Who will win the 2011 Rugby World Cup?

[Sean]

It's for much the same reason as there are sports teams from Norway and Sweden rather than just Team Scandinavia Jim...

Britain is a region rather than a country.

[Lord Jim]

Britain is a region rather than a country.

I'm sorry, I was laboring under the apparently false impression that the United Kingdom was actually a country....

My bad....

[Reality Bytes]

The United Kingdom IS a country and Britain is IN the UK however the UK is NOT Britain

[Reality Bytes]

The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American History.

Who said 'Give me Liberty , or give me Death'?"

She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Little Hodiaki a bright foreign exchange student from Japan, who had his hand up: 'Patrick Henry, 1775' he said.

'Very good!'

Who said, 'Government of the People, by the People, for the People, shall not perish from the Earth?'

Again, no response except from Little Hodiaki, 'Abraham Lincoln, 1863'..

'Excellent!', said the teacher continuing, 'let's try one a bit
More difficult...'

Who said, 'Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you
can do for your country?'

Once again, Hodiaki's was the only hand in the air and he said;
'John F. Kennedy, 1961'.

The teacher snapped at the class, 'Class, you should be ashamed of yourselves, Little Hodiaki isn't from this country and he knows more about our history than you do.'

She heard a loud whisper: 'F . . k the Japs,'

'Who said that? I want to know right now!' she angrily demanded.

Little Hodiaki put his hand up, 'General MacArthur, 1945.'

At that point, a student in the back said, 'I'm gonna puke.'

The teacher glares around and asks, 'All right!!! Now who said that!?'

Again, Little Hodiaki says, 'George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991.'

Now furious, another student yells, 'Oh yeah? Suck this!'

Little Hodiaki jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher,
'Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!'

Now with almost mob hysteria someone said, 'You little shit. If you
say anything else, I'll kill you.'

Little Hodiaki frantically yells at the top of his voice,
'Michael Jackson to the child witnesses testifying against him, 2004.'

The teacher fainted.

As the class gathered around the teacher on the floor, someone said,
'Oh shit, We're screwed!'

Little Hodiaki said quietly, 'the England Rugby Team 2011.'

[Lord Jim]

[Lord Jim]

The United Kingdom IS a country and Britain is IN the UK however the UK is NOT Britain

Ok Little Miss Know-It-All, I'll rephrase my question...

Then why isn't there a single UK team (like there is a single US team) participating in international competitions rather than separate teams for England, Scotland, and Wales?

Riddle me that one Bat Girl....

[Reality Bytes]

Because USA is one single country Jim ... UK is not

[Gob]

Jim raises an interesting point, one which I think I've asked before.

Are there no team sports in the US with a State vs State, tournament?

I think the closest the UK or Aus would have would be our cricket championships.

UK County Championships

Australian Sheffield Shield

[Sean]

England is a country, Scotland is a country, Wales is a country. Britain is the name of the Island that the three make up. The UK is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
It's a bit like asking why there isn't a team representing North America comprised of American and Canadian players.

There will be a British football team at the London Olympics only because 'Great Britain' has tradtionally competed as a single entity in International athletics. In the Commonwealth Games however, England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland compete as separate teams.

[dales]

I think the closest the UK or Aus would have would be our cricket championships.

That might aid BSG's insomnia problems she posted about in another thread.

Waching a few moments of that would put anyone under!

[Reality Bytes]

Wales Rugby: Red shirt day for World Cup semi-final (see link for photos)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15307687

I wore my last years shirt to work on Monday and I have been wearing it all day today, I'll switch to this years shirt tomorrow ready for the game The lounge will be fully decorated, Welsh flags, blow up daffodils, dragons & leeks, & signed rugby balls everywhere even our Xmas WRU santa will be making an appearance. Whelm-o-meter is almost off the scale and I seriously doubt I'll get much sleep tonight with nerves - and I'm not even playing!

There will be more fans at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to watch Wales play in the Rugby World Cup semi-final than at the actual match in New Zealand.

The Welsh Rugby Union said about 65,000 free tickets have now gone to people who want to watch the match on big screens in the stadium on Saturday.

Eden Park, the venue in Auckland where Wales play France at 09:00 BST, holds only 60,000.

Wales captain Sam Warburton said the team was amazed at the home support.

The game has been billed as the biggest in many years for Welsh rugby and if Wales win it will be the first time they have reached the tournament's final.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15295528

Excitement grows for Wales-France World Cup semi-final
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15310951

Pob lwc Cymru!!!

[Gob]

I'm off work today, will be ranting screaming and performing in our front room!

Unfortunately, I'm on a two month spell of abstinence at the mo, so will not be celebrating (or drowning my sorrows) in ale.

[Gob]

Phonetic version of the Welsh national anthem, in case anyone fancies joining in!

Welsh

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi,
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri;
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mâd,
Dros ryddid collasant eu gwaed.

(Cytgan - Chorus)

Gwlad, gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad.
Tra môr yn fur i'r bur hoff bau,
O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau.

Phonetic;

My hen laid a haddock on top of a tree
Glad farts and centurions throw wogs in the sea
I could stew a hare here, and brandish Dan’s flan
Don’s ruddy bog’s blocked up with sand

(Cytgan - Chorus)

Dad! Dad! Why don’t you oil Aunty Glad
When whores appear on beer bottle pies
Oh, butter the hens as they fly.

[Gob]

A couple of missed kicks.....

[The Hen]

Arse. It's over for Wales.

Bugger.

[Gob]

Not even waiting for the final match!!!

Paddy Power have paid more than NZ$1 million (over £500,000) to punters who backed the red-hot favourites in the final at Auckland's Eden Park, despite their habit of choking on the World Cup stage.

"We've called it, we've said 'game over'," owner Paddy Power told Radio New Zealand.

"It's so one-sided the final, I mean France must be the worst team ever to reach a World Cup final and New Zealand are absolutely awesome this time around, so we've paid out already, taken our chances."

The bookmaker had New Zealand at 1/12 to lift the Cup, with France rated 6/1 outsiders.

"If they do happen to win and are the banana skin for New Zealand that they've been in the past, then we're going to be left with some very expensive egg on our faces," Power said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyu ... final.html

[Sue U]

France must be the worst team ever to reach a World Cup final

Still better than the Welsh, apparently.

[Reality Bytes]

France must be the worst team ever to reach a World Cup final

Still better than the Welsh, apparently.

I have a complete and utter sense of humour failure over the utter travesty of the semi final game - almost a week on from the action of the cheating biased FRENCH referee and I am still almost incapable of talking about it without my blood pressure spiking into the dangerous zone.

Wales have been and still ARE the best damned team in the whole competition - which has now totally been devalued Rolland seriously better stay the hell OUT of Wales for the rest of his life - we won't forget and we damned sure won't forgive.

[Sue U]

Oooh, sorry RB, didn't mean to rile you. At least you have someone you can blame, whereas my team apparently forgot to show up for the post season playoffs.

[Lord Jim]

whereas my team apparently forgot to show up for the post season playoffs.

They showed up last year, and still got their asses kicked...