All Black arrested in London

Doug Howlett arrested - my my

my my is quite right if it is Howlett

there shouldnt be an excuse for that.

Theres also some NZ articles that may suggest that domestic violence may surge as a result of the All Black loss

Couple of new products on the market.............

Kiwi bra,.... comes in one colour, all black with lots of support but no cup!

Ikea...... are producing a new downunder furniture range, 1 colour scheme green and gold marketed as the "Aussie Flatpack"

TBWG

nah not good enough,

how about.........

what the difference between NZ/Aussie and a teabag??

A teabag stays in the Cup longer.

Martin Johnson said recently that this is the best WC so far, by far, and I have to agree. All the quarter finals were close and we could have easily have had NZ v Aus and Sco v Fiji as the semi finalists. I think all the games now will be thrillers that go down to the wire.

Yes a brilliant World Cup on so many levels.

Betsen takes place in France team

France team to face England at Stade de France:

D Traille; V Clerc, D Marty, Y Jauzion, C Heymans; L Beauxis, J-B Elissalde; O Milloud, R Ibanez (capt), P de Villiers, F Pelous, J Thion, S Betsen, T Dusautoir, J Bonnaire. Replacements: J-B Poux, D Szarzewski, S Chabal, I Harinordoquy, F Michalak, C Dominici, C Poitrenaud.

Will Betson be suffering the effects of last Saturday's hit? L:ooked like a concussion to me - normally that's 2 weeks out automatic.

Rolland to referee Final

Good choice> He was excellent on Saturday once he had sorted the scrum out. Not that there will be a problem from here on in as all the sides left have strong forward packs.

England unchanged for semi-final

England coach Brian Ashton has named an unchanged team for Saturday's World Cup semi-final against France in Paris.

After a series of injuries he finally had a full squad from which to pick for this game, but has gone for the same XV and replacements who beat Australia.

England Robinson; Sackey, Tait, Catt, Lewsey; Wilkinson, Gomarsall; Sheridan, Regan, Vickery (capt), Shaw, Kay, Corry, Moody, Easter. Replacements: Chuter, Stevens, Dallaglio, Worsley, Richards, Flood, Hipkiss.

more

Two unchanged sides both on an up - should be a cracker

England are definitely bigging up the French putting themselves as clear underdogs

France v England Build Up

The two teams have played each other 89 times England lead the series 47-35 with 7 draws

England have had the upper hand in the RWC winning a brutal quarter final in Paris in 1991 19-10 and a semi final in 2003 24-7

France won the dour 3rd place playoff game in 1995 19-9.

France beat England convincingly in two World Cup warm up games but England won the last competitive match between the sides when they denied the French a Grand Slam in this seasons Six Nations Championship.

Saturday's game will start with a full on forward battle between two strong packs - If France can hold their own their superior backs should win the game. England will be hoping they can out muscle the French and deny them the ball leaving Jonny Wilkinson's boot to rack up the points.

The French have home advantage but England will have plenty of support in the crowd and are no strangers to winning in Paris.

At the bookies the French are 3-1 odds on favourites with England at 5-2. Handicap betting gives England an 8 point head start.

Last week saw two enormous upsets to see these two sides make it to the semi finals will this week be the same?

Whatever happens it will be a great match full of passion and guts. Whichever side has the greatest heart will win the game.

Bring it on

South Africa v Argentina

South Africa are the current favourites to win the World Cup and appear to have the easiest draw but Argentina have excelled in this tournament beating home side France, Ireland and Scotland to deservedly make the semis.

Both sides have formidable packs so it is likely to be a massive battle up front. South Africa probably have the edge in the backs but Fiji and Tonga have both exposed weknesses in the South African defence which Argentina will look to exploit. Argentina have also shown themselves adept at knocking over drop goals which should give them an edge in a tight game.

The two sides have only met twice with South Africa winning on both occasions.

The odds are the same as the other semi final with South Africa at 3-1 on and Argentina at 5-2

Expect a battle royal on Sunday,

What time is the kick off MB ? We're not in for a late one are we ?

What time is the kick off MB ? We're not in for a late one are we ?

'fraid so ... both games are 9.00pm kicks off local time ... so in Thailand that's 2.00AM Sunday for England/France and 2.00AM Monday for SA/Argentina ...

... be quite glad when this is all over ... it's like some bizarre sleep deprivation torture!

What time is the kick off MB ? We're not in for a late one are we ?

'fraid so ... both games are 9.00pm kicks off local time ... so in Thailand that's 2.00AM Sunday for England/France and 2.00AM Monday for SA/Argentina ...

... be quite glad when this is all over ... it's like some bizarre sleep deprivation torture!

Cheers for that, at least we're on early hours Sunday & not Monday. That could've been a killer for work the next day.

What time is the kick off MB ? We're not in for a late one are we ?

'fraid so ... both games are 9.00pm kicks off local time ... so in Thailand that's 2.00AM Sunday for England/France and 2.00AM Monday for SA/Argentina ...

... be quite glad when this is all over ... it's like some bizarre sleep deprivation torture!

Cheers for that, at least we're on early hours Sunday & not Monday. That could've been a killer for work the next day.

######' right!

What time is the kick off MB ? We're not in for a late one are we ?

'fraid so ... both games are 9.00pm kicks off local time ... so in Thailand that's 2.00AM Sunday for England/France and 2.00AM Monday for SA/Argentina ...

... be quite glad when this is all over ... it's like some bizarre sleep deprivation torture!

Im gettin plenty of sleep now

one for you english chaps.......

