Wales v Fiji, 1 October

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WALES v FIJI
1 October 2015
KO: 16:45
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Live on [tbc]

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Touch judges: Jérôme Garcès (France) & Mathieu Raynal (France)
Television match official: George Ayoub (Australia)

A. Head to Head

10 Played 10
8 Won 1
1 Drawn 1
1 Lost 8
306 Points 132

B. Recent Form

15 November 2014
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
17 – 13 to Wales

2 October 2011
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand
66 – 0 to Wales

19 November 2010
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
16 – 16 Draw

29 September 2007
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France
34 – 38 to Fiji

11 November 2005
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
11 – 10 to Wales

9 November 2002
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
58 – 14 to Wales

C. Teams

WALES

Matthew Morgan, Alex Cuthbert, Tyler Morgan, Jamie Roberts, George North, Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Taulupe Faletau, Sam Warburton (captain), Dan Lydiate, Alun-Wyn Jones, Bradley Davies, Tomas Francis, Scott Baldwin, Gethin Jenkins.

Reserves: Ken Owens, Aaron Jarvis, Samson Lee, Luke Charteris, Justin Tipuric, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, James Hook.

FIJI

Metuisela Talebula, Timoci Nagusa, Vereniki Goneva, Lepani Botia, Asaeli Tikoirotuma, Ben Volavola, Nemia Kenatale; Netani Talei, Akapusi Qera (captain), Dominiko Waqaniburotu, Leone Nakarawa, Tevita Cavubati, Manasa Saulo, Sunia Koto, Campese Ma'afu.

Reserves: Viliame Veikoso, Peni Ravia, Leeroy Atalifo, Nemia Soqeta, Malakai Ravulo, Henry Seniloli, Joshua Matavesi, Kini Murimurivalu.

Griff wrote:

chris_501 wrote:

Griff wrote:Well, Fiji are our bogey team. All teams have them. So I'm glad to come through against them with a win. Not the extra point we wanted, but if I was offered the chance of going into the final game unbeaten before the tournament, and now with all of our injuries, then I would have gladly accepted.

Are Australia not our bogey team?

No, they're just better than us! I tend to think of bogey teams as those teams ranked a fair way below us that other teams seem to beat fairly easily but which we always struggle against. Fiji and Samoa for us.

Not many teams would be Fiji easily at the moment

mckay1402 wrote:John lacey was an embarrassment.  Might as well have been wearing a Wales shirt...and I'm a Wales fan

I get the feeling Mikey wouldn't agree with you ...

mikey_dragon wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:Hang on your scrum has been utter tripe in every game,you can't blame the ref for that

It isn't the only scrum I heard: http://m.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11521968

Come on every front row cheat to some extent, watch the current Ozzie front row, as bad as us northern hemisphere lot now.

Heaf wrote:

mckay1402 wrote:John lacey was an embarrassment.  Might as well have been wearing a Wales shirt...and I'm a Wales fan

I get the feeling Mikey wouldn't agree with you ...

Has he ever agreed with anyone?

Why does that feel like a loss?
and yet again we have a non neutral official through an Australian TMO. how difficult is it to ensure all the officials at each game have no vested interest, very sloppy organisation. the main complaint for me with him was ignoring high tackle after high tackle from Fiji after calling Bradley up for a neck roll where his right arm was clearly under the arm of the Fijian 8.

Wales really missed the likes of Scott Williams and Sanjay as an attacking threat, once the rolling maul was shown to be ineffective due to Lacey's decision to call "that's once" against either side as soon as it was set up meant it became a pointless exercise and left us with no real attacking threat.
Constantly putting high balls up for Cuthbert who couldn't catch a cold was completely pointless and after the initial break in the opening minutes North seemed pretty anonymous through most of the game.
Overall a really frustrating performance with the MOM award going to the wrong team never mind the wrong player, I'm a fan of Cawdor but todays MOM was undoubtedly the Fijian 11 for me.
Decent recovery time and a winner takes all game against Australia it is then... oh heck.

Heaf wrote:

mckay1402 wrote:John lacey was an embarrassment.  Might as well have been wearing a Wales shirt...and I'm a Wales fan

I get the feeling Mikey wouldn't agree with you ...

