Rugby union?

Fiji have not really improved from the team they had 20 years ago with Serevi etc but fans/pundits are acting as if England ground out a win against some top team or something. A few years ago a win against Fiji by England would have been close to a formality.

The reality is England are a shadow of what they were and have had a very easy run in this tournament. Cant see them having any chance against SA - the first real top team they will have played.
 
Mint8 said:
Fiji have not really improved from the team they had 20 years ago with Serevi etc but fans/pundits are acting as if England ground out a win against some top team or something. A few years ago a win against Fiji by England would have been close to a formality.

The reality is England are a shadow of what they were and have had a very easy run in this tournament. Cant see them having any chance against SA - the first real top team they will have played.
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I don't think that's a fair assessment of Fiji. They used to play like it was a sevens match and had terrible defence. They are a lot more organised these days and physically very impressive. Their kicker was a little under par but it wouldn't take much for them to become a really decent team.

I think England will lose to SA but they do have a good tournament record and have a way to grinding out wins against the odds.
 
Looking back, possibly the best weekend of Rugby I can remember. Missed most of the Wales game, and the first 20 of the NZ/Ireland game due to other things. But the later games on both days were both absolutely epic stuff. Ireland vs NZ set a high standard, and then France vs SA was just another level again.
The Wales and England games were both tense games that felt like they could have gone either way. Don't think a single one of those games were bad.

Mint8 said:
Fiji have not really improved from the team they had 20 years ago with Serevi etc but fans/pundits are acting as if England ground out a win against some top team or something. A few years ago a win against Fiji by England would have been close to a formality.

The reality is England are a shadow of what they were and have had a very easy run in this tournament. Cant see them having any chance against SA - the first real top team they will have played.
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Not familiar with the Fiji of 20 years ago, but I'd say they have clearly taken a step up in recent years. As Troezar said, they've stopped playing everything like a sevens game, they've got a solid set piece, solid defence, much more organised. If they carry on like this they'll definitely be in amongst the Tier 1 nations.

I can't see England beating the Boks, I expect this will be the game where there World cup run of grinding out results will end. But I'm not going to rule out the possibility of them somehow pulling it off.
 
turbot1984 said:
On present form I'm not going to argue against that, but England have beaten SA three times in last 5 years, one of those in Cape Town. We are doing pretty well considering it looked like the wheels had come off.
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It is really strange, maybe it's some sort of cunning plan to make everyone think they are poor by playing badly ;)
 
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hood1971 said:
I started falling for the hype in the cricket world cup, then South Africa did what they always do :rolleyes:

Its hard to not think of a SA v NZ final, but still need to get there.
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It always look nailed on until you speak to the opposing fans and they often have the same doubts. I don't expect it to be high scoring.
 
Just realised England are the only team left in the RWC that haven't lost yet. Makes you favourites in my eyes! :D

Looking forward to this game tonight, I think if NZ start quickly it could end up being a rout.
 
Well, we were ****e when we got to the 2019 final.

It's business time now. 80 minutes. We are massive underdogs, but we've pulled it off before.

I've not really been engaged with this WC, but will be watching tomorrow.
 
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