Rugby world cup 2011

Hmm,
Ireland by 4 (really looking forward to this one)
England by 9 (dull but effective)
Australia by 3 (another cracker)
New Zealand by 18 (NZ not the same without Carter)

Take a bow Shaun Edwards. An immense defensive display by Wales - as good as they are with ball in hand it was the work they did off the ball that won it for them. Ireland played their part in a terrific match but Wales fully deserved it. Sam Warburton has been the Man of the Tournament so far and I'd back the Welsh against either France or England.

I thought Mike Phillips done a decent job yet again. An all round impressive display by the Welsh and deservedly through to the semi's.

Im thinking could be a wales vs South africa final be awesome

Rugby is a simple game based on two things - territory and possession. If you drop the ball repeatedly and try to play the game in your own half you will lose. That's what England did today. Too many dropped balls, too many passes put behind the man stopping any momentum, too many missed tackles (Clerc's try was pathetic) and once again the traditional England trait of making bad decisions. With twenty minutes to go and two tries behind there's no need to panic and force passes, take your time, build pressure, get field position.
Long term I think Johnson has to go. I've been a supporter of his but he's had four years to sort England out. Despite the occasional good performance we still have exactly the same weaknesses we had when he took over; poor at the breakdown, poor discipline, too many individual errors, no leadership on the field. It's the job of the coaching team to improve the team - they haven't done so therefore they need to be replaced.
Congratulations to France, they deserved their victory and their back row looked the force they did a couple of years back - Harinordiquy in particular was magnificent. I'd still back Wales in the semi but it'll be tight.

I totally agree. but the truth is we never got out of the starting blocks. And there's another thing we've never got under contol and that's our discipline. Again we let the schoolboy errors creep in to our game when we should have had the French at our mercy. I think the Six Nations 2012 will be even too tough an ask for us at this early stage.

(08-10-2011 07:45 )rickhardo Wrote:  Take a bow Shaun Edwards. An immense defensive display by Wales - as good as they are with ball in hand it was the work they did off the ball that won it for them. Ireland played their part in a terrific match but Wales fully deserved it. Sam Warburton has been the Man of the Tournament so far and I'd back the Welsh against either France or England.

It wopuld be a tight game, but I think France would be a little rampant against the Welsh> My gut instinct says France V S. Africa or New Zealand Final.

Disappointed by England and Ireland hopefully Wales can do it now

Oh I do like to see the Boks get beaten. But how bad does Quade Cooper have to be before he's subbed? He'll be very lucky to keep his place for next week.

At least Argentina are ensuring the All Blacks don't get their own way