Rugby World Cup 2011

[hostile]

Hadn't seen a thread for this so if there is one, I apologize.

Without satellite TV it's hard to find any of the early international matchups leading up to the tournament. BBC-America, on Comcast, has had the 6-nations matches available live. I watched France v. England Saturday. Both teams looked good. Some sloppy play due to conditions. France missed some scoring opportunities early in the 2nd half to keep it close and ended up losing 17-9, getting shut out in the final 40 minutes. Johnny Wilkinson came on in the 2nd half and kicked a penalty from 40+ meters to become the all-time scoring leader in international rugby, passing All-Black flyhalf Daniel Carter. I expect England to be do well in the World Cup. France is unpredictable - they have some games where they are world beaters (see NZ 4 years ago) and some where they can't put anything together.

NZ should be the favorite. They have been playing well all season. That being said, they have been a favorite in every WC but have only won in '87. It will be interesting to see how they come together, especially in the wake of the recent earthquake in Christchurch.

[Surfah]

Hadn't seen a thread for this so if there is one, I apologize.

[hostile]

Piss off ya tossah.

[wally]

Hadn't seen a thread for this so if there is one, I apologize.

Without satellite TV it's hard to find any of the early international matchups leading up to the tournament. BBC-America, on Comcast, has had the 6-nations matches available live. I watched France v. England Saturday. Both teams looked good. Some sloppy play due to conditions. France missed some scoring opportunities early in the 2nd half to keep it close and ended up losing 17-9, getting shut out in the final 40 minutes. Johnny Wilkinson came on in the 2nd half and kicked a penalty from 40+ meters to become the all-time scoring leader in international rugby, passing All-Black flyhalf Daniel Carter. I expect England to be do well in the World Cup. France is unpredictable - they have some games where they are world beaters (see NZ 4 years ago) and some where they can't put anything together.

NZ should be the favorite. They have been playing well all season. That being said, they have been a favorite in every WC but have only won in '87. It will be interesting to see how they come together, especially in the wake of the recent earthquake in Christchurch.

NZ has to be a favorite, given the way they sleep-walked through the 2010 Tri-nations tourny.

In other RWC 2011 news, officials have been selected: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukp...1302278499837A

England - 2
Ireland - 2
Wales -1
France -1
South Africa - 2
New Zealand -1
Australia - 1

Total - 10

As far as TV coverage in The USA, This article states that NBC Sports and Universal Sports will host the 2011 RWC kicking off this fall (September 9, 2011, with a match between NZ and Tonga).

An exerpt:

NBC Sports and Universal Sports will continue their coverage of rugby throughout the year as they will serve as the exclusive U.S. TV homes of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which features the sport's 15-on-15 version and also includes the U.S. national team known as the Eagles, this fall in New Zealand. The 2007 Rugby World Cup drew an estimated 4.2 billion viewers worldwide. Once again, Universal Sports will provide most of the coverage, with NBC set to air the final.

4.2 Billion seems like an unbelievably large number of viewers as there are presently 6.8 B people on the earth. I don't know how viewership is tallied, and if people can be considered a veiwer multiple times?

Also, the Wikipedia site has some good information, laying out the tournament:

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Rugby_World_Cup"]2011 Rugby World Cup - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:RWC_2011_FC_Land_Pos.svg" class="image"><img alt="RWC 2011 FC Land Pos.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/be/RWC_2011_FC_Land_Pos.svg/150px-RWC_2011_FC_Land_Pos.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/b/be/RWC_2011_FC_Land_Pos.svg/150px-RWC_2011_FC_Land_Pos.svg.png[/ame]

[wally]

To whet appetites for RWC 2011, here is a link to the first of seven youtube clips summarizing the "rugby 7's" competition held in Las Vegas las summer.

Rugby 7's (seven players on each team) is a faster paced version of the standard 15 player version that will comprise the world cup this summer. In principle the games are very similar but the 7's version just cuts out some of the more time consuming elements, and limits each half to 7 minutes (a VERY fast-paced game).

The video has a little bit of tutorial at the begining, to help the uninformed get the jist of what is going on.

Noteworthy is the fact that Rugby 7's will be an Olympic sport in 2012.

Also noteworthy is the fact that current Ute Thretton Palamo plays for the USA in this tournament, although he doesn't enjoy nearly as much action in this professional international 7's tournament that he did at the collegiate 7's tournament when he played for the national championship winning Utes.

[YOUTUBE]IJbrEM-5n4w[/YOUTUBE]

[SipiTau]

Wally....what's up with your avatar's form this season?

He's spending more time arguing with the ref than playing. Bakkies seems a step slow as well. Was it an off night against the Crusaders? I will say Du Preez is starting to look like the best half back in the world again.

SA will always be a threat in the WC format. As an AB fan, I'm hoping they get it right and not choke it away.

[wally]

He's spending more time arguing with the ref than playing. Bakkies seems a step slow as well. Was it an off night against the Crusaders? I will say Du Preez is starting to look like the best half back in the world again.

SA will always be a threat in the WC format. As an AB fan, I'm hoping they get it right and not choke it away.

I know. And apparently Victor is making game losing ball handling errors on top of the complaining. Du Preez is a gamer.

I think that Tri Nations will tell us a lot about the Boks leading into the World Cup. In fact, I think it is much more important for the Boks to do well (or at least be respectable) in the Tri Nations tournament this year than it is for NZ.

