I guess there may not be many who are rugby union fanatics.

Just have fun, have a favourite country, and be a one eyed supporter.

3 days into the tournament, some surprising contests, expected results, but close games.

C'mon the N.Z., ALL BLACKS

.

First controversey, ref stuffs Wales.....

Lotsa stuff here, vids etc.

http://www.nzherald....llery_id=121363

Totally agree.

Normally delighted to see Wales stuffed, but that penalty went over/inside the posts, not outside.

Excellent match, though. Wish I could have said the same about England/Argies.

Went to my usual sports bar today for lunch and watch Australia. Placed was heaving, no seats anywhere - and I was hungry.

So popped round the corner to the Hog's Breath - plenty of room, sat at the bar and had a couple of Tiger Draught with my lamb shank. And also on one screen we could watch Carlton thrash Essendon in AFL.

(The place is a touch more expensive than most of Saigon, guess the Ockers can't afford it with the high dollar.) (Oh, sorry - they get more dong for the dollar now, don't they? Guess they're just stingy, then)

Missed the England match 'cos I didn't even know a world cup was being played at the mo. Didn't miss much by all accounts.

All Blacks rule!!!!!

All Blacks are chokers.

Totally agree.

Normally delighted to see Wales stuffed, but that penalty went over/inside the posts, not outside.

Excellent match, though. Wish I could have said the same about England/Argies.

Went to my usual sports bar today for lunch and watch Australia. Placed was heaving, no seats anywhere - and I was hungry.

So popped round the corner to the Hog's Breath - plenty of room, sat at the bar and had a couple of Tiger Draught with my lamb shank. And also on one screen we could watch Carlton thrash Essendon in AFL.

(The place is a touch more expensive than most of Saigon, guess the Ockers can't afford it with the high dollar.) (Oh, sorry - they get more dong for the dollar now, don't they? Guess they're just stingy, then)

Could have been your company.

So, are the Pumas a force to be reckoned with or are England going to struggle throughout the tournament?

All Blacks are chokers.

Wait 'till they meet the French!

I saw the Wales game but missed the post match stuff cos I was workin'....if they truly lost a 3 point penalty cos the ref needs glasses then I'm sorry for them.

However the SA team were the better in attack....more penetration and a better scrum technically I thought. Same reason England won in the end. A theme forming here I reckon....

All Blacks are chokers.

Wait 'till they meet the French!

They'll choke the chicken.

F.Y.I. the coming games this week.

.......and other stuffs

All NZST.

Presently GMT +12hrs

NZDST begins 0200 hrs 25th Sept, clocks go forward 1 hour.

Fixtures

1. Samoa vs Namibia - Wed, 14 Sep - 2.30PM
2. Tonga vs Canada - Wed, 14 Sep - 5.00PM
3. Scotland vs Georgia - Wed, 14 Sep - 7.30PM
4. Russia vs USA - Thu, 15 Sep - 7.30PM
5. New Zealand vs Japan - Fri, 16 Sep - 8.00PM

(The place is a touch more expensive than most of Saigon, guess the Ockers can't afford it with the high dollar.) (Oh, sorry - they get more dong for the dollar now, don't they? Guess they're just stingy, then)

Could have been your company.

Naaahhhhh. I sat by meself at the bar - as usual. Don't have to buy a round, then.

The other place was heaving when I arrived - a hundred plus packed into a small space.

Hog's Breath has twice the covered area, plus about eight to ten tables outside. But less than fifty people all-told. (And none left when I arrived).

Pricing seems the thing. Fancier meals at around 300-500 thousand dong (15-25 dollars) against the average Saigon Sports Bar plain meals at 150,000 dong. Beer at around 25-30 thousand in both places.

Ohhh, I do like that.

All Blacks are chicken chokers.

and the English media can be harsh on their own team:

Those silly men in black ... England that is

"Black Magic . . . you must be joking," scoffed the front page of The Times' sport liftout, while the match report inside chimed in with "England laid bare by Pumas".

"Black Mood...Youngs arrives to save England after stinker of a World Cup opener," lamented The Observer

"Youngs spares Wilkinson's blushes," said the London Telegraph

The Sunday Independent ran with "Young salvages black day". The caustically entertaining Eddie Butler, of The Observer, was most scathing, going straight for the c-word and asking questions later. "The Pumas' mission to meet the challenge of England without flinching was given a collective boost by a collective freeze on the other side," he wrote. "And this was not the first time England have . . . is it too soon to start using the dreadful word? Choked? They froze in Dublin on grand slam day at the end of the Six Nations last March, and they froze on day one of their World Cup. It appears they have a problem upstairs."

After watching one of life's few certainties disintegrate in front of their eyes, The Sunday Times inquired if it could blame the ball. Accompanied by a graphic of the offending high-tech pigskin, the paper asked - only half in jest - "Was the ball a problem?" in the worst kicking display in Jonny Wilkinson's Test career.

source

^ suggestion England choked . . . surely that title would have to go with Wales, panic at the thought of winning against SA for the second time in 105 years, just to much for them.

