RWC 2015

[waiopehu oldboy]

Can anyone direct me to a spreadsheet of the RWC fixtures, as I want to add my own notes etc e.g. highlight the games I want to watch. Even for me 88 games is a stretch too far.

Here's one:

http://www.rugbywallcharts.com

There's also a printable wall chart on stuff.co.nz but half of it is a picture of Richie & co. which I figure the average Strayan might find disturbing, plus all the kickoffs are in NZST. Supposedly this one converts the times to your time zone (I'd be checking whether they've allowed for daylight saving if they have it where you are, tho).

Or there's an Ap available through the World Rugby site:

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com

 

[BDA]

Anyone game to make a bold prediction on the winner?

I've just made a sizable investment on the All Blacks. I think England are probably most likely to meet them in the final.

The Wallabies I think might lose a close one to England at Twickers. I'm expecting they'll make it out of the group stage but will fall to either the Boks in the Quarters or more likely the Kiwis in the Semis. Much like 2011 unfortunately

 

[Mr Doug]

Our daughter's partner, a Brit, sent me the following article, which some of you may have already seen. It's titled: "Rugby World Cup: Is English rugby union just for posh kids?"
http://m.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/34222183

In their 2015 squad, 20 of the 31-man squad attended fee-paying schools, compared to 11 in their 2003 squad.

I would be interested to know the comparative stats. for Australia, and New Zealand.

 

[zer0]

Our daughter's partner, a Brit, sent me the following article, which some of you may have already seen. It's titled: "Rugby World Cup: Is English rugby union just for posh kids?"
http://m.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/34222183

In their 2015 squad, 20 of the 31-man squad attended fee-paying schools, compared to 11 in their 2003 squad.

I would be interested to know the comparative stats. for Australia, and New Zealand.

As far as I can tell, only Kaino and Vito went to non-state schools.

 

[Mr Doug]

As far as I can tell, only Kaino and Vito went to non-state schools.

zerO, how does that compare with the 2003 squad?

 

[zer0]

zerO, how does that compare with the 2003 squad?

The All Blacks 2003 squad? Probably about the same I'd imagine.

The major divide in NZ schools rugby isn't public/private, it's boys/coeducational. The large boys schools like Auckland Grammar, Wesley College, Kelston/Christchurch/Hamilton/Rotorua Boys etc... win (or have won) a lot of trophies. Coeducational schools, not so much.

The only really successful NZ private school I know of is St. Kents. A very well-to-do school who field a nigh unstoppable 1st XV, but are rubbish at every level below that.

 

[mxyzptlk]

This just went up on ESPN:

Rugby World Cup referees will sin-bin players who dive or feign injury

John Jeffrey, the head of the Rugby World Cup officials, said "There is a culture creeping in. I call it the football culture of simulation, people appealing to the referees, players -- and it has happened a couple of times -- diving."

Apparently the citing commissioners will be watching from the touchlines and will give warnings when the refs miss something. After three warnings or three yellow cards (presumably for "football culture"), that player will go before a disciplinary hearing and can be banned for a time.

Sounds good, but I'll believe it when I see it. I still remember all the drum-beating about straight scrum feeds, etc. That didn't last long.

 

[qwerty51]

Watch out Sanchez.

 

[mxyzptlk]

Our daughter's partner, a Brit, sent me the following article, which some of you may have already seen. It's titled: "Rugby World Cup: Is English rugby union just for posh kids?:

Funny, Brian Moore was just talking about how the economic gulf between football players and their fans has never been greater, while a number of retired pro rugby players end up back at their clubs playing with the local schlubs. That doesn't speak to the school/class division, but it does speak to the fiscal divide between the two sports. (From what I can tell, for Mooro, the more people who are able to get into the game, the better, but he's not all that particular about whether it's union or league.)

I'd be curious what the divide is like in some other Tier 1 countries as well, like the rest of the home nations and France. I'd also be interested in stats on how many players attending private schools get assistance to attend. (Or public schools, or whatever they're called -- non-state schools. I'm in the states, and public schools here are state schools, and fee-paying schools are private.)

 

[Braveheart81]

I'd also be interested in stats on how many players attending private schools get assistance to attend.

I think this would be important to understand to extrapolate anything particularly meaningful from the raw data comparing 2003 teams to 2015 teams.

How much is it posh kids playing rugby compared with posh schools 'recruiting' kids who are good at rugby?

 

[FilthRugby]

A useful guide by the Telegraph (courtesy of Rugby Banter Page). Thought I'd post.

 

[Dewald Nel]

This just went up on ESPN:

Rugby World Cup referees will sin-bin players who dive or feign injury

John Jeffrey, the head of the Rugby World Cup officials, said "There is a culture creeping in. I call it the football culture of simulation, people appealing to the referees, players -- and it has happened a couple of times -- diving."

Apparently the citing commissioners will be watching from the touchlines and will give warnings when the refs miss something. After three warnings or three yellow cards (presumably for "football culture"), that player will go before a disciplinary hearing and can be banned for a time.

Sounds good, but I'll believe it when I see it. I still remember all the drum-beating about straight scrum feeds, etc. That didn't last long.

Awesome. If Habana does it again, I'll give out the yellow card myself! At least we can use the technology to review it, unlike soccer. I guess it's too hard to rig soccer matches if you use technology like rugby does - but I digress.

 

[hench]

Is there a decent website that show team lists?

 

[RugbyReg]

www.greenandgoldrugby.com

 

[hench]

www.greenandgoldrugby.com

Can't seem to find the team lists section.

 

[RugbyReg]

It's the first story.

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/rwc-1st-week-teams/#disqus_thread

 

[hench]

Cheers.

 

[Antony]

I'm so fucking excited.

 

[the plastic paddy]

I think this would be important to understand to extrapolate anything particularly meaningful from the raw data comparing 2003 teams to 2015 teams.

How much is it posh kids playing rugby compared with posh schools 'recruiting' kids who are good at rugby?

Just off the top of my head, in the England team both Vunipolas, Robshaw and Joseph would have definitely been 'sports scholars'.

 

[Blue]

Did the really HAVE to take Marto along?

Did they HAVE to?