Pool C - Wales, Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Portugal

[Furball]

Ireland has to combine from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with incredible political complexity and union is only 3rd there behind Gaelic and Association (football). They've done amazingly well to produce a worldclass backline with 3 journeymen Kiwis, a random Aussie, and a 38 year-old 1st 5. Their forwards and defence are excellent.

This isn't close to being correct

All sport in Ireland, with the exception of football, has always been run on an all-island basis from Dublin. Football is only different because the Irish FA was based out of Belfast, so after partition clubs in the new Free State broke away and formed the FAI based out of Dublin.

 

[social]

Irish rugby has also created pretty solid foundations for the last 20+ years so while the fortunes of the international side might fluctuate like you'd expect they can still bring through talent (or their clubs acquire it from elsewhere).

Whereas the foundations of Australian rugby are built on quicksand

Here’s a typical example

Joseph Suaalii was a child rugby prodigy who played for Kings School in Sydney

RA could have signed him for 5 years @ $300k per season at 16 but they baulked and he signed for the Roosters in the NRL

He’s now 20 and RA has just signed him for $1.7 million per season

Nobody disputes that he’s a monumental talent but he doesn’t fit a position of need as he’s an outside back

If they’re going to break the bank for a NRL player then you go after a Cleary who not only fills a position of need but is an elite goal kicker

RA has signed its own death warrant in Australia by making the same mistakes for 20 years

 

[Molehill]

The thing that surprised me most about this game was how Australia completely failed to compete at the breakdown. I think it was about the 78th minute when they finally won a penalty for a Welshman holding on to the ball in a ruck. They just didn't seem to have anyone even try to jackal. It was just a weird performance on so many levels.

 

[social]

Hurling is at least as popular as rugby too, though with completely different demographics. In any case I think the benefits of a rich sporting culture outweigh the competition for players.

It really doesn’t feel so politically complex. But now that you mention it, that might be because Irish rugby has done such a good job of managing it. Other parts of Irish society wouldn’t be mature enough to drop the flag and anthem to make it work.

Does hurling pay the families of 14yos $5000 per year?

Does hurling give $50k school scholarships to 14yos?

That’s what rugby is up against in this country from the NRL and AFL

GPS schools don’t actually give a **** whether scholarship holders play another game of rugby after they leave School & therein lies the difference

 

[social]

The thing that surprised me most about this game was how Australia completely failed to compete at the breakdown. I think it was about the 78th minute when they finally won a penalty for a Welshman holding on to the ball in a ruck. They just didn't seem to have anyone even try to jackal. It was just a weird performance on so many levels.

They have been poor at the breakdown since Pocock retired

 

[Heboric]

After reading about Eddie Jones going to interviews while still with Australia at a World Cup. A while back Eddie Jones was suppose to coach my local team the Stormers. I think the papers were signed etc. Then when everything was about to start news came out he was going to coach the Dodgers. Look I get coaching a country is much more prestige than a province/franchise. Now I am wondering if he was all along playing both sides. I think England rugby had to pay Stormers rugby a fee to get Unsteady Eddie out of his Stormers contract.

Maybe it was for the best, who knows what damage he would of caused. The current coaching setup is doing pretty well at the Stormers.

 

[Molehill]

Does hurling pay the families of 14yos $5000 per year?

Does hurling give $50k school scholarships to 14yos?

That’s what rugby is up against in this country from the NRL and AFL

GPS schools don’t actually give a **** whether scholarship holders play another game of rugby after they leave School & therein lies the difference

No, but football certainly does (and a whole lot more). I'm sure the top clubs are all over the Irish kids, just look how 18 year old Evan Ferguson is doing at Brighton for example.

 

[Molehill]

After reading about Eddie Jones going to interviews while still with Australia at a World Cup. A while back Eddie Jones was suppose to coach my local team the Stormers. I think the papers were signed etc. Then when everything was about to start news came out he was going to coach the Dodgers. Look I get coaching a country is much more prestige than a province/franchise. Now I am wondering if he was all along playing both sides. I think England rugby had to pay Stormers rugby a fee to get Unsteady Eddie out of his Stormers contract.

Maybe it was for the best, who knows what damage he would of caused. The current coaching setup is doing pretty well at the Stormers.

I've come to the conclusion Jones is utterly toxic and if you leave him in a position for too long he can cause untold damage. The English RFU is not a well run organisation, but I feel certain that Jones was causing significantly more issues. I really think the best thing for Australian Rugby is to get rid of him before he does likewise. He's a short term fix (not even that in this case) not a long term solution and his methods seem horribly outdated now.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

This isn't close to being correct

All sport in Ireland, with the exception of football, has always been run on an all-island basis from Dublin. Football is only different because the Irish FA was based out of Belfast, so after partition clubs in the new Free State broke away and formed the FAI based out of Dublin.

