Rugby World Cup 2015
- Thread starter Blackleaf
- Start date
Rugby isn't a gentlemanly sport.
The old saying:
Cricket is a game for gentlemen played by gentlemen,
Football is a game for hooligans played by gentlemen,
Rugby Union is a game for gentlemen played by hooligans,
And Rugby League is a game for hooligans played by hooligans.
I have read somewhere that the NFL is thinking of banning helmets, because it is more dangerous to play WITH the helmets than without them.
Former England star, and now their forwards coach, Graham Rowntree with his cauliflower ears
American culture has its part to play in that. Americans are very loud and brash.
He's a motivation speaker now, using his experience in the Andes to help others cope with psychological trauma. He should be speaking to the England lads, to help them get over the sheer horror of losing to two of our greatest rugby rivals, Australia and Wales, in their home stadium.
Here, the Telegraph ranks each of this World Cup's 20 teams on how they have fared so far, with 20th being the worst and 1st the best.
And guess who's ranked 20th?
20. USA
They remain the great ‘what if’. ‘What if’ rugby can crack the American market, ‘what if’ they can uncover a few more Samu Manoas, ‘what if’ they can recruit a few NFL players. For now those hypotheticals must wait for at least another tournament. They were in a tough pool but as Chris Wyles, their captain, said ahead of their final match against Japan, “We came into this World Cup with pretty high expectations of ourselves so this is a defining game for us.” By that standard, it was a failure.
17. Canada
“We went through that video and just about cried all the way through it.” So said coach Kieran Crowley of Canada’s 23-18 defeat in which they held a 10-0 lead. Unfortunately, worse was to come as their third game in 11 days against Romania proved a step too far as they blew a 15-0 lead. It will be of little consolation to the Canucks that they gave as good as they got against France.
16. England
Purely on the basis of performance England did OK. Outclassed against Australia, they still dominated most facets of the game against Wales apart from discipline. Stuart Lancaster’s team were also the only team to pick up a bonus point against Fiji and cantered home against Uruguay. However, none of that will be remembered as they became the first host team to not to qualify for the quarter-finals. Yes it was the group of death but they failed to put away two sides in Wales and Australia whom they had beaten in the previous 10 months.
("However, none of that will be remembered as they became the first host team to not to qualify for the quarter-finals") - I do, however, wish the British press would stop peddling this myth. Wales co-hosted the 1991 World Cup and were knocked out of the tournament at the Pool Stage after losing all but one of their matches at home. Either the British press hasn't done proper research on this matter or they know this full well, yet they still keep peddling the myth, for some reason.
Who is ranked No1? Go here and find out: Rugby World Cup 2015: All 20 teams rated so far - Telegraph
American football is Rugby sliced and diced into categories and parts.
Everybody has a small part and never cross over the line into somebody else's assignment. People only go one way. They are placed by way of body type, weight, height. It is the most classified sport in the world... with designated heros (quarterbacks or wide receivers who get all the glory) and those who work anonymously in the trenches. Only a special few get to touch the ball at all. It surprising that a culture that supposedly values equality of opportunity has produced such an undemocratic and stringently class structured national game.
In Rugby, there's real democracy based on merit. Anyone can score, all are expected to defend. Kind of surprising in that England has the reputation of a rigid class system. Just an observation.
As for Canada's performance. I deem it to be a disappointment... at the end of a disastrous season.. that saw them lose all their matches in major tournaments. What's worse in the World Cup.. is they gave up signicant leads and wilted in the second half.. which is a real blow to any team's confidence.
Everybody has a small part and never cross over the line into somebody else's assignment. People only go one way. They are placed by way of body type, weight, height. It is the most classified sport in the world... with designated heros (quarterbacks or wide receivers who get all the glory) and those who work anonymously in the trenches. Only a special few get to touch the ball at all. It surprising that a culture that supposedly values equality of opportunity has produced such an undemocratic and stringently class structured national game.
In Rugby, there's real democracy based on merit. Anyone can score, all are expected to defend. Kind of surprising in that England has the reputation of a rigid class system. Just an observation.
As for Canada's performance. I deem it to be a disappointment... at the end of a disastrous season.. that saw them lose all their matches in major tournaments. What's worse in the World Cup.. is they gave up signicant leads and wilted in the second half.. which is a real blow to any team's confidence.
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Oh, well THAT is a more challenging form of the North American game, with a longer, wider field, three downs instead of four. They have to throw the ball in Canadian football and make their yards by skill, rather than by 'roid-riddled pituitary cases crashing into each other.You shouldn't be so hard on your country.
Don't be such a fool. The best football players in the US AND Canada play in the NFL.
You're such an idiot. lol
You're such an idiot. lol
It's like they've taken what is often deemed to be a very technical sport - Rugby Union (especially when compared to football and Rugby League) - and made it even more bafflingly technical.
You weren't helped by being in a tough group. You had three Six Nations sides in it - France, Ireland and Italy. Two of those - France and Ireland - are amongst the dark horses to win the thing.
Boris Johnson knocks child to ground in touch rugby
BBC News
15 October 2015
Boris Johnson apologised to the boy afterwards
Boris Johnson has knocked over a 10-year-old child while playing touch rugby in Japan.
The Mayor of London, who is in the country on a trade visit, was invited to join children on a mini turf pitch in Tokyo for the non-contact game.
