posted Sep 8, 2007

i think it could be terminal, cos if they lose against ireland (which i think they will) they are in essence out of the world cup!

i cant understand why he left chaballe out of the starting XV, he is a class player, and even if he isnt playing too well, the rest of the team feed off presence

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posted Sep 8, 2007

Gregory, agree Chabal should have started, and will start at 8 next match - at least he was on the bench!

I'm confident France will beat Ireland.

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posted Sep 8, 2007

"All players were superb, a special mention for their hooker, Ladesmo, what a player.
France certainly suffered from nerves, and played poorly."

What a load of rubbish. Hernandez was very poor (on his day one of the best in the world) and Roncero & Scelzo were poor. You say France played poorly, but so did Argentina - as if France "lost" the game and Argentina played above their level - well they didn't Argentina were very poor tactically, in the set pieces and attacking-wise: they are a much better team and I would say that France (with Nyanga or whomever you think they should play) - at their best - would be beaten by Argentina at their best by at least 10 points

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posted Sep 8, 2007

You clearly have no knowledge of rugby

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posted Sep 8, 2007

I'm reminded of when Senegal beat France in the football world cup. Senegal. The Argentine team had many players from the French league which means that they knew them very well and knew their style of rugby. This is fantastic from the point of view of world rugby
You have a point mate but I also think referee was extremely poor,the french played by sequences,Laporte gambled and lost ,his coaching was a disaster but hes lucky to have nyanga dussautoir chabal poitrenaud ellisalde michalak:and last but not least the pumas were super in defending though

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posted Sep 8, 2007

I hate to agree with you, but Spreadbury looked as if he hadn't a clue what was going on at rucks and mauls, and he and his TJ's missed a lot of knock ons and offsides.

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posted Sep 8, 2007

Argentina played to their strengths and stuck to their guns and deserved their victory. They kept France under the cosh and defended magnificently. France's half-backs particularly choked under pressure. A great result for Arg and a great result for the World Cup. The games with Ireland will be interesting to watch - a rare old scrap to get through the pool stages. Gonna be great!

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posted Sep 8, 2007

For me, when such situations occur, where the host nation is in danger of falling so early out of their massively expensive tournament, it is important to keep an eye on how the referee performs. The pressure to favour the host nation comes from all qaurters. This happens in many sports. Otherwise, the interest of the french public will anti-productive. An example, for me, is that during the soccer WC, for something like 14 qualification and world cup final games, no penalty was given against Switzerland, despite many 100 %-ers. (Forgive me for mentioning the inferior sport when discussing Rugby) Why should Rugby be any different? This is all about national pride and big bucks! I really hope it remains fair!

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posted Sep 10, 2007

The comment from bioqwerty123 is the worst I have seen in a long while. What match were you watching mate?
As an argentine and Puma supported I am proud of the team, but can not say that we are better than France at our best, because our backs game is weaker.
However, Pumas have always been regarded as fierce and brave. That, together with a brilliant game-plan, allowed us to beat France. It was clever, by no means rugby champagne but very clever.
Pumas pressure was superb. Did you see Pichot tap tackling their full-back within seconds of play near the French ingoal? That was the spirit of the game. Maybe we can play more open rubgy agains weaker teams, but we would not do that against France, in Paris, on the opening match.
I agree that Hernandez did not play well, although some say that looking at it from a strategical point of view his kicks were fundamental not to allow France to handle the ball.
Whatever the views, Pumas are happy and confident, and they know they have to keep up the concentration and effort, because things can change very rapidly.

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posted Sep 10, 2007

"... Roncero & Scelzo were poor."

Roncero was poor !
Thta's a good one !

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