Rugby world cup Japan 2019 Discussion Thread

What do other members think on this issue? Should there be restructuring that encompasses tier two playing more regularly against Test sides & should the Home Nations ditch the Lions team in favour of a more fully representative team from each Home Nation touring abroad?

Important for Japan to get off to a good start as the host nation.

And next year of course Tokyo will host the Summer Olympiad.

(20-09-2019 18:49 )babelover48 Wrote:  What do other members think on this issue? Should there be restructuring that encompasses tier two playing more regularly against Test sides & should the Home Nations ditch the Lions team in favour of a more fully representative team from each Home Nation touring abroad?

I don’t know what you mean by the bold bit above as the home nations already tour other countries each summer eg England went to South Africa last year and are playing 2 tests in Japan next summer.

The Lions only tour every 4 years and are the most lucrative for any host nation and last time I looked turkeys don’t vote for Xmas!

What I was trying to saying was mate should the Lions tour more regularly against other Test level nations and should individual Home Nations tour more against tier two level teams to help improve the players in those nations and would you prefer Russia in the Six Nations instead of Italy? because judging by Hornball's reaction to the opener Russia gave a good account of themselves.

(20-09-2019 17:57 )hornball Wrote:  

(20-09-2019 17:46 )babelover48 Wrote:  What about maybe making the Six Nations & the Rugby Championship a two division competition with promotion/relegation between the two? I think Russia deserve to be in the Six Nations more than Italy do. Italy are good, but I don't think they bring as much to the Six Nations as Russia would or maybe Romania who were considered for a place in the old Five Nations for a number of years.

Some restructuring has to be done somehow in both Northern and Southern Hemisphere, to the point where the likes of Japan, Russia and possibly Fiji play regularly in the Southern Hemisphere and the likes of Russia Canada USA play regularly in thr Northern Hemisphere because sometimes I get the feeling there is often wide gaps in terms of quality of performance between some Test sides and those below them.

That is less the case than - say two tournaments ago! You are right though, there has to be a way of creating tournaments with a greater number of the nations involved! One way, is by ensuring the tier one's - instead of repeating tours to each others backyard - go to Japan, Russia, Uruguay etc instead. Not as a filler,, but as a series of matches that have as much meaning as the 6N and RC. It is also time to make all the nations (bar holders/hosts) seek qualification to the WC, and stop giving tier one's a 'right of passage' Were Eng Ire Sco Wal etc to not make it?? So be it!!

On this point, I would say yes to it, but then would you run the risk of Test playing nations fielding weaker teams in the qualifiers and then not pick any of those players for the finals themselves like the soccer teams do in the League Cup/FA Cup ? I think it is time to say maybe those tier 1 & 2 teams that fill the top two positions in each group from this world Cup automatically qualify for 2023 and those that finish below 3rd place have to qualify. I remember England played Holland once in a qualifier - I'm sure it was one - or it was maybe a warm up game - but can't remember if it was for 1991 or 1995 and we hammered them something stupid, that I remember. Actually thinking it about I'd like to see may be one or two of the Autumn internationals to be games against tier two level nations and maybe as an experimental thing, see the bottom team in the Six Nations having to qualify for the following year against a high ranked tier two European team.

SCHEDULED TODAY KO TIMES BST time)

POOL C: FRANCE V ARGENTINA - 8-15 AM BST
POOL B: NEW ZEALAND V SOUTH AFRICA 10:45 AM BST
POOL D: AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA VS FIJI 5:45 AM BST (OOPS - MIGHT BE HLAFAY THROUGH 1ST HALF AS I WRITE THIS!!)

CURRENT SCORE AUSTRLAIA 39 FIJI 21!!

Fiji gave Aussies a fright!!

Hode should have been out with a red card for taking out that fiji player that was causing them all sorts of problems if he had stayed on the field prob would have been a whole different story

now it's France V Argentina!!

expect this to be close but going for a 5pts Argentina win