Rugby World Cup 2011

[elapid]

The Rugby World Cup starts next week in New Zealand.

The All Blacks have been showing ominous form. They need to make up for some disappointing performances in previous World Cups and are also representing a nation devastated by recent earthquakes in Christchurch.

The Wallabies won the Tri Nations for the first time in 10 years as well as holding the All Blacks to a draw in the Bledisloe Cup.

England, as the only northern hemisphere nation to have previously won the Rugby World Cup, are 6 Nations Champions yet again and may present a few challenges for the southern hemisphere power teams.

There are always surprises, particularly with the flowing and unpredictable French and Fijians, bruising encounters with other South Pacific nations, and the relentless running of the Japanese teams.

I am an Aussie and hope the Wallabies win, but the All Blacks will be the team to beat IMO.

 

[Anonymous]

hmmm world cup down under again...england to win it again while having more than 15 players on the field

 

[The Hitch]

Bring it on.

Hosts are going to win but Rugby is such a great sport to watch and will be enjoyable regardless.

 

[craig1985]

On the contray I see it as a jinx that everybody is saying New Zealand will win, it happens just about every WC. I might start the anti-jinx and say New Zealand will crash out in the Quarter or Semi Finals so they will then go through and win, or if they fail, I won't be surprised.

/facepalm.

 

[180mmCrank]

NZ

They can't crash and burn again - can they?

T

 

[elapid]

They can - as Craig1985 pointed out they have been the perennial favourites only to crash out in all but one RWC.

However, I think they lost the game they needed to lose in the last Tri Nations game. This loss, Christchurch and home turf advantage should all be enough motivation for the All Blacks. Regardless, it should be interesting!

 

[AussieGoddess]

I think the All Blacks will get there.

They cant choke that many times ..... seriously

 

[Tank Engine]

hmmm world cup down under again...england to win it again while having more than 15 players on the field

If Wales manage to sneak Lee Byrne on the pitch for the whole tournament (apart from against Namibia) as our 16th player, we might have a chance. More seriously (but only slightly), I'm looking forward to how Sam our Welsh no.7, our big English wing and our Tongan no. 8 will do. Realistically, I would be satisfied to get to the 1/4s and put up a decent show there.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

It's obviously New Zealand's to lose. Again. The team that has it all: size, pace, power, skill, technique, thuggery. But they've had all that at just about every World Cup and come away with nothing (Edit: for 20 years).

I'm hoping Ireland and Wales can put on a decent showing for once, although both looked pretty poor in their warm up games.

I'm not expecting much from the Scots as usual although with their brand of pragmatic rugby, they're less likely to be upset than the other two Celtic sides.

The English and the South Africans are committed and muscular enough to knock over all but the best. But neither look to have the all-round quality to win the thing.

The French can be expected to produce one heroic performance to knock out a big favourite before limply going out in the next round.

Of the big names, that leaves Australia. If they can scrummage properly now even if their first choice front row are injured, they are in with a good chance. It's a big if though.

And the rest...

Argentina were the surprise package last time, but was it a flash in the pan? Probably.
It's always great to see the Pacific Islanders competing, and hopefully we'll see them demonstrating their trademark sublime handling and psychotic tackling skills.

All Blacks to beat South Africa in the Final.

 

[elapid]

To get you in the mood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC_Q46uiBi8

 

[lancaster]

England selecting lewis moody is just stupid. i don't think he's good enough to be in the starting team (james haskell, tom wood, nick easter as back row). he also has barely played in about a year through injury.

he's currently injured, and will miss the start of the tournament. i think we'd have been better off taking hendrie fourie instead.


NZ should win, Aus or SA could do. France have a good shot but will probably beat a team who are better than them and lose to a team worse to them.
England are average and will perform as such.

Wales and Ireland could embarrass themselves.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

England selecting lewis moody is just stupid. i don't think he's good enough to be in the starting team (james haskell, tom wood, nick easter as back row). he also has barely played in about a year through injury.

he's currently injured, and will miss the start of the tournament. i think we'd have been better off taking hendrie fourie instead.

...

Agree with you in principle. Not convinced by Fourie but Moody is no Hill.

(Woodward famously refused to take any unfit players to the 2003 World Cup unless their name was Richard Hill).

Anyway to continue to get in the mood, I thought I'd dig out a classic match, the 1987 France Australia Semifinal. Trouble is, I can't find full highlights so we have to make do with closing stages. It's 24-24 with a couple of minutes to go, time to regroup and settle for extra time? Not if you're French.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3u4ow_australie-france-24-30-demi-finale_sport

 

[DM6130]

On the contray I see it as a jinx that everybody is adage New Zealand will win, it happens just about every WC. I ability alpha the anti-jinx and say New Zealand will blast out in the division or Semi Finals so they will again go through and win, or if they abort, I won't be afraid.

 

[the asian]

I think the All Blacks will get there.

They cant choke that many times ..... seriously

Winning on home soil with the enormous pressure and expectations will be more difficult.
The fact that the All blacks have only won the WC once, despite being the favourites in all of them, makes them the worst chokers of all time.
I will be really happy if they win though. Players like McCaw and Carter deserve to be part of a WC winning squad.

