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RBS Six Nations 2012 Schedule

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:12:48 +0000

Where the hell has January gone? It only seems like yesterday it was Christmas but here we are again already, anticipating the start of another years Six Nations action. With the way the World Cup went (anybody remember back that far?) we should be in for a tighter than tight tournament, the 2012 RBS Six Nations should be a belter.

This years Six Nations runs from Saturday the 3th of February through to Saturday the 17th of March. As always with the Six Nations there aren’t really any easy games but it will be really interesting this year to see if last years theme continues, where home advantage seemed to be massive and teams could go from being superb at home one week to utter crap away the next. We’ll see….

Six Nations 2012 Schedule

Saturday 4th Feb 12 14:30 France vs Italy
Saturday 4th Feb 12 17:00 Scotland vs England
Sunday 5th Feb 12 15:00 Ireland vs Wales
Saturday 11th Feb 12 16:00 Italy vs England
Saturday 11th Feb 12 20:00 France – Ireland
Sunday 12th Feb 12 15:00 Wales – Scotland
Saturday 25th Feb 12 13:30 Ireland – Italy
Saturday 25th Feb 12 16:00 England – Wales
Sunday 26th Feb 12 15:00 Scotland – France
Saturday 10th Mar 12 14:30 Wales – Italy
Saturday 10th Mar 12 17:00 Ireland – Scotland
Sunday 11th Mar 12 15:00 France – England
Saturday 17th Mar 12 12:30 Italy – Scotland
Saturday 17th Mar 12 14:45 Wales – France
Saturday 17th Mar 12 17:00 England – Ireland

You’ll notice no Friday evening games this year, that means you should be able to remember every game, or at least it means I will at least

RBS Six Nations 2012 Schedule is a post from: Live Rugby Online

Shane Williams Not Happy With Ospreys

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:31:10 +0000

With the Ospreys getting knocked out of Europe by Biarritz at least one of their players is less than impressed. Welsh wonder winger Shane Williams has slammed his own performance in a game where the Ospreys were outclassed from the very start.

Never one to mince his words Shane wasn’t shy in saying what he really thought of the Ospreys performance:-

“It was probably our worst performance in European rugby.”

“We have to give Biarritz some credit. They were really good with their No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy and scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili bossing the game.”

“They have got world-class players but we’re better than that display,” he explained to Wales Online.

“It just started badly for us and we couldn’t get into the game. No matter what we did, it didn’t come off.”

“My message to the players is: ‘pick your heads up, learn from the experience and make sure it doesn’t happen again’.”

“We’ve still got a lot to play for this season with the Pro 12. It’s up to us to make a mark in that.”

I don’t think there are too many Ospreys fans out there who would argue with Shane’s appraisal of the game, it’s going to be a long wait till they get to see top class European Rugby again.

Shane Williams Not Happy With Ospreys is a post from: Live Rugby Online

A Dire World Cup Final

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:24:22 +0000

Rugby is still not a popular sport in relative terms, when the viewing figures for the rugby world cup final get released I’d be amazed if they are even 10% of the football world cup or even the Super Bowl for that matter. The trouble is that Sundays final won’t do anything to help that popularity going forward.

I spent a lot of time telling a lot of people how good some of the games over the world cup were and how they should really watch the final. Even my wife for christs sake was up early, eager for her spot on the sofa. We had the perfect scenario in the hosts and rugby heroes, The All Blacks versus the shockingly bad French, a team that had knocked a piss poor England out but then beat Wales after the apparant injustice of Warburten being sent off. The French rear guard action for the majority of the semi final against 14 men did nothing for their popularity and a lot of people were tuning in to watch the final just to watch them get the stuffing they deserved. This was setup perfectly to introduce people to the joys, skill and physicality that rugby union can bring….and then the game happened.

