Siamburi's today.

[OldeBellPedr]

Rugby World Cup 2011

for those of you who have been eagerly awaiting this festival of Rugby, you will delighted to know that we at The Olde Bell along with our friends and colleagues in other bars around town will be showing almost every game LIVE on the big screen! There'll also be lots of fun and frolics and promos to enjoy:

This Friday at 2.30pm we will be showing the opening ceremony following the opening encounter with the All Blacks v Tonga at 3.30pm. There'll be a BBQ for just 120Baht (150 baht includes a bottle of finest Dutch Lager from the company that is sponsoring the World Cup) This will start from 2pm and will include bacon, Sausages baked beans and other breakfast items as well as more usual Barbie fare. So whether you're a late riser looking for 'Brunch' or a an early bird looking for lunch, we've got all the angles covered!

For each game you attend we will offer you a ticket, provided by our sponsors. At half time there will be a draw for a 100Bht voucher, then all tickets go into the main draw pot.

During each of the ¼ finals and semi finals we will draw out a ticket The winning ticket will receive a package of prizes including a Sponsors Branded World Cup Rugby shirt, a jug of the sponsors beer and a 300Baht Olde Bell voucher. During the final you can win the same package, PLUS a Gilbert Rugby World Cup branded Rugby Ball, which according to that wonderful Dutch Beer company's rep, is worth 3,000Baht! See the flyers in the pub for more details.

On Saturday we'll be having an early start with the Scotland v Romania game at 8am. Food will be available from 9am, but we'll have tea and coffee on the go from the start! at 1pm we'll be showing France v Japan then at 3.30pm England get their campaign underway with a tricky game against Argentina. There'll be special promotions on breakfast and lunch during these games.

On Sunday attention turns to the Wallabies and another potential banana skin match against Italy. That's at 10.30am – and again there'll be a breakfast promotion. At 1pm there's an interesting encounter between Ireland and the USA, before the big one: Wales v South Africa at 3.30pm. This is the first opportunity to see potential World Cup winners Wales in action! There'll be special deals on Sunday Lunch from 1pm onward.

Anyway, we hope you'll consider us at The Olde Bell as one of your options for World Cup viewing. Along with our friends and colleagues at the UN Irish, Red Lion, 69 Bar, Mad Dogs, The Pub, O'Malley's and I'm sure others, we will do our best to offer you a feast of rugby over the next month. Select your pub, pull up a beer and watch the games!!

Cymru am Byth: Wales for the cup!!

[OldeBellPedr]

As a point of clarification: the only game we are not planning to show is the Argentina v Georgia match on 2nd October as it kicks off at 8am. Of course if Chiang Mai's massed ranks of Georgian or Argentinian supporters wanted us to show it, we might reconsider! Also if the game is likely to affect England or Scotland's qualification hopes (which it might) then, again, we might be persuaded to show it!

[OldeBellPedr]

STOP PRESS: for the opening game- if you mention that you read about us on Thai Visa, we'll give you an extra prize draw ticket in which you could win a clutch of goodies!

[millwall_fan]

I tip Wales to get to the semi finals at least: If they can get through the 'group of death'!!

[millwall_fan]

What a great day of rugby! Scotland squezze past a solid looking Romanian side, Namibia prove they're not going to be a pushover with a spirited performance against Fiji, some suspiciously non-Japanses looking players helped their adopted country to a decent showing against France and then England scrape past Argentina by the skin of their teeth and wiil be offering Rodriguez and OBE for missing all those penalties!!

Today (Sunday) there's the big one Wales v South Africa at 3.30pm hope to see you all later today!

[OldeBellPedr]

...and what a day we had at The Olde Bell! We started off with coffee and bacon sandwiches for the Scotland game at 8am and the atmosphere buit up all day until we had 60 people here for the England game -which is pretty well our capacity!! Great day!! On Sunday 11th Why not join us for breakfast and enjoy the Australia v Italy game at 10.30pm. If AFL is your bag, then 1 screen will be dedicated to Carlton v Essendon at 11.30am Then over Sunday Lunch you can enjoy Ireland v USA at 1pm and then the big one! South Africa v Wales at 3.30pm!! If you've still got some sporting capacity left, we'll also be showing the Italian Grand Prix live from Monza at 7pm and the evening's English Premiership games!!

