Pre WC fixtures - Sat 25th - En v Fj 15.15 - Sc v Ge 17.30 - Ir v Sm 19.45 - Sun Fra v Au 16.45

[PCPhil]

Aus really playing well.

Not able to make it count on the scoreboard, though.

That's their problem, as the last minute just proved.

[PCPhil]

Will Skelton stroked the fly half mullet and said, " fuckin lose it mate."

[petej]

Penaud over ran that.

[Sandstorm]

Super try by McWright. Not giving up yet

26-12
62 mins

[fishfoodie]

That is very impressive a man down against a Shaun Edwards defense

[Sandstorm]

Try by Villier
This is a great Test match !!

31-12
65 mins

[fishfoodie]

Jesus but that chase back by the Ozzies was pathetic, & it was backs that were blowing.

[Sandstorm]

Absolutely glorious playing surface at Stade de France today. Bodes very well for the RWC.

[petej]

Brilliant stuff

[Ymx]

We certainly will have our hands full with this lot.

[Sandstorm]

Magic from Penout. Aussies giving him tonnes of space, but still klarse.

38-12
72 mins

[Simian]

fantastic score

[sockwithaticket]

Yikes. Aus had the numbers to defend that channel but they all bit in so much. Penaud in that much space is almost a guaranteed try.

I know it sucks for the Aussies, but Eddie getting no joy with them is one of the few rugby silver linings for England fans at the moment.

[fishfoodie]

And the cunning bar stewards lumbered us with the #1 position, despite their squad, & being hosts

[Sandstorm]

Vunivalu is probably better than Falou in the air. Very bright star in Aussies squad right now.

[Biffer]

I thought he was ahead of the kick there. They’re being pretty lax about that - think they maybe don’t want to get to the football / offside / var pish.

[TheNatalShark]

Dumbest, weakest Wobbly team heading into a world cup

[Sandstorm]

France win 41-17
Almost flawless from the locals.

[PCPhil]

France win 41-17
Almost flawless from the locals.

Apart from scrum.

[Ymx]

We is soo farked!

[_Os_]

Dumbest, weakest Wobbly team heading into a world cup

Ja, they're going to struggle in every match. Not impressed by them at all, don't think they're holding anything back either.

France much better in the second half, think that counts as closing a game out (3rd quarter France won 10-0, 4th quarter France won 15-12).

[fishfoodie]

Who evers bright idea it was to do the draw so far ahead of the event should be put in stocks in the middle of Paris.

[Sandstorm]

Eddie Jones’ teams Australia and England exactly the same: one out crashball, backs who never look to pass and always playing narrow rugby. Both are going to get hammered.

[Uncle fester]

Yikes. Aus had the numbers to defend that channel but they all bit in so much. Penaud in that much space is almost a guaranteed try.

I know it sucks for the Aussies, but Eddie getting no joy with them is one of the few rugby silver linings for England fans at the moment.

Off really slow ruck ball as well.
Amateur teams would be embarrassed conceding that.

[JM2K6]

Thought there was a huge shoulder charge by an Aussie prop towards the end of that game, before villiere took a quick tap. Surprised it wasn't looked at again.

[convoluted]

We is soo farked!

Hopefully so.
Because we have more chance of getting to the final by losing the opener to France and probably meeting Ireland in the quarters instead of the too big, too strong Boks.
But that scenario would pose a dilemma for the Boks as surely they'd rather have us for the quarters instead of France.
Oh, what intriguing manipulations might be in store for us!

[Cartman]

We is soo farked!

Playing Aus is the worst prep for playing NZ next
I reckon you'll win

[Torquemada 1420]

Just back from the game. Immediate thoughts

1) Pretty disjointed in parts but playing a few gears down and still putting 40 on Aus is satisfying.

2) Ramos had one of those brainf*rt games I warn about. Let's hope it's the last one for 9 games or whatever.
- hit the post in a miss every bit as bad as Mounga's.
- conceded a try with one f**k up and blew another with a pass to Penaud that would have embarrassed Steven Hawking.