 

[Tank Engine]

I'm glad that the opening game against South Africa on Sunday is at a reasonable time. We've run them close in the last few friendlies, but in the World Cup it's going to be a different proposition. Key positions: Front row. Losing Rees for the entire World Cup is a big . At least Adam Jones seemed to be fit in the warm-up games, but with Gethin not being match fit, we're going to struggle up front. Back row: We seem to have found a talented back row, but they're lacking experience. Backs: In order to do anything against South Africa, the passes will have to go to (our) hands and we need a bit of flair from the backs (or a few monster blocks by Jamie Roberts on the South African linebackers to let George North charge through )

 

[Catwhoorg]

I think you can safely pick most of the quarter finalists:

NZ and France
2 from England, Scotland and Argentina
Australia and Ireland
South Africa and Wales

Knowing that one of those 8 (well 9 as Pool B is hard to pick) is going to be upset.
Pool D and Wales being the most likely candidate (sorry guys, but both Fiji and Samoa can on their day beat any of the home nations)

I'll be getting up in the wee small hours (3.30 am) to watch Eng-Argentina on Pay Per View tomorrow

I really hope England pulls off the win, they should on current form, but hey its England.

 

[elapid]

A couple of close scares on day 1, particularly for England. Johnny Wilkinson not kicking well (missed 5/8 set shots at goal) and England almost allowing the Pumas to squeek through with a hard fought win. Difficult to watch England wearing black!

France-Japan was an ugly game with a scoreline that flattered France, but should have them worried. They were lucky to score 22 points in the last 10 minutes, otherwise a 4 point advantage over a team they should be far superior to would have been an embarassing result. Japan always have the potential to cause an upset with their relentless attacking running game (and maybe inspired by their women's soccer team's victory in the World Cup). However, France are showing some worrying signs with this poor victory, as well as some embarassing losses during the past season such as to Six Nations minnows Italy. Doubt they can make the distance on current form.

Scotland-Romania wasn't much different to the France-Japan game. Two late tries to Scottish winger Simon Danielli avoided an embarassing loss to Romania after they were locked at 24-24 with 5 minutes of play remaining.

Although it is only day 1 and no doubt teams are having the usual jitters, the form of the Six Nations teams against lesser teams (especially Japan and Romania) will be worrying and a bad sign that they will not be able to handle the onslaught when they face more potent opposition in the finals. At least they have the round pool games to get their act together.

 

[Catwhoorg]

Didn't see the other games, but England didn't really deserve that win.

I'll take it as a fan, but really it was a shocking display of indiscipline. Against any of the tri-nations teams they would have been on the wrong end of a massive beating.

 

[Fus087]

I agree, Japan put up a great fight. And the score doesn't reflect the course of the match.

In my opinion, Argentina were better than England, of course helped by Wilkinson's kicking (or lack of the same). But after that try the English could play defensively, and had luck on their side.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

Not sure what game you lot were watching but Argentina had completely blown by the hour mark. I've never seen their scrum go backwards so fast.

England deserved to be 9-3 down after half-time but it's an 80 minute game and they did enough to win it. They'll have to up the intensity in the latter stages but that's a major hurdle out of the way as the group runners up get to play the All-Blacks who England rarely look capable of competing against.

 

[craig1985]

I was so cheering on Japan in the France game, I think with 12 minutes to go they ran out of steam, but they should take a lot of heart out of it, they played a **** load better than what the scoreboard suggested and they were actually competitive, especially at the start when France ran in two early tries and it looked like it was going to be a touch up.

 

[Tank Engine]

Another of those so close yet so far games for Wales. A couple of missed opportunities and the feeling of "if only we'd got a second try when we were on top...". The back row were brilliant. Warburton had his usual high work rate, forced turnovers and won penalties and deserved his man of the match. Faletau made a lot of ground and finished off a well worked try. Next up, Samoa, a must win game.

 

[elapid]

The Wallabies dispatched the Italians pretty easily. After a dour first half with the scoreline locked at two penalties a piece, the Wallabies turned on the heat with some beautiful backline running. Quade Cooper, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Digby Ioane were especially good, and James O'Connor was back in the good books with some impressive play. The forward pack held up nicely, but it will be interesting to see what happens when they are really tested.

No one has commented on the hosts yet ... All Blacks were, as expected, dominant against Tonga.

@ Tank Engine: Wales were incredibly unlucky. Deserved the win.

 

[Tank Engine]

The Wallabies dispatched the Italians pretty easily. After a dour first half with the scoreline locked at two penalties a piece, the Wallabies turned on the heat with some beautiful backline running. Quade Cooper, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Digby Ioane were especially good, and James O'Connor was back in the good books with some impressive play. The forward pack held up nicely, but it will be interesting to see what happens when they are really tested.

No one has commented on the hosts yet ... All Blacks were, as expected, dominant against Tonga.

@ Tank Engine: Wales were incredibly unlucky. Deserved the win.

Thanks. Still gutted though. I guess on that form though we ought to be favourites for the next three games, but we've still got to win them. Anyway, still all to play for.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

Thanks. Still gutted though. I guess on that form though we ought to be favourites for the next three games, but we've still got to win them. Anyway, still all to play for.

Strange game. Wales turned into England in the closing stages and failed to put any pace into their attacks, Mike Philips being the main culprit. Shame, because up to then they looked really good and probable winners.