World Cup Rugby

[chonabot]

I think he's selling his used codpieces down by the harbour...

[Edward B]

NZ v RSA - NZ

OZ v SCO - OZ

FRA v IRE - IRE

ENG v WAL - ENG

NZ v OZ - OZ

IRE v ENG - ENG

OZ v ENG - OZ (on emotion, not current ability)

You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.

Well, well. Where are all the knockers now about my predictions eh? Got the Ireland game wrong but that was just to prove that I'm human. One to go now.

And he sang as he watched and waited.....

Do you like my new avatar. Sterling Mortlock? What a hero.

You beat me to it Tiz.

[francois]

Got the Ireland game wrong but that was just to prove that I'm human.

please don't tell me that because you're human the britts are going to ....?

go on ...britts don't deserve it ...

but it's a french opinion

[Edward B]

Yes, Francois the Frenchies were very unlucky. Sometimes I wish they would change the rules after watching those types of games. Eg penalties kicks from silly technical infringements should only be worth 2 points while obvious foul play infringements be worth 3 and drop goals reduced to 2 points if kicked within the 22 metre mark, otherwise 3 (like basketball). OK, OK stupid suggestion but you know what I mean! I've been watching rugby for more than 15 years (played for 3 as well) and I still can't figure out some of the technicalities!

The Frenchies did miss many kicks so they can't complain.

[Pink Mist]

The poms without wilkinson= no score

Got a kiwi manager and he reckons all blicks were best team but Aussie team had a better plan what a winker.

Mortlock is a hero and his avatar should be a national icon.

Bad luck to the froggies, you could have done us a favour and taken wilko out but we can do that, we neutralised carlos last week so another pom (south pacific variety) wont be a problem.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

OZ v ENG - OZ (on emotion, not current ability)

You'll come a waltzing Matilda with me.

And he sang as he watched and waited.....

Still going for Oz Edward ? We forgive your one tiny error. Well done

[kwiz117]

I've been watching rugby for more than 15 years (played for 3 as well) and I still can't figure out some of the technicalities!

More to come..ha ha ha

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Naked Springboks tested at camp

South Africans are agonising over their defeat by New Zealand

South African rugby players were subjected to naked toughening-up exercises at a gruelling boot camp before the World Cup in Australia.

Some South Africans doubt the wisdom of sending the Springboks to "Camp Steel Wire" in light of their 29-9 quarter-final defeat by New Zealand.

South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper reports that players had to strip and pump up rugby balls in a freezing lake.

The three-day "bonding" also involved crawling naked across gravel.

Despite being sworn to secrecy, two players revealed some of the military-style exercises they endured at the camp - reportedly the brainchild of security consultant Adriaan Heijns, who employed former police task force veterans.

According to the newspaper report, players who tried to get out of the freezing lake - including Springboks captain Corne Krige - were ordered back in at gunpoint.

Without each other there was no way you could make it through

Corne Krige

The players were also abandoned in the bush at night with only an egg, a chicken and a match. They were asked to cook a meal, but not allowed to eat it.

When they were finally given a chance to sleep, they were woken every 15 minutes by gunfire.

They were also told to strip and climb into a hole, where recordings of the English national anthem and New Zealand's haka, or war-chant, were played. From time to time ice-cold water was poured over their heads.

Krige said he would not recommend some parts of the camp for future rugby training, but he added that a lot of it was really good team spirit.

The exercises were held at a location north of Pretoria in September, the paper reported.

But Ken Jennings, a South African sports psychologist, said he was "quite horrified" to learn of the activities, describing them as "a drive towards conformity and total rigidity that is based on the fear factor".

[Pink Mist]

the kiwis have had their sheep confiscated (past their ewesed by date )

[TizMe]

Mortlock is a hero and his avatar should be a national icon.

Thats if the the Sydney Morning Herald doesn't throw me into prison for copyright infringement.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Rub their little noses in it Bronco heheheheh. Did the New Zealand Government fall ?

[Pink Mist]

Just a shame about Ben Darwin doc, looks like his career is over.

might have a look at some kiwi papers see what they have to say, it's so funny they thought they were destined to win, just like the poms now they have won the Web Ellis already.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Make yourself work at making them win again on Saturday... up the pommies ( with a pickhandle )

[TizMe]

England's Ben Kay showing the flag of next weeks winners.

