The Official, one and only, Men's IRB Rugby World Cup 2023 thread

[Gumboot]

Anyway lads we all know the actual full.on enemy at this world cup is France. They scammed hosting it and ala Messi World Rugby are desperate for them to.win it. We are all going to get fucked and that's no lie

I can see it now - victorious captain Dupont in a three-way handshake with Macron and... Salt Bae!

[Guy Smiley]

Anyway lads we all know the actual full.on enemy at this world cup is France. They scammed hosting it and ala Messi World Rugby are desperate for them to.win it. We are all going to get fucked and that's no lie

I can see it now - victorious captain Dupont in a three-way handshake with Macron and... Salt Bae!

[Biffer]

Sexton will get a ten game suspension, cut in half for his past good behaviour (aye). So five games. 3 warm up games, the Romania game and the Tonga game, leaving him conveniently free for the games against Scotland and South Africa.

[LoveOfTheGame]

Sexton will get a ten game suspension, cut in half for his past good behaviour (aye). So five games. 3 warm up games, the Romania game and the Tonga game, leaving him conveniently free for the games against Scotland and South Africa.

That's a long time between drinks. He's a class player, but you would worry about his match fitness. I honestly think Ireland would be just fine without him, if anything going on his on-field behaviour the last couple of years he might very well be a liability after this.

[Slick]

Anyway lads we all know the actual full.on enemy at this world cup is France. They scammed hosting it and ala Messi World Rugby are desperate for them to.win it. We are all going to get fucked and that's no lie

I'm OK with this.

[Slick]

Sexton will get a ten game suspension, cut in half for his past good behaviour (aye). So five games. 3 warm up games, the Romania game and the Tonga game, leaving him conveniently free for the games against Scotland and South Africa.

That's a long time between drinks. He's a class player, but you would worry about his match fitness. I honestly think Ireland would be just fine without him, if anything going on his on-field behaviour the last couple of years he might very well be a liability after this.

Nah, would be a major blow not to have the gobby wee shiteheid

[Guy Smiley]

he is not a liability

Sure, sure.

You keep telling yourself that.

[Guy Smiley]

If found guilty, an independent panel could impose a maximum five-year ban for this offence but that is understood to be unlikely. If found guilty only of a low-end offence, Sexton would still face a 12-week ban, which would effectively rule him out of this year’s World Cup.

As City A.M. revealed on Monday, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) wrote to Sexton and Leinster last week to ask for their response to the allegations, which relate to an incident on the field after the final whistle.

Sources suggest Sexton’s reputation for calling officials’ decisions into question may be taken into consideration.

While the bans are issued in weeks rather than matches, is understood that any disciplinary panel will use the relevant laws of the game – usually focused on on-field matters but also used to guide off-field matters – to impose caveats which ensure that Sexton is banned for meaningful matches rather than empty weeks.

Even a halved 24-week ban for Sexton in this case would rule him out of the World Cup and likely enforce an early retirement, given that are just 10 meaningful matches between now and a potential World Cup final. The 37-year-old had earmarked the tournament in France to be his farewell to the game.

[assfly]

I know we keep talking about Pool B being the pool of death, and whether or not South Africa or Scotland will come out on top.

But that Tonga squad is looking pretty healthy too.

[Jim Lahey]

I know we keep talking about Pool B being the pool of death, and whether or not South Africa or Scotland will come out on top.

But that Tonga squad is looking pretty healthy too.

Heard from a reliable source that its their year this year

[Guy Smiley]

he is not a liability

Sure, sure.

You keep telling yourself that.

Has he even lost to NZ. it's hard to remember

We are so inside your head

Caramel

[Jim Lahey]

Sure, sure.

You keep telling yourself that.

Has he even lost to NZ. it's hard to remember

We are so inside your head

Caramel

Must be a nice change of scenery for you to be out of Ireland's back pocket for the last 6 or 7 years.

Took us long enough to get out of your's tbf.

[laurent]

he is not a liability

Sure, sure.

You keep telling yourself that.

