Wow!!!

[jargan83]

Someone get Jedi a time machine because he loves brining up the past.

[beige]

Was always going to be tough for Japan backing up 4 days after beating South Africa, which necessitated 6 changes. They can't really afford to lose their last two matches but hopefully 10 and 7 day breaks and familiar opposition mean they still have realistic hopes of making the quarters.

[Scozzie]

I could not believe watching Scotland how many foreigners they had. The one that really feels wrong to me is John Hardie, a few weeks ago he was playing for the highlanders and had never ever been to Scotland!

Scotland is not alone with this though. How many All Blacks and Wallabies hail from other countries. Hardie qualifies through Scottish grand parents, as does Maitland. I'm pretty sure it's only Visser, Nel and Strauss that have qualified through residency.

[Kiap]

Was always going to be tough for Japan backing up 4 days after beating South Africa, which necessitated 6 changes. They can't really afford to lose their last two matches but hopefully 10 and 7 day breaks and familiar opposition mean they still have realistic hopes of making the quarters.

Yeah, Japan put in pretty good effort, but the little things that tended to go for them against the Saffas weren't quite adding up this time. A few errors and Scotland going for their penalty kicks made a difference. And then the Scots took their chances well in the 2nd half to finish them off.

[Buddha Handy]

Scotland is not alone with this though. How many All Blacks and Wallabies hail from other countries. Hardie qualifies through Scottish grand parents, as does Maitland. I'm pretty sure it's only Visser, Nel and Strauss that have qualified through residency.

I get the residency one and everyone uses this eg Henry Speight. I think this should be extended to probably 5 years instead of 3 though.

But I still don't agree with the Hardie one. Name me any Wallaby or All Black who has played for them without ever living in that country?

If the Wallabies suddenly found out that Robbie Fruen or Ardie Savea for example had an Australian grandmother what would the reaction be if they got called up to our world cup squad?

[westies man]

If you fire guys in that don't even live in the country you cheapen the jersey and all those who wore it before you. You piss the local supporters off and what about the guy that has trained his gut's out for the last 4 years just for this chance only to have it ripped away at the death knock, the actual squad members would also be pissed off.
You're whole development system is falling down if you have to go down this road.
Interesting stats on Foreign born players playing in World Cup
Samoa 13
Wales 11
Scotland 11
France 10
Australia 9
Ireland 5
New Zealand 5
England 3
South Africa 1

[Ecky]

...and the Japan stat?
Is it almost 15?

[chibi]

Foreign-born players at RWC 2015

http://www.americasrugbynews.com/201...yers-rwc-2015/

[F Man]

...and the Japan stat?
Is it almost 15?

11 - same as Wales and Scotland. You just notice them because they don't 'blend in'.

[shasta]

BUGGER! Just checked into our hotel in Chiang Mai - been staying here 10 years. They've now got Fox Sports 2 .

[travelling_gerry]

Swing low now you f**** chariot!

[Kiap]

[GIGS20]

The fox weenies were saying Australia would prefer a draw, but somehow I'm not disappointed by this result.

Now for us to smash Wales and top the pool with a get out of jail free card against the unwashed

[westies man]

Best game at the cup so far was SA v Samoa. The Bok backlash was to be expected but no one saw this coming. Massive collisions and plenty of positivity with ball in hand. Awesome game to watch and refreshing to see Barnes actually making the big calls without constant TMO interference.
Will be a Tri Nations Cup winner this year and take your pick out of any one of those 3.
Northern hemisphere rugby just won't cut this one, it seems on a different plane.
If Samoa's Tim Nanai Williams was playing for anyone that will progress out of pool play he would be player of the tournament.
Did Matfield dye his beard because last week I'm sure it had a lot more grey's, he went bloody well.

[shasta]

Swing low now you f**** chariot!

GIGS; have you got a gig ghost writing for the English press? Apparently the loss was the Mungo's according to some of them.
Even if a draw was better for us I still enjoyed that. Swing low, indeed. Thought it was pretty disrespectful singing that at the Japan-Scotland game the other day.