RWC19 "Stuff"
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
Solid start, no-one injured although Slade took a knock. Nobody had a bad game, the usual penalty magnets have still got to learn to play the referee. Heinz was sharper than Youngs (the referees 4th assistant during the match) but Fijians were tiring fast so difficult to compare overall.
I think roles will be reversed on Thursday and Willi will start...I expect Cocoa Slinger to have a run out along with Launchbury...the rest he'll just shuffle around with....and another BP win.
Tonga v Argentine early doors Saturday is going to be interesting..as the french could end up struggling if they put in another second half like last weekend.
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
King Prawn Bhuna wrote:Youngs (the referees 4th assistant during the match)
What a strange decision that was, the referee did not see the ball grounded until Youngs took him round to see it after the event, at time of going over there was clearly a hand underneath it, I have no idea whether he grounded it after this. The referee went upstairs and said the on-field decision was a try, therefore the fourth official had to see a reason to disallow the try that nobody had seen being scored.
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
Obviously with an English bias, I don't necessarily see an issue with the first try. The attacking team should be given the benefit of the doubt and although I agree there was at least 5 seconds before the ref spotted the grounding, the probability of the try being scored was high. I also noticed that the Tongan players were ok with the decision.
The majority of the handling errors were caused by the excellent defence of the opposition as well as England playing close to the gain line. High Risk/High Reward. I do think that some of the passing could have been more sympathetic and there were a few butchered chances too (Slade, Daly springs to mind).
The silly penalties when England aren't under pressure are frustrating, but if we can get them out of our system against Tonga and USA - where you are less likely to be punished - it should hopefully focus minds in the last two games.
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
There's a few weekend summaries in the press today, and I've watched a couple of games and most of the highlights. I'm not sure if it's the camera angles etc but it does appear that not straight at the line out is not being refereed very consistently., or basically at all. Thoughts ?
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
stuartjames wrote:There's a few weekend summaries in the press today, and I've watched a couple of games and most of the highlights. I'm not sure if it's the camera angles etc but it does appear that not straight at the line out is not being refereed very consistently., or basically at all. Thoughts ?
Think you’re right - even those that are heading for the scrum half aren’t being picked up!!
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
plod wrote:Well, England may as well get on the plane now after struggling against a team of part-timers from the South Sea Isles - a team which conceded 14 tries against NZ recently. Sinckler was his usual headless self and Marler lumbered from scrum to scrum. Thankfully, when Willi came on the pace improved noticeably. When all is said and done this was never going to be an easy game against a passionate and committed Tongan team. Jones will be pleased with a bonus point win and a chance for all to have a bit of a run-out. Sinckler made some good carries and Marler propped with distinction.
This post is a good example of why it is important to always read all of what somebody has written.
I was just about to.......
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
The referee reminded me of Bryce Lawrence, a man so determined to penalise England he forgot to look at what the opposition were doing.
Shockingly poor refereeing. 
Incidentally, Tonga had a very strong pack and when England went wide were able to make tries, unfortunately Tuilagi made sure May got no ball and the pack decided to attack Tonga’s strongest area. Pretty dumb really.
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
The ref was excellent. The way he dealt with the Kalamafoni tackle was a great example. Can’t think of any decisions made against England that were unduly harsh.
As usual Madders likes to pick on a certain few players. We actually kicked a heck of a lot of ball throughout. Rather playing off Tonga’s mistakes and poor kicking, than trying to run through them at set plays. England won, with a bonus point which is the minimum expected. 5 more points against the US and then one more win will do the job to get out of the group stage. Obviously we should be looking to win all the games and most likely will play Wales or Fiji in the QF’s.
Re: RWC19 "Stuff"
I think the tackles have been mostly ok in terms of how the refs have dealt with them. The Hodge case was for me a yellow to red but yellow would have been fair. The lineouts are mostly crooked in tests now anyway as with scrum feeds so i have given up getting bothered about them. The offside line has been fairly lax however. From rucks and with players entering from the side it seems that the clampdowns have been relaxed. I guess players have now to test out each ref when in the oppos half to see how strict they will be (early on) and then reset the level of abuse depending on what is given or not !!!
So far only NZ have looked really good and the rest are scrapping for second spot .