It wasn't just Wilkinson that missed kicks (he got 2 out of seven), but also the Pumas. (Same ratio, discounting the first - successful - kick).

The Otago stadium is new - I understand that this is the first time it has staged a match.

Could it be that the air currents at say 10 metres above the pitch are causing eddies?

In one match of first class professional rugby I really cannot see 10 penalties/conversions being missed - especially when at least six of them were bog-standard 30-35 metre ones - and one was right in front of the posts.

Recommend the next match be preceded by a very smoky fire (the England alternate strip would do fine) to see what happens at high level.

Could it be that the air currents at say 10 metres above the pitch are causing eddies?

It is a fully enclosed stadium; only air currents would be from people cheering.

Maybe they just had a bad day - it happens; other kickers at other venues seemed to do reasonably well, though I think Carter missed three from seven.

Is ball to blame for World Cup kicking woes?

12/09/2011

Rugby World Cup officials say feedback on the tournament's new ball has been "overwhelmingly positive", despite England goal-kicker Jonny Wilkinson putting in the worst kicking performance of his international career with it.

Wilkinson missed five attempts in a row at goal during England's scrappy 13-9 win over Argentina on Saturday, an unprecedented shocker for a player renowned for his accuracy with the boot.

The 32-year-old said after the match that he did not seem able to control Gilbert's latest model, the Virtuo.

But unlike the 2007 World Cup, when Wilkinson was highly critical of the ball, he stopped short of blaming this one.

more

All Blacks are chokers.

Wait 'till they meet the French!

They'll choke the chicken.

cock.

always someone who'll give it a try; this reads like a money-laundering scam - stolen credit cards to buy real RWC tickets which are then on-sold (likely at an additional profit).

Blame the taxi drivers!

Court appearance over dodgy Rugby World Cup tickets

5:54 PM Monday Sep 12, 2011

Police believe an organised crime group is behind the sale of fraudulently obtained Rugby World Cup tickets. Nebiyou Tefera Demissie, 37, and Demissie Tefera Asgedom, 25, appeared at the Auckland District Court today charged with belonging to an organised crime group.

According to court documents, both men work as taxi drivers. Demissie was remanded in custody while Asgedom was bailed to his Mt Roskill address. Asgedom's bail conditions include not being allowed to possess or supply Rugby World Cup tickets and not to go to any Rugby World Cup venues or events.

Last week police raided two Auckland properties and seized 933 tickets with a combined value of more than $500,000. Cash was also recovered.

Police allege the tickets were bought using false credit card details.

more

It is a fully enclosed stadium; only air currents would be from people cheering.

Maybe they just had a bad day - it happens; other kickers at other venues seemed to do reasonably well, though I think Carter missed three from seven.

Yes, I was aware that it is a fully enclosed stadium.

With body-heat from the spectators not being able to escape, I was thinking that the air would be eddying from the stands (crowded) down onto the margins of the pitch (33 guys in a much larger space) - i.e. up the perimeter walls, across the roof and down again as it cools.

If the studies have not been done, this can happen. Doesn't matter so much for soccer, where there are fewer very high kicks, or field hockey and other similar sports. But Aussie Rules and both codes of rugby use high kicking a lot. Who designed the stadium?

showing it's not all about rugby, English players in Queenstown, white-water rafting and bungee-jumping

source

1. Ben Foden, Nick Easter, Dylan Hartley and Chris Ashton of England shoot the rapids during a whitewater raft run.

2. High flier ... James Haskell

showing it's not all about rugby, English players in Queenstown, white-water rafting and bungee-jumping

source

1. Ben Foden, Nick Easter, Dylan Hartley and Chris Ashton of England shoot the rapids during a whitewater raft run.

2. High flier ... James Haskell

When Martin Johnson told Haskell to go jump off a bridge, he didn't mention anything about bungee cords.

And after the number of times Nick Easter stood up in the scrum, he was told to leap in the river, not go boating.

couple of positive outcome items from today's news, co-operation between countries, and some geographically-challenged South Africans

JAPAN won't be short of insider knowledge when they face New Zealand in Hamilton on Friday with popular All Black kicking coach Mick Byrne on loan to the Brave Blossoms for the Rugby World Cup. Byrne took up the role as Japan's forward coach in 2009 under a deal which has him spending 50 days a year in the All Blacks camp.

Byrne will return to New Zealand after the World Cup final on October 23. His impact assisting Japan's head coach and former All Black John Kirwan was evident when the Japanese held their own against the much higher-ranked France until a 22-point burst in the last 10 minutes inflated the scoreline. source

and

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, September 13 – Two South African rugby fans scoured the Wellington suburb of Eastbourne for their hotel, only to find it was half a world away in the British seaside town of the same name, a report said Tuesday.

