World Rugby Under 20 Championship 2019

[Leonormous Boozer]

Harry Mallinder died for this... Smh

 

[dullonien]

Wales made it hard for ourselves this afternoon. Lineout was really poor, with each throw wasted also giving up considerable yardage to the French immediately thereafter. Evans missed a key penalty touchfinder late in the 1st half too (but our lineout would've probably ballsed it up had it had found touch anyway).

Having said all that France were very good both in attack and defence. Will probably take some beating.

Yeah Wales really struggled against a good French side. Not sure what happened to the lineout, but lots of credit to France for getting up and putting pressure in the air.

Wales really struggled to get any possession or territory in the second half. Tbh if it wasn't for some magnificent defense it could have been 50+ for France.

Really impressed with the French offloading game, especially out wide, where they always managed to get rid of the ball just as it looked like Wales had contained the move/got the ball carrier into touch.

Massively difficult to recover from a loss at this level, so Wales will most likely be playing for a best finishing position of 5th I'd expect, unless Argentina can turn the French over that is.

 

[bushytop]

Yeah Wales really struggled against a good French side. Not sure what happened to the lineout, but lots of credit to France for getting up and putting pressure in the air.

Wales really struggled to get any possession or territory in the second half. Tbh if it wasn't for some magnificent defense it could have been 50+ for France.

Really impressed with the French offloading game, especially out wide, where they always managed to get rid of the ball just as it looked like Wales had contained the move/got the ball carrier into touch.

Massively difficult to recover from a loss at this level, so Wales will most likely be playing for a best finishing position of 5th I'd expect, unless Argentina can turn the French over that is.

Yeah, the French offloading was something else.

 

[BPM]

I don't think I've seen an England U20 team as careless and clueless as this current crop.

They really seem to be absolutely oblivious of what is happening right in front of them,

Yep. Woefully poor.

So many basic errors and sloppy in all respects. Italy limited us to ugly tries from mauls but scored a couple of nice efforts themselves.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

So we need to run up a score on Italy, France to win and one of SA, NZ or Aus not to get a bp, looking unlikely we'll make a semi because I doubt we'll hammer Italy in our current state.

 

[Scotty]

Rus Tuima i was looking forward to seeing but he is there because he is big rather then skill. He's not bad but i still want to see him develop as a skelton type second row rather than an 8.

Kpoku and Willis both made a big difference when they came on.

Maunder had a mixed game as did the 10 really, cant remeber who played.

Annoyed we didnt get the bonus point tbh.

 

[Chetto4]

So we need to run up a score on Italy, France to win and one of SA, NZ or Aus not to get a bp, looking unlikely we'll make a semi because I doubt we'll hammer Italy in our current state.

Well, I really don't know what to expect from this italian team. Sometimes they look pretty bad (like against Wales and Ireland in the last U20 6N), sometimes they look really good (like against France or a few days ago against England). If they come out uninspired I can easily see Irland getting 5 points out of this and even if they are on good day Ireland could still win a high scoring game. At the end of the day Englad was just one try away from accomplish that, even though they played a terrible game, and Ireland showed twice that they are the better team.
Unfortunately I'm afraid Italy missed their chance yesterday and they will have to fight to avoid relegation. I'm pretty sure we are better than at least a couple of team in this tournament but in/out games with a lot of pressure are always very tricky.

 

[unrated]

Tonight South Africa and New Zealand will play a match, where the winner will likely decide who goes through.

This is also personally the game I want to see, where each country stands against each other at youth level this year.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Number of cards in this tournament has been mental

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

I was about to say the same thing. Arg vs Fra had 2 red cards by the 20 minute mark. Both kinda harshish imo.

 

[unrated]

Ref is destroying what was supposed to be a great game.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Just saw Eng-Aus

Again I wish they would get commentators who were less biased "that's not a forward pass" for a pass that is so laughably, blatantly forward. England looked good but you have to ask how much of that was due to the red and how much was them finally getting their act together? Ultimately though too little too late.

 

[Derpus]

I was about to say the same thing. Arg vs Fra had 2 red cards by the 20 minute mark. Both kinda harshish imo.

I haven't seen it but i heard the Red in the Aus-Eng game was quite soft. Anyone see what it was for?

Certainly, the red in the Aus- Ireland match was soft (although laughably an actual red card offense latter in that game was deemed no more than a penalty).

Definitely too many Reds going round.

 

[Derpus]

Just saw Eng-Aus

Again I wish they would get commentators who were less biased "that's not a forward pass" for a pass that is so laughably, blatantly forward. England looked good but you have to ask how much of that was due to the red and how much was them finally getting their act together? Ultimately though too little too late.

'straya had also qualified already and had probably switched off to some extent.

 

[Scotty]

I haven't seen it but i heard the Red in the Aus-Eng game was quite soft. Anyone see what it was for?

Certainly, the red in the Aus- Ireland match was soft (although laughably an actual red card offense latter in that game was deemed no more than a penalty).

Definitely too many Reds going round.

The aus red vs eng was soft but was a red, he shoulder made first contact with the chin on the Eng player...red, but the player wasnt injured or went down hard or even HIA so think it was soft but letter of the law. Ref said there was no mitigating circumstances so think he felt his hands were tied.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

I understand. The problem is, precisely, the letter of the law.
How long before people start aiming at other people's shoulders with their heads?

I can understand a rc if there was no attempt to wrap arms, but i dont like the contact with shoulder ≈ red card principle.

 

[TRF_heineken]

What's bothering me a lot about the TMO's with this tournament is the poor camera work and angles. Yesterday in the SA vs. NZ match, a NZ player tackled the SA scrumhalf late, without arms and high. And it seemed like his head collided first with the scrumhalf's chin. But the referee and the TMO both had problems as the black jersey, the angle of the camera and the shadows of the players made it very hard to make a definite call, so they just gave a penalty.

 

[Derpus]

I understand. The problem is, precisely, the letter of the law.
How long before people start aiming at other people's shoulders with their heads?

I can understand a rc if there was no attempt to wrap arms, but i dont like the contact with shoulder ≈ red card principle.

The possibly of life long brain damage and elevated risk of suicide should probably act as enough of a deterrent.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

The possibly of life long brain damage and elevated risk of suicide should probably act as enough of a deterrent.

I dont think so. Following that logic people would stop playing altogether. Stepping into the enclosure increases your chances of brain damage vs not doing so.

I'm not saying people would catapult themselves into other people's shoulders with complete disregard to safety. What i am saying is that if shoulder vs head contact = penalty +card, ball carriers can exploit that to their advantage given that they have a huge saying on whether that contact happens or not. I feel we are leaving defenders with very few realistic options.

Picture this. World cup quarterfinals. 2 minutes to go, you are two points down. You are 14 against 15, you have the ball in the opponents 22, but they are holding strong.
If you tell me ball carriers won't look for that sort of penalties then you are way more optimistic that i am.

We (myself included, of course) as fans are a tiny bit hypocritical when it comes to this. We complain and claim to be worried when we see some stats but then we applaud when a player puts his body on the line. We take it as an example of commitment.