AI Matches W2: Sat 5; Ita v Sam - Sco v Fij - Wal v NZ - Ire v SA - Fra v Aus : Sun; Eng v Arg

[Tichtheid]

Peyper allowed Aus to kill the ball three times there.

multiple penalties in the red zone - nothing

[Torquemada 1420]

No chance of Peyper giving Aus a yellow.

[Paddington Bear]

Have to be kicking these pens, surely?

[Torquemada 1420]

Ramos has actually been MOTM for France.

[Torquemada 1420]

And yet another f**king dim penalty. Approaching Scotland levels of gifts now.

[Tichtheid]

That was brilliant

[Raggs]

Fucking France

[Torquemada 1420]

Any more questions over why Jalibert should play ahead of Ntamack?

[sockwithaticket]

What is it about Penaud? He's so hard to put down.

[Gumboot]

Great finishing.

[Torquemada 1420]

What is it about Penaud? He's so hard to put down.

He is as strong and quick as he is thick When you have weapons like him, Danty, Fickou and Villiere and then a f**king FH who never gives them the ball........

[Paddington Bear]

Why do refs allow the clock to be killed like this?

[Paddington Bear]

Well done France. Fair play Australia, hell of an effort. Great game

[laurent]

Damien Penaud completes the hold-up

[Tichtheid]

I enjoyed that, Allez Les Bleus

[Gumboot]

Well done France. Fair play Australia, hell of an effort. Great game

Yep, very enjoyable.

[Ymx]

Just got back from Cardiff. Just missed the Aus game. Sounds like it was a cracker !

[Flockwitt]

Tough luck Oz. That was a hell of a battle.

[Gumboot]

Just got back from Cardiff. Just missed the Aus game. Sounds like it was a cracker !

Hope you enjoyed the main event.

[Ymx]

It was quite the treat, first time I went, and the bonus of having a closed roof !!!

And the score of course.

[Gumboot]

Did you get to celebrate his 100th test with your best mate Barnsey?

[Ymx]

Did you get to celebrate his 100th test with your best mate Barnsey?

I couldn’t believe it.
Train strike meaning 3 hours each way drive.
Going to Cardiff
Wayne Barnes as ref

It had all the hallmarks for a disaster!

Have you been up since about 3am Gumboot?

[sockwithaticket]

Did you get to celebrate his 100th test with your best mate Barnsey?

I couldn’t believe it.
Train strike meaning 3 hours each way drive.
Going to Cardiff
Wayne Barnes as ref

It had all the hallmarks for a disaster!

Have you been up since about 3am Gumboot?

Nah, you were playing Wales. The only question was the margin of victory.

[Paddington Bear]

So what can teams take from that?
Scotland - huge questions to answer
Fiji - competitive, a world cup scalp seems very much on
Italy - should be pretty pleased with their day
Samoa - shit
Wales - shit and alarm bells should be well and truly ringing
NZ - did everything expected of them, still plenty to improve upon
Ireland - favourites for next year? Hard to argue with that tag
SA - bandaging up their bullet hole ridden feet and attempting to find a viable replacement 10
France - still frail in so many ways but packed with excitement and energy
Australia - should take great heart. Much better than they are given credit for

Excellent day of rugby and barely moved from the sofa all day. A mere 16 hours until a game that should define the term ‘head loss’ gets going. Doubt it’ll have the quality of the latter two games today but ought to be tight

[fishfoodie]

So what can teams take from that?
Scotland - huge questions to answer
Fiji - competitive, a world cup scalp seems very much on
Italy - should be pretty pleased with their day
Samoa - shit
Wales - shit and alarm bells should be well and truly ringing
NZ - did everything expected of them, still plenty to improve upon
Ireland - favourites for next year? Hard to argue with that tag
SA - bandaging up their bullet hole ridden feet and attempting to find a viable replacement 10
France - still frail in so many ways but packed with excitement and energy
Australia - should take great heart. Much better than they are given credit for

Excellent day of rugby and barely moved from the sofa all day. A mere 16 hours until a game that should define the term ‘head loss’ gets going. Doubt it’ll have the quality of the latter two games today but ought to be tight

I think SA/Ire/Fra on any given day, any of them can beat the others, it's ultra competitive, but the kicker is that France are at home, & that has to be worth 5 pts every game !

[Uncle fester]

Just stop. We will choke like Pamela Anderson circa 1995. Been a good year though all the same though La Rochelle sucked balls

Leinster <> Ireland

[Uncle fester]

Anyway that was a proper game. 9-10 we're the winning/losing of it.

[Slick]

What is it about Penaud? He's so hard to put down.

Hugely underrated around the world inasmuch as he rarely gets mentioned in world XV’s etc, but should be. Love watching him play

[fishfoodie]

Already an interesting weekends Rugby, & we still have a game to go !

Well done to the Ozzies; I definately didn't see them being that close at FT.

I think the Argies will run England close tomorrow, & might keep it within a score.

[Uncle fester]

What is it about Penaud? He's so hard to put down.

