Who do Wales & Ireland want to face - England or France?

First topic message reminder :

Wales v Ireland and England v France are probably both too close to call.

However, as an Irish fan IF we beat Wales, I hope England beat France. The reason being I think Ireland would have a much better chance of beating England. France has always been our bogey team and I imagine even if they are not playing well they would still beat us.

If Wales win, I imagine they might fancy their chances against France more so than England.

Who would English fans prefer their team to face IF they get past France?

Rava wrote:I want to play against England.

We do have a hang-up playing against France but really, of the teams left on this side of the draw, I think Ireland are the only ones who can beat England

Wales beat England last time they played and Ireland lost to them so that theory is not strictly true.

Glas a du wrote:It's crack, C R A C K.

Would you ever blydi feic off Taff!

We invented craic agus ceoil. Like WhiskEy. But ye English altered it to suit. Marketed that inferior product, via the down-trodden and Dependant - Scots, and made it yours to control.

We fought and won, our freedom from being ruled by w****ers. Ye lost. Accept that fact and move on.

We know the real Truth. WE are BOD's Choosen People.

I love you btw. Your accent is to die for.

We're so much craic that god had to put the English beside us just to balance it out.

Cymroglan wrote:

Rava wrote:I want to play against England.

We do have a hang-up playing against France but really, of the teams left on this side of the draw, I think Ireland are the only ones who can beat England

Wales beat England last time they played and Ireland lost to them so that theory is not strictly true.

cym Never let facts get in the way of a good WUM!

England in a RWC - are a nightmare to play against. Forget the 6-N. Means nothing down there. I want the French.

If we beat them in a SF, we are more than psychologically readied for the Saffers - in the Final.

The only way to be the best is to beat the best. France are a better team than Wales, Ireland or England. Everyone knows that.

Think bigger picture. In this Life, there are no shortcuts. None to benefit us long-term anyway.

I want the French. But England are a massive mental obstacle standing in the way of that.

Just like the French are to us.

Its time to change all that.

Believe.

Gibson, have you ever considered moving into a career in motivational speaking? Sure Bertie gets paid loads to go around world telling people how to not ruin a country. Surely you could make a few quid travelling around getting people to BELIEVE.

Weel Feckless. The voting has now gone from 85% vs 15%. To 50% vs 50%

Sooo, maybe. But, there has to be sex involved.

And I mean full-on. Berlusconi-style.

Bunga Bunga!

I want England, we beat them recently easily. We didnt have much ball. But we won well. They are predictable and easy to play against because of it.

But unfortunately France will most likely knock them out this weekend.

Still we do well against France so not worried who it is.

maestegmafia wrote:Still we do well against France so not worried who it is.

Is no wins in the last three attempts doing well?

I'm not sure if your two wins from eleven in the last decade sounds any better?


We've got a problem beating the French, but at least we're not delusional about it.

gelodge wrote:

maestegmafia wrote:Still we do well against France so not worried who it is.

Is no wins in the last three attempts doing well?

I'm not sure if your two wins from eleven in the last decade sounds any better?


We've got a problem beating the French, but at least we're not delusional about it.

haha very well put.

As an englishman; were we to beat France, I'd prefer to face Wales as opposed to Ireland in the SF. That being said I'm not too bothered. Either game would be massive and winnable for either team.

Boyne, you really are spoiling for a fight arent you? Yes, you have had the upper hand since 2003 but why dont you take your own advice and ignore the past games? Bitching and moaning wont get you anywhere. These things tend to cyclical. Perhaps its Irelands turn to actually achieve something other than the odd triple crown and single GS in godknowshowlong?

Fat stodgy England all day any day please

maestegmafia wrote:I want England, we beat them recently easily. We didnt have much ball. But we won well. They are predictable and easy to play against because of it.

But unfortunately France will most likely knock them out this weekend.

Still we do well against France so not worried who it is.

You have also lost the last 3 out of 4 meetings with England. But admittedly, your record over France is even worse.

I would normally always prefer to play England because France are clearly our bogey team BUT England in rugby are like the Germanys at football (they’ll love that comparison) they always seem to do enough to get through knockout tournaments, they might not set the world alight along the way but they are consistently up there in the latter stages.

If France win (which I don’t think they will) they’d have to pull a massive performance out of their hole. IF they do that, then they’ll probably be rubbish in the semi final. So by my twisted logic I’m going to say France.

Doesn't matter who we play. Either will be blydi tough in w world cup semi. Also if we get to the semi through Ireland then we have to be confident that we can beat anyone. I would enjoy watching Wales knock England out but I wouldn't be that confident that they could do it.

Glas a du wrote:It's crack, C R A C K.

No it's not,craic is gaelic.It means fun.
Crack is a type of cocaine that is cheap to manufacture and highly addictive.

maestegmafia wrote:I want England, we beat them recently easily. We didnt have much ball. But we won well. They are predictable and easy to play against because of it.

But unfortunately France will most likely knock them out this weekend.

Still we do well against France so not worried who it is.

Which rather ignores that Wales lost the previous 3 games against England, including the only 2 that were competitive.

Certainly Ireland must fancy their chances against England if we're basing this purely on previous record....but Wales?


Simplest way to look at this...whichever wins is likely to be the better side of the two, so youd want to be facing the other.

England

Gibson wrote:

Glas a du wrote:It's crack, C R A C K.

Would you ever blydi feic off Taff!

We invented craic agus ceoil. Like WhiskEy. But ye English altered it to suit. Marketed that inferior product, via the down-trodden and Dependant - Scots, and made it yours to control.

We fought and won, our freedom from being ruled by w****ers. Ye lost. Accept that fact and move on.

