Rugby World Cup

[thesecondlaw]

Now it's over, I'll tell you what I thought before the tournament began. Not enough "proper" rugby stadiums were used. Franklin Gardens and Welford Road were overlooked for Stadium MK and Leicester City FC ground, for example. Then, to have the semi-finals and final ALL in London, and with 16.00 kick offs was an insult (in my opinion) to sports lovers in this country. I'm sure hundreds of thousands of fans going to football on Saturday afternoon would have loved to watch the rugby. I can't see why the match kicked off so early. Your thoughts?

[jourdain2]

I didn't see anything wrong with the kick-off times. I quite agree about the preponderance of London venues. Out of the question for most Rugby fans, I would have thought.
( I must come clean and indicate a preference for Rugby League.)

[frugalfred]

ITV probably dictated some of the start times?

[thesecondlaw]

I have to agree, jourdain, I've always found League a more attractive game to watch. And I'm from south of Watford!!

[DTCwordfan]

Can't see the problem with using two of the largest venues for the semifinals and finals in the capital for a World Cup - and the players seemed to have appreciated the quality of the venues and, generally, at large. Exeter seemed to have gone down well for minor matches, the one issue with MK and Leicester being the way the pitch cut up. But then, one will, or should, have learning lessons for future competitions.

On that basis, where are the next England forwards going to come from - and where are we going to see the t/over specialists like McCaul come from - the Premier League doesn't encourage this sort of play?

[DTCwordfan]

McCaw by the way when it comes to spelling.....

[jourdain2]

Errm, DTC, perhaps League should be extended southwards? Seeriously, it might attract younger players. It is so much a family game these days. My 5-yr-old next-door neighbour has just started playing (his first away match tomorrow, a very big deal!)

[Buenchico]

'Transport pressures', apparently:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/oct/28/australia-new-zealand-rugby-world-cup-final-kick-off-time

The choice of venues was probably largely determined by their ground capacities:
Twickenham 80,000
Leicester City FC 32,262
Stadium MK 30,500
Welford Road 24,000
Franklin Gardens 15,500

[DTCwordfan]

I'm from oop north, league doesn't have the diversity of play, jourdain, though there are lessons about physicality to be had, as there are from other sports such as the NFL, wit the way the Ozzies charged the kick-off as a line.....

[Mick-the-Miller]

They used Twickenham, the Olympic Stadium and the Millenium Stadium because they can get big crowds in - Franklin Gardens, Welford Road are tiny, I can't see the problem.

The kick off times would be determined by the TV company - it could have been worse, imagine you were in Australia or New Zealand God knows what time of the day (or night!) it was over there!

I thought it was a great World Cup capped with a brilliant Final - the only downer I can see was England's poor performance - apart from that it was all good!

[DTCwordfan]

agree, Mick.....thoroughly enjoyable, was there one bad match? Disappointing for England, yes....but not enjoyable?

[Buenchico]

>>>God knows what time of the day (or night!) it was over there

1600 in the UK =
0000 in Perth
0130 in Darwin
0230 in Adelaide
0300 in Sydney
0500 in Christchurch

A start later in the evening here might have been better for people in New Zealand and Eastern Australia but it would have probably been worse for those in Western and Central Australia.

[DTCwordfan]

good excuse for some tinnies though.........

[Baldric]

I couldn't give a Monkies, no England Team involved so who cares?

[jno]

trying to fit in the best times for international audiences, probably. Tough on Australia and NZ supporters - but they're the likeliest ones to stay up late/get up early to watch anyway.

England have long played all their matches in London - I think the Uruguay one wasn't but that was the first for years. Other countries do try to play in different cities to spread the game around.

[ichkeria]

It seemed to make sense to use Leicester's football ground rather than two smaller and comparatively adjacent venues
More of a legitimate complaint to me was why not use more northern venues. Holding England v Uruguay as the sole game in Manchester on the day of the RL cup final in the same city seemed bizarre. On the other hand, football and Rugby League dominate there and there are not, in general, many stadiums of suitable size outside London that are not football dominated so maybe it was not possible.
My complaint would be the ticket prices, which I think in the end meant that even the final was not completely sold out days before the event, - the 'childrens' tickets all seemed to be in standing areas, - and the short turnaround for some teams in the 5 team groups

[ichkeria]

As for the Rugby League 'World' Cup:
23 blokes from Oldham with Italian grandparents (that will be 'Italy') versus a team of people called Patrick from Dewsbury ('Ireland')

[ichkeria]

13 blokes: 23 would be cheating (and probably impossible)

[Unsureme]

What happens if the Match is Drawn after 80 Minutes in a Knockout Match?

[jno]

extra time - that's how England beat Australia in 2003.

[Unsureme]

Thank you,Jno,I am trying hard to "Get into Rugby" because I have enjoyed the World Cup so much.