South Africa are well drilled but I don’t know if they have the talent. Should be a great second half.
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- Thread starter Which Tyler
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I hope one more World Cup cycle and they will be formidable, but at this stage, still a fair bit in the skill that is left to be desired where they will be found out against the biggest teams.
I’m back on track. Shame for Japan that they didn’t get the 4th try, it felt like they deserved something from that game.
I had a suspicion SA might beat Italy, I’d like to see it happen, it should be a good test of the NZ scrum if they do.
I had a suspicion SA might beat Italy, I’d like to see it happen, it should be a good test of the NZ scrum if they do.
You say it's harsh, but... you also seem to agree...
I hadn't realised that you had a professional province now - that'll help hugely. How long have they been pro at that week-in week-out level? Even if it's not against other pro.s
Oof, that's a harsh denial of the 50:22 (I assume we've all caught up over half time)
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It’s harsh to say Italy are the more skilled rugby players here. My reference to lacking the skills was vs the top 4-5 teams where they will be shown up. I think the SA team is better than their current ranking in terms of skill, maybe more like 7-8th in their current skill set.
Against Italy I’ve seen them be the better team and more rounded rugby players on an overall basis. Maybe it’s a point of definition difference really.
Congratulations South Africa!
France v Brazil is like this forum showing up to play in the Heineken cup.
Excited to see France play South Africa. I don’t think it will be close but I think South Africa will look respectable which is a massive improvement.
Excited to see France play South Africa. I don’t think it will be close but I think South Africa will look respectable which is a massive improvement.
With Pauline Bourdon and Laure Sansus having their new baby - I kinda hope Antoine Dupont is the sperm donor - SH perfection in 18-20 years
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After the last 3, this is more like watching TRF take on one of the Prem teams
The poor baby wouldn’t have any knees
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The provincial professional team came in place about two years ago. They’ve set up a league too, which had an aim of contracting 150 women. Strong investment and commercial interest in the women’s game here I think two years ago, with Rassie also playing a role in ensuring it was getting strong development and investment.
It’s clearly still not there yet, but it’s really come along way. Critically, you are seeing advertising for the women’s team and all of their matches are televised. I think they unfortunately suffer more from the a point you raised before @Which Tyler - we can’t get consistent strong opposition to play against because of where we are geographically and the cost of it. We play a lot of games against other African teams, but nothing really consistently like the six nations quality outside of WXV.
Hopefully though in the next iteration of WXV we can have a strong performance in WXV2 and hopefully play for promotion rather than a single win.
That all being said, I think this is where we hit our performance ceiling. We should have a respectable time against France, but still expect a 20-30 point loss, and then a similar-ish experience against the Black Ferns.
TY, good to know.
Of course, if you do get promotion to WXV1, you'll be more tempting when inviting tourists, but yeah, outside of W6N and WQN... life is going to be tough.
You might get some joy trying to set something up with others from outside those 2 competitions. Japan, Fiji, Samoa will be more interested in joining the WQN, but are likely to find the door slammed in their faces. Spain similar for the 6N... But travel will always be an issue
Hopefully, the success of this RWC will see an explosion in coverage/interest for the game outside of England (was really disappointing 3 years ago moving from the 6N to a RWC in NZ with poor crowds - even if record breaking for a WRWC)
Of course, if you do get promotion to WXV1, you'll be more tempting when inviting tourists, but yeah, outside of W6N and WQN... life is going to be tough.
You might get some joy trying to set something up with others from outside those 2 competitions. Japan, Fiji, Samoa will be more interested in joining the WQN, but are likely to find the door slammed in their faces. Spain similar for the 6N... But travel will always be an issue
Hopefully, the success of this RWC will see an explosion in coverage/interest for the game outside of England (was really disappointing 3 years ago moving from the 6N to a RWC in NZ with poor crowds - even if record breaking for a WRWC)
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Wow, fantastic!
64 minutes
64 minutes
Would like to see Scotland have a better chance of progressing to the semis. They've already achieved their goal I believe but would like to go one better.
They've also gained two places in world rankings to 6th. I think their best ever.
Australia have much more of a incentive now that they need to score at least a bonus point to guarantee the QF and to make sure the USA don't sneak through.
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