In their infinite wisdom, World Rugby chose to schedule the World Cup in a country that is prone to typhoons at this time of year, and to make absolutely no contingency plans should a typhoon threaten.
In a development that appears to have taken the organisers completely by surprise, there is a typhoon headed in Japan’s direction, and two matches have been cancelled, with Japan v Scotland still in doubt.
France will miss out on the possibility of beating England to top their group, and Italy will miss out on a historic chance to beat the All-Blacks and progress to the quarter-finals for the first time.
All right, nobody thinks that Italy would have beaten New Zealand, but it’s a funny old game and a couple of red cards, or another sneaky peek at the rule-book, could have produced the upset of the century. Apparently we’ll never know.
As Parisse said:
“It is ridiculous that a decision of this nature has been made because it isn’t like the fans arrived yesterday. It is ridiculous that there was no plan B, because it isn’t news that typhoons hit Japan.
“Sure everyone might think that Italy versus New Zealand being cancelled counts for nothing because we’d have lost anyway, but we deserved to be respected as a team. We had the chance to play in a big stadium, against a great team.
“The alternative is plan B. When you organise a World Cup you should have one in place.”
Should the Japan v Scotland match be cancelled, all three teams in Pool A contention will have reason to feel aggrieved also: Scotland for obvious reasons, Japan because it is not the way you’d want to go through, and Ireland because they miss the chance to top the pool (that being in Scotland’s gift, rather than Ireland’s hands, of course).
Quite frankly, World Cup should be handed a red card for bringing the game into disrepute. Players and fans alike (and no doubt the sponsors too) are rightly furious.
These matches should be rescheduled in alternative locations.
Last weekend’s rugby
For a rundown on the state of play as of 07/10, please see Deebee’s excellent synopsis.
On the telly this week … or not
Friday 11th October
| Australia 27 – 8 Georgia | 11:15 | ITV4 |
| Cheetahs 40 – 16 Munster | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Dragons 14 – 38 Connacht | 19:35 | Premier Sports 2 / TG4 / S4C |
| Leinster 40 – 14 Edinburgh | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Gloucester 24 – 26 Bath | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 12th October
| New Zealand v Italy | 05:45 | CANCELLED |
| England v France | 09:15 | CANCELLED |
| Ireland 47 – 5 Samoa | 11:45 | ITV |
| Kings 17 – 42 Ulster | 15:00 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Scarlets 54 – 10 Zebre | 15:00 | Freesports |
| Ospreys v Treviso | 19:35 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Glasgow v Cardiff | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
Sunday 13th October
| Namibia v Canada | 04:15 | ITV |
| USA v Tonga | 06:45 | ITV |
| Wales v Uruguay | 09:10 | ITV / S4C |
| Japan v Scotland | 11:45 | ITV |
Got your back pal, locked and loaded :)
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The only thing I would ask is that we don’t talk about this any more and make the blog all about an attention seeker
It what the troll craves, don’t feed it.
That’s me out on the subject.
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Ticht – I might be naive but I’m hoping that some of our fallen heroes still lurk here.
Also, Strictly. Has anyone seen her post recently?
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isn’t cancelling the game and give each team two match points a contingency plan?
No.
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Rugby……………
cancellation of England/France has left some players very short of pitch time:
Wilson/Lawes/Launch/Itoje and JJ/Slade/Nowell/Big Joe, for example.
At the start of the Tourni I think these were considered key players……………….I wonder whether Eddie is going to be able to field his preferred 23 against Aus – whatever it was? The backs in particular look under-cooked.
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really getting excited about the week-end’s games – crutches will be flying!
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Right……………………time for my assisted shower
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Troll problem addressed.
Craigs – got your email; thanks!
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Right……………………time for my assisted shower
It’s a shame you only get this kind of treatment after a hip op…
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Slade – don’t think England will be undercooked. Australia’s last fame was against Georgia. It’s not like they’re particularly battle hardened compared to us.
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Thaum – np. Let me know if you want me to change anything.
So…. Has the banhammer been wielded?
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The pre-mod-hammer so far.
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‘Right……………………time for my assisted shower’
Karl?
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Thaum, much appreciate you setting this up, missed the old place. Particularly like the broad cross section of rugby news, I follow the Gallagher prem quite closely, but enjoy being kept in the loop about goings on in the Pro 14, French thingy and NZ which I would otherwise not have access to. All the other stuff, music , a touch of politics, food, add a few layers to the cake.
Occasional spats are a bit of fun too, but when it becomes a constant stream of negativity, it will kill the blog, and I suspect a lot of the old regulars have stopped posting for this reason.
