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The good news regarding Halfpenny replacing the excellent Williams is that defensively he is quality.
Also he and Georgie North, who hasn't got out of first gear yet, have a good understanding.
Fingers crossed it may well all come together on Sunday.
Huge weekend of Rugby Union ahead.
What would you rather happen tomorrow?...
1) New Zealand to beat England (usually I would)
2) England to beat New Zealand (better chance of us winning the WC IMHO )
It doesn't feel right wanting England but if we are serious about winning the tournament then this has to happen.
I am undecided who I want tomorrow but we should hope it's a bruising battle with a few injuries to key players on both sides (not serious ones obvs ;-))
Just came back from Japan after nearly three weeks saw the last two pool games and quarter final , had the time of my life Japanese people were amazing , apart from in Tokyo who wouldn’t even know the rugby was happening
Originally Posted by MacAdder
Definitely want New Zealand to win
It’s been a great advert for Japan as a country
For those that missed it, the 1970s Haka is worth a watch.
monty python ?
What a half by England, Christ.
so many handling mistakes and turnovers...great to watch tho
I think what we're watching is what you can do with a team fully prepared and fully fit ready for the big game. Have New Zealand prepared fully for England or are they looking to play "pure" rugby? Have England benefited from only being tested in Cardiff and therefore have a fully fit team? England by 3 points is my prediction with that final kick before the whistle being key.
England got NZ rattled here. Playing well. Could probably do with more points on the board whilst well on top though.
New Zealand hanging on here with another England try disallowed - England are defending superbly in this competition.
The technicality of ruling out that last try is as bad as disallowing a goal for being offside by a shoelace. Attacking teams should be given the benefit of the doubt.
Yes, I agree - they're by far the better side and 13-0 is not a fair reflection of play.
It's one thing when the TMO fails to overturn an incorrect decision. Incorrectly overturning a perfectly good one is absolutely disgraceful.
They are very lucky. We have six top players out now.[/QUOTE]
England also have greater squad depth which always catches us out in most competions, to be fair semi finalists is about our limit , fingers crossed and they find one more effort to get at least to the final, which is a great achievement in itself .
After that ouch , Blacks and England are very good and sadly at another level through thier squad not just the 15.
Can’t see South Africa getting close to England in the final
they've made NZ look ordinary
Ah bollox. Thoroughly dominant performance in fairness.
If England continue to play like that and win the tournament then they'll be worthy winners. I think several things have come together to help them, but they're certainly peaking for the big games in this tournament and more often than not the team that peaks at the right time will be the team that wins it.
One small crumb of comfort though, apart from Uruguay, every side Wales has played so far has tried to dominate physically as one of their main weapons and while Wales have been shaken they haven't broken. We are incredibly well practiced against what we'll be facing tomorrow and, hopefully, next weekend which may be key.
I’m not sure if I just watched an unbelievable performance by England destroying the best team in the world or if I watched them beat a team that were on the slide. I suspect it’s the former but tomorrow will give a better clue. NZ weren’t hugely convincing against SA although they were against Ireland.
Today's game reminded me of the Grand Slam match last season when there was much talk of what a close game it would be, only for Wales to score a try in the first minute and then stifle Ireland to such an extent that the game was never really a contest. The commentators and analysts tried to make today's game sound like a classic, but the only tension came from the fact that it was New Zealand who were getting stuffed and they, surely, couldn't keep on playing as badly for a whole eighty minutes.
That's what England did though - they just smothered the life out of that All Blacks and would have "nilled" them, but for the very soft try they conceded (Ireland scored their only points of the Grand Slam match from the last move of the game).
I wouldn't say the Cup is England's already though, because there might be a chance that they will start thinking that the hard work has already been done and, if Wales were to win tomorrow, we have enough recent success against them to believe we can do it again - we need to start playing to our potential from now on though.
I'm a bit afraid if Wales beat SA and get through to the final, they will be humiliated by England unless there is a dramatic improvement by Wales, especially as there are several good players out due to injury. Of course we always have the pashun advantage!
The days of England humiliating us are gone.
We are Grand Slam champions.
If we do get to the final, we’d have to be on top form to win, but we certainly wouldn’t get hammered.
Awesome display by England but if Wales overcome SA, then they have a great chance especially if the opening 25 min England surge can be contained.
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