chrisjpainter

It's one of the dafter sackings that have gone on recently - probably second only to Bournemouth getting rid of Gary O'neil. Rooney's a glamour signing that wasn't needed. His managerial style suits teams under the cosh more than a team with playoff aspirations. Time will tell, but it seems harsh on the old manager who'd done pretty well thus far

Where's the fun in that? I'm thinking leave it for her to come in. blood drip trail along the hall, a bloody knife in the corridor, more pooling at the entrance to the kitchen. Then just before she can see you lie down in a nice pool of it...

Oh no. Farrell's wonderful tackling ability will help out there... for five minutes before he's carded for a no arms tackle.

Team news for England: Ford out. Farrell comes in at 10, Smith goes to full back; Marchant and Tuilagi at 12 and 13. A midfield as dynamic and enterprising as a wet weekend in Skegness. be prepared for more aimless kicks over the top and ponderous throwing around. Rugby World Cup: Owen Farrell replaces George Ford at fly-half for England v Fiji - BBC Sport

I dreamt last night that England played really badly for the whole world cup and still won it. Well we've ticked one of those off so far...you never know!

Yeah!!! Fiji were shoddy, so I'll take that! I thought Portugal would run out of gas, but they were great value for the win

I don't know who to support! I want Portugal to win. But Fiji have been dire and I'd love us to play a dire, tired team in the quarters!

Perfect example! This is the same species - Araneus diadematus. It's just it shows up the colours - and more importantly the cross to give it its name - much better. As below shows, they really can come in all sorts of colours, but the key to easy ID is that cross pattern - if it shows it. Like a lot of spider species, diadematus can lose the definition in their markings with age, so my guess is the OP's is an older female.

Looks like a female Araneus diadematus - Garden Cross Orb weaver. These guys come in a huge range of colours, from black and white to rich orange and yellows, like yours. They're all the same species, just look very different, but the key to ID is the cross pattern at the top of the abdomen. I think you can just make it out through the blurriness of the photo! There is a chance it could be a Metellina species - common orb weaver - but the narrowness of the lines down the middle suit A.diadematus better I think.

I don't think I've ever been more ashamed of a team's win. In any sport. Ever. That was utterly pathetic.

We're so awful. Can we default on our quarter final? It seems harsh to put the fans through it.

First thought is why kill it? Seems wholly unnecessary. Second thought is yes, it probably was a hornet, although it's late in the year for them. Next time just open a window and direct it towards it. They're pretty docile creatures and can rarely be bothered to attack in defence.

That's what fishing does to you! It wasn't a stellar weekend really. It had the feel of the pieces being moved into position for the endgame. Predictable results, stage set for next week. Hope you feel better soon; I'm off fishing

Do you think Colman's is not as strong as it used to be? Our last couple of jars have been underwhelming to say the least!

It's hard for me to judge as I only caught the last 12 minutes, but Italy were guilty of serious towel-throwing. They were fine on the ball, but the moment NZ got hold of it, they just rolled over. Even the sides that have got tanked in the world cup didn't actively give up like that. Chile, Namibia and the like got tired, but they stayed professional. Italy were embarrassing.

Just turned on after running a youth group. Good grief. Are Italy being terrible or New Zealand amazing?

Yes. It very much had the feel of two also-rans wanting to get a gig at the big boys table. Whoever ends up playing the winner in the quarters won't be having sleepless nights. HEADS UP TOO: England women play on Saturday at 3pm. Neither BBC nor ITV wanted coverage - despite it being offered to them for free - so it's on youtube. searching England vs Canada LIVE should get it

Sounds legit. Bear in mind it might take a bit of time to come through. I'm still waiting for my 700,000,000 payout from 2018 World Cup. Any day now, I'm sure...

Just a thought, when was the last time you had your eyes tested? If your sight's changed - especially if your close vision's got worse - that might be having an effect.

The standout tie has to be NZ-Ireland. I'd be worried about France ill-discipline costing them against the boring but effective SA team. As you say, we should beat Fiji. Just imagine a World Cup semi final line up entirely made up of the Northern Hemisphere! We wait and see, but it's great for world rugby. Chile have looked talented but unable to stay the course of 80 mins. More exposure will help with that; Argentina used to be the same but they're a serious force now. The disappointment for me is to see how little progress Namibia's made. With SA literally right next door, I'd have hoped they would have improved more. I know two of their three games have been against the big hitters in the group, but a 52-8 drubbing by Italy is perhaps the worst result of the three.

Funny you should say that. There's a rumour going round he met with Japan representatives on the eve of the tournament about a potential return! He's denied it in a heated press conference and he's contracted until after the next world cup, but even so it's got a lot of traction. The Aussie press has not been kind to him. There was one particularly awkward commentary box that contained the biggest elephant in a room there's ever been: Michael Hooper. The poor guy just went red as he was bombarded by his fellow panellists with questions along the lines of 'why aren't you there?' and 'don't you think experience would have been useful for this young, talented but rudderless team?' Given how poor their kicking was, Quade Cooper's absence looks ridiculous too. On another issue, I wonder what price you'd have got for all four groups being topped by Six Nations sides?

Gardening leave for Eddie Jones?

Yeah I've been really impressed with how Wales have kept changing their attack plan. Australia meanwhile are looking strangely familiar. Lots of aimless phases, followed by a pointless kick. I wonder who that reminds me of?

Really nice by Wales. Australia just look a bit...dim? They don't seem to expect anything from Wales, and Wales to be fair are constantly changing the question they're asking, so it's no wonder they're running away with it. So poor from the Aussies.

I just get the feeling both sides have got so much more to offer if they could stop making daft mistakes at bad moments, especially Australia. That lineout was a case in point. A superb platform turned into 70 yards of lost territory because of a shambolic throw. I wish Wales would shut up and let Barnes get on with reffing. How can they question not being pulled back for their pen advantage when they gained 50 yards after it?! Pipe down and just play the game.