Rugby World Cup 2019 aka Squishy McSquish goes into a meltdown thread

[Balljy]

Let's see how many injuries Ireland get tomorrow and then talk about advantages.

True. Hopefully no major ones.

Ireland had France in the last pool game in 2015, in much the same circumstances. POM injured, POC injured, SOB sent off and suspended.

Would have been great if that had have been called off. We probably would have beaten Argentina.

It's a massive, massive advantage.

You're saying that you shouldn't have won the game with 2 injured players (the sending off doesn't count imo as it could have happened the game before)? I get what you're saying but 2 weeks off is a long time off in any professional sport. Saying it's a "massive" advantage is a stretch when there is a disadvantage in having a loss of predicted conditioning.

I reckon Wales, SA & Australia will do alright despite playing the extra game and probably better than England, France. Let's see.

 

[Balljy]

For NZ in particular it's huge because if they play at their best they steam through any team left because they're that much better than anyone else

Agreed, but I'm not sure what that has to do with having a week off. They're simply the best team in the tournament.

Simple question would you rather England play France and a week later play NZ or have 2 weeks off to prepare for NZ?

Honestly, I'd rather they play France but that could be be because I'm disappointed not to see a good match. I think it would have been a close one with a few squad players on both teams.

Unless I'm getting confused, the week after would be Australia for England assuming all goes as predicted rather than NZ? I'm not saying that there isn't some advantage in missing a game and it is definitely not right it's come to this, but the teams will have prepared for the number of games meticulously and some players won't have played for a few weeks now.

It's a stupid (although unlucky) situation which would have been resolved by not asking fans to travel and playing behind closed doors.

 

[Name Changed]

I'm not convinced by the argument that NZ, France and England have a huge advantage with the extra week. Sure, they have more time to recover but in England's case the France game would have been really useful to ramp up to the quarter finals. Without it you could argue they will go in relatively unprepared and with no particularly hard games to get ready for the big teams.

Of course it's an advantage.

 

[Name Changed]

Which dodgy decisions? Are you talking about this World Cup?

Yes.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Didn’t see the Australia vs Georgia game earlier today. Just the extended highlights and reading the match report, it’s been labelled as an “unimpressive win”.

Tomorrow, instead of 3 matches, it’s just the one game on what looks set to be played on an awful pitch - Ireland vs Samoa.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

https://www.skysports.com/rugby-uni...-make-cancellation-decision-on-saturday-night

Not holding my breath but fingers crossed!

 

[AkaAkuma]

As far as I'm concerned my thoughts are with the people of Tokyo I hope that everybody is safe with the coming storm. Sport comes second to peoples lives.

appreciated, the peak of the storm is said to bring hurricane level winds with gusts of 140kmh. just hoping i wake up tomorrow with no damage.

 

[Gio]

The nub of the issue goes back to the Rugby World Cup being a two-tier tournament. Group stages are simply going through the motions for the elite sides so a blanket solution of cancelling a few dead rubbers has no impact and is quite convenient for them. Should the same scenario take place in the knockout stages they will have to cancel the tournament as it cannot proceed if games aren’t played. Which is absolute nonsense of course and demonstrates the two-tier approach here. That blatant bias and the amateurish lack of planning reflects awfully on the competency and integrity of World Rugby.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

The nub of the issue goes back to the Rugby World Cup being a two-tier tournament. Group stages are simply going through the motions for the elite sides so a blanket solution of cancelling a few dead rubbers has no impact and is quite convenient for them. Should the same scenario take place in the knockout stages they will have to cancel the tournament as it cannot proceed if games aren’t played. Which is absolute nonsense of course and demonstrates the two-tier approach here. That blatant bias and the amateurish lack of planning reflects awfully on the competency and integrity of World Rugby.

One thing though, they're not really dead rubbers, are they? Particularly Scotland Japan.

 

[Skills]

One thing though, they're not really dead rubbers, are they? Particularly Scotland Japan.

Neither of them are winning it so they might as well be

 

[Tarrou]

I don't understand why they couldn't play it behind closed doors in a difference location, at worst?

The alternative is horrible for Scotland, their players, their fans. Some of these lads surely won't get another world cup.

 

[Ish]

I don't understand why they couldn't play it behind closed doors in a difference location, at worst?

The alternative is horrible for Scotland, their players, their fans. Some of these lads surely won't get another world cup.

Not to mention 4 years of planning and working towards this....

 

[Ish]

Yes.

Can’t say I recall many/any dodgy decisions. But I’ve barely watched England play in fairness. I’ve watched the other 2.

 

[AkaAkuma]

I don't understand why they couldn't play it behind closed doors in a difference location, at worst?

The alternative is horrible for Scotland, their players, their fans. Some of these lads surely won't get another world cup.

what dates woild have been available?

