The Super Duper Rugby Union Thread

[Bus Surfer]

I laughed at the spaz thrown at Wilkinson getting boo'd by the crowd as he came on. Come on, You're in Cardiff for fucks sake! Pantomime booing it was though.

 

Typical Wales. Those early missed kicks came back to bite us on the ass. I really enjoyed the game depsite it being shitty in some places. Last 10 minutes were great. Can't see us doing much damage this year.

[tom]

Shite game. For all Moore the Mong says it's "Exciting for the neutral" I thought it was terrible. England were poor, we were worse. At this rate my crafty tenner on Scotland looks good.

It was nowhere near the classic that everyone is making out. Whilst England weren't great or anything, I think poor is a tad harsh. They locked-down the game well and never really looked threatened for a lot of the game. Nowhere near good enough going into a World Cup year mind you, but a decent enough base to build upon for them. As for us, god we were woeful; not sure if it's just me but I always think that we look clueless and have no idea how to structure our game.

 

Fucking gutted that Italy seemingly win it and then fucking lose it again straight away

[neil]

I watched the Scotland vs France game, which was the first rugby match I've watched in years. Have to admit that I loved it. Forgot how good rugby can be.

[PowerButchi]

Do you get the games on telly in the states?

[neil]

I'm in Blighty at the moment.

[mikey]

Forgot to post on the thread, silly me. If ever it was underlined how much England need an organising scrum half like Youngs, it was when Danny Care trotted out onto the pitch. Phase after phase of rucking, camped out on the Welsh try-line against defence we were never going to breach. What was needed was somebody who had a bit of vision and a voice, instead Care gets bullied into pointless rucking, we give up a penalty and lose possession. Set up the drop goal, keep the scoreboard ticking over, that's the English way. Instead, it was like last year all over again, where we repeatedly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Up Chuck]

Forgot to post on the thread, silly me. If ever it was underlined how much England need an organising scrum half like Youngs, it was when Danny Care trotted out onto the pitch. Phase after phase of rucking, camped out on the Welsh try-line against defence we were never going to breach. What was needed was somebody who had a bit of vision and a voice, instead Care gets bullied into pointless rucking, we give up a penalty and lose possession. Set up the drop goal, keep the scoreboard ticking over, that's the English way. Instead, it was like last year all over again, where we repeatedly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

Totally agreed, and not just because I'm massively gay for Ben Youngs (DID I MENTION HE WAS IN MY GIRLFRIEND'S YEAR AT COLLEGE). Youngs adds so much going forwards, and not just because he seems to have a sixth sense for finding gaps in the opponent's line. Again, I think the pairing of him and Flood is of great value, but Youngs really does know how to make the most of an attack, whatever the situation. Unless I'm much mistaken, I think he played at 10 during his youth career, maybe that helps him figure out what the best options are, where the ball should be going etc. But yeah, in comparison, Care's got next to nothing. He's not *bad*, per se, he's just mediocre at international level. I really don't get Johnson's habit of substituting almost everyone who's been any good, dead on the hour, in every game.

[mikey]

Youngs leads the forward, Care follows the forwards. Care also seems to take one step too many out of the back of a ruck, closing down the time and space of the backs. I think in the right circumstances, he could be an amazing asset to an international team. However, he's not in tune with Johnson's style of play and I think he should be pushed aside for a backup scrum half who could be. In a way, Care reminds me of Charlie Hodgson at 10. He'll probably do it at the top levels of the club game but when he's not working with the same coaches day in and day out, he seems to struggle. With both Care and Hodgson, phrases like "too constricted" and "not allowed to play his natural game" seem to be used too much for my liking, as it suggests inflexibility and a lack of tactical nous. In both cases, they also had a rival who fitted in perfectly.

[AshC]

I fancy the Scots to nab third place in this, behind the French and the English respectively. They played some good stuff right to the death in Paris, and should turn the Welsh over on the weekend at home. I don't think Ireland will factor too much into things, though their winning mentality suggests they should take at least one scalp - perhaps England on the last weekend to derail their aspirations. Intrigued to see what further role Italy will play; if they turn up against the French that should be a fun match.

[PowerButchi]

I don't fancy Hook at 10 against the Scots, especially with how Phillips is playing.

 

I've have liked to have seen good ball from Peel with steady Jones at 10.

[mikey]

I think Hook is a second option for me. I liked Hook at 12, backing up Jones. However, it seems to me that a lot of Welsh backs regard 10 as the position they want, as Henson was similarly a second option who wanted to be number 1.

[mikey]

Another question for y'all. How do we grow the game internationally when nine of the top twelve teams in the world control all the money and where many decent nations do not have professional structures?

[Up Chuck]

Another question for y'all. How do we grow the game internationally when nine of the top twelve teams in the world control all the money and where many decent nations do not have professional structures?

 

I can't pretend I'm particularly up on the economic situation of the game, but rugby-wise, it seems like slow progress is being made. Professional structure, of course, costs money to implement and run, and that cash can only really come from investment or ticket sales. Investment relies on a club's viability as a business, which in turn relies on popularity. So, we need more teams around the world playing rugby that people want to watch in tournaments that matter. Tournaments mattering mean that clubs need to be playing good rugby, so that people want to see them playing it against each other.

 

Now, the roots of this seem to be sprouting - anybody who's seen Treviso play this season can see how much they've improved since joining the Magners League, and hopefully in a few years Aironi or another team will have improved similarly, and they'll go back to the Super 10, taking that quality back to their own domestic system. Maybe some Italian teams can cycle in and out of the Magners, but even just for now, it's put Treviso in the position of the new big boys of Italian rugby - and as such, given every Italian fan a reason to want to go along and watch when Treviso come to town.

 

Going further afield than Italy, who are obviously doing pretty well in the grand scheme of things, I'd advocate dropping a couple of English places in Europe to allow, say, Russia to do something like Romania have with Bucuresti Oaks - IE a team entered into the European Challenge Cup, comprised of players from the domestic leagues. Those players get valuable seasoning against better teams, which they then take back to their clubs, and the quality of rugby across the nation's league gradually improves as a result.

 

Anyway, this is just me throwing out ideas, and I don't pretend that I'm anything like an expert.

 

EDIT: Andrew Sheridan's out of tomorrow's game with a back injury, Alex Corbisiero replaces him. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_unio...ish/9393433.stm

Edited February 11, 2011 by opcws

[Storm1:08]

Being a huge London Irish fan, I'm delighted for Corbs, we don't call him 'The Beast' for nothing. He's a great ball carrier for a prop and will do well tomorrow. I just hope that Martin Johnson doesn't beat the enthusiasm out of him.

[Up Chuck]

I'm interested to see how he fits in. Scrummaging against Castrogiovanni isn't going to make anyone's debut easy, let's hope he can step up to it!

 

EDIT: Step up to it, then completely forget how he did so before Tigers play Irish in May, of course.

Edited February 12, 2011 by opcws