3) Jalibert showed how you should run a game against 14 men.

4) Pearce can f**k off back to reffing school. Clearly decided that all the stuff on player safety was to be ignored. Counted at least 4 high tackles in the head area: 3 on Villiere alone who was getting p*ssed with it by the 3rd. One taking man out in the air under high ball and then the ruck clear out. Hopefully neither side will have picked up RWC injuries.

[Random1]

We missed a game off the list guys.

Uk armed forces vs Spain. Ended 128-3 to the UK.

https://www.forces.net/sport/rugby-unio ... 3-win-over

That’s how low I’m feeling about England at the mo. I have to take solace that when we combine with the other home nations, ( and probably with some Pacific Islanders thrown in) we can turn over the Spanish Armada.

Woohoo!

[JM2K6]

That pass from Ramos that didn't hit Penaud was Penaud's fault. He didnt keep his depth at all.

[Guy Smiley]

We is soo farked!

I think you're 'aving a melodrama.

Firstly, that effort against the Boks was an absolute shocker. While I've got misgivings over Foster's coaching direction generally, I don't think this last performance is a clear indication of where the team is at or what they're capable of.... everyone has their off days and we know that you don't have to be far off to register a disaster.

I think they'll turn it around and the wounded pride alone will spur them.

I do think we're back to where we were at after last year's season ended though. A handful of scintillating performances this year restored faith and hope for those not looking at the pattern, the big picture, but Foster's teams tend to feature high risk / low leadership characteristics. When it comes off it can look amazing but faced with severe pressure the lack of disciplined character is exposed.

I think we're in for a patchy RWC campaign that could see some wins you wouldn't expect coupled with the overall disappointment we've become reigned to under Foz. The talk so far has been 'learnings'... but that's been the talk all the way along with him. Learnings, coupled with doing the same things over and over along with the same players preferred regardless of form.

Like others, I think the influence of Schmidt and Ryan really came to the fore during the RC games this year. The question for me is whether that influence can continue to exert itself over whatever rubbish Foz talks during his GoodBloke team meetings.

Lucky to get to 1/4s, unlikely to go further. Could very well beat France first up though, just to frustrate more fans.

[Gumboot]

Not just "learnings" but crucially "learnings in that space", because that space is "exactly where we want to be".

[Ymx]

My comment above was right after France gave Aus a towelling, and was in reference to the first RWC game.

I forgot about the learnings. There was plenty of them in that 80 minutes.

[Guy Smiley]

Sometimes, you just have to bend right on over, grab your ankles and celebrate the fact that you're right where you need to be... in that space for the learnings.

[Gumboot]

Sometimes, you just have to bend right on over, grab your ankles and celebrate the fact that you're right where you need to be... in that space for the learnings.

Yep, or as a wise man recently put it - We is soo farked!

[Torquemada 1420]

That pass from Ramos that didn't hit Penaud was Penaud's fault. He didnt keep his depth at all.

It looked way too high to me but I was behind the posts at that end so depth is harder to assess.

[Guy Smiley]

Sometimes, you just have to bend right on over, grab your ankles and celebrate the fact that you're right where you need to be... in that space for the learnings.

Yep, or as a wise man recently put it - We is soo farked!

A wise man would say we is borked. Soo farked is melodrama.

[ScarfaceClaw]

We certainly will have our hands full with this lot.

No we won’t. Our hands will be empty and merely clutching at thin air. Grasping for hope that isn’t there.

[Guy Smiley]

We certainly will have our hands full with this lot.

No we won’t. Our hands will be empty and merely clutching at thin air. Grasping for hope that isn’t there.

The Foziolis Effect.

[Ymx]

We certainly will have our hands full with this lot.

No we won’t. Our hands will be empty and merely clutching at thin air. Grasping for hope that isn’t there.

Do we get to have more learnings? Plenty of learnings??