Wulfyn

The 2007 Rugby World Cup is just over a month away. Anyone else looking forward to this tournament?

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gunjunkie

Boks ftw

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Do or do not, there is no try....
-- Yoda, Dagobah

marstein

Never heard of it. But then I'm not so into organized sports. Are they streaming it on the web? Does the Scottish team wear kilts?

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Gigabyte P35-DS3R, 2GB, 8800GTS 640MB, Core2Duo E8400

Wulfyn

Thankfully the Scottish team does not wear kilts whilst playing, that would be... exposing. *ugh!*

I don't know what the coverage will be like, I'll try and find out.

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Wulfyn

Still not sure about international coverage (ITV got the rights to it in the UK, sadly - heck at least it wasn't sky). However the highlights of the last RWC are available on youtube.


This was one of the best games of the tournament. This group stage match saw New Zealand and Wales pit it out to see who would go top of their group. Wales do not have the strongest pack, but they have a desire to play open running rugby that is very entertaining to watch. In particular they have some nimble footed wingers, as the video shows. New Zealand... well they don't really have any weaknesses, and went into the match as strong favourites.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnSmY...elated&search=


As you can see, rugby is a game for people of all shapes and sizes.

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Steel_Penguin

Don't you mean if the Scottish team were wearing kilts the coverage would be inadequate? You fail at puns wulfyn

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Wulfyn

I'm not that nice to other British nationalities. Saying that a kilt would inadequately cover a Scottsman sounds distinctly like a compliment

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CingularDuality

I've never watched rugby and know next to nothing about it, but those highlights were great! There was a rugby league in the Marines, and one of my superiors played, but other than that, I've never heard of it being played over here. It does look like a great spectator sport, too.

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Eva Wellington

Scotts, kilts, Rugby.....hmmm....that reminds me of something.

For those who havent seen this on yet:

http://www.venturini.co.uk/mov/lawson-high.mov

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Wulfyn

And that's exactly why they shouldn't wear kilts (except when facing New Zealand ).



One of the things I find with rugby union is that the more you understand the game the more entertaining it is to watch. There are litterally hundreds of little tactics and personal battles going on all over the pitch. From an entertainment point of view the most important thing is the rules covering the breakdown.

The breakdown is the term given when a player is tackled. Most often the player will be tackled to the ground (if any part of your body other than your feet is touching the ground then you are considered to be on the ground). As you are not allowed to play the ball on the ground you must immediately release the ball, either by passing it very quickly (under 1 second), placing it on the ground or releasing it. Then players of both sides will contest the ball, seeking to push the opposition away, and a RUCK is formed.

As you must join a ruck from behind the back foot of the most far back player, and you are not allowed to contest the ball with your hands it means you have to push. In top level rugby this can be quite a comfortable thing, as long as the tackled player is supported and manages to roll so that his back is facing the opposition and the ball is presented. At that point a player not in the ruck can pick up the ball and pass or run with it. The time from ruck to ruck is known as a phase.

Good attacking play comes from quick ball, both in the line and from recycling the ball in your own rucks and getting it back to your line before the opposition has had a chance to reset their defence. Few tries are scored from 1st phase possession (from a set piece such as a scrum or line out) as the opposition defence is set, and tackles are rarely missed. However once players get out of position gaps can quickly open. All it takes is a good line, change of pace, or slinky sidestep to create a half gap and soon the opposition will be running hard to get back to cover, and then fast ball (ideally passing out of a tackle) combined with forward momentum can exploit this to score.

Of course good defending play comes from trying to upset this rhythm by slowing the ball down (or even better turning it over), but cross the line of the laws too far and you will be penalised.



The USA have a decent team (nicknamed the Eagles), and are in Pool A of the World Cup (alongside England and South Africa). Unfortunately their not quite up to top level standards at the moment, but they are improving and capable of an upset. In 2003 they ran a decent Scottish team very close. Although the final score was 39-15, many felt the USA should have won the game, but were unable to convert a number of Scottish mistakes.

