Comments on: Ashton tortures Azzurri

By: Nils(Nils)

Nils(Nils) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:52:05 +0000

@Big Hit(Big Hit)-132: Sure, Italy are no yardstick (unlike France) but so far England are looking really well. Far from dumb crash and bash, pleasure to watch most of the time. Meanwhile Italy look terrible. Neutralize their scrum power and the rest is as impotent as it can be. What about Jonny, wasn't he injured again?

By: dquinn25(dquinn25)

dquinn25(dquinn25) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 15:11:24 +0000

@Big Hit(Big Hit)-132: @Big Hit(Big Hit)-132: @Big Hit(Big Hit)-132: Thats true there were 2 blatant forward passes, one of which was the inside flick from Castrogiovani, how that was missed. I agree Italy were piss poor the All blacks and Boks would have stuck 80-100 on them, Italys backs are extremely impotent on attack, not once did they look like scoring. pople forget that Italys status in world rugby was cemented by 3-4 players in the 90s and early 2000s they were Diego Dominguez (who was 60% of the team and probably the best goalkicker there has been in rugby), Troncon and Carlo chechinatto, one or two other average players, those guys left a massive void which has not been replaced

By: Big Hit(Big Hit)

Big Hit(Big Hit) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 14:08:13 +0000

Not sure how much can be taken from this game, Italy had an off day and they’re already not a strong team. Ashton’s finishing is superb, what a player. Wilko just one point off the record again…

@HongKongSlong(HongKongSlong)-130: yep England nearly always play France in the knockouts, it’s almost as if it’s designed the other way!

@Hondo(Hondo)-129: you always infer a reffing conspiracy when England win. For the record however, Joubert was terrible in this game, missing forward passes, inconsistency, nit-picking…poor.

By: wooden spoon(wooden spoon)

wooden spoon(wooden spoon) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:35:55 +0000

Of course the RWC isn’t designed to get any one team from any one hemisphere to the final.

It’s just a simple matter of numbers and the resulting ‘luck of the draw’….

By: HongKongSlong(HongKongSlong)

HongKongSlong(HongKongSlong) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 07:11:32 +0000

This world cup isn’t designed very well if its supposed to get a NH team to the final! England will most likely meet France in the Quarter finals whereas AUS NZ and SA all have fairly comfortable routes to the Semi Finals by their standards. As the only challenge from the Northern Hemisphere in world cups comes from England and France, having them play each other early on doesn’t give the North much of a chance in getting a team to the final.

By: Hondo(Hondo)

Hondo(Hondo) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 04:50:55 +0000

The Poms have done well at Twickenham under Craig Joubert,
It is now developing a solid correlation.
The Poms beat the Wallabies under Joubert refereeing but were taken apart by the ABs and the Boks within 3 weeks and at Twickenham,
might make the cynical wondering.

By: Nils(Nils)

Nils(Nils) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 23:02:08 +0000

Nice performance by the English while Italians, well, Malett or somebody else, no matter, they are 2nd tier and will remain there. Decent team who will have wins over big boys as often as blind hen stumbles on corn.

By: dquinn25(dquinn25)

dquinn25(dquinn25) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 21:59:12 +0000

Italy were extremely poor today they made England look far better than they are, that being said i do think England are playing the most consistently and think they do stand the chance of a slam this year, however they are the best of a bad bunch from what i have seen so far, folk fail to realise that 3 of the tries France scored against Scotland last week were from mistakes and not from structured play, and Scotlands ‘revival’ was exposed today

By: charo(charo)

charo(charo) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 20:44:51 +0000

@capo(capo)-97:

ahaaaaaaa….

so we all see now why grant10 hero worships you.

nothing to do with liberating the poor masses…

everything to do with john smit?

do you also live with your fellow eco-warrior in clifton?

waving your pink flag, sipping your windhoek, admiring the sunset over the magnificent atlantic ocean while all the time bemoaning the injustice of your fellow capetownians languishing in the ghettos on the flats?

wow, what a wonderful contribution you guys make to the less privileged.

i am suitably impressed.

By: poppa69(poppa69)

poppa69(poppa69) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 19:16:13 +0000

@JL1(JL1)-124: my mistake, it was actually done on rankings.. 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifying began at the 2007 tournament in France where the first 3 teams in each pool earned a place in the finals of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Seeding of teams for the 2011 World Cup was based on their respective IRB World Rankings. The top four at the 2007 Rugby World Cup (South Africa, England, Argentina, and France) were not therefore allocated top pool spots, but "the rankings are now very well established and provide us with a credible and succinct way of seeding teams for the rugby World Cup pool draw", according to Rugby World Cup Ltd chairman Syd Millar The draw was conducted in December 2008 and used the World Rankings as of 1 December 2008, after the Northern Hemisphere Autumn internationals. The teams were placed into three bands depending on their seedings at the time, with one team from each band in each of the groups.

By: JL1(JL1)

JL1(JL1) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 19:01:42 +0000

@poppa69(poppa69)-112: The draw takes place well in advance Just have a look at the pools, they ensure (The IRB) that SH play NH and that the NH have a good chance to go through. Why are Wales in the SA pool and they they did jack at the previous world cup

By: cab(cab)

cab(cab) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:55:33 +0000

beautiful – sounds like byron or yeats.

By: Porto(Porto)

Porto(Porto) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:55:10 +0000

@capo(capo)-119: We bow to your superior knowledge

By: wooden spoon(wooden spoon)

wooden spoon(wooden spoon) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:54:57 +0000

Bring on the real rugby, bring on the S15!

By: Porto(Porto)

Porto(Porto) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:53:55 +0000

@Porto(Porto)-118: Mon key ya wankers!

By: capo(capo)

capo(capo) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:53:22 +0000

congrats wales!scots played like a bunch of cowards with english d.icks up their arses!

By: Porto(Porto)

Porto(Porto) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:53:18 +0000

@Porto(Porto)-115: Asterisks for ******! wow, SA just hit a new low in racial paranoia

By: wooden spoon(wooden spoon)

wooden spoon(wooden spoon) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:52:50 +0000

Well that stuffed up my superbru.

By: wooden spoon(wooden spoon)

wooden spoon(wooden spoon) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:52:16 +0000

Not a great game but Wales deserve the win entirely. Maybe a turning point for them.

By: Porto(Porto)

Porto(Porto) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:51:57 +0000

@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-111: Good thing about toying with a ******, you just stop when you get fed up. We can handle it, it’s just a dumb animal after all