I don't agree either, Fiji got away with blue murder at the break down while Wales didn't throw a single line out straight. The referee was shocking and way out of his depth at this level. All he did was ruin the game and cause a lot of frustration for everyone.

You can argue the toss about Jenkins or the penalty machine that is James, or frankly any of our props or hookers. Fact is we don't have world class front row players at the moment - we barely have good test level players. Our backs have been dropping like flies but it is the front row that determine where we get in this competition.

carpet baboon wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:Hang on your scrum has been utter tripe in every game,you can't blame the ref for that

It isn't the only scrum I heard: http://m.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11521968

Come on every front row cheat to some extent, watch the current Ozzie front row, as bad as us northern hemisphere lot now.

I know - and if players are boring in with the ref not doing anything about it then WE CAN blame the ref, especially when the same happened on some occasions today. Our scrum was really poor though and the Fijian scrum, surprisingly, looked very powerful. As for you England fans it appears some of you* need reminding who you lost to on the weekend at YOUR world cup.

*the ones who still have available Wi-Fi. It appears a number of fans have somehow lost it since Saturday...

mckay1402 wrote:John lacey was an embarrassment.  Might as well have been wearing a Wales shirt...and I'm a Wales fan

Really? I'm trying not to look through my red dragon tinted spectacles but my memory of the game is that Fiji won a hell of a lot of penalties. Many more than Wales. So saying he should have been wearing a Wales shirt, implying he was very much pro Wales, seems a little odd.

2ndtimeround wrote:Why does that feel like a loss?
and yet again we have a non neutral official through an Australian TMO. how difficult is it to ensure all the officials at each game have no vested interest, very sloppy organisation. the main complaint for me with him was ignoring high tackle after high tackle from Fiji after calling Bradley up for a neck roll where his right arm was clearly under the arm of the Fijian 8.

Wales really missed the likes of Scott Williams and Sanjay as an attacking threat, once the rolling maul was shown to be ineffective due to Lacey's decision to call "that's once" against either side as soon as it was set up meant  it became a pointless exercise and left us with no real attacking threat.
Constantly putting high balls up for Cuthbert who couldn't catch a cold was completely pointless and after the initial break in the opening minutes North seemed pretty anonymous through most of the game.
Overall a really frustrating performance with the MOM award going to the wrong team never mind the wrong player, I'm a fan of Cawdor but todays MOM was undoubtedly the Fijian 11 for me.
Decent recovery time and a winner takes all game against Australia it is then... oh heck.

Don't agree. If the IRB really are clamping down on that sort of tackle, I think Bradley is lucky to escape a yellow.

Think a few of you are being a bit harsh on your own team today. Wales are just after having played England in what was a brutal game, and then for them to take on Fiji after a short turnaround is no easy task, whatever about brutal training regimes. Fiji also deserve a lot of credit for making it such a close game today.

mikey_dragon wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:Hang on your scrum has been utter tripe in every game,you can't blame the ref for that

It isn't the only scrum I heard: http://m.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11521968

Come on every front row cheat to some extent, watch the current Ozzie front row, as bad as us northern hemisphere lot now.

I know - and if players are boring in with the ref not doing anything about it then WE CAN blame the ref, especially when the same happened on some occasions today. Our scrum was really poor though and the Fijian scrum, surprisingly, looked very powerful. As for you England fans it appears some of you* need reminding who you lost to on the weekend at YOUR world cup.

*the ones who still have available Wi-Fi. It appears a number of fans have somehow lost it since Saturday...

On some occasions, yes. On most the Fijians were tight got low and just went straight. Amazing what you can do when you forget about dark arts and just get on with it.

Well, can't say I enjoyed watching that. Warburton says it was one of the hardest test matches he's ever played in, and it was one of the hardest to watch!

Well, we won - which is the main thing. But I will be kneeling at the end of my bed praying for Dan Biggar's fitness tonight.

Bonus point was never really on - Fiji were playing far too well, and what's done is done. It was physical as hell and the five-day turnaround was evident to see on our boys. Our scrum is clearly in a trouble, but I honestly think that was as much down to energy levels as anything.

