Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

Kind of speechless, I thought they only way they would continue to the knockout stage was by beating Ireland. Wow!!! Great win for the pumas. Don't know which win is bigger in their history right now. This one or when they beat Ireland in 99.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

France mightn't get outta the group stage now... Ireland will give them a good game for sure. gooooooooooooo ireland!!

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

yeh france looked horrid in that game and argentina had a great game, I really enjoyed it, Aus/Japan game is in 3hours so i'm off to the pub.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
Also annoying to see Argentina get shafted by the seedings AGAIN.

[/ QUOTE ]

[censored] the seeding, lolololol at France

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

bet 20k on australia vs japan, realized later I bet on australia with -60.5 pts handicap........

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
bet 20k on australia vs japan, realized later I bet on australia with -60.5 pts handicap........

[/ QUOTE ]

Not looking too bad though - up by 55 with 20 mins to go...

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
bet 20k on australia vs japan, realized later I bet on australia with -60.5 pts handicap........

[/ QUOTE ]

Double through! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Latest: Australia 91-3 Japan

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
bet 20k on australia vs japan, realized later I bet on australia with -60.5 pts handicap........

[/ QUOTE ]

Double through! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Latest: Australia 91-3 Japan

[/ QUOTE ]

Er, check BBV

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

England is playing USA right now. England is up 28-3 with 15 minutes to go.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
England is playing USA right now. England is up 28-3 with 15 minutes to go.

[/ QUOTE ] Its been a decent effort by the Eagles, I was expecting something much worse.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

England were so bad it's not even funny, we're not even going to make the quarters if we play like that again

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

I think SA v Somoa will be the pick of the games today. The Samoans like the physical game. Just ask Derick Hougaard...
SA should win resonably comfortably though.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

God, Wales tilt me so much

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
God, Wales tilt me so much

[/ QUOTE ]

This could rapidly become the funniest thing ever

[edit - [censored]]

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

Reasonably comfortable win for South Africa. We showed some nerves early but then the Samoans played quite a hard game and was a bit spoiling at times. Habana was amazing.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

Being an Irish sports fan is depressing lol

baaaaaad performance against Namibia

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

hyachachchaha

In the span of 6 days, Ireland needs to rebuild and return to the level needed to even have a hope of beating BOTH France and Argentina. Unless they go about +100 against Georgia, they can forget about relying on the point differential if it comes down to it.

What a disaster.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

Argentina scored their 4th try in the 79th minute against Georgia giving them the bonus point. That could be extremely important in this group should France beat Ireland and Ireland beat Argentina.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

glad to see the smaller nations putting up a fight in these games. Seeing a minnow getting 90 put on them by a big nation is not good for rugby

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
glad to see the smaller nations putting up a fight in these games. Seeing a minnow getting 90 put on them by a big nation is not good for rugby

[/ QUOTE ] Completely agree. In conversations with people about the tournament I always stated that one of the flaws was that it was full of meaningless games where a key player on a top team can get hurt. Essentially the same 8 teams make it to the quarters (Argentina sometimes does) and with a few exceptions 4 of the same 5 teams are in the semifinals every championship. Still probably is the same but we are getting closer.

Good to see the US stay competitive against England and the Geogria-Argentina game was much closer then the way it ended. It was only 6-3 at half.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

There's a proposal floating around to cut the entrants to 16 nations instead of 20, which would make all the games more competitive. Obviously the idea of letting the weaker nations in is to hope it builds the sport in those countries, so dunno where that proposal is going.

IMHO it's actually kind of fun to watch SA and NZ put up tries, you get to see some really nice running, but yeah probably not good for the sport. It's a lot more fun than watching a close game where nobody can get anything going and both sides are just sloppy.

A lot of people were saying how bad England looked against the USA, but I thought they actually looked pretty decent, and the US was just really playing to spoil their flow, going really hard in the rucks. Olly Barkley looked spectacular, but apparently he has some injury now which is bad news.

