I see Fatty stevens has made the England squad yet another non English player. They may as well be called the Baa Baa's

I really think the foreign legion will make it to the semis but I just can't see past the big three when it comes to the winner. Predictable.

How is he not English?

He's South African.

That's not a barrier to being English, just ask Kevin Pietersen, Johnathan Trott, Andrew Strauss, Tony Greig, Alan Lamb, Robin Smith, Matt Prior, Craig Kieswetter, Jade Dernbach and Hendrie Fourie.

As we've talked about before


Embarrassing.

No he has dual nationality (like millions of other people), holds a British passport (through parentage not residency) his father and grandfather are English. Received large part of his education in England, been in the UK since he was a teenager and played all his pro rugby in England. Using the same logic Shane McGowan, Rod Stewart and Iestyn Harris would be English, to a lesser extent Joanna Lumley, Nasser Hussain, Michael Owen, Colin Cowdrey are not English. Nationality is more about about than where you were born.

Ok, he was born in South Africa. He represented South Africa. The majority of his education took place in South Africa. He's got dual nationality.
I as an Englishman am not happy with so many players that I consider to be foreign pulling in the England shirt.

I see Wales outscored England 3 tries to 2 in the match today yet still lost

Lucky bast@rds.

I caught quite a bit of England Wales on Saturday while I was waiting for Wigan Saints

What struck me most about the game was the total lack of invention in the backs and backline moves. Apparently they have been in camp for the past month or so and yet the only back line move they have is to pass the ball across the line until they run out of pitch – and always passing instead of squaring up the line so the defence only had to drift, it was infuriating to watch

Then you compare that to some of the slick movement of Wigan and Saints backline play. Of course the defence lies flatter in Union (at the back foot of the ruck rather than 10 metres) and there are more bodies on the pitch but a decent coach would surely get something out of these players

It has just about always been thus with England.
They pass the ball along the line like a hot potato, passing almost as soon as they have received it, laterally until they become embarrassed at the sideline.

Rugby league players don't do that, they hold the and ball run at the opposition, or a gap if it exists' and then pass the ball at the last minute thus taking players out of the game. They risk a clattering in the process, but they know it's the only way they will make progress short of missed tackles or poor marking.

Like you I can't stand to watch England's pathetic attempts at throwing it along the line. New Zealand can do it, they play a form of attack very akin to rugby league.

And don't get me started with the feeding at the scrum - one hand into the second row!! Union fans used to have a bit of a moral high ground when talking scrums as League are a bit of a non entity but for all the ridiculous antics of Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage (and the endless resets), if the scrum half is allowed to feed into the second row they may as well not bother

A real bugbear of mine and something we were talking about last week in the pub.
Did anyone see the Scotland v Ireland game? Tepid is extremely generous. I'm getting a very bad feeling about the world cup. The northern hemisphere is light years behind the big three.

I saw the second half, painful in the extreme
if it's a warm up why were they kicking goals instead of running the football? so frustrating when in the end they showed that a good passing move can result in a try

It's because they are practicing their only way of winning

[url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10743886Adidas digs in as jersey row hots up.[/url
The black jerseys, with the trademark white collar and Rugby World Cup branding, cost between $190 (£95) and $220(£110) in New Zealand.

[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/aug/08/toby-flood-jonny-wilkinson?cat=sport&type=articleFlood for me. Opinions?[/url

"[iThere will [always be 58 million people in England thinking I shouldn't be in charge of the 10 shirt.[/i" - Toby putting the rugby union calculator to good use.

At least 55m of those couldn't even tell you which club side Flood plays for.

I would go for 57.5 million.

I thought the decisive score was a try originating from a rehed move from a set piece and creating two gaps in the Irish defence. With all due respect to Scotland they turned down opportunities to kick relatively easy penalty goals to attempt scoring a try. You are confusing Scotland's lack of coherence and ability in attack with a lack of willingness to attack.

He needs to learn there are more ways to unlock a defence than hitting the gap between two players and trying to get your arms free to offload.

Two very one-dimensional players with ball in hand. If only Cipriani had put his head down and worked harder on the gaps in his game rather than putting his head down Kelly Brook's top...

To be fair, if I had a choice between playing Rugby Union and spending 'quality' time with Kelly Brook, I know which I would choose

I may even choose young Kelly over Rugby League and that is saying something

p.s. don't tell the wife any of the above

Never really understood the dislike that some RL fans show for Union.

They are different games with very different characteristics - I enjoy both (I happen to think club RL is more interesting than most club RU and international RU is more interesting than most international RL).

Lots of things that both codes can learn from each other (perhaps one day a RL player will actually learn to kick the ball properly!). In terms of creating space and opportunities there is loads that RU can learn from RL.

Having said all of which some seriously talented players have prospered in both codes (and some haven't).

Playing yawnion should leave him plenty of energy to satisfy Ms Brook.