Rugby world cup Japan 2019 Discussion Thread

I can imagine the press back home in NZ really stuck the knife into Steve Hansen and the team, but I think on the bright side, they hsave several exciting talent that will wear the black jersey with pride in France in four yeasrs time and still have time on their side to claim the trophy back from whoever wins it on Saturday, so we shouldn't write off the NZ altogether as a spent force in Rugby, and yes there is probably a big re- building job to do but you can be sure they'll be down but they will pick themselves up for the third place game on Friday and I don't honestly think they would want to be out of thr top three sides of this competition.

And the competition overall? I think by staging in Japan it will hopefully have boosted the game in Japan and the crowds have embraced it, this has been In my honest opinion, one of the BEST Rugby World Cups for a very long time and really do think World Rugby has to spend the next four years in helping the Tier 2 teams play to a standard that could possibly make a real difference in France and beyond.
And I think France 2023 will have to go some lengths to match this one.

THIRD PLACE PLAY OFF

FINAL SCORE

NEW ZEALAND 40 WALES 17

Think New Zealand are to going to steam roller this, as I don't think they would want to finish out of the top three. I would be interested if that win by England sees NZ slip down the rankings or not but I doubt it.

TOMORROW IS THE FINAL

SO GUYS, WHAT ARE WE ALL PREDICTING THR SCORE WILL BE?

I am not holding out for a try fest! I reckon England may just shade it, but it will be won on discipline and one/two moments of inspiration perhaps! Eng 13 SA 8

I'm not either but I think it is contrast of styles & strength tomorrow

knew this would happen we beat the all blacks and thought we had already won the trophy

(18-09-2019 21:03 )snookered Wrote:  Predicted Tournament winners: South Africa

Bollocks. I hate being right sometimes

A final befitting one of the best WC tournaments overall! Thank you Japan!! S. Africa worthy winners, and despite having such dominance up front. sought to play open rugby also - as did England again!!! I wish (not the population - the media) England would finally learn to give credit where it is due! 'where did it go wrong for England' and why were England so short of the performance we 'expected'?? - instead of 'today South Africa were just better overall' How hard is that??

Sorry the WC is over (not some of the presentation/commentary - including this morning). We will once again see just how damn abysmal are the programmes that ITV (and tv now in general) usually pump out!!

I have a certain 'meh' attitude to even the 6 nations to follow next year! Time to see a wider representation of the sport at international level, the rest of the time too now!

Congrats to SA, they played rugby better than us!! I think we just made far too many handling errors and gave away too many easy penalties that in turn stifled our approach and tactically we got it wrong in certain areas of the field and the SA's were very quick to close gaps when we were going forward. I think many of this squad will not be around in France in 4 years time, and we should use the 6 Nations starting next year as a re - building process, and build a team with a good blend of youth and experienced talent. I would have been very surprised if Eddie had resigned after the final. We have a good team that can dominate the northern hemisphere game but ultimately it is the club rugby that may need a overhaul at some point so the Home Nations as a WHOLE benefit in some way, not just England, but at the same time maybe we need to paly more games overseas in Fiji, Tonga, & Samoa and maybe other teams in Africa more too, so we can pick up little bits of skill that can be of some use to us. Not only the KO injury was probably the killer blow as well. If that hsd not happened, who knows what difference it might have made?

I do agree with the programme style on ITV, I have to say I dread it if they were to cover the Tokyo Olympics. I always felt the BBC did rugby better than anybody, But there are times when I think the analysis side of the programme on any channel needs to be shorter, less in depth somehow.

But above all I wan to say thank you to Japan for hosting a great Rugby World Cup!! You have shown the rest of the world HOW to embrace a sporting event and HOW it should be staged!! We look forward to Tokyo 2020 and we also look forward to seeing you gracing the Rugby World Cup Finals in 2023!!

I see Bill Beaumont has praised the Japanese for staging "the greatest Rugby World cup of all time" and I for one wouldn't even disagree with him on that. What is important for the game to evolve on a world level, is seeing those T2 Nations raise their standards over the next four years to a degree, so that the T1 Nations don't have it all their own way in future and you can thank Japan for showing how that can be done, but World Rugby has to open up that debate to all, not just the teams and coaches but to games' fan base as well, let everybody have their opinion from the heads of various rugby board, the referees, the players, the coaches And the ordinary fan on the terraces and at home. Let their voices be heard so that in four years time we can look forward to France staging a true Rugby world cup where perhaps for the first time there could be an actual level playing field. I think for one, if they was looking to expand the world i would say try 32 teams as an experiment, but I think 20 teams is about right.