@Hanley! I've been watching close to every game(god bless PVR). I just haven't been online to talk to you lot. Is our France vs Ireland bet still on BECAUSE YOU CATHOLIC TATER MUNCHERS ARE GOING DOWN next Sunday.
Canada bounced back well after the shellacking from Ireland. Played well and maybe deserved the win against Italy but the Italians just made better use of their chances to squeak out a win. Disappointing result that left me pretty pissed off yet proud of my boys. I was also incredibly impressed with our performance against a 1st string France. The final score of 41-18 isn't flattering and doesn't speak of how well Canada played. They were within reaching distance late into the game but they just tired out and a late yellow card sealed the deal for France. Here's hoping they can regroup and give the Romanians a whooping. Their scrum is scary but if our pack can just hold their own long enough to not get penalized I think we can win. Big if though as they have abused us in scrums and lineouts the last couple games against and pretty much won off of scrum penalties. Canada definitely has the better backs, though Romania's Catalin Fercu is really good, which should cause a lot of problems for the Oaks if we can spread the ball out wide.
Pool A is definitely playing up to it's name. The English are on the outside looking in at their own home tournament and NEED a big victory over Australia(while denying them a BP) and then to absolutely smash Uruguay like they haven't smacked around a team before to have a hope of advancing. I know a lot of Welsh and English fans so the lead up to the game was funny and the end result even better. I've been super impressed that Wales have pulled together like they have with their stretched and depleted roster. I'm also feeling bad for Fiji who have played Wales, England and Australia close. They definitely got screwed by the draw and would have stood a much better shot at the QF, or at least AQ for Japan '19, if they had landed in another pool.
Don't really care about the other Pools but the games have been fun to watch. Japan vs South Africa is a game I'll never forget and has to go down as a classic. Namibia has also shown up and impressed. They held stronger than most thought possible for them against the All Blacks and then ran Tonga close when they should have been stomped.