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Thaum – I think pre mod hammer is reasonable. And also, we all owe you a drink for raising the blog from the deid.
We probably owe Sag one each too.
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I think we each owe sag quite a few. Hopefully the fella is living in the Bahamas, with plenty of good coffee and reefer, and good wifi for the rugby that will have caused him no pain at all.
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Australia’s last fame was against Georgia.
Fame indeed – just lucky it was only Georgia and not the whole Confederacy!
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On the comments thing, I tend to skip over topics and arguments that bore me or drag on for too long, as many others do – cricket I know many skip over – so I don’t read anything to do with gaming, Tier 2 victimisation, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, New Zealand, Australia, the PIs, heritage/choice of International team, toast, Best of lists, Brexit, food discussions, drinking, Hungarian cabinet makers, music, literature, Trump, politics and holidays.
Love reading my own comments over and over. Oh.
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Deebs only likes bewbs I guess.
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Hmm. I’ve got this odd feeling that Australia are going to win on Saturday. England must be favourites on paper, but something doesn’t feel right.
But then, my greatest fear is that England and Wales get to the final. I was chatting with a (Welsh) dad at the school gates the other day and we both agreed that that would be our nightmare scenario because the thought of losing for either of us would be so awful! I mean, if England were to lose to Wales in the final I’d have to divorce my wife, disown my kids and resign my job. But I wouldn’t actually want to see England beat Wales in the final either because it would make everyone here so miserable. Rugby is torture. Can’t wait for the weekend!
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Interesting read back.
I’ve a feeling I’m in a minority here but I’d like to register a view in any case.
I totally get there is an occasionally bitter tone and relentlessness that can be wearing and god knows I’ve had my own run ins with Pro over the years but a lot of the underlying opinions are at least valid even if I don’t always agree. Also, various teams have been the target over the years, not just the latest Scotland issue, so I don’t think it’s supposed to be a personal wind up.
There is a problem with the ways things are expressed (in my humble, no more valid than anyone else’s, opinion) but I’m not sure I’m down with effectively banning people unless it’s down to direct and personal attacks. i worry how it might affect those involved and the place as a whole.
Thought I’d get that off my chest anyway.
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DAB – Don’t worry, your feeling about Australia is correct. I’ve had a Sag- like vision and it’s not good.
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Wales are nailed on DAB so at least your family will be happy.
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By the way Enzo – That’s a nice thought. I do hope very much indeed it’s something close to the case.
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Get a grip youse lot, England will tonk the sad wallabies.
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Today is my last day before going on 3 months of shared parental leave! I’ve written all my hand over notes .
I haven’t been able to identify someone suitable to take over my posting duties here during the working week unfortunately. I’ll get some serious work in today on that front to make up for it.
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Not even any pro-woo to focus on this weekend. Boo.
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@Dov
I think Dab has got your England-are-doomed posts covered.
Someone needs to step up on the Northampton front. What else do you need?
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Chimpie. I just don’t see where we are so scary or even particularly ahead of anyone else left int he competition. This ‘power’ thing is a myth. Everyone has big ball carriers in their sides. It’s been a while since the likes of Billy have even looked that effective in this sense.
We have a dangerous back 3, a usually brilliant place kicker and a solid set piece. That could describe most of the sides left int he competition.
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Chimpie. If someone could ramble on about beer that would be good.
Just post ‘Saints are a bit shit and will do well to avoid relegation’ periodically for me if you wouldn’t mind.
Try to bait Milne into long posts explaining how rugby works – I genuinely love that stuff.
Also send CJ my best should he return in my absence.
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How did CJ swing a long trip to Japan to watch rugby with 2 little uns at home and I’m getting excited about 3 months off arms deep in shit and sleep deprivation?
I’ve a feeling some poor choices have been made somewhere along the line.
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@Dova – Agree that the power thing is nonsense as far as the forwards are concerned. Ireland and SA are more powerful in the pack, Wales and NZ at least equal and even the Aus pack is stronger than usual. Going into the world cup I was excited about our back play, with the Ford-Faz-Manu midfield looking dangerous. But Faz has been poor so far and everyone has just kept dropping the pill. We’re doomed!
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Ah, brewtime with Dov. Forgot about that one.
Once we’ve got the house finished I’m going to start brewing beer. It’ll be my crimbo treat. I’m going to annoy you for advice, Dov.
Got a friend who’s started brewing this year, some of it’s been really good.
