Rugby Union World Cup 2011

[Evil Robert]

I am suprised there is no thread about this already even though it starts in only a few weeks. Granted I pretty much live and breathe rugby union (and play it here in Melbourne as well) so my preception level is way higher then the average person. And now the season finished for me the other week - I have nothing better to do then discuss the game)!

Especially since I blew my knee out in the last game. Nothing better then getting a season ending injury 20 minutes before the end of the season! (well ending since none of the grades in my club (other then the womens and U14) where making the finals!

So anyway...

Can The All Blacks finally show why they are the best team in the world and win the darn tooting thing, or will they get food poisoning again and once again be be joked about as "the best team three and a half years out of four"?

Don't get me wrong, I am a Wallabies fan through and through - but to be fair, and rivalry aside - NZ is the best at the moment - and they play some thrilling and awesome football... except around the times of the World Cup...

...And the thumping they just got against the Boks on the weekend does make me think they are going down the same path... again! LOL

Talking about the Boks, SA definately is my second favourite team (I am totally in love with the country though and need to go back there again - I was there last year).

Dark Horse? Argentina. They definately where the suprise package last time around and they are about to join the Tri-Nations (well Four-Nations soon anyway, maybe) so their talent pool is only going to go up!

I was thinking about going over the pond myself to see a few games (tickets where pretty reasonable for some of the games with less headlining nations - heck, tickets to AUS vs IRE where still around to quiet late in the piece) - but I decided to travel elsewhere and maybe go over to watch the Wellington Sevens instead next year.

So any other Rugby fans and opinions?

 

[Angel4576]

Can't see anyone stopping the ABs to be honest. They're usually favourites, but I can't really remember a time where they were so completely superior to everyone else. It'll take a cock-up of epic proportions this time around for them to blow it.

My predictions;

Pool A
NZ
France

Pool B
England
Argentina

Pool C
Australia
Ireland

Pool D
SA
Wales

QFs:

Australia bt Wales
England bt France
SA bt Ireland
NZ bt Argentina

SFs:

England bt Australia
NZ bt SA

Final:

NZ bt England

 

[Evil Robert]

I can actually see at the moment Australia taking the Tri-Nations but New Zealand taking the World Cup. I think NZ might very well let the Tri-Nations slide to allow a stronger team to enter the World Cup. Just look at the second string team they had playing against South Africa last week.

I agree that the All Blacks (and pretty much every Kiwi in general) have a hunger in them that I haven't seen before. Maybe this is their time.

 

[Jono]

I have little doubt the All Blacks will win and get the prize that they deserve for been the most dominate team for most of the professional era so far. I don't think that Eden Park is going to be any happier for the other teams than it has been for the last 15 years.

As for the Boks, they beat a fairly second string side that lacked Carter and McCaw and a number of other players who dominated the Wallabies at Eden Park. They also didn't cross the line in both their home games with their best side, so I'm not quite sure what to make of them at the moment. It will be interesting to see how they go against Wales in their opening match.

The Wallabies...who knows. If they turn up with the rubbish they put on at Eden Park they'll not make it past the quarters let alone the semis. I am hoping they make the final, which I expect them to lose.

The most interesting battles should be for the places in Pools B and D. Pool B you have England, Argentina and Scotland. I think it will be tight between the last two. As for Pool D you have an even more interesting mix with SA, Wales, Fiji and Samoa fighting for the two spots. SA should wrap that up, but Wales would be a bit worried. In 2007 Fiji knocked them off and Samoa as did it in 1995. A Pacific Nation getting through is always good. Fiji is my other side and I went to both their games in my city back in RWC 2003, so my preference is for them to make it.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I'll be rooting for Italy, but with Ireland and Australia in our pool, I don't see us advancing to knock-out stage. Oh well. It should be fun nonetheless.

 

[Angel4576]

Tend to agree about Italy's chances, but you never know. Italy have come a long way over the past decade.

Lost yesterday to Scotland, but a fantastic try from Tommaso Benvenuti;

Italy Try

 

[iguana_tonante]

I saw it yesterday on the telly: it was pretty awesome. I went to see Italy-Japan last week in Cesena, and while we won, it was not really an extraordinary performance. And if we cannot beat Scotland, we have little hope of beating the Wallabies or the Men in Green.

Still, where there's life, there's hope.

 

[Jono]

Well, well, well...Australia took the Tri-Nations for the first time since 2001. I didn't expect that, but that doesn't mean too much in terms of the RWC since the final game was in Australia and the AB played SA in SA last weekend (at least some of them did). They play like this in the semis and they make the finals, but as I said if they do playing AB in Eden Park isn't the same as facing them in Australia, so I'd expect a different result from tonight.

On the RWC, the Wallabies face Italy in their first match, which is a good opening match to have. I'd prefer they had Italy's draw as they have Ireland as their last pool match (which should be for second place in the pool and a real cracker of a match). Nothing like a good hard start to put you in the zone and a tough finish to warm you up for do or die.

 

[NCC1701]

As apparently the only All Blacks fan reporting to this thread so far, I have to bang my head against the desk in frustration in response to tonight's match. Not that the final of the Tri-Nations means anything in the greater scheme of things - South Africa went on to take the Webb Ellis Cup home in 2007 after taking an absolute pounding in the Tri-Nations of that year after all - but losing to the Wallabies this close to crunch time is a real confidence shaker. Still, as Alfred said in Batman Begins - this is a TrekBBS thread after all - the reason we fall down is to learn to picK ourselves up, so I'm quietly confident Henry's boys have what it takes to finally take the World Cup home again after 24 years!