We know the real Truth. WE are BOD's Choosen People.

I love you btw. Your accent is to die for.

Gibson,

Calling a Welshman English is worse than being on the crack.

I'd rather play whoever wins the other quarter final. Just play whoever is in front of you and if you're good enough you'll get to the next stage. If not you go out.

I wouldn't expect you Welsh and Irish folk to understand that as you don't have the pedigree



EDIT: from a 'neutral' point of view I'd rather Wales got to semi as I'd prefer them to go further (for the missus)

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:
Certainly Ireland must fancy their chances against England if we're basing this purely on previous record?

No necessarily, no. I don't think previous head to head will count for much and would just as soon play France.

In fact I don't care as long as we get there !.

Who does NZ want to play out of SA and Australia. Australia can be similar to France for us, in terms of providing the unexpected. SA are like England in that you know what to expect but it´s a tough ask.

To me it´s like Sophie´s choice on that side of the draw. I think both Wales and Ireland would probably plump for a similar situation and go for England. You know what to expect even though you´d like to gamble and hopefully play a France flakier than a Flake bar. France the crumbliest, flakiest rugby team in the world who can in the blink of an eye turn into a Lion or Hero bar.

I think you want to go for the safe bet and go with a team you can prepare for. So for me it´s SA and I suspect for the other side of the draw it´s England.

roddersm wrote:

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:
Certainly Ireland must fancy their chances against England if we're basing this purely on previous record?

No necessarily, no. I don't think previous head to head will count for much and would just as soon play France.

In fact I don't care as long as we get there !.

Well quite, but thanks for taking that line out of context.



Id expect most Welsh would prefer to face France because it means that England are out

Either we can beat them both, its the Irish Im worried about.

I dont think many english fans care in honesty- whats the point saying oh id rather have the worse side- if you need help at every hurdle then you dont desrve the world cup.

I certainly dont- but all the same if we beat france i think we will be playing ireland- which will be an awesome game

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

Gibson wrote:

Glas a du wrote:It's crack, C R A C K.

Would you ever blydi feic off Taff!

We invented craic agus ceoil. Like WhiskEy. But ye English altered it to suit. Marketed that inferior product, via the down-trodden and Dependant - Scots, and made it yours to control.

We fought and won, our freedom from being ruled by w****ers. Ye lost. Accept that fact and move on.

We know the real Truth. WE are BOD's Choosen People.

I love you btw. Your accent is to die for.

Gibson,

Calling a Welshman English is worse than being on the crack.

Actually, The Welsh invented Whiskey

"The only way to be the best is to beat the best. France are a better team than Wales, Ireland or England. Everyone knows that"

noone knows that. what a silly comment- what have france ever done to suggest it. england allways thave the number on them- france may have what you may think are better players- but they are no team, and never a team for two games on the bounce..

Man you took yer time. That post was so full of WUMS I expected a few more reactions.

You are right Mysti, France have better players in their squad than most (on paper), but due to having an imbecile for a coach, they are in complete disarray.

I still expect a huge performance from them v England on Sat. They always have a least one, at every RWC. They haven't produced one yet. Not even close. I expect England to get it out of them but still beat them by at least a score.

The Wales v Ireland game? Ive no idea. The 2 form teams in the Cup (as well as NZ) so far. Both building momentum. Both capable of going all the way to the Final.

Its going to be huge.

"Its going to be huge." It'll be bigger than that Mr Gibson

It's just the warm-up game

Be some warm-up game Thunor. Could be the best one yet.

Ruby, I am schitting myself tbh, mo chara. Cant call it, but know it will be won and lost at the breakdown. 2 fantastic back rows going head to head. Our backlines are no slouches either. No weakness in either side. Could all go down to one kick, like the SLAM game in 2009.

Man, I could crush a grape.

Good luck Mr G and Remember "it's only a game"

I want to play Wales for two reasons.

1. We usually beat their forwards up and that's most of the war won.

2. Wales are part of the UK and I'd much rather have a UK side going through than a Euro side.

Rava wrote:I want to play against England.

We do have a hang-up playing against France but really, of the teams left on this side of the draw, I think Ireland are the only ones who can beat England

Yet last time out, we beat them and you lost - I think we would beat England if we get through but I think France will have to much for them

If Eng had to lose to anyone, I'd chose France. Best side never to win, would like to see them do it.

As I see it there are three nigh-on un-callable games in the quarters.

France are totally unpredictable and England may or may not be good enough.

The young, exciting turks of Wales v the battle-hardened old generals of Ireland.
The back-row battle is worth it in itself to make a contest worth watching.

And that's without considering the Oz v Saffer game.

Considering the semi line-up is like a child wondering about its Easter eggs before opening its Christmas presents.

Portnoy wrote:As I see it there are three nigh-on un-callable games in the quarters.

France are totally unpredictable and England may or may not be good enough.

The young, exciting turks of Wales v the battle-hardened old generals of Ireland.
The back-row battle is worth it in itself to make a contest worth watching.

And that's without considering the Oz v Saffer game.

Considering the semi line-up is like a child wondering about its Easter eggs before opening its Christmas presents.

That's a brilliant analogy Portnoy. Tiger

And less of the old re Ireland. We have 10 kids out there ourselves. With more on the bench in Cronin, Sexton & Trimble.

Along with our Generals, its the best mix you can get.

i am happy to call all 3 games.

england
ireland
south africa

does that mean i get my easter eggs?- i want a massive one like i saw in the m&s garage the other day(why the heck was it on show anyway)- jeas you have got me confussed. I am 33 really!

Mystir mate,



Its all I could get ya. Only shops open here were petrol stations... But its the thought that counts. Or summat like that.