Hugely underrated around the world inasmuch as he rarely gets mentioned in world XV’s etc, but should be. Love watching him play

He's a cheat code level player.

[Biffer]

From the Guardian live blog

[assfly]

Congratulations Ireland. Fantastic game from both sides, I can't believe how both teams managed to keep up the intensity for 80 minutes. Good performance from the ref too.

[Sards]

Congratulations Ireland. Fantastic game from both sides, I can't believe how both teams managed to keep up the intensity for 80 minutes. Good performance from the ref too.

I do agree. That game could have gone either way. The ref was very good although there is a lot of the usual mumbling about forward passes in the lead up to the Irish tries............

We got to watch a good game and full credit to the depth of Leinster.

[Certain Navigator]

From the Guardian live blog

Citing Frizzell is fair enough, but having yet another dig at Reece is absurd, as anybody who actually bothered to read the facts of the case would know.

[Gumboot]

Is this right?

The ABs XV play the Baabaas at 3am NZDT on Monday 14th November, and...

The ABs play Scotland at 3.15am NZDT on Monday 14th November.

Hmm....

[Guy Smiley]

Is this right?

The ABs XV play the Baabaas at 3am NZDT on Monday 14th November, and...

The ABs play Scotland at 3.15am NZDT on Monday 14th November.

Hmm....

ummm...

https://www.rugbypass.com/international ... s-results/

test at 3.15am our time,

https://www.autumn-internationals.co.uk ... ks-xv.html

BaaBaas at 2pm London time.


That's a fucking clash right there, captain.

[Torquemada 1420]

French player reviews

1) Baille. Has played 30 minutes this season and not surprisingly is showed at intl level.
2) After nailing the most competitive spot in the team last season, Marchand has gone off the boil a bit this year. Missed a couple of lineouts, not his usual influential self at the breakdown or carrying. 1st test try glossed over a sub par effort.
3) Atonio. What is the point? Same old overweight, pen machine.

4) Woki hasn't played a decent game since his unedifying fall out with team boss Urios (and his much talked about social media spat with Mermoz) and running off to Racing. Was a questionable selection on form and he was invisible.
5) Flament. Actually did a lot of good things. A few big hits, lineout steal, decent hands. However, you cannot run a lock pair without an enforcer lump and Willemse was hugely missed. One of these 2 has to be jettisoned for SA next week.

6) Jelonch. Even diehard STfans were admitting he had a very poor season last year. Didn't do anything wrong last night but another Ruben Thorne like effort.
7) Ollivon. After another career threatening injury break, came back to world class form last year before fading at the end of the season and Toulon faded with him. Not got back to those levels this year. A mixed bag last night including a couple of uncharacteristic pens.
8) Alldritt. The only Fre fwd to shine and only the unwise attempt to offload 1m from the line to blow a certain try was his black mark.

9) Dupont. Another far from his best. His kicking, like his 1/2 back partner, was terrible most of the game. But world class player that he is, his monster tackle created the 1st try for France.
10) Ntamack. FFS. Continues to dine out on one gainline break v NZ and has done nothing at intl level since. Once again, starved his backs of ball whilst repeatedly squandering possession with aimless kicking. The one thing he can do, take the ball to the line, he didn't because if he'd stood any deeper, he'd have been in Narnia. Took Galthie far too long to hook him and allow Jalibert to do what should have been happening all game. Time to accept he'll never be an intl FH. The man has zero game management ability.

11) Moefana. Out of position and offered nothing. Villiere, as expected, massively missed.
12) Danty. Like all the backs, starved of useful ball from his FH but punched a few holes on solo missions and won a couple of turnovers including the match winning one.
13) Fickou. Ditto. No ball to do anything with but, as usual, led the defensive line pretty well.
14) Penaud. A freak really. The only Fre back to offer a threat because he has the power and speed to do so from nothing. Along with Jalibert, saved France's arse. Was caught out by Wright's pace for the Aus try which reminded me of the hammering Fra took in 2010 when Gougerie, Huget and co had rings run around them repeatedly.
15) Ramos. Much as it pains me to say it, France's MOTM. Really did nothing wrong (picky to choose 2 tough kicks) and everything else right.

Overall, this was a 3/10 performance and an arse reaming awaits next week unless there are selection changes and some players get their acts together. Light years from where Ireland are at the moment.

[sockwithaticket]

What is it about Penaud? He's so hard to put down.

Hugely underrated around the world inasmuch as he rarely gets mentioned in world XV’s etc, but should be. Love watching him play

I don't think his game is rounded enough for world XV conversation, but he is undeniably outstanding with ball in hand.

[Insane_Homer]

Excellent effort, but ultimately disappointing result, from the Boks, showing potential despite the disjointed backline. Not having a 10, a winger at FB and crucially missing Am, to push the world #1 side to just 3 points away from home was a good effort. certaining room for improvement and well placed for the WC with lots to build on.

[Kiwias]

Overall, this was a 3/10 performance and an arse reaming awaits next week unless there are selection changes and some players get their acts together. Light years from where Ireland are at the moment.

Torq

Some harsh comments but largely accurate. You have to wonder how they managed to steal the win.