Has he even lost to NZ. it's hard to remember

He does not remember it or his wins either. Old rattle head is going to be a fine cabbage.

[sockwithaticket]

I know we keep talking about Pool B being the pool of death, and whether or not South Africa or Scotland will come out on top.

But that Tonga squad is looking pretty healthy too.

Tonga might be better than they usually are, but they're still going to do nothing. The feted eligibility switchers are mostly older and injury prone and the forwards are still lacking.

[Guy Smiley]

Has he even lost to NZ. it's hard to remember

We are so inside your head

Caramel

Must be a nice change of scenery for you to be out of Ireland's back pocket for the last 6 or 7 years.

Took us long enough to get out of your's tbf.

We've had a seriously shit head coach for this RWC cycle and he was instrumental in the drop in standards for another cycle before that as a favcoured assistant.

We know we've dropped off. We know why we've done that. We've won 3 RWCs so far... we can wait for the new coach to sort things out. Think of this as a summer day on the beack for us, watching you kids splash about in the shallows thinking you're surfing.

[Gumboot]

This is France's World Cup to lose. Arguably their best team ever. In form. At home. Should be a doddle.

[Guy Smiley]

This is France's World Cup to lose. Arguably their best team ever. In form. At home. Should be a doddle.

Absolutely.

Ireland have peaked too early.

[Jim Lahey]

Good to see that we are back where we belong, in the plucky underdog, give it a lash, hope our lads come back home safe, and if we are lucky we might make the QFs, category

[laurent]

Good to see that we are back where we belong, in the plucky underdog, give it a lash, hope our lads come back home safe, and if we are lucky we might make the QFs, category

Sounds right

[Guy Smiley]

Good to see that we are back where we belong, in the plucky underdog, give it a lash, hope our lads come back home safe, and if we are lucky we might make the QFs, category

Sounds right

Well... no. They can't try and claim that whole plucky underdog thing now because, as ER has so accurately gloated, they've come out here and beaten NZ. They've spent living memory at the top of the WR rankings. They've been hailed everywhere as the Real Deal. They've arrived.

All they have to do now is try and avoid shitting and falling backwards... and that's closer to being back where they belong.

[laurent]

Good to see that we are back where we belong, in the plucky underdog, give it a lash, hope our lads come back home safe, and if we are lucky we might make the QFs, category

Sounds right

Well... no. They can't try and claim that whole plucky underdog thing now because, as ER has so accurately gloated, they've come out here and beaten NZ. They've spent living memory at the top of the WR rankings. They've been hailed everywhere as the Real Deal. They've arrived.

All they have to do now is try and avoid shitting and falling backwards... and that's closer to being back where they belong.

That won't work Guy the All blacks are still the mètre étalon.

[Guy Smiley]

This is France's World Cup to lose. Arguably their best team ever. In form. At home. Should be a doddle.

[laurent]

This is France's World Cup to lose. Arguably their best team ever. In form. At home. Should be a doddle.

No we are underdogs actually under underdogs now that Laporte's hold on FFR is slipping.

[Guy Smiley]

[Guy Smiley]

Sounds right

Well... no. They can't try and claim that whole plucky underdog thing now because, as ER has so accurately gloated, they've come out here and beaten NZ. They've spent living memory at the top of the WR rankings. They've been hailed everywhere as the Real Deal. They've arrived.

All they have to do now is try and avoid shitting and falling backwards... and that's closer to being back where they belong.

Yeah we beat NZ guy not one of the current top teams. Fucking hell catch up

That's the spirit.

[Guy Smiley]

linky

France and Ireland have overtaken the southern hemisphere as rugby’s kings

The speed, precision and power of the European game have left the sport’s southern powerhouses in the dust
Stuart Barnes
Sunday June 11 2023, 6.00pm BST, The Times
After watching Super Rugby’s four quarter-finals this weekend it is hard not to be left with the feeling that Europe has an enormous advantage heading into the tenth Rugby World Cup. Especially now that the South African franchises are part of the old world.
There has always been a gaping chasm between the quality of Super Rugby and its various European counterparts. The French and English club games were not short of some powerful teams and the various incarnations of Celtic and Italian leagues were often exciting, but the best of the northern hemisphere would have been blown away by the Super Rugby elite.
The Crusaders, the most successful southern hemisphere side, were the All Blacks in terms of intensity, while the Hurricanes, Highlanders, Chiefs and Blues all had stunning skills. And if it wasn’t quite as dynamic at the breakdown as the international variant, there was the Rugby Championship to hone the epicentre of the Test game.

