and France is losing. ************. From what the announcers say, their backs are really against the wall now.

[bwiorly]

Hey, I like rugby as much as the next French person... I listened to the whole game on RMC Info and was really bummed that we couldn't beat Argentina, but let's face it: would you rather win vs. Argentina in the Rugby WC or beat Italy in the Euro qualifier?...

Yes, me too.

Seems like they tried really hard to sell the WC to the French audience and did a pretty good job. That being said, besides a few strongholds in the South West, not a whole lot people in France give a darn about rugby and you're certainly not going to mobilize a nation behind our rugby team the way we all got behind Les Bleus in 1998, 2000 and 2006. If you like sports, the France-Argentina match was a nice prelude to Italy-France, but we all know which game is the marquee event of the weekend.

So let's turn our attention to the contest that really matters now... And if RMC Info could give us a little bit more of Coach Courbis and a little bit less of Vincent Moscato, it would all be for the best...

[AfrcnHrbMan]

Ha, well played.

[from the plaines]

I will say the argies managed to shut the French backs down pretty well. But all and all it was a dreadfull way to win. I have never seen so many players fall over in a rugby game. I love the fact that french players can go off the feild fine all bloodied up. But after every other play it seemed like an argie neede treatment. BUt who knows hopefully this will be a wake up call. Well I am going to bed I need to get up in about 5 hours, to watch the New Zealand. Best of luck next game

[toulousain]

Well, Argentina is now a very good team and we know it very well as they beat France 4 times in the 5 last games !
But I can't imagine a French loss tonight ! Allez les Bleus !

Well, now I can imagine it... :rolleyes:
But there's still hope. The Ireland game will be a decisive one.

[Pierre-Henri]

- Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad.

Argentina played smarter than us. They cut the rythm of the game at the right moment, slowed it down when they needed to slow it down, let us run like chickens when they wanted us to run like chickens... Undoubtly, the French players were individually, technically stronger and faster, but the Argentinian made them look like juniors.

- Didn't see Italy-NZ. Looked like a no-game, infortunately.

- Japan-Australia was a pain. The Japanese are brave, valliant, but they need 30 kg and 15 cm more per player before they can do anything at this level. Plus, the Japanese fly-half seems to be 12 years old or something.

- Congratulations to the Americans. In spite of the defeat, their performance was great, especially if you consider many of them are amateurs. They weren't ridiculous, they weren't outpowered, they weren't outclassed. The prop Matekitonga Moeakiola made a big tackle and latter scored a nice try, on sheer strengh. All in all, if you except this last minute foolish and dangerous tackle, an excellent game by the Eagles.

[cmblfc]

The French game hurt. It hurt bad. But I am not worried as we can still finish first in this group. I honestly believe Ireland will take care of Argentina and we will take care of the Irish.

All we can worry about is our games.


The USA-England game was spectacular. It made me so proud to see the Eagles playing the game of their lives. A couple of breaks and that game could have been MUCH closer.

The English are unimpressive at best.

[Catfish]

My hats off to ARG. I think no one gave them any chance.
There heart showed and France got a serious wake-up call.

No big surprise in NZ crushing Italy. I know ITA have improved
over the years in the 6Nations, but they are not ready to run
with The All Blacks.

[El-ahrairah]

Hey, I like rugby as much as the next French person... I listened to the whole game on RMC Info and was really bummed that we couldn't beat Argentina, but let's face it: would you rather win vs. Argentina in the Rugby WC or beat Italy in the Euro qualifier?...

Yes, me too.

Seems like they tried really hard to sell the WC to the French audience and did a pretty good job. That being said, besides a few strongholds in the South West, not a whole lot people in France give a darn about rugby and you're certainly not going to mobilize a nation behind our rugby team the way we all got behind Les Bleus in 1998, 2000 and 2006. If you like sports, the France-Argentina match was a nice prelude to Italy-France, but we all know which game is the marquee event of the weekend.

So let's turn our attention to the contest that really matters now... And if RMC Info could give us a little bit more of Coach Courbis and a little bit less of Vincent Moscato, it would all be for the best...

Actually, there are more than just a few strongholds of rugby supporters in France. The whole of the pays basque and languedoc-Rousillion are rabid rugby supporters where kids grow up kicking a rugby ball before they even think of a soccer ball. If you ask anyone in Toulouse. Biarritz, Bayonne, Pau, Tarbes, Perpignan, Beziers, Narbonne, Brive, Carcassone, etc., what sport they think of first, it's ovalie and not football, so don't think the France-Italy match was more important.