So there are lots of good reasons to come along to The Olde Bell on Sunday! Hope to see you then!

[Atmos]

.... some suspiciously non-Japanses looking players helped their adopted country ....

lots of players 'helping out their adopted countries' . . . when Georgia and Romania play each other on Sept 28 it will be the 'purest' match of the tournament

This from Sydney Morning Herald

British hacks in the past have accused Australia and New Zealand of "cheating" by stealing talented young players from other countries.

But this accusation has curiously not been raised for this World Cup tournament.

Perhaps these statistics might explain the British silence on the matter.

Samoa has 15 players who were born out of the country (all born in New Zealand),

the US has 12,

Italy 11,

Japan 10,

Tonga 9,

England 8,

Australia and Scotland 7,

Canada, Fiji, Namibia, Wales 5,

Ireland, New Zealand 4,

France, Russia 2,

South Africa 1,

Argentina, Georgia, Romania 0.

source

Edited September 11, 2011 by Atmos

[thaimiller]

Wales were unlucky yesterday Pedr. Some good games but I really enjoyed the SA Vs Wales game.

[OldeBellPedr]

I'm still gutted TM!! Can't beieve we lost by one point! And for once I couldn't really criticise the performance, we were just plain unlucky. And if I might paraphrase Max Boyce - it's time to send Wayne Barnes to that little home in Twickenham for blind Englsih referees!!! Ah well we'd have to beat Australia at some point if we are to win the tournament, it's just going to have to be in the quarters instead of the final. Bring on Samoa next Sunday!

Edited September 12, 2011 by OldeBellPedr

[wales01]

I am also gutted at the loss. Two simple kicks missed could have been a different result at the end.

Samoa is going to be a hard game, they are much more physical than the springboks.

[Atmos]

first citing of RWC

12/09/2011 England lock Courtney Lawes has been cited after crashing into Argentina hooker Mario Ledesma with his knee during Saturday's World Cup Pool B game in Dunedin, officials said.

Lawes, who prides himself on his hard-hitting, was cited for an alleged breach of Law 10.4(a) "punching or striking (with the knee)" following the incident when he slid into Ledesma on the ground after the Argentine player had been tackled.

source

[OldeBellPedr]

Today, (Wednesday) there are a few matches that may tickle your fancy! at 9.30am we've got Samoa against Namibia - Namibia are supposed to be the whipping boys of the tournament, but they looked like a decent outfit , against Fiji. Then at midday Canada get theio first outing with a must-win tie against Tonga and finally another high-stakes game for Scotland as they take on Rugby mad Georgia.

On Thursday the Bears meet the Eagles as Cold War adversaries the USA and Russia clash in New Plymouth. anyway, all games will be shown LIVE here at The Olde Bell and we hope to see some of you at the games!

A reminder that for every game you turn up to, ask for a ticket from our Dutch Beer sponsors and during each of the quarter finals there'll be be prize draw at half time with the winner receiving a sponsors rugby jersey, a litre of the sponsors beer and a 300 baht Olde Bell voucher. The more vouchers you have, the greater your chance of winning!!

[Atmos]

Go Georgia - is this man the best-dressed at the Rugby World cup?

Georgian consul-general Prince Victor Greenwich Dadianov, pictured in front of the Dadiani Palace in Georgia, plans to wear his traditional Georgian costume to support the team.

The attire includes the red chokha, the white burka and a 300-year-old heirloom dagger.

Originally a military uniform, the outfit came to symbolise the masculinity and boldness of the Caucasian people.

read more

[Atmos]

for people not near a pub, without tv coverage, or using a work computer (!) - Samoa v Namibia online now here

Commentary team Oz/SA

EDIT: Not a good start for Namibia - Samoa scored in the 49th second.

Edited September 14, 2011 by Atmos

[OldeBellPedr]

Go Georgia - is this man the best-dressed at the Rugby World cup?

Georgian consul-general Prince Victor Greenwich Dadianov, pictured in front of the Dadiani Palace in Georgia, plans to wear his traditional Georgian costume to support the team.

The attire includes the red chokha, the white burka and a 300-year-old heirloom dagger.

Originally a military uniform, the outfit came to symbolise the masculinity and boldness of the Caucasian people.

read more

He must have brought them some luck! A dogged performamce by the Georgians! An interresting encounter tomorrow. another match not for the squeamish!!