Lets be honest, there were more big hits in the recent football world cup final! As for skill, the majority of the game was either spent with forwards scratching around on the ground or the ball being booted of for territory. It was almost like watching England! When the backs of either team did try and open it up we were treated to an array of misplaced passes or slips. Even the penalty kicking was crap. There was no spectacle, the only tension in the game was for the occasion, not the play, and I imagine the only people who enjoyed it were ex forwards who could have an excitement fit every time a counter ruck went in as if it was some masterstroke of actical play (hint – this doesn’t make good viewing). I’m a massive rugby fan and even I was struggling by half time to say something positive about it. Enthusiasm was ebbing. My wife had no chance and was off doing house work by the 30 minute mark.

It was a final and there were nerves, but there are also big questions being asked of the finances in the world game and the 2011 Rugby World Cup final will not have helped with the product they have to promote. The final words go to some of my friends on Facebook who I’d convinced to watch it:-

“RWC, worst world cup final in ANY sport EVER. And I’ve sat through the cricket world cup!!!”

“80 minutes of rolling around on the ground, what the hell do people see in rugby?”

A Dire World Cup Final is a post from: Live Rugby Online

2011 Rugby World Cup Schedule

admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:15:07 +0000

Apologies for not getting this up earlier, I thought it had already been posted. But anyway, here’s the full schedule for the 2011 Rugby World Cup with the home nations teams bolded so you can pick them out easily:-

Rugby World Cup Schedule

Group Games

9th September 09:30 New Zealand vs Tonga

10th September 02:00 Scotland vs Romania
10th September 04:30 Fiji vs Namibia
10th September 07:00 France vs Japan
10th September 09:30 Argentina vs England

11th September 04:30 Australia vs Italy
11th September 07:00 Ireland vs USA
11th September 09:30 South Africa vs Wales

14th September 03:30 Somoa vs Namibia
14th September 06:00 Tonga vs Canada
14th September 08:30 Scotland vs Georgia

15th September 08:30 Russia vs USA

16th September 09:00 New Zealand vs Japan

17th September 04:30 Argentina vs Romania
17th September 07:00 South Africa vs Fiji
17th September 09:30 Australia vs Ireland

18th September 04:30 Wales vs Samoa
18th September 07:00 England vs Georgia
18th September 09:30 France vs Canada

20th September 08:30 Italy vs Russia

21st September 08:30 Tonga vs Japan

22nd September 09:00 South Africa vs Namibia

23rd September 09:30 Australia vs USA

24th September 07:00 England vs Romania
24th September 09:30 New Zealand vs France

25th September 03:30 Fiji vs Samoa
25th September 06:00 Ireland vs Russia
25th September 08:30 Argentina vs Scotland

26th September 07:30 Wales vs Namibia

27th September 05:00 Canada vs Japan
27th September 07:30 Italy vs USA

28th September 07:30 Georgia vs Romania

30th September 08:30 South Africa vs Samoa

1st October 03:30 Australia vs Russia
1st October 06:00 France vs Tonga
1st October 08:30 England vs Scotland

2nd October 01:00 Argentina vs Georgia
2nd October 03:30 New Zealand vs Canada
2nd October 06:00 Wales vs Fiji
2nd October 08:30 Ireland vs Italy

Quarter Finals

8th October 06:00 Winner Group C vs Runner-Up Group D
8th October 08:30 Winner Group B vs Runner-Up Group A

9th October 06:00 Winner Group D vs Runner-Up Group C
9th October 08:30 Winner Group A vs Runner-Up Group B

Semi Finals

15th October 09:00 Winner QF1 vs Winner QF2

16th October 09:00 Winner QF3 vs Winner QF4

3rd 4th Play Off

21st October 08:30 Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2

Rugby World Cup Final

23rd October 09:00 Rugby World Cup Final

2011 Rugby World Cup Schedule is a post from: Live Rugby Online

Englands Cunning World Cup Plan

admin — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 15:07:33 +0000

It’s a plan so cunning that even master planner Baldrick would be proud of it. A plan so cunning that if the mayor of Cunnington in the county of Cunningshire announced that he had come up with it everybody would believe him. The plan is simple, to play in such a way in their first game that it fools every other team in the World Cup into believing that the English players are a bunch of ill disciplined, sluggish, sideways running, tackle missing amateurs. It worked.

