Hasn't there been a debate about whether it would be better for England or France to lise their game ? In such circumstances, I guess France will be happy with the extra rest, and whatever "momentum" can be maintained from not actually having lost to England.Italy probably know they'll be soundly thrashed by NZ, so happy to avoid the humiliation.
A world cup game has never had to be abandoned before so I suspect the rules around it were cobbled together in the idea that it would never be an issue.Scotland will be the big one, I can't see Scotland accepting the draw to put them out without an appeal. I'm surprised France and Italy don't seem a bit more upset as well.
Scotland going home in such circumstances would turn the whole thing into a farce.Much better to let them play somewhere else, have their arses handed to them by Japan, and let them go home as a result of their own glorious failure!
Quote from: paul_e on October 10, 2019, 10:24:24 AMA world cup game has never had to be abandoned before so I suspect the rules around it were cobbled together in the idea that it would never be an issue.Scotland will be the big one, I can't see Scotland accepting the draw to put them out without an appeal. I'm surprised France and Italy don't seem a bit more upset as well.I doubt it's ever been held anywhere where monsoons or hurricanes are a potential problem. The fact that they now have done so, they should have built in contingency plans.
Quote from: paul_e on October 10, 2019, 10:24:24 AMA world cup game has never had to be abandoned before so I suspect the rules around it were cobbled together in the idea that it would never be an issue.Scotland will be the big one, I can't see Scotland accepting the draw to put them out without an appeal. I'm surprised France and Italy don't seem a bit more upset as well.France don't really care because everybody down here knows they will get beat whoever they play.
Quote from: Risso on October 10, 2019, 11:41:49 AMQuote from: paul_e on October 10, 2019, 10:24:24 AMA world cup game has never had to be abandoned before so I suspect the rules around it were cobbled together in the idea that it would never be an issue.Scotland will be the big one, I can't see Scotland accepting the draw to put them out without an appeal. I'm surprised France and Italy don't seem a bit more upset as well.I doubt it's ever been held anywhere where monsoons or hurricanes are a potential problem. The fact that they now have done so, they should have built in contingency plans.I agree completely, I think cancelling games at a world cup for a sport which isn't highly restricted by the weather (unlike the cricket for example) is shameful and reflects very poorly on world rugby. Even worse is the risk that the hosts are the major beneficiaries, that can easily be viewed as a cynical cash grab. I think Japan deserve to qualify, but this would always leave a question mark next to the achievement.
Quote from: Scovilla on October 10, 2019, 11:57:52 AMQuote from: paul_e on October 10, 2019, 10:24:24 AMA world cup game has never had to be abandoned before so I suspect the rules around it were cobbled together in the idea that it would never be an issue.Scotland will be the big one, I can't see Scotland accepting the draw to put them out without an appeal. I'm surprised France and Italy don't seem a bit more upset as well.France don't really care because everybody down here knows they will get beat whoever they play.I honestly think they could push Wales close. The french game plan at this world cup is pretty similar to how England played at home to Wales in the summer, big carries through the 10 and 12 channel and then go to the pace out wide once they've got a few backs stuck into the rucks. France aren't as effective at it as England because we have Manu and Coka to go alongside the big forwards so hit those lines at really difficult angles to defend, for France it's Picamoles, Poirot and the locks doing all the work.
Quote from: paul_e on October 10, 2019, 01:20:08 PMQuote from: Scovilla on October 10, 2019, 11:57:52 AMQuote from: paul_e on October 10, 2019, 10:24:24 AMA world cup game has never had to be abandoned before so I suspect the rules around it were cobbled together in the idea that it would never be an issue.Scotland will be the big one, I can't see Scotland accepting the draw to put them out without an appeal. I'm surprised France and Italy don't seem a bit more upset as well.France don't really care because everybody down here knows they will get beat whoever they play.I honestly think they could push Wales close. The french game plan at this world cup is pretty similar to how England played at home to Wales in the summer, big carries through the 10 and 12 channel and then go to the pace out wide once they've got a few backs stuck into the rucks. France aren't as effective at it as England because we have Manu and Coka to go alongside the big forwards so hit those lines at really difficult angles to defend, for France it's Picamoles, Poirot and the locks doing all the work.It's not really relevant or indeed the slightest bit interesting, but when Picamoles left Northampton to go back to France, we were just moving back to the area, and looked at the house he'd been renting in Crick to rent for ourselves. In other Saints player news, me and the missus will be out with Dylan Hartley and his wife on Saturday evening at a mutual friends' house. He is absolutely gutted not to be playing in Japan, as you might expect.
For me, Hartley died with the ball too much. Although not as often as the Steve Thompson did