@MajorRage said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

@junior said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

@Snowy said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

@mariner4life said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

who do the neutrals go for this weekend?

My guess:

I don't think Wales will want us in the final if they manage to win (so not neutral anyway)
Saffas aren't generally on our side, but maybe some support as usual from tanned ones
Aussies and Irish will all be conflicted. Probably ABE.
French likely with us (in spite of my comments on here about them and their referees).
Scots with us.
PI's with us (I would hope).

The best bit will the Japanese fans who more than likely will be with us too.

Gonna be fun.

Wales are firmly in the ABE camp - there' a lot of disquiet on social media about people (i.e. the "British" media) forgetting they also have a big match this weekend.

You've got to be kidding me.

The day a Welshmen supports NZ is the day a Welshmen forgets the ridculous sized chip on his shoulder about New Zealand. And I've never seen anything close to that. From any of them.

I'm not kidding - I've seen it with my own two eyes. I know a lot of Welsh have massive chips about the ABs, but that surely pales in comparison to the ill-will towards their English masters.

@junior said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

USPs

Que?

@booboo said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

@junior said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

USPs

Que?

Unique Selling Point? As in, point of difference

Back to Eddie. On reflection does anyone else think he tried a little too hard in yesterday's presser?

Just went far enough to look desparate.

Just my thoughts.

yes I got the impression there were some nervous undertones, but heck fair enough he has invested a lot of himself in the last four years for this, Hansen has seemed to maintain his cool demeanour, in fact I don't think I have ever seen Shag tense

Shag has kicked off things quite a lot with his 6N blocking the global calendar comment.

Fantastic diversionary tactic.

Eddie was far too forced. Introducing all sorts of lame shit to put pressure on ABs. Spying. Literal pressure comments (only ABs mention that they are under pressure, a good thing), etc. Yeah he's wound to right, hopefully his team is too

@booboo said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

Back to Eddie. On reflection does anyone else think he tried a little too hard in yesterday's presser?

Just went far enough to look desparate.

Just my thoughts.

I thought the pressure part Going for 3 in a row was a little desperate , and they have none apparently:)

@booboo said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

Back to Eddie. On reflection does anyone else think he tried a little too hard in yesterday's presser?

Just went far enough to look desparate.

Just my thoughts.

He's been trying to play mind games in the media since back in his Brumby days, it just looks pretty tired these now and you get the feeling you've heard it all before.

Ok now I hope we smash England off the Park even more than I first did.
The Media interviews with England Players,Ex England players Coaches and just the English Media have once again reminded me why I dislike English Teams.I would Hate to lose this SF it would become unbearable.

@Chris said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

Ok now I hope we smash England off the Park even more than I first did.
The Media interviews with England Players,Ex England players Coaches and just the English Media have once again reminded me why I dislike English Teams.I would Hate to lose this SF it would become unbearable.

I desperately want a ABs vs Springboks WC Final - 100th Test, mutual trespect and regard, plus we'll probably get Pienaar and Fitzy waxing eloquent right over the top of the numpty NH "analysts" - the disdain they have for the British talking heads is palpable

If Eddie & England lose this weekend, that's 2 years with no 6N, no victories over Scotland, and no RWC.

Hardly encouraging given they're the best resourced team in World Rugby.

@NTA said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

If Eddie & England lose this weekend, that's 2 years with no 6N, no victories over Scotland, and no RWC.

Hardly encouraging given they're the best resourced team in World Rugby.

Yeah, don't doubt they're under massive pressure themselves for these reasons. That's not to mention the massive expectation and spotlight that's now on this team "back home" or the fact that this team is fighting to avenge their failure at the last world cup. They really have to win this tournament, otherwise the last 4 years will have been wasted and an abject failure

@junior

Their fans are frothing though. I work with (and teach) and few poms and every single one of them were 'you're going to get smacked this weekend', which I found interesting as they seem to be embracing the pressure.

@KiwiPie said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

I'm sure BB made a pact with the devil at some point so that every bouncing rugby ball he chases jumps straight into his arms. It's uncanny .....

Think I read somewhere that he watches where the ball hits the ground and can sometimes predict which way it will go.

Perhaps, like some batsmen, he has terrific eyesight

@gt12 said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

@junior

Their fans are frothing though. I work with (and teach) and few poms and every single one of them were 'you're going to get smacked this weekend', which I found interesting as they seem to be embracing the pressure.

Yes, their fans are absolutely frothing, but this is what builds pressure. Eddie is talking out of his arse if he thinks no one expects them to win - nearly 60 millions Poms clearly believe they can win.

As I said elsewhere, there's absolutely no chance that we'll be taken by surprise here - we will be reminded and reminded just how good this English team is and that they can beat us (and I believe they can). But, we were reminded a lot last week that Ireland had beaten us and Hansen alluded to that as being a bit of a motivating factor.

@taniwharugby said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

I dont rate Itoje at all, like a lazier version of Ali Williams.

Without the discipline.

@gt12 said in RWC: England v New Zealand (SF1):

@junior

Their fans are frothing though. I work with (and teach) and few poms and every single one of them were 'you're going to get smacked this weekend', which I found interesting as they seem to be embracing the pressure.

If they're your average English rugby fan I'd say those sentiments are aimed specifically at you rather than a heartfelt belief. All the guys I've spoken to on this feel that whilst we have a chance on Saturday we are very far from confident and recognise that the stars would have to be aligned in our favour to get the correct result.