The Super Duper Rugby Union Thread

[PowerButchi]

SUPER MIKE TINDALL! Is he really going to be wearing the armband at the WC? If so... I dunno what to say. Amazed to see Wigglesworth getting so many chances over the past few weeks, but I've hardly seen him since he played for Sale so he's probably come on leaps and bounds since then.

 

As regards Warburton as Welsh captain, I'm happy with that. He's really stepped up this past year, and has been a fine captain this summer leading by example with his strong performances. I'm annoyed Gareth Delve isn't on the plane though, or even got a chance in the warm ups for that matter. Didn't even get a run out this summer, and he's been pulling up trees with his performances in the SH this season by all accounts. Should have given him some game time, as he's a "Proper" number 8.

[Up Chuck]

SUPER MIKE TINDALL! Is he really going to be wearing the armband at the WC? If so... I dunno what to say. Amazed to see Wigglesworth getting so many chances over the past few weeks, but I've hardly seen him since he played for Sale so he's probably come on leaps and bounds since then.

 

Lewis Moody will probably be captaining when he's fit. So, uh, yeah, probably Tindall. Who, by the way, needs two more caps to become England's most capped centre EVER. Which is a touch terrifying. Hopefully Tuilagi tears it up and a viable, consistent, hard-working 12 turns up somewhere before the Six Nations (*coughAnthonyAllencough*).

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they give Wigglesworth and Simpson 40 minutes each on Saturday. Danny Care, now injured, has had the lion's share of game time at 9 in the warm-ups, and with questions over Youngs being fit for Argentina, Wigglesworth and Simpson desperately need a run-out. Hopefully one of them will be on decent form.

Edited August 25, 2011 by opcws

[matbro1984]

I believe the Welsh squad is a decent selection. Martyn Williams, good though he once was, didn't deserve a spot. Warburton is a great successor and a fine captain to date.

[PowerButchi]

Warburton is going to be knackered if we have a decent run. He's the only specialist openside we've taken. Hopefully that doesn't bite us on the arse.

[Up Chuck]

Ireland team for Saturday:

 

15 - Geordan Murphy (Leicester)

14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)

13 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)

12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)

11 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

10 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)

9 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)

1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)

2 - Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)

3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)

4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)

5 - Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) Captain

6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)

7 - David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)

8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

 

Replacements:

16 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)

17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)

18 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)

19 - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)

20 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)

21 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)

22 - Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)

 

 

This has gotta be the first time Murphy's played against Wilkinson in years. Murphy's been absolutely phenomenal under the high ball for Tigers the last couple of seasons. Seeing how he deals with Wilkinson's kicking game will be very, very interesting.

Edited August 25, 2011 by opcws

[Up Chuck]

Solid stuff from England today, then. Tuilagi's try and his break before half-time showed what a threat he is when he spots a gap, and his tackling was fantastic too. I thought Wigglesworth and (surprisingly) Tindall had really good games too.

 

Wilkinson, however, was patchy for me, despite his goal-kicking being spot-on as ever.. I thought giving Flood a mere 6 minutes was ridiculous, but he was up there getting stuck in at the breakdown straight away. Clearly playing with a fire in his belly. Needed more time to stake his claim for the 10 shirt.

 

I'm fairly confident of England going 100% in the pool stage now. Our pack should handle Argentina's just fine, and I think we're developing a backline that will be able to do enough to see off the rest of the pool. But we'll see. It does seem to go between extremes week by week with England these days.

[PowerButchi]

Well, that went well. 

[mim731]

As long as England don't win the grand slam I'm happy, so thank you Wales. My wife is Welsh, so despite supporting Ireland it was actually great seeing Wales pull that off yesterday. Cracking second half performance too.

[Egg Shen]

picked up a pair of tickets for the Wales/Ireland game a few weeks week, so glad i did now, good chance of seeing them crowned Grand Slam winners.

[Rey_Piste]

That was a good performance from Wales today, but it seemed like Ireland never really turned up. It's still good to get the grand slam and not spending the afternoon hoping for an English loss.

[mim731]

Even as an Ireland fan it's hard to begrudge Wales the grand slam, they've been excellent. Well deserved, and no chance of an England win, so can't complain too much. 

[Egg Shen]

Yeh, quality day. The opening minute try set the scene really and Ireland consistently made mistakes, Sexton had a mare. 

Cool experience to witness them win the Grand Slam live too.

 

Edited March 16, 2019 by Egg Shen

[PowerButchi]

I've had worse Saturdays.

[chokeout]

Bump for the World Cup. But more importantly I'm 90% sure ITV just googled 'Japanese music' because it sounded like they used the Bill Conti theme from Karate Kid 2 in their buildup package for South Africa / NZ

[SuperBacon]

Thinking of settling in for this today. Do I need to be wearing some brown shoes with jeans or something? Cans of Timothy Taylor to hand?

Thoroughly enjoyed the Ireland game last week as well, and although I thought England were pretty shit (against a rough looking Aussie team), them vs South Africa should be very decent.