The impact a Rugby World Cup has on society

[yarmolinsky]

Oh, those canadian beardsmen =)) I really think Kleeberger along with Jacques Burger is the REAL best player of the tournament, in terms of spirit))

We got three games in our back yard (Italy v USA, Italy v Russia and Australia v Russia)

I would really love to hear your impression and opinion about russian team))

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I will always remember the 2011 RWC because of the quarter final. Not really the match itself, but the fact I went to the pub, on a Sunday morning 6 AM, and when I got there, the place was packed! Drinking Guinness with a dozen other guys on Sunday morning. Really memorable.

 

[smartcooky]

Oh, those canadian beardsmen =)) I really think Kleeberger along with Jacques Burger is the REAL best player of the tournament, in terms of spirit))


I would really love to hear your impression and opinion about russian team))

It was hard to say how well they went.

I all I can say is that they competed well, and certainly didn't disgrace themselves in the games I saw. They were pretty well thumped by Australia, but I thought they did well against Italy.

They scored eight tries in four matches against opposition that was much higher ranked than them. I think that is more than most other minnow sides could hope for.

The halfback Yanushkin (SP?) has to be one the the shortest, toughest little rugby players I have even seen. His first half try in the Italy game was a clever bit of work

Oh, and not to forget, their supporters were loud! Very, very loud!

 

[Big Ewis]

Kleeberger is AWESOME, love that dude.

It's HILARIOUS they call themselves the "Beardos" ! I thought I heard the "weirdos" the first time, was on tv...but anyways. Canadians; even in rugby they're fartin around ! : p

EDIT:


EDIT 2:
Oh and at the end of the vid, interesting point there...about the women:
girls have always told me they'd rather I shaved. I love beards, and have grown some decent ones....it's kind of funny because you'd imagine they'll be naturally attracted to the most manly features, but they'll still like a man to be neat...personally, I honestly don't give a fk, I'll grow a huge one for months if that's what I want - and some will make the argument that it's this new generation, guys are becoming more fagot-like, scuze me "metro-sexual" - and women are expecting men to be 'prettier' - but still, I know some pretty old school minded girls who still need a guy to smell good, be neat, and have a clean cut.
It's funny for me because it's not the idea I would spontaneously have of women.......it's like: be mean and manly, but not really - basically ! : p

 

[OneBlackEye]

From an international/society viewpoint: Im a kiwi living in Canada so I watched all (All!) the games delayed (no fear of accidentally overhearing results) and I made a big deal of the NZ v Canada game because I watched all the other games alone. Everyone knew the All Blacks were going to hammer Canada but all my mates came around anyway and we had a great night. None of them were really rugby fans but it did make me realise rugby is a pretty good sport for international relations. Players literally go from being blindly focused on total physical domination to the point of violence to a handshake and standing around on the pitch having a laugh in the space of a whistle blow.

Personally all I felt after the final was relief. I wasnt even happy, just relieved. I watched it live in the middle of the night at a friends house and I dont think I said a word. I think I only drunk one beer.

To be honest it felt kinda hollow and made me realise I think the WC is a bit of a joke. Dont get me wrong, I shed a tear when we lost to France and I shed a tear when we won, I cant help but have a huge emotional investment in the WC.

But really, no disrespect to these teams but all we did was beat Tonga, Japan, France and Canada. And then beat Argentina, Oz then France again, all in 2 months. I know I sound like a jerk but really, for the ABs, that shouldnt be giving me the high blood pressure it does.

I guess the impact the 2011WC (and this thread) has had on me is its made me realise I am a total loser.

 

[canadafan]

RWC 2011 did seem to breathe new life in to the sport in Canada, it was dying a slow death before then. A great August will continue to see it grow at the grass roots level.

 

[yarmolinsky]

It was hard to say how well they went.

I all I can say is that they competed well, and certainly didn't disgrace themselves in the games I saw. They were pretty well thumped by Australia, but I thought they did well against Italy.

They scored eight tries in four matches against opposition that was much higher ranked than them. I think that is more than most other minnow sides could hope for.

The halfback Yanushkin (SP?) has to be one the the shortest, toughest little rugby players I have even seen. His first half try in the Italy game was a clever bit of work

Oh, and not to forget, their supporters were loud! Very, very loud!