[larryman]

well I reckon the final score will be 27-24 in favour of England

try count---1 to England(if Robinson gets a good pass with room to move)!

try count---2 to Aussies

sin bin---2 each side.

story of the game ---strong English pack plus Wilkinsons boot v. fantastic Aussie defense plus hard to stop backs!

as for the froggies---they played some great rugby earlier in the cup before they caved in to Englands all round superiority on the day.

They were well beaten,as I think they will be by the kiwis!

p.s. I live in Scotland,so you can all have a go at me!!

larryman

[stumonster]

It had better not rain

The players were also abandoned in the bush at night with only an egg, a chicken and a match. They were asked to cook a meal, but not allowed to eat it.

wonder if the kiwis did something like this...got given a paper bag, a barbwire fence and a sheep..and told they could not <deleted> it... always take the wether with you

that french winger got sent off for trying to help us out, hope wilkensons ribs hurt

Kiwis dump final tickets on Ebay

17:50 (AEST) ONLINE auction site Ebay did a brisk trade in Rugby World Cup sales today as disgruntled New Zealand supporters sought to unload their unwanted finals tickets.

roflmao

COME ON THE MIGHTY WALLABIES

[dr_Pat_Pong]

p.s. I live in Scotland,so you can all have a go at me!!

larryman

A Scot saying something positive about the Brit's ....ooooooh I hope your fellow countrymen canna identify you

[Kan Win]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_unio...cup/3277151.stm

England enter the game as the world's number one team

Aussies strike first blow

Australia have won the toss for use of the home dressing room in Saturday's World Cup final against England.

The Wallabies were relegated to the visitors' changing room for last weekend's semi-final against New Zealand but will be back in more familiar surroundings for the weekend's clash.

As well as picking the dressing rooms, the Wallabies were also able to decide when they wanted to train on the eve of the match and choose the order of the anthems.

They have decided God Save the Queen will be sung first, followed by Advance Australia Fair.

The toss to decide which team kicks off and which direction the teams will run will be held shortly before the game.

The news follows the announcement that England have taken over from New Zealand as the world's leading side in the latest International Rugby Board rankings.

The All Blacks had moved to the top spot following their quarter-final success against South Africa.

But on Monday they dropped down to third place after losing 22-10 to Australia on Saturday.

The Wallabies climb two places to second after qualifying for their third World Cup final.

France, who were knocked out of the tournament in a 24-7 defeat to England at the weekend, move from third down to fourth in the latest standings.

The IRB's rankings mean the top two teams will contest the World Cup final on Saturday.

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/SPORT/11/17/ru...nson/index.html

IRB World Rankings:

New-Old-Country-Points

1. (2) England 92.13

2. (4) Australia 88.44

3. (1) New Zealand 88.17

4. (3) France 84.66

5. (5) South Africa 81.23

6. (6) Ireland 80.53

7. (7) Argentina 78.02

8. (8) Wales 76.92

9. (9) Scotland 76.36

10. (10) Samoa 73.46

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Kan Win,

May the best team Win.

[Kan Win]

I love this one. Especially the “Punch Line” LOL

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http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,3-2003531502,00.html

By STEVEN HOWARD

REMEMBER that Australian newspaper headline accompanying a picture of Jonny Wilkinson as he kicked England to a rare World Cup victory?

The one that went ‘Is That All You’ve Got?’ Well, no, we’re a bit more sneaky than that.

For I can now reveal England again bent the rules on Sunday to reach the World Cup final.

For, unbeknown to the French, they fielded 17 players — the second time in the tournament (after Samoa) they have had extra bodies on the pitch.

No doubt, this will again lead to calls for a fine or, even better, expulsion from the competition.

The 16th man was the crowd — a remarkable 50,000 Poms (and Pomettes) in the 82,346 turn-out.

The 17th was the weather — gales and torrential rain to make the Telstra Stadium more like Twickenham in February.

Just how low can you stoop?

Even worse for those very few people out here for whom an England victory in Saturday’s final is anathema — say about 21 million — is the projected forecast of a pleasant 70 degrees by evening kick-off time.

Yet how David Beckham and his England footballers must have wished the elements had been similarly gentle with them at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup in Japan last year.

The night before they met eventual winners Brazil the heavens opened and severely drenched all and sundry attending the wrap-up Press conferences at the stadium.

Not only that but hailstones the size of a smallish Sumo wrestler thundered out of the Japanese sky.

We awoke the next morning to blinding sunshine. By the time England kicked off in mid-afternoon, the temperature was 90 degrees.

