Anyone interested in the RWC?
Can Wales hold their own against the big-hitting Fijians and Samoans to clinch second spot (RSA are obviously gonna win this pool)
Can USA beat Italy or Ireland to second spot? (Oz are obviously gonna win this pool).
What're Englands chances of taking out France in the QF, then Oz in the SF, then NZ in the final?
Gladiators, ready...?
I see NZ has won the first match with relative ease. I'm not a fan, but I'll definitly watch the final whoever is in it as almost all sports played at world class level are worth watching, the exception being golf ;D
Quote from: Tank on September 09, 2011, 01:49:49 PM
I see NZ has won the first match with relative ease. I'm not a fan, but I'll definitly watch the final whoever is in it as almost all sports played at world class level are worth watching, the exception being golf ;D
Agreed on all levels...
The NZ All Blacks have got to be one of the most dominant world sporting teams.
But also the most underacheiving of the dominant world teams when it comes to world tornaments, they generally go in as the hot favourates, but have only won it once.
Against SA in 1995 they choked, after a rampaging tournament
Against France in 1999, they were rattled by the French thuggery tacticts, NZ almost never lose to the French, but in a tournament...
Against the Aussies in 2003, Aussie played their hearts out and put on a top performance, NZ were left wanting, it was amazing that England won the tourney, with the golden boot of Jonny Wilkinson
Against the French in 2007, NZ were again KOed from the tournament, a team NZ had been thrashing in France, they had been destroying all the northern hemisphere teams with ease outside the tournament, but in tourney mode and against the French they just couldn't do it.
I tell you, they put way too much pressure on themselves, and the Northern Hemisphere teams seem to play much better in tourneys than they do otherwise.
This tourney should go to NZ, second likely Oz, third likely SA. But I wouldn't put my money on it.
Yeah, I can't argue with your rankings.
Though I do consider Englands chances of breaking out of even the pool stages somewhat diminished after todays' dismal display. France weren't looking too nimble either. Let's see how Oz get on tomorrow...
Well, NZ weren't looking too hot against Tonga either, especially that second half was abysmal.
I don't think any team is top form. Will be interesting to see how the tourney progresses.
Australia vs USA is on and Aus have 2 tries, but no conversions, so are 10 point to 0 in under 12 minutes. This could be the slaughter of the competition.
USA get a try back! The first team to get a try against Aus so far. Getting exciting!
Nope. 67:5 Aus:USA
That first 25 minutes was astonishing with Aus 15 to US 5 but the end result was more befitting.
All Blacks vs France tonight
To my mind the most intreguing matchup of the tournament so far.
Aussie Vs Ireland (Irish win) and South Africa Vs Wales (Wales lost only just) were doozy's.
France ought to be better than Ireland and Wales.
All Blacks lost to Australia and South Africa last time they played them.
Interseting match, it could well be a real stonker!
Well England just scraped past Scotland by 16 to 12, and Scotland lead for all but the last 5 minutes! Quite a nail biter!
Yes there have been quite a few nailbitters so far
SA vs Wales
Aus vs Ireland
France vs Tonga
England vs Scotland
All featuring Northern Hemisphere teams, they are proving to be quite the dark horses of the tournament, sometimes they are hot, sometimes not.
It is looking like there will be at least one Northern Hemisphere team into the final as I think SA will meet Aus in the quarters and the winner takes on NZ in the Semi's assuming NZ win their quarter final probably against Argentina.
England vs France in another quarter final with the winner taking on the winner of probably Wales vs Ireland going into the other Semi final.
There will be many tight matches to come.
Very exciting.
For a while I've had my eye on Ireland - ever since the sublime (if somewhat galling) trouncing of the English in the Six Nations. Of all the teams, Ireland look most likely to compete with NZ. These are the two best teams in the tournament.
Scotland impressed me (but bye-bye). Wales aren't as solid as they have been in the past few years. England just won't be able to cut it at the higher end.. but have been known to turn it on when needed (???). France... well, I'll not hold my garlic breath.
Assuming England beat France, I don't then fancy our chances of beating Ireland.
Cracking tournament so far!
Ireland are proving to be unusually strong. NZ has never lost to Ireland in 24 encounters, 23 wins and one draw.
It would be incredible if Ireland won the tourney.
NZ against the winner of AU and SA will be a very tough match.
My predictions are:
Aus beats SA
NZ beats Arg
Fra beats Eng
Ire beats Wal
NZ beats Aus
Fra beats Ire
NZ beats Fra
The least likely to make it to the finals are Wales, Argentina and South Africa. The rest are a bit of a toss up.
The most likely to win are NZ or Au.