*wine homebrew update*
Strawberry wine. Smelled lovely, taste however not good. I’ve got a couple of bottles left which I’ll leave for a while longer to see if they improve (may be waiting a while)
Wine from the red grapes in the greenhouse. Smelled great, tasted like…. wine. Was really quite chuffed, MIL polished off an entire litre (not in one sitting) when visiting.
Elderberry wine. Smelled rancid. Tasted rancid. That lot went down the sink.
Going to do elderflower champagne again next year, that worked really well.
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Chimpie, UK grapes in greenhouses make perfectly drinkable wine. My neighbours vine grows over our fence so I’ve trained it through the greenhouse window and I take enough crop for about 5 bottles a year. They are very pale red so if I ferment on the skins I end up with a kind of Rose which is quite nice by spring time.
Elderflower champagne is great. Something went wrong with the elderberry wine if its smelled rancid. It does always take years to be really nice though, longer than almost anything else IMO.
Feel free to annoy me about brewing any time.
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DAB – Yes. Doomed. I worry about the scrum if Mako starts. Oz are looking really solild there and once Garces see’s something we could be pinged a lot. I hope we start Marler.
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Dova, a general point, make of it what you will.
Trolls don’t do personal attacks, the word Troll has been misused a lot since the old usenet days, it’s not someone who says, in this line of blog, your team is shite, or someone who has out-of proportion arguments, that is not trolling.
Trolling is all about deliberately disrupting a forum for whatever reason that person has, it’s usually long term and usually all about attention seeking behaviour – we are still talking about this after all.
Now this guy has had Cat doing work for him, work for which he was getting paid. He’s had Sag doing his day job for free for him, He’s deliberately targeted Ireland for years and used the most brutal , vile and violent language to describe watching a game of rugby played by them – a game of rugby ffs.
At the weekend he said that Scots didn’t care about deaths in Japan as long as the game went ahead. He’s repeatedly called for USA and Japan to replace Scotland as a T1 rugby country. That is just the latest, but it has followed the same pattern for years, the disturbance is sown, people are made angry and he gets called out on it. He then posts “faux reasonableness” underplaying his vitriol as the victim card.
He’s been asked to moderate his behaviour by even the most gentle contributors here, and several times too, not just by argumentative people like me.
He has refused and just kept ploughing on, there is another possible explanation for this behaviour and it’s not as kind as this all being deliberate, it’s all to do with not being able to receive “clue”
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Are we playing in that indoor hot and humid stadium?
If so we might as well not turn up. We’ll drop everything.
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fair enough Ticht. I’ve heard the label ‘troll’ many times but not really thought of a definition. I’d rather just see things as I see them than decide someone is one thing or another. I cannot argue for one second it’s not relentless, deliberate and bitter and more than anything wonder why people express themselves like that. there must be a reason, it can’t possibly be fun. I’d still favour patience and taking the rough with the smooth myself. And keeping the door open.
Anyway – I’m not for row with your good self. I’m in the minority and it’s not worth discussing if it sews discord where there was none previously.
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Dova, I hope it didn’t sound like I was arguing with you – this is one of the by products a Troll seeks.
If pro posts about the T2 nations he is interested in following and talks positively about them then great, no problem.
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My handover notes are a bit sparse. Im concerned that my 3 month break will make my boss think / realise, I’m not really needed…..
To be fair I’ve been pulling the wool over their eyes for 17 years so it’d be fair enough.
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I see Deebee missed home brewing off the list.
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Once we’ve got the house finished I’m going to start brewing beer.
I miss brewing beer. Haven’t been able to since the fire. It’s one of my activities that seemed to stop.
Pleasingly I’ve still got some left over from Before and it’s aged beautifully.
That’s the key. Patience.
Along with good sanitation and (imo) liquid yeast. The last part could just be getting a starter going beforehand but healthy yeast culture is essential.
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Elderberry wine – a student days staple………tree to glass in 4 weeks – tasted great but the headaches were legendary…………………
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Once you buy all the kit (are beer spheres still the thing?) how much does a 500ml bottle of beer cost to brew at home, approx.?
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ps ……………………………….shower was very nice, if you were wondering………………………….
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Georigie Fame?
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We made cider once, it came out at 11% – but you couldn’t taste the alcohol like you can with some strong ciders.
No one took our advice to only have half a pint, they just pigged it down as normal – very messy
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There’s an article on Rugbypass at the moment about teams – Aus, England, Wales and NZ – playing without “Proper 6s”. It’s very pleasing. “Proper 7s” we know don’t exist and now “Proper 6s” are being unelected out of existence.
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