Rugby Union

Yeah it'd be the greatest comeback in the world if they were to win it from here and I doubt that's possible. But if they keep playing like they've done in the first couple of minutes they could easily win the 2nd half.

I did. And I just checked back in and now we have to deal with them having a point to prove next week. Bleugh

His little grin while settling before the kick looks a little movie psycho henchman to me. Plays well though.

Oh I agree with that for sure; but I don't think this result is just Italy not being good. ABs have done the work, they won the collision, won the break down, won the set piece, maintained their discipline, and played with accuracy & variety. They kept Italy out of the game and dictated the way it was played.

IRE or SA will be a completely different game, and they will be able to wrest control of the game if they lose it in the way that Italy were not. Although if the ABs keep improving from this they are looking like the team that hurt SA in NZ earlier this year. The difference between this ABs team and other eras is there's a question mark on if they can do it.

If they can, then whoever faces them in the quarters will need to win like its a final, and what that might do with 2 games remaining afterwards is food for thought.

Yeah even with all the stops for kicking conversions and restarts the game itself breezed by - and that's as much as anything due to what you note, with few players going down to pretend injuries just to get some water & air etc. I'm not a huge fan of the way Carley refs either, but I thought he was pretty decent and kept the game moving quite well too.

Foz's comments after that match have got a bunch of people worked up because they think he's saying that big collision low points rugby is bad. I expect he's misinterpreted, the people he was talking to were the WR officials trying to encourage them to keep games moving and avoiding all the clock manipulation that's going on.

I think some fans think Foz is saying Ire or SA can't play rugby; but my impression is that what he's trying to say is if the game is kept moving then they'll really be able to show what they've got. Because NZ hasn't forgotten the lesson of how well Ireland can play with the ball and players in motion.

huzzah! I think all the teams are working hard on tackling height and everything, so really it must come down to a bit of luck, get the timing just a little bit wrong and its bad news.