Rugby World Cup Up & Running

LOL - have wales to reach te final @ 31/1

Gregbucks i thought id better go and check my eyesight on Monday, because i was positive i saw the ball curve in on Wales second penalty,but great news all round for S A .What a poor effort though from SA,they need a huge improvement to stand any chance on that poor performance.

SA was on the short end of the stick on many occasions. Let's not forget that controversial try by Irish fly-half Ronan O'Gara in 2004 when the NZ ref Paul Honiss gave John Smit time to talk to his players.



Wales captain Sam Warburton admitted that he had consulted referee Barnes about going to the TMO during a break in play shortly after Hook's disallowed penalty, but was phlegmatic about its importance.

"Even if the penalty had been given, it might have changed the mindset of the South Africans, and they could have come back," he said.

"It was in the first half, and there was still 60-odd minutes to go, so you can't blame the game on that. It's hard to say what would have happened."

Rugby365

We have enough cover at lock if you ask me.....Danie Rossouw can jump in the lineout as a second option, but Johan Muller is more than capable as well.

Habana needs to get some urgency.....and quickly......or his international career is over.

If Jean de Villiers does not get better soon, i reckon we might be suspect in the centre position, as we don't have much experienced backup there.

Bismark is showing Smit up in every single game, but the captain will start all the games. He better pull his socks up for the 50 minutes he's ganna play in each match

I never saw Spies in the whole match......more urgency needed there too

I know we have experienced players like Habana, Pietersen etc., but there are young up and coming players who have A LOT of urgency and i reckon they should have chosen some of them for the easier games

As suggested in my earlier post - the minnow sides, almost without exception, put up performances over the weekened which belied their rankings. Those of you who consistently punted the plus would have cleaned up.

Now beware! I am of the opinion that most sides come into these tournaments with a finite pool of emotional energy. It is doubtful whether the same degree of effort can be mustered on the back of relatively short turnaround periods. Furthermore - the 'weaker' sides generally have only a handful of top players in their sides and it becomes problematic as to when to rest them.

As an example - look at the first half performance of all of the lesser teams and compare it against their performances in the last quarter.

Going into the next round these teams might theoretically run onto the field with a hypothetical 20 minutes already under the belt and less of an ability to sustain the intensity they displayed for much of their opening fixtures. It is also important to note that they ( the 'weaker' sides ) target certain games as possible winning opportunities and may well capitulate in their next outings against a tier 1 nation.

All in all it was a highly entertaining weekend which should have produced excellent profit opportunities.

I was interested to note that one bookmaker offered a 'same horse' double on the SA vs Wales game : ie SA to win the match x SA to win the tournament. The 16/1 offering ( limited to a bet of no more than R1 million ) represented an excellent trading opportunity as you could probably have 'sold' SA this morning back to the same outlet at 8/1 and be sitting with a free bet on SA to win the tournament .

That bookmaker offered 16/1 on sa-13.5 and sa to win the tournament.

anyone up watching South West Africa?

i think FIJI are poor and that if SA run straight and keep ball in hand they will beat the spread

When i played Rugby the Kickers used to create a divet to kick the ball from ,now some of these Golf Tees they use look redic,where do they actually strike the ball these days?

Looks like 2nd row could be a problem area for Saturday?