elvis15 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Man, I've just got to book some rail tickets for getting around (to and from airports mostly) when in England and I'm all set with all my travel plans. I'm pumped to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 September 2 – Canada vs. Georgia (Esher, England) Kick off: 7:30pm local time (2:30pm ET/11:30am PT)September 6 – Canada vs. Fiji (The Stoop, England) Kick off: 2:30pm local time (9:30am ET/6:30am PT) Georgia today, Fiji Sunday. As an aside - I still find it shocking that a country as stable and as wealthy as ours, can't get a decent development program to field a competitive team (this goes for soccer too). Georgia and Fiji both ranked above us. Heart will only get us so far. Trip sounds awesome, Elvis. What games are you catching? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Both Canada games, one against Italy and one against Romania. But as far as the development, our issue is it's spread so thin. The funding has actually been better since we hosted the Olympics, but there are so many sports. Fiji has very little money, but all they focus on is rugby really, and Georgia, well they have more competition nearby they can play maybe. A win against Georgia today though, so something to build on into the Fiji match, who are playing some of the best rugby their 15s team has in my memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Based on highlights, quick ball movement from breakdowns and good D - something to build off of anyway. A few nice hits. Good win. Edit: no sound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Coach and player interviews after Georgia W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Sounds like some missed opportunities to convert and some work still to do as a result. We'll see how they do against Fiji on the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Pretty good performance. Looks like there has been a lot of good work put in. Georgia are no slouches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Yup - definitely a ways to go, not bad though. I watched NZ-SA in July. Totally blown away (but not surprised) at the pace & skill the upper-tier teams play the game. All Blacks in my mind are the team to take it all - but the Springboks, if they play disciplined and focused, could be a dark horse. I don't think any of the Six Nations stack up to these two teams at the moment. Haven't watched much with Australia so I can't say how they fit in. Saw a bit of their tilt with NZ but the game wasn't nearly as entertaining as the SA one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 That game (I assume you mean the one with the line out trickery where NZ came back to win) was one of the best games I've seen in a while. South Africa wasn't looking as good the next time they played. Australia has had some stronger showings, and Ireland seems to rounding into good form (despite a recent loss to Wales) so I wouldn't count them out. England or otherwise I'm not so sure of their chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Yup - definitely a ways to go, not bad though. I watched NZ-SA in July. Totally blown away (but not surprised) at the pace & skill the upper-tier teams play the game. All Blacks in my mind are the team to take it all - but the Springboks, if they play disciplined and focused, could be a dark horse. I don't think any of the Six Nations stack up to these two teams at the moment. Haven't watched much with Australia so I can't say how they fit in. Saw a bit of their tilt with NZ but the game wasn't nearly as entertaining as the SA one. I hear what you are saying but I would back Ireland (France too) on their day against any of the Southern Hemisphere countries. NZ don't always seem to have the long tournament temperament. 2 trophies out of 7 attempts doesn't say "invincible" to me. We should also remember the Southern hemisphere countries were practically professional long before the UK and Ireland teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 2 trophies out of 7 attempts doesn't say "invincible" to me. I'd like those odds . Once it gets to the quarters, I agree any team who has made it that far can advance. IMO, NZ/AUS/SA can have an off day and still take a game - other teams would have to have good days and perform well to win these games. I like how Ireland and Wales are playing the game these days - hope they do well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Looks like that was an epic battle between France and Scotland. Reading the reports Scotland played the last 10 mins with a player in the sin bin and yet still could have won the game but for a badly thrown pass and then they chose to ignore the last minute "almost certain" kick for a draw, preferring to go for the win, however the move petered out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 http://www.rugbycanada.ca/leagues/newsletter.cfm?clientID=3817&leagueID=0&page=89930 I didn't watch it yet (so can't point to any positives) but a beat-down by the Fijians in final pre-WC match. Canada now has a couple of weeks to prepare for the tourney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 I have and while we had some positives, Fiji has been playing well and showed it today. They've been stronger in defence as well as more disciplined on offence and that likely would have put them over the top today regardless. Canada should have been closer though. Far too many games they do one of two things: make mistakes and go into a shell where they only play a simple game and focus on defence, or they try and force the skill game rather than let it happen naturally. They did both today, getting away from the skill game early (in part due to good Fijian play) and then trying to force it later once they got any sort of momentum. The evidence of that is when you see multiple times where they try and go too quick and a pass is not quite on the mark (the low ball to Underwood where he had no choice but to take it into two Fijians and got the ball stripped) or through a number of players (a couple of times there was confusion with a quick pass on the short side through some supporting forwards and behind DTH into touch). If they could have been more patient and let the game flow while looking for attacking options they would have done better on the scoresheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 For anyone looking to watch the games, they're on TSN again this year: http://www.tsn.ca/rugby-world-cup-on-tsn-1.357220 There's a full schedule there, including their match of the day slots. For recording purposes, it's a pain in the ass though with TSN 1-5, where you can't set a recording to cover multiple channels so you have to set up 3-5 different "rugby" series recordings to cover them all. Maybe they'll make better use of the 5 channels in future, but for now all I see is the same thing on multiple channels and creating a bit of mess. Just set it on TSN5 (with maybe TSN4 for some conflicts) and be done with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Have a feeling Wales will do well as they are encountering so bad injuries. Being held in the UK I am sure their fans will get even more behind them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Those two injuries will have a big effect on Wales I think. They have some talent to cover but will be in tough unless they can outplay opponents as a team. I'd love to see them do well though, as I've some Welsh heritage and they do tend to play an exciting game when they're on a roll. On the injury front, looks Like Parise is hoping to be back in the Italy roster by the Canada game. I'd love to see him live, but I'd also wouldn't mind if he wasn't playing since he's so good and I want Canada to win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicky Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 I like the Welsh game but the Halfpenny injury is devastating to the side - hard to replace a player of that caliber. Hoping they do well and that the rest of the team steps up. Not many more sleeps til this starts up. Gotta set my alarm for saturday morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Absolutely about Halfpenny. Games start tomorrow (opening ceremony at 11am and England playing Fiji in the home opener at noon)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfstonker Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Ireland up to their usual tricks. How do referees not see the infringements at the breakdown? Big step up in class for Canada, the Irish players play in a higher standard league than the English players, that imo is why England always go for beef over classy players. Brilliant interception and try by PJ. What a "hand off" too. The guy is a class act and Glasgow will miss him. Canada are playing much better now but sadly a bit too late. As for England I don't know why the ref didn't just give them the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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