the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

For those who love the game the match between Australia and England was a gem. Back and forth until the very end. After the disastrous world cup for England they needed a cleanout and Eddie Jones has lived up to his reputation, a 6 nations win and now first leg of a test series against Australia. A brutal match, no quarter given or taken. On paper it was pretty even, with Australia scoring more tries but Owen Farrell's kicking made the difference. I think they could win the series but probably 2-1. They still have a way to go to get to the level of New Zealand but if they continue improving they will be favorites for the next world cup.

I wish I knew anything about rugby. Actually, I'm watching UEFA EURO and just saw Wales make its first goal international competition in 58 years.

England rules 23 to 7, now for New Zealand, Eddie is the King of Rugby

Well England won the series 3-0 against the Aussies, but they shouldn't start patting themselves on the back, there is a lot of work to be done. It was a scrappy game, England's defense was penetrated too many times and their attack was not nearly as good as the Aussies', the difference was Owen Farrel's kicking. The teams are about the same level and England will have to up its game to beat New Zealand

I am going to the USA vs Russia match tonight. England has a good chance against NZ. Ireland missed theirs. I'm still not over that near miss.

To add icing to the cake England won the under 20 World championship against Ireland, exciting high scoring match. What a difference a year makes

A dozen wins for Eddie, hard fought against Argentina . Next weekend a big one--the Aussies

Australia goes down, hard match but 14 wins says it all. As Eddie says still a way to go to become dominant side, looking forward to 6 Nations next year

They won but a few rough calls in that one

Yeah , the first half hour was scary but somehow they came through. Defense was a lot better than the previous game

Well the 6 nations is well under way and England keeps winning, in both matches [France and Wales] being outplayed most of the match but coming back in the last minutes. Admittedly injuries have decimated the side but Ernie seems to have instilled into them the will to win. The Wales match was superb rugby with England extinguishing attack after attack and then pulling a try out of the bag in the last few minutes. As I said after the first match France has a dynamic side this year and will probably be runners up, but there is little difference between the sides, any side could win on a given day

England have been playing indifferently but still winning all season, well that all ended Saturday, all of it came together and they destroyed Scotland. Now Scotland had injuries and to quote their captain 'were useless' but on this form they would challenge New Zealand. Ernie has worked miracles in a year and still says they have room for improvement. Anyway beautiful rugby, ten tries total

I did have a good laugh seeing England down after the first half of the Italy match - the consensus being 'wait til they figure this out and then England will score 30' which turned out to be the case

The level of athleticism has increased considerably since I last played many years ago, these guys could probably compete in an Ironman contest. The 'rushing' aspect of NFL seems to have entered the sport, together with specialized lineout techniques, even the long NFL style pass from center to wing. Apparently the dictatorial style of coaching has made a comeback with England and Ireland, no laisse faire in this side, they were exhorted to be winners from the getgo

Although Rugby has got things from many sports I think rugby league is the main contributor
A lot of ex league players have upped the game in rugby by both playing and coaching