For Wales, I thought Matthew Morgan was brilliant, Biggar, AW Jones, Roberts, Davies and Chateris were very good. The players really looked tired, though. Priestland did very well when he had to come one. If Biggar is out, Hook has to be in the side as our kicker, though.
Cuthbert has no place in this squad. I was praying for him to have a score to build his confidence, but the man has not only the yips but has become a huge liability. I'd prefer anyone else in the squad on the wing right now.

Bravo Fiji - they really played well and it was a frickin tough match.

Whatever happens in Twickers on Saturday, I hope Biggar is fit and we have enough backs left standing to give Oz a good game.

Oh, and it's not as if Tyler Morgan disgraced himself, but JD2 and Scott Williams are MASSIVE losses for us. By far the biggest issue we have with injuries.

Munchkin wrote:Don't agree. If the IRB really are clamping down on that sort of tackle, I think Bradley is lucky to escape a yellow.

Think a few of you are being a bit harsh on your own team today. Wales are just after having played England in what was a brutal game, and then for them to take on Fiji after a short turnaround is no easy task, whatever about brutal training regimes. Fiji also deserve a lot of credit for making it such a close game today,

Bradleys tackle was not worse than any of the others that have been penalised at this world cup, to think it was a yellow was a joke, it's been like all the others, the players gets taken high then rolled over.

I don't think people would be annoyed if it look like Wales tried or gave their all, but at times today they cut through us like a knife through butter. We had their locks outpacing our backs and at times. Our players looked like they couldn't be bothered to put the tackles in. I got sick and tired of their players walking into ours and us bouncing off them. The scrum still hasn't been fixed after all the weeks and it will be what knocks us out of this tournament. The only players capable of making sure that their players didn't make ground in contact was our back row. We were also very slow in supporting the player going to ground and lost so many turn overs simply because our players weren't supporting the ball carrier properly. I give Fiji credit, but Wales have taken a lot of steps back with that game, awful performance.

First of all a very well don to Wales for a great game and a great win. but no bonus point. But a huge credit for the pressure FIJI put them under.

I thought Mathew Morgan had a great game at full back. Was very surprised when they took him off when Hook came on, thought they would of taken Biggar off before they had too. Then move Hook to full back when Priestland came on.

Gareth Davis Man of the Match, will not argue with that at all.

Has Alex Cuthbert done enough tonight to cement a place in the team?

All in all a great win for Wales.

But full credit to FIJI, they really wanted to win this game. May be if they had a better goal kicker the score might of been tighter than it was.

mikey_dragon wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:Hang on your scrum has been utter tripe in every game,you can't blame the ref for that

It isn't the only scrum I heard: http://m.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11521968

Come on every front row cheat to some extent, watch the current Ozzie front row, as bad as us northern hemisphere lot now.

I know - and if players are boring in with the ref not doing anything about it then WE CAN blame the ref, especially when the same happened on some occasions today. Our scrum was really poor though and the Fijian scrum, surprisingly, looked very powerful. As for you England fans it appears some of you* need reminding who you lost to on the weekend at YOUR world cup.

*the ones who still have available Wi-Fi. It appears a number of fans have somehow lost it since Saturday...

What's all that about - I don't think I've seen any England fans saying anything about England performing better than Wales so what's the relevance here? Nice of England to let Wales have a home game though if it's their world cup.

MarcusHalberstram wrote:If Biggar is out, Hook has to be in the side as our kicker, though.

Christ how can anyone say Hook has to be in the side after today and all his previous stints in a Wales jersey. What are you watching?

I hope Biggar isn't out but if he is then it's Priestland to start with Anscombe and Morgan on the bench which is the logical choice. Say no more.

That was a short turn around for many Welsh players. I know they are supremely fit but give them a break. They got the win and are still in the fight with a massive game to come next week.

majesticimperialman wrote:But full credit to FIJI, they really wanted to win this game. May be if they had a better goal kicker the score might of been tighter than it was.

If Wales had a scrum the score wouldn't have been close at all, all their points came from mistakes on our own scrums. This was despite being nearly an full adult heavier than them in combined weights. The second penalty was a clear example of this. We need to start with Sampson Lee and Paul James against Australia to have any hope.

MarcusHalberstram wrote:Oh, and it's not as if Tyler Morgan disgraced himself, but JD2 and Scott Williams are MASSIVE losses for us. By far the biggest issue we have with injuries.

