Women's 2021 (2022) Rugby World Cup thread

[eldanielfire]

Starts end of next week. So I thought I'd get started with the thread in the build-up.




Why the date change?



Where:





Specifically:




Stadium quality:





Map:



The Hosts:




Reigning Champions:





The favourites:



Match dates:



Group to watch:

[Kiwias]

That is an utterly outstanding OP.

[eldanielfire]

That is an utterly outstanding OP.

Cheers!

[eldanielfire]

Anyways, can't be a big tournament build-up if some injustice isn't highlighted. The RFU don't really care about womne's rugby shocker:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union ... onomy-not/

England women to fly to World Cup in New Zealand on Emirates economy – not official flight partner BA
Exclusive: England players under strict instruction to not to post photographs from their 28-hour journey on social media

By
Fiona Tomas
23 September 2022 • 11:00am
England's men - England women to fly to World Cup in New Zealand on Emirates economy flight – not official partner BA
England's men were flown to the World Cup in Japan on a chartered aircraft emblazoned with the words ‘Sweet Chariot’ CREDIT: PA
Ahead of the 2019 World Cup the England men's team stood proudly for photos as they boarded a charter to Japan with official airline partner British Airways.

You might expect the women's team to do the same as they start their 28.5 hour journey to New Zealand on Friday night, but instead they will be travelling to the World Cup in the economy section of a flight with Middle Eastern carrier Emirates.

That is despite BA publicly pledging to fly England’s men’s and women’s squads to tournaments around the world when it announced its multi-year, “groundbreaking” partnership with the RFU four years ago.

At the time of unveiling its agreement with the RFU in August 2018 – two months before it was announced that the women’s World Cup would be held in New Zealand – BA said in a statement: “The partnership will see British Airways fly the England Men’s and Women’s teams to matches all around the world, including to Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan and Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2021.”

The RFU pointed out that BA does not fly directly to New Zealand, which prompted the need to source an alternative carrier for the Red Roses.

It is possible, however, to fly with BA for part of the 11,405-mile route from London to Auckland before taking a connecting flight with one of its OneWorld flight partners. BA declined to comment when pressed by Telegraph Sport whether this option had been explored with the RFU.

BA flew England men business class to the 2019 men’s World Cup in Japan on a chartered aircraft emblazoned with the words ‘Sweet Chariot’. Players were honoured with a send-off at Heathrow ahead of their 5,948-mile flight to Tokyo and fed protein-rich meals and snacks during the 11-hour 30-minute flight. The men's team also flew in business class when they toured Australia this summer.

It is a markedly different situation for the women’s team, who will be travelling in economy class and have been given strict instructions by the RFU not to post photos of the 28-hour journey to Auckland on social media due to Emirates not being their official flight partner.

The RFU claimed an economy flight for the Red Roses was justified because the women’s side operates at a loss and described the situation as one of many “challenging decisions around what we can invest in and what will provide the best results and return for the team.”

England's World Cup-winning male squad prepare to fly home from Australia following their triumphant 2003 campaign - England women to fly to World Cup in New Zealand on Emirates economy flight – not official partner BA
England's World Cup-winning male squad prepare to fly home from Australia following their triumphant 2003 campaign CREDIT: EPA
The body also highlighted its world-leading support of the women’s game, which included full-time contracts that were unveiled in 2019 which has seen England become the top-ranked nation in female Test rugby, in addition to the growth of its top-flight domestic competition, the Premier 15s.

“Despite these successes and our continued investment, the women’s game will be loss-making for some years to come and therefore we have to make challenging decisions around what we can invest in and what will provide the best results and return for the team,” the RFU said in a statement.

The union also highlighted that extra investment has been pumped into its women’s programme ahead of their World Cup campaign, including additional physios, performance coaches, a nutritionist and a full-time psychologist.

“From a performance perspective, the team management has chosen to invest in these areas as well as having two weeks in the country before the first game rather than flying in business,” it added.