Thanks)) The opinion about russian performance is not that different then accross the ocean)) It was total, absolute, hopeless loss - but a beautiful loss, damn it! =))
It was kind of you not to mention russian lineouts and defence, lol))

 

[smartcooky]

Thanks)) The opinion about russian performance is not that different then accross the ocean)) It was total, absolute, hopeless loss - but a beautiful loss, damn it! =))
It was kind of you not to mention russian lineouts and defence, lol))

Well, the scores pretty much told the story if the defence.

You have to be realistic. Rugby is a new sport in your country. I didn't think Russia looked out of place at the RWC,

 

[yarmolinsky]

You have to be realistic. Rugby is a new sport in your country.

It's not my country. 22 years ago we have won our freedom from Russia and still are associated with it. Pathetic =))))

 

[Big Ewis]

From an international/society viewpoint: Im a kiwi living in Canada so I watched all (All!) the games delayed (no fear of accidentally overhearing results) and I made a big deal of the NZ v Canada game because I watched all the other games alone. Everyone knew the All Blacks were going to hammer Canada but all my mates came around anyway and we had a great night. None of them were really rugby fans but it did make me realise rugby is a pretty good sport for international relations. Players literally go from being blindly focused on total physical domination to the point of violence to a handshake and standing around on the pitch having a laugh in the space of a whistle blow.

Personally all I felt after the final was relief. I wasnt even happy, just relieved. I watched it live in the middle of the night at a friends house and I dont think I said a word. I think I only drunk one beer.

To be honest it felt kinda hollow and made me realise I think the WC is a bit of a joke. Dont get me wrong, I shed a tear when we lost to France and I shed a tear when we won, I cant help but have a huge emotional investment in the WC.

But really, no disrespect to these teams but all we did was beat Tonga, Japan, France and Canada. And then beat Argentina, Oz then France again, all in 2 months. I know I sound like a jerk but really, for the ABs, that shouldnt be giving me the high blood pressure it does.

I guess the impact the 2011WC (and this thread) has had on me is its made me realise I am a total loser.

that's a strange comment dude ! But I sympathize. And why are you a loser ?! : D
I guess I can understand a bit of what you're saying. The relationship betw. the AB's and kiwis in general with the RWC is a very strange, ambiguous one.
Out of 7 RWC, NZ has only won 2 (and to be realistic and cut the crap for a moment, the last one has at very least an asterisk on it) when they've beaten the crap out of everyone during that 4 year wait.
And just 3 final appearances in 24 years, and 7 opportunities. I'm not having a laugh, I'm just stating facts here.

But I don't think at a high, really professional level, any team has been so consistently great, and so much better than the 2nd, 3rd, 4th...best - in any sport - than the AB's. Esp. not a national side, coz I mean the Celtics or Lakers have dominated the NBA for decades since its inception. But those are just clubs, no comparison.

It's honestly very impressive. The AB have managed to ALWAYS stay on top of the competition, with rare occurrences like SA, or Australia, or even England and perhaps France (though not IRB ranking wise) being the best side in the world, they're ALWAYS there. And they're almost ALWAYS scoring a ton of tries, are always so impenetrable on defense...
You'd imagine at some point the rest of the world would catch up, like, we'd figure them out and just - hey, here's an idea: PLAY LIKE THEM, since it's working ? But no, they're ALWAYS, ALWAYS a step ahead of us all...
that's really smt...

But then the RWC problem to get back to you OneBlackEye, I can imagine the kind of cringing feeling kiwis have during cups...so much at stake, and you know historically things don't exactly unanimously go NZ's way...
Like a team like Japan, there's practically no pressure. Then England, France, Wales...some good pressure. Then SA and Aus, they've GOT to perform and make the final at least. But then, NZ, they can go perfect 99% of the way and falter just once and everybody calls them chokers and the criticism just reigns down on them like Armageddon.
I do believe they've some times choked during RWC's though, I don't mean this as an insult or anything, but the pressure point is so high they obviously don't perform like some regular mid-year tour test where they'll likely crush some poor side 7 tries to none and about a 40pt win margin....

 

[smartcooky]

It's not my country. 22 years ago we have won our freedom from Russia and still are associated with it. Pathetic =))))

Sorry. You were asking about Russia so I assumed you were Russian

You have Kiev as your location so I assume then that you are Ukrainian?