Have you ever seen a team look so lethargic in their World Cup opening game? I’m thinking hard but to be honest I can’t, that had to be one of the worst performances by an English team at any world level championships…in any sport. It was dire to watch and I pity the fools at ITV who had the job of convincing us different. I’m not even going to start on what the players did wrong, frankly I don’t have the time nor the fingers for it. Besides I’m 100% sure they know in themselves that the performance levels were nowehere near good enough, they don’t need the insights of yet ANOTHER internet warrior to disect a crap performance.

It’s not all bad news though, England did actually win! Christ only knows how and for my money more through an inspired substitution, plenty of luck, a slightly dodgy (not) late tackle call and some wayward kicking by the Argentinians than anything else. But a win is win is a win, the points are the same whether you scrape by with a 4 point victory or are 50 points up. This game will leave Argentina more than likely needing a victory over Scotland to progress. Hopefully for the England fans sakes the second part of their cunning plan involves the players turning up with their game heads on for the next match and showing what they are really capable off, that would be tackling and breaking the line for a start!

I don’t think too many people imagined a group comprised of England, Scotland, Argentina and Romania earning the title “the group of death” before these first round games but right now that’s just about where we stand. Scotland were far from convincing, England were dire, Argentina looked very good for 65 minutes and Romania are not out of it. Could be a real crap shoot of a group with the runners up joyful in the knowledge that they’ll likely have to play New Zealand in the quarter finals, now that’s something to look forward to!

Englands Cunning World Cup Plan is a post from: Live Rugby Online

World Cup Opener – New Zealand vs Tonga

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:44:08 +0000

What a cracking game to come out of the draw for the kick-off of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The physical and skilful New Zealanders versus the big hitting Tongans, not only could we expect to see some smashtastic rugby but also the Haka and Sipi Tau going head to head. The last time this happened in a World Cup 8 years ago the atmosphere was a just a little bit special.

It was a bit of a surprise then that the first half passed by without too much in the form of big hits and big tempers. Dare I say that it was a very civilised affair? It took 37 minutes till there was even the first sign of hand bags and that was soon cleared up by the ref. For the most part the first half was dominated by powerful running by New Zealand breaking the Tongan line time after time. The Tongans weren’t doing themselves any favours by being so slow at the breakdown and the end result was a 29-3 lead for New Zealand, Kurt Morath with the penalty for Tonga right on half time. Standout moments of the first half were mainly courtesy of Sonny Bill Williams, some of his offloads in the tackle were outstanding and as a neutral it was a pleasure to watch an All Black team in full flow.

The second half was an altogether much tighter affair. After 50 minutes we got the first sequence of play that we were really expecting from the get go in this game, an amazing sequence of last ditch tackles stopping New Zealand from scoring what should have been a certain try. In fact it wasn’t until after 60 minutes that they did finally break through again. It was a second half that saw Tonga bringing out the big hits and the extra weight in the tackle seemed to put New Zealand off a bit as their handling errors increased, giving Tonga more possession. This started to pay off towards the end of the half and the Tongans were rightly rewarded with a try that came as the rsult of nearly 10 minutes of phase after phase pressure. All that was left was for New Zealand to score one more try in the last few minutes giving us the final score of 41-10 to New Zealand, I don’t think many people would have predicted that at the end of the first half!

A good game to open the 2011 Rugby World Cup, my man of the match is Jerome Kaino for New Zealand, nobody deserved his try more than him on the day.

World Cup Opener – New Zealand vs Tonga is a post from: Live Rugby Online

Tri Nations 2011

admin — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:04:17 +0000

The most competitive Rugby tournament outside of the world cup gets under way soon. When it comes to picking a Tri Nations winner your best best is normally to start flipping coins! Made up of the southern hemispheres Rugby Union monsters (New Zealand, Australia and South Africa) the Tri Nations attracts Rugby fans from all over the world. The games never disapoint and always contain just about the right level of physicality. Unlike some Six Nations games as well it tends to be more about running rugby and less punt and chase. It’s always hard to pick a winner when these three play.

