I bet on them to finish bottom



The world cup has horribly distorted division 1. Do you really think Leicester and Northampton will finish in the bottom four?

I heard you've signed Onosa'i Auva'a from Auckland Blues. I'm not sure why unless you're really short at flanker (I'm sure he's a flanker). He's never got anywhere an All Black shirt and I'm struggling to see why you've gone for him. Is there really that little talent over here?

Nice one,he is correct though isn't he.



I didn't realise that England could go out at this early stage in the union WC,now it would be a shame if this was to happen.

I'm really trying to enjoy Eng v Scot but god its hard work, and some of the carp from the comentators is embarasing. The basic skills are so poor! and Im not a union hater.

a difficult performance to have to sit through if you're an England fan - why are we persisting with the 'old guard' ?

Jonny is a hero but c'mon,we can't live in the past !

if Hartley and Flood are fit they have to start surely ? no time for sentiments MJ !

as for the likes of his royal slaphead and Easter - are we that desperate ?

Let the Emperor's New Clothes continue.

Indeed.
As soon as we are forced to make changes and get the right personnel on the pitch we look better.
He does rather sit on his hands like Sven did does Johnson, when it's clearly going tits-up. That's a worry.

I guess what frustrates me the most is that listening to the build up, the commentators and the after match reaction in the media, those who don’t know anything about rugby (of either code) will be mislead into thinking that is as good as rugby gets

I thought the commentary contained a huge amount of brown one polishing, shamelessly so. Even so there is an increasingly desperate air about it these days and when it has been as consistently poor and dull as the garbage that has been served up so far then the yawnion apologists have gone to the last resort of inferring that it is some sort of duty to sit through to the end as it surely can't continue in the same vein, rather like going to a bad movie or watching the X factor.

I have only watched 4 games and the highlight programmes but i reckon i have seen more rugby and excitement in the two SL semis than the whole RUWC.

This seems to be pretty much what was being said all over twitter this morning.

even with my limited knowledge of the england rugby team its obvious flood must play instead of wilko. with wilko we always go back to our forwards, perhaps playing to our traditional strengths which aren't as great as they once were. flood at least has a bit of peripheral vision and with pace out wide we need to feed our try scorers at least a few times in a game. also i think cueto can feel hard done to, though armitage is decent and has took his chance well

at least france have been playing worse than england - so far

agreed, though i'm prepared to give the tournament a chance when it comes to the knockout rugby stages with big team against big team, there weren't that many great games in the last league world cup group stages

Sale Sharks scored 41 points away from home and still lost! London Irish posted 30 and Leicester 25 but left with nothing. Saracens stuck 50 on Leicester last weekend while there were 75 points in the game between London Irish and Newcastle. I know you've criticised rugby league for it's high scores and porous defences Shark J, so I was wondering what you've made of the union world cup and some of the first division games this season.

[url=http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyunion/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rugby/11/10/02/WORLDCUP_England.html&BID=504England manager Martin Johnson has admitted he has "reprimanded" three players for their conduct following complaints from a female hotel worker.[/url
'The England boss insisted any misleading information Tindall gave as to his whereabouts that night was "not a cover-up" but a simple mistake.'

Apparently it took 59 mins for Chris Ashton to get his first touch of the ball yesterday

The fairy tale continues. www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/ja ... boon-rugby

The fairy tale continues. www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/ja ... boon-rugby

Wasps lose again

'One day England will play to their potential and leave the off-field scandal to others. For the moment, though, they are proof that embarrassing conduct and mediocre rugby are no barrier to World Cup advancement.'

Robert Kitson, The Guardian

It's not letting me quote your message Catalancs.

Flanker - I wouldn't say we need anybody. James Gaskell is tipped for big things and David Seymour is a really good player. I've never heard of that player but I don't really follow southern hemisphere Rugby. Seems odd he's coming all that way for a couple of months.

I went to the game yesterday. It was mad. We were on the tube to Richmond and got kicked off it due to an announcement that said it was no longer running. No replacement bus or anything. We had to find our own way there. Because of that we got off from the game with 10 minutes to go as we had pre booked a train to Euston and didn't want to miss it. We left and it was 48-24. I spent the journey back moaning about it, despite us not giving up and carrying on.

We got to a pub and checked the full time and it said it was 48-24. My friend then checked his phone again and it said 48-41. I was buzzing mate. We got 2 losing bonus points so it felt like a win. 3 tries in 6 minutes. Apart from Leeds I don't think I've ever seen us get that many tries away from home. All because the bloody tube works were going on on a Saturday I had to miss what sounded like an amazing finish. Saw the highlights earlier.

You're right though about the defence. It looked like a strange end. Harlequins won and left the field deflated. We would have been happy but there's a lot of defence work needed.

2 losing bonus points what the heck is all that about.

You get a bonus point if you score 4 or more tries or if you lose by 7 points or less. We did both and got 2 bonus points.

When did that happen? Has it seen an increase in try scoring?

This world cup seems to about everything other than actual quality rugby. m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/ ... pe=article Looking at the draw it's obvious that someone up there really likes England (either that or they've had a tenner on them). England v New Zealand final with Chris Ashton to score winning try shortly before his head bursts.

This world cup seems to about everything other than actual quality rugby. m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/ ... pe=article Looking at the draw it's obvious that someone up there really likes England (either that or they've had a tenner on them). England v New Zealand final with Chris Ashton to score winning try shortly before his head bursts.

Quote ="Catalancs"This world cup seems to about everything other than actual quality rugby. m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/ ... pe=article Looking at the draw it's obvious that someone up there really likes England (either that or they've had a tenner on them). England v New Zealand final with Chris Ashton to score winning try shortly before his head bursts.'" now that WOULD be perfect Jon but I fear the froggies have to come good sooner or later - the general concensus is negative among the french fans but don't be surprised if they come out out all guns blazing...

Quote ="Catalancs"This world cup seems to about everything other than actual quality rugby. m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/oct/ ... pe=article Looking at the draw it's obvious that someone up there really likes England (either that or they've had a tenner on them). England v New Zealand final with Chris Ashton to score winning try shortly before his head bursts.'" now that WOULD be perfect Jon but I fear the froggies have to come good sooner or later - the general concensus is negative among the french fans but don't be surprised if they come out out all guns blazing...

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/spo ... 56793.html THe AB are the one team that is not replaceable.

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/spo ... 56793.html THe AB are the one team that is not replaceable.

It's all bluff and publicity. Both All Blacks and Wallabies will be there in 2015.

SAracens to play Heineken Cup tie against Biarritz in Cape Town. Good to see them playing in front of their home crowd.