England, who are major favourites to win the World Cup, open their campaign against Fiji on October 8. Players have been given a jet lag acclimatisation plan and are expected to do light training on September 27 and 28, before returning to full training on Thursday next week.

[eldanielfire]

Just transposing my predictions for the QFs from PR based on back of fag packet calculations which have not been checked:

8 teams form 3 groups. QF match-ups mostly coem down to who is scoring the most and getting the biggest poinst difference and who scraoes through by having aminow in their group they can be and come 3rd and of 4 with a better difference than at leats one other group.

NZ, ENg, Fra, Canada are dead certs for the QF. USA, Italy, Wales and Scotland likely contenders.

In Group A, 2nd and 3rd place is a toss up between Wales, Scotland and Oz. If Wales can get their attack going they should have a clear edge on the other two in theory.. The big thing is as Oz isn't the weakest 4th best side in the groups, this could be the group who loses out of a 3rd place sport on points difference.

In group B, Canada should soundly top it, though the US do bring their A game to those matches so there is a reaosnable possibility of an upset. I'd imagien Italy will easily beat Japan and could beat the rest, though it's if their forwards match-up which does it. But they are one of the most creative and cohesive teams out there.

Group C, I'd say ENg and Fra is a toss up, but France seem to have gone backwards in their loss to Italy and the rband new coaching set-up, but they can lose to Italy and run England close IMO. No way these won't be top 2. South Africa have made progress and should beat Fiji.

So I'd guess the QFs would be most likely (but far from certain):

-NZ top seed for the quarters and South Africa qualify as bottom with the worst qualifying record.
-England qualify as 2nd best record and face Scotland or Wales.
-Canada as third as face France (that could be a big match up)
-Leaving Italy rehashing their USA group match as the other QF

This I assume would make the most likely final England vs NZ. With that, England might have a knock-out run of Wales/Scaotland, Canada/France then NZ with another piss easy run at a RWC with South Africa then Italy/USA then England.

[eldanielfire]

All Home Nations fixtures will be broadcast live on ITV. A full list below:

8/10 - England v Fiji - On air 4:30am - ITV
9/10 - Wales v Scotland - On air 5:30 - ITV
15/10 - Scotland v Australia - On air 02:45 - ITV
15/10 - England v France - On air 07:30 - ITV
16/10 - Wales v Australia - On air 03:00 - ITV
22/10 - Wales v New Zealand followed by Scotland v New Zealand from 02:00 - ITV
23/10 - England v SA - 05:30 - ITV

[Lobby]

Just transposing my predictions for the QFs from PR based on back of fag packet calculations which have not been checked:

8 teams form 3 groups. QF match-ups mostly coem down to who is scoring the most and getting the biggest poinst difference and who scraoes through by having aminow in their group they can be and come 3rd and of 4 with a better difference than at leats one other group.

NZ, ENg, Fra, Canada are dead certs for the QF. USA, Italy, Wales and Scotland likely contenders.

In Group A, 2nd and 3rd place is a toss up between Wales, Scotland and Oz. If Wales can get their attack going they should have a clear edge on the other two in theory.. The big thing is as Oz isn't the weakest 4th best side in the groups, this could be the group who loses out of a 3rd place sport on points difference.

In group B, Canada should soundly top it, though the US do bring their A game to those matches so there is a reaosnable possibility of an upset. I'd imagien Italy will easily beat Japan and could beat the rest, though it's if their forwards match-up which does it. But they are one of the most creative and cohesive teams out there.

Group C, I'd say ENg and Fra is a toss up, but France seem to have gone backwards in their loss to Italy and the rband new coaching set-up, but they can lose to Italy and run England close IMO. No way these won't be top 2. South Africa have made progress and should beat Fiji.