It was the last debilitatingly hot day of the tournament. And it was that as much as the heat of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo that spelled O-U-T for Sven Goran Eriksson’s side.

As Beckham said in his autobiography, England had nothing left at half-time.

He looked at the spent bodies in the dressing-room and knew there was no way back.

Fast forward to the Telstra the night before Wilkinson kicked the French into submission.

On the hottest day of Sydney’s early summer, the thermometer hit the mid-90s. It was still in the 80s at 8pm when the Australia-New Zealand semi- final kicked off.

New Zealand has a climate similar to England’s and, by the time the All Blacks had been ejected from the tournament, even Aussies were offering up the heat as one reason why the Wallabies had pulled off a stunning victory.

Concerned Englishmen immediately turned to the weather pages in the Aussie dailies.

And there they found salvation in the words of the old song — stormy weather.

Twenty four hours later, England rode out their own storm as France’s slick, attacking game was rendered impotent by a ball as difficult to handle as a bar of Imperial Leather.

Young French stand-off Fred Michalak had gone into the game as the new superstar of world rugby with 18 penalties and 17 conversions — as well as two tries — in his five previous matches.

An early kick that sliced off his boot prefaced the personal disaster that would follow. He had four penalty attempts that on any other day he would have landed while casually munching on a baguette — and missed the lot.

French team manager Jo Maso conceded: “The weather got to him. Generally, the conditions were not good for our style of play.”

This prompted Woodward’s tongue-in-cheek riposte that rain sometimes actually fell in France.

This, in turn, drew a reply from one Aussie hackette that the England coach was “gormless.” Be that as it may Woodward is in the final.

Retiring French skipper Fabien Galthie refused to make excuses. “We are not so strong as the English,” he said. “The rain made it difficult for us but we have to play with the sun and the wind and the rain. So it’s okay.”

It was a response that was almost Erikssonesque.

As for the 16th man, he — and she — will be back at the Telstra on Saturday when we could well enjoy the astonishing spectacle of a home Aussie crowd being drowned out by 50,000 chariot-swinging visitors.

Well, not THAT astonishing.

Two years ago, before the First Test against Australia, British Lions skipper Martin Johnson wandered out to inspect the Brisbane pitch. He glanced up at the stands to be confronted by a sea of red.

Back in the dressing-room, he called the Lions together and told them: “You can relax, lads — we’re playing at home.”

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LOL

Beat this post

[Pink Mist]

we can only wait for saturday if Oz play a positive game and keep everything tight wilkinson wont get the oppotunity to influence the game

GO WALLABIES

[stumonster]

all those tickets that kiwi fans put on ebay...did aussies or poms buy them?

after last weeks game, wilkinson might feel some pressure is on him..

I will be backing them team with both the best defensive and attacking team...

GO THE MIGHTY WALLABIES

[chonabot]

we can only wait for saturday if Oz play a positive game and keep everything tight wilkinson wont get the oppotunity to influence the game

GO WALLABIES

The Aussies don't seem to realise that using Wilkinson is only one of 3 game plans , if they nullify him, the 2nd game plan will come into it's own.

Chonabot ( alias C Woodward )

[Pink Mist]

Man walks into a bar carrying his dog all decked out in red and white pom poms, england jersey, scarfe, red cross on white nose etc, barman says " sorry mate you can't bring that dog in here, guy says " c'mon mate give us a break the TV at home just broke down and we want to watch england play ". Barmen eventually agrees to let them stay on proviso that dog behaves.

10 minutes elapse poms get a penalty on the 22 right in front, wilkinson kicks it, dog jumps onto the bar, struts up and down giving high fives to all the patrons.

Barman says to bloke " that's amazing, what does he do when england score a try ? "

guy says " I dont know, only had him 3 years. "

maybe should've posted in the joke section but it is nearly true story.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Are you tipping Oz for the Oz - Pom game Bronco ?

[Kan Win]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,3-2003531819,00.html

Bore war

From STEVEN HOWARD in Sydney

MARTIN JOHNSON has slammed Aussie taunts that Clive Woodward’s heroes are killing rugby.

England’s angry skipper rapped: “If you’ve got to win ugly, you do it. Just as long as you win.”

He hit back at the Aussies as boss Woodward picked Mike Tindall at centre in place of Mike Catt for the World Cup final here on Saturday. That allows Will Greenwood to switch back to inside centre.