I've not seen Morgan before but I was impressed ... thought he played really well.

Heaf wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:Hang on your scrum has been utter tripe in every game,you can't blame the ref for that

It isn't the only scrum I heard: http://m.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11521968

Come on every front row cheat to some extent, watch the current Ozzie front row, as bad as us northern hemisphere lot now.

I know - and if players are boring in with the ref not doing anything about it then WE CAN blame the ref, especially when the same happened on some occasions today. Our scrum was really poor though and the Fijian scrum, surprisingly, looked very powerful. As for you England fans it appears some of you* need reminding who you lost to on the weekend at YOUR world cup.

*the ones who still have available Wi-Fi. It appears a number of fans have somehow lost it since Saturday...

What's all that about - I don't think I've seen any England fans saying anything about England performing better than Wales so what's the relevance here?  Nice of England to let Wales have a home game though if it's their world cup.

It's aimed at the England fans latching onto Fiji, it's no surprise if I'm honest. It's also aimed at the posters who have previously delighted in calling Gethin Jenkins a scrum cheat - after the weekend they're nowhere to be seen .

IT'S CRAMP!!! BIGGAR ONLY HAD CRAMP!!!! Well, according to Gatland - let's hope he's right! I really hope Lydiate is okay - but I think that even if he had to play with a glass eye, he would!

Gatland: "We’ve got some sore, battered bodies at the moment, but we look like we’re okay.
Dan Biggar just had cramp. Lydaite got a knock in the eye socket, but we haven’t had that assessed."
Matthew Morgan had a bit of blurred vision - (Was it a knock to the head?) Absolutely not."

Heaf wrote:What's all that about - I don't think I've seen any England fans saying anything about England performing better than Wales so what's the relevance here?  Nice of England to let Wales have a home game though if it's their world cup.

Wales have a LEGALLY Binding agreement that was signed in 1999. If ANY 6 nations country bids for a World Cup then they HAVE to include Cardiff in their bid, as Wales allowed all the other countries to do so in their 1999 World Cup. England didn't let Wales do anything, it's enshrined in a legally binding contract that runs until the end of time.
Read Graham Henrys autobiography if you want the details of the deal he described it as a master stroke by the WRU in the negotiations when countries wanted to host pools in the 1999 tournament.

Shifty wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Don't agree. If the IRB really are clamping down on that sort of tackle, I think Bradley is lucky to escape a yellow.

Think a few of you are being a bit harsh on your own team today. Wales are just after having played England in what was a brutal game, and then for them to take on Fiji after a short turnaround is no easy task, whatever about brutal training regimes. Fiji also deserve a lot of credit for making it such a close game today,

Bradleys tackle was not worse than any of the others that have been penalised at this world cup, to think it was a yellow was a joke, it's been like all the others, the players gets taken high then rolled over.  

I don't think people would be annoyed if it look like Wales tried or gave their all, but at times today they cut through us like a knife through butter.   We had their locks outpacing our backs and at times.  Our players looked like they couldn't be bothered to put the tackles in.  I got sick and tired of their players walking into ours and us bouncing off them.    The scrum still hasn't been fixed after all the weeks and it will be what knocks us out of this tournament.  The only players capable of making sure that their players didn't make ground in contact was our back row.  We were also very slow in supporting the player going to ground and lost so many turn overs simply because our players weren't supporting the ball carrier properly.  I give Fiji credit, but Wales have taken a lot of steps back with that game, awful performance.  

Bradley pulled him down by the neck. Maybe it is a joke to you, and maybe you think such dangerous play isn't worthy of being carded. That's your choice.

Now, read my comment again: "If the IRB are really clamping down...."  true that a lot of high tackles have passed without notice. Some noticed but only a penalty given. If the IRB were serious about that sort of tackle then yellow cards should be issued.

All the things you're complaining about seems to be evidence of fatigue. Fatigue as a result of having been involved in a brutal game just 5 days ago, and now being pitched against a hard hitting Fiji, and those hits were hard. So stick a smile on it. Your team have just won two tough games, and have put themselves into a great position to make the quarters.