I think it would be great if Ireland made it to the finals, it would be a first for them.
I disagree with some of those predictions:
England will beat France. Not because I support England. Both teams are struggling to reach form, but France are further from that goal.
This would leave Ireland v England. Ireland will win.
Ireland are getting 15/1 at the bookies to win it. And against NZ (4/6), gotta be worth a tennner the way they're playing? They are masters of disruption and NZ haven't encountered that yet. Previous statistics..? This is a reborn Ireland side.
Very exciting!
It's getting more interesting as we get into the quater finals, that's for sure.
OK, in light of the meltdown between the French team and their coach I will modify my prediction. England beat France, beat Ireland, lose to NZ
This week-end is looking to be very exciting.
Three very close match-ups
England - France
Wales - Ireland
Australia - South Africa
NZ should beat Argentina quite comfortably.
Ireland have never been to the Semi's, Wales only once before.
One of these two are looking at a realistic chance of making it to the finals this year.
History beckons for Ireland or Wales (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10757281)
Wallabies ready to fire against the Springboks (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby-world-cup-2011/news/article.cfm?c_id=522&objectid=10757301)
Johnson prepared for French magic (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10757302)
Ranking the quarter-finalists (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby-world-cup-2011/news/article.cfm?c_id=522&objectid=10757255)
It does look quite exciting!
Who do you predict for the final?
It is so difficult to predict this one.
The Wallabies won the Tri-Nations so were strong heading into the world cup, but with a loss to Ireland they are looking shaky.
South Africa were hammered by NZ not long ago, but beat NZ in their last encounter in SA, but SA is always hard to beat in SA and they struggled against Wales and only just beat Samoa and they have lost their star kicker Steyn who can kick the ball over the posts from inside his own half.
I think Australia are the better of the two at the moment.
NZ will likely beat either one, but it is not a certainty. Au or SA on a good day can be great and formidable for NZ.
But I pick NZ for the final regardless that they have lost their star player and kicker Dan Carter and that they often choke in World Cups and that the minnows have been scoring two tries each against NZ showing up a poor defense.
Wales/Ireland is a tough call, Ireland looked like a cohesive team against Aus but were lacking some individual brilliance and attacking dynamics.
England/France is very tough too. Will France get it together or have they gone completely into meltdown with the fallout of the team with the coach? Neither team is in top form, Wilkinson is having much trouble finding form with his boot, the team had resorted to cheating by swapping balls to try and help him out. Can an under performing England/France beat a top performing Ireland/Wales. This is a tough call. I think England will get it together and will beat Ireland, although the crowd will be pulling for Ireland being the underdog.
NZ/England in the final.
NZ to win.
I feel the final will be an anticlimax following the awesome match ups of the quarters and semis.
I'll have to trim my finger nails so I don't chew them off.
I'm sticking with my predictions.
A sorry looking England will beat a desperate and sorrier-looking France. Toby Flood HAS to replace Wilko's failing boot. This is gonna be a scrappy and ugly game with lots of irate froggy punches thrown. Mais au revoir les grenouilles...
Wales will barely hold Ireland to a draw in the first half, but will falter under Irelands' superior skill in the second. Should see some good rugby I recon. I always enjoy watching Wals, and Ireland have shown some real class of late. Top o' the mornin'!
Oz v SA I believe will be a good spectacle too. Hard to call, but I'll give it to Oz as they're smarting from losing to Ireland. Bonza!
I still think we'll see Ireland giving the kiwis a smack round the chops in the final. And if the Kiwis typically choke, we might have a green champion, begorrah!
I'm leaking a little bit of wee I'm so excited...
Fucking dollop!
Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck! >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(
Did I say fuck!
What a Saturday, both ScissorLegs and myself 0/2 on our predictions.
French played really well in that first half. England had a better second but not enough firepower to claw back the deficit, that last try was questionable.
Surely France will beat Wales and go through to the finals.
Quote from: Stevil on October 08, 2011, 10:28:31 AM
What a Saturday, both ScissorLegs and myself 0/2 on our predictions.
French played really well in that first half. England had a better second but not enough firepower to claw back the deficit, that last try was questionable.
Surely France will beat Wales and go through to the finals.
I sincerely hope so. The sheep shaggers will be insufferable if they beat the 'cheese eating surrender monkeys'. Fuck >:(
Quote from: Tank on October 08, 2011, 10:31:39 AM
Quote from: Stevil on October 08, 2011, 10:28:31 AM
What a Saturday, both ScissorLegs and myself 0/2 on our predictions.
French played really well in that first half. England had a better second but not enough firepower to claw back the deficit, that last try was questionable.
