Not too sure if anyone has heard of Rugby but is there any people in here that get into that sport, either union or league or both?

SouthShadow : I don't think anyone has NOT heard of Rugby, but I believe most of the regulars here are residents of a country that features their own sports including a variation of Rugby. That said, I know our Rugby team sucks balls because we have mostly amateurs and low-level pros, so we need a rugby league in this country. Soccer/Football(my #2 sport) is on the rise, so why not rugby? Well as I alluded to before, part of it is the NFL.

SouthShadow : Yep. I absolutely love rugby, but rugby union, not league. I used to play rugby from a young age at school until my college years.  Rugby is our country's national sport.  Our national team is currently ranked no.2 in the world and if you're up to date with the sport, you would've probably guessed by now that it's the Springboks of South Africa. We're just short of the no. 1 spot which is currently occupied by the All Blacks of New Zealand. One of these days...

Rugby union. In fact, im going to a national match today. Its by and large my favourite sport.
Hopefully to a win too.

thenumberone :  I assume your team is Scotland?  I see you're playing Argentina today.  They're a tough bunch.  We just managed to hold them off during the Southern Hemisphere Rugby championship.  The Springboks are playing Ireland.  I haven't watched Ireland playing recently but apparently they're the current Six Nations champs.  We'll see how it goes.

SoL@R :
Yeh it is, and thats the match im going to. I only found out they were playing on Tuesday so I was lucky to find some decent seats.
We have a pretty good modern track record against them.
Last time I saw this match was november 2009 I think.
On that instance we lost, and its only 1 of 2 matches we lost where I have called major cheat. They played pretty dirty, I was not happy.
The other match being during the six nations, where france won by a last minute forward past, can't believe that was allowed.

Eitherrway, im looking forward to the match.
A few years ago Scotland was beating england, Ireland, argentina, Australia, almost obliterated wales.
Then for whatever reason our team started bombing.
Im hoping this match will mark a return to Scotland being a major force in rugby.
Iv not actually been to a match this year, last one was Scotland v japan. But they lose to everyone.

Ireland have certainly improved, I used to count them as a certain win for Scotland.

Today we have a good line up though. Richie and johny grey are playing. I have no hesitation in saying richie grey is one of the greatest current rugby players.
If we had 13 or so of him we'd give you a run for your money

Theres a lot of new (and young) talent on our team here too, so they could either bomb, or transform our fortunes.

thenumberone :  Hope there's no Argentinians reading this ;p but yes, they do play dirty/scrappy and disrupt the flow of play.  I think they deliberately play that way against "big" teams to upset their rhythm.

Honestly hope you guys win  Going to watch the New Zealand vs. England game now..

Some interesting matches, england lost to newzealand by a very low margin, and wales lost out to Australia.
I honestly didnt expect Ireland to beat south africa, especially by such a margin.
The Scotland Argentina match was pretty good though, plenty of action and our side were playing better than they have in years. If we tighten up our defence, we could start moving up the rankings.

Well that sucked.  Ireland defended like beasts and totally upset the Boks style of play.  They deserved to win.  Hopefully this will serve as a wake-up call for them.  England's next.  If they play the way they played against the All Blacks, it's going to be a long tour for us.

thenumberone:  I had to edit this post, because I already have too many back and forth posts...

You've probably summed it up so I'll be basically just echoing the same stuff and I've been a bit out of Rugby Union for a while, but I'll throw in my 5 cents.

Argentina vs. Italy - Italy does a lot of things on the field, but nothing happens.  So yeah - Argentina will take this one for sure.

England vs. South Africa - I'm not saying this because they're my team, but the Boks have a reputation of showing character and coming back after a defeat.  Let's hope they can do the same against England, but they're going to have to work VERY hard for it.  England would've been watching the Ireland game and I think they will follow suit.  In your face rugby with stout defense is what I'm expecting from England.  We have a fairly good track record a Twickenham, so let's see.

Wales vs. Fiji - I have not been following the Welsh or the Fijians (?) that closely lately.  All I know is that Fiji, IF they keep their discipline, can be tough.  They almost beat us at the 2007 World Cup in the Quarters, but then again, that was a different team.  Wales are much more professional and clinical in their approach to the game, so yes, Wales should take this one.