Why on earth am I defending Wales against welsh fans

I'm going for a cup of tea... or maybe psychotherapy

Not sure what you mean by latching onto Fiji either - I think you have to give them fair credit for making a good game of it (and against England and Australia too) - I think in some other pools they would have been in with a fair chance of getting out of the pool ...

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:What's all that about - I don't think I've seen any England fans saying anything about England performing better than Wales so what's the relevance here?  Nice of England to let Wales have a home game though if it's their world cup.

Wales have a LEGALLY Binding agreement that was signed in 1999.  If ANY 6 nations country bids for a World Cup then they HAVE to include Cardiff in their bid, as Wales allowed all the other countries to do so in their 1999 World Cup.  England didn't let Wales do anything, it's enshrined in a legally binding contract that runs until the end of time.  
Read Graham Henrys autobiography if you want the details of the deal he described it as a master stroke by the WRU in the negotiations when countries wanted to host pools in the 1999 tournament.  

I didn't seriously think England were being nice - I wasn't aware of the reason behind it though

Munchkin wrote:Bradley pulled him down by the neck. Maybe it is a joke to you, and maybe you think such dangerous play isn't worthy of being carded. That's your choice.

Now, read my comment again: "If the IRB are really clamping down...."  true that a lot of high tackles have passed without notice, Some noticed but only a penalty given. If the IRB were serious about that sort of tackle then yellow cards should be issued.

All the things you're complaining about seems to evidence of fatigue. Fatigue as a result of having been involved in a brutal game just 5 days ago, and now being pitched against a hard hitting Fiji, and those hits were hard. So stick a smile on it. Your team have just won two tough games, and have put themselves into a great position to make the quarters.

Why on earth am I defending Wales against welsh fans

I'm going for a cup of tea... or maybe psychotherapy

Why suddenly award yellow cards just because Wales actually did one of those tackles, when ALL of the others that have happened in nearly all the other pool games at some point during games just had a penalty and a quiet word?  
Bradley didn't try and remove his head which is pretty much standard practice in what is termed the "Irish choke tackle" to gain possession from a maul to stop the opposing player going to ground to set the ruck up.  I'm not ever sure this type of take out is really worth a penalty it's no different to a side ways roll with the head tucked in really.

Always call for the ref being biased for Wales after the game Wales win.


Lots of nervous English fans I'm going to assume.

Shifty wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:But full credit to FIJI, they really wanted to win this game. May be if they had a better goal kicker the score might of been tighter than it was.

If Wales had a scrum the score wouldn't have been close at all, all their points came from mistakes on our own scrums.  This was despite being nearly an full adult heavier than them in combined weights.  The second penalty was a clear example of this.  We need to start with Sampson Lee and Paul James against Australia to have any hope.  

What about their try?

Heaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:But full credit to FIJI, they really wanted to win this game. May be if they had a better goal kicker the score might of been tighter than it was.

If Wales had a scrum the score wouldn't have been close at all, all their points came from mistakes on our own scrums.  This was despite being nearly an full adult heavier than them in combined weights.  The second penalty was a clear example of this.  We need to start with Sampson Lee and Paul James against Australia to have any hope.  

What about their try?

From a missed tackle weren't it? One of many by Wales.

Taking nothing from Fiji, I still feel that was sloppy from Wales. I understand the fatigue and injury situation, but we made a lot of errors. Forget the questionable decisions - we have a REAL scrum problem. We really needed 5 points from that and I feel it will come back to haunt us.

IronMike wrote:Always call for the ref being biased for Wales after the game Wales win.


Lots of nervous English fans I'm going to assume.

Not sure where you saw that - the one that said he should have been wearing a Wales shirt was Welsh! IMO the ref was poor all round ...

Heaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:What's all that about - I don't think I've seen any England fans saying anything about England performing better than Wales so what's the relevance here?  Nice of England to let Wales have a home game though if it's their world cup.

Wales have a LEGALLY Binding agreement that was signed in 1999.  If ANY 6 nations country bids for a World Cup then they HAVE to include Cardiff in their bid, as Wales allowed all the other countries to do so in their 1999 World Cup.  England didn't let Wales do anything, it's enshrined in a legally binding contract that runs until the end of time.  
Read Graham Henrys autobiography if you want the details of the deal he described it as a master stroke by the WRU in the negotiations when countries wanted to host pools in the 1999 tournament.  

