International Rugby

[cheltenhamlion]

My boy at Gloucester is very pissed off about Gatlands meet and greet.

Is that deliberately cryptic or am I just being stupid?

Apologies. It is the European finals this weekend and Gloucester and Saracens are in them. So an important week of preparation. Some players lost Monday as Gatland decided the first Lions get together would be then.

[nigel]

BBC are going to show England v Argentina  tests on 10th & 17th June

[UK Redsox]

World Cup 2019 draw

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39868565

Pool A: Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Europe 1, play-off winner (Europe 2 v Oceania 3)

Pool B: New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Africa 1, repechage winner

Pool C: England, France, Argentina, Americas 1, Oceania 2

Pool D: Australia, Wales, Georgia, Oceania 1, Americas 2

[paul_e]

Was already posted about 6-7 posts before your one and I've already passed comment that the England Group is easily the hardest, Ireland appear to have been given a bye.

[peter w]

We'll beat Argentina. France will be the tough one. get through that and i don't think it really matters in the quarter-finals. i think we play Pool D teams don't we? If so, Australia or Wales is an okay game. Nowhere near as tougha s Wales and Australia were in the last World Cup - when we should have beaten Wales.

[Jon Crofts]

Was already posted about 6-7 posts before your one and I've already passed comment that the England Group is easily the hardest, Ireland appear to have been given a bye.

I bet SA thought that when they had Japan in their group in 2015!

[paul_e]

Was already posted about 6-7 posts before your one and I've already passed comment that the England Group is easily the hardest, Ireland appear to have been given a bye.

I bet SA thought that when they had Japan in their group in 2015!

i was largely taking the piss but to be honest if you asked pretty much anyone to choose the better team between Argentina and Japan I doubt many would go for Japan and that's against the 3rd best team in our group.

[nigel]

I think both Scotland and Ireland  will have to be around their best to see off Japan.
If I was to take a long shot bet I would go with Japan to qualify. I think, as SA found out, they are more than capable of springing a surprise.

[paul_e]

I think both Scotland and Ireland  will have to be around their best to see off Japan.
If I was to take a long shot bet I would go with Japan to qualify. I think, as SA found out, they are more than capable of springing a surprise.

I'm not sure, In the autumn they got hammered by Argentina and lost fairly comfortably to Scotland.  I also wonder how much of their performance in the world cup was thanks to our manager.  On top of that they were one of the older squads at the tournament so they'll have a lot of churn over the next couple of years.

[JD]

I think Japan will improve. With The Sunwolves now playing in Super Rugby(and their results getting better than last year), their players will get some good experience of playing regularly at a competitive level.

[nigel]

I think both Scotland and Ireland  will have to be around their best to see off Japan.
If I was to take a long shot bet I would go with Japan to qualify. I think, as SA found out, they are more than capable of springing a surprise.

I'm not sure, In the autumn they got hammered by Argentina and lost fairly comfortably to Scotland.  I also wonder how much of their performance in the world cup was thanks to our manager.  On top of that they were one of the older squads at the tournament so they'll have a lot of churn over the next couple of years.

Fair points, as always, but, as JD says, they should improve.
Plus the fact they are the host nation, and the hosts always do well...😉

[cheltenhamlion]

Willi Heinze called up by England on account of an English grandparent?

[paul_e]

Willi Heinze called up by England on account of an English grandparent?

The bigger problem here is that Willi Heinz is being called up whilst Dan Robson and Joe Simpson are twiddling their thumbs. I've got a lot of respect for Eddie Jones and his results have been superb but I just don't get what he's looking for in a 9 which makes him keep picking Care whilst ignoring those 2 and then exacerbating it by not giving either of them a chance when the squad is weakened by the Lions.  If it was someone like Maunder at Exeter I'd be ok with it but a 30 year old with very loose eligibility seems a really odd choice.  I can only think it's because he's been captain a few times and he's concerned about leadership but I don't think shipping in people who've been leaders elsewhere is the right way to handle that (a particularly fitting line to type on a Villa website).

[cheltenhamlion]

Heinz has done alright at Gloucester this season, don't get me wrong. I am buggered as to what he brings that Robson doesn't though.

[PaulWinch again]

It's one of those weird quirks though. Virtually every coach/manager has a couple of players who they really rate when one else does and vice versa.