 

[Big Ewis]

^ the Ukrainian flag there also seems to contribute.

 

[yarmolinsky]

Sorry. You were asking about Russia so I assumed you were Russian

It's ok, no worries))
And speaking of impact, it's rather sad to admit that no impact at all was felt neither in russia nor in ukraine. People don't give a dog poo for rugby here and it's a shame. It's quite natural though, but sad. There are some lame attempts to inject a dose of rugby in the veins of our sport fans, but... well, i guess you know what I mean - you simply can't artificially start a process that has been developing for decades in Britain, France, NZ etc. So, those of us down here who care for this game are bound to watch foreign rugby only. It's awesome rugby though, so no complaints)) But I still dream that we gonna have decent team and decent rugby community here someday.

 

[Canadian_Rugger]

From an international/society viewpoint: Im a kiwi living in Canada so I watched all (All!) the games delayed (no fear of accidentally overhearing results) and I made a big deal of the NZ v Canada game because I watched all the other games alone. Everyone knew the All Blacks were going to hammer Canada but all my mates came around anyway and we had a great night. None of them were really rugby fans but it did make me realise rugby is a pretty good sport for international relations. Players literally go from being blindly focused on total physical domination to the point of violence to a handshake and standing around on the pitch having a laugh in the space of a whistle blow.

Personally all I felt after the final was relief. I wasnt even happy, just relieved. I watched it live in the middle of the night at a friends house and I dont think I said a word. I think I only drunk one beer.

To be honest it felt kinda hollow and made me realise I think the WC is a bit of a joke. Dont get me wrong, I shed a tear when we lost to France and I shed a tear when we won, I cant help but have a huge emotional investment in the WC.

But really, no disrespect to these teams but all we did was beat Tonga, Japan, France and Canada. And then beat Argentina, Oz then France again, all in 2 months. I know I sound like a jerk but really, for the ABs, that shouldnt be giving me the high blood pressure it does.

I guess the impact the 2011WC (and this thread) has had on me is its made me realise I am a total loser.

No shame in it buddy, I feel the same way about ice hockey in the Olympics and Canada. It is kind of the same thing I mean we have Canada, Russia, USA, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and really these are the only countries that really have a chance to win a medal, I might throw Switzerland and Germany in there as well to win maybe a bronze but realistically nobody else is going to win and is there to make up the numbers but the great thing about sport is sometimes the odds go against you and unexpected things happen.

I remember watching the 1998 Olympics which was the first Olympics they allowed professional players to play and everyone expected Canada to win the tournament without breaking a sweat and we were defeated by the Czech Republic in the semi-finals. It was a huge upset at the time and we ended up not even winning a medal that year. Who would think in hockey that a country like lowly Belarus would eliminate Sweden in the Quarter Finals and end up finishing 4th overall, it is this unknown that makes these tournaments so exciting and you are right in rugby the ABs are hands down the best team but they have not been able to win every WC and in some they have been embarrassed. The loss to France in 2007 was one of the great collapses I have ever seen in sport and it was truly awesome to watch but that is what makes these tournaments so great.

 

[Jordan_peip]

.

 

[MrG]

I must confess, I had never watched a single game of rugby before the 2011 World Cup. We got Sky Sport specifically for RWC, I decided to join in the festivities, and I never looked back.

Thanks for the response - that's a great example of how the economy has been effected by the RWC - I wonder how many extra people signed up for sky sport for the rugby, and are still subscribing.....?

 

[curtis_12pd]

you have contributed economically to nz society by purchasing tickets to watch the game which in turn accumulates money for the use of your city or the country as a whole... although i'm not from nz i watched nz vs france and fiji vs samoa live which were both amazing games

 

[AIM Hunter]

Throughout the RWC, I found the crowds to be extremely pro NZ, bringing New Zealand as a nation together and making the people from out of the country have a worse experience. In saying that i know many people from England etc that loved the RWC in NZ. Personally i think wherever the RWC is held it will be a one sided crowd, so England will have the backing in 2015. And that's fair enough, that's a big factor why we won i think. Hope you find your answers Tim

 

[MrG]

Thanks for taking the time to reply - what do you think would have happened across New Zealand if the French had won the final? That would have had a large impact on society?

 

[LittleGuy]

.

Is there something we are missing?

You just deleted a "past your bedtime bro?" message as well....is there a context I'm not getting?