Would you say England's worth backing at 9/2?

Sporting bet have gone with ENG +14 at 5/6

Not followed League for years so really have no clue how much of a mismatch this could be,

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RE Johnson, that's no real surprise.

A few weeks ago Woodwod was being linked to the job again. Not sure how i'd feel about that, probably a positive. At least bring some structure back.

badminton,

9/2 seems good if you can still get it, they're about that or a hair less on betfair atm before commission.

the england team is stronger than it has been in a few years, and the aussies are worse than they have been in a few years. in the eng v aus game 2 weeks ago england had a couple of horrid decisions go against them which ultimately cost them the game (they really should have been 6 points behind and a man up with 30mins to go), but, encouragingly, seemed to score points pretty easily. the australia defense is downright bad compared to what it's been in the past. sadly england conceded points like it was their job too, with tons of ******ed rushing out of the line...however last week against nz they defended very very well and played pretty much a very solid, complete game.

there's a real buzz around rugby circles this week and some cautious optimism. traditionally this has always led to crushing disappointment, but we'll see. it should hopefully be a great game, bet it and enjoy it!

Cheers- I'll take Eng +14

I think his heart is firmly with league. Smart contract move though - interest from union and NRL increase his value in league three years down the line if the game is healthy.

That's pretty much my view. England have a real chance, and could even run over Australia if they get it right. England are a better unit. But it could all count for nothing if Aussie experience, NRL know how and heads up rugby gets the better of them. England by 14 is possible but so is Australia by 30.
But I'll put my money mouth where my heart is and back England. Hope the game lives up to the hype.

saw thread, popped in to question why johnson still has job, lolled when found out he doesnt.

He was a bad choice from the start but gotta give him credit he did a pretty good job up until the world cup. If England hadn't been flat against France they had a shot at the All Blacks in the final. He could have rode the wave and been a hero once again even losing to NZ heroically. Something went badly wrong and he has to carry the can.

Shameful that they missed the boat with Edwards. Mallinder not interested. Henry won't be taking a role while Andrew is around..... lord help us!

We just need a random kiwi to take charge imo. We can probably find a few around London to have a go.

Lol, not a bad idea.

haha yep terrible terrible performance. sad stuff because the atmosphere when the teams walked out was probably the best i have witnessed in the last 10-15 years. hairs on the back of the neck stuff.

in other news it looks like sam tomkins will be playing for the barbarians next month? lol

Sean O'Brien is such a beast

How amateurish is this whole England thing? Truly unbelievable.

13mins in, typical union player not knowing how to pass to a man in support costs sam a try

Not seen a Barbars game for years.

FWIW Brian Moore was on talksport yesterday with Richard Keys.

Funny old game. The one player who was trying to play the ball to the right as well as the left was the left wing, Bryan Habana. Bizarre "get the ball to Bryan" attitude while Bryan was thinking "play expansive rugby". Poetic justice that Tomkins got the try at the end. His face said "what the hell am I doing?" but he did very little wrong - just a shame the Barbarians were so bad that his try will be low profile.

TBF makeshift teams never have a chance. It takes months of work and preparation to work effectively as a unit. Was the game sold out today?

Barbarians have proved that wrong in the past. And they should never have lost so heavily. Henry seemed to take it all as a pay day and a joke though so I guess they just went through the motions.

The Lions team is epic, obviously it's entirely different to the Babars but those tours are something else. Next tour is Aus 2013.

badminton - top tier wasn't even open and second tier wasn't close to full either.

That try from Leinster was sooooo good

Anyone watching Toulouse-Harlequins? Exciting stuff

Does anyone know of a site where I could watch old matches of rugby in decent picture quality? I don't really care who is playing or what year it was from. I am an Ameritard who plays rugby but never watched it much and want to watch more rugby to give me more ideas about what I should be doing.

Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/user/hike6ones/videos

Stop that Ulster!