I didn't seriously think England were being nice - I wasn't aware of the reason behind it though

I did read that England wanted to bid without Cardiff being involved and the WRU told them no, and that was the end of it. I do agree that the contract shouldn't run forever but everyone agreed to it back in 1999 so what can you do? In reality Wales, Scotland and Ireland can't be sole bidders for a World Cup because they don't have the stadia.

One interesting thing to note is France hosted the 2007 World Cup yet when they played New Zealand in the quarters they played New Zealand in Cardiff. the "host" nation played away basically...

I have no problem with the penalty for the neck roll, Bradley knows he is not supposed to do it, anything that protects the players has to be good. What I do have a problem with is the constant tinkering and reinterpretation of the Laws that annoys me. We need the Laws to be interpreted in a way that always protects the players.

Can't blame us wanting Fiji to do well considering last Sats debacle ;-) Only saw the second half and enjoyed Fiji's purple patch but Wales deserved the win. What chances Fiji had they butcherd at the breakdown constantly diving in off their feet. Btw....Cuthbert. Can he get any worse?

Shifty wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Bradley pulled him down by the neck. Maybe it is a joke to you, and maybe you think such dangerous play isn't worthy of being carded. That's your choice.

Now, read my comment again: "If the IRB are really clamping down...."  true that a lot of high tackles have passed without notice, Some noticed but only a penalty given. If the IRB were serious about that sort of tackle then yellow cards should be issued.

All the things you're complaining about seems to evidence of fatigue. Fatigue as a result of having been involved in a brutal game just 5 days ago, and now being pitched against a hard hitting Fiji, and those hits were hard. So stick a smile on it. Your team have just won two tough games, and have put themselves into a great position to make the quarters.

Why on earth am I defending Wales against welsh fans

I'm going for a cup of tea... or maybe psychotherapy

Why suddenly award yellow cards just because Wales actually did one of those tackles, when ALL of the others that have happened in nearly all the other pool games at some point during games just had a penalty and a quiet word?  
Bradley didn't try and remove his head which is pretty much standard practice in what is termed the "Irish choke tackle" to gain possession from a maul to stop the opposing player going to ground to set the ruck up.  I'm not ever sure this type of take out is really worth a penalty it's no different to a side ways roll with the head tucked in really.

Erm sorry to get in the way of your tragic mix of hysteria and paranoia, but didn't England's Tom Wood get a yellow card for the exact same action in the opening game of the RWC?

yappysnap wrote:...didn't England's Tom Wood get a yellow card for the exact same action in the opening game of the RWC?

Don't think he did. He got a retrospective yellow for smashing Liam Williams.

Oh and comparing the first and second half performances you really have to question the shortened turn around. Wales came out well on top in the first half, making breaks all over the shop and carrying hard they also made 1 handling error in 40 mins which is amazing! 10 mins into the second half and it was like a different team was on the pitch.

The IRB must change the format of this competition.

yappysnap wrote:Erm sorry to get in the way of your tragic mix of hysteria and paranoia, but didn't England's Tom Wood get a yellow card for the exact same action in the opening game of the RWC?

Bloody hell I forgot to put the cheque in the post to the referee for that one, thanks for reminding me...
No seriously if your right then I stand corrected.

Well done Fiji. A great game

Really enjoyed it.

That Nagusa is some player.

Shifty wrote:

yappysnap wrote:Erm sorry to get in the way of your tragic mix of hysteria and paranoia, but didn't England's Tom Wood get a yellow card for the exact same action in the opening game of the RWC?

Bloody hell I forgot to put the cheque in the post to the referee for that one, thanks for reminding me...
No seriously if your right then I stand corrected.  

Don't apologise, only yellow card listed for that game was against Matawalu.
http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/match/14184#latest

Shifty wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Bradley pulled him down by the neck. Maybe it is a joke to you, and maybe you think such dangerous play isn't worthy of being carded. That's your choice.

Now, read my comment again: "If the IRB are really clamping down...."  true that a lot of high tackles have passed without notice, Some noticed but only a penalty given. If the IRB were serious about that sort of tackle then yellow cards should be issued.

