English Chess Forum

Fabulous games by both Wales and Ireland, pity one of them is not going to reach the semis.



Wales - Ireland is hard to call, but IF Ireland meets England in the semis, then Ireland will beat England. Ireland has owned England since 2003, and these current English players are a disgrace to their shirts, a disciplined Irish team would put them to the sword. I think Ireland would prefer to meet England than to meet France.



I get the feeling that Johnson enjoys the company of the players too much, still wants to be one of the lads, whereas, as team manager, he really ought to be standing apart from the players and, right now, he ought to be sinking his boot deep, very deep, into several of their backsides.

Sorry, wrong way round, England is the second match, as is New Zealand the following day (which doesn't matter unless you are getting up to watch them)

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Any postings on here represent my personal views and should not be taken as representative of the Manchester Chess Federation

you can go off a guy

True though.

Wales for the Final? And a crushing

I thought England came close, though. There was that moment late in the second half, before the French drop goal, when there was a breakaway and an England player had a simple pass to his left to set up an England try under the posts. That would have brought England back to being only two points behind with about 6 minutes left. It would have been anyone's game at that point. But England were making so many mistakes today they didn't deserve to win.

Not sure whether to support Wales or France in the semi...

PS. New thread with a new title needed, now Wales have knocked Ireland out. Maybe place our trust in an Argentine player?

My Kiwi mate emailed his verdict - bang on the button, I think

"England: won no friends here. Just a bunch of goons"

I imagine a 'goon' in Kiwi-speak has much the same evocation as here: not Harry Secombe, more beery, slow-witted and clumsy oaf

The only chance wales have of winning it is if the boks or aussies beat all blacks. we can take either of those but will wont beat the all blacks in a million years. (Yes, I know we have to beat les bleus first, but c'mon - we aren't england are we?!).

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The FullPonty
Nidum Chess Club

On the basis of the performances today, do you think Australia can beat New Zealand? I think they can, but the kicker NZ have got looks good (it was a good performance from Argentina initially, though they faded at the end). But then the Aussie kicker is good as well - very cool under pressure to slot that penalty that won the game. I was convinced South Africa were going to get a drop goal at the death, but they fumbled it (literally).

Which side would France and Wales prefer to face? I think France would prefer New Zealand, if only for the psychological aspect (imagine how shattering it would be for NZ to beat France earlier and then choke again), and Wales would prefer Australia, as you said.

But I'm going to be supporting Wales, and would love to see a Wales-Australia final. So can we change the thread title (metaphorically, not literally) to "In Warburton we trust!"? Or should that be Priestland?

Good grief. Very harsh sending off.

Yes it ruins the match before it has even started

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Cheers
Carl Hibbard

Going to be an exciting finish, though.

EDIT: Hope Wales have a good kicker still on the field...

Bad luck, Wales

Whoever wins later today is going to be supremely confident of overhauling this French team.

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"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Talking of good kickers, where were they in the final? Donald not only got the only
kick score but also the record of being the first to debut in a world cup in the final
itself. Boyo, wasn't that final a bit rougher and tougher than usual? Great effort from
France, but I think NZ deserved the victory.

Yeah, but someone tried to tell me France had won (I hadn't seen the highlights yet).

I was pleased New Zealand won. Some stats are here:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23102011/ ... stics.html

Possession and Territory: New Zealand 45 percent France 55 percent.

Tackles made: New Zealand 111 France 87
Tackles missed: New Zealand 9 France 10

I think those tackle stats tell you what sort of game it was. Brutal defence.

Penalties conceded: New Zealand 7 France 10
Handling errors: New Zealand 3 France 6

So all-in-all, very close. As someone said, France did turn up to the final, but were undone by that initial try. Then they got a try of their own from a New Zealand mistake. And the New Zealand kicker (Piri Weepu) missed loads. What I can't find immediately is stats for kicks missed.

Ah here we are:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Rugby ... Statistics

NZ kicked 1/3 penalties, France 0/2. France also attempted a drop goal (late in the first half).