Michael and Sunette Adendorff travelled to the New Zealand capital to watch the Springboks play Wales in the Rugby World Cup believing they has secured accommodation at the Majestic Hotel, the Dominion Post reported. But instead of enjoying the "splendid" beach views advertised on Majestic's website, they found themselves wandering Wellington's streets unable to locate the hotel on their GPS navigator, the newspaper said. The penny finally dropped when the pair asked for directions at a local shop and pharmacist Linda Burke explained the hotel was actually some 19,000 kilometres (11,800 miles) away on the British south coast.

Burke said Michael Adendorff, who made the online booking, told her he had thought it was strange when the hotel charged him in pounds sterling not New Zealand dollars.

Rather than see the pair without a roof over their heads Burke took them into her own home for two nights, taking them to a pub to watch the tournament opening ceremony on Friday before the Springboks's match Saturday.

While the Adendorffs lost about NZ$360 ($295) on the booking mix-up, Michael said the hospitality they received more than made up for it, even though they had to endure some good-natured ribbing from locals. source

Canada just beat Tonga 25 - 20 in a pretty good game. I don't hold much hope against traditional rugby nations like France and New Zealand, though. I just hope we don't embarrass ourselves too much.

Canada are second tier, as are USA and the East Europeans.

Most Pacific Island teams fall between the top six and the second tier, so Canada did well.

(Wales, Scotland and Argentina are not in my top six)

Canada are second tier, as are USA and the East Europeans.

Most Pacific Island teams fall between the top six and the second tier, so Canada did well.

(Wales, Scotland and Argentina are not in my top six)

I think that the top tier is considered as the Tri Nations and Six Nations, and perhaps Argentina, while the second tier is considered as the major Pacific and American and other major European nations and Japan. Say 10/11 - 20 in the world rankings.

On the basis of the IRB World Rankings, Canada beating Tonga is the first upset of the tournament, while Samoa ranking above Italy is the only exception to what I posted above.

Rugby is not a particularly good game for gamblers, since it is relatively unusual for a worse team to beat a better team; unlike soccer, the rankings are a good indication of who is likely to win.

The IRB has done a great job in developing rugby in second and third tier nations, but unfortunately, professionalism has allowed the rich (or focussed) nations to improve themselves still further.

SC

Canada are second tier, as are USA and the East Europeans.

Most Pacific Island teams fall between the top six and the second tier, so Canada did well.

(Wales, Scotland and Argentina are not in my top six)

I think that the top tier is considered as the Tri Nations and Six Nations, and perhaps Argentina, while the second tier is considered as the major Pacific and American and other major European nations and Japan. Say 10/11 - 20 in the world rankings.

On the basis of the IRB World Rankings, Canada beating Tonga is the first upset of the tournament, while Samoa ranking above Italy is the only exception to what I posted above.

Rugby is not a particularly good game for gamblers, since it is relatively unusual for a worse team to beat a better team; unlike soccer, the rankings are a good indication of who is likely to win.

The IRB has done a great job in developing rugby in second and third tier nations, but unfortunately, professionalism has allowed the rich (or focussed) nations to improve themselves still further.

SC

I am a kiwi and ENJOYED the transport shambles last Friday, we had a good nite on the city.

Party on........

Love this parody, priceless

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O7zZX-u3M0&feature=youtu.be

PMPL.

first and second tier teams, the second ones don't get treated so well in terms of match scheduling

Samoa in particular as they threaten the first tier teams - playing Namibia and Wales 14th and 18th, a break, then play Fiji and South Africa 25th and 30th.

The IRB is coming under fire for the short turnarounds being inflicted on unfashionable tier-two countries who have proven star attractions through the opening week of the Rugby World Cup.

Teams such as Samoa, Canada, Namibia, Georgia and the USA all had just three days between their opening games and their second pool matches this week.

However, New Zealand had their first two games scheduled a week apart, England had a luxurious eight days (allowing them to get on the ran-tan in Queenstown) between games and Australia and South Africa six days.

Many believe that's unfair on countries who are struggling to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots of rugby and who have the odds stacked against them anyway.

read more

all money of course

The IRB's hands are tied by the realities of the prescribed time frame. Their TV partners, who pay serious money for rights, also make it clear they prefer the heavyweight clashes in the weekend slots.

Ireland beat 15-6 Australia in their second World Cup Pool C game in Auckland.

Can I just be the first to say.............................

Ha

Ha ha ha

ha ha ha, ha ha ha. Ha

Ireland beat 15-6 Australia in their second World Cup Pool C game in Auckland.

Can I just be the first to say.............................

Ha

Ha ha ha

ha ha ha, ha ha ha. Ha

Hmmmmmmmmm...... yeah totally agree, rakers.

ha ha ha, ha ha ha. ha ha ha, ha ha ha. ha ha ha, ha ha ha. ha ha ha, ha ha ha. ha ha ha, ha ha ha.

am relishing the result.

All Blacks gunna hafta pull up their adidas socks

addidas sucks, mind you we like adidas dosh.......lol