Just to add that little bit of extra spice 2011 is of course a World Cup year and this years Tri Nations will act as come nice final preperation from the 3 times, all of which will also be well backed to win the Rugby World Cup as well. I think it’s fair to say that most Nortehrn Hemisphere neutrals would like to see New Zealand lift the Tri Nations (The All Blacks have a certain allure to those supporters whose team don’t have to play them) but it really is going to be very close.

Tri Nations 2011 Schedule

July 23, Australia vs South Africa
July 30, New Zealand vs South Africa
August 6, New Zealand vs Australia
August 13, South Africa vs Australia
August 20, South Africa vs New Zealand
August 27, Australia vs New Zealand

Viewing figures for the Tri Nations have increased over the last 3 tournaments so there should be good media coverage of this years games. Expect TV channels in most countries that have some interest in Rugby Union as well as extensive online coverage.

Tri Nations 2011 is a post from: Live Rugby Online

Chris Ashton – How To Take A Punch

admin — Thu, 19 May 2011 09:01:27 +0000

Whilst we would never condone the sort of violence that saw Manu Tuilagi swinging punches wildly at Chris Ashton (Tuilagi has since been banned for 5 weeks) we do have to applaud Chris Ashton for his response. If there is such a thing as a way to take a punch with dignity the Chris sure as hell showed it, not to mention the fact the he stayed firmly on his feet.

Perhaps a lesson could be learnt here by the never ending line of football stars that are happy to role around crying on the floor at the mearest indication that somebody has got within 2 feet of their oh so beautiful face. Chris Ashton on the other hand was fair belted at least once (twice if the first one connected) by somebody who is not exactly your average sized bloke.

We know a lot of old school rugby fans aren’t exactly big fans of Chris Ashton and some of the things he says and does but you’ve got to at least applaud the manliness skills.

Chris Ashton – How To Take A Punch is a post from: Live Rugby Online

When The Ref Wrecks The Game

admin — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:08:56 +0000

Respect, respect, respect. The referee is never wrong, right? Well not right actually. Respect is not a god given right, even for referees (who are actually paid to do the job these days), it is something which has to be earned.

I think anybody who actually witnessed the Hull Castleford game should have a lot of sympathy for Richard Agar but of course they won’t. This is rugby, the referee can do no wrong. It is blasphomy to even suggest that the man paid to do a job in the middle isn’t actually up to it.

Of course we don’t want to see football style players crying and screaming at the ref during the game but there has to be a system in place that allows club officials to question the ability of a referee in an open and honest way. After all, it is a job and if you’re crap at your job maybe it’s time to look for something different?! No hard feelings, it’s just some people aren’t up to it. (I’ll duck now!!)

Richard Agar Says What He Thinks Of James Child

When The Ref Wrecks The Game is a post from: Live Rugby Online

Crusaders vs Sharks At Twickenham

admin — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:37:19 +0000

Super 15 rugby made its way into the northern hemisphere for the first time as the Crusaders played the Sharks at Twickenham for the benefit of the Christchurch earthquake victims. A noble thing to do indeed and one I’m sure which will live in the hearts of rugby fans for a long time, what an amazing game it was!

The first half was dominated by a virtuoso performance by Dan Carter for the Crusaders and the quality of the tries scored was unbelievable. This one finished off by Dagg was great but not even the best!

At half time it looked like the game was over but a much improved Sharks display in the second half limited the Crusaders opportunities with the final score ending at 44-28 to the Crusaders. Much closer than most would have thought but the typical dogged performance of the Sharks in the second half deserved plenty of credit.

Overall it was a game that highlighted to the majestic running rugby that is played in the Super 15′s, it really was a treat. 9 tries, yes 9 tries! Sky Sports show regular matches of the Super 15s in the UK and if you’re a rugby fan it’s worth a subscription for that coverage alone.

Crusaders vs Sharks At Twickenham is a post from: Live Rugby Online