England looked better than anyone in Pool D. Actually it's pretty weird that they're in the same pool with SA.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
glad to see the smaller nations putting up a fight in these games. Seeing a minnow getting 90 put on them by a big nation is not good for rugby

[/ QUOTE ]

Very true, although the USA could obviously have let us get the bonus point that we didn't deserve

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
There's a proposal floating around to cut the entrants to 16 nations instead of 20, which would make all the games more competitive. Obviously the idea of letting the weaker nations in is to hope it builds the sport in those countries, so dunno where that proposal is going.

[/ QUOTE ]

What would be ideal is to have some kind of tiered system so that the preliminary games feature more matches between sides of similar skill, I have ideas of how it could be done but not sure how they could be introduced practically

[ QUOTE ]
England looked better than anyone in Pool D.

[/ QUOTE ]

I find that hard to believe

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
England looked better than anyone in Pool D.

[/ QUOTE ]

I find that hard to believe

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you seen them play? I haven't seen Ireland yet but England looked better than France or Argentina.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
Have you seen them play? I haven't seen Ireland yet but England looked better than France or Argentina.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've only seen the second half of Argentina - Georgia in that group (pesky interviews), wasn't overly impressed, they just seemed to do enough to get the bonus point and that was about it. Which is something England didn't do in a game that I did see, which imo was the worst performance I've seen from an England side since, well, I can't remember, possibly 04/05 when we were playing horribly

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
Have you seen them play? I haven't seen Ireland yet but England looked better than France or Argentina.

[/ QUOTE ]
Right now I would take any of the 3 best Pool D teams over England in this tourney. Keep in mind as well today that Argentina did not play 6 of their starters due to minor injuries or just people asking for rest. Those players will all be back. England played terrible and will not look any better due to injuries and suspensions. IMO, they are going to get walloped pretty badly against SA. I haven't seen a good England team since the year they won the WC.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

Japan - Fiji just gave us a very good game, a lot closer than what might have been expected (although I didn't check the line in fairness)

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

so USA-Tonga just came up on my sopcast. Are we any good? How do you play rugby? omg Tonga just did a little native chant/dance. So cool. I'm a fan already.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
Are we any good? How do you play rugby?

[/ QUOTE ]

No, and basically like football except without stoppages and forward passes

Worringly checked for the Italy score and saw "England pick Farrell at fly-half". We're so screwed.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

Who Plays rugby in the USA? I have seen pictures of Bush playing so I'm guessing Ivey league scholars and boys at exclusive fee paying schools, but are their any regional hot spots where the working classes play?

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

I've never heard that Bush played Rugby.
He was a cheerleader in HS at Andover, but he might've played a Yale.

In The U.S., it's mainly college club teams (often filled out with locals, grad students, and youngish professors) and amateur adult leagues with lots of foreigners and graduates of the aforementioned college teams.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
've never heard that Bush played Rugby.
He was a cheerleader in HS at Andover, but he might've played a Yale.

In The U.S., it's mainly college club teams (often filled out with locals, grad students, and youngish professors) and amateur adult leagues with lots of foreigners and graduates of the aforementioned college teams.

[/ QUOTE ] One of my old rugby mate's Dad played with him at Yale. I was told he played wing.

I learned how to play rugby in college. Some dude at a table in one of those student club fair things in the middle of campus gave a friend of mine a flyer and said come give rugby a try. My friend went, said it was awesome and convinced me to come the next practice. Most ruggers in the US share a similar story. It isn't something most people have even seen until they get to college, then they are like "why not I'll give this a try." However in recent years I've heard of a lot of high school teams popping up.

It is regional sport in the US but I wouldn't say it is really popular anywhere. The quality of rugby in the NE is pretty good and the best in the country is usually in northern California.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
Japan - Fiji just gave us a very good game, a lot closer than what might have been expected (although I didn't check the line in fairness)

[/ QUOTE ] Saw the last 20 minutes of it. It was really hard fought and entertaining but wasn't the best rugby. Japan had a late charge after the 80 minute mark and threatened but appeared to run out of gas before losing possession.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

Cool thing about the history of rugby in the US :

http://www.ocrugby.com/1162241.html

Most of the best US rugby teams are in CA but there are hot spots all over. The SF bay area has lots of good players, but Belmont Shore (Long Beach) might have the best squad in the US right now.

