Grombles

Actually it was worse than that. We were the first host nation ever to be thrown out at the pool stage. We didn't even get as far as the quarter finals and the knock-out stages. To be fair, Japan are hosting the event in four years time, so we're not likely to be the last either (unless they can build on their amazing performance in beating South Africa this year). So why did one of the strongest rugby teams in the world (we beat South Africa, Australia and New Zealand within the past couple of years as well as all of the European nations) lose those vital pool matches against Wales and Australia? Wales at least were vulnerable having lost several of their star players to injury. Admittedly Australia were always going to be hard to beat, but even Scotland managed to come within a point of beating them in the QFs. Firstly all credit to the Taffs and Aussies. They threw everything at us and played dogged defensive games. There was a great deal of criticism of Stuart Lancaster...

I was in Paris this weekend to watch England very nearly beat the French at rugby. Really close game, only marred by a) not winning, and b) getting mugged that morning at an ATM for €200. It was about 9.30 in the morning on a relatively quiet road. I needed a top-up of Euros having arrived the evening before with my wife and two (female) friends for a weekend of rugby (yes, I know). So naturally we'd run out of cash since the shops had already been open a good hour. (Note to self... rugby trips are cheaper with blokes). I went up to an ATM outside a post office while the girls stood to one side. I had noticed a couple of teenagers hanging around nearby (one bizarrely was sitting on a grating in the pavement (sidewalk) apparently warming his butt), but I paid them no attention. I inserted my card, entered my PIN and then realised that the kids had flanked me on either side. The guy on my right held a piece of newspaper on top of the lower screen (the one with the keypad buttons). ...

Over 18 minutes of the 80 minute international between Wales and Scotland this year was taken up by scrums. There were probably only a dozen or so of them, but they kept breaking down and having to be reset. In monetary terms, a ticket costs £80 - that's £18 per person x 80,000 at Twickenham = about £1.5m that rugby fans paid the RFU to watch failed scrums in that match - and that doesn't include Sky subscriptions etc. Unfortunately this has become a regular feature of the professional game, and is exceptionally boring for spectators. Unfortunately it's also impossible for most people, other than perhaps the front row of the packs, but certainly including the referee and touch judges, to know what is going wrong. Generally the referee will get bored and award a random penalty to one side or the other in the hope that it will 'encourage les autres' and show he means business. This might then result in a team gaining 3 points for fictitious reasons with a 50% probabil...

I'm a rugby fanatic. I follow club rugby (Harlequins) and international games with a passion. Ideally watching live games is the best way to enjoy the sport. Of course when I can't see an important game live, I watch it on TV, which can sometimes drive me nuts.....  Rugby is a complicated game. It's simple enough to understand the two ways of scoring (tries and kicks over the post) but in order to score there are many rules to observe, and therefore many rules to break - all of which require careful watching of subtleties on the pitch. WHICH YOU CAN'T SEE IF THE BLOODY CAMERAMAN IS ZOOMING IN ON THE BALL.  You also can't see what the players are looking for when they're running - namely opponents, their own team in support, and gaps IF THE BLOODY CAMERA IS ZOOMED INTO THE PLAYER AND NOT THE GAME. Are offending broadcasters sponsored by Gilbert or Nike? The BBC in England and Wales generally cover rugby matches well. But when we play in Scotland or Italy es...