Surely France will beat Wales and go through to the finals.
I sincerely hope so. The sheep shaggers will be insufferable if they beat the 'cheese eating surrender monkeys'. Fuck >:(
Oooooooh, I sense a bit of emotion in that.
Quote from: Stevil on October 08, 2011, 10:34:53 AM
Quote from: Tank on October 08, 2011, 10:31:39 AM
Quote from: Stevil on October 08, 2011, 10:28:31 AM
What a Saturday, both ScissorLegs and myself 0/2 on our predictions.
French played really well in that first half. England had a better second but not enough firepower to claw back the deficit, that last try was questionable.
Surely France will beat Wales and go through to the finals.
I sincerely hope so. The sheep shaggers will be insufferable if they beat the 'cheese eating surrender monkeys'. Fuck >:(
Oooooooh, I sense a bit of emotion in that.
Well this is one of the reasons I'm not a great sports fan. I get way more upset when the team/person I support losses than happy when they win. In a lot of ways I'm hyper-competative to the extent that if I let it get a grip of me my equilibram goes to pot and those around me head for the bomb shelter.
I'd rather suffer the Welsh than the French in victory. I hope the gaze of the Eye of Sauron falls upon them all...
Quote from: Scissorlegs on October 08, 2011, 11:29:35 AM
I'd rather suffer the Welsh than the French in victory. I hope the gaze of the Eye of Sauron falls upon them all...
No. I know more sheep shaggers than frogs, thank you very much. At least if the Frogs beat the sheep shaggers, we can buy each other a conciliatory beer and then cheer on the Kiwis.
I'm gonna be flying in to the pays des grenouille on the 22nd (eve of the final) to visit family. I'm going to get a Gallic shredding.
...On the plus side, I may be there to witness the frogs being pecked to pieces by the sharpened beak of the kiwis... we hope...
If the All Blacks don't get their act together they are going to have a very tough time with the Wallabies next week.
Poor defense, too many desperation passes, lots of handling errors, they need to play a more mature game, probably came about from not having any tough games upto this point.
Argentina were fantastic on defense. Gave the All Blacks a well needed wake up call.
In a way it's a good thing that NZ and Aus are meeting in the semi-final as while it will be bad if Aus beat NZ at home it would be worse if it was in the final! If NZ win they can go on into the final with a serious weight off their shoulders.
Quote from: Tank on October 08, 2011, 12:25:26 PM
Quote from: Scissorlegs on October 08, 2011, 11:29:35 AM
I'd rather suffer the Welsh than the French in victory. I hope the gaze of the Eye of Sauron falls upon them all...
No. I know more sheep shaggers than frogs, thank you very much. At least if the Frogs beat the sheep shaggers, we can buy each other a conciliatory beer and then cheer on the Kiwis.
But the Kiwis are sheep-shaggers too - I'm hoping for a 100% ovine humping final.
Quote from: Stevil on October 09, 2011, 10:38:26 AM
If the All Blacks don't get their act together they are going to have a very tough time with the Wallabies next week.
Poor defense, too many desperation passes, lots of handling errors, they need to play a more mature game, probably came about from not having any tough games upto this point.
Argentina were fantastic on defense. Gave the All Blacks a well needed wake up call.
Yeah, impressive game. Made the Kiwis look very average.
QuoteBut the Kiwis are sheep-shaggers too - I'm hoping for a 100% ovine humping final.
Roger that! I dont mind either of these sides losing - unless the Kiwis play like shite and still beat a good Welsh turn-out.
Well the final is France vs New Zealand and I'm going to be rooting for the Kiwis ;D ;D
It's gonna be a rout. I'll be enjoying it from within the berouted nation. I'm looking forward to a treat of exhibition rugby.
There was a big difference with regards to the quality of rugby on display in France Vs Wales compared to NZ Vs Aus. It is very unlikely the French will beat NZ, especially given they lost miserabley against them in the pool matches.
Hopefulli Piri Weepu will have his kicking sights retuned.
Go ABs, give those French a master class in rugby
Quote from: Stevil on October 23, 2011, 05:22:06 AM
Go ABs, give those French a master class in rugby
If there was a God, I would be preying at this point :D
What a brilliant spectacle! I thoroughly enjoyed that from start to finish. Spectacular defense from both sides. Magnificent! 10/10.
I have no fingernails left after that!
The French played magnifique, best performance from them the whole tournament.
Outplayed the All Blacks in the second half, who only just held on by the skin of their teeth.
It would have been a hell of a lot easier if Piri got those kicks over. Very disappointing for an NZ team to be missing so many kicks.
But no if's and buts, it was a great game, could have gone either way.