NPR

Amazing what happens when a SH speeds the ball up against 14 men...........

Tichtheid wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:55 pm 13 handling errors and the same number of penalties

26 times Argentina have handed over possession

Where's J2M with his random stats when you need him? I was going to suggest that was a record between Tier1 nations but, of course Eng are Tier3 thee days.

England's at their best.
They have been excellent


I agree

“Dredge the memory banks to recall a better performance than this.” “England at their big hearted best.”

(C) ITV

Who would have thought that it’d be Argentina and NZ stinking up the tournament.

Commentary has been absolute cringey nonsense I agree, but after being utterly useless all year and down to 14 men for 78 mins that win feels good. At least England have spared us the horror and embarrassment for one week at least!

We really need to see a post match interview with Cheika after this one to at least give us something worth watching from the Arg camp.

Torquemada 1420 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:56 pm Amazing what happens when a SH speeds the ball up against 14 men...........

Or when the Argies can catch the ball and a tired team falls off in the last 5 mins.
Credit to England their forwards dominated the Argies and they took their points.

Just woeful from the Pumas. Pretty much gift wrapped that win for England.

el capitan wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:00 pm Commentary has been absolute cringey nonsense I agree, but after being utterly useless all year and down to 14 men for 78 mins that win feels good. At least England have spared us the horror and embarrassment for one week at least!

Hey. Kudos to Eng. They fired themselves up after the red and put in a smart performance with total commitment.

ScarfaceClaw wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:59 pm “Dredge the memory banks to recall a better performance than this.” “England at their big hearted best.”

(C) ITV

"Manu Tuilagi - destroyer of worlds!"

Worst game of the RWC so far.

C69 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:00 pm

Torquemada 1420 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:56 pm Amazing what happens when a SH speeds the ball up against 14 men...........

Or when the Argies can catch the ball and a tired team falls off in the last 5 mins.
Credit to England their forwards dominated the Argies and they took their points.

And that might have been 20 mins earlier had Arg held on to the ball and sped up the play rather than the clueless routines they chose instead.

Worst game of the RWC so far

ITV comments are astounding. Amazing, excellent England.

Well done England.

Not sure what else to say. I don’t think I’ve seen a team at this level so utter bereft of any attacking intent, it’s absolutely phenomenal.

But the defence was a lot better and they squeezed the life out of the Argies. We can talk about how bad Argentina were but I don’t think that’s fair after what England have been through.

I’m just quite stunned at how utterly limited they are, they don’t even look interested in getting into an attacking shape.

Well done again.

Worst World Cup ever

Slick wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:05 pm Worst World Cup ever

Not sure that's the case absolutely but given the money involved these days, it will get close in relative terms
- jokeshop draw
- French learning nothing about organisation after the Liverpool debacle
- opening ceremony cringeworthy bad
- the anthems all being butchered so far

We could skip the rest of the comp and draw lots between SA, Ire and Fra to award the trophy.

ScarfaceClaw wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:59 pm Who would have thought that it’d be Argentina and NZ stinking up the tournament.

Well admittedly we were predicting NZ, but hey Los Pumas really didn't do themselves any favours today.

Watching the replay of Ireland vs Romania, the Bokke might just have some sweat happening under their collective collars.

Earls reminds me of the old Irish player, Woods I think.

Do we think these drop goals were a premeditated tactic?

C69 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:09 pm Do we think these drop goals were a premeditated tactic?

I don’t. I just don’t think Ford could quite believe the shiteness of what was going on around him and made the decision

Slick wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:10 pm

C69 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:09 pm Do we think these drop goals were a premeditated tactic?

I don’t. I just don’t think Ford could quite believe the shiteness of what was going on around him and made the decision

Rare example of heads up rugby. His reward will be to be dropped as soon as Farrell is eligible to play

C69 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:09 pm Do we think these drop goals were a premeditated tactic?

Hard to say but he's definitely been given permission to take them if on. In other words its come up in conversation between coaches and Ford.

Slick wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:10 pm

C69 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:09 pm Do we think these drop goals were a premeditated tactic?

I don’t. I just don’t think Ford could quite believe the shiteness of what was going on around him and made the decision

I agree with that. He has tried to play more in the other games but there is nothing to play with and with a player down why not go for it.

Torquemada 1420 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:12 pm

Slick wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:10 pm

C69 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:09 pm Do we think these drop goals were a premeditated tactic?

