Ralph Staniforth

Freelance Sports Journalist | Football | Rugby | Cricket | Tennis |

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

Rugby League must be taking off in Ireland. Quite a few new fans.

[Cian Tracey @CianTracey1]

‘Games are too long, there are too many stoppages and too many set-pieces’

Asked Mike Prendergast about rugby’s current trends and like Johnny Sexton and Ross Byrne, he had some very strong things to say:

https://t.co/LNjJbVswNB

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

@LeinsterClub @mangorugby So, you can lose a game and win the Six Nations. Forget the fact that you don't play two of the best sides in NZ and SA. The Dempsey statement is just wrong, I'm sure most would agree.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

@LeinsterClub @mangorugby Firstly, Dempsey doesn't know anything about winning either. Secondly, "you can't afford to lose a match in Six Nations." Well, you can, as France did this year.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

@Retief_Dan Wimbledon do their draw a few days before the tournament starts. 1 & 2 on the same side now for RWC, how will it look a week before the RWC? It's easy to avoid for Wimbledon.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

@Retief_Dan We all knew ahead of the draw that the only benefit was being in the top six. No benefit being first compared to sixth.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

@englishsportfan @haribaldijones This exactly. And no guarantee they will be the top two seeds come 2027.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

Rankings are very likely to shift by the time the WC starts. Right now the top two seeds are potentially on the same side of the draw, let's see if that's still the case in December 2026.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

Putting ranking aside for now, if we meet NZ in the QF, we are playing a side we've beaten in five of the last six. Four more next year, it could even out but we could also pull further ahead.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

That might be better than the Aussies at home (guess that depends how they go next year). Then, possibly France in the semi. We've beaten then away from home in the last two, could be three by this time next year.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

I struggle to see how this is an easier route for England. Aus at home followed by Ireland (who knows where they will be in 2027) or Argentina, who are trending upwards and are not the side that just cause the odd upset anymore. Also, wouldn't bank on NZ beating Aus in pool play.

[Chalyn.Rugby @ChalynRugby]

#Opinion England have a golden chance to finally win another Rugby World Cup after 24 years in Sydney. Their path is wide open: beat Australia in the quarters, probably deal with Argentina in the semis, and that’s it they’re in the final. And yes, we all know what tends to happen to Ireland in quarterfinals…

Meanwhile, whoever comes out of the other side of the draw will be absolutely battered. Whether it’s the All Blacks, Springboks or France, they’ll have survived a gauntlet of heavyweight matchups just to reach the last weekend. They’ll be bruised, exhausted, and running on fumes.

England? They just need to stay fresh. No matter how talented you are, you need a bit of luck to win a Rugby World Cup and this really could be their shot at it.

#England #RWC2027 #RWC2027Draw #Rugby

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

@Oldsuliansrfc One can wonder if there are better ways to do the draw (in my opinion this was fine) but the constant corruption calls are annoying.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

A lot can change by 2027.

[Rugby Bits @RugbyBits]

How do you mess this up so badly that (at the time of the draw) the top 2 ranked sides meet each other in a Quarter Final.

Make it make sense

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

There is no place in the game to be going near a players eyes. Etzebeth should face a long ban. There is no mitigation for that. A still, blurry image of the Welsh player doing the same, is not evidence. But, if there is clear video footage of him doing it, ban them both.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

@tejack47 @rugbyphilosophy No need for intent, just breaking the laws of the game. Why is the focus not on Irelamd improving their scrummaging? After all, it is a huge part of the union and clearly they are not very good at it.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

@tejack47 @rugbyphilosophy Ireland didn't concede a penalty for going backwards, they gone penalised for breaking numerous laws. If they didn't completely capitulate in that area they wouldn't have had an issue.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

@BallyshonogNz @bernardjackman Why would Union want to become more like league? A far less popular sport.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

Could only do that seven times at the WC if they played the Irish seven times. No other side has capitulated like the Irish did as scrum time. Can't change the game because one side cannot compete.

[Rugby Expansionist @rugbyexpansion]

@LD151 There is not pretty & there is unwatchable where one team is physically unable to defend and the other teams is unwilling to change their style (if they had it would have been a win by more than 11). SA could do that 7 times and win the WC, and that is not a contest i’m afraid.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

@Jade_Manasse Agreed. Turned it into a dogfight kept Ireland in it, or at least the core down. Go the line-out, take a tap, but those scrums took our momentum.

[Ralph Staniforth @Ralph_MUFC]

I think most would agree that SFM should have seen yellow. It may have changed the flow of the game to some extent but it wouldn't have changed the Irish capitulation at scrumtime. Carley got pretty much everything else right.