5 things THE GOOD AND 5 things BAD AT THIS WORLD CUP

[TRF_stormer2010]

GOOD
-Japan (even if it was at our expense)
-The general competitiveness of all 'minnow' teams (yet I had to single out Japan)
-Argentina
-Bokke (and specifically Fourie du Preez) still alive (This is of course not a general positive but a personal one)
-Generally I've had the impession the quality (from nearly all sides) of rugby on offer has been miles ahead of previous tournaments

BAD
-The inconsistencies off the field (TMO's, citings, bans, Joubert being singled out despite that QF not being near the worst refereed game this tournament)
~Japan is out despite winning 3 games (1 of them against the top of the pool team)
-Short turn arounds killed the less 'deep' sides gain during pool play though I'm not sure this one is fixable without creating more issues elsewhere?
-Injuries (specific ones and hitting a few sides en masse)
~England out so early takes a little bit away from the tournament IMO

~though these teams bowing out during pool play (Japan and England I mean) added drama and shows the pool stages do mean something and are competitive (hopefully this will carry over to 2019) and somewhat counters the negatives of those teams being out I suppose.

 

[valley commando]

Ah stop it the pair of you, petty squabbling over nothing.

Just to clear up as you seem to be a little confused there is no squabbling between me and Rukhage, there was a bit of ****le with the Soccer fan from Scotland earlier, but I didn't bite at his insults.

 

[Aristodemus]

5 Good

Japan, just loved watching them and that game v SA was up there with the best I have seen
New Zealand, showed their class
Attendances, despite overpricing they all seem to be full stands
Georgia qualified for '19 outright
Viewing figures, that came out of Japan, just amazing to hear and hopefully gives Japanese rugby a real boost

5 Bad

Lancaster, Farrell, Catt, Rowntree. Hopefully the sheer size of our failure compels them to leave
Citing decisions, 5 weeks for Tuilagi, 1 for Hooper and O'Brien
World rugby throwing Joubert under a bus when it was their protocols that prevented him changing the decision
NH failure to at least have one SF spot
Japan, winning 3 games and not progressing, losing the Scotland game without an opportunity to recover from beating the Boks

 

[valley commando]

5 Good

Japan, just loved watching them and that game v SA was up there with the best I have seen
New Zealand, showed their class
Attendances, despite overpricing they all seem to be full stands
Georgia qualified for '19 outright
Viewing figures, that came out of Japan, just amazing to hear and hopefully gives Japanese rugby a real boost

5 Bad

Lancaster, Farrell, Catt, Rowntree. Hopefully the sheer size of our failure compels them to leave
Citing decisions, 5 weeks for Tuilagi, 1 for Hooper and O'Brien
World rugby throwing Joubert under a bus when it was their protocols that prevented him changing the decision
NH failure to at least have one SF spot
Japan, winning 3 games and not progressing, losing the Scotland game without an opportunity to recover from beating the Boks

Best 5 good and bad so far in my opinion.

 

[gamine]

GOOD
Great atmosphere and huge crowds
Japan, Argentina and NZ demonstrating that fast recycling leads to exciting rugby
Some surprise results
Nigel Owens asking an Ireland player what his name was, to check for concussion. in their game against France, and getting the answer,"Francois".
Gethin Jenkins face when he was scrummaged to a stand still, Wales v Argentina, v funny!

BAD
Disgraceful treatment of a ref who was only doing what refs do.
That NZ haka - too menacing now - they must practise for hours!
Turgid play from England
Far too much interference from TMO and others
Long hair and beards!

 

[SelimNiai]

GOOD
Great atmosphere and huge crowds
Japan, Argentina and NZ demonstrating that fast recycling leads to exciting rugby
Some surprise results
Nigel Owens asking an Ireland player what his name was, to check for concussion. in their game against France, and getting the answer,"Francois".
Gethin Jenkins face when he was scrummaged to a stand still, Wales v Argentina, v funny!

BAD
Disgraceful treatment of a ref who was only doing what refs do.
That NZ haka - too menacing now - they must practise for hours!
Turgid play from England
Far too much interference from TMO and others
Long hair and beards!

I missed that!

