Rugby World Cup

Just popped in to say I'm gutted that Ireland are out of the World Cup. It was a game of good rugby and very exciting - credit to Wales, better team on the day. Amazing that France pulled it out of the hat, again! This game showed how slow England are on the pitch. They need to go to the same place as Wales for intensive training! So, is it going to be South Africa to win?

Me again - well, after this morning's games, who is likely to meet in the final? Or, should I say, who will meet New Zealand? Any Welsh folk out there hoping they will make it?

Still rooting for the Celts, though I'd have loved to see Brian O'Driscoll lifting the Cup. I didn't get to see much of the rugby this weekend because was staying with the family who aren't rugby fans - heathens!

Mrshat......Yes, yes, yes!
No. 2 son so pleased as he only has our word for the glory days of the 70s!
Do you think that the Welsh teams' decision to avoid alcohol for the duration has had an effect?

mrshat, I don't think there's any guarantee that the All Blacks will reach the final because they are dropping like flies - can't keep a no 10 in one piece and are now on their third string! The captain has a bad foot, but the opinion down under is that he will 'play through the pain'. And Australia has beaten them a couple of times recently. Things do seem very open now, what with the French having at last turned up and played to their very considerable strengths.
OGM, don't know whether Welsh abstinence has worked the magic, but it obviously hasn't done any harm - tell that to the England squad.

Completely devastated, in a huge decline, such an anticlimax, what a shame etc. etc. I just keep thinking of what might have been.
On a more positive note, the team has some promising players so..... come on Wales let's look forward!

Hi folks. A dispiriting experience watching Wales struggle bravely on last night - in a pub on the Kapiti coast out here in NZ. They are though the team to beat in next years 6 nations!
French will presumably get their comeuppance next weekend , one way or another.
Giving up the booze and excellent decision by Warren G. Drinking is too much a part of rugby culture and the easiest and safest thing is to ban it.
Tonights all blacks/aussie semi should be a hard fought match. Rooting for NZ obviously but they are rather physically battered.
(As a side note - there is an election coming up here and a labour-supporting friend has been watching the effect of the shipwreck on the fortunes of John Key's National Party. Greens are doing well. Friend having a moment of disloyalty wondering if the all blacks go out would it be another nail in Keys' coffin as feel-bad factor sets in.)

What a weekend! I feel 'gutted' for the Welsh Team - they played a magnificent game, what could they have achieved with a full 15 men? Here's hoping for an All Black's victory next weekend, Les Bleus do not deserve to win. It will be interesting to see if Alain Rolland will referee - he was/is the chosen one at the moment ........................

Hi Jess. I've already said that on another thread. Glad to hear you are getting your rugby 'fix'. I don't think the ABs will have any problem with France, though it depends on which France turn up to play. They seem to be ignoring Lievremont who must surely be heading for the dole queue - leaving Harinordoquy on the bench (as he did in the early rounds) is like NZ leaving out McCaw!

There are some bitter memories here of a previous occasion when the All Blacks all got food poisoning...
I have planned badly and will be a/ travelling during the match on Thursday and b/ in USA with friends for the final. And it will be the middle of the night. Doh!

Well they made it ...but not the game I was hoping for!!

Well I found it nail-biting! (Had to keep turning to my lap-top and check GN as the equivalent of watching from behind the sofa!)

I could hardly bear the suspense, even though I was completely neutral. Even though open play was sporadic, it was a great match. It would have been a fiasco if the ABs had been allowed to overrun the French, but they were very evenly matched.

Totally ignorant about rugby but thoroughly enjoyed it. Didn't realise the French had so many real men!!

Well done to Les Bleus for playing well, but YIPPEE to the ABs, I had to suppress a little tear when Hayley Westernra(?) sang: 'Now is the Hour'!
What a winter of sport it's going to be....

*Grannylin"

Well, it was a good result, if Brian O'Driscoll could not lift the cup then I guess the All Blacks deserved it, particularly this year. Les Bleus played a corker but where were they throughout the rest of the tournament? Overall, they did not deserve to win even tho' they put their heart and soul into the final on Sunday. Roll on the Six Nations!