 

[Orac Zen]

About all last night's result - great as it was to finally see us lift some significant silverware again - really proves is that if anything happens to Will Genia, we may as well pack up and go home the same day. He's the one truly indispensable Wallaby. For all the (often ridiculously overblown) gushing over Cooper, it's Genia who keeps coming up with the goods, who never overplays his hand, who gets things done without showing off, and who can actually tackle. He was brilliant again last night; we wouldn't have won the game without him.

But to get to the point of the thread... NZ have an extraordinary talent for screwing up at this event but it's more difficult than ever to see them adding another chapter to that tale. The quality of players they've left out of their squad says it all, really. We may be able to run them close, but we still rely too much on too few and have too many people under injury clouds. South Africa can't be discounted, but most of them were there four years ago - are they capable of lifting again? France could do anything (utterly brilliant, complete crap, or anything in between) and England will probably be there or thereabouts. It's hard to see any other side having much of a show - Ireland seem to have gone backwards over the past few years, Argentina could cause an upset or two, and the rest won't win it.

Looking forward to it, whatever happens.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

My loyalty is still with Scotland on this one, and with Argentina and the Auld Enemy in our pool, it will be tough going. It'll be fun, though.

 

[NCC1701]

With only three days left to go, I'm still debating if I should join the crowds in Auckland for the opening ceremony and the first pool match game on Friday, or just stay at home and watch the All Blacks take on Tonga from the comfort of my own living room. At least the drinks will be cheaper at home than in town haha. What are everybody else's plans for the opening weekend?

 

[Orac Zen]

Hopefully our opening game against Italy will be screened live (I haven't checked yet), and hopefully we won't screw up. That's the extent of my plan so far.

I'm glad O'Connor hasn't waltzed straight back into the side. A check to his increasingly bloated ego won't go astray.

 

[Jono]

It will be live on pay and FTA with telecast starting at 1PM on Sunday. The Ireland game is on Saturday night, which means that the most important and game of most interest in the pool stages is unlikely to be live on FTA.

From what I've seen around the web there are going to only be 5 pool games on FTA (the Australian matches and the opener) and the finals. That's probably less games on FTA than the number of pool matches shown in 2007. I started watching the RWC in 1999 and this looks to be the poorest FTA coverage, not that its surprising given who has the FTA rights here.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the set piece goes against Italy, particularly the scrum. It did well in SA, but it was getting pushed around a bit by NZ in Brisbane. Italy dominated it in Italy last year, so hopefully there has been some improvement.

 

[Orac Zen]

Eh, Nine isn't ideal (to put it politely) but at least they don't insult us by delaying the broadcast so they can fit in more ads, as dear old 7 did for the last two or three years of their tenure. Since I couldn't stand Bray's hysterical screeching I'd listen on Aunty; by the time half or full time arrived on the radio coverage, 7 would be five or more minutes behind. Pathetic.

Aunty will no doubt pick up the slack yet again.

And yeah, it'll be interesting (to say the least) to see how our scrum holds up. I reckon refs judge us on past efforts rather than what they actually see in front of them at times, but it is an area where we continue to be vulnerable - and Robinson's unfortunate absence certainly won't help.

 

[Geck]

I'm a Canadian newly living in Australia, and so I'd never seen a rugby union game before a few weeks ago...I was surprised to learn Canada even has a national team, let alone that we're competing in the World Cup. I'm hoping we can pull out wins over Japan and Tonga, or at least one of the two. I doubt we have any chance of upsetting France, and never mind NZ.

While I'm here though I'll be rooting for the Wallabies. I'm still learning more about the sport with each match I watch.

 

[NCC1701]

^ Welcome to the thread, and to the Southern Hemisphere! You're backing the wrong team with the Wallabies, though

I've got Saturday night's entertainment sorted, watching Argentina take on England. I'm hoping Argentina will come out on top, but it should be one of the most interesting matches of the weekend, anyway!

 

[Candlelight]

I wish I could hide for the next six weeks, especially when the nation enters a state of "national mourning" when we lose the cup.

You just know TV1 news will do something along those lines. We better win the damn thing otherwise the media will be unbearable.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I'm daring to hope Italy can advance past the pool stage. It's a wild chance, but still.

We should be able to defeat Russia and the United States without too many problems (but you never know...). Australia is totally out of our league, so we should just hope to give a dignified performance.

Then there is Ireland. They are obviously the better team. History and past performances are against us. But still... as I understand it, they are not in their best shape. So maybe, there is still a small shadow of hope.

Getting into knockout stage would be historical.

 

[Jono]

Eh, Nine isn't ideal (to put it politely) but at least they don't insult us by delaying the broadcast so they can fit in more ads, as dear old 7 did for the last two or three years of their tenure. Since I couldn't stand Bray's hysterical screeching I'd listen on Aunty; by the time half or full time arrived on the radio coverage, 7 would be five or more minutes behind. Pathetic.

I rather a few minutes than several hours. Plus at least with 7 doing their own coverage you didn't miss as much when they went to an ad break as you do with 9 using the Foxtel coverage, which doesn't make any allowances for ads.

I've never met anyone who didn't like Bray before. For me he's the voice of Rugby and I miss him...Dan Crowley not so much.

Back on 9, they're coverage isn't as dire as I thought. They have finally released their official schedule and there are 4 extra games: Eng v Arg, SA v Fiji, NZ vs France, and Eng vs Scot. Not that much better, but at least they are showing the the other big names at least once before the finals...minus Wales, which is surprising given they are likely to face Australia in the finals.

Looking forward to a good match tonight between the ABs and Tonga.