International rugby

[Soloman]

Just wondering if there are any rugby fans on this forum.  Three huge matches coming up on 21/11/21.  I’ll be in Chiang Rai and hoping to catch it live on the big screen somewhere.  It’s going to be closer to midnight so maybe with current restrictions this may not be possible.  From memory, Wallabies vs Wales and England vs Boks and France vs Kiwis. Cheers, Ed 

[BigHewer]

I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan @Soloman, but I watch the World Cup when it’s on and follow any internationals Japan is involved in.

Managed to see three World Cup games live in 2019, the last big sporting event before everything went pear-shaped. Some interesting games this weekend.

Ireland vs Japan

Wales vs South Africa

France vs Argentina

Italy vs New Zealand

England vs Tonga

Scotland vs Australia

The Ireland vs Japan game will be a cracker. Ireland still smarting from their World Cup defeat two years ago.

 

 

[Soloman]

Japan certainly stretched Australia.  Any team that can beat S Africa cannot be taken too lightly.  Why Japan may I ask?  

[BigHewer]

8 minutes ago, Soloman said:

Japan certainly stretched Australia.  Any team that can beat S Africa cannot be taken too lightly.  Why Japan may I ask?  

Lived here for 21 years, longer than anywhere else. Too young to get into rugby when I was in the UK, no rugby to speak of in Germany and never really got into it in Australia.

[Smithydog]

The 2 games that interest me the most will be the Scotland v Australia game and the Wales v South Africa one. Think both are up for grabs by either side.

My tips are:

Ireland, Wales, France, New Zealand, England and Australia.

 

[BigHewer]

2 minutes ago, Smithydog said:

The 2 games that interest me the most will be the Scotland v Australia game and the Wales v South Africa one. Think both are up for grabs by either side.

My tips are:

Ireland, Wales, France, New Zealand, England and Australia.

I’m going for Japan, South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand, England and Australia

[Smithydog]

Ah....New Zealand & Tonga both playing.

The "Haka" and the "Sipi Tau"!

Always a great start and even better when they play each other.

[Soloman]

What an interesting world we live in.  Thanks for the explanation BigHewer. My affiliation is with Wallabies having lived longer in Oz than anywhere else despite being born in Malaya as it was known then.  That said, I simply love rugby as it’s almost like a game of chess.  Even more so when the individual pieces don’t always share the same capabilities.   So, while the result may be be a foregone conclusion, it’s how well each side played within the limits of their individual pieces at that time. That All Blacks would beat say Japan is without doubt but how well did they manage that?  The converse for Japan.  Enough said, some good rugby lies ahead. Hopefully some upsets too

[Soloman]

 

Autumn Internationals Fixtures 2021

All kick-offs UK & Ireland time.

SATURDAY 23 OCTOBER 

Japan 23-32 Australia (Oita Stadium)

USA 14-104 New Zealand  (FedExField, Washington DC)

SATURDAY 30 OCTOBER 

Scotland 60-14 Tonga Men (BT Murrayfield) Kyle Steyn scores four in one-sided Scotland win

Spain 11-13 Italy A Men (Estadio Nacional Universidad Complutense, Madrid)

Sat 30 October, Wales 16-54 New Zealand (Principality Stadium) Beauden Barrett marks 100th Test with two tries

SUNDAY 31 OCTOBER

England 43-12 New Zealand Women (Sandy Park) Red Roses secure record win over Black Ferns

TUESDAY 2 NOVEMBER

USA v Canada Women (1am, Infinity Park, Colorado)

SATURDAY 6 NOVEMBER

USA v Canada Women (1am, Infinity Park, Colorado)

Ireland v Japan Men (1pm, Aviva Stadium) Live on Channel 4 & RTE

Italy v New Zealand Men (1pm, Stadio Olimpico) Live on Amazon Prime

France v South Africa Women (2pm, Stade de la Rabine, Vannes)

Portugal v Canada Men (2pm, Lisbon)

Spain v Fiji Men (3pm, Estadio Nacional Universidad Complutense, Madrid)

England v Tonga Men (3.15pm, Twickenham) Live on Amazon Prime

Wales v South Africa Men (5.30pm, Principality Stadium) Live on Amazon Prime

France v Argentina Men (8pm, Stade de France) Live on Amazon Prime

Romania v Uruguay Men (Bucharest)

SUNDAY 7 NOVEMBER

Scotland v Australia Men (2.15pm, BT Murrayfield) Live on Amazon Prime

England v New Zealand Women (2.45pm, Franklin’s Gardens) Live on BBC Two

Wales v Japan Women (5pm, Cardiff Arms Park)

FRIDAY 12 NOVEMBER

Ireland v USA Women (7.15pm, RDS) Live on RTE Player

SATURDAY 13 NOVEMBER

Wales v South Africa Women (12.15pm, Cardiff Arms Park)

Italy v Argentina Men (1pm, Stadio Monigo, Treviso) Live on Amazon Prime

Scotland v South Africa Men (1pm, BT Murrayfield) Live on Amazon Prime

France v New Zealand Women (2pm, Stade du Hameau, Pau)

French Barbarians v Tonga Men (3pm, Stade de Gerland, Lyon)

Ireland v New Zealand Men (3.15pm, Aviva Stadium) Live on Channel 4 & RTE

Portugal v Japan Men (4.10pm, Coimbra)