If NZ loses a hard fought Tri Nations, I see them playing with an enormous chip on their shoulders in the RWC tourny. If NZ wins a hard fought Tri Nations, I see them entering RWC play with solid confidence (something that I think has bitten NZ in semifinal play in world cup's past). In fact, there may be an argument that if NZ stomps all over everybody in Tri Nations this year, it could put some seriously crushing pressure on an All Blacks team hosting the World Cup.

By the way, are you excited for "Quad-Nations" in 2012 when Argentina joins the tri nations teams for the tournament? That will be cool to watch after the world cup. Especially if SA, NZ, AUS, and ARG do well this fall.

[SipiTau]

I know. And apparently Victor is making game losing ball handling errors on top of the complaining. Du Preez is a gamer.

I think that Tri Nations will tell us a lot about the Boks leading into the World Cup. In fact, I think it is much more important for the Boks to do well (or at least be respectable) in the Tri Nations tournament this year than it is for NZ.

If NZ loses a hard fought Tri Nations, I see them playing with an enormous chip on their shoulders in the RWC tourny. If NZ wins a hard fought Tri Nations, I see them entering RWC play with solid confidence (something that I think has bitten NZ in semifinal play in world cup's past). In fact, there may be an argument that if NZ stomps all over everybody in Tri Nations this year, it could put some seriously crushing pressure on an All Blacks team hosting the World Cup.

By the way, are you excited for "Quad-Nations" in 2012 when Argentina joins the tri nations teams for the tournament? That will be cool to watch after the world cup. Especially if SA, NZ, AUS, and ARG do well this fall.

It's about time SANZAR looked outside the box. The Pumas will not embarass themselves in the new comp, if they're allowed to have their full contingent of players. As you know, most European clubs have a problem with their players taking off to play for their national side. The PI teams get killed because of this.

I agree with you that the AB's need to get challenged during the Tri Nations. They've gone into the last 3 WC with a bit of complacency. We'll see if things change this time around.

I see the RWC winner coming out of the Southern Hemisphere. England will get exposed as a fraud, France will suck, unless they play NZ and the Celtic Nations won't have anything to offer.

[wally]

It's about time SANZAR looked outside the box. The Pumas will not embarass themselves in the new comp, if they're allowed to have their full contingent of players. As you know, most European clubs have a problem with their players taking off to play for their national side. The PI teams get killed because of this.

I agree with you that the AB's need to get challenged during the Tri Nations. They've gone into the last 3 WC with a bit of complacency. We'll see if things change this time around.

I see the RWC winner coming out of the Southern Hemisphere. England will get exposed as a fraud, France will suck, unless they play NZ and the Celtic Nations won't have anything to offer.

I didn't know to what extent this was an issue. It is an interesting component of the rugby (and soccer, for that matter) as it relates to the sport's development of new markets. I think that NBC/Universal Sports marketing of of rugby along with the Olympic sports makes a lot of sense, and gets rugby onto more American televisions.

[SipiTau]

I didn't know to what extent this was an issue. It is an interesting component of the rugby (and soccer, for that matter) as it relates to the sport's development of new markets. I think that NBC/Universal Sports marketing of of rugby along with the Olympic sports makes a lot of sense, and gets rugby onto more American televisions.

IMO, rugby will always be a fringe sport in the USA. The interest just isn't there. I hope the "sleeping giant of world rugby" awakens, but I don't see it happening in my lifetime.

[hostile]

I see the RWC winner coming out of the Southern Hemisphere. England will get exposed as a fraud, France will suck, unless they play NZ and the Celtic Nations won't have anything to offer.

Ireland was able to exploit many of England's weaknesses, spoiling their chance at a perfect 6-nations. England is young and will have difficulty with teams that control possession. Please let France lose before they play NZ. The upcoming tri-nations should prove a good barometer of the WC. I'm trying to figure out how to get TV coverage.

[wally]

Keeping this thread alive, I love rugby jerseys. They are cool because you play in them, but you can also wear them around, with a lot more panache than sporting a FB jersey IMO. Here are some of my fav's:


NZ has the best jersey. Simple and conservative. Very wearable as casual clothing.


I like South Africas most recent jerseys.

I am happy that Canterbury has gone away from these crazy lines on their jersey's.


Fiji (white) and Samoa (blue) have cool designs:



England and France have pretty OK Jerseys:



Not crazy about Australia:


There are lots of cool club jerseys too, but the worst is Stade Francais:

[hostile]

Keeping this thread alive, I love rugby jerseys. They are cool because you play in them, but you can also wear them around, with a lot more panache than sporting a FB jersey IMO.

I have a AB and old school 'bok jersey. The French aren't helping themselves with that jersey - it looks like my daughter's ski suit.

[SipiTau]

I have a AB and old school 'bok jersey. The French aren't helping themselves with that jersey - it looks like my daughter's ski suit.

Call me old fashioned, but I miss the traditional striped jerseys; I'm talking old school heavy cotton, with triple stitched collar and arm pits. That being said, I've always dug Stade Francais' pink kit.

I don't know if you've been watching Super 15, but the Chiefs let the Crusaders off the hook last night. I hope the Blues smash the Waratahs tonight.

[wally]

I really wish that there was a bigger market for rugby, globally, not just in the U.S. This is bad pub for the sport, especially in one of it's cornerstone nations:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10721722