2019 Rugby World Cup Official Thread

[Cape Town JHB]

Yeah, I hear you, and I love Gatland. Being a Welshman, he has given me so many great sporting moments!! I was at the WC game in Japan, and also on the last 2 Lions tours.

I just think that this Springbok side is really good in all of the areas that are most difficult for the Lions to get right, and Alun Wyn Jones is a massive loss, as he's an extension of Gatland on the pitch. A proper warrior. I also think that the loss of the traveling fans will be a massive factor. The Lions will miss them. I also think that Connor Murray is shythouse, and Faf will give him fits.

Man, I just hope it's a great series, and I think that you are on point when you say attritional!!

Alun Wyn Jones is simply irreplaceable.

Everyone in SA is screaming for them to bring in Marcell Coetzee at 8th man, coz we also lost Duane Vermulen.

I have read multiple reports that both Alun Wyn and Vermulen are trying to do magic recipes to recover on time.

Conor Murray should be not be tour Captain, that's a very very odd decision in my books.
It's like crashing your Hummer and instead of getting a Jeep, you go get a Bugatti Veyron to go fight in Vietnam

 

[OscarAcosta]

Alun Wyn Jones is simply irreplaceable.

Everyone in SA is screaming for them to bring in Marcell Coetzee at 8th man, coz we also lost Duane Vermulen.

I have read multiple reports that both Alun Wyn and Vermulen are trying to do magic recipes to recover on time.

Conor Murray should be not be tour Captain, that's a very very odd decision in my books.
It's like crashing your Hummer and instead of getting a Jeep, you go get a Bugatti Veyron to go fight in Vietnam

Yeah, A-W gonna have them druids cooking up all sorts of potions for him!

Man, I fukking hate that Murray is captain. I don't even think he should vet in the starting XV. His box kicks are fukking terrible, and I really think that the Lions need to play an international combination at scrum & fly half. We need as much continuity as possible to compete with your boys. I definitely think Dan Biggar has to start at 10 for the Lions, so I hope that Davies starts at 9.

Murray is more like an AMC Gremlin than a Veyron!!

Man, I al so amped for this series, and it is great to have some rugby heads on here. Just a shame that the time zone is bad for me now I'm living in Australia.

 

[Cape Town JHB]

Yeah, A-W gonna have them druids cooking up all sorts of potions for him!

Man, I fukking hate that Murray is captain. I don't even think he should vet in the starting XV. His box kicks are fukking terrible, and I really think that the Lions need to play an international combination at scrum & fly half. We need as much continuity as possible to compete with your boys. I definitely think Dan Biggar has to start at 10 for the Lions, so I hope that Davies starts at 9.

Murray is more like an AMC Gremlin than a Veyron!!

Man, I al so amped for this series, and it is great to have some rugby heads on here. Just a shame that the time zone is bad for me now I'm living in Australia.

2017 Lions Tour of NZ, which is probably gonna be the last great rugby tour of my lifetime as rugby is going the football("soccer") route in terms of selling out for money....

I had to wake up very early on Saturday mornings to watch that entire tour in the middle of Joburg winter.
And when I wasn't happy with the result (like SBW dumb ass getting himself red carded in that 2nd test) I had ALL day long to be pissed.

Those time zones suck.

Yeah Murray is just not gonna be able to handle what Faf De Klerk brings to the table, also if you guys play Biggar at 10, that's gonna suit us, Biggars kicking game will suit Pollard, Le Roux, Kolbe very well.

What makes the current Bok team scary is that we got the world's best forwards on the field and on the bench, and ANY half chance our backline is laced with specialist X factor finishers (Cheslin Kolbe(Sbu Nkosi) , Mapimpi, Am, De Allende, Pollard, Fassi etc)... The only backline Lions we truly fear is that Boer Duhan Van Der Merwe

Who Gatland chooses for that first test will tell us a lot.
The Bok team chooses itself, outside of injuries.

 

[OscarAcosta]

Kilbe and Nkosi - so good, man Don't sleep on Rees-Zammit, though. That boy can fly!! Liam WWilliams is a favourite of mine too.

It will be interesting to see if Gats plays a Lions brand of rugby, or goes full-on Warrenball. I don't know if we can survive playing his preferred way. As you say, who starts the first test will tell us what he wants to do. Russell and Biggar are quite contrasting at 10, so that should be the clue.

I have always revered SA rugby - that 1995 WC is almost mythical to me. I am so gutted that I have missed the two SA tours- I'm gonna be for the next one in 12 years time.