SB rugby is known for its aggressive style and extensive study of its opponents' weaknesses [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

ps. all the pacific islanders are killers; amazing amount of talent for such a small population.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

I played at Northwestern after seeing a flyer that said:
[ QUOTE ]
Bored?
Enjoy violence?


[/ QUOTE ]

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

I've heard there is a bit of a push from some colleges in the states to build rugby, I know when I graduated from a fairly strong rugby school in Australia a few of my friends were thinking about taking some sports scholarships to some US colleges. I've even heard they have rugby league at a few of them.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
Cool thing about the history of rugby in the US :

http://www.ocrugby.com/1162241.html

Most of the best US rugby teams are in CA but there are hot spots all over. The SF bay area has lots of good players, but Belmont Shore (Long Beach) might have the best squad in the US right now.

SB rugby is known for its aggressive style and extensive study of its opponents' weaknesses [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

ps. all the pacific islanders are killers; amazing amount of talent for such a small population.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Samoan guys are usually huge and like to play dirty. I really hope rugby becomes more popular in the states. I dont think thats going to happen any time soon but I can dream. I got to play rugby in Hong Kong on my last deployment after not having played in some time. It was awesome.

"Soccer is a gentleman's game played by hooligans, rugby is is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen"

PS League is for girls. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

[ QUOTE ]
I've heard there is a bit of a push from some colleges in the states to build rugby, I know when I graduated from a fairly strong rugby school in Australia a few of my friends were thinking about taking some sports scholarships to some US colleges. I've even heard they have rugby league at a few of them.

[/ QUOTE ]

hmmm.... I have a lot to say about this question but I want to say that other people might come in with other information that might completely prove me wrong. Especially since I've been away from playing the game of rugby in the US for 3 years now and further I haven't lived in the US for 2 years:

1: USA rugby has been trying to grow the game of rugby, (especially high schools) but I would hardly say that there is a "push from some colleges in the states to build rugby." The push might come from other places but not from the colleges themselves. (and again I'm willing to admit being wrong but USA rugby itself is NOT an effort trying to grow the game at the college level. In many cases they are even a hindrance. I almost have to bite my tongue to cheer for the Eagles because I hate this organization) In most places rugby exists as just another club sport that a university fields. However, sadly, because of the reputation that rugby often carries many universities would prefer not to have any part of it at all.

2: A couple of years ago and as far as I know no there is only one university in the entire country that has a varsity rugby program and that is Cal. Being a varsity program means you have all sorts of access to funding from the athletic department. However, even though due to Cal's varsity status I've read and heard (can't confirm sources just because I can't remember them) that they have never had a scholarship player on their team. Everyone that plays for them finds their own way to pay for school away from rugby.


So I really doubt that your friends could receive a scholarship to play rugby in the states.

3: Beyond that I've never even heard of any single sort of Rugby League competition taken place anywhere in the US. I don't follow it much but if it does exist in the US, it probably only does so in expat communities. Rugby is by no means popular in the US and if anyone knows the game it is Union. In the US "Rugby" is synonymous with "Rugby Union."

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

There is a law in the US (Title IX) that is meant to equalize the funding between men's and women's sports. Its effect has been to kill off scholarships for male non-revenue sports (ones that don't make loads of money from TV/tickets) and increase scholarships for female non-revenue sports.

I'd be less surprised to see women getting rugby scholarships than I would men. There are already more scholarship female lacrosse players than men.

Re: *** Official 2007 Rugby World Cup
 

Wood,

I share your distaste for the USA Rugby organization. Talking to fellow ruggers around the world, esp. with those in the know, USA Rugby (the organization) is not viewed very favorably. They've done a lot to hinder the development of the sport in this country. On the other hand, USA rugby in general, is perceived favorably, even though we are pretty much a joke as far as competitiveness goes. Every club I've played against overseas has been very gracious and complimentary of the efforts to build the sport in the USA. Most of the growth has been grass roots type movements as I'm sure you are aware. The nice thing is that in the larger metropolitan areas youth leagues are starting to form which is great. The younger we get people playing this game the better. IMO, I think Rugby has a good chance to take off in the US. I think the biggest thing right now that prevents it from blowing up is the "big 3" (baseball, football, basketball).