Consider the can of worms opened re the haka comment. You could tell they were right up for it on Saturday with the intensity they did it, it showed in the derriere whupping they dished out

 

[petite]

the good
england not in quarter finals
france not in semis
wales not in semis
ireland not in semis
scottland not in semis

the bad
there is no bad!!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

GOOD
Great atmosphere and huge crowds
Japan, Argentina and NZ demonstrating that fast recycling leads to exciting rugby
Some surprise results
Nigel Owens asking an Ireland player what his name was, to check for concussion. in their game against France, and getting the answer,"Francois".
Gethin Jenkins face when he was scrummaged to a stand still, Wales v Argentina, v funny!

BAD
Disgraceful treatment of a ref who was only doing what refs do.
That NZ haka - too menacing now - they must practise for hours!
Turgid play from England
Far too much interference from TMO and others
Long hair and beards!

Is it just me or is that a recording in the background with the players lip sinking? Either way they backed it up on the field. You almost have to or otherwise the whole thing looks kinda (more?) ridiculous.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

GOOD

Japan
Seeing fans wearing shirts of 11 different countries getting along famously in the Millennium for FRA v IRE
No totally humiliating scorelines
Argentina discovering numbers 11 to 15
The Aus defensive effort against Wales. They've always been quite good at the 13 man version!

BAD

Paul O'Connell. No way for a great warrior to depart
USA
Italy should be bringing much more to the party by now. Parisse must be wishing he'd committed to ARG.
Outrageous ticket pricing
Lack of 6N in semis

VERY BAD

England - it's very bad form to leave your own party before your guests. We're not great, but we were made to look worse than we are. The whole campaign was a cock up from start to finish.

 

[Ospreylian]

Good:

Japan
Many tries
Record-breaking attendance and public interest
Biggarena
Mamuka Gorgodze and Michael Leitch


Bad:

Joubert conspiracy nuts
Mike Brown and Greig Laidlaw's poor post-match attitudes
No Northern Hemisphere semi final involvement
Short turnarounds killing minnow teams
Japan winning 3 matches but still not making it to the quarters
Bonus: ITV coverage

- - - Updated - - -

GOOD

No totally humiliating scorelines

*cough* NZ 62-13 France *cough*

 

[j'nuh]

Good

• Japan duh. Fiji to a lesser extent too. A lot of the minnows in general have been impressively competitive. 65 points is the most any team has put on any other team, compared to 87 in 2011, 108 in 2007, 142 in 2003, 101 in 1999, 145 in 1995, 55 in 1991 and 74 in 1987.
• Crowds have been great. Such a great turnout for spectators, hopefully will have a knock-on effect for domestic rugby in general.
• Loving the scrummaging overhead shots
• Seeing some impressive new faces on the international scene that you less regularly get to see, like Nadolo and Goromaru.
• England are being reviewed! Have wanted change in the coaching team for ages now

Bad

• Japan having the record of being the first team to win three and not go through. They deserved to go through.
• Short turnarounds having an affect on teams, perhaps being the difference in Japan not going through.
• England were shocking; England going out in the groups
• All SH semis. I felt both Scotland and Wales did enough to deserve a place in the semis.
• Games in the Millennium completely mucking up public transport in Cardiff

Mike Brown and Greig Laidlaw's poor post-match attitudes

But Mike Brown's interview was hilarious. That's surely a solid in the good category.

 

[Xapi]

With the fanboy hat on:

The Good:

Sanchez Kicking
Creevy rucking
Imhoff scoring tries
Matera carrying
Cordero, at everything

The bad:

Galarza suspended
Sanchez kicking at goal with two men extra vs the ABs instead of calling for Scrum
Absolutely nothing else.

***************

Serious answer:

Good:

The Pumas in general
Japan's surprise
Wales turning a great performance despite injuries
Tier 2 teams giving Tier 1 teams a run for their money
Very good refereeing in general (IMHO)

The bad:

Ireland losing so many players for the QF, wich caused so many "what ifs"
France being ashamed so badly by the ABs
Scotland not having the Sf they deserved (Not that I take it out on Joubert, it's just a shame)
Japan having the worst fixture ever
Me missing matches due to obligations

 

[Ospreylian]

But Mike Brown's interview was hilarious. That's surely a solid in the good category.