That fukkboy Clive Woodward nearly killed the Lions with his shytty tour, and general brand of c*ntery. McGeechan stepped in with the save though, and Warren has been very faithful to the Lions concept. I hope it continues as the players & fans seem to love it.

 

[WOLF2007]

Huge fan of the springboks

 

[Cape Town JHB]

Kilbe and Nkosi - so good, man Don't sleep on Rees-Zammit, though. That boy can fly!! Liam WWilliams is a favourite of mine too.

It will be interesting to see if Gats plays a Lions brand of rugby, or goes full-on Warrenball. I don't know if we can survive playing his preferred way. As you say, who starts the first test will tell us what he wants to do. Russell and Biggar are quite contrasting at 10, so that should be the clue.

I have always revered SA rugby - that 1995 WC is almost mythical to me. I am so gutted that I have missed the two SA tours- I'm gonna be for the next one in 12 years time.

That fukkboy Clive Woodward nearly killed the Lions with his shytty tour, and general brand of c*ntery. McGeechan stepped in with the save though, and Warren has been very faithful to the Lions concept. I hope it continues as the players & fans seem to love it.

To be fair on Clive the Australia team of 2001 and All Blacks/Dan Carter of 2005 were freaks.

What made 2009 special is that Lions were playing the best team in the world for the 3rd tour in a row, and actually matched the Boks, instead of the blow outs of previous tours.


Imagine how I feel. I'm gonna be 30 in September, last time the Lions toured SA Damian De Allende was in a grade below me, I'll be 42 by the time they come back.

I wanted the crowd experience soooooo bad.

I hate Australia too much to give a damn about the next tour

 

[OscarAcosta]

To be fair on Clive the Australia team of 2001 and All Blacks/Dan Carter of 2005 were freaks.

What made 2009 special is that Lions were playing the best team in the world for the 3rd tour in a row, and actually matched the Boks, instead of the blow outs of previous tours.


Imagine how I feel. I'm gonna be 30 in September, last time the Lions toured SA Damian De Allende was in a grade below me, I'll be 42 by the time they come back.

I wanted the crowd experience soooooo bad.

I hate Australia too much to give a damn about the next tour

I'm 44 now, so next SA tour I'll be one of the proper old boys on the piss!! One of my mates who came on the last tour was in his early 50s, and he loves the session, so it gives me hope

It wasn't the rugby aspect of the Woodward tour that bothered me. It was all of the other stuff - the social side for players & fans; his bullshyt mindgames in the lead-up, and then the stupidity around the Haka & O'Driscoll / Stringer; the fact that he said that there would, in effect, be 2 tours - midweek and test. He seemed to think that he could just treat the Lions like an extension of his England reign. It was a fukking disgrace, and it could've really destroyed the fabric of the tours. Fourtunately, he crashed & burned, and I think that the Lions has certainly regained its magic.

fukk, I could rant about that tour all day, but best I leave it there.

You're never too old for a Lions experience, I think, so you'll be fine next time it rolls around.

 

[Cape Town JHB]

I'm 44 now, so next SA tour I'll be one of the proper old boys on the piss!! One of my mates who came on the last tour was in his early 50s, and he loves the session, so it gives me hope

It wasn't the rugby aspect of the Woodward tour that bothered me. It was all of the other stuff - the social side for players & fans; his bullshyt mindgames in the lead-up, and then the stupidity around the Haka & O'Driscoll / Stringer; the fact that he said that there would, in effect, be 2 tours - midweek and test. He seemed to think that he could just treat the Lions like an extension of his England reign. It was a fukking disgrace, and it could've really destroyed the fabric of the tours. Fourtunately, he crashed & burned, and I think that the Lions has certainly regained its magic.

fukk, I could rant about that tour all day, but best I leave it there.

You're never too old for a Lions experience, I think, so you'll be fine next time it rolls around.

What is your starting backline for the first test for the Lions.

Boks pick themselves so it's easy
9. Faf De Klerk
10. Handre Pollard

12. De Allende
13. Lukhanyo Am

​

11. Mapimpi 14.Kolbe/Nkosi

15. Le Roux (Fassi in the ideal world).

​

 

[OscarAcosta]

What is your starting backline for the first test for the Lions.

Boks pick themselves so it's easy
9. Faf De Klerk
10. Handre Pollard

12. De Allende
13. Lukhanyo Am

​

11. Mapimpi 14.Kolbe/Nkosi

15. Le Roux (Fassi in the ideal world).

​

Even on paper that is a very intimidating backline. Said it earlier, I just can't see anything but a SA series win. And that's before you even go as far as to look at the pack.