Johnson also accused the hosts of hypocrisy and insisted victory for England will be the perfect response to the bitter criticism of their lethal kicking game.

Johnson added: “If you don’t play an all-singing, all-dancing game, people always complain. But the way we’ve played is simply plain common sense.”

He has been stunned by the abuse heaped on his side after Sunday’s 24-7 semi-final win over France, when Jonny Wilkinson kicked all of England’s points.

The forward giant fumed: “We were accused of killing rugby after beating New Zealand last winter and we’ve been charged with the same thing throughout this World Cup. “But it does not surprise me. It always goes on whenever we’re over here. “Australia got a breakaway try from an interception and five penalties in beating the All Blacks on Saturday. “Needless to say, they were described as playing brilliantly well.

“We do the same and they call us boring. “We were knocked out of the last World Cup when a South African dropped five goals against us in the quarter-final. But we took our punishment. “France and New Zealand would both love to be sitting where we are now on the strength of kicking drop goals.”

The slurs from former Wallaby Russell Fairfax were typical. He declared: “England are killing the game with performances like the one that we saw against France. “And you can’t just put it down to the weather. They’ve played like that throughout the tournament. They are so bloody boring.”

But Johnson added: “Whoever wins the final, however they do it, will be world champions — and deservedly so. You do not succeed in getting to a final by having any weaknesses.”

ENGLAND: J Lewsey (Wasps); J Robinson (Sale Sharks), W Greenwood (Harlequins), M Tindall (Bath), B Cohen (Northampton); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), M Dawson (Northampton); T Woodman (Gloucester), S Thompson (Northampton), P Vickery (Gloucester), M Johnson (Leicester, capt), B Kay (Leicester), R Hill (Saracens), N Back (Leicester), L Dallaglio (Wasps).

Replacements: D West (Leicester), J Leonard (Harlequins), M Corry (Leicester), L Moody (Leicester), K Bracken (Saracens), M Catt (Bath), I Balshaw (Bath).

AUSTRALIA: Rogers, Sailor, Mortlock, Flatley, Tuqiri, Larkham, Gregan (capt), Young, Cannon, Baxter, Harrison, Sharpe, Smith, Lyons, Waugh.

[Kan Win]

Please take time out to read this URL that I have provided, should you be interested in:-

Here for beginners, bluffers and girlfriends we present an idiots' guide to the big event ... the rules, the song, the hunks, the best boozers, the best English grub.

I saved the best, for my last offering on this subject.

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Wallop a Wallaby

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/rugby/articles/7735119

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The battle song you need to know .

18 November 2003

The rousing Negro spiritual Swing Low Sweet Chariot is the unofficial anthem of English rugby supporters - spontaneously adopted during March 1988 during a game against Ireland when the black player Chris Oti scored a sensational hat-trick for England.

We publish the song in full so that you can sing along.

Chorus

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Coming for to carry me home,

Swing low, sweet chariot,

Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?

Coming for to carry me home,

A band of angels coming after me,

Coming for to carry me home.

Chorus (Swing Low)

If you get there before I do

Coming for to carry me home

Tell all my friends I'm coming home too

Coming for to carry me home.

Chorus (Swing Low)

Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down

Coming for to carry me home

Yet still my soul feel heavenly bound

Coming for to carry me home

Chorus (Swing Low)

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Good Luck to one and all.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Several generations ago Brit cricketers used bodyline ( bowling at the batsmen ) that was ok against the Aussie's, and like the Brit captain of the Rugby side, the way they play is fine. Once the cricket lot used the bodyline, Brit against Brit, they changed the rules.

[Guest IT Manager]

At half tmie, an hour or so ago it was 5 to 14 Pommies way. By now it's over.

I suddenly realised that the teams in the World Cup are from diffrent parts of the actual world.

Who played in this years World Series...

[dr_Pat_Pong]

IT 48 countries participated..I will find the list and post it for you. The poms won by two points ( in extra time on ) it was a draw at full time. It was a magnificent game. No shame for the Australians at all.

[Nat]

Congrats to all the englishmen out there - was upset, but you played a great game. Guess it was payback for us whooping your butt in the football friendly earlier this year.

[stumonster]

Congratulations you pommy bastards...

I watched the game in a bar full of england supporters.. and me being the only aussie present....I copped heaps after the game..( though they were worried until right at the end)

saw one of the supporters on tv with a great slogan on his T-shirt

Don't leave England without a johnny........