Rugby World Cup

Solid but not especially inspiring start from England today. Got the bonus point for 4th try and didn't concede a try, which will please them. Plenty to work on.

All Blacks showed how they can turn a game around in the blink of an eye. Under the cosh for 20 minutes then clinically ran in two super tries from saffer mistakes.

Shame Fiji ran out of steam at the end. Incredible that the Aussie wasn't sent off for the no arms tackle that robbed Fiji of their best player.

Fantastic second half France v Argentina. Pumas nearly pulled off a massive comeback. Shame that kick missed at the end.

 

Nobody interested in the Rugby World Cup then.

 

Each to their own, eh?
Is that because you're a League fan or just don't like rugby?

 

I'm the opposite. As a southerner I grew up with union and played a bit of it at school.
I find RL one-dimensional and boring. There are so many more facets to RU - rucks, mauls, lineouts, aerial duels etc and you usually have to earn the right to run the ball by winning the forward battle.
I know that RL fans often find RU boring because there isn't enough running rugby, but I find the opposite true of RL - the free flowing tries are so frequent that they cease to be exciting. I have the same problem with basketball - when so many baskets are scored it's just not exciting to me.

 

What a great game of rugby! Fantastic win for Japan. They played Ireland off the park second half and ran the legs off them.

Throws the group wide open. Probably now comes down to who gets bonus point wins against Samoa (assuming they all do so against Russia). Scotland must be sh!tting themselves.

 

That was down to terrible refereeing. Scrum resets have generally been far less of a problem this season.

 

Run, pass, tackle, stop, wiggle around a bit, push ball between legs. Run, pass, tackle, stop, wiggle around a bit, push ball between legs. Run, pass, tackle, stop, wiggle around a bit, push ball between legs. Repeat ad infinitum and then score. Then repeat ad infinitum some more. And then some more again.
Yawn. No thanks.
There is a reason that no one outside of the M62 corridor and Australia gives two hoots about RL (and a decreasing number of those to boot). Because it's one dimensional and boring.

 

Well, I guess if I thought RL is a great game then I wouldn't call it boring.
I understand that there is far more running rugby in RL, and those who favour RL always cite this as the reason why they think RU is dull by comparison. But to me RL is very one dimensional - running with the ball is really all there is. Too much of a good thing gets dull by repetition. I much prefer the broader facets in RU - rucks, mauls, lineouts, proper scrums, aerial duels and, yes, running rugby too.

 

Not sure about that. I've seen plenty of ball stolen at contested lineouts this World Cup. Ireland lost a ton of lineout ball against Japan. Launchbury, Kruis and Itoje are all masters at winning opposition lineout ball for England.
There has been a welcome reduction in the number of reset scrums, thank goodness, but it's still a contested area, unlike RL. Teams try to push their opponents backwards, wheel the scrum or force the oppo front row to collapse. The Japanese front row were mobbed like heroes by their team mates when they won a scrum penalty against Ireland, so it's far from just being a restart.