RWC19 "Stuff"
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
I supported Japan purely and simply because they were the underdog. Normally I support all the 4 home nations teams against the rest but for the tournament's sake and for the future of the game in Japan it was great for the home team to win and, hopefully, qualify for the quarters.
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
Glen Sannox wrote:I don't get why when so many Irish and Welsh (and my Scottish fellow countrymen) want England to lose at anything, it's controversial (or tiresome) for someone to want the Celtic nations to lose? Isn't the idea of being a supporter that you want one team to win, and another to lose? Personally I don't have the strong feelings that some on here do about other Premiership sides, but I'm fine with their (tiresome) views.
My reasons for wanting the Celtic sides to lose, at club and country level, are purely rugby ones, and at the heart of it is the iniquitous (in my view) way that they fiddled the Heineken Cup qualification to their advantage for so long - I'm not someone who deals in easy forgiveness so I reckon I'll bear my grudge for a while longer!
The other argument I've heard by the Celtic nations is that their player pool is so much smaller that what has happened offsets that factor to a degree....
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
Wouldn't it be great if we had and England vs Wales final, think of the banter then! 
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
lucifer wrote:I supported Japan purely and simply because they were the underdog. Normally I support all the 4 home nations teams against the rest but for the tournament's sake and for the future of the game in Japan it was great for the home team to win and, hopefully, qualify for the quarters.
+1 Without being disrespectful to the Scots, Japan in the QF would be a huge statement for global rugby.
As for the Australians I certainly couldn't support the whinging Aussies, Hooper and Cheika are a pair of gobshites that rugby can do without.
Fair play to Wales , mind.
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
To be fair KPB they are raising a very important issue in rugby at the moment. Perhaps the way they expressed it was wrong but I agree with the point Hooper was making on the field.
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
My fear is that some of these decisions are being made in millimeters. A ref rules one way and a players gets away with it ( Aussies yesterday ) and another take the opposite view and cards a player that effects the match result.
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
Not1eyed wrote:To be fair KPB they are raising a very important issue in rugby at the moment. Perhaps the way they expressed it was wrong but I agree with the point Hooper was making on the field.
But moaning at the referee on mic in front of millions of potential new fans and kids watching...if they have an axe to grind that really isn't the forum surely?....Looked more like sour grapes, disrespect for a referee and the petulant behaviour you'd expect another form of football....especially after he'd been the recipient of a more than generous decision earlier.
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
I agree to some extent BUT as we have seen in these games there is no point waiting for an expanation a day later when you are knocked out. The problem as we know comes from the inconsistency , particularly from one game to another. If you think you are getting a poor set of rulings you have to make a case. Wales have been very astute at this over the years and I have little doubt it does help to some extent. Players like AWJ are very experienced and canny ( in a good way) and as we saw with McCaw et al. it does pay off. He is one of the best Cptn's at always being in the refs ear without going too far. Hooper isn't as good at it !!!
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
If you check my post I said they went about it in the wrong way but the issue they are highlighting is spot on. For me Hooper’ was a yellow card. The forearm I can’t get my head around at all. But surely if hooper gets yellow then Adams should to as it’s a high tackle round the head?
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
Personally, I think Romain Poite showed considerable patience and control. We heard him follow through the protocol (as others have too), and reach a decision which he explained at length to the player and captain. What was then irritating was the repeated questioning. Each of us may have a different view of the possible outcome, but the judgement must rests with the officials.
As for the tribal support shown on here, then you reap what you sow. Like Lucifer, I enjoyed Japan, Uruguay and Georgia's performance to-date, for their own and the tournament sake.