posted Nov 23, 2008

Armchair,

It's easy for you to accept defeat because victory was never a viable proposition.

It is harder for us because with fairer reffing we might have scraped a win.

Still, it's nice to see you know your place.

6N 2009 final placings:

Wales
Ireland
France
Scotland
England
Italy
(though not sure about order of the bottom 2)

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posted Nov 23, 2008

we have accepted it, and are moving on, title of this article is after all Wales v Australia,
England remind me of what Wales were like a few years back to be honest,
you've surley got to admit over the past 12 months Wales have improved and England have certainly got worse

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posted Nov 23, 2008

I think we have to accept that Wales lost to the better,and still more streetwise N.Z. side yesterday.However,after a gutsy,hardworking first half display,which started to niggle theA.B.s they lost momentum at the start of the second half with a few little mistakes.
Add to that some giveaway kicking with what little possession they had and the A.B.s closed the game out comfortably.I'm quite confident that experience and more exposure to this type of opposition would close the gap.There is enough ability and skill in the team to do much better.
As for England.......

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posted Nov 23, 2008

MyDrinkinTeamHasARugbyProblem

England remind me of how Wales was a few years ago to be honest.

I would like to think that Wales and England are on a new building course for the next World Cup.

It will be a question of who gets there first?

Seeing that Wales have had almost a years start on England you would expect Wales to get a good way ahead of England.

But with regards to yesterdays gemes both England and Wales have a long way to go IMO,
the next games to test their strentghs or weeknesses is in the 6ns, and then we will see who is further infront England or Wales.

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posted Nov 23, 2008

oh I can't bear to think about this yet. A week of hoping against hope and unrealistic expectation only to be dashed into suicidal disappointment... give me a few days respite I beg of you

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posted Nov 23, 2008

I was in the Stade de France to see France against Austalia last night and I found that Australia were very poor in many ways. They actually got lucky at the end to beat the french as Skrela mist 6 or 7 penalty kicks and an easy drop goal. There is no way Wales can lose to Australia if the wallabies play the same way in Cardiff as they did in Paris.

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posted Nov 24, 2008

Here we go again! It's time to be realistic, we were stuffed by 23 unanswered points in the second half. We are the best team in the second division of world rugby. I was in the stadium on Saturday, the atmosphere was fantastic, the expectations were high, too high as usual. We, ie NH teams, don't ( and can't because we are not exposed to it regularly ) play with the same pace and intensity of SH sides. We all deride the "laws" in Super 14, we need to realise that they are designed to speed up the game, this develops quicker thought and reactions, plus a longer "ball in play time" which demands better fitness levels. We need this intensity week in, week out at top level rugby in the UK, not only Wales. Look at England, they were dire on Saturday, what did Dewi Morris say, " dinosaur rugby ".
I still think we have the ability to beat the Aussies on Saturday, but we need to go up a gear or two and maintain it throughout the 80 minutes.
Finally, I've read all the comments about Kaplan,etc, etc. I agree with a lot of the comments, however, refs don't score tries. My argument is, why have SH refs for these games, we know they "interpret" the laws differently, which immediately gives the SH teams an advantage. How many SH refs would have had the balls to sin bin a SA player in the first half at Twickenham on Saturday?
Well done Nigel Owens.

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posted Nov 24, 2008

PhiltheManc

Mate, these AIs are being played under a watered-down version of the laws which were designed "not to speed up the game, but to make it a better spectacle" - Syd Millar (former IRB chairman who pushed for the law changes). These games are being played with full-arm penalties still.. I know this isn't a rugby law discussion, but thought I'd point it out..

I think the Aussies were poor against France also (and I'm an Oz supporter). We were lucky to win because Skrela basically missed his chances. Tough. They could have gone for a set-piece and gone for the try. Wallabies won. End of story.

If the wallabies show up and play to the same intensity they showed against England, then I'd be picking the 'bies. Mortlock is in sensational form and takes at least two to slow him down at present. Giteau is going to be a handful I think, as he is very good at making half-breaks and throwing the magical offloads that we now expect from him as per standard. Prepare for a disappointing finish to the AIs Wales. Biased opinion I know.

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posted Nov 24, 2008

Wales will never be a world class side, until they utilise the whole country. All of the welsh players are from south wales. The WRU completely ignore the other half of the country. There is a complete pool of talent waiting to be exploited.

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posted Nov 25, 2008

Well, maybe not TBJFLASH. i could could say the same thing about australia since most if not all of our players are from NSW, QLD or ACT (which basically is NSW). Even tho a 1/3 of the wallabies squad come from western force, each one of them were originally from either NSW/ACT or QLD...as of recent memory i've never heard of a wallabies player who has come from south australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory, or Tasmania - in fact none of those states have a rugby team, let alone a rugby league team!!...You just have to make good use of the players your country has...i hope rugby in australia wont lose to leauge, AFL, and soccer

By the way, wallabies for the win on the weekend

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