Go Eagles! Forza Italia! and I guess, Allez France!

[bwiorly]

Actually, there are more than just a few strongholds of rugby supporters in France. The whole of the pays basque and languedoc-Rousillion are rabid rugby supporters where kids grow up kicking a rugby ball before they even think of a soccer ball. If you ask anyone in Toulouse. Biarritz, Bayonne, Pau, Tarbes, Perpignan, Beziers, Narbonne, Brive, Carcassone, etc., what sport they think of first, it's ovalie and not football, so don't think the France-Italy match was more important.

Well, every single region/city you mention is in Southwestern France... so what point exactly are you trying to make?

I'll say it again: "besides a few strongholds in the South West, not a whole lot people in France give a darn about rugby". That's not dissing rugby, that's a fact. Hey, I grew up in France and I was an avid watcher of five nation tournament matches in the winter. That being said, it was nothing more than a pleasant past time until spring soccer matches started again.

When you say "don't think the France-Italy match was more important", you don't make much sense. Maybe it wasn't more important that France-Argentina is a limited geographical area in Southwestern France (exactly what I was saying in my first message), but for the rest of France, Italy-France was the big game of the weekend.

[Pierre-Henri]

Splendid rugby day. What a great sport it is ! Probably the only sport where the underdogs are declared heroes simply because they score a few points vs the bigshots. Canada did very well, Portugal was full of heart, and Namibia made me yell out of joy.

Bless the underdogs !

[Blitzwing]

Been a exciting tournament so far, besides the Pumas win every thing has gone as expected, with all the "big nations" recording some handsome wins.
It's interesting most of the games have been competitive in the 1st half with the likes of Canada, Samoa, Portugal and Japan all putting up a fight but the superior fitness of the likes of South Africa, Australia, Ireland and Wales have seen them stampede home.

So far New Zealand are still raging hot favourites after mauling Italy, but South Africa and Australia have been pretty impressive as well.

To all you French supporters I wouldn't get too worried I still think France will beat Ireland and top the group.

Oh and great to see the US stick it to England!

[El-ahrairah]

Well, every single region/city you mention is in Southwestern France... so what point exactly are you trying to make?

I'll say it again: "besides a few strongholds in the South West, not a whole lot people in France give a darn about rugby". That's not dissing rugby, that's a fact. Hey, I grew up in France and I was an avid watcher of five nation tournament matches in the winter. That being said, it was nothing more than a pleasant past time until spring soccer matches started again.

When you say "don't think the France-Italy match was more important", you don't make much sense. Maybe it wasn't more important that France-Argentina is a limited geographical area in Southwestern France (exactly what I was saying in my first message), but for the rest of France, Italy-France was the big game of the weekend.

Actually, it's not such a limited area in southwestern France. You could make an analogy to the fact that NASCAR is only popular in a "limited" geographical area of the US where that "limited" geographical area is the area of the south. Although it is small compared to other parts of the US, is it is still a large area. "Limited" would be a description of the area of the US that plays lacrosse or the description of the area of France where they play handball.

Having grown up in France, you would be the first to stay that soccer is the number one sport followed by rugby, cycling, basketball (another "limited" geographical area), volleyball, etc. However to say that there are not many supports of rugby in France is wrong.

[guignol]

i agree that rugby is ahead of basketball, handball and volleyball, but only in terms of the following of the NT and some pro clubs. in terms of the number of people who practice the sport the top 15 in order are:

Football - 2 146 752
Tennis - 1 054 513
Judo - 539 733
Equitation - 515 000
Basketball - 447 942
Pétanque - 376 000
Golf - 368 741
Handball - 337 971
Canoë-kayak - 254 618
Voile - 254 221
Natation - 246 315
Gymnastique - 245 301
Rugby - 235 675
Karaté et arts martiaux - 202 566
Tennis de table - 178 821

there are a few surprises for me here: equitation to start with, next petanque: it's a very popular game but i'm surprised so many play it seriously enough to join a club. in the other direction i expected table tennis to be higher fencing and volleyball at least to be on the list.

rugby is decidedly regional; besides a big club in paris (stade français) and a pocket of popularity from lyon up to the alpes, you can draw lines west and south from clermont-ferrand and that's where the rugger is.

volleyball and handball seem minor sports in the public eye, but not basketball. and none of these are in any way concentrated in a certain region. it's true that a glance at the big teams in these sports gives a curious list of cities: tours, limoges, dijon, montpellier... but that's because these cities concentrate on a sport where they can have some national success instead of being 3rd division doormats.