Talking of South Africa (and taking every opportunity to gloat before they stuff us in the group stages this time around), here are 2 games gunjunkie would rather forget


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfb16ypzmW8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHVU0...elated&search=

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Eva Wellington

Nice vids mate,

Never was int o Rugby myself that much until I saw a match on the French telly this summer (NZ vs France perhaps...can't really remember clearly).
Looks like fun to watch, though I doubt it will be broadcasted on Dutch TV.

Any suggestions on where to go on the internet to watch reruns (youtube would be my guess) or to monitor the scores?

Anyway, you have a nice WC mate.

oh...oh...oh....and...are WE in it?

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Wulfyn

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/

That's the official website of the upcoming world cup, but

http://www.irb.com/

is the official website of rugby union.


Unfortunately you didn't qualify for the RWC. Despite an early loss to Belgium you recovered well to win most of your remaining games. However a suprise defeat to Moldova and a last hurdle loss to Spain saw you out of contention.


The Pools for the cup is:

Pool A
England
Samoa
South Africa
Tonga
USA


Pool B
Australia
Canada
Fiji
Japan
Wales


Pool C
Italy
New Zealand
Portugal
Romania
Scotland


Pool D
Argentina
France
Georgia
Ireland
Namibia



Pool A is definitely the heavyweight group, and poor USA will be hiring an army of physiotherapists. England are the world's most prolific advocates of forward play, and are shaping up to pick a particularly large pack for the tournament (something which Welsh and French fans jibe as boring). Although like the other Southern Hemisphere nations South Africa are noted for their running rugby they also have a natural tendency to pick big players. The pacific islanders are always noted for their brutal and uncompromising styles. That said England and South Africa should avoid any upsets, and the in form South Africa should cruise to to the top of the group.

Pool B is the weakest pool. Australia are out of sorts and Wales seem to be dipping in form as well. Both should see their way safely through, but Fiji will be looking for an upset, which could happen if they can convert their Sevens form into the 15 man game. Canada will just be looking for decent performances and Japan will hope to go a world cup without conceeding 100 points in any single game.

Pool C is a tougher one. New Zealand will be glad to have been pitted against 4 of the weaker european teams. The real clash will be between Scotland and Italy to see who makes it to the QFs. I think the pressure is on Scotland, and Italy will play with a passion that gets them through.

Pool D is the toughest by far. Georgia and Namibia will do nothing more than get hammered by the others. France on paper is the strongest team, but they have a tendancy to just not turn up. A couple years ago they were cruising to a 30 point victory over the Welsh at half time before bottling it in the second half and losing the game. Argentina will be looking to secure their first QF, and I'd say were they in Pool C it'd be an automatic. These two and Ireland will give some very interesting games. I'd put France on home soil to top the group, with Ireland's good form just seeing out Argentina.

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Wulfyn

The RWC website is offering a subscription deal to get games over the internet 24 hours after they have been played for $50, in addition to archived matches and other stuff. Not sure on how value-for-money this is, it's a lot of matches for the cost but I'm not sure someone just wanting to check out the game would be prepared to pay.

http://www.rugbyworldcupvideo.com/



On another note I found an entire game (split into 11 parts) on youtube. The match features England hosting the All Blacks in the 2005 Autumn Internationals (matches played in October and Novemeber that sees the Southern Hemisphere teams travel north). The match was one of stark contrasts. New Zealand were on ultimate form, and had already dispatched 2 teams with ease. Playing a "total rugby" approach (where forward players not usually known for their ball handling skills were encouraged to join the line and offload in the tackle) they were dominating the world. England were in the depths of a huge slump they had began having won the world cup just 2 years previously. Unpopular and the eventually replaced head coach Andy Robinson was struggling to find even players or form, and was largely pinning his hope on the long injured Johnny Wilkinson (who he had named as Captain but had not since played in an England shirt).

With the best in the world there was no chance that England could win; or could they?


First Half

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6


Second Half

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

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dfg872

I'm callin the US to take it this year. USA! USA! USA!

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|TG-Irr| Dfg872

gunjunkie

Apologies if this seems like necro, but:

SOUTH AFRICA WIN OVER ENGLAND IN THE FINAL!!!

VIVA AMABOKKE!!!

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Do or do not, there is no try....
-- Yoda, Dagobah