Originally Posted by sensoria:
“I think England are going to struggle to get out of the group. As host nation there is so much pressure on them and the Welsh and the Aussies would love to ruin any party for England.
I think England effectively have to play or finals just to get out of the group. I would go as far as to say whoever wins that group will make the World Cup final.”
Agree with the bit in bold but I don't think England will struggle - they have a lot of good young players who will have more experience by then and they're not a team who go to pieces playing at home (unlike my fair nation!). They cope well with pressure and have a captain who will keep them focused if it does get too much (if Robshaw is even captain by then! He should be!).
Quote:
“They have a victim mentality and they need to grow up, they are the best side in the northern hemisphere much as it pains me to say it but they are so stuck in their own sense of injustice they can't escape the nearly man tag.”
Don't disagree, see my comments on the crowd in my original post. We have all the potential in the world and on our day have world class players (not always consistent though, North and Halfpenny aside). The thing that I dislike about Wales at the moment is that it's never our "fault" when we lose, it's always someone else. We're like (dare I say it) the England football team in that sense - it wasn't a red card! (it was) It was a forward pass! (it wasn't) etc. Gatland's comments after the game don't help.
Quote:
“They need to put their focus and attention into beating the best side in the world and lose their obsession with England.”
Completely agree. I know I attempted banter with you earlier about it but we cannot shake the notion that everything will be okay if we just beat the English! I doubt England feel the same way about us. I'm not a massive England rugby fan but I find their fans (whenever I've been to Twickenham) more balanced and with bigger goals than us - if that makes sense!
Quote:
“Read the messages on reports from welsh fans it's Barnes fault or in some case they don't even mention their own teams failure to actually stop Genial having the easiest ball ever in an international. They just talk about how England only beat Austrailia due to poor refereeing.”
Well, don't get me started

The Welsh crowd is the most biased in the world and I say that as someone who has been lucky enough to watch rugby all over the world. Saturday may be my last visit to the Milennium as (as much as I enjoyed the game) people just don't understand the game anymore. It's easier to bleat on about what the Western Mail told you happened instead.
Quote:
“I know I give the welsh stick but this is not about that this is about a true feeling that if the welsh want to be as great as they believe they can be they need to focus their hate and attention to the boks, blacks and wallabies and forget about the red rose.
If they could meet those three with the intensity and focus they play against the English they would win a World Cup.”
Essentially you're preaching to the choir, which pains me to say as a Welsh fan! I get what you're saying completely and it's a mentality that we need to shake quickly. Won't happen f the coach continues to be such a poor loser though...
(I haven't even mentioned our constant wasting of possession. Another time!)