Toki Sekiguchi was knocked to the ground and said he "felt a little pain".
The mayor, a keen rugby fan, shook the boy's hand and apologised.
In the game of touch rugby the person with the ball is stopped by being touched, not tackled, as in rugby union or league.
Slo-mo BoJo
Johnson runs up the wing
He encounters 10-year-old Toki Sekiguchi, who reaches out to make the touch
Johnson drops his shoulder
Sekiguchi starts to topple backwards as the London mayor ploughs forwards
Sekiguchi is left on the ground
He has form. He brought a child to the ground last year in a football kickabout.
And in 2006 he played in a charity England-Germany football match. Although only on for 10 minutes he stunned the 20,000-strong crowd by flooring retired German midfielder Maurizio Gaudino in a rugby-style tackle.
Of that incident he said: "When he was about two yards away I just put my head down. I was going for the ball with my head, which I understand is a legitimate move in soccer."
In Tokyo, the pair later posed for photographs and Mr Johnson handed over a 2015 rugby ball to the youngster.
Boris Johnson knocks child to ground in touch rugby - BBC News
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Oh look... the war heeeroo's feelings are hurt. Have another shot of maple syrup fool.
Which shows how ignorant brits are. Weaklings
You shouldn't be so hard on your country.
Surprisingly Americans who play in the CFL note how much the game feels like Rugby.. in its freedom of form and a fast change overs from offense to defense.
I think the CFL and Canadian Football should look to Rugby rather than the American counterpart in its development of the game and its rules. In fact in long run i think they should ditch the armour.. and maybe the forward pass and downs.. all American corruptions of the original.
Anyway even in its current form a good CFL game in head and heels over the moribund American game in entertainment value.
Oh please... spare us! Now you're embarrassing yourself. Americans who play in the CFL and NFL were playing football... not rugby. You're killing me! lol
Remove the padding...That would be great to see as stupid as it sounds. The injuries would be amazing!
And you want to ditch the forward pass? Why not just go play rugby? Oh I know why... rugby is boring and people from Canada do not like it.
And the smaller markets and pay checks make you look like an even bigger dolt.
You love sloppy seconds don't you? lol
The CFL is completely different than American Football.. and has no desire to become NFL.. which has become a leviathon of greed, confusion, cheating. It's like a deflated football.. it will self destruct on its own megalomania, arrogance.. and monotony in time.
Nor will it ever be the NFL. However the best Canadian football players will play in the NFL. That hurts you I know. You're salty... salty and insecure and enjoying the runoffs from the USA to make it exciting. I shudder to ask what percentage of CFL players are from the US.
The NFL will self destruct.... yadda yadda yadda. Thousands of Canadians are glued to the TV every Sunday in the fall and winter.
And what about Super Bowl Sunday.... your nation is glued to the TV, having super bowl parties while certain Canadians like you stomp up and down in vain telling everyone to stop watching!
And with all the motion and forward motion going on in the backfield it is no wonder why you only have three downs. NFL players would need one maybe two downs if they could move like that.
Quarter Finals
Saturday 17th October
South Africa vs Wales (K.O. 16.00BST. Twickenham, London) My prediction: South Africa win
New Zealand vs France (K.O. 20.00BST. Millennium Stadium, Cardiff) My prediction: New Zealand win
Sunday 18th October
Ireland vs Argentina (K.O. 13.00BST. Millennium Stadium, Cardiff) My prediction: Ireland win
Australia vs Scotland (K.O. 16.00BST. Twickenham, London). My prediction: Australia win
Odds on winning the tournament (Paddy Power): New Zealand 5/4; Australia 9/4; South Africa 5/1; Ireland 9/1; Argentina 25/1; France 25/1; Wales 33/1; Scotland 100/1
www.paddypower.com
So an Englishman walks into a bar...
There's usually an Irishman, a Scotsman and Welshman there too but they're all still at the Rugby World Cup.
There's usually an Irishman, a Scotsman and Welshman there too but they're all still at the Rugby World Cup.
The Grey Cup vs. The Super Bowl: 11 Ways The Canadian Championship Is Better
Real Candians still watch the Grey Cup.. with a lot more interest than the SuperBowl... which draws in a large audience with little interest in sports in general.. just spectacle.. which is one of the few things Americans do better than the rest of the world.
And American Football is totally static.. really nothing more a series of set plays, scripted, with no room for innovation or spontaneity, that last 10 seconds at the most, followed 40 or 50 seconds of setting up the next piece. Even American audiences have difficulty gleaning a coherent, continuous competition amongst the goal line to goal line commercial interruptions.
They watch it because they are told this is the 'great American game'. It's developiment is really the product of a stagnant imagination.. or highy commercialized 'group think' with little notion of what genuine Sport actually is.
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Huffington Post Canada eh? Come on now.
Anyhow... what's this about the CFL.... you actually have quotas! You must have a certain amount of Canadians and the rest can be Internationals... meaning Americans
Why is that?
We know why... just about the whole CFL would be Americans.
So spare me... the CFL is a minor league. It is a place for Americans to go when the don't make it to the NFL.
I simply cannot believe the CFL has made it MANDATORY that a certain amount of the players have to be Canadian. That's a joke. I'd be embarrassed.