The rugby world cup begins tomorrow!

Frozen Horse said:
Do you mean "purpose built rugby stadiums"?

I don't think the distinction is as clear in France.

The stadium in Marseille, for example, isn't owned by the football club but by the city, and it has frequently been used for rugby too. It was, of course, originally built for cycling, as the name suggests.

Stade de France may have been built in response to France being awarded the WC, but it was always planned for athletics and rugby to take place there too.

I don't know about all the stadia in the rugby WC, but I expect others are communal stadiums, rather than club owned.
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I think the only "rugby stadium" being used in the World Cup is Stade Toulousain, and that only for a couple of the smaller matches. The grounds in the traditional heartland of rugby in France, the South West, are far too small
 
Nero said:
Defence and lack of stupid penalties massive encouragement. I hope they can maintain that.

I got the impression George Ford took control regarding the drop goals. Build the score and put more pressure on Argentina. They couldn’t respond and England had something to hold on to. It was quality from Ford. How does Owen Farrell get back in the team? Certainly not at No 10.
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Sadly I think Faz will walk back into the team. His workmanlike and reliable performances go down well with coaches. His inability to tackle straight and lack of flare are bad for the fans though.

I agree our defence was excellent yesterday.
 
JackG said:
I have sympathy for Curry but not much hope. He appeared to have decelerated to avoid tackling the man in the air. This meant he was too upright in contact. The resulting clash of heads will probably go down as reckless i.e. he has a responsibility to not be in that position. If World Rugby is pushing one thing it's this. For the long-term survival of the sport, they must be seen to do something about player welfare and blows to the head. I can't see them overturning this, even if, privately, they feel it's a bit borderline.
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The recent focus on head injuries always makes me smile. I cannot fathom how anyone could watch this sport at any time in its existence and not think "thats not healthy, particularly not for the head". It's physicality is hardly a modern invention.

I'd also, obviously wrongly, assumed that the injury risk was "baked in" a la boxing. Clearly noone wants to see injuries but reducing a sport which at its heart is a physical battle between two teams, to a less physical one, was always going to be contentious.
 
Tryasize10 said:
Plenty of unlikable characters in the SA team. Would actually love to see the Scots beat them
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It's hard to disagree with that. Scotland have been under pressure but are still in this game. Score early and stop the silly mistakes and you could see SA doing an Argentina.
 
changingman said:
The recent focus on head injuries always makes me smile. I cannot fathom how anyone could watch this sport at any time in its existence and not think "thats not healthy, particularly not for the head". It's physicality is hardly a modern invention.

I'd also, obviously wrongly, assumed that the injury risk was "baked in" a la boxing. Clearly noone wants to see injuries but reducing a sport which at its heart is a physical battle between two teams, to a less physical one, was always going to be contentious.
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It's more about professionalism - the repeated collisions in training, and the increase in size, speed, and physicality that full-time professionalism brings.
 
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