So I'd guess the QFs would be most likely (but far from certain):

-NZ top seed for the quarters and South Africa qualify as bottom with the worst qualifying record.
-England qualify as 2nd best record and face Scotland or Wales.
-Canada as third as face France (that could be a big match up)
-Leaving Italy rehashing their USA group match as the other QF

This I assume would make the most likely final England vs NZ. With that, England might have a knock-out run of Wales/Scaotland, Canada/France then NZ with another piss easy run at a RWC with South Africa then Italy/USA then England.

A
As the top seed for the quarters will likely be chosen on points difference, NZ clearly have an advantage with three relatively easy group games.

However, while the England France game will be much closer than any of NZ's games, they also have SA and Fiji in their group (with World rankings of 11 and 21 they two of the three lowest ranked teams in the tournament). It is quite possible that both England and France will be able to rack up 100+ scores against both teams, which could well skew the final points differences in their favour.

[eldanielfire]

Just transposing my predictions for the QFs from PR based on back of fag packet calculations which have not been checked:

8 teams form 3 groups. QF match-ups mostly coem down to who is scoring the most and getting the biggest poinst difference and who scraoes through by having aminow in their group they can be and come 3rd and of 4 with a better difference than at leats one other group.

NZ, ENg, Fra, Canada are dead certs for the QF. USA, Italy, Wales and Scotland likely contenders.

In Group A, 2nd and 3rd place is a toss up between Wales, Scotland and Oz. If Wales can get their attack going they should have a clear edge on the other two in theory.. The big thing is as Oz isn't the weakest 4th best side in the groups, this could be the group who loses out of a 3rd place sport on points difference.

In group B, Canada should soundly top it, though the US do bring their A game to those matches so there is a reaosnable possibility of an upset. I'd imagien Italy will easily beat Japan and could beat the rest, though it's if their forwards match-up which does it. But they are one of the most creative and cohesive teams out there.

Group C, I'd say ENg and Fra is a toss up, but France seem to have gone backwards in their loss to Italy and the rband new coaching set-up, but they can lose to Italy and run England close IMO. No way these won't be top 2. South Africa have made progress and should beat Fiji.

So I'd guess the QFs would be most likely (but far from certain):

-NZ top seed for the quarters and South Africa qualify as bottom with the worst qualifying record.
-England qualify as 2nd best record and face Scotland or Wales.
-Canada as third as face France (that could be a big match up)
-Leaving Italy rehashing their USA group match as the other QF

This I assume would make the most likely final England vs NZ. With that, England might have a knock-out run of Wales/Scotland, Canada/France then NZ with another piss easy run at a RWC with South Africa then Italy/USA then England.

A
As the top seed for the quarters will likely be chosen on points difference, NZ clearly have an advantage with three relatively easy group games.

However, while the England France game will be much closer than any of NZ's games, they also have SA and Fiji in their group (with World rankings of 11 and 21 they two of the three lowest ranked teams in the tournament). It is quite possible that both England and France will be able to rack up 100+ scores against both teams, which could well skew the final points differences in their favour.

That's a good point, I don't disagree. I genuinely am not particularly confident in my predictions. I can see NZ throwing 50 on the other 3. However I can also see France flopping against South Africa and put just 30 or 40 odd. That happened last year and South Africa are improving at the speed of light.

Either way the possible permutations and outcomes are geekily exciting.

[Lobby]

England Team to play Fiji on Saturday morning has been announced



It's a strong team and great to see Abby Dow back after her dreadful injury against Wales in the 6N.

If any of you saw the ITV documentaries Wear the Rose: An England Dream, you'll have seen how serious the injury was (multiple breaks at both the top and bottom of her leg with the bones twisted out of position, requiring several pins to be inserted), and how much work she had to put in to get back to be ready for the World Cup. Her injury was 6 months ago, and the normal recovery time is 6 to 9 months.

[Enzedder]

Game one underway and France demolishing South Africa so far. Saffers tighties seem to be on top but they cannot do anything with the ball they are winning

19 - 0 after 17 minutes

[Guy Smiley]

Eden Park is a sell out for tonight's game

[Enzedder]

France haven't scored (or looked like scoring) since my earlier post.

