chrisjpainter

right now it's like watching drunk teenagers in charge of a roundabout. It's chaotic and very entertaining, but lacks a lot of intelligence

If this Aussie side clicks, they could be really dangerous. Big if though

This one has been upgraded. Which is somehow even more baffling!

Another yellow. Another that surely should be red. It shouldn't matter as he won't return anyway, but worth finding out whether that's upgraded or not. He charged in, shoulder first into a static target. Once again, it should be an easy red. We'll see...

The fact that Ritchie failed his HIA after the hit kind of suggests it was pretty dangerous!

Apparently driving your shoulder into someone's head isn't a red card offence. The whole comms box for both ITV and BBC are baffled by that. I can understand why; there's just no consistency.

Agreed. There's still the feeling of an amateur about him. that you just have to hit someone harder than they can hit you and you'll get the win. I just don't think there's anything more to him. We've seen all he's got and he's not go enough

There is a small chance I might have fallen asleep! I'll catch up with the highlights, but I'm going for Ireland to win the World Cup, so the confidence of beating the boks in the group stages is useful, even if ultimately I'm expecting them to meet in the final anyway.

I was going to follow this...then I fell asleep and by the time I woke up, it was all over. I was surprised at Joyce coming in heavier. Speed wasn't his strong point originally, so I'm not sure how more bulk was ever going to help! As you say, he's too old now. He's not going to get the title shots he might have once deserved and being alive with an intact brain is a decent future to live out.

Good.

Yeah, we get fewer resets than we were seeing 10 years ago, but the scrum must be a nightmare to police, because it's so technical and the other infringements often really subtle. You need to be using your height to check the scrum's not wheeling, but also low down to see the ball's going in straight. You must be paying attention to the binds on both sides, the shoulder position both sides, knees elbows, whether one team's driving straight or if the other team is buckling. Something's inevitably going to get missed and it's always the put-in. They should take it away from the on-field ref, like cricket's done with no-balls. If the TMO's got a camera to check, then all it takes is a quick buzz in the year and the team gets pinged. Free-kick to the other team and you're away. That way the ref can focus on with the more nuanced infringements in the scrum

I'd take Wales of those three. This is on the BBC page. Was Japan really the best we've been? If that's true, we really are rubbish!

Nope. But this was mentioned during the match too. I don't buy it as an excuse. England's insistence on a kicking game has to be coached - it's been an obvious tactic for too long and it's independent of the game's conditions. It's the instant choice. Get to the 22 and kick to see what might happen, but I think it's because they genuinely don't believe they have the flair to do anything else. There's no spark or unexpectedness. No one pops up in an usual position, there's never a clever pass, or a decoyed run. It's all go through the phases, hit a brick wall and try and open it up with a kick. But it's so expected now it's either covered by a charge down, or the backs are ready to claim the kick. It's too obvious to work, but we've got nothing else to try, so...roll on next week and more of the same.

At least we finished with 15 this time, too. Every cloud and all that.

The commentators were very quick to praise how we improved...but Japan were physically shot by then. We have to improve on so many areas. I reckon the biggest area is dynamism in attack, but as that's not an overnight fix, we're not going to get anywhere in this world cup. Such a poor performance

It's about the only way we were going to score!

A plan to really quicken the heart and set the pulse aflutter

I blame my parents. Couldn't I have been born Irish, so I could enjoy some rugby?

We're so unimpressive

As mistakes go, that was an absolute shocker!

Soooooooooo How's this one going?

Will Fiji live to regret that missed pen at the death? If Australia beat Wales, it'll come down to bonus points; Australia clinging on to theirs could be critical come the final tally up.

Forwards could have just sat down and had a pint in the middle. Here we go...

STOP KICKING IT!!!!!!!

Yeah it's improved significantly since I posted that!