Rugby World Cup

It will be interesting to see who ITV use as their Rugby commentators.
I'm finding Barnes & Harrison from Sky a bit stale and cliched these days so a change will be good for a while.

Roll on Sat and the start of the English Premiership season

I'm really looking forward to watching it all....pity it's on ITV, but it will be interesting to see who is doing the commentary. Brian Moore used to be quite a good commentator and then got a bit above himself, now he's a complete pain. I just hope that they don't try to broadcast it in the same way as the football - last time I watched rugby on ITV you couldn't follow the play because they always had the camera in the wrong place!
England sweatshirt all washed and ready to wear....Swing low sweet chariot

With Australia beating the All Blacks the wallabies have to be the favourite.
Yes very sad for poor Christchurch. What a mess. I will be trying to watch while down under, being a guest in son's houses. They are not fans... I'll have to go down the pub or something...

Could watch it with the sound turned off and listen to 5Live Sports Extra, though I fear that the sound and vision might be out of synch which would be bizarre.
Will be looking on Cotton Traders for a Scotland shirt!

Sorry JessM ...going to Aus or NZ?? Lucky girl either way ...enjoy; when are you going?

Going to NSW to see grandkids etc at the end of Sept (school holidays) then over to NZ to see my other son for a week. Then on to Seattle to see an old friend who has been ill, for a week. At this point, having been a "guest" for 5 weeks I will be very happy to come home to my own bed. And DH.

Oh ...lucky girl ...have a super time ...enjoy the rugby!!

If I am in OZ and if they win, that will be interesting. They have to be the favourites having beaten the all blacks twice this year...

Just watching the end of France v Japan. French have pulled up their socks since I switched on. I must go and have a shower before England v Argentina or else I'll be stuck to my chair till lunchtime. Wonder if I can spot my nephew in the stands. His wife has let him go down to Dunedin (from Christchurch) with 'the lads' although their baby's due date is about now!
What with World Cup and Strictly, I may have to tell my friends and family I'm incommunicado for a good six weeks.

We watched the end of the France v Japan match too....didn't Japan play well. Wish we had their scrum half! Also, watched the England game...phew...you have to have nerves of steel to support England. Think Jonny Wilkinson has left Doris at home...he did miss a few. At least we won...need to play better though.
What do you think of the commentary so far...Martin Gillingham is annoying - he never shuts up. Found out that he is more used to commentating on the radio! I l like Nick Martin this morning....wish they'd team him up with Andy Gomersall though as Phil Vickery is plain boring. (Should go back to cooking )

I am a Wigan Rugby League fan ...but watch the 6 nations (English living in Scotland!!) and saw the England/Argentina match.
Not sure what it was about the game but there didn't seem to be a very good atmosphere like you usually get at a rugby match...seemed an awful lot of anger and the whole thing made me feel uncomfortable .
Also hated their black strip !!!
I sgree that Phil Vickery was so boring and the other Phil Vickery would probably have been more entertaining.!!!!!

I hope their next game is better.!!

Some incredible scores already ...enjoyed what I've seen so far ...love the number of 'none' rugby nations playing. But don't know if my nerves can take watching England play again
Agree Annobel about time to watch rugby and Strictly + Take Two in the coming weeks ...and NFL, as a 49ers fan as well.

England didn't look at home in that black strip. I don't think anyone but the real All Blacks should be allowed to wear that in NZ! I think Flood should have been sent on to replace JW who really didn't have his kicking boots on.

Agree about the black strip....don't like it. JW is still better than Toby Flood even on a bad day!

Yes, I wondered about the black strip ...the skills didn't rub off!!

I agree about the strip. Looks all wrong.
Just watched the highlights. Great credits, brilliant graphics, good ads (IBM and Vauxhall) Looks like the Scotland- Romania was lively. Invercargill I think very into their Scottish antecedents so great support I expect.
Shots of NZ made me miss it...

Well well - Welsh team... I knew they didn't win but they certainly looked credible members of the final rounds. Benefitted from a long summer of training and being a fresh young team.
I'm Welsh so obviously they are my team of choice.
And playing in my favourite capital city...

Then JessM ...what do you know about this 'low temperature' training they've had in Poland please? I only just caught some images of it this morning and missed the explanation.
Did watch all match 'live' this morning ...a good game ...but didn't feel either side played their best at the same time.
So ...all home teams have a win under their belts.

What about that penalty, Jess? Hook thought it had gone over, but the ref took the word of the touch judges and didn't refer it to the TV ref.
My loyalties are, of course, with Scotland, but I love watching Wales for their enterprise and willingness to take risks, unlike the very boring English.

The penalty was oh so close wasn't it. I thought it was in but there was not much sound from the crowd if I recall.
My son was there, so when I speak to him I will ask what he thought.
I think the cryo training is about resistance to stress. They basically have to endure extreme cold in special fridges. Every time they do that their fight/flight response is going to be activated. This will have many effects on the body...
The chap in Poland makes a lot of claims about them being able to train harder etc. Not sure how the science stacks up though. Probably works well as a bonding exercise!

I should think if you were in a fridge together, you'd bond pretty quickly! Good training for the scrum?

Sorry JessM ...my last post should have said "all home teams have points" ...blame this westerly wind!! ...as in addling my brain .

Thank you for cryo explanation ...but still don't really see how it will improve anyone's game

No Jacey I remain to be convinced and sometime I will look for some research on it.
Maybe it just stops them whingeing about the intensity of the other training they are doing as part of that camp!

OK ...see England in news today ...should they have been allowed to have a day off? Do high risk sports? Should we have a suspension?

Me ...yes to all three ...but what do I know ...surely they are more at risk on the field of play of getting an injury? personally think this was a better way to 'let off steam'; 'bond'; 'relax' ...than drinking or gambling!! Which some of our other teams appear to prefer when involved in playing abroad.