ozzie

All I can say to England is make the game interesting again. Nothing annoys me more than seeing a team win without scoring any tries ... that is, after all, the main aim of the game !

whmere

For those rugby purists here, you might recall that a try is so named as achieving one gave you a try at a kick for points. The original object of the exercise was to kick ones goals, not score them by touching the ball down. Points for this latter were more more than likely invented by Australians who, struggling merely to find their arse with their elbow, have a natural disadvantage in the kicking game.

And while were at it, I noticed Oz only scored off an interception on Saturday, the win coming off the boot of Flatley. Hmmm... remember Melbourne...?

DrillerNic

And that lone Aus try was scored after wonderful open running move, with lots of passes, ....or was it a lucky interception?

Should (please) England win, there'll be lots of winging about rolling mauls, martin Johnston's a thug, slowing the ball down all sorts....just you wait....

whmere

There's already a lot of whingeing going on. A sort of pre-whinge, if you will . I think the Aussies are getting their whinges in early as they won't be able to if they win, and you know how important it is to them. And of course they'll have their mouths full eating their words if they lose...

Dave Noble

"All I can say to England is make the game interesting again. Nothing annoys me more than seeing a team win without scoring any tries ... that is, after all, the main aim of the game !"

If playing, the main aim of the game is to win surely. That is what they are trying to do with apparant success

Dave

Greg66

I'll say. If you want an insight into the level of foaming-at-the-mouth-anti-pom feeling in the Aussie sports press at the moment, I suggest a peak at

http://foxsports.news.com.au/worldcupcentre/

It's an absolute hoot!

Greg66

[edited to remove duplicate]

[This message has been edited by Greg66 (edited Nov 18, 2003).]

Fraser

(SID)
Amilcar Cabral Intl Arpt
Sal Island, CV

poor bugger, he aint going to see much rugby there

Isn't HI A Gold card holder??????

whmere

Its really more sad than funny. Its the reason I don't side with them in games against NZ and others, though I'm half Australian. Just can't dislodge that chip ...

IainF

As I am sitting in the heartland of Australian rugby, Brisbane Queensland, I can only offer this one statement to the English Rugby teams'Doctors.

"Better buy some sticky tape to fix the teams broken hearts after they realise that kicking alone will not let them get their hands on Bill."

Go you good things !!!
Cheers
Iain


------------------
Better living through Bill.



[This message has been edited by IainF (edited Nov 18, 2003).]

TomCayman

As a Scotsman, I have to applaud England for playing ugly rugby and still managing to win.

Why does a Scot applaud that ? Well, because it helps me remember when we stuffed them at Murrayfield a few short years ago with "ugly but effective rugby"

What do I hope for in the final ? :
- May the best team win
- May the weather be good so that we see flowing rugby
- May Martin Johnson & Neil Back get caught by the ref every time they cheat or play dirty (I wish!)
- May George Gregan be given a yellow card for his blatant obstruction of the oppo scrum half at the scrummage
- May the ref blow a yellow card every single blinking time the Aussies do illegal crossing (pretty much on every back line move)
- May someone else copy BOD and tackle everyones favourite rasta flanker by the hair again (that was priceless!)

Now, to be serious, one of the best things about Rugby is the willingness to change the rules..... and at this world cup we are seeing a return to Rugby Union.... shock horror, refs are once again allowing rucking (the Welsh rucked the English back row off the ball a bunch of times, the shell shocked look on Neil Back's face was priceless!).

The next six nations should be great...the French will be determined to be #1, England will see a bunch of retirements of veterans and slide back a little towards the chasing pack, and Scotland and Wales are showing signs of no longer being whipping boys.

You know what would also be great ? Something like the ProBowl in NFL, with two all star teams playing each other the week after the final..... what I wouldn't give to see Simon Taylor, Chris Paterson, and even Rupeni (if he would stop the punching and high tackles) playing on a class team

Oops, you knew the idea of OT posting would reach me like a magnet, huh ?

aura

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRmelbourne.htm ?

whmere

No this one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mai...2/sraust22.xml

"This is a side who are meant to struggle against the southern hemisphere's big three. They have now won 10 games on the bounce against those countries. This is a side who can't win the games that really matter away from home. They have now beaten South Africa, New Zealand and Australia all on the road in the last two years. This is a side who can't score tries. They scored three yesterday. This is a side that revolves around the boot of Jonny Wilkinson. Yesterday, he barely featured. This is a side who are over the hill, a side whose graph line has no chance of maintaining its upward trend. Yesterday, it was the efforts of Josh Lewsey and Steve Thompson, the new boys, that caught the eye."


[This message has been edited by whmere (edited Nov 19, 2003).]

whmere

There was talk of that, and the IRB even put an annual Northern vs Southern Hemisphere All Stars game on the rugby calendar earlier this year. Of course, they consulted nobody first and the players refused to participate. It was quietly shelved....

Guess we'll just have to wait for the 2005 Lions.

ajamieson

Pucci nice strategy getting rid of HI for a couple of days (he'll be grumpy when he comes back, though). Just think what you can get up to in his absence

Now, to get back off topic...willyroo a top tip for a more enjoyable pub experience on Saturday morning (BTW, it is only England that has a problem with licensing hours...) is to time your visits to the gents or trips to the bar to coincide with England's penalty kicks. It will make you a calmer and less angry person in the long run.

My experience in SYD a couple of weeks ago was that fans from all the participating nations were friendly and good-natured in the bars with the notable exception of some - I'll leave you to work out which.

And yes, there is something distasteful about kicking to victory with no tries. If rugby was meant to be a kicking game William Webb Ellis would not have picked the ball up in the first place.

But then, I'm just bitter

[This message has been edited by ajamieson (edited Nov 19, 2003).]