Rugby World Cup

yeah we got Portugual 2moz….. here ya go Bad… the fixtures for ya….

8 Sep England v USA 18:00 17:00 Lens –
9 Sep South Africa v Samoa 16:00 15:00 Paris –
12 Sep USA v Tonga 14:00 13:00 Montpellier –
14 Sep England v South Africa 21:00 20:00 Saint-Denis –
16 Sep Samoa v Tonga 16:00 15:00 Montpellier –
22 Sep South Africa v Tonga 14:00 13:00 Lens –
22 Sep England v Samoa 16:00 15:00 Nantes –
26 Sep Samoa v USA 20:00 19:00 St-Etienne –
28 Sep England v Tonga 21:00 20:00 Paris –
30 Sep South Africa v USA 20:00 19:00 Montpellier –
Group B
Date Fixture KO BST Venue Report
8 Sep Australia v Japan 15:45 14:45 Lyon –
9 Sep Wales v Canada 14:00 13:00 Nantes –
12 Sep Japan v Fiji 18:00 17:00 Toulouse –
15 Sep Wales v Australia 15:00 14:00 Cardiff –
16 Sep Fiji v Canada 14:00 13:00 Cardiff –
20 Sep Wales v Japan 21:00 20:00 Cardiff –
23 Sep Australia v Fiji 14:30 13:30 Montpellier –
25 Sep Canada v Japan 18:00 17:00 Bordeaux –
29 Sep Australia v Canada 15:00 14:00 Bordeaux –
29 Sep Wales v Fiji 17:00 16:00 Nantes –
Group C
Date Fixture KO BST Venue Report
8 Sep New Zealand v Italy 13:45 12:45 Marseille –
9 Sep Scotland v Portugal 18:00 17:00 St-Etienne –
12 Sep Italy v Romania 20:00 19:00 Marseille –
15 Sep New Zealand v Portugal 13:00 12:00 Lyon –
18 Sep Scotland v Romania 21:00 20:00 Edinburgh –
19 Sep Italy v Portugal 20:00 19:00 Paris –
23 Sep Scotland v New Zealand 17:00 16:00 Edinburgh –
25 Sep Romania v Portugal 20:00 19:00 Toulouse –
29 Sep New Zealand v Romania 13:00 12:00 Toulouse –
29 Sep Scotland v Italy 21:00 20:00 St-Etienne –
Group D
Date Fixture KO BST Venue Report
7 Sep France v Argentina 21:00 20:00 Saint-Denis –
9 Sep Ireland v Namibia 20:00 19:00 Bordeaux –
11 Sep Argentina v Georgia 20:00 19:00 Lyon –
15 Sep Ireland v Georgia 21:00 20:00 Bordeaux –
16 Sep France v Namibia 21:00 20:00 Toulouse –
21 Sep France v Ireland 21:00 20:00 Saint-Denis –
22 Sep Argentina v Namibia 21:00 20:00 Marseille –
26 Sep Georgia v Namibia 18:00 17:00 Lens –
30 Sep France v Georgia 15:00 14:00 Marseille –
30 Sep Ireland v Argentina 17:00 16:00 Paris –
Quarter Finals
Date Fixture KO BST Venue Report
6 Oct Winner B v Runner up A 15:00 14:00 Marseille –
6 Oct Winner C v Runner up D 21:00 20:00 Cardiff –
7 Oct Winner A v Runner up B 15:00 14:00 Marseille –
7 Oct Winner D v Runner up C 21:00 20:00 Saint-Denis –
Semi Finals
Date Fixture KO BST Venue Report
13 Oct Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2 21:00 20:00 Saint-Denis –
14 Oct Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4 21:00 20:00 Saint-Denis –
Bronze Final
Date Fixture KO BST Venue Report
19 Oct Loser SF 1 v Loser SF 2 21:00 20:00 Paris –
Final
Date Fixture KO BST Venue Report
20 Oct Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2 21:00 20:00 Saint-Denis –

Well England could go all out and get 3 out of 3 today. We are currently doing ok in the Cricket, then we have the rugby and footy.

change that to 1 each NOW grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Well.. this year’s Rugby World Cup promises to be quite a tournament. New Zealand are of course the team to beat (and most can only dream of that), showing their pedigree this weekend with the total destruction of an Italy side who , let’s not forget, put up a decent show earlier this year in the Six Nations. The All Blacks supremacy is quite frightening. God only knows what manner of ridiculous scorelines will appear in their remaining pool matches.

Scotland did well, they looked pretty lively and ran in eight converted tries against minnows Portugal today. Stiffer opposition awaits in Romania but they should triumph on the basis of today’s display. They MUST beat Italy to have any chance of progressing methinks.

But, it also must be said, that since winning the inaugural tournament in 1987, New Zealand have found the going tough in this competition – often peaking and showing their cards way too early. Australia’s annihilation of Japan yesterday was a lesson in the ruthless efficiency of textbook rugby – the Wallabies, happy to keep it all in the scope of their forwards on many occasions, ended up giving an all round masterclass. A very strong, well organised, capable pack that demonstrates an interesting contrast in style to the lightning fast, quick-offload, almost “touch rugby” of the All Blacks. Another interesting point is Australia’s very good record in World Cups.

Next up for them.. the quixotic Wales. Canada gave the Welsh quite a scare today… Wales’ superior fitness and a healthy bench proving the difference between them and the spirited, dangerous Canadians.

England… well, alas, utterly bland and clueless I’m afraid. The World Champions should be battering the likes of the hapless Americans. Yesterday evening’s 28-10 result and (more worryingly) overall performance was quite wretched. Massive improvements are needed with friday’s crunch game against South Africa to come. Yet again, the familiar penalty inducing rolling maul from the English proved valuable, this together with their predictable cross kicking got them past the post here, but the overall breakdown of open play moves, and lack of sharpness, imagination or contingency will not go unpunished by the merciless Springboks.
South Africa themselves put together a wonderful passage that resulted in 50 unanswered points against Samoa today, and despite a rusty start, were always in control.

The France – Argentina opener was fascinating – a result that will hopefully set some form of trend for upset and romance. A massive defensive effort from the Pumas stunned a nervous, out of sorts French side and certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons in this “Group Of Death”. France’s kicking was simply dreadful, and it would seem the pressure of both the occasion and the rugged, pragmatic Pumas caused an indecisive implosion in the French ranks. Worrying for the hosts.

But nowhere near as worrying as the disaster of a “performance” from Ireland tonight. Facing the lowest ranking team in the tournament, we all expected a cricket score. Not so. 32-17 is nowhere near good enough. Ireland were shockingly bad. Unforced errors and general wastefulness, dreadful kicking, over running the ball, atrocious forward play (actually NO forward play), a non existent ruck.. the list is endless. Ireland were at times simply out muscled and outplayed by a Namibia team filled with amateurs. Ireland have a week to recover and regroup for the Georgia game, then a further week till France. Argentina will also fancy their chances of beating this shambles. Judging by this, and their awful form in the warm up matches, things don’t look good at all.

Even at this early stage, it’s hard to see beyond the three major southern hemisphere outfits.