Me too mate, but I absolutely detest this shower of saâs in particular.
Scrum half isnât really a proper back position - itâs more of a link position - hence the âscrumâ bit
South Africa have had plenty of good scrum halves
But from 10-15 theyâve been consistently pedestrian since they returned to international rugby in 1992
I want South Africa to win it for CJ Stander, Jean Kleyn and Rassie Erasmus. #TeamOfUs
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In South Africa, scrum half is viewed more as a 9th forward than a back. Joost was one of the best. Mind you, he wasnât your traditional prototype scrum half. He was about 6ft 3 and built like a tank.
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Maybe, but still a back, a half back even.
May he RIP.
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Iâd say you must even be sick of yourself posting such shite at this stage.
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As a Sale man i thought youd be on the Faf train?
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Arenât you a Liverpool fan ?
South Africa emulate France in making 3 World Cup finals. England emulate New Zealand and Australia in making 4 World Cup finals. When it gets down to the real business end, there is a Big 5 and then thereâs the rest. Lack in playing depth cost Wales a final place today.
The Big 5 have accounted for 30 of the 36 semi finalists over the 9 World Cups. Of the other 6 semi finalists, Wales today and in 2011 and Scotland back in 1991 all went close to making a final. Wales in 1987 and Argentina in 2007 & 15 were hammered in the semi final.
Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Argentina, Japan, Canada, Western Samoa and Fiji have all struggled to break through that glass ceiling in the knock out stages. Of 33 match ups between the Big 5 and the rest in the quarter finals and semi finals, just 2 wins from 33 - Wales in 1987 quarter final over England and Wales in 2019 quarter final over France. Even at that, England werenât a force in 1987 and Wales nearly always beat England back then. The England emergence as a modern day superpower only started a few years later.
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An interesting trivia tidbit I arrived at when I was walking home from the Macnas Parade there this evening is that of the big five, New Zealand are the only ones to fail to reach the final in three successive World Cups
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If it wasnât for the ref in 2011 New Zealand would have won one World Cup since 87.
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If it wasnât for Ireland losing before the semi-finals in all nine World Cups so far, they would have made a semi-final
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Another few trivia tidbits donât bode well for England
In the professional era, any team that has beaten New Zealand at a World Cup has lost their next match - France 1999, Australia 2003 and France 2007
South Africa have never lost a knockout World Cup game to a Northern Hemisphere team - only New Zealand (2003 and 2015) and Australia (1999 and 2011) have knocked them out
South Africa have never lost a final
England have beaten Australia in the quarter-finals on two previous occasions - 1995 and 2007 - and both times South Africa won the tournament
Still, England had a 100% losing record against New Zealand in the World Cup before yesterday, so records are there to be broken
Closing this thread for a bit so everyone can take a break and calm down. Folks the whole point of this forum is to have a good debate about rugby, but when it descends into personal insults and petty gibes enough is enough. Mods donât need to be trawling through posts to see who said what and who started it, personally I have enough of that at home with kids When the thread reopens posters are warned to start posting in a civil manner or it will be closed for good. .
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Heâs an absolute wanker. I stopped going sale as watching him preening round the back of a ruck whilst fixing his hair, like a pornstar from willow was winding me up.
That and I like a snooze on a Saturday afternoon.
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I hope the Tans win next week.
Lovely bite to this post
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What has soccer got to do with the English rubby team? â English rubby optimizes everything Ireland isnt - maybe bar a few small pockets in South Dublin and Ulster. The private school boy type that places so much stock on class and superiority doesnt exist here and certainly doesnt exist in soccer. Like I said, there isnt an irish man worth his salt hoâd cheer the English rubby team on.