All the things you're complaining about seems to evidence of fatigue. Fatigue as a result of having been involved in a brutal game just 5 days ago, and now being pitched against a hard hitting Fiji, and those hits were hard. So stick a smile on it. Your team have just won two tough games, and have put themselves into a great position to make the quarters.

Why on earth am I defending Wales against welsh fans

I'm going for a cup of tea... or maybe psychotherapy

Why suddenly award yellow cards just because Wales actually did one of those tackles, when ALL of the others that have happened in nearly all the other pool games at some point during games just had a penalty and a quiet word?  
Bradley didn't try and remove his head which is pretty much standard practice in what is termed the "Irish choke tackle" to gain possession from a maul to stop the opposing player going to ground to set the ruck up.  I'm not ever sure this type of take out is really worth a penalty it's no different to a side ways roll with the head tucked in really.

Oh for goodness sake. I wasn't picking on the Welsh. I praised them for their performance v England, and I have defended the fact that they might not have been at their best because of fatigued, in this game. Try not to be so precious, and forget about the 'whataboutery' (Irish choke tackles).

The point of saying "if the IRB was clamping down on that sort of tackle" was that if they were then the tackle would have been worth a yellow card. It would have been worth a yellow card because it was dangerous, regardless of your spin on it. I have also stated that some high tackles have been penalised and not carded. I didn't say they we not deserving of a yellow 'if the IRB are serious about clamping down on those sort of tackles.

Yes it was definitely worth a penalty. Maybe you should try looking with the other eye.

Enough from me. I will leave you to enjoy arguing with someone else about anything else.

I thought it was a yellow card

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:What's all that about - I don't think I've seen any England fans saying anything about England performing better than Wales so what's the relevance here?  Nice of England to let Wales have a home game though if it's their world cup.

Wales have a LEGALLY Binding agreement that was signed in 1999.  If ANY 6 nations country bids for a World Cup then they HAVE to include Cardiff in their bid, as Wales allowed all the other countries to do so in their 1999 World Cup.  England didn't let Wales do anything, it's enshrined in a legally binding contract that runs until the end of time.  
Read Graham Henrys autobiography if you want the details of the deal he described it as a master stroke by the WRU in the negotiations when countries wanted to host pools in the 1999 tournament.  

I didn't seriously think England were being nice - I wasn't aware of the reason behind it though

I did read that England wanted to bid without Cardiff being involved and the WRU told them no, and that was the end of it.  I do agree that the contract shouldn't run forever but everyone agreed to it back in 1999 so what can you do?  In reality Wales, Scotland and Ireland can't be sole bidders for a World Cup because they don't have the stadia.  

One interesting thing to note is France hosted the 2007 World Cup yet when they played New Zealand in the quarters they played New Zealand in Cardiff.  the "host" nation played away basically...

Very strange ... I wonder how that came about - can't believe the French would have wanted it that way.

Heaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:What's all that about - I don't think I've seen any England fans saying anything about England performing better than Wales so what's the relevance here?  Nice of England to let Wales have a home game though if it's their world cup.

Wales have a LEGALLY Binding agreement that was signed in 1999.  If ANY 6 nations country bids for a World Cup then they HAVE to include Cardiff in their bid, as Wales allowed all the other countries to do so in their 1999 World Cup.  England didn't let Wales do anything, it's enshrined in a legally binding contract that runs until the end of time.  
Read Graham Henrys autobiography if you want the details of the deal he described it as a master stroke by the WRU in the negotiations when countries wanted to host pools in the 1999 tournament.  

I didn't seriously think England were being nice - I wasn't aware of the reason behind it though

I did read that England wanted to bid without Cardiff being involved and the WRU told them no, and that was the end of it.  I do agree that the contract shouldn't run forever but everyone agreed to it back in 1999 so what can you do?  In reality Wales, Scotland and Ireland can't be sole bidders for a World Cup because they don't have the stadia.  

One interesting thing to note is France hosted the 2007 World Cup yet when they played New Zealand in the quarters they played New Zealand in Cardiff.  the "host" nation played away basically...

Very strange ... I wonder how that came about - can't believe the French would have wanted it that way.

It happened because France lost to Argentina in the pool stages and finished up runners up in their group. Argentina actually creamed France a second time in the 3/4 place play off, with something like a 25 point margin.

