Apologies to Wink, but am I alone in wondering how in the world the French are contending to be the world's best Rugby team? It just seems to me that Rugby and France don't belong in the same sentence. And yet here they are, facing the All Blacks next weekend ...

Bill,

France is one of the oldest original rugby nations. I'm surprised that people in general don't know this. The French professional league (called the TOP 14) probably includes the best professional teams in the world, and many of South Africa's, England's, Australia's and even a couple of New Zealand's players play in France when they are not playing for their national team. The first time rugby was included in the Summer Olympics (1900) the French won the gold medal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_World_Cup


Rugby and France go way back. Take a look at the top teams in the Rugby World Cup (which is a recent invention) and you'll see that the French are always at the top. In fact, the final of the first Rugby World Cup in 1987 was... France against New Zealand.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Apologies to Wink, but am I alone in wondering how in the world the French are contending to be the world's best Rugby team? It just seems to me that Rugby and France don't belong in the same sentence. And yet here they are, facing the All Blacks next weekend ...

The pity of it is that the French can play a pretty brand of rugby, but that French / Gallic flair can let them down, bad decisions, bad tempers and on occasion, too much indivualism. end up with them conceding too many penalties, costing them.

Interesting that the same 4 teams as in 1987 are in the last 4.

Re France, even though I remember the hey day of French Rugby, you don't think that France is up there but if you look at the Wiki RWC page, it clearly shows they are.

.

Wink: I admit to absolute, total ignorance on this. I had no idea. Rugby just seems so "un-French" for some reason!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Wink: I admit to absolute, total ignorance on this. I had no idea. Rugby just seems so "un-French" for some reason!

Don't ask the Kiwis what happened in 2007.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Wink: I admit to absolute, total ignorance on this. I had no idea. Rugby just seems so "un-French" for some reason!

In one way it is "un-French". Almost all of the players and the majority of the professional rugby teams are from and are in the Southwest of France. Paris and Lyon have pro rugby teams of course, but the rest of the League is in towns like Bayonne, Montpelier, Toulouse, Castres, Biarritz, Perpignan, etc. It's traditionally a regional sport in France, not a national sport.

This link gives a little more information on Rugby in Europe. The Rugby World Cup was invented to have a world championship which include the Southern nations: South Africa, Autralia, New Zealand, Argentina, etc. as well as the rest of the world, primarily the Pacific Ocean nations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Nations_Championship


But the original European tournament was the 5 nations cup, becoming the 6 nations cup when Italy joined, and this tournament continues. If you look at the stats since 2000 France is always strong.

By the way, France beat Australia yesterday. If France beats Argentina in the next match they'll be looking good for the next World Cup.


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c...ethru.822/index.html

For those who don't get direct coverage, France beat Argentina yesterday.

France beat Samoa yesterday, thereby winning every autumn test match for the first time in 7 years and a top four seed for the 2015 World Cup drawing on December 3rd.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/spor...=4&objectid=10849810

I rate the French as a bloody good team but as with some others the first few minutes of play dictate how the rest of the game is going to work out.

If the have a good first few minutes, they play like tigers but if a bad first few minutes they can't seem to regain that sparkle they're capable of.

That said, my money's on NZ to win this lot.

Up next is the 6 nations tournament, and NZ doesn't figure in that. The 2015 World Cup is a long way away. What do you predict for the 2013 6 Nations Tournament?

That's actually a bloody good question and frankly, I don't really know who I fancy for the 6 nations...... or rather, I'm not sure any of them are playing particularly well at the moment at least.

Maybe we should hope for an England v France final...... of course with England to win!

France seems to be the favorite to win the 6 Nations but don't discount England they could pull the upset.

There are two predictions you can make about the French rugby team: 1) they're capable of beating anybody, and 2) they're capable of being beaten by anybody.

Going into the 6 Nations Cup they were considered to be the favorites, or at least equal chance with the English. So what did they do? They didn't win a single match.

Are we talking about the French or are we talking about the Australians. Same inconsistent game

Wow, France kicks Scotland's arse today!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Wow, France kicks Scotland's arse today!

And still managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, coming in last place in the tournament.