True. I suppose he has got spectacular comic timing and abilities. So deadpan.

 

[ABs2011]

The Good:
Englands exit in pool play
Japan's once in a life time vitory over SA
The ABs demolition of France
The rise of Argentina and the dominance of SH rugby (hopefuly a catalyst for the NH to up their game).
Hawkeye TMO (I think they have pretty much gotten that right).


The Bad:
Englands exit in pool play It really was a disaster for the tournament!
Scotland's unlucky exit and the vile way some rugby "fans" around the world reacted to decision that caused Scotlands exit
The amount of money I lost on the ABs in pool play
The inconsistency of both the citing commissioner and subsequent suspensions (or lack there of)
The idiots that prefer to talk sh ! t than to talk rugby - perhaps that's just casue they dont know how to talk rugby

 

[gamine]

Is it just me or is that a recording in the background with the players lip sinking? Either way they backed it up on the field. You almost have to or otherwise the whole thing looks kinda (more?) ridiculous.

I don't know, but you can hear them above the noise of the crowd, although that might be because of the deep intonation they use.

I am struck by their perfectly synchronized movement, that must take some time to perfect, it's as good as any corps de ballet.

They obviously use it to psyche themselves up and to intimidate the opposition - they certainly intimidate me!

I think the next time NZ play England the AB should be made to listen to a stirring rendering of the speech from Henry V, which is a great English call to arms!

 

[KeyboardWorrier]

Good
Some big upsets in matches
France being smashed
Good TV coverage
All Blacks on fire
It's the RWC

Bad
Scotland's win being stolen
Pocock mysteriously not being cited
Folau not cited for some odd reason
Wales having a massive brain fart and not putting on two tries against a 13 man Wallabies team
All Blacks haven't demolished the Wallabies yet

 

[TRF_heineken]

The Good:
Nigel Owens remarks to Stuart Hogg for his "diving" attempt vs South Africa at St. James Park
The Biggarena
Heyneke Meyer making it to the Semi's with the Bokke, Now PDV can STFU!
Fourie Du Preez's try against Wales
Not one single boring game!

The Bad:
Japan beating South Africa (Purely for health reasons)
A QF where a team loses by more than 40 points
no NH team making it past the QF
Not enough beards on the players!
Paul O'Connel, Jean De Villiers and others Retiring.

 

[YoungScud]

Oh my, is this an ongoing Welsh-Scottish thing I'm not familiar with?

No, it's just a neanderthal telling everyone else to move on while, well, not moving on.

- - - Updated - - -

Just to clear up as you seem to be a little confused there is no squabbling between me and Rukhage, there was a bit of ****le with the Soccer fan from Scotland earlier, but I didn't bite at his insults.

And there it is, that razor sharp sense of irony. Nobody, but nobody in here enjoys insulting others the way you do. It's tantamaount to trolling.

 

[Rukhage]

Generally we get on really well with the Scots, there is sadly the odd exception, however i'm not going to get drawn into a war of insults so will restrain myself from anymore comments.

On a positive note all the best to Argentina in the semi, they are another good thing to come out of this WC, they have often performed well at World Cups but have until now been one dimensional, they have however transformed into a complete side, well coached exciting 15 man rugby and have reached the semis completely on merit.

Cheers brother!

I'm also glad to see it as well, though I'm really fretting for Sunday and the jaded pessimist in me isn't expecting nothing but dissapointment. Then again I did go to a Scottish high school so I know where my bitterness comes from.

 

[sharkfan]

Good: Japan finally becoming competitive on the world stage.
Springboks recovering from their shock loss to Japan by reaching the World Cup semi-finals.
Argentina reaching the semis for the second time resulting in Southern hemisphere semi-finals (or Rugby Championship fourth round).
Scotland showing some improvement, nearly upsetting the Aussies. Let's hope this is the beginning of their resurgence.

Bad: The US losing all their games. Not good to see given the fact that rugby is now the fastest growing sport in America.
England losing out in the pool stages.
Too many unnecessary TMO referrals
World Rugby humiliating Craig Joubert for a mistake he made. I know he's the most hated man in the UK now, but World Rugby could have dealt with him behind closed doors about this.