I don’t. I just don’t think Ford could quite believe the shiteness of what was going on around him and made the decision

Rare example of heads up rugby. His reward will be to be dropped as soon as Farrell is eligible to play

Dunno, Farrell looked like a man who knows he’s lost his place

Marcus Smith should be 10

Enjoyed that

What's going on with Steve

Slick wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:15 pm

Torquemada 1420 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:12 pm

Slick wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:10 pm

I don’t. I just don’t think Ford could quite believe the shiteness of what was going on around him and made the decision

Rare example of heads up rugby. His reward will be to be dropped as soon as Farrell is eligible to play

Dunno, Farrell looked like a man who knows he’s lost his place

Last time I saw that look, it was on Tonya Hardings face

Has Lord Bald had a stroke?
Mates there didn’t get their seats until 10 mins after ko: disgraceful.

Paddington Bear wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:17 pm Enjoyed that

I bet, must have been very satisfying

I turned the TV to mute after the destroyer of worlds tackle.

sefton wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:35 pm I turned the TV to mute after the destroyer of worlds tackle.

I can’t remember if that was before or after “Saint George”, but it was cringe-worthy

Extremely funny game of rugby, ruined not by a red card but by the fact that I don't dislike Argentina otherwise it would've been nearly impossible to top.

I said to people during the game that it felt like watching one of those 90s games where a shithouse Ireland team beats a bigger side by belting it into the air and manic-aggresion'ing the fuck out of everything and causing a prolonged meltdown. Nice to know what it feels like to be the Irish in that situation. Suppose that's what 2007 was like a bit, too.

Ford was superb, not just the drop goals. Everyone bar Daly did a great job in one way or another. Bench came on and ran around like mad bastards and hit everything that moved. Utterly limited rugby but there's an excuse with the red card and the tactic was scoring points on the regular, so why the fuck not eh.

Can't get over just how bad Argentina were. Absolute piss. Are we massively overrating the Rugby Championship or something?

This thread

Lady P wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:49 pm This thread

Why so?
Most agree that England were much better defensively.
Their game management and defensive were very good and Ford and Lawes were on top form. The English forwards dominated and won so many penalties.
Argies...woeful in every facet from handling to passing to catching the ball and their discipline was terrible.

It was as JM posts a very strange game, but even with 14 men on the field.


Impressive.

Saw second half this was the worst game i saw in a long time...

laurent wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 10:01 pm Saw second half this was the worst game i saw in a long time...

It wasn’t even the worst game involving England in the last month

Slick wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 10:02 pm

laurent wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 10:01 pm Saw second half this was the worst game i saw in a long time...

It wasn’t even the worst game involving England in the last month

I am a masochist (I watch Régionale 2 after all) But England is not my cup of thé à la menthe.

In fairness there aren't many sides struggling for a win that would produce an all court game while down to 14 for 77 minutes. Argentina have no such excuse - England actually had a plan to score points and kept doing good things, so it's weird that they're the ones getting the bulk of the criticism. Aim your ire at the incredibly shithouse and comically useless Argies.

JM2K6 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:41 pm Can't get over just how bad Argentina were. Absolute piss. Are we massively overrating the Rugby Championship or something?

I guess it depends on who "we" is. The All Blacks match and Wallabies match went about how I thought they would. Pumas were way off where I thought they were. For me it could just be that I really underestimated England.

But generally it's been the case for awhile that everyone just disregards 6N success. When the Boks beat Wales in the 2019 semi, Wales were grand slam 6N champions that year, but it seemed to be totally ignored as any type of achievement and instead the general vibe was the Boks are expected to beat Wales. England beating the ABs got a much larger profile, but the ABs weren't RC champions that year and weren't even second place. The build up to that final in the NH media put beating a third placed RC side above beating 6N grand slam champs.

_Os_ wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 10:17 pm

JM2K6 wrote: Sat Sep 09, 2023 9:41 pm Can't get over just how bad Argentina were. Absolute piss. Are we massively overrating the Rugby Championship or something?

I guess it depends on who "we" is. The All Blacks match and Wallabies match went about how I thought they would. Pumas were way off where I thought they were. For me it could just be that I really underestimated England.

But generally it's been the case for awhile that everyone just disregards 6N success. When the Boks beat Wales in the 2019 semi, Wales were grand slam 6N champions that year, but it seemed to be totally ignored as any type of achievement and instead the general vibe was the Boks are expected to beat Wales. England beating the ABs got a much larger profile, but the ABs weren't RC champions that year and weren't even second place. The build up to that final in the NH media put beating a third placed RC side above beating 6N grand slam champs.

Didn't NZ essentially throw the RC that year? And they had comfortably beaten SA in the group stages and were cruising until they met England, who produced a phenomenal display to dethrone them; on the other hand, both SA and Wales had been poor during the tournament and produced an eye bleedingly awful display of anti rugby in the semi final. It's not really a surprise one performance got rated above the other.