Rugby World Cup 2011

[whitegoodman]

Id say Ireland and Wales will be delighted if England beat France, they are pure muck, no scrum, no invention, a battering ram in tugalagi, tindell is poor, wilkinson has lost his kicking, ashton is a threat but fairly one dimensional

Some would argue that England backline is every bit as good as Ireland. Foden/kearney, Ashton/bowe, tindall/darcey, cueto/earls Wilkinson/o gara, youngs/Murray, take an aging drico out is there much in it???

Seems to me a lot of ya are overestimating Ireland and underestimating the English and the frogs

[Hoof Hearted]

Id say Ireland and Wales will be delighted if England beat France, they are pure muck, no scrum, no invention, a battering ram in tugalagi, tindell is poor, wilkinson has lost his kicking, ashton is a threat but fairly one dimensional

Some would argue that England backline is every bit as good as Ireland. Foden/kearney, Ashton/bowe, tindall/darcey, cueto/earls Wilkinson/o gara, youngs/Murray, take an aging drico out is there much in it???

Seems to me a lot of ya are overestimating Ireland and underestimating the English and the frogs

no way, would never do that. Been bitten too much in the past. DEFINATELY NOT underestimating Italy tomorrow. If we are beat i wouldnt be shocked. But if we get through tomorrow, i would be dissapointed if we didnt get to the final

[trileacman]

with france and england doing poorly today (the english might not even qualify), a good professional performance from us in tomorrow will give us the best chance EVER of a WC Final appearance. Heres hoping.

+1. Assuming we win tomorrow all 4 teams will fancy their chances of getting to the final. France and England don't look great shakes at the minute and you would give Ireland or Wales a great chance.

Great game today between England/Scotland bit like an Ulster championship game.

Nah, twas too high scoring.

[pullhard]

Ashton is clearly a very good player. But that swan diving business he does, I feel is horrible and very unsporting? I am amazed the manager or RFU havent pulled him up on it.

[Hardy]

Ashton is clearly a very good player. But that swan diving business he does, I feel is horrible and very unsporting? I am amazed the manager or RFU havent pulled him up on it.

The manager has, but he does it anyway, which raises questions about Johnson's authority.

[Tony Baloney]

Dan Carter misses rest of WC. Big blow to NZ and a real shame for him.

[CiKe]

This makes things interesting, not the same team without him. Terrible shame for him. NIck Evans had a great game today but that would go against policy...

[redhandloo]

Desperate news for the player and the host nation as a whole. Expect a big all black performance against Canada but ultimately their hopes of winning the Webb Ellis have been dealt a severe blow

[BarryBreensBandage]

It can still happen to anyone of Ireland's big players - imagine having to do without the one of the back row the way that they are playing at present. Do you think any of the Kiwis or other nations would give a stuff?

Whilst unfortunate for Carter, We should save our sympathy for any tragedy that may be visited upon Ireland - hopefully none.

O'Gara to kick us to the quarter finals tomorrow, and then Sexton to take over.

[Capt Pat]

In a strange way it could help the all blacks by making them under dogs in their own country and reducing expectations.

[Stevie g 8]

it will give everyone a lift that carter is ruled out of the world cup.its hard on him though

[trileacman]

A tragedy for Carter, his whole career has been building for this moment. Vice-Captain, top form, top scorer, WC on home turf, he seemed destined to bring this All-black team to the promised land. He must be distraught right now.

[Capt Pat]

You have to look at that All Black team and still say they have a big chance. The back row have Kieran Reid back now. Added to Kaino and McCaw that is the best back row in the tournament. The outside backs SB Williams, Nonu, Conrad Smith, Israel Dagg etc are a lot better than any other group left in the tournament. Thrir front row is strong too. That leaves the second row and maybe now out half as the only spots where they begin to look a bit ordinary. Weepu and Cowan are good scrum halves.  They are also playing at home. What is the problem?

[mc_grens]

You have to look at that All Black team and still say they have a big chance. The back row have Kieran Reid back now. Added to Kaino and McCaw that is the best back row in the tournament. The outside backs SB Williams, Nonu, Conrad Smith, Israel Dagg etc are a lot better than any other group left in the tournament. Thrir front row is strong too. That leaves the second row and maybe now out half as the only spots where they begin to look a bit ordinary. Weepu and Cowan are good scrum halves.  They are also playing at home. What is the problem?

Those outside backs are triggered by arguably the game's greatest player, without him pulling the strings they might come back to earth a little bit.

It's a massive shame for the player, the All Blacks, and for anyone who loves rugby.

[Capt Pat]

Tom McGurk nearly gives me heart failure by starting off with a sad announcement which I was sure was going to be Paul O Connell. No worries he was talking about Carter.