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I think players basically have to start trying to tackle underneath chest height at all times. You're never going to get your timing perfect every tackle, and a slight misjudgement when attempting a ball and all tackle can easily end up hitting the head. That said, I wouldn't be against a...

If they beat Samoa they could still miss out if they lose to Scotland (and both Scotland and Ireland also beat Samoa). All teams would have 1 loss so it would come down to bonus points and potentially points difference. Ireland would be pretty much certainties to make the quarters in this...

It was from the opening kick off! Players will start staying down anytime they get hit on the head (even if they're not badly hurt) so these things definitely get checked. But in the TV coverage they showed a close up replay of it straight away, so I assume the TMO would have seen it. And they...

Amazing result. Uruguay have come a long way in the last year, though Fiji (even with the same starting 15) would win that match probably more than 95% of the time so it's definitely one of the bigger upsets in world cup history. I think this result should make World Rugby think very...

I'd love to see something like this happen, basically an expansion of the Rugby Championship. One limiting factor is that the top Pacific Islander players in particular tend to play for European clubs, and so it'd be hard to see the Island nations being anywhere near full strength outside the...

Yeah the tournament needs an upset to really spark before the quarter finals. Hopefully Fiji, Japan, USA or Samoa play a match of their lives. Or England lose to Argentina, or Canada beat Italy. There's 40 pool matches, they surely won't all be won by the favourite!

It depends which Japan team shows up. The side that bumbled their way past Russia would get beaten by Scotland. But the Japan that beat Fiji (at full strength) reasonably comfortably in the Pacific Nations Cup in July would have a very good chance. Especially given Scotland's short turnaround...

My 2nd team has been Georgia since I saw them play South Africa in the 2003 world cup. There were about 35k people at the SFS and everyone went nuts when Georgia scored a try. They put in a good performance that night and only lost by about 25 points against a far superior team. The Georgians...

Interesting tidbit from a Rich Freeman article yesterday about Japanese rugby: "While the demise of the Sunwolves makes for depressing reading there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. Changes on the JRFU board are set to put in place committee men who share the same views as Joseph...

The NZRU's number 1 priority with Super Rugby is to provide adequate preparation and development of current and future All Blacks. And they always cite the importance of playing against South African sides in relation to this. I think what actually might get them to change their tune is actually...

I've been thinking something like this may be inevitable, and could be a reasonable compromise for maintaining elite level rugby in each country, while also adding greater focus on domestic competitions built on tribalism and connection to the grass roots. But I think the Jaguares are more...

They have a handful of European based guys that will be joining the Pumas squad for the world cup, which will improve their side in some key areas - especially the scrum which was their main weakness against the Chiefs. And Sanchez (their starting 10), who's now playing in France will be there...

It was actually a pretty strong Eagles team with 11/15 of the starting side that beat Scotland in 2018, you can see the line up here: https://www.usarugby.org/2019/02/mens-eagles-name-roster-to-face-argentina-xv-in-match-two-of-americas-rugby-championship-2019/ To be fair I just read that...

I think Japan are in a better position to compete right now, they have a lot more players who have played at a top professional level. I agree from what I saw that the standard of MLR improved in year 2, but there's still a huge gap between that and Super Rugby. It'll take years for that gap to...

I think that could be good, but even with a scheme like that it'd still be hard to attract Fiji's top players away from European clubs unless they were also paid significantly for representing Fiji. Super rugby salaries alone don't compete with what the French clubs pay. I like the idea of a...

I think it's a lot more likely that if SANZAAR still agree to expand the RC to 6 teams that it'll be with Japan and the US and without any promotion / relegation - at least to start with. Without the extra cash the Nations Championship was going to bring I think there's no way SANZAAR chose Fiji...

I don't think it would be impossible for a few of the teams to aim for a bigger crowd once per season if promoted as a special event. I think it was Utah who had a relatively big crowd (around 9k from memory) to one of their trial games before the first season. It was played in a soccer stadium...

The MLR definitely seems to be going in the right direction. I reckon some of the clubs should try and pull off a big event game each season, at a bigger stadium with some supporting entertainment and cheap tickets. Like some of the teams do in the English Premiership when they take the odd game...

One thing I noticed in the last week is that Algeria is now officially an affiliate member of World Rugby. I think they could be a real contender to make the world cup in 2023. There are millions of French people of Algerian descent, and there are several players in the Top 14 and Pro D2 who...

I think WR (World Rugby) would be cautious about giving it to Russia given the poor turnout the sevens world cup received there.