This World Cup year, instead of six matches between Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, there are only three Rugby Championship games plus an additional pair of fixtures after the competition. Between the semi-finals of Super Rugby and New Zealand’s match with France on September 8, the dominant rugby nations have a vast amount of catching up to do.
There is no comparison between what Leinster and La Rochelle produced in the final and anything we witnessed last weekend. The speed and accuracy of the Irish side’s defence and the poise and power of the team who face Toulouse in next weekend’s French Top 14 final is so superior that it is difficult to even dream of the Crusaders competing successfully against the French and Irish elite.

[Gumboot]

This dire RWC cycle reminds me of the joyless Lemonface Mains years prior to his RWC "redemption". 1994 in particular was Foster-level bad. But for the emergence of young guns like Lomu (who was very poorly handled by Mains in '94 but ironically almost proved to be his savior in SA a year later), Mehrtens and Kronfeld, that very average coach's positive legacy would be viewed a lot differently.

And he still didn't get the job done.

I wonder if Foster will have the temerity to blame it all on some anonymous hotel waitress.

[assfly]

Work trip to Spain has been arranged.
Flying via Paris.
On the 23rd of September.
SA vs Ireland
The stars are aligning

[Sandstorm]

Work trip to Spain has been arranged.
Flying via Paris.
On the 23rd of September.
SA vs Ireland
The stars are aligning

What soup will you be serving in the Irish dining room, Susifly?

[assfly]

What soup will you be serving in the Irish dining room, Susifly?

Shhh!

[Jim Lahey]

What soup will you be serving in the Irish dining room, Susifly?

Shhh!

Don't reckon we'll need Suzie's cuisine in order to shit the bed tbf.

[laurent]

voilà the training squad

[Ymx]

OMG. I’d want a QF exit if I had to wear that atrocity

[Ymx]

I’m thinking I prefer our new one.

[Jim Lahey]

What's the latest on Sexton? Brown envelopes changed hands yet?

[laurent]

What's the latest on Sexton? Brown envelopes changed hands yet?

Not from the French the brown enveloppes guys have been ousted.

Seriously his behaviour was way out of line.

[Jim Lahey]

What's the latest on Sexton? Brown envelopes changed hands yet?

Not from the French the brown enveloppes guys have been ousted.

Seriously his behaviour was way out of line.

No doubt, he deserves a very long ban.
On the upside for Ireland, him not playing will give us a ready made excuse for going out in the quarters

[Biffer]

What's the latest on Sexton? Brown envelopes changed hands yet?

Not from the French the brown enveloppes guys have been ousted.

Seriously his behaviour was way out of line.

No doubt, he deserves a very long ban.
On the upside for Ireland, him not playing will give us a ready made excuse for going out in the quarters

Junglebomb Sexparty has his disciplinary hearing on 13th July.

[Jim Lahey]

Not from the French the brown enveloppes guys have been ousted.

Seriously his behaviour was way out of line.

No doubt, he deserves a very long ban.
On the upside for Ireland, him not playing will give us a ready made excuse for going out in the quarters

Junglebomb Sexparty has his disciplinary hearing on 13th July.

He'll have to go easy on the Buckie at the bonfires and marches on the 11th/12th to make a good impression.

[laurent]

No doubt, he deserves a very long ban.
On the upside for Ireland, him not playing will give us a ready made excuse for going out in the quarters

Junglebomb Sexparty has his disciplinary hearing on 13th July.

He'll have to go easy on the Buckie at the bonfires and marches on the 11th/12th to make a good impression.

plus the judges need to be careful of the French reaction when the powder is ready...