League "World" Cup

[cashead]

Yep. It's weird that Cecchin couldn't blow the whistle fast enough at the end there, when more clear-cut tries and knock-ons have been referred to the TMO in the past. At the very least, Tonga deserved to have some degree of certainty over whether or not that was a strip or a knock-on.

[rowan]

Bleat bleat . . .

[WaspInWales]

Far too wasteful from England. Given away every decent chance they've had.

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[rowan]

HT 6-0 Aussies. Not much in it, so fitness may be the back factor.

[WaspInWales]

Aussie kicking has been quality

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[Mr Mwenda]

Knackered players. But too ptofligate from england so far. Still getting confused about when it's a stripped ball but i won't let it spolil things.

[WaspInWales]

Cracking effort to be fair. A really physical test match.

England blew it though. Kicked early a few times when there were tackles left and we were knocking on the door. Other times, just basic errors gave possession away. Lack of composure and skill at key times. Other than that, fantastic effort.

Credit to the Aussies though. The best team, dominant for most of the match, but there were times when England had the upper hand.

[rowan]

That was it? 6-0?? I suppose we did have one low-scoring and very dramatic final in SA a couple of decades ago, but I expected a few more points than this...

[morepork]

That was a proper old school test match. Hard luck England. They put up a great fight.

[rowan]

The post-match interviews sounded like a combination of Neighbours & Coronation Street . . .

Not saying they had awful accents or anything. But they could've used subtitles to help us understand...

[morepork]

Yes, what grubby working class oiks.

[rowan]

Eeh bah gum, lad! 'Ave ya nowt to do but mither?!

[rowan]

I have some Mancunian ancestry on my mother's side, actually, while my father's side of the family mostly live in Sydney & Brisbane now. So I suppose I should've been right in my element.

This guy's got it nailed:

[rowan]

[rowan]

Apparently a number of former All Blacks are now campaigning to have the eligibility rules changed back to what they were a few decades ago, so that they could turn out for their ancestral homelands. I am all for players having the choice of playing for the country they were born & raised in, or either their ancestral home or a country they have moved to and spent a reasonable amount of time living in (at least several years). But that should be it. No changing back and forth and treating the Pacific Islands as the All Blacks B, C & D teams. One player, one country. Rugby Union has put in a tremendous amount of work to globalize its game and doesn't need to take a massive step backward to try and resemble a sport which hasn't.

[morepork]

Why does the relative scale of the two codes cause you so much angst?

[rowan]

Or ask yourself, why do I cause you so much angst, little man?

[morepork]

Because you're a bit of a dick?

[rowan]

Former Manu Samoa Sevens player, Orene Aii, has hit out at calls that former All Black players should switch to rugby league if they want to represent Samoa, Tonga or Fiji.

In response to a column penned by Duncan Johnstone titled “Rugby must stay deaf to All Black Charles Piutau's pleas to play for Tonga” on Stuff, Aii who has represented Samoa and New Zealand in Secens, said the powers that be need to do what is best for rugby as a sport.

“Duncan Johnstone saying that players should “make a decision and stick to it” when it comes to rugby allegiance,” Aii posted on social media.

“I’ve read a lot of negative comments from people on this issue… yet I don’t see Duncan or these other people writing the same things when coaches jump from country to country for financial gain or for better international coaching opportunities. Graham Henry, Steve Hansen, Eddie Jones, Robbie Deans to name a few all coached different countries.

Story continues here: http://sobserver.ws/en/05_12_2017/rugby ... -rules.htm

[Parsifal]

That was a proper old school test match. Hard luck England. They put up a great fight.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. I was trying to watch the game and the Ashes Test at the same time. Was it Cameron Smith that James Graham (quite audibly) called, "A cheating cynt"?

[morepork]

That was a proper old school test match. Hard luck England. They put up a great fight.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. I was trying to watch the game and the Ashes Test at the same time. Was it Cameron Smith that James Graham (quite audibly) called, "A cheating cynt"?

More than once.

[rowan]

Latest:

Former All Blacks Ma'a Nonu, Steven Luatua and Victor Vito have joined Charles Piutau, Frank Halai as players linked to a switch to Pacific Island nations for the next Rugby World Cup.

Piutau and Halai, who both have Tongan ancestry, want World Rugby to loosen the eligibility rules to allow capped players to return to tier-two nations.

An identical policy has been introduced in rugby league and the Daily Mail report that Nonu and Vito could also make themselves available for Samoa under the proposals.

Story continues here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/ar ... d=11952640

[rowan]

A Balkans Cup (rugby league) with at least 12 teams from six nations (Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey) is set for 2018

[rowan]

Story on Canada's Wolfpack league team here: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/no-he ... ootball-us

[rowan]

https://yougov.co.uk/news/2018/01/10/wh ... ing-sport/