Scotland vs. New Zealand - New Zealand has shown their composure again against England.  England had them against the ropes, but you can't give NZ an inch.  You have to play for the full 80mins and that is what Scotland has to do.  In your face rugby with a chip over the top here and there.  NZ does not like being turned around and if you score against them quickly they become rattled, until they get a sniff.  We (South Africa) just managed to beat them in our last game in the Rugby Championship comp., because we played (for a change) 85 mins of rugby and never stopped.  That's what Scotland has to do, but I don't know how their fitness levels are, because NZ is seriously fit.
If Scotland can keep it close it will be a major boost for them going to the World Cup next year.

France vs. Australia - You think France will walk over Australia?  Maybe.  Especially because of all the politics and "disruptions" in the Aus team.  Personally for me this one is difficult to call.  If Aus has sorted their stuff out and are focused, they can be dangerous.  They've given NZ a hard time in their last match against them.  They were unfortunate to lose that game.  I would say France, but by a small margin.

Ireland vs. Georgia - Poor Georgia.  The way Ireland played and defended last Saturday - kind of hopeless for Georgia.

SoL@R :
Whats your line of thought as to this weeks major matches?

Italy v Argentina, Genova
15:00 local, 14:00 GMT

England v South Africa, Twickenham
14:30 local, 14:30 GMT

Wales v Fiji, Millennium Stadium
14:30 local, 14:30 GMT

Scotland v New Zealand, Murrayfield
17:30 local, 17:30 GMT


France v Australia, Stade de France
21:00 local, 20:00 GMT


Ireland v Georgia, Lansdowne Road
14:30 local, 14:30 GMT


Italy are capable of playing well, argentina can too and they will be hurting after the last match. Im thinking italy will be trampled.
ENgland v south africa I think will be close, if the last match is an indicator I think England will squeeze a win.
Wales im sure will obliterate fiji.
I am pretty sure Scotland will lose to new zealand, but im hopefull we can put up an admirable fight, especially after our last match.
France will almost certainly wipe the floor with australia, and georgia will be lucky to get any points at all.

@sop
http://www.rugbydump.com/fullmatches
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL19BA3FE14144BC4A

Plenty of non listed youtube videos of matches too, I watched scotland v usa the other day.

Heard of Rugby? Yes.
Watch/Play? No. Specific leagues? Even less so. 

Living in the United States gives me few options when it comes to this sort of thing. I cannot go see matches, I can't play any, and there really are not any on cable television ever. I was thinking of trying to stream something, but I'm not sure exactly where to go for that, and I wouldn't really be able to pay for such a service, so yeah. I'm kind of at a loss. I might have to stick to watching older matches or something if I do end up getting into it.

thenumberone :
I would say Argentina will beat Italy...the Pumas will be pretty strong for the italians.

England v South Africa would be a good game but I would put my bet on the Springboks to win.

Wales v Fiji: Now that would be a interesting game to watch. If I have to choose a team I'll be Wales.

Scotland v New Zealand.: I doubt the Scottish team will win, as the All Blacks will be too strong for them. GOOO THE ALL BLACKS!!

France v Australia: Hmm have to go for France on this one..home game advantage.

Ireland v Georgia: Don't need to say who'll win cause I already know which team is strong LOL
 

sop281 :
thenumberone :

Here's another link to live streaming rugby matches.  Quality is a bit dodgy, but you can still make out who every player is  Works fine for me:  

Wiziwig TV

SouthShadow:  So, we have a Kiwi in our midst

How do I prevent a summon from failing??

SoL@R :
I think you cant summon users until they have been active for a set time, and made so many posts.



Iv no doubt Scotland will be drubbed.
However im optimistic we can stop a runaway victory this time.
Im planning on watching the game with some friends and some beers. The tickets are too expensive so its a tv job

thenumberone :  Nothing wrong with a TV job.  At least you can watch replays and watch over and over how the Kiwi's cheat at ruck time ;p