Author: Eloise

What can the 18 test matches, plus the Portugal v Australia A match and Spain plus Argentina, tell us about the state of the teams going into the Rugby World Cup? It’s important to remember that not all the sides in the World Cup played, they certainly didn’t all have an equal number of games (the range is 0-4) and they did different things with their games. For example, Wales put out three pretty different teams as Gatland searched for his best squad members while Scotland put out their strongest team almost every time as Townsend gave them time to…

Ah, Owen Farrell, what joy you bring… I hope our systems our close enough that the title works as intended… There has been, in my opinion, quite rightly, outcry over the way the Owen Farrell high hit on Taine Basham was treated by the Disciplinary Panel and the need of World Rugby to appeal the initial decision. Fortunately, on appeal, some semblance of justice was served. Personally I feel four weeks was too light, I particularly feel it’s galling when he gets a week off his sentence for accepting foul play after wriggling and squirming to try and find any…

With apologies to any squads I’ve missed, one of the favourites, and my perennial favourite have announced their squads for the World Cup today. France Squad Looseheads: Cyril Baille, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Reda Wardi Hookers: Pierre Bourgarit, Julien Marchand, Peato Mauvaka Tightheads: Dorian Aldegheri, Uini Atonio, Sipili Falatea Second Row: Thibaud Flament, Romain Taofifenua, Paul Willemse, Cameron Woki Backrow: Grégory Alldritt, Paul Boudehent, François Cros, Anthony Jelonch, Sekou Macalou, Charles Ollivon Scrumhalf: Baptiste Couilloud, Antoine Dupont, Maxime Lucu Outside half: Antoine Hastoy, Matthieu Jalibert Centres: Jonathan Danty, Gaël Fickou, Yoram Moefana, Arthur Vincent Wingers: Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Damian Penaud, Gabin Villière Full-backs:…

A Review of Most of Saturday’s Games Wales v South Africa A little note that won’t mean much to many of you I suspect but Cai Evans running in space with the ball looks a lot like his dad, Ieuan. At 24 he’s already got that widow’s peak. First Half This half was close, 12-9 to SA, until what I felt was another inexplicable decision by Andrew Brace to award a penalty try when Moodie had run past the ball already and then an almost immediate error from the Welsh defence that really showed their youth and lack of senior…

This week sees the Southern Hemisphere enter the fray in the penultimate weekend of World Cup warmup matches. Let’s dive in. Wales v South Africa 3:15 BST, 1:15 am (Sunday) AEST. Cardiff Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Mason Grady, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Kieran Hardy, 1 Corey Domachowski, 2 Elliot Dee, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 4 Ben Carter, 5 Will Rowlands, 6 Dan Lydiate, 7 Jac Morgan (capt), 8 Aaron Wainwright. Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Max…

The History If you delve back into the history of the laws (not something for the faint of heart), the laws around substitutes have changed many times. At first there were none, if you broke your leg, tough, the team played on down a player. Then they allowed substitutions for injuries. Then tactical substitutions. And, some would argue, the game has gone downhill ever since. The Present The current situation is that, at least at the top level, you must have a complete front row, and then five other players. This leads to situations like South Africa using the bomb…

Scotland v France It had rained hard before the match, which had a bit of an impact on the early handling and let players surf a bit on the turf but was otherwise not really a factor. The main point to remember is that this was a France B team against the full strength Scotland side. First Half In the opening quarter Scotland looked dominant in the scrums, but by half time that had evened up. However, France dominated the lineouts and the turnovers, which led to a rather lop-sided 21-3 scoreboard. The first French try was very French, a…

Finally every team announcement is in! The final version is live! In the Northern Hemisphere, the World Cup warmup matches are really getting underway this weekend, with France visiting Scotland, Ireland hosting Italy and England visiting God’s Own Country. Scotland v France 1515 BST, 0015 AEST Team News Scotland: 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Matt Fagerson, 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Jack Dempsey, 9 Ben White, 10 Finn Russell (captain), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 13 Huw Jones, 14 Darcy Graham, 15 Blair Kinghorn, 16 Dave Cherry,…

The Background There are two main points here. It’s pretty hard to argue that South Africa and New Zealand are the best two sides in the southern hemisphere this year. We haven’t seen them up against the northern hemisphere giants, currently France and Ireland, yet but we know that’s to come. New Zealand and France, South Africa and Ireland are in the same pools as each other so some north v south clashes are inevitable. It’s possible that the quarter finals could give us the other pair of cross-hemisphere clashes. My idea is based on South Africa and New Zealand…

We’re 50 days out from the Rugby World Cup and, if you’re not me, you might be considering a bit of a flutter. Before you dash out to place your bets and make your fortune based on what’s written here, I should put my hand up and say I incredibly rarely gamble cash on anything and I’m a very poor rugby pundit. However, it’s a matter of record that only four countries have won the Rugby World Cup: New Zealand and South Africa have won three times each, Australia have won twice and England once. How Are The Historical Main…

If you follow the Six Nations, you may remember that the Wales v England match was threatened by a potential strike. Read more here. You probably missed the publication of the review that found sexist treatment of women by WRU. Likewise, you probably missed the huge vote in March to implement a dramatic new structure for the WRU. It’s important news for me, and made the national news in the UK, but probably doesn’t spread down under. In the last week the first of the changes voted for in March has come into effect. Leuan Evans, Chairman, has gone and…

What Are We Used To? The Rugby World Cup is a weird thing, even now, 36 years on from the first one. Coaches are, usually, hired and fired on a four year cycle. Or they move on voluntarily of course, but that isn’t as euphonic. The changes at Australia and England, plus the advance announcements from Italy and New Zealand are unusual, in at least one case unprecedented. Players too plan their careers around it and we can all think of players that hang on for too long hoping to finish on a high, retiring after a World Cup. Some,…

Women’s League WXV This year we’ve seen World Rugby announce a complete women’s world league which starts, with their usual impeccable timing, in direct competition to this little competition called the men’s Rugby World Cup. I guess it’s the knockout stages, so the number of matches is tailing off, so the idea could be you’ll watch some women’s matches too? But surely starting the next weekend when you’re in the habit of watching some rugby makes more sense? Nevertheless, it is up and will be running come October. It looks like, in future, it will occupy a slot slightly before…