 

[GeorgieBoy]

Neither of them are winning it so they might as well be

May as well just give the Kiwis the trophy and be done with this mess.

 

[Tarrou]

what dates woild have been available?

I'm making the assumption, albeit it quite ignorantly, that this typhoon is not affecting the entire country?

 

[AkaAkuma]

I'm making the assumption, albeit it quite ignorantly, that this typhoon is not affecting the entire country?

the typhoon is the width of japan and the largest in sixty years with unprecedented wind speeds. its path is central jpn and through hokaido. i dont know how clear the path has been. maybe they had time to move the event south. but the logistics would require 2 days either side of saturday to account for tokyo being currently in lock down.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

Before you read the replies, spot the problem here...

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[GeorgieBoy]

Before you read the replies, spot the problem here...

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Christ!

 

[Gio]

One thing though, they're not really dead rubbers, are they? Particularly Scotland Japan.

Yeah that’s my point. They’re only dead rubbers to the big boys and the cannon fodder, which is why they can feel justified effectively cancelling a round of games because they don’t affect the big countries.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

The pitch looks pathetic. Surely it's not going to hold up.

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[unchanged_lineup]

Connacht joke here

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[diarm]

Japan's victories against South Africa and Ireland would've been written off as cannon fodder walkovers if they'd been cancelled beforehand.

Someone mentioned two injuries hurting Ireland after the France game four years ago but it was more like 5. O'Mahony, Payne, Sexton, O'Connell and a clearly unfit Tommy Bowe who lasted 13 minutes of the QF.

That's fine when everyone is in a similar boat. But this time around we'll likely face a NZ side who never had to play the second best team in their group and the biggest opportunity for a banana skin to their qualifying. It's unlikely Italy would've won but not impossible and they've avoided 80 minutes of world cup rugby where injuries and suspensions are often going to happen.

They'll be off the back of a two week rest and preparation while we'll have a weeks turnaround after the most physical game of our group.

It's an absolute farce. Italy and potentially Scotland have been robbed but Wales, Australia and Ireland have reason to be pissed off as well. This world cup will always have an asterisk beside it.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

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Jeez! They are lucky not to get electrocuted there tbh.

 

[Fully Fledged]

appreciated, the peak of the storm is said to bring hurricane level winds with gusts of 140kmh. just hoping i wake up tomorrow with no damage.

Keep safe

 

[unchanged_lineup]

Jeez! They are lucky not to get electrocuted there tbh.

Exactly. It was my first thought and you'll see in the comments plenty of people spotted it too

 

[AkaAkuma]

Exactly. It was my first thought and you'll see in the comments plenty of people spotted it too

somebody on twitter should contact the people who run the facility, they probably hadnt thought of it

 

[unchanged_lineup]

somebody on twitter should contact the people who run the facility, they probably hadnt thought of it

On the original tweet, there were loads of Japanese people who'd spotted it too. Hopefully someone did.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

Half an hour to go. Watching Ireland run through warmups and it looks like big chunks of the pitch are already lifted up.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

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[unchanged_lineup]

Feck sake. Shane Horgan saying that big lumps of turf were already coming up when Samoa were practicing scrums.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Seeing the videos and the news coming through about the typhoon, my opinion has now vastly changed and I take back all the stupid comments I made about this situation. I didn’t know this typhoon was going to be as massively huge as what I’ve seen online. But the part of hearing of what it has so far done (the worst is still to come) not only leaving so many homes flooded with no electricity and also the upsetting news that someone has lost their life because of it just puts everything into perspective. Not just rugby, but any sport always will come 2nd to this. Look at the video posted earlier by @unchanged_lineup with the Japanese team going out for training this morning/afternoon and trying to walk through a flood. My first thoughts were someone could so easily and cruelly been electrocuted. Thankfully no one did!

Even if WR took a "common sense" approach and moved it x00 miles away, or played it a few days later...this is likely going to be a major national emergency, and the days after this thing makes landfill will see the Japanese authorities/people dealing with disruption on a monumental scale - I doubt anyone will/should be thinking about rugby in the wake of that, especially the Japanese team who will undoubtedly be impacted by the devastation this thing will likely bring and what it has done to it’s nation.

Is it going to suck if this is how we exit the competition? Absolutely, I’ll be gutted like every other Scottish Rugby fan. But disappointment in sport will always come a billion miles behind tragedies like this. It’s not even on a comparable scale and never ever will be.

If World Rugby later tonight do their inspection and say the game is good to go ahead, then great. However if it isn’t, then they have my full backing. As I said, this looks a potential catastrophe that’s hit Japan and God forbid looks like it’s going to get worse.

I hope the SRU do the sensible thing and drop this legal case.

 

[Ish]

Japan's victories against South Africa and Ireland would've been written off as cannon fodder walkovers if they'd been cancelled beforehand.

