Rugby Union World Cup 2015

I've got Friday off for the England-Fiji game :bears:

I'm right next door to Twickenham but there is no interest in this World Cup. People I speak to don't care about it. There's no huge banners around, no flags..........nothing!

 

Aye, Jimmy - the croowds are just keeping quiet fer noo... ba tomorrow the tournament will be booncing, laddie!

TOOTrage! :will:

Scotland fans furious as bagpipes banned from Rugby World Cup grounds

Anyone who has ever walked through the main streets of Edinburgh has heard the sound of the bagpipes and might have an attitude similar to that of Forbes McAllister in Alan Partridge; it’s certainly an acquired taste.

The organisers of the World Cup are clearly not fans as they’ve taken the unusual step of banning the instrument from tournament venues in a bid to avoid the kind of backlash the vuvuzela received at the 2010 football World Cup in South Africa. A spokesman for the tournament had this to say:

“Rugby World Cup recognises the significant role that bagpipes play in Scottish and world rugby heritage and, while individual instruments will not be permitted into venues to rightly give appropriate consideration to fan experience, bagpipes will play a prominent role at all Scotland matches, which is great for Scotland fans and great for the tournament.”

Scotland supporters are livid and the row has even reached Westminster, with Scottish National Party MPs putting down a Commons early day motion critical of the ban. It reads:

“This House condemns the banning of bagpipes from the upcoming Rugby World Cup; calls on World Rugby Union to allow bagpipes to be played at the World Cup; recognises that bagpipes are not dangerous; stresses the importance of cultural identity associated with bagpipes for Scots, in the UK and around the world; and acknowledges that bagpipes are often played in formal ceremonies.”

This one looks set to drone on and on.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ru...ipes-banned-from-Rugby-World-Cup-grounds.html

 

Good call imo, they're the worst instrument in the world. Imagine paying for a ticket and ending up beside that!

 

I'd go crazy if I was sat next to people playing bagpipes ::

 

::

Hoot and Jimmy dinnae appreciate the haunting beauty o' the strains o' the pipes.

 

these guys jacksonify the bagpipe!

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E6JGn3MzQho" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="640"></iframe>

 

From sky sports news:


Jonny Wilkinson has described England's opening World Cup game with Fiji on Friday as 'massive' and has urged Stuart Lancaster to treat the clash as a knock-out game.
With Wales and Australia both in Pool A alongside England it has been dubbed the group of death, and World Cup winner Wilkinson has warned England against underestimating Fiji at Twickenham.

The 36-year-old told Sky Sports News that despite the fact it is their first game of the tournament, England should treat it as a last-eight tie.

"It's a huge game," said Wilkinson. "There's no other way of looking at it - it's a mas"England have got to look at it as kind of like a quarter-final very early on.​

​

The better you get, you expect more of yourself anyway, but the high standards, the more consistent that you become, the more people begin to believe that's just what happens.

"It's also an opportunity to stamp their mark on this tournament. Start as they mean to go on; with ruthless professionalism, which means defence, it means intensity and the precision of the details - the accuracy of the execution - but at the same time that no-nonsense stuff that just says 'OK, we know you guys can play' - and jeez can they play - but you say 'right that's enough, this is how we're going to do it, we're at Twickenham now, this is the way it's going to be'.

"Fiji are a great team. They're ranked highly in the world, they've got speed, they've got power, they've got understanding, and they've also got guys that are really dominating European rugby over here and in the Super 15 as well.

"[They] need to be respected - will be respected - but for England, they've got to show that they mean business early on."

 

Day #1
England v Fiji

Like you posted, SnB, a massive game for England being as they have to win their group if they want an easier route to the final stages and even though England look like a 'complete' team...but with lacking experience in KO-stage rugby.
If the defence is down, Fiji will punish....I want to see what Nemani Nadolo is like. Expect a physically tough game - just wonder if the tougher is gets, the more Fiji will give away penalties...

 

Nemani Nadolo is six foot five and twenty stone... if him chasing they Sasnachs wingers diznae make 'em run faster, Ah dinnae ken whit will, like.

McShake - some bonny articles aboot McWilko on the Telegraph site... whit a complex laddie. Ah feel soarry fer him, he's half bampot.

 

He's a free-running winger !?
:jaw:

 

Sooooonds terrifying. Like getting charged by a rhino!

 

A complex character, yeah. Like how he was on the Rugby field, he's the same when he peels an orange; meticulous.

 

Fiji are no joke. They've got plenty of talent. It would be great if they joined 'The Championship', playing against Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa on a yearly basis.

 

Looking forward to this, now. Just popped out to get a slab of ales for the neet, might make an early start on them, in fact...

MTF

 

Don't think I'll be going anywhere near Twickenham to watch the game. Atmosphere will be brilliant but it'll take you an hour to get served, plus the pubs close at 10pm I think.

 

The price of tickets has been ridiculous. A pal of mine is going to watch a match at St James' - he's paid £150 per ticket to go.

MTF :tick:

 

Are there matches in Scotland or is it just England and wales? If not has sturgeon wasted parliaments time complaining about it yet?

@feebes- the new Guinness indian porter (6%!) is heavy chonking if yr looking for an ale!

 

Just England and Wales, yeah.

 

It isn't bad but it isn't great either

 

I liked it..

 

I think the only game being played there (in the group stages) is South Africa vs Scotland. So if you're paying that price for that game at that venue, imagine what you'll be paying to see England vs Fiji tonight at Twickenham. To be honest, though, if I had the money, I'd pay a fair bit to see England-Fiji tonight.

 

There are tickets remaining for the game tonight. Cheapest going is £318.60.

 

Aye, that's the game. His missus in South African so they both wanted to go. 300 notes the pair.

Fuck that.

MTF

 

Aye, it's canny, but no great.

MTF

 

::

MTF

 

I'm just watching back the 2003 World Cup. Jesus, Jason Robinson was unreal. Boy could he move. That was a great England team.

 

If anyone fancies the upset tonight, Fiji are 16/1.

 

Fiji won't beat England, I don't know why people are acting worried. We'll probably look like shit and win, as we tend to do against the smaller nations. They'll start fast, give us a few scares and then we'll win it comfortably.

 

We all expect England to win but the Fijians will be no pushovers. I think Dark Magus alluded to it earlier, they've got pace and power. Nemani Nadolo has 15 tries in 20 tests and is a real danger man. If England aren't at their best, Fiji could cause a surprise, like they did when they beat Wales 38-34 in 2007. Wales opted to play an open, expansive game, and it backfired. Fiji will treat the England game as a knockout game.