Villa park chosen to host Rugby World Cup matches

[lovejoy]

South Africa vs Samoa and Australia vs Play off winner. Not bad.
A lot of fans from Glos will make the trip I suspect.

[Dave Clark Five]

We'll have to have those pitch markings, making us look like some strange northern ground. It will definitely fuck the pitch up.

[dekko]

I bloody love a bit of the ol' egg chasing (and I'll do my best to get to one or both of these games) but the pitch'll get torn to shreds, especially if the weather has been bad.

[eamonn]

Will we get more money for it than Take That bunged us?

[dekko]

Will we get more money for it than Take That bunged us?

And does anyone know how the payments to Villa work for this?  Does the club get a flat fee for the use of the stadium?  A cut of the ticket sales? Both?

[Chico Hamilton III]

Potential fixture pile up?

[Brend'Watkins]

Potential fixture pile up?

And a scrum for tickets.

We'll have to have those pitch markings, making us look like some strange northern ground. It will definitely fuck the pitch up.

We have the Messi of Groundsmen.  It will still look the best there is.

[pauliewalnuts]

I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.

Rugby doesn't seem like football, where there's a strong interest in the national team fuelled by interest in local teams.

I might be wrong but I get the impression that the vast majority of people who follow international rugby don't care about the club game as they do with football.

[Brend'Watkins]

I wonder if the crowd will be allowed to swill beer while watching the game in the stands?

[junxs]

Yes, it was definitely tongue in cheek regarding Stoke's style!!!

Haha, see if I had the slightest knowledge on rubgy I would have got that. Stoke Dragons could be the Manchester United of Rugby for all I knew!

[dekko]

I don't follow rugby at all, but I'm sure Birmingham doesnt have a Rugby team so they'll naturally be less fans in this area. Like Richard says above would have made more sense to have it elsewhere. The pitch is going to get cut up so could have an effect on the way we play afterwards.

Rugby doesn't seem like football, where there's a strong interest in the national team fuelled by interest in local teams.

I might be wrong but I get the impression that the vast majority of people who follow international rugby don't care about the club game as they do with football.

Domestic rugby arguably only exists as a training ground/match practice for the international sides.  While there are loads of passionate and dedicated fans of domestic sides there are far far more people (like me) who play on the weekends but only ever watch 6 Nations or world cup matches.

That said, in my opinion in recent years the rugby played domestically is actually a lot more entertaining than the internationals.  Because the stakes are so much higher in international rugby its become a lot more percentage based/teams playing not to lose, rather than playing to win.  In the Premiership, on the other hand, they've fiddled with the points system - 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, scoring 4 or more tries in a game gets you a point (even if you lose) and losing by 7 points or less also nets you a point.  That means theres always a huge incentive to run in as many tries as possible, even if your getting battered.  It also stops the boring-as-f*ck kicking game that won england the world cup.

[Hookeysmith]

I wonder if the crowd will be allowed to swill beer while watching the game in the stands?

yes  like they do at concerts - its only football where alcohol in site of the pitch is banned

[PGW]

I wonder if the crowd will be allowed to swill beer while watching the game in the stands?

yes  like they do at concerts - its only football where alcohol in site of the pitch is banned

And proffessional boxing

[Dave Javu]

A cheap version of that padded pantomime "sport" they play in the States, designed for sub-normal homophobic toffs who like nothing more than sticking their fingers up each other's bums. Can't they play in Aston Park instead?

[lovejoy]

If you have a free weekend I'd get to Worcester or Glos for a premier league match, it is actually pretty enjoyable. Last matches of the season on saturday though.