For me, and not to contradict myself, I think that the Lions first test backline kinda picks itself too, as I think you have to go with familiar pairings. I don't actually like the make-up of the squad as I look at it more, but Gatland and team know what they are doing. I would go with:

Davies & Biggar
Henshaw & Aki
Daly
Rees-Zammit
Hogg

I don't like it as much as other line-ups, and there are some missing who I think I would like to have there, but I think that continuity is really important in Lions rugby.

 

[Cape Town JHB]

Lowkey Brian Mujati (former Bok prop, born and raised in Zimbabwe, now living in the UK) has the best "Rugby" related YouTube page in existence

 

[Cape Town JHB]

Even on paper that is a very intimidating backline. Said it earlier, I just can't see anything but a SA series win. And that's before you even go as far as to look at the pack.

For me, and not to contradict myself, I think that the Lions first test backline kinda picks itself too, as I think you have to go with familiar pairings. I don't actually like the make-up of the squad as I look at it more, but Gatland and team know what they are doing. I would go with:

Davies & Biggar
Henshaw & Aki
Daly
Rees-Zammit
Hogg

I don't like it as much as other line-ups, and there are some missing who I think I would like to have there, but I think that continuity is really important in Lions rugby.

Y'all start that weak ass back line and were gonna tear you a new hole



Old ass Daly
Midget ass Hogg

Nah bruh. That's not gonna work.

We stacked with Boers and Zulu/Xhosa nikkaz

 

[OscarAcosta]

Y'all start that weak ass back line and were gonna tear you a new hole



Old ass Daly
Midget ass Hogg

Nah bruh. That's not gonna work.

We stacked with Boers and Zulu/Xhosa nikkaz

Yep! I think we're in a bit of bother, certainly in the first test. I think it could be 37-15 or something like that.

It's always difficult to pick a Lions team with my Welsh bias, and you kinda have to have a few from each nation playing. Really for me, it's not about win or lose. I want great games, and an experience whilst touring. The whole of the tour experience has to be greater than the sum of the parts.

I loved video, and will definitely watch more of Brian's stuff. My best friend's parents have been long time season ticket holders at Frankln's Gardens in Northampton where he played in the UK. I meet him a couple of times - seemed like a great guy, and I know that he was very well liked in the community there. Man, he was really good for them too. He signed for my club side - Ospreys - but got injured and retired there. Was gutted for him, but both Swansea and Neath are utter shytholes, so he's probably lucky that he didn't have to spend too long living there!!

 

[Cape Town JHB]

Yep! I think we're in a bit of bother, certainly in the first test. I think it could be 37-15 or something like that.

It's always difficult to pick a Lions team with my Welsh bias, and you kinda have to have a few from each nation playing. Really for me, it's not about win or lose. I want great games, and an experience whilst touring. The whole of the tour experience has to be greater than the sum of the parts.

I loved video, and will definitely watch more of Brian's stuff. My best friend's parents have been long time season ticket holders at Frankln's Gardens in Northampton where he played in the UK. I meet him a couple of times - seemed like a great guy, and I know that he was very well liked in the community there. Man, he was really good for them too. He signed for my club side - Ospreys - but got injured and retired there. Was gutted for him, but both Swansea and Neath are utter shytholes, so he's probably lucky that he didn't have to spend too long living there!!

Oh yeah I followed Brian and a few South Africans during that 2011/12/13 era when they moved to the Northern Hemisphere.
And his stint in France when I first discovered his Vlog.

He detailed his whole struggle.

You'll really enjoy the entire channel.
He actually took the channel down (locked the videos on private) for over a year, and we begged him to unlock them.

If you got time you can check this tear jerker from him when he came back from his hairtus

He also had a podcast called the Ranting Zimbabwean which only lasted about 3 episodes but was funny as fukk.

 

[Cape Town JHB]

Also what happened to Danny Cipriani, who looked like the best flyahalf IN England in the lead up to the 2019 WC when he was at Gloucester with John Ackerman, before that whole ordeal fell apart?

 

[OscarAcosta]

Also what happened to Danny Cipriani, who looked like the best flyahalf IN England in the lead up to the 2019 WC when he was at Gloucester with John Ackerman, before that whole ordeal fell apart?

Cipriani lived in the apartment next door to me when I was living in Melbourne and he was playing Super Rugby there. Let's just say that he fukking loved to party.

I don't think that he was ever trusted for England, and in his early career he probably showed why. I'd also think that dislodging Farrell, who I really don't rate, was always gonna be difficult when his father was one of the coaches. England has always had a history for ditching any flair at 10 for solidity and pragmatism. Stuart Barnes an earlier example. I don't think that his placekicking was trusted at the highest level, either.

I will watch that video later. The first one you posted was pretty profound.