The Aussies have finally learnt the correct way to greet the English..

as.bmp

MB, Im glad you have taken up the thread, and leading by example by not kicking us ANZACs when we're down. (well not too much anyway)

anyway, I hope all the teams play well and that will be a great contest

MB, Im glad you have taken up the thread, and leading by example by not kicking us ANZACs when we're down. (well not too much anyway)

anyway, I hope all the teams play well and that will be a great contest

A pleasure Donny just a light kicking.Don't know who will be picking it up next week - Johnny Frenchman or Juan Argie - I guess England will just have to win to keep the thread alive

I've got a funny feeling the Argies are going to get up.

Donnyboy........you can watch the Argie game with interest & pick up tips on how to beat them in next years "tri" nation championship.

Seriously though, I hope you keep watching because this thread wouldn't of got where it was without yours & MB's banter.

And now you can support England Donny

RUGBY WORLD CUP LATEST

Earlier this week Australia met New Zealand

At Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Revamped Aussie front row revealed ...

Donnyboy........you can watch the Argie game with interest & pick up tips on how to beat them in next years "tri" nation championship.

Seriously though, I hope you keep watching because this thread wouldn't of got where it was without yours & MB's banter.

thanks for your support guys,

its been a tough few days I can tell you and to add to the disappointment with Howlett's drunken display, and proposed axing of whom I believe, a great management team in the All Blacks. Im sure Henry and co could easily pick up another national coaching job with any of the top level teams.

Doug Howlett has apologised since his arrest.

Too bad the semis and finals are all played at a time not suitable for sociable viewing, I shall be watching out of interest thou.

Good to see you back Donny

I think the Howlett thing has been blown up a bit. He has offered to pay for the damage I suspect that will be the end of the matter.

On the Henry front personally I have never liked the guy (due to the Lions tour) but he is a good coach and I feel sacking him and his management team is a big mistake. He fixed the All Blacks forward problems and gave them a scrum that could compete with the other top teams. He may have made some mistakes but going out of the Cup was not his fault - he was not on the field.

It is undeniable that teams learn from defeats and go on to bigger better things but this All Black side is breaking up and going to take the hard lesson of Saturday's quarter final with them leading to the possibility that the same mistakes will be made again and again. All 'Dad's Army' jokes aside having some older players in the team in a crunch match is invaluable. People that have been in big, tight games before know what it takes to win them. That is one reason Catt and his zimmer frame is still in the England team and Dallaglio on the bench. When things get tight tomorrow turning to those players to as well as Jonny, Vickery and Gomasall will give England a tiny advantage that hopefully will pay off.

So keep Henry and his staff for four more years, build a team around McCaw, Collins and Carter and the Kiwis will be in much better shape in 2011. Change all the personnel and yuu risk running into the same problem again.

Just my two bahts worth.

yes a convict colony 200 years ago that was populated by english, so when you rubbish our beginning I guess you are bellitling yourselves, but again that seems to be the soapdodgers only put down they have

yo mate, let's NOT go down that road willya? you're exposing yourself to future stinging zingers ...

In truth the English luv Aussie-Land, it's just that they express feelings in a strange way

in reality though and I am getting off subject it seems to be the catchcry by the soapies, if they did a bit of research they would realise that in reality only tassie and NSW were populated by ENGLISH convicts, so Oz in fact not a convict colony, but if they get their jollies this way then so be it.

by the way do you live in glengowrie in adelaide?

mate, you'll be delighted to hear that Alain Rolland will referee the final, in reward for the good performance in the Australia v England match. Here you can see his older bros in Ireland giving thumbs up

Well looks like I'll be up at 2am this weekend, its going to be another close one!

Good to see you back Donny

I think the Howlett thing has been blown up a bit. He has offered to pay for the damage I suspect that will be the end of the matter.

On the Henry front personally I have never liked the guy (due to the Lions tour) but he is a good coach and I feel sacking him and his management team is a big mistake. He fixed the All Blacks forward problems and gave them a scrum that could compete with the other top teams. He may have made some mistakes but going out of the Cup was not his fault - he was not on the field.

It is undeniable that teams learn from defeats and go on to bigger better things but this All Black side is breaking up and going to take the hard lesson of Saturday's quarter final with them leading to the possibility that the same mistakes will be made again and again. All 'Dad's Army' jokes aside having some older players in the team in a crunch match is invaluable. People that have been in big, tight games before know what it takes to win them. That is one reason Catt and his zimmer frame is still in the England team and Dallaglio on the bench. When things get tight tomorrow turning to those players to as well as Jonny, Vickery and Gomasall will give England a tiny advantage that hopefully will pay off.

So keep Henry and his staff for four more years, build a team around McCaw, Collins and Carter and the Kiwis will be in much better shape in 2011. Change all the personnel and yuu risk running into the same problem again.

Just my two bahts worth.

It's a good point - Henry is a good coach, and NZ have the best squad of players in the world - just not quite getting that 'big match' stuff right. But if I were the NZRU, I would not fire Mr Henry - I remember England getting bundled out of RWC 99 by the Saffers - the RFU were (for once) bright enough to put it down to experience and did not dispense with Woowoo's services. The rest, as they say, is history ...

It's a good point - Henry is a good coach, and NZ have the best squad of players in the world - just not quite getting that 'big match' stuff right. But if I were the NZRU, I would not fire Mr Henry - I remember England getting bundled out of RWC 99 by the Saffers - the RFU were (for once) bright enough to put it down to experience and did not dispense with Woowoo's services. The rest, as they say, is history ..

Spot On

Good luck to all sides tonight.

I guess if I support the Argies that will assist their fast track out of the tornament.

Can't bring myself to barrack for the French and that doesn't leave anyone else.