It was a really good game. IMHO. Both teams deserve to progress from the group stage, unfortunately with the current format that isn't possible.
Looks like all Northern Hemisphere teams will be in one bracket and all Southern Hemisphere teams in the other.
surprised about the Pacific Islanders thing I hope that trainer wasn't lumping Tongans, Fijians and Samoans into one gene pool
the "flip the script" games are: Ireland-Italy England-Scotland Wales-Fiji if Samoa can get a point from their game with South Africa
And maybe not suitable for some workplaces [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rz31VhUEoA"]LYNX - Rules to Rugby - NZ - YouTube[/ame]
Samoa vs SA easily the best game so far gutted for the samoans, if they had played with that style against Wales I think they could have rolled them
Dear French soldiers of 1940, Someone else from your family has disgraced themselves today. You can rest now.
Oct 2, 2011 Argentina 25 - 7 Georgia New Zealand 79 - 15 Canada Fiji 0 - 66 Wales Ireland 36 - 6 Italy Oct 1, 2011 Australia 68 - 22 Russia France 14 - 19 Tonga England 16 - 12 Scotland Pool A Pos Team P W D L F A PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts 1 New Zealand 4 4 0 0 240 49 +191 36 6 4 0 20 2 France 4 2 0 2 124 96 +28 13 9 2 1 11 3 Tonga 4 2 0 2 80 98 -18 7 13 0 1 9 4 Canada 4 1 1 2 82 168 -86 9 20 0 0 6 5 Japan 4 0 1 3 69 184 -115 8 25 0 0 2 Pool B Pos Team P W D L F A PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts 1 England 4 4 0 0 137 34 +103 18 1 2 0 18 2 Argentina 4 3 0 1 90 40 +50 10 3 1 1 14 3 Scotland 4 2 0 2 73 59 +14 4 4 1 2 11 4 Georgia 4 1 0 3 48 90 -42 3 9 0 0 4 5 Romania 4 0 0 4 44 169 -125 3 21 0 0 0 Pool C Pos Team P W D L F A PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts 1 Ireland 4 4 0 0 135 34 +101 15 3 1 0 17 2 Australia 4 3 0 1 173 48 +125 25 4 3 0 15 3 Italy 4 2 0 2 92 95 -3 13 11 2 0 10 4 United States of America 4 1 0 3 38 122 -84 4 18 0 0 4 5 Russia 4 0 0 4 57 196 -139 8 29 0 1 1 Pool D Pos Team P W D L F A PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts 1 South Africa 4 4 0 0 166 24 +142 21 2 2 0 18 2 Wales 4 3 0 1 180 34 +146 23 4 2 1 15 3 Samoa 4 2 0 2 91 49 +42 10 5 1 1 10 4 Fiji 4 1 0 3 59 167 -108 7 19 1 0 5 5 Namibia 4 0 0 4 44 266 -222 5 36 0 0 0 Sat 8 Quarter final: Ireland v Wales, Westpac Stadium, Wellington 18:00 local, 05:00 GMT, 06:00 BST Head to Head Sat 8 Quarter final: England v France, Eden Park, Auckland 20:30 local, 07:30 GMT, 08:30 BST Head to Head Sun 9 Quarter final: Australia v South Africa, Westpac Stadium, Wellington 18:00 local, 05:00 GMT, 06:00 BST Sun 9 Quarter final: Argentina v New Zealand, Eden Park, Auckland 20:30 local, 07:30 GMT, 08:30 BST http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/151026.html Global stage for Celtic rivals October 2, 2011 In an eagerly anticipated encounter Ireland face Wales in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals in Wellington on Saturday - 16 years after their last World Cup clash. The Celtic rivals have not met in the global showpiece since the pool stages of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa when Ireland edged a 24-23 in Johannesburg. Ireland progressed as pool runners up to New Zealand only to lose to France in the quarter-finals. The only other match-up between the two sides came in 1987 when Wales defeated the Irish 13-6 in Wellington with Mark Ring scoring the only try of the match. Wales overcame England in the quarter-finals but were knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual winner New Zealand. In total the Six Nations sides have faced each other on 116 occasions since the rivalry began at Lansdowne Road in 1882 when Wales won by two goals. Overall Wales lead the contest with 63 victories to 47, but Ireland have won four of the last six clashes. Wales did though win the last time they met in this year's Six Nations with a controversial try from Mike Phillips, when the wrong ball was used at a quick lineout, helping the Welsh to a 13-9 victory at the Millennium stadium. Ireland v Wales: All-time record: Played: 116, Ireland won 47, Wales won 63, Draw 6 Biggest winning margins: Ire: 44 (54-10, Lansdowne Road, 2002); Wal: 29 (29-0, Cardiff, 1907) Highest score: Ire: 54 (54-10, Lansdowne Road, 2002); Wal: 34 (34-9, Lansdowne Road, 1976) Most tries: Ire: 6 (54-10, Lansdowne Road, 2002); Wal: 5 (32-4, Cardiff, 1975) Most points (individual): Ire: 95 Ronan O'Gara; Wal: 113 Neil Jenkins Most tries (individual): Ire: 6 Brian O'Driscoll; Wal: 8 Johnny Williams Most points in a Test: Ire: 22 David Humphreys (54-10, Lansdowne Road, 2002); Wal: 20 Neil Jenkins (30-21, Lansdowne Road, 1998) Previous World Cup meetings: Two (Wal 13-6 Ire, Wellington, 1987); (Ire 24-23 Wal, Johannesburg, 1995) Click Here for Ireland's full Test record courtesy of Statsguru Click Here for Wales' full Test record courtesy of Statsguru Click Here for a full record of all Ireland v Wales matches courtesy of Statsguru © ESPN EMEA Ltd http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/151019.html France look to overhaul England hoodoo October 2, 2011 England will head into their quarter-final clash with France in Auckland on Saturday with the psychological advantage of having beaten Les Blues on the way to the last two World Cup finals. England overcame France 24-7 in Sydney in the semi-finals of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. As with this clash, Jonny Wilkinson went into the game under pressure after England struggled to dispatch Wales in the quarter-finals, but the talismanic No.10 kicked all of England's points in the semi-final. He, of course, went on to boot the drop goal that won England the World Cup. Four years later the cross-channel rivals met again in the semi-finals. Again Wilkinson's kicking was significant as he slotted two penalties and a drop goal, following Josh Lewsey's early try, to help England to a 14-9 victory and crush France's hopes of winning the World Cup on home soil. England also defeated the French in front of their fans in the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Will Carling and Rory Underwood both scored tries while fullback Jonathan Webb kicked three penalties and a conversion as England won 19-10 at the Parc des Princes. Therefore every time England and France have met in the knock-out stages of a World Cup, the English have not only progressed but ultimately reached the final of the competition. The only other time the two nations have met at a World Cup was in the third and fourth play-off at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, when France won 19-9 in Pretoria. After losing five out of six clashes with France following their triumph at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, England have gone on to win four of their last five matches against Les Blues, including a 17-9 victory at Twickenham in this year's Six Nations Championship. England v France: All-time record: Played: 94, England won 51, France won 36, Draw 7 Biggest winning margins: Eng: 37 (37-0, Twickenham, 1911); Fra: 25 (37-12 Colombes, 1972 and 31-6, Stade de France, 2006) Highest score: Eng: 48 (48-19, Twickenham, 2001); Fra 37 ( (37-12 Colombes, 1972) Most tries: Eng: 9 (43-13, Richmond, 1907) Fra: 6 ( (37-12 Colombes, 1972) Most points (individual): Eng: 159 Jonny Wilkinson; Fra: 74 Dimitri Yachvili Most tries (individual): Eng: 8 Daniel Lambert; Fra: 4 Philippe Sella and Michel Crauste Most points in a Test: Eng: 24 Jonny Wilkinson (24-7, Sydney, 2003); Fra: 19 Dimitri Yachvili (24-21, Stade de France, 2004) Previous World Cup meetings: Four (Eng 19-10, Parc des Princes, 1991), (Fra 19-9 Eng, Pretoria, 1995), (Eng 24-7 Fra, Sydney, 2003), (Eng 14-9 Fra, Stade de France, 2007) Click Here for England's full Test record courtesy of Statsguru Click Here for France's full Test record courtesy of Statsguru Click Here for a full record of all England v France matches courtesy of Statsguru
Daniel Carter is out of the cup on top of that Jonah Lomu needs a new kidney not a good week for kiwi superstar rugby players
The All Blacks weakness is their frontrow, which is the argies strength. So, I think we may see a closer match then people think.
I was very impressed with Georgia's play. They are not quite there yet but they play tough against the good teams and show lots of passion. They remind me of Argentina a few years ago. I think they are only going to get better.
cant see the game being close to be honest even with Carter out guess a lot depends on what Slade does if he keeps the backline ticking then it should be easy enough all he really has to do is get the ball to nonu and smith still games have to be played
I do agree with him that something needs to be done about the tier 2 nations RWC schedules, they just don't have enough rest between games to be competitve. I would say bump the number of teams up to 24 divided into 6 groups with the winner of each group plus two wild cards going through to the quarter finals. This way all the teams in RWC would have a lot more rest between pool games and more rugby for us to watch. What he did and what England did are two separate issues, but maybe the RFU should have been fined in addtion to the two coaches being suspended for 1 game.