Cheers. Didn't know that.

 

[Uppercut]

Does hurling pay the families of 14yos $5000 per year?

Does hurling give $50k school scholarships to 14yos?

That’s what rugby is up against in this country from the NRL and AFL

GPS schools don’t actually give a **** whether scholarship holders play another game of rugby after they leave School & therein lies the difference

Oh **** do they play other sports in Australia? Getting bashed by wales and Fiji makes complete sense then. Those poor Australian rugby authorities were simply dealt an unplayable hand.

 

[social]

No, but football certainly does (and a whole lot more). I'm sure the top clubs are all over the Irish kids, just look how 18 year old Evan Ferguson is doing at Brighton for example.

AFL also poaches gaelic football players

The Australian National Basketball League held their preseason tournament here last week and there were 20+ nba scouts here looking at a few draft prospects

Good luck finding the next John Eales

 

[social]

Oh **** do they play other sports in Australia? Getting bashed by wales and Fiji makes complete sense then. Those poor Australian rugby authorities were simply dealt an unplayable hand.

They’re doing well and nobody is saying otherwise

The point is that Australian rugby has massive problems

 

[Spark]

Does hurling pay the families of 14yos $5000 per year?

Does hurling give $50k school scholarships to 14yos?

That’s what rugby is up against in this country from the NRL and AFL

GPS schools don’t actually give a **** whether scholarship holders play another game of rugby after they leave School & therein lies the difference

Don't worry, private equity is about to step in and bail the whole sport out to the tune of a quarter billion dollars!

That is seriously the actual plan. And here is the guy they've tapped to lead it:

Earlier this year, McLennan tapped former Wallabies flanker Phil Waugh to lead the turnaround. McLennan, graduate of the exclusive Sydney Church of England Grammar School, needed a CEO to execute the game’s vision and settled on ... another Shore boy.


Waugh was then given ample space in this newspaper to explain his “plan to save Australian rugby”. Along with trying to get PE interest and growing the game in western Sydney to fend off competition from competing codes, he had a neat idea.

“I love the concept of an old boys’ day at Allianz Stadium ... three back-to-back GPS [Great Public Schools] games at Allianz Stadium from 11am to 5pm, and you just make it a festival,” Waugh said.

Dig up, fellas.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Lmao is that Phil, Steve or Mark

 

[Spark]

Lmao is that Phil, Steve or Mark

Phil, see edit

 

[social]

Don't worry, private equity is about to step in and bail the whole sport out to the tune of a quarter billion dollars!

That is seriously the actual plan. And here is the guy they've tapped to lead it:



Dig up, fellas.

This is how dumb these ****ers are

Twiggy Forrest has unlimited coin and gives 10 times more to grassroots rugby than Rugby Australia

This is not a joke

He invested $5 million into WA rugby last year while Rugby Australia gave less than $500k to the game in its entirety

Rugby Australia won’t deal with him because of competing business interests

I am no Twiggy fan but Twiggy v US hedge fund is a no brainer

He will chuck $1 billion at it and won’t miss it

 

[Spikey]

Just saw the score and some of the highlights and all I have to say is: lol. lmao.

Maybe binning off an experienced, highly qualified coach who was steadily building up the team in favour of an unreconstructed dickhead just because he was one of the boys was a bad idea eh?

i'm not sure if immediately being like "oh golly well that was a mistake" makes it even worse

It took the most gutting defeat in Wallabies history to realise I was wrong about Eddie

All of us who thought the Eddie Jones experiment would work wonders for Australian rugby have been proven wrong. The magic has gone.

www.smh.com.au

 

[Ali TT]

No, but football certainly does (and a whole lot more). I'm sure the top clubs are all over the Irish kids, just look how 18 year old Evan Ferguson is doing at Brighton for example.

And that young fella Evans that ten Hag has plucked from obscurity.

I've come to the conclusion Jones is utterly toxic and if you leave him in a position for too long he can cause untold damage. The English RFU is not a well run organisation, but I feel certain that Jones was causing significantly more issues. I really think the best thing for Australian Rugby is to get rid of him before he does likewise. He's a short term fix (not even that in this case) not a long term solution and his methods seem horribly outdated now.

He had a good four years with England but he rode the coat tails of a very good generation, easily our best since 2003. And coaches earn their £££s when things are hard not easy, although he does deserve credit for the quick turnaround after WC15 to GS winners in six months.

 

[Uppercut]

Let’s not get revisionist, Jones was a great coach for England.

 

[nick-o]

Sorry to barge in, guys, but before we forget,

Well played Wales!