Hear me out, I don't think I'm entirely crazy.

• England has a lot of players who have never lost before in their professional careers and are now on a losing streak. Do they have the mental fortitude to bounce back? Probably It has yet to be proven.
• Now that the England streak is broken, the USA is currently the winningest team in women's rugby and a five game streak is actually pretty solid momentum
• A five game streak isn't such solid momentum that it becomes an anchor. It builds confidence and belief but not "Oh God we can't afford to lose this".
• Freda Tafuna.
• The main area where teams fail to compete with England is in the pack and in physicality. The USA is a team whose game plan is based around their pack and physicality.
• The USA always overperforms against Canada so if they just frame this as we have to be at least as good as we are against Canada, they have a shot.

Like is it likely? No. But I'm enjoying living in a bold new world where the Red Roses might actually lose.

Some results from last RWC.

At the 2023 Rugby World Cup:
France 96–0 Namibia
New Zealand 96–17 Italy
Scotland 84–0 Romania
Ireland 82–8 Romania
South Africa 76–0 Romania
New Zealand 73–0 Uruguay

How’s the likes of HK/Zimbabwe/Romania gonna compete?

For each club, the opponent they’ve gone longest without beating in the Prem, when they last beat them, and how many meetings they’ve lost since.

We saw with Owen Farrell, that people can be very slow to notice real decline in greats - which is unavoidable now he can basically no even play Premiership Rugby anymore, despite being drafted in to a Lions tour just 16 months ago.

There is a lot of confusion about why Sale are struggling so much this season - at what point do we look at how good Curry x2 and Ford are in 2026?

I found the Ford and England discussions very strange last year, because he was struggling in the Premiership and his performances were lacking for England but covered up with a few points for kicks.

As for Curry x2, they just barely play and when they do, their performances are underwhelming, but there is an assumption they can just keep coming back at the top level. Maybe for Tom you can make an exception, but Ben never showed that next level to start with, so should he get the same benefit of the doubt?

It's okay when it's one player, but the danger is suddenly you can turn around and you've got 8 players in your squad who are over the hill and no longer impactful at the top level.

'World Cup isn't long away', is something i've never agreed with in terms of not trying new things. People start saying it when there's 3 years to go and risk fossilising.

I'm very worried that George, LCD, Curry x2 and Ford are no longer starting International level players...let alone in another 12 months.

Is there anyone out there that you think is on the brink of being done at the level they're generally perceived as being at? People just haven't noticed it yet?

Mods kindly gave the OK for this one post, so here goes.

I built a free daily game called PowerPin Rugby. Every day there are five clues from rugby history, the same five for everyone. You tap where in the world each one happened: the closer your pin, the more points (200 a clue, 1,000 max). After each pin you get the short true story behind it.

Free, no ads, and it plays straight in your browser, nothing to download or sign up for. An Android app is on the way too (it's with Google for review now). New round at midnight UK time.

The bit I'd most like you to try is the leagues. Start a private league for your club or group chat, send the link round, and you get a daily table and a fresh race every Monday. You can also duel a mate on a separate round and see who wins.

At the end you get a Wordle-style emoji grid to share. It shows your score and how close each pin was, never the answers, so it won't spoil it for anyone.

If football, cricket, golf or Grand Prix is more your thing, the same game runs for those too.

Play before Sunday 1 November and you keep a Founder medal.

Today's round: https://playpowerpin.com/rugby?s=reddit

My results today

PowerPin Rugby #16 🏉 725/1000

Coming up: Munster v Sharks (Sat)

🔴🟢🟢🏉🟢

🔥 15-day streak

All Blacks 36-man squad

Hookers: Codie Taylor, Asafo Aumua, George Bell

Props: Ethan de Groot, George Bower, Xavier Numia, Fletcher Newell,
Pasilio Tosi, Saula Ma'u.

Locks: Scott Barrett, Josh Lord, Fabian Holland, Jamie Hannah, Tupou Vaa'i.

Loose Forwards: Anton Segner, Leicester Fainga'anuku, Ethan Blackadder,
Christian Lio-Willie, Peter Lakai, Wallace Sititi.
Halfbacks: Cam Roigard, Kyle Preston, Cortez Ratima.

First Five-Eighths: Richie Mo'unga, Damian McKenzie, Josh Jacomb.

Midfielders: Jordie Barrett, Quinn Tupaea, Timoci Tavatavanawai, Anton Lienert-Brown.

Outside Backs: Rieko Ioane, Chay Fihaki, Fehi Fineanganofo,
Josh Moorby, Will Jordan, Beauden Barrett.

Any guesses who it may be?

Seems to be Lorenzo Pani (which sucks for us), but I look forward to watching many Benetton fans/commentators retract all the sh*te they flung at him when he left and since.

Didn't catch any games this weekend as had eye surgery. I mostly watch the Top14. What should I watch? Belters from other leagues welcome.

With the reforms coming in for the Nationale (French third division) it seems like it is being aligned as a sort of ProD3 with JIFF quotas and 16 teams competing. Currently it isn't included in the Canal+ broadcast deal and is shown on Rugbyrama channel on YouTube but I saw comments suggesting it would eventually be bundled in as well.

Some of the clubs at this level already seem to have decent facilities, like Orléans beating Bourgoin here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vo-hSL647bg, but most regular season games only get a few thousand views at the moment. It's a trade off between extra exposure and the benefits of TV money.

Wouldn’t think he just joined the academy two months ago. Little celebration at the end.

Match Thread - Canterbury v Northland | Hilux NPC 2026 | Round 13

Venue: One NZ Stadium, Christchurch | Weather: 26 C, Clouds

Officials: James Doleman, Marcus Playle, Fraser Hannon, Liam Scanlon (tmo)

Match Page: https://www.rugbybot.com/match/6490

Match Threads: https://www.rugbybot.com/mt

Time

Lineups

RugbyBot

RugbyBot was made by /u/paimoe. PM or post in /r/RugbyBot for assistance.

Like what do you mean Leigh Halfpenny and Sione Tuipulotu are the same height?

How is LBB and Hugo Keenan taller than Sam Simmonds?

I picture Fin Smith and Henry Pollock about the same height but HP is somehow 10 centimetres taller

What else is there?

Keith Wood: a No. 2 with the soul of a No. 10 😅

Bristol Bears have completed the signing of highly-rated young Samoan forward Totoa Auvaa.

The 21-year-old, a powerful young back five forward with exciting physical attributes and significant potential, joins the Bears following his departure from Saracens to continue his development under Director of Rugby Pat Lam.

Director of Rugby and former Samoa captain, Pat Lam, said: “Totoa is a big, physical young man with enormous potential, who unfortunately has made some mistakes since arriving from a small village in Samoa to the massive city of London.

“His agent reached out to me, to see if I would be willing to help him and give him a second chance. I’ve always believed that young people deserve the opportunity to learn from those experiences, grow and become better people.

“Having spent time with Totoa, I feel confident that we can provide him with the mentorship, guidance, support and structure to give him the best possible opportunity to succeed, not just as a rugby player, but as a person. Someone his parents and family all the way back in Samoa will be proud of.

“He has a huge amount of ability and we’re looking forward to helping him develop, make the most of this opportunity and become a valued member of the Bears family.”