England v Australia Men (5.30pm, Twickenham) Live on Amazon Prime

Belgium v Canada Men (Brussels)

SUNDAY 14 NOVEMBER

France v Georgia Men (1pm, Matmut Atlantique, Bordeaux) Live on Amazon Prime

England v Canada Women (2.30pm, Twickenham Stoop) Live on BBC Two

Wales v Fiji Men (3.15pm, Principality Stadium) Live on Amazon Prime

Scotland v Japan Women (4.10pm, DAM Health Stadium, Edinburgh)

Brazil v Zimbabwe (Stellenbosch)

Italy A v Uruguay (Padova)

Namibia v Kenya (Stellenbosch)

SATURDAY 20 NOVEMBER

Italy v Uruguay Men (1pm, Stadio Lanfranchi, Parma) Live on Amazon Prime

Scotland v Japan Men (1pm, BT Murrayfield) Live on Amazon Prime

France v New Zealand Women (2pm, Stade Pierre-Antoine, Castres)

Georgia v Fiji Men (3pm, Aranjuez)

Ireland v Japan Women (3pm, RDS) Live on RTE2

England v South Africa Men (3.15pm, Twickenham) Live on Amazon Prime

Wales v Australia Men (5.30pm, Principality Stadium) Live on Amazon Prime

France v New Zealand Men (8pm, Stade de France) Live on Amazon Prime

Romania v Tonga Men (Bucharest)

Russia v Chile Men (Sochi)

SUNDAY 21 NOVEMBER

Ireland v Argentina Men (2.15pm) Live on Channel 4 & RTE

England v USA Women (2.45pm, Sixways) Live on BBC Two

Wales v Canada Women (5pm, Cardiff Arms Park)

FRIDAY 26 NOVEMBER

Russia v Chile Men (Sochi)

SATURDAY 27 NOVEMBER

Barbarians v Samoa XV Men (2.30pm, Twickenham)

Barbarians v South Africa Women (5.15pm, Twickenham)

 

[BigHewer]

5 minutes ago, Soloman said:

Portugal v Japan Men (4.10pm, Coimbra)

First ever match between the two sides, I believe. Japan will be fielding a young team and blooding new players.

[Soloman]

Wise move.  You gotta blood these youngsters.   Always keep an eye on the U20 world cup.  It gives u a good idea of what’s to come.  France, Australia and England are potentially the next wave based on that.  The era of the All Black domination may soonbe over and about time too

[BigHewer]

Ireland have beaten Japan 60-5. What a blowout. Japan was nowhere near full-strength but ouch!

[Soloman]

I didn’t enjoy the mismatch even if I did say that how they won and lost was more important than the forgone results.  I managed to watch the highlights of the Wales vs Boks game and it was close.  It could have gone either way. Looking forward to the Wallabies vs Scotland game coming up later today.  I have not checked the betting but suspect it would be even money. Cheers. 

[BigHewer]

12 minutes ago, Soloman said:

I didn’t enjoy the mismatch even if I did say that how they won and lost was more important than the forgone results.  I managed to watch the highlights of the Wales vs Boks game and it was close.  It could have gone either way. Looking forward to the Wallabies vs Scotland game coming up later today.  I have not checked the betting but suspect it would be even money. Cheers. 

Spot on, Soloman. Ladbrokes has the Wallabies and the Scots dead even. Should be an interesting game.

[Soloman]

Coach Rennie has taken on a big gamble bringing in 3 French based players.  Two of them are giant locks to fix the line outs, a major problem in the set pieces. If it works, it would be remembered as a stroke of genius.  

[BigHewer]

Will be interesting. Hopefully Scotland will give the Wallabies a run for their money, but Aussies to win I would think.

[Faz]

An unwarranted disparaging comment has been removed.
 

[Poolie]

Love the rugby. I went to the Philippines to watch the quarters, semi's and final last world cup. Japan had a magnificent tournament.

[BigHewer]

11 hours ago, Poolie said:

Love the rugby. I went to the Philippines to watch the quarters, semi's and final last world cup. Japan had a magnificent tournament.

I was already in Japan so I stayed put. Cracking atmosphere here, went to a couple of live games and watched all the Japan games in a fan zone.

[Poolie]

Lucky man. England were disappointing in the final, but at least they got there. Beating NZ in the semi's was the highlight.

[BigHewer]

12 minutes ago, Poolie said:

Lucky man. England were disappointing in the final, but at least they got there. Beating NZ in the semi's was the highlight.

True enough. The tournament didn’t quite end the way I was hoping but the whole event itself was brilliant.

The bars were packed every night, and there were fan contingents out and about everywhere, even on non-match days. Every second person was wearing a rugby jersey.

[Poolie]

Looks brilliant. I'm so jealous.

[Soloman]

Full marks to Scotland for the narrow win against Wallabies yesterday.  I thought they played some exciting running rugby and were solid in all the set pieces.   74,000 happy supporters at the game! 

[BigHewer]

Onto next weekend then. A veritable feast of fixtures, including a few oddball pairings (Brazil vs. Zimbabwe, anyone?). Bring it on!

[Soloman]

Don’t mind Wallabies losing to Scotland and it will more than make up for it if we can beat England. Beating England and Kiwis in anything is an Aussie thing