How bad is Biggar. Was it an injurie or just cramp?

He did not look to comfortable when he went off?

Munchkin wrote:Oh for goodness sake. I wasn't picking on the Welsh. I praised them for their performance v England, and I have defended the fact that they might not have been at their best because of fatigued, in this game. Try not to be so precious, and forget about the 'whataboutery' (Irish choke tackles).

The point of saying "if the IRB was clamping down on that sort of tackle" was that if they were then the tackle would have been worth a yellow card. It would have been worth a yellow card because it was dangerous, regardless of your spin on it. I have also stated that some high tackles have been penalised and not carded. I didn't say they we not deserving of a yellow 'if the IRB are serious about clamping down on those sort of tackles.

Yes it was definitely worth a penalty. Maybe you should try looking with the other eye.

Enough from me. I will leave you to enjoy arguing with someone else about anything else.

The ref was Irish I was keeping my good eye on him...

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:What's all that about - I don't think I've seen any England fans saying anything about England performing better than Wales so what's the relevance here?  Nice of England to let Wales have a home game though if it's their world cup.

Wales have a LEGALLY Binding agreement that was signed in 1999.  If ANY 6 nations country bids for a World Cup then they HAVE to include Cardiff in their bid, as Wales allowed all the other countries to do so in their 1999 World Cup.  England didn't let Wales do anything, it's enshrined in a legally binding contract that runs until the end of time.  
Read Graham Henrys autobiography if you want the details of the deal he described it as a master stroke by the WRU in the negotiations when countries wanted to host pools in the 1999 tournament.  

I didn't seriously think England were being nice - I wasn't aware of the reason behind it though

I did read that England wanted to bid without Cardiff being involved and the WRU told them no, and that was the end of it.  I do agree that the contract shouldn't run forever but everyone agreed to it back in 1999 so what can you do?  In reality Wales, Scotland and Ireland can't be sole bidders for a World Cup because they don't have the stadia.  

One interesting thing to note is France hosted the 2007 World Cup yet when they played New Zealand in the quarters they played New Zealand in Cardiff.  the "host" nation played away basically...

Very strange ... I wonder how that came about - can't believe the French would have wanted it that way.

It happened because France lost to Argentina in the pool stages and finished up runners up in their group.  Argentina actually creamed France a second time in the 3/4 place play off, with something like a 25 point margin.    

ah yes - I guess they weren't expecting to be pool runners up ...

Wood got away with yellow as the ref let the Fijian get away with lifting beyond horizontal earlier in the same game. 2 wrongs eh? Clark got 1 in the warm ups.

Heaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:

Shifty wrote:

Heaf wrote:What's all that about - I don't think I've seen any England fans saying anything about England performing better than Wales so what's the relevance here?  Nice of England to let Wales have a home game though if it's their world cup.

Wales have a LEGALLY Binding agreement that was signed in 1999.  If ANY 6 nations country bids for a World Cup then they HAVE to include Cardiff in their bid, as Wales allowed all the other countries to do so in their 1999 World Cup.  England didn't let Wales do anything, it's enshrined in a legally binding contract that runs until the end of time.  
Read Graham Henrys autobiography if you want the details of the deal he described it as a master stroke by the WRU in the negotiations when countries wanted to host pools in the 1999 tournament.  

I didn't seriously think England were being nice - I wasn't aware of the reason behind it though

I did read that England wanted to bid without Cardiff being involved and the WRU told them no, and that was the end of it.  I do agree that the contract shouldn't run forever but everyone agreed to it back in 1999 so what can you do?  In reality Wales, Scotland and Ireland can't be sole bidders for a World Cup because they don't have the stadia.  

One interesting thing to note is France hosted the 2007 World Cup yet when they played New Zealand in the quarters they played New Zealand in Cardiff.  the "host" nation played away basically...

Very strange ... I wonder how that came about - can't believe the French would have wanted it that way.

It happened because France lost to Argentina in the pool stages and finished up runners up in their group.  Argentina actually creamed France a second time in the 3/4 place play off, with something like a 25 point margin.    

ah yes - I guess they weren't expecting to be pool runners up ...

The RFU clearly weren't taking a chance on a repeat as both the group winner and runner up play at HQ I believe.