Someone mentioned two injuries hurting Ireland after the France game four years ago but it was more like 5. O'Mahony, Payne, Sexton, O'Connell and a clearly unfit Tommy Bowe who lasted 13 minutes of the QF.

That's fine when everyone is in a similar boat. But this time around we'll likely face a NZ side who never had to play the second best team in their group and the biggest opportunity for a banana skin to their qualifying. It's unlikely Italy would've won but not impossible and they've avoided 80 minutes of world cup rugby where injuries and suspensions are often going to happen.

They'll be off the back of a two week rest and preparation while we'll have a weeks turnaround after the most physical game of our group.

It's an absolute farce. Italy and potentially Scotland have been robbed but Wales, Australia and Ireland have reason to be pissed off as well. This world cup will always have an asterisk beside it.

I agree that the games (hell even the fecking tournament) should have been rescheduled, but what are the other nations to do?

A 2 week break might have big positives but it can also kill any momentum or match practice you might have built. The biggest casualty seems to be Scotland. I really hope their game goes ahead, because it is essentially a knockout but also has significant implications for the rest of the tournament - i.e. who plays SA vs NZ etc. But yeah, it’s all rather unfortunate and absolutely shitty planning having it in Japan, during typhoon season, without proper contingencies.

 

[Ish]

Seeing the videos and the news coming through about the typhoon, my opinion has now vastly changed and I take back all the stupid comments I made about this situation. I didn’t know this typhoon was going to be as massively huge as what I’ve seen online. But the part of hearing of what it has so far done (the worst is still to come) not only leaving so many homes flooded with no electricity and also the upsetting news that someone has lost their life because of it just puts everything into perspective. Not just rugby, but any sport always will come 2nd to this. Look at the video posted earlier by @unchanged_lineup with the Japanese team going out for training this morning/afternoon and trying to walk through a flood. My first thoughts were someone could so easily and cruelly being electrocuted. Thankfully no one did!

Even if WR took a "common sense" approach and moved it x00 miles away, or played it a few days later...this is likely going to be a major national emergency, and the days after this thing makes landfill will see the Japanese authorities/people dealing with disruption on a monumental scale - I doubt anyone will/should be thinking about rugby in the wake of that, especially the Japanese team who will undoubtedly be impacted by the devastation this thing will likely bring and what it has done to it’s nation.

Is it going to suck if this is how we exit the competition? Absolutely, I’ll be gutted like every other Scottish Rugby fan. But disappointment in sport will always come a billion miles behind tragedies like this. It’s not even on a comparable scale and never ever will be.

If World Rugby later tonight do their inspection and say the game is good to go ahead, then great. However if it isn’t, then they have my full backing. As I said, this looks a potential catastrophe that’s hit Japan and God forbid looks like it’s going to get worse.

I hope the SRU do the sensible thing and drop this legal case.

Is there still a possibility that the rest of the tournament could also be disrupted/called off? Because I read somewhere that the disaster is much bigger and will last much longer than initially projected?

 

[unchanged_lineup]

Each photo of this is worse than the last.

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[RedDevilRoshi]

Is there still a possibility that the rest of the tournament could also be disrupted/called off? Because I read somewhere that the disaster is much bigger and will last much longer than initially projected?

I don’t know but if it is then that may be the sensible thing to do.

As I said, catastrophes like this puts everything into perspective. Disappointment in sport will always come a billion miles behind disasters like this. It’s not even on a comparable scale.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

I don’t know but if it is then that may be the sensible thing to do.

As I said, catastrophes like this puts everything into perspective. Disappointment in sport will always come a billion miles behind disasters like this. It’s not even on a comparable scale.

I agree with everything you've said. At the same time though, if WR didn't have a decent contingency for what's happened this weekend, what's the likelihood they have any contingency for severe disruption to the country due to storm damage? I don't have much confidence that they do.

 

[Ish]

I don’t know but if it is then that may be the sensible thing to do.

As I said, catastrophes like this puts everything into perspective. Disappointment in sport will always come a billion miles behind disasters like this. It’s not even on a comparable scale.

Yeah, I’d say so as well. Reschedule the World Cup sometime next year or just cancel RWC ‘19 completely.

Even this Irish match kicking off now....look at the state of this pitch man.

 

[unchanged_lineup]

Rory Best goes over. Good start.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Yeah, I’d say so as well. Reschedule the World Cup sometime next year or just cancel RWC ‘19 completely.

Even this Irish match kicking off now....look at the state of this pitch man.

Makes sense. The aftermath of this, I doubt anyone will be thinking about rugby when you have people’s life’s at risk, homes destroyed etc.

Yeah the pitch looks horrific. I’m surprised the game is even going ahead as you have a huge potential risk of injury. Surely a major risk like that, the game shouldn’t be played.