Saffers have just scored for 19 - 5 after 50 minutes

[Guy Smiley]

France haven't scored (or looked like scoring) since my earlier post.

Saffers have just scored for 19 - 5 after 50 minutes

Just finished off out in my garden and tuned in... are France having a little nibble at Le Choke?

[Enzedder]

Looks like my posts were the catalyst for things to happen. France woke up and eased away 40 to 5. About what I expected at the start of the game.

[Enzedder]

England and Fiji coming onto the pitch - this will be a 75 point margin I feel

[Enzedder]

Maybe just wee bit out on this one

24 to 14 to England at half time (4 tries to 2). As expected, Fiji have some pace and are making the most of the breaks they make (I just didn't think they would make any breaks against the professional defence).

[Lobby]

Better second half from England.

Onto Nz v Aus now.

[Kiwias]

Wallaroos having a good start to the game

[Lobby]

Wallaroos having a good start to the game

Very good start

[Guy Smiley]

Nerves from the Ferns and trying too hard off the tiny amount of possession they’ve been allowed…

interesting to see if Smith can calm his team down and settle into a rythym.

[Kiwias]

I’d hate to see the possession statistics

[Gumboot]

Uh-oh...

[Kiwias]

A bit of old-school rugby, up the jumper and up the guts, and we are finally on the score board

[Kiwias]

Portia still has it

[Guy Smiley]

I bailed out for a while and watched qualifying from Suzuka.

Maybe I should do that more often.

[Kiwias]

All even now before teh conversion of Portia’s second try.

Two screens very busy here — RWC on one and T20 match vs Pakistan on the other

[Guy Smiley]

Holy shit… two YC within a minute

[Lobby]

Double yellow cards for Aus (and fortunate one wasn’t red) should be game over. NZ should really be able to take advantage of their numerical advantage.

[Kiwias]

Life suddenly very hard for Aus.

[Guy Smiley]

I really like the way Ruby Tui plays, she’s an absolute weapon.

[Kiwias]

Portia gets a hattrick and Aus have a very large hill to climb

[Kiwias]

I really like the way Ruby Tui plays, she’s an absolute weapon.

Keeps involved in the action constantly

[Guy Smiley]

I really like the way Ruby Tui plays, she’s an absolute weapon.

Keeps involved in the action constantly

Payoff for her work.

I could do without the music at every break in play and the idiotic announcer trying to hype up an already energised crowd, FFS

[Kiwias]

I really like the way Ruby Tui plays, she’s an absolute weapon.

Keeps involved in the action constantly

Payoff for her work.

I could do without the music at every break in play and the idiotic announcer trying to hype up an already energised crowd, FFS

Luckily not a lot of that idiotic noise comes through on my feed. Beautiful in-out by Tui for her second try

[Gumboot]

That'll do.

[Guy Smiley]

Keeps involved in the action constantly

Payoff for her work.

I could do without the music at every break in play and the idiotic announcer trying to hype up an already energised crowd, FFS

Luckily not a lot of that idiotic noise comes through on my feed. Beautiful in-out by Tui for her second try

I couldn't see where she'd come from for that in real time, the replay showed what a classy move it was.


A bit to take away for Wayne Smith I think... they'll want to look at composure and not pushing the pass so much but there's a lot to like there. Some skilful players and generally a good sense for the game from everyone.

I think England and France are still a level up but NZ are building nicely.

[Certain Navigator]

Why on earth is Cocksedge not doing all the kicking for NZ? The 10 and 15 look about as co-ordinated as me after 6 jugs, and with about the same length and accuracy.

[OomStruisbaai]

Wouldn't mind scrumming.

[OomStruisbaai]

This yellows is just stupid.

[OomStruisbaai]

du Plessis and Roos in the teams. Hen chicken runners?