Rugby

Oh, I agree. It may well be a matter of perception of size. More fool Eddie then, as for me, Farrell is the worse defender of the two. He will miss tackles on Saturday and I hope they don't cost points.

I wasn't questioning you questioning either (of that makes sense).

haha alright. Looking forward to this weekend games anyway!

Surprise from Cheika to put in the young lad at 13. But if he's got the big-game temperament, why not? Bigger surprise for me was Genia ahead of White, as the former has been distinctly off-form so far. That interception against Wales was awful - even slower service than Ben Youngs!

I agree entirely re Ford is a far more capable and brave defender than, say, Cipriani, and you don't need to hide him in the same way, but he does tend to go backwards and doesn't bring an aggressive defensive game. I heard someone argue once that Farrell's rush defence (with consequent missed tackles) was a specific game plan and when he goes it's when he knows there is cover behind him and he's trying to make the dominant hit/stop a move at source. From memory I don't feel like many of his missed tackles have led to clean line breaks but I may well be misremembering...

RE Slade - I agree - I'm sure he's in for his kicking and distribution, we need to get the ball to the back three and having Slade standing at 12/13 makes that more likely. I would also expect a lot of big runners coming off Slade's inside shoulder to target their young 13. He hasn't quite shown his Exeter form at international yet, although he stepped up this 6 nations in partnership with Manu, was immense in that performance against Ireland so hopefully he can bring that form into the world cup now...

I think the choice of Farrell over Ford is about proven mental toughness and who plays better when they don't have dominance up front... that said, Ford played great all season behind a Leicester pack that rarely achieved parity so I'm not so sure about that, but at international level he has rarely had a great game against a top team...

As a chiefs fan, I'm excited to see Slade start, he has done a lot of work on his defence in the last few years, so looks like Eddie is trusting him on that front.

He has certainly looked his most comfortable alongside Manu, I guess it is close to what he is used to at the chiefs with the likes of Hill and Devoto playing the more direct role.

Real shame that Nowell has struggled with so many injuries, real feel he could have had a big impact on the tournament, even if from the bench.

I love Nowell, he always makes something happen, and you really feel like he could be the difference in a very tight game - hoping he might make it back if we get beyond this because we'll need any edge we can get later in the tournament. I'm currently reasonably confident that we get past Australia without too much trouble but I thought that in 2015...

dangerous words those...

Yes, Nowell is just odd really, not the biggest, not the strongest, not the fastest, not got the best step, but... he just has the knack of beating players, it's like he has a sixth sense of when going into contact of how to do it to maximise his chances of bouncing out of it. Add to the fact that his work at the breakdown and you have a potent force.

I know! Just dropped it into a whatsapp group full of Ozzie rugby friend mates... this could backfire horribly.

I'd say he might be one of the strongest for his size and position, but yeah, his ability to step through/beyond contact and find holes in closed ranks of defence is incredible. He also has that habit of popping up in midfield and running very clever lines that can narrow the defensive line and create space out wide in the next phase... Manu is also very good at this, both with decoy runs and actual carries... bringing him closer (12) should help create more space for Slade/back 3...

Yes, i'm hoping that we get to Slade and Nowell on the field together at some point, they have a brilliant connection which can really make a difference.

I think agressive rush defence used by farell was set up initally by one of the saracens defense coach of whom defense system basically relied upon taking up the space, i.e. event if you miss your tackle if you take the space quickly it destroy many of the best option of the attacker. But it does require that the all team defensive system is on the same page, and the back row has a lot of work with this system but I believe Burger and other teammates from Saracens didn't mind having to defend haha

That sounds right! England's back row certainly full of energy and love a tackle so wouldn't be surprised to see something similar on Saturday, really squeezing Australia and stopping their backs getting space and good ball...

it's mentioned here the "Wolf Pack" defense, can't remember the article I found but it detailed the specificities of this defensive system. Might have changed since though!
As you mention, I think the key is preventing Australia to attack, they have good attacking players such as Koroibete or Kerevi

Genia at 9 is a strange choice for Australia, I thought White had been pretty impressive - certainly increases the chance of a midfield intercept try and Genia really does like to take a few steps from the ruck before he passes...

Great minds... ^^^^^^^^^

(and there's a second bit that I can never remember)

Ha - I'm just recycling your thoughts without even noticing!

Or it is a very astute observation from two connoisseurs of the game... (or "utter tripe", as I have just had someone else come back to me)

Lets go with the former! REALLY looking forward to this weekend's rugby. Going to have to miss the Ireland - NZ game unless I can get it streaming to a phone in the car but will be sat firmly in front of all the others... Predictions? For me the semis are England - NZ and Wales - SA. With the caveat that I can see a world in which Japan and/or France win, I think both probably need a mad game or a red card etc...

Disappointed Ford has been dropped with Farrell at 10.
Defence - Farrell will miss more tackles than Ford, it's just he does an angry face and works so hard to get the initial big shoulder/hit in (which the carrier rides and continues) we're duped into thinking he's a big hitter.
Behind a non-dominant pack - Ford has been outstanding behind a Leicester pack that will be dominated far more than any England pack against any opposition.
Kicking - happy to be proved wrong but would expect Ford's stats to prove he's been a decent bit more accurate than Farrell off the tee in the last 12 months.
Mental toughness - being gobby and obstinate doesn't make you mentally tough. Ford goes about his business methodically and respectfully without histrionics or drama.
Like Manu/Slade and wouldn't have an issue had Farrell been showing better form
but it's just not the case.
I don't think there's much chance of Australia beating us tbh - though generally they're better than France, you know the level of mediocrity they're going to bring, and as such I'd have chosen them of the possible 6 opponents we could have faced

I agree, I believe England will beat Australia. However Australia is pretty unpredictable in my opinion, can be truly great on the good day, but they also can be completely transparent and show nothing at all during a game. Forwards-wise, England I think is more complete despite Hooper/Pocock on the other side (better bench also), Backs-wise I think England offers more options and can bring interesting things on all fronts (power, speed, kicking, set-pieces) if they're all on the same page ; Australia have quality player with Koroibete and Kerevi, and some unpredictable dangers (both for them and for the opponent) with Beale, Foley, O'connor, Genia, etc. but the latter ones seem more to be on the danger side for Australia lately.

I believe NZ despite not showing their best form will beat Ireland, and we will have ENG/NZ in semi-final.

On our side (France), I hope we win the game as I have the feeling that we can succeed against Wales when they're not at home. But if we show same high penality rate in scrum, same clumsiness to catch a ball, and same irregularity and moments of game plan absence we showed for the last 5 years even if it is better recently, we will not win agains Wales. So I guess reluctantly I will predict 60% chance Wales beat us.

Regarding SA-Japan, soooooo looking forward to this game. I genuinely can not decide on a winner, SA will try to kill the memory of their loss last RWC and will be highly motivated, they have huge forwards (a little on the opposite side to Japan) and some interesting fast players on the back, but I have the impression that they can show limited strategy sometime. On the other hand, Japan is very very fast in execution, have good strategy and are very organized and structured and play possession game. They showed to have various tools (hands, speed, kicking, etc.) to win and choke the opponent, have good adaptation but they can be tired by the pool stage and will have to deal with SA forwards which is never easy.

England/Australia and SA/Japan are the games not to miss on the weekend (desperate to say that I am not even mentioning my own country but France has been really disappointing for me for quite some time). Have a good rugby weekend you all!

The All Blacks will win all.
But if we don't then I want France to win as its about time they bloody did. But the chances of France playing two good games in a row is like England winning the soccer world cup again.

It's going to be a great weekend of rugby. Can't wait.

Right. Here we go...

Big start! Thought Slade should have been sin binned there, that offside was so cynical and he was miles off. Aussies need to play the percentages a little more, far too open for a QF.

Well that was immensely satisfying

The TMO on the forward pass call at the end: "it's not clear, play on"
Jerome: u wot m8 it's blatant