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So, as many of ya know, RWC 2015 has kicked off, and already there's some exciting stuff going on.


England performed somewhat as expected, beating Fiji in the opening match.



Then this morning.... I see on my various feeds, that Japan has done the nearly unthinkable: They beat the Springboks!!


How do you guys see this tournament shaping up? Who do you think will take home the William Webb Ellis trophy?

GLORIOUS ORIGINAL HAND EGG, IS BEST EGG.

Should shape up pretty good, smart money is obviously on the Kiwi's, but Japan could throw a spanner in those works. I for one welcome the rise of the Japanese rugby empire.

Probably Kiwi's to win, pick your favourites out of Australia, England, South Africa and France, follow it up Ireland/Wales/Scotland and then whoever upsets the most (at the moment Japan).

Makes a change from the last-but-one World Cup; I remember seeing some huge Maori (perhaps Jonah Lomu) powering down the pitch with the ball in one hand and a Japanese player hanging onto each leg.

Anyway, that takes a bit of pressure off; now it's not so embarrassing for Scotland to get beaten by them too.

England did the job, just about. They weren't particularly impressive though. The Japan win was a surprise, and should be a wake up call for the boks. Scotland might need to watch out. The All Blacks are the team to beat, with Australia probably next favourite.

3 chances to take a pot at goal (they were all full arm penalties weren't they?) and they said no to all of them and backed themselves in for the try. Ridiculously good finish, and their fans went rightly nuts. Well done Japan.

We wuz robbed?



Damnable French person.

Hurrah, Wales beat England. We just haven't got any players left now.

100 to 1 for Uruguay to beat Aus. Not too worried about this game ha

England grrrrrrrr! I think kicking to the corner was the right decision, trying to get the win. Our line-out had been working great all game, but they called it wrong and Wales did a great job pushing the maul into touch. Not quite sure where they're going to find a back line for the next game though, if it was me I wouldn't go near the job for fear I'd be the next one getting carted off the pitch on a stretcher.

So if Aus beats England, there's a real chance that England don't make the cut for the pool. Are you guys worried about that? Or do you reckon you have us easy.

There's now a massive chance that England aren't getting out of the pool. I'm expecting Australia to beat us and Wales, so unless Fiji can beat an injury hit Welsh side, so I'll probably be switching to my back up passport for the knock out stages. Come on the All Blacks! (yes I really do have an NZ passport thanks to my dad)

And England is officially out of its own RWC...


Some good memes are coming out of it though:

http://rugbyworldcup2015lives.com/social-media-is-filled-up-with-memes-after-australia-knocked-out-england-check-the-best-ones.html/

Canada's quest to actually win a game one of these days has failed. We almost beat Romania but as usual found a way to lose. Oh well...Go All Blacks!

 KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Canada's quest to actually win a game one of these days has failed. We almost beat Romania but as usual found a way to lose. Oh well...Go All Blacks!

Well, at least you scored points.... we Americans got beat something like 64-0 against South Africa. The 64 isn't the "shock" to me... it's the fething 0 on the other side.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Canada's quest to actually win a game one of these days has failed. We almost beat Romania but as usual found a way to lose. Oh well...Go All Blacks!

Well, at least you scored points.... we Americans got beat something like 64-0 against South Africa. The 64 isn't the "shock" to me... it's the fething 0 on the other side.

Ya, but that's fething South Africa. I know they lost to Japan but that probably just made them even more dangerous because they're all pissed off.
We lost 50-7 to Ireland. I know what you mean though. When your team scores 0 points it's kinda like...why did I even watch this?

I keep hoping the U.S. Will get there... It's slowly happening, it they didn't exactly avail themselves this year.

Thank god our 7s squad should put up a respectable showing in Rio.

And then there were 4:

Argentina, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand.

Judging by the numerous articles posted online, it would seem that Scotland feel miffed by the officiating at the tail end of the match.

I sincerely hope that the All Blacks can put another "France performance" up against their next opponent, because I think it would make for some very entertaining rugby.

Disappointed that Ireland went out today. After Ireland's victory at the six-nations, I had hoped this might be their year for the world cup. The NZ / France game was incredible though. It's difficult to imagine anyone other than NZ winning after that. Even though I'd like to see SA in the final, I really just want Argentina to lose now.

Having their world cup dreams shattered in the final moments by the all-blacks, really appeals to my inner sadist

Robbed we were! Ah well team B is a go

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
Judging by the numerous articles posted online, it would seem that Scotland feel miffed by the officiating at the tail end of the match.

I've been trying to get a good look at this. It seems the penalty was given for offside rather than a knock on. The offside rules in rugby are pretty complicated (complicated enough that even the commentators get it wrong sometimes), but RAI: you are not supposed to gain an advantage from being in front of the ball. I think there is a lot of rules lawyering that could be had regarding exactly what happened, and if the ball came forward intentionally, but I think the penalty was probably reasonable.

I think you also have to appreciate that Scotland did concede 5 tries before that. So to say "this is why they lost" is kind of silly. If it had been the first points of the game rather than the last, I doubt it would have been so controversial.

 Smacks wrote:

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
Judging by the numerous articles posted online, it would seem that Scotland feel miffed by the officiating at the tail end of the match.

I've been trying to get a good look at this. It seems the penalty was given for offside rather than a knock on. The offside rules in rugby are pretty complicated (complicated enough that even the commentators get it wrong sometimes), but RAI: you are not supposed to gain an advantage from being in front of the ball. I think there is a lot of rules lawyering that could be had regarding exactly what happened, and if the ball came forward intentionally, but I think the penalty was probably reasonable.

I think you also have to appreciate that Scotland did concede 5 tries before that. So to say "this is why they lost" is kind of silly. If it had been the first points of the game rather than the last, I doubt it would have been so controversial.

Most of what I've seen are scotland players saying things to the effect of "At the very least, you have to go to the TMO." Some of the more outspoken sorts are saying that Joubert should never referee a match at this level ever again. TBH, in all the matches I've seen him officiate in, I can't help but agree with those points of view.

The rules say the ref should not take that sort of decision to the TMO so he did that bit right,

he just made the wrong call sad for Scotland, but there you go

(and as a Scot I have to say what the ........ were the Scotland team doing messing about like that rather than concentrating on running the clock down? We should never have been in the position to let the Ref make the wrong call)

This is a cracker of a game! Tell me others are up watching. South Africa are playing out of their skins

 motyak wrote:
This is a cracker of a game! Tell me others are up watching. South Africa are playing out of their skins

Yeah. Helluva match. not sure I've ever seen a match at this level with three trips to the bin.

I can't believe it shook out that way, I really feel RSA deserved it and the kiwis didn't. Ah well, roll on B Team vs Argentina

 motyak wrote:
I can't believe it shook out that way, I really feel RSA deserved it and the kiwis didn't. Ah well, roll on B Team vs Argentina

It was a really sloppy game I thought from the ABs. Lots of uncharacteristic penalties that ultimately led to all of The Boks points.

Herrera is a monster.

How can you say south Africa deserved it. We had more territory, possession and then 2 tries vs zero!

 tuiman wrote:
How can you say south Africa deserved it. We had more territory, possession and then 2 tries vs zero!

I think the AB's definitely deserved the win. It was hard fought although I'm surprised at the lack of discipline from them. I expected more especially after the France game. But the springboks are a great side so meh.

Looking forward to the next Semi for sure.

The All Blacks were always in control and had SA at arms length. The result would have been a bit more one sided if they hadn't given